The sun was rising when Shego’s car limped into the driveway of the Possible house.
Mr. Possible was waiting at the door again as the four got out of the vehicle – Shego carrying the severed head of the Mrs. Possible robot decoy. Mr. Possible looked at it. It was all he needed.
Behind him, in the house, Kim could see he’d been watching the news. Probably all night, too… He looked beaten with worry and fear – like every good father did – only, ten times worse.
Kim just stood, looking at him.
Then, as tears spilled from her eyes, she ran towards him and embraced him.
The only sounds came from the news report on the TV behind them:
“In Business news, HenchCo has announced that every single one of their recalled Attitudinators have been successfully received, and they should have all of the Banned Devices destroyed by week’s end…”
“Come in!” answered a familiar voice in a slight singsong as the henchman knocked on the door.
The henchman squinted as he opened the door. It was too damned dark for his tastes.
“What is it?” the owner of the voice, hidden by the shadows, asked.
“Huh? Oh! Uh - it appears that Global Justice completed a trace on the hack before the spike was sent!”
“What? Oh – that…We already knew.”
“But – Ma’am - they know where we are!”
“Of course they do!”
“But – Kim Possible! What do we do if Team Possible come after us?”
“Why, let them in, of course! They’re our guests, so we should be polite – isn’t that right, henchman?”
“Uh – yes, Ma’am!” The henchman stammered as he backed out of the door and shut it.
“Especially guests we know…” the familiar voice chuckled sinisterly.
“How long until everything’s back online?”
“Sir, that won’t be for a couple of days. He spiked every system on every one of our grids – even the emergency one – with about 20 simultaneous attacks each.”
“Great…no power from any of our sources – waitaminute… He spiked the geothermal power supply?”
“Blew up the steam pipes, Sir.”
“Damn, this kid’s thorough… Did anyone get a lock with a signal trace before this place became a Michael Bay movie – anyone who can remember where the lock was?”
“Sir!”
“Oh, swell – at least some good news comes out of this…”
It was nighttime again when Shego woke up. It confused her for a moment – but then her mind came back to her and she remembered the events earlier in the day. Which made her scowl in contempt.
“Shego?”
“Huh?” Shego looked down. Kim was awake – had been for a while. The redhead’s arms were draped around her shoulders, and she was looking up at her with a pained sadness in her beautiful green eyes.
“What was your mother like?”
Shego looked into Kim’s eyes. Studied the pain that shattered their normal dancing green reflections. Without saying a word, she locked her arms around Kim’s waist, pulled the woman up so their faces were level with each other – and embraced her tightly, almost crying herself. “We’ll get her back, Kimmie. I swear. We’ll get her back.” Her comments, and the warmth of their bodies pressing together, was all Kim needed. Her eyes closed and she fell asleep. Shego ran her fingers through her lover’s hair, then found herself calmed by the warmth of their bodies, too. She quickly fell back asleep herself.
When Ron woke up, he couldn’t figure out why he was asleep – with Monique on top of him – on Kim’s couch. Then he remembered. They’d just walked inside with everyone after last – morning – and just plopped on the couch and dozed away. Well, no worries. Mr. Possible probably called their parents.
“Wake up already, baby…”
“Ngrrgh…Monique…” Ron smiled warmly as Monique’s face blurred into view. “Hiya.”
Monique’s voice grew soft. “Ron, I – I have a confession to make…”
“Huh?”
“That apartment in Downtown? I didn’t just grab it this year. I’ve lived in it since I moved up here.”
“Wait – what? You’ve lived in it – like in, lived in it alone?” asked Ron.
“Yeah. See, I – I don’t know where my parents are. I was a legally emancipated minor until I turned 18 this year. I lived in that apartment and Club Banana, all during high school…” She looked away.
“Wait – I thought you had a house?” Ron asked. “Kim went to your Halloween party Sophomore year.”
“Notice I didn’t have any more parties after that?” Monique asked. That house was a rental, too. It was… a test phase. I was trying to get away from the apartment. But I couldn’t make the payments after wasting my money on all the stuff for the party, so I had to move back to the apartment right after that.”
“And your family – you said you had a dad and a brother.”
“Ever meet ‘em?” Monique asked bluntly.
“Y – wait…” said Ron, “Y’know, now that you’ve pointed it out, I can’t believe I never noticed before.”
“Funny how that works out, isn’t it?”
“So…” Ron muttered. “You’ve been living on your own since 10th grade?”
“Yeah,” Monique answered.
“Whoah…” was all Ron’s reply.
Monique wiped a tear from her eye. “Pathetic, isn’t it? And I don’t even think they were my true biological parents, anyways! Nobody looked like me, nobody even remotely liked what I liked-”
“WHOAH, Monique! Chill!” Ron protested. “I think it’s cool you’ve lived alone since 10th grade!”
Monique lifted her head up. “Huh?”
“Monique – please, girl – have I ever needed a reason to think something you do is cool?” Ron grinned. “You’ve been living alone for 4 years. You have a stable job, you’re paying your rent…Woman, if I had all the strength you’ve got, to do what you’ve done – I’d still be crawling back to my parents in a week.”
Monique smiled, wiping away her tears. “And that, Ron Stoppable – is why I love you so much…” She leaned in, kissing him deeply. After the kiss, Ron sighed, laying back calmly. But something bit at him-
“You really think they weren’t your biological parents, Monique?” he asked her softly, looking at her.
Monique sniffed away a tear. “Pretty sure. They always ignored me when I asked if I was adopted…”
Ron twirled a lock of her gorgeous silken hair in his fingertips. “What if I could find your real parents?”
Monique looked up at him, eyes wide. “You really think you can, Ron? I have no info on them. At all.”
“Hey, The Ron’s ego craves appreciation, baby! And what better way to gain the appreciation from the girl he loves than by finding the 2 people she really wants to see the most and reuniting her with them?”
Monique blinked, even as a grin spread across her face. “Well, aren’t you honest.”
“I’ve found there’s no time for lying in the Stoppable Schedule, so – Honest is as honest does.”
Monique blushed. “Is there room for me in that Schedule?”
“The Stoppable Schedule is always open when his woman is concerned – no matter what gets shoved out of the way. Except Double Down Double Discount Night at Bueno Nacho and Mayhem at Middleton – but the Stoppable Schedule is already compatible when it comes to those, as you know…”
Suddenly, he slapped his head. “Crap!”
“What?” Monique virtually jumped off the couch. “What?”
“We just slept through Mayhem at Middleton III!”
Monique took one look at him – and slapped him across the face. “Get your priorities straight, Ron!”
“Ahh!” Ron rubbed his cheek. “Wassay-wuzzy-wizzay-wat?”
“Come again?” Monique raised an eyebrow. “I don’t speak mumblingese.”
“I said,” Ron sputtered, “Ow! What’s up with that?”
“C’mon, Ron…Kim’s mother is being held hostage by Tara. We know that Wade is working with her – and all you can think about is the fact that you slept through some dinky Pro Wrestling Competition?”
“I slaved for 3 months to buy those tickets…” Ron whimpered.
“We’ll get you a refund later, Buffoon,” Shego sniped as she walked into the room, yawning, still half-asleep. She was followed by an equally half-awake Kim – who scratched her side, grumbled something about cereal, and nearly walked into the wall before she disappeared, following Shego into the kitchen.
Ron and Monique had to turn their faces away so their snickering wouldn’t be heard. It wasn’t what Shego had said about Ron. It was the fact that standing in front of them were the women once considered the two most dangerous women in the world – and presently, with their eyes half-open, clothes rumpled, and hair in nightmarish clumps – they seemed moreover to be the Lesbian Odd Couple, except younger – and neither smoked, so they couldn’t do that one cigar thing. Ron looked at Monique. “Tell me you won’t look like that in the morning once I move into that apartment with you, Mo.”
“Just because you said that, I’m gonna look like that every morning, baby,” Monique grinned.
“Is that a challenge?” asked Ron, raising an eyebrow. “Or are you just mocking me? I can never tell…”
The front door opened, and Mr. Possible walked in with Tim and Jim. “We’re home!” he called as he walked by the kitchen. “That is, if anyone’s awa-heyyy! Kimmie-Cub!” he said, noticing Kim eating at the kitchen table, leaning over the top of the booth to give his daughter a hug. “You sleep well?”
“Hey Dad,” Kim mumbled.
“As much we could sleep well, considering the circumstances…” Shego said, slightly more awake now.
“Hmm…good point. Oh, by the way, you got a phone call at about… noontime, Kimmie. Think it was from that Ken guy you’re always talking to on your missions nowadays. Said “Plan B Meeting,” or something to that nature. Told me to tell you. Said you’d know whatever the heck he was talking about.”
“Oh – thanks, Dad.”
“No problem, Kimmie-cub. Tim? Jim? Let’s get you some dinner.”
“Omelettes again?” Tim asked.
“Yep! They’re…pretty much the only non-canned food product I can make without messing up…”
“Hoo-shaw!” the Tweebs high-fived.
“By the way – Mr. Possible? What time is it?” asked Shego.
“Um…8:30,” Mr. Possible replied, looking at his watch.
“Oh, great! We slept through Mayhem at Middleton III!” Shego groused.
Monique pointed at Ron as he crossed his arms triumphantly. “Don’t you even say it, Mr. Stoppable!”
Fifteen minutes later, everyone was wide awake, properly dressed, and sitting around the kitchen table. Shego had just come out of the shower 5 minutes prior, though, so she had a towel wrapped around her head. However, it didn’t seem to bother her as she went on talking. “Plan B Meeting, eh?” she asked.
“Yeah, Shego,” Kim nodded.
“Damn – so Wade must’ve really trashed GJ headquarters, then. I’ll bet he even janked the steam pipes for their geothermal power supply…” She slapped her forehead. “Tell me I didn’t just say ‘janked…’”
“That sounds Wade-ish – covering every trail, leaving no leaf overturned,” said Ron. “Very Wade-ish.”
“Stone, honey,” Monique corrected her boyfriend. “Leave no stone unturned.”
“Enh, whatever – I made my point, so I’m not gonna say it again…”
“So where’s Tara come into play in all this?” asked Shego. “If Wade’s working with her, it certainly doesn’t feel like she’s the one in charge.”
“You’re right – but then again, she does like to hide in the shadows,” Kim reminded.
“How could I forget?” Monique shook her head, not wanting to remember Iceland. Ron wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him so she could lean on him if she felt she needed to. Which she did.
“Still got one question:” continued Shego. “Tara killed his mother. Why’s he workin’ with Tara now?”
“Didn’t you hear what Ron said yesterday, Shego?” asked Kim. “And I’d think you, of all people, should’ve at least remembered that reaction of Wade’s when he learned that his mother was gone.”
“Huh? Oh, right… He blames you for allowing it to happen… I keep forgetting about that.”
Kim sighed. “And there’s no doubt Tara’s pissed at us for getting Drakken locked up again…”
“Getting Drakken locked up?” Monique asked. “Wouldn’t she be more pissed that she nearly died?”
“Oh, she’s pissed at that, too, Mo – but she and Drakken were in love worse than you and I,” said Ron.
Monique just nodded. Then her face scrunched up in confusion. “Hold on – if Tara’s pissed at us getting Drakken locked up, why hasn’t she tried to break him out?”
“Uh – good question, Monique,” replied Kim, mentally kicking herself for not noticing that earlier.
“I will say this – this has ‘The New Drakken’ stamp all over it – I mean, in the sense that it fits his new style of “torment the mind first, then flatten their weakened defences with overwhelming force” that he changed over to after that mistrial,” Ron muttered. “Makes sense for Tara to try the same thing.”
“Yeah. Real Pattons, aren’t they?” Kim snarled.
“Drakken does have the squeaky voice – er, sometimes,” said Ron.
“Whoahwhoahwhoah!” Shego waved her hands. “Can we get back on track here? Mrs. Possible is being held captive somewhere, and we need to find that somewhere. Plan B Meeting’s in two hours, right?”
Kim nodded.
“Right. So in the meantime-” Shego adjusted her glasses. “-why don’t we have Ron cook and the rest of us can ask Mr. Possible about something?”
“Huh?” asked Ron.
“Huh?” Rufus popped up on Ron’s shoulder suddenly.
“Huh?” Mr. Possible looked up. “What do want to ask me about, Shego?”
“I feel like a Mafia member doing this, but-” Shego took the severed head of the robotic Mrs. Possible and plunked it down in the center of the table. “Could you take a look at this? Wade made it, so the internal mechanics might be over your head – but there might be some parts in it you know more about than we do – like, for instance, where they could’ve been manufactured, so we can ask those companies if any unusual orders have come in or if any similar materials have been shipped off to odd locations.”
“Hmm…Ronald cooking dinner? I think that’s a fair trade.” Mr. Possible put the eggs he had out back in the fridge and turned off the stove burner he’d turned on. “The kitchen’s all yours, Ronald!”
“But – oh, what the hell.” Ron walked over to the stove. “Who wants what on their omelettes?”
“CHEESE!” Rufus cheered.
“Hmm…” Mr. Possible squinted as he examined the inner workings of the robot head. “I can’t tell a thing about it here, Kimmie-Cub. The machinery is too intricately wired together, I’m not sure if it’s safe to just take it apart any further. I can take it to the lab at the Space Center tomorrow to do some more tests, but right now, I can’t give you a single lick of information that you don’t already know.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Kim kissed him on the cheek as she stood up. “We gotta get going now.”
“No problem, Kimmie-Cub.”
Without warning, Kim hugged him as tightly as she could. “We’ll get Mom back, Dad. I promise.”
“I know you will, Kimmie.” Dr. Possible wiped away a tear. “I know you will.”
“Hold on –” Shego interrupted. “Why are we going now? We have an hour.”
“Because before Dad takes a look at this tomorrow, I want to ask Drakken about it,” said Kim.
“You think Drakken will be able to figure it out, even though your father can’t?” Shego smirked.
“No – but I told him we needed his help, so let’s not make him feel left out.”
Shego shrugged. “Whatever…”
Kim whirled a nearby stool around and Shego plunked the robot head on top of it. “Can you tell us anything about it?” Kim asked, moving the stool to the closest she could get it to Drakken’s cell.
“Hmm… I’d say your real problem is a lot closer to you than you think…by the way, I watched your little roadway KISS concert on the TV over there – quite the display of your driving skills, Shego…”
“You know what, Drakken? I don’t care. Can you tell us anything about this?”
“I thought I just did.”
“You told us nothing.”
“If that’s what you want to believe – then hey, go ahead, not my fault…” Drakken shrugged.
“Ugh, we’re wasting our time, Kim,” scoffed Ron. “He’s just gonna give us vague answers.”
“Yeah, c’mon, let’s go already,” seconded Monique.
“That answer was not vague!” protested Drakken.
“Was too!” Ron countered.
“Was not!” spit back Drakken.
“Was too!” Ron countered again.
“Alright, let’s go…” Kim sighed. “We need to get going anyway, or we’ll miss our 2nd date tonight.”
“Was t-WHOAH! Ow! Hey! Ow!” Ron cried as Shego grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.
“We were able to secure a lock with a signal trace before the explosions took out everything.” Ken looked at the four. He didn’t like Ron having Monique with him, but she was there when it all started, and unfortunately couldn’t back out. “Agent Gep was able to pinpoint exact coordinates on the map.”
“Let me guess – Iceland,” said Kim.
“No.”
Ken produced the map and pointed at the marked location. “Señor Senior Jr.’s island.”
The four teens looked at each other in stunned silence.
“Trust me, that was my reaction, too,” Ken assured. “But if Agent Gep says it’s there, it’s there.”
“Sure it isn’t a fake location fix? Wade could do that before he finished blinking.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Well – better check it out anyways, just to be sure,” said Ron.
“Good idea, Ron,” Kim stood up. “But how do we get there undetected? I mean, if Wade’s there…”
“We cross our fingers?” asked Shego.
“After having actually attempted to stop Wade myself, I’d say Shego’s right,” said Ken. “I have to say here and get Global Justice headquarters back on track. We’re trying to get the Kimmunicator signal back online, but for now, all we have restored is the mainline, so be careful and don’t try to contact us if you don’t really need to. Good luck with the mission – Team Possible.” He saluted them all and left.
“Well…” said Monique. “How are we gonna get to this island?”
“We could rent an aqua car!” said Ron.
“Aqua car! Aqua car!”
“Ron, an Aqua car can’t go underwater.”
“Aww…” Rufus hung his head.
Kim’s eyes lit up. “Wait! I know!”
“Thanks for giving us a ride in your submarine, Captain Berry!” said Kim.
“No problem, Kim! After you saved this sub from a nuclear meltdown, it’s all I can do to help!”
“It was just one kinda stuck cooling rod. So not the drama!” Kim blushed.
“Yeah – that’s because I was the one who got it unstuck,” Shego growled.
“Hush, Shego,” Kim said nonchalantly.
“We’re on target, Captain!”
“Good,” answered Captain Berry. “Prepare the modified tubes!”
Minutes later, 4 oddly huge torpedoes shot from the equally-sized torpedo tubes of Captain Berry’s sub – and their warheads broke apart to reveal Kim, Shego, Ron, and Monique, in full scuba gear. They all stayed silent as they swam to the island that once belonged to the now-manager of Bueno Nacho.
“They’re here, Ma’am!”
“Of course they are! Let our guests in, like I told you. We don’t want to be rude.”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
The scuba gear shed, Kim, and Ron were wearing their battle suits – Kim wearing the Centurion Project ring with hers. Shego had her jumpsuit…. “How come I don’t have a battle suit?” asked Monique.
“What? I thought you packed the prototype suit for her!” Shego looked at Kim.
“Crap…Sorry, Monique.” Kim stopped, took the prototype suit out of her bag, and tossed it to Monique.
“Now that’s more like it!” grinned Monique.
After she changed, the 4 of them made their way to the high wall of the house on the island. Firing her grappling hook, Kim picked up Shego and ascended the wall with her. Ron did the same with Monique.
After repelling down, they slunk towards the back door. Shego snapped the security code in a heartbeat, and the door slid open. Holding it open, Shego signaled it was clear for everyone else to follow her.
The moment the door closed behind them, they found themselves in pitch dark. The only thing was an executive chair facing the wall, and a fireplace with a big fire going on the opposite wall of the room.
Deciding to move towards the fireplace, the 4 creeped along. “I don’t like – too quiet,” Kim whispered.
“Then allow me to make it loud, Kim.”
Wade stepped out of the shadows into the firelight.
“Wade…” Kim growled.
“Where’s Tara?” spat Shego.
“She’s here – she’s just calming herself spiritually before she defeats you,” Wade responded.
“Where’s my mother?” Kim snarled.
“Here. Close.”
“For that matter – Where’s Jr.?” asked Ron.
“Oh, he left when we moved in,” Wade grinned.
“Where’s Mrs. Possible?” Shego asked.
“I already told you. Close.” Wade seemed to be impatient.
“That’s not good enough, Wade!” Monique spat harshly.
“Oh, hey, Monique – why’d Ron drag you out here? Couldn’t handle being alone without him?”
“WHERE. IS. MY. MOTHER?” Kim asked, growing agitated.
“I told you, dammit! Close!” Wade shouted.
Unable to hold back her rage, Shego barreled at him and punched him so hard, he flew into the wall behind him. He slid down to the ground as Shego walked towards him. “Now…” growled the infuriated pale-skinned woman, grabbing the neck of Wade’s shirt and lifting the 11-year old up into the air by it. “You’re gonna blab to us where she is – or I just might revert back to my evil side…” She lit her free hand up in green energy flames and waved them in front of Wade’s face in order to make her point.
“He’s not blabbing to you.”
The voice behind them froze the four in their tracks, their bones chilled to the marrow with shock.
“No…” Kim gasped.
Shego dropped Wade onto the ground. He choked and sputtered as he got air back into his lungs.
The four turned around – as the executive chair behind them swiveled around to face them.
“NO!”
Kim fell to her knees in horror.
Sitting in the chair was:
Her mother.
Mrs. Possible, glaring.
Mrs. Possible—
—with blue skin.
END CHAPTER SEVEN (REWRITE)