Kim was astonished. No, not astonished, but maybe surprised. Shocked could have also described how she felt, but it didn’t seem as if any word in the English language could have laid claim to what she was feeling when she stared Bonnie Rockwaller, her rival, her enemy, her competition in the face that morning. In fact, if Kim would have known she was opening the door to find her best friend and her rival together on her porch she would have better prepared herself.
Not that it was the fact that they were together that surprised the teenage hero. Really, it wasn’t! It was probably the fact that Monique was here with her rival on a leash and wearing a collar and had, apparently, addressed Bonnie as ‘Nie-Nie’.
What was odder still was that when Monique had told ‘Nie-Nie’ to speak, she had most certainly spoken.
“This is so not the drama.”
Monique could only shrug to that response, allowing a frown to appear on those brown skinned features. “Well, girlfriend? Gonna let us inside? Before we freeze to death?”
Even though it wasn’t the least bit cold in Middleton around this time in the season Kim let Monique and Bonnie in, stepping to the side to allow it. “I don’t believe this. Why is Bonnie on a leash?”
“Nie-Nie,” Monique corrected, dragging a rather unwilling Bonnie toward the couch and once Monique had taken a seat upon it, with one look from the brown skinned girl, Bonnie reluctantly took a seat on the floor beside her legs. “And she wanted it after how bad she felt yesterday from saying all those awful things about you…I also thought she deserved it…and she’s agreed to atone for her wrongs by becoming my pet for spring vacation.”
Kim didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of Monique acquiring Bonnie for a pet. Who would even want Bonnie as a friend? Besides, she was feeling a little uneasy in the way Monique kept shifting her hand through Bonnie’s hair, or how Bonnie seemed so compliant and submissive when she was usually so dominate and aggressive. In truth, Bonnie, though agitated and embarrassed, looked quite natural and at home half snug against Monique’s left leg. Kim shook her head to erase the image from her mind, really, she had to be looking to close into this situation.
“Monique,” Kim began, but nervously, as she watched the pair on the couch. How could she even begin to process this scenario? “Monique…are you sure about this?”
Monique nodded, grinning faintly at Kim’s unease. “Believe me, Kim, it’s just till school starts up again. Perhaps if she can just understand what being done she won’t be so ready to jump to outrageous assumptions…right, Nie-Nie?”
Bonnie nodded as she mumbled something in a low hushed whisper beneath her breath that Kim didn’t catch.
Kim opened her mouth to say something more on the subject, still feeling uneasy at these developments, besides it was weird, Monique wasn’t the one to just go around doing these sort of things all out of the blue like this, but a loud crash from her room interrupted her.
Then a scream…
Then another crash…
Followed shortly by a loud thud.
“Heh, better go take care of that, huh Kim?”
“Yeah…”
“Shego…” Growled an irritated Kim, who leaned against her door with fingers rubbing her forehead.
“I couldn’t help it, I’m sorry, I really am, but the timing was perfect and the prey was just sitting there--”
“Betaroo isn’t prey…” Kim mumbled, looking at the disaster area that was her room. Pillows everywhere, sheets thrown all over the place. The room wasn’t that big in the first place, so how could it look so messy? “I hope you plan on cleaning this up.”
“No. And, way.”
Kim groaned, between the new situation downstairs and now the passed out Director on her floor, she wasn’t sure what to do. Instead, she decided on just snatching the held Cuddle Buddy from Shego’s slender fingers and tossing the ‘creation from hell’ into the open bathroom door.
“Behave, please! I have company downstairs and–,”
“Oh yeah, the Monique gal.”
“Yes, Monique, and Bonnie is down there too--”
“Bonnie?” This being said from the slowly rising Betty, who seeming to have come to her senses, was now aware and rather interested in whatever Kim and Shego were discussing.
“Another one of Kimmie’s little friends.”
“She is not my friend! She’s my rival, my enemy”
“Yet she’s welcomed into your home…”
“Not like that,” Kim sighed, shaking her head and changing the subject, “It doesn’t matter anyway. Are you okay? It sounded like people were dying up here…”
At that Betty grimaced, glancing to the floor either from embarrassment or shame. “I thought I was going to die…”
Shego only laughed in amusement as Kim shook her head, moving past Director to the bed, only to sigh in relief when she saw the talismans still in their place though the pillow was not.
“Please you guys, you have to be careful up here, these things are really powerful an--”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Shego interrupted, snorting as she gathered herself from the floor, “We know already.”
“If I had a newspaper right about now…”
“Oh! Well, I better go downstairs and greet the guests”
“Wait, Shego! Er, Sheeroo!” But the green skinned woman was already bolting down the stairs, leaving Kim and Betty to the messy room and the silence.
“Oh well,” Betty shrugged, brushing herself off and blowing a strand of her short spiky hair from in front of her eye. She really hoped the rest would grow back soon… “What are you gonna do?”
“Nothing, I guess…Least not now.” Kim sighed before moving to join her company in the living room.
Monique already knew what was taking so long, Kim’s ‘pets’ were a handful, and she wasn’t surprised to see Shego bounding down the stairs with Kim and Director behind her, Bonnie on the other hand didn’t look so good. Nervous? Well, Monique supposed she’d be too if she were on the other end of a leash. Monique only grinned at the thought and the hand that had been so nonchalantly weaving through Bonnie’s hair stopped and returned to her lap.
“Well, well, well…” Coo’d a rather interested Shego as she came upon the scene before her, only the sound of her talismans bumping against the collar around her neck broke the sudden thick silence that smothered the room.
“Ah, so this is Bonnie. I’ve seen her once before, she was following us around at the ski lodge.”
“What?” Kim exclaimed, giving Betty a surprised look, but the military woman only stared emotionlessly toward the woman on the floor who looked more nervous then she had.
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“I apologize, Kimberly Ann, I didn’t think it mattered. To be honest, I thought you knew she was following.”
“Well…I didn’t,” Kim said, uncertain now that her gaze was on Bonnie, narrowed and suspicious. Monique only shrugged and Shego let loose a wild snicker.
“Well, no wonder she’s your enemy.”
“Shut up, Shego.”
Bonnie on the other hand could only shake her head, she was still reeling, still couldn’t believe this. Was she dreaming? Was she really sitting on the floor, next to her rivals best friend? Yet, the firm hand that was soon once more shifting through her hair said it all.
“Well,” Monique said, grinning all the while. There was nothing like watching the display between Kim and her ‘pets’, really something special, these moments, “I’d come over to invite you…”
“To what?” Kim asked, wary. For once, she was seeing Monique in a new light. A new scary light.
“Well, to my house. Sleep over, girlfriend! It’s gonna be OTH.”
“OTH?” Betty mumbled, trying to decipher whatever that meant with her military mind.
“Off the hook,” Kim answered. She was getting the hang of Monique’s random acronyms. “And I dunno, Mo…these two, they’d tear up your house. Plus, what would your dad think? He’d flip I’m sure.”
“He would,” Monique answered, honestly, “If he were home.”
Shego grinned, liking the rather mischievous look Kim’s little friend held.
“I say we go, I could use a vacation.”
“Just what the heck was it we just got back from then?”
“That was one of your little missions, Princess. No vacation.”
“Pets don’t get vacations!”
“They do too!”
While watching the exchange was entertaining, Betty soon found her attention wandering. Well, more or less to the more important matters at hand like the current conversation, the talk about Kimberly’s little ‘mission’, and the solid weight of the amulet against her chest. The very mystical tools that had been taken from the cave at the lodge. Monique hadn’t been there, though Bonnie had, and Betty wasn’t sure if Kim would have told her of the stash hidden beneath her pillow. Surely, they didn’t have time for anymore fun and games, rather, it was time to get straight to the bottom of the situation, the mystery…
“Just what is my brother up to?”
Of course, she assumed it was her brother…who else would it be?
“What was that?” Monique asked, seemingly bored with Kim and Shego’s argument as well.
“Oh, nothing…”
And of course, Bonnie didn’t say a thing.
“Well, I wanna go!”
“Blah, blah, blah, your needs! Whose the master and whose the pet here?”
“Do you seriously want me to answer that?”
“Okay, okay!” Monique butt in, finally, as she sighed, “What’s the prob, K-girl? Dad won’t be home, and the house is pretty big there will be plenty of room for all of them to run around.”
“Well, I suppose.” Kim whimpered, she really didn’t want to take Shego out into…public…again anytime soon.
“Ron can hop on over too,” Monique smiled, reeling in her friend with the promise of fun and games.
“Okay then…okay then…we’ll go, I guess…for a night, or two.”
“Great!”
“But…uh…is…Nie-Nie going to be there as well?” Kim asked sheepishly. She still wasn’t very comfortable with the idea of Bonnie being a pet.
“Of course, where else would she be, Kim? Besides, she’ll behave.” Monique replied, patting the brown haired girl on the head.
“Okay…alright, but if the house blows up, none of this is any of my fault.”
“I’d never blame you for it. After all, it’d probably be your Sheeroo’s.”
“Hey!”
“Oooh, KP, I brought the snacks, the games, the movies, the PJ’s, the sleeping bag, Rufus, the boo and the yah!”
“That’s great Ron, I think.”
“But is it true? I mean, about Bonnie and Monique? Are they going together or something?”
“No!” Kim said, blinking in mild shock that Ron would say such a thing.
“Well, I mean, isn’t it weird, or odd to you, that this happened?”
“Well, Monique was pretty mad at her the other day, so…”
“Ah, KP, you need to look more into things like this, deeper you know?”
“It’s not a mystery Ron…”
Kim sighed, leaning back on the couch they were currently stationed on, smack dab in the center of Monique’s rather large living room. Kim hadn’t known it was so…big. Maybe she just didn’t notice before, but apparently they could all very much sleep in it. Kim glanced down to her sleeping back, situated neatly beside Ron’s and the two human sized doggy beds she’d dragged along, despite the rather loud protests of their owners. Of course, she was hiding the amulets within Betty’s. It was the most practical place for them, and with Bonnie around…well, who knows when that girl could go snooping about?
“Hey, Princess!”
“Ye–aah!”
Shego leapt, pouncing right onto Kim’s lap, lying on her belly with her head nestled right against Kim’s belly. Ron himself had almost leapt right off the couch, after all that attack had been so sudden…and well Shego was scary!
“Whatcha doin’?”
“You know there’s no pets allowed on the furniture!”
“Aw, but we’re not at the house, and I should be allowed up here! Besides, I just want some affection.”
“Lies and slander!” Kim squeaked, squirming beneath Shego’s sudden nuzzles to her stomach.
Ron wasn’t sure whether to feel uncomfortable, or extremely uncomfortable. “Uh, Rufus, what do you think?”
“I-dunno!” Cried the hairless rodent, who simply retreated back within the contents of his master’s pocket.
“Come on! Just stroke my head a little.”
“No! Heel! Get! Don’t touch me there!”
“I like this spot better, it’s pretty soft!”
“Yeaaah, I’m gonna go to the kitchen, KP.”
“Wait, Ron!” Kim cried, reaching out weakly for her partners assistance before she was overcome by the monster she’d dared name Sheeroo.
Ron left her with her too, he wasn’t getting involved in any of that!
In the kitchen he found Betty settled at some expensive looking round table, sipping coffee from a mug with none of the funny detailed writing the ones at his own place held. It was much more peaceful in here regardless, even though he could still hear some pretty odd noises floating in the background from the ‘couple’ on the couch.
“Yo!” Ron said, making sure to catch the Director’s attention before he sat down, no need to startle the woman.
Betty smiled, “Good evening, Ron Stoppable.”
“Should you be sitting at the table like that? I mean…well you know…”
The small naked mole rat leapt from his pocket then, strutting across the tabletop in search of something edible.
“Well, Kim’s not in here…according to whatever questionable noises I can hear in the background, I’d say she’s quite busy…There’s no one to enforce such a rule…for now, in this solitude, I can be human.”
Ron said nothing else after that, feeling rather bad for the former leader of GJ, after all, it wasn’t like he had been written off as being non-human.
“Eheh! Sorry about that. Me and my big mouth.”
Betty only grinned, leaning back to rock on the last two legs of the chair she was in, sipping once more at the mug in her grasp, “Oh, don’t worry about it.”
“So how are you two doing?” Monique interrupted, coming through the entrance with an unleashed yet still collared Bonnie sulking behind her, though she had an odd look to her face.
“Not the least bit bothered by the non-consensual touching going on in the living room, that’s for sure!” Ron cheerily replied, leaning back in his own chair with a grin that would have matched Director’s had she not had such a strange horrified expression on her face.
“T-t-the what…?” Betty gawked, yelping as she lost her balance and fell backwards with a ‘thud’, hands still clasping that coffee however.
Ron was amazed that not a drop had spilt.
“See? This is why pets aren’t allowed on the expensive ancient furniture, Nie-Nie.” Monique said, her hand settled on her pet's head, “They don’t know how to sit. Now I know why Kim wasn’t so thrilled to bring you two along, your going to break everything.”
“I apologize…” Betty snarled from the ground, blushing from embarrassment and not yet mustering the grace or will to get back up.
“No prob,” Monique snickered, turning to an smiling Ron. “So, what’s this about? Oh, yes, Kim’s being molested. By her ‘pet’ no less! Isn’t that sometin’?”
Bonnie only grumbled behind Monique. As if that little display she’d glanced upon–if only for a moment–hadn’t been proof enough that Possible was…that way, then she didn’t know what it would take to open these simpleton minds! However, what frustrated her, or rather, scared her, was that she wouldn’t have minded–for that one moment she’d seen Kim being…well, what she was being–if that had been herself and her current ‘master’.
What! Impossible, impure thoughts. She could have never seen this…woman that way.
She must be absorbing their behavior. Maybe it’s something in the air or the water.
“Excuse me…” Betty mumbled, managing to gather herself before she scrambled from the kitchen. Molesting? That would not do! As an authority figure and an adult, Betty could not allow such…debauchery to continue while she sat, ignoring the issue!
And pretending that such actions taking place so near didn’t make her feel…mad? Ashamed? Jealous?--
Hell no! Not that!
Wouldn't help matters either.
No, it was simply her need to make sure that Kim wasn’t soiled by the evil that was Miss Shego, that’s all that’s it…and telling herself such she entered the living room, only to be rocked by the rather loud BOOM and dust, that exploded from the far wall.
“What the! I knew Kim said you two were something else but how the heck could you do damage to make a noise like that!” Monique yelled, running quickly from the kitchen followed by Ron with his pocketed Rufus and Bonnie.
Kim, who had been suffering underneath Shego’s rather…experienced hands suddenly found herself on the ground, tangled up with Shego in a rather questionable position. Shego, on the other hand, looked quite pissed off suddenly. Kim figured it was because she’d been so busy and whatever had made that noise had interrupted her business…
Business with heranyway
“The hell!” Shego snarled, rising to her feet, hands aflame. She was a shoot first, ask questions later sort of gal, and with no further hesitation she extended her hands, releasing two basketball sized plasma blasts toward the foggy shape that was emerging from the wall.
“Ah! Wait, stop, cease! No doing that in the house! My dad’s gonna flip!” Monique cried, but the sound was drowned out by the sudden mechanic groan of the large shape being hit, however when the dust cleared, it was unharmed.
“What the…”
Kim, with Shego no longer on top of her, quickly rose to her feet, fists balled up and ready for action.
“It just shook them off like it was nothing!” Ron cried, moving to his best friends side.
Betty on the other hand, scowled, taking a step back, closer to the innocents, those who could not protect themselves: Monique and Bonnie. “And it won’t work either…”
As the dust began to clear, they could all see the huge creation that had shook off Shego’s attack without so much as a grunt, not that it could have grunted, it wasn’t human!
“A robot?” Ron cried. Squinting his eyes as he tried to see the approaching thing past the falling dust. “Please not robot monkey, please not robot monkey, please not robot monkey!”
What then stood before them was a huge blue ball shaped machine, with tiny arms and thick almost bird structured legs. There was a single orb in the center, that shifted on a thin slot as it looked about and took in the fleshy beings within.
“It’s a bowling ball…with raptor arms and chicken legs…” Shego said, an eyebrow quirked in disbelief. “A bowling ball with raptor…and chicken…A bowling ball shrugged off my attack?”
“That’s no simple bowling ball,” Director explained, sneering all the way. “That’s GJ’s prototype war tank. AIEWS.”
“Prototype war tank? You mean, someone’s inside that thing?” Kim whispered.
“No.” Director explained, watching cautiously as the robot began it’s jerky walk forward, arms raised as slots moved down, revealing gun like nozzles. “It has AI, artificial intelligence, it’s very capable of moving on its own. Suppose to calculate the enemies movements and plan accordingly. It finds the quickest way to end a battle efficiently and quickly and has several strategic modes all created to the situation of the battle. Say, for example: Capture or Dead or Alive.” Soon Betty grinned, “I hadn’t known they finished it, and the plasma immunity is spectacular! I can only guess how much heat it can take at one time. And the power! The Artificially Intelligent Engineered War System is a success. ”
“Did you build that thing?” Bonnie whispered, speaking for the first time since Kim had seen her, it had almost thrown the teenage super hero off.
“Well no.”
“Then what the hell are you acting so proud for?”
“Uh, guys?” Ron squeaked, reminding the group, or rather the annoyed looking Shego of the rather large robot AIJKLMNOPwhatever that was still in the room and now making a very soft humming noise.
“Well,” Kim asked, turning toward Betty as she noticed the machine. Was it charging? Not good, “What mode do you think it’s on now?”
Betty frowned, questioning the odd behavior of the machine, how it aimed and steadied it’s charging guns their way, before it shot off two thin laser blasts. Kim moved, swift and agile, Shego right behind her, as they threw themselves out the way. The blast hit the couch, covering it in a blue flame before it was merely ashes.“I’d say Search and Destroy…”
“No! No, no, no, no!” Monique cried, mourning the death of the couch.
“Now she tells me,” Kim grunted, flipping back to her feet, Shego doing likewise as she growled.
“This thing, it came from GJ right?” Shego asked, watching Betty tense up.
“Yes, which means that it was sent by Scar, the new leader, the one who send out the bill saying we were no longer human and to be hunted…which is what the robot is apparently doing.”
“I don’t care what it is, what it does, or who it does, or, or…Just get it out of my house! I’ll strangle the guy who sent this thing!” Monique nearly roared, rolling up the sleeves of her sweatshirt. No, she was not pleased, and Bonnie seemed to shrink down beside her.
“I’m to beautiful to die so young! So early!”
“Well don’t you two worry your little heads,” Shego grinned, “I’mma kick this things ass from here to Drakken’s lair.”
“It’s strong, and it’s smarter then us! How will we be able too do it?”
“Smarter then you, perhaps, Sidekick.”
“My name is Ron!”
“Then this will be interesting, I suppose. A test of my baby’s might.” Director said, passion burning in her eyes.
“Your baby? Why are you still acting proud for something you didn’t create?” Shego snarled.
“Less arguing, more ass kicking!” Monique yelled.
“This is so not the drama!”
To be continued…