If he weren’t already the shade of ‘been dead a while’ blue he was so fond of he would have taken on the hue in fear. The last ten minutes had been utter torture, something he was normally ok with, but this time the agony had been exquisite. The aroma coming from the revised recipe had been steadily getting better until he could finally take it no longer. “So Stoppable what did you have in mind for this little wager?”
Ron smiled dopily as he leaned against the wall, another two minutes and they would have perfection. “Oh no Dr. D we’re doing this Kim’s way, which usually tends to end up big.” When Drakken nodded his understanding Ron continued, “We keep it simple, we stick to the arrangement for them is a given so don’t try to weasel out of that, that said If the new and improved coco-moo isn’t all that, I take over as your personal chef no questions asked.” Drakken grinned broadly at the prospect, only the best of the villains ever managed to find decent cooks and Ron was far and above decent. “If, however, it is what I say then you go legit and let me show you the real way to take over the world.”
Drakken almost drowned in his last mug-o-moo, as he liked to call it, realization dawning that with those stakes wagered against the concoction that was making him drool just from smell he had already lost. The good guys didn’t like to play any fairer than the bad guys at times he muttered to himself, it was already too late to worry over such things anyway. “Fine! But I know you can’t have made it better!” He was a touch jealous not so much because someone else was tinkering with his secret pride and joy but because he really didn’t care as long as he got another cup, at this point the smell had him nearly in a coco trance, seduced by an evolved version of his baby. Ron handed him a fresh mug drawn straight from the brew pot and waited, Drakken had been so busy drooling to notice it was finished and served until it was directly under his nose. ‘Dammit!’ he thought as he wrapped his fingers around the handle and put the mug to his lips, it was the perfect temperature and as the thick intoxicant washed over his palette he conceded defeat, “Dammit! … do you want it in writing?”
Ron just grinned and returned to the kettle he had been preparing for the next much larger batch. “Not at all Dr. If you weasel out of this I’ll just send Kim after you. Yesh Shego will likely kill me, if you send her, but the only means you have to get her that mad would have you dead long before I even talked to Kim.” Paying no mind to Drakkens fearful ‘eeps’ he measured and poured the varied dry ingredients into the copper vessel preparing for another batch, “Now since the bet is over we have work to do. I want you to build us a mass production facility tonight.” His grin returned and sent a shiver down Drakken’s spine, “This needs to be on the shelves yesterday, for the holidays and all, but we shall just have to improvise. What were you calling this? Mug-o-Moo? That is actually a pretty good name for a brand. Ever thought of a career in the fast food service?”
Kim staggered up the steps leading to the front door of her parents’ retro-future home, she had never personally cared for the style but it was spacious and functional so she didn’t complain. The fact that she had the loft room didn’t hurt things any. She was about to turn the knob on the door to let herself in when it spun and flew open releasing the tweebs followed by the mother unit. All three promptly stopped and gawked as they looked the battered young woman over. “Hi guys, did I miss breakfast again?”
Being a neurosurgeon Mrs. Dr. Possible was used to seeing some fairly beat up people. Most came in looking as if they had been trampled on by elephants and she could handle that without batting an eye, when it came to her only daughter she wasn’t quite so sturdy and it was taking all her willpower to keep from keeling over and passing out. “What the hell happened Kimmie?” She demanded as she ran forward and began to carefully examine her daughter. “Explain as you walk, inside this instant!”
Kim scowled for a moment, this was so not the way she wanted to get the day started, and it was Friday morning after all. It was when she tried to step around her mother to go inside she realized her mom might be right to worry, the first step went fine but, as she made the move for step two she felt faint and her vision went blurry. “Err little help here please.” Damn I didn’t think I was that bad off! She chastised herself as her mother took an arm over her shoulder and helped her inside and to the couch in the sitting room.
She got passing glances at her reflection in the odd collection of prints her mom had hung in the entrance hall. It would probably have helped more if she could have seen without the blurred vision. Somewhat scared she mentally tallied up the number of times she and Shego had contacted in that fight. It wasn’t terribly useful to anyone save perhaps herself and a doctor trying to fix any damage she might need help repairing but it did help her put things into perspective. Shego had been absolutely right, they had given it everything they had, no holding back and she had only walked away because Shego let her. She could sense a storm brewing from another direction as well. Her mother was livid and getting more so with every passing second.
Mrs. Dr. Possible eased her wounded child onto the sofa as gently as she could and did her best to hold in the feelings she was choking on. She was utterly furious with Kim for letting herself get hurt this badly, she was furious with Ron for letting her get hurt at all, and she was furious with whomever had done it. “OK Kim I want you to focus on this light and follow it as I move it.” From the looks of some of the wounds she figured she had the identity of the person that had done the damage, she had helped her daughter fight the woman a number of times already. “Ok I’m going to check a couple of other things, Jim, Tim one of you go dial 9-1-1 and get an ambulance on its way the other get some cold water.” Her tone brokered no point in argument and the twins bolted to carry out their orders.
Kim tried to sit up only to wince as her mother pushed her back with a single finger, “Ok Mom please chill.” She opened her eyes and got a clear view of her mother’s worried face. “I know I’m pretty beat up and you’re so not going to like hearing this but it was for the best.” She had a pretty good idea that at that moment the only reason her mother hadn’t taken her up by the shoulders and given a good shake was because Shego had already done so, repeatedly. “I don’t need to go to the…” She did not get the chance to finish; her mother had leaned forward and gripped her in an almost desperate hug shaking as she cried quietly.
“Kim don’t do this, I am a trained medical doctor, who happens to specialize in the brain. You’re showing several of the obvious symptoms typical of concussion, judging from the rest of your uniform I’m willing to bet you have at least a few busted ribs and assorted other bones or does this not hurt.” Kim all but screamed as her mom tapped her wrist with a fingertip. “I’m so sorry Kim but I don’t think you know how bad you could really be.”
Kim lowered her brows in a rather heated flash of anger, which served to clear her fuzzy head. “Don’t know? You think I don’t know that when the wall fell on me it could have just as easily squashed me flat as busted my wrist, this is the kind of thing that you and I and everyone else knew would eventually happen.” She snapped, she loved and respected her mother but after graduating high school she felt considerably less constrained around her. “Like I was saying, as bad as this is there’s a chance, a very good chance that it may turn out for the best. You will have to trust me on this.” She met her mother’s hard glare with an equally unflinching resolve and they sat there until Tim returned with the water and a few of the emergency kits they kept handy, best to be well prepared at the Possible residence.
Mrs. Possible knew her daughter would not tolerate any interference from her on the dangerous aspects of her job but as mother and doctor, she had to get Kim to take these injuries seriously. In her estimation, it was a miracle her daughter hadn’t been killed by a number of the hits she had taken. “Ok Kimmie now isn’t the time for that, You need proper medical attention, I can’t do that here and you can’t argue, I won’t budge on that.” Kim’s reluctant nod was encouraging. “We need to get a splint on your wrist and start cleaning you up.”
Shego flopped lazily down on the papa-san love seat in which she spent the majority of her time at home curled up. The single story flat was well suited to her tastes swathed in rich vibrant greens and shadowed blacks giving the place an almost alien ambiance. Jade dragons of all sizes decorated the niches of the walls giving it the oriental exotic look she so favored. She wanted a bath, possibly more than she had ever wanted anything else in her life, but her body was in full on revolt. Kim had not played around and Shego had the fight she had been wanting from the start.
Coco-moo aside Kim was by far the best fighter she had ever encountered, she knew nearly as many of the essential martial techniques as Shego did and where she was lacking her natural inventiveness and years of cheerleader acrobatics filled in well. Shego had held her powers back hardly using them at all in the initial rounds but the constant taunting from her red headed sparring partner along with her stunning endurance wore her down to the point she had to start using the plasma she wielded just to keep her edge.
She reviewed the fight from a number of angles in her head tallying up the contact count and was surprised that they seemed to have been an even match, but only so long as Shego held back and just fought on her own skill. If she had used the tremendous power she held in reserve she would have been able to vaporize the young woman in an instant. As that would have meant no more fun, it was never an option.
A quiet purr rumbled in her ear as Greystoke climbed around the wide rim of the chair, she had befriended the young leopard after being stranded by both Drakken and Kim. Remembering how the cat had come into her life Shego looked herself over once more to take stock of what was left to recover from, the minor nicks cuts scratches and scrapes had healed nicely in the thirty minutes it took to remove herself from the mostly destroyed lair. The other injuries would take a bit longer, busted ribs, a cracked shin, three busted toes, she figure a good nights sleep and she would be good to go. Sometimes being green had its advantages she admitted to herself with a sly smile.
The siren from an ambulance caught her attention and drug her up from the threatening grasp of slumber, there were only five houses on this street, she was in one, the Possibles another with two older couples occupying the remaining two that had residents. Ignoring the flare of agony from her ribs Shego got out of the comfortable chair and went to the bay window to look around. Carefully parting the black velvet curtains, she looked down the slope to the possible residence and gasped lightly as she saw the ambulance parked there.
In a flash, she ran to the mantle, grabbed her binoculars, and returned to the observation point. Brining the house into sharp focus Shego looked into Kim’s room where she saw her mother gathering some bedclothes and stuffing them into a bag, this worried her more than she had ever expected such a scene to. Quickly swinging the binocs to show the side of the road where the ambulance was parked she felt her blood run cold as she saw Kim laid out on the stretcher and being loaded into the vehicle. “SHIT! Shit shit shit! This can’t be happening she’s stronger than that!” She knew Kim was still alive but from the way they were buzzing around Shego could only guess at the reasons and considering the fight she would likely have been the direct cause for all of them.
Mrs. Possible stood at the receptionist desk filling out the forms and paperwork required for admitting her daughter to the hospital, she was near the end of her limits and with each stroke of the pen it was getting harder to maintain her composure. Kim might well be one of the strongest women she had ever known but she was also her daughter and signing her into the hospital just after her eighteenth birthday had brought all the worry and concern she held in check for so long to the surface. When she finished the last page of that set of forms the nurse patted her hand gently, they knew each other well but this was the first time they had been on opposing sides of this very desk.
James Possible busied himself with carting the few essentials Kim would need to her room and taking the twins to the cafeteria, on Mrs. Possible's hospital card, for snacks and drinks. He was doing what ever he could to ‘not think’ about his daughters condition, he had never said much trusting his wife to handle Kim in most areas but when she took up the crime fighting profession he always felt nervous as he watched her run off to save the world. She was his daughter and he prayed every day for her safe return. This time he believed those prayers to have been heard because while she was hurt Kim was safe and she came back, her not coming back scared him more than anything else he could imagine.
Shego braced herself for a moment in the chilly winter air, she was about to put her stealth skills to their ultimate test and was barely recovered in the damages that would most slow her down. Finding her center and releasing the heart calming breath Shego made her move, an elderly gentleman was crossing the threshold of the automatic door and she slipped inside without so much as a flutter of paper as she moved to the far side of the desk. Mrs. Dr. Possible was standing there signing forms so Shego took the chance to make another pass and was rewarded with a glimpse of the room Kim had been assigned. She would have to make a return trip and copy that file, she thought for a moment, when Kim’s mother started to look in her direction she was off again and moving down the most indirect route she could come up with to Kim’s room.
For her part Kim’s mother seemed outwardly unaware of what had just transpired but the familiar scent of perfume wafting past her told her exactly who was there. Once the last paper was signed on the insurance forms, she was finally free to get to her daughters room and see if she could confirm her suspicions. If Shego thought she could just waltz in and finish the job she had another think coming.
Shego edged to the corner of the hall and slipped a small mirror wand around it giving her a clean line of sight, there were no guards and thus far, no indication that she had been spotted. Sprinting the short distance across and down the adjoining corridor Shego slid to a stop right in front of Kim’s room. Knocking gently she whispered, “Kimmie Princess it’s me, can I come in?”
To say that she was shocked would have been a terrible understatement, Kim was rarely ever at a loss for words but she could not find them to respond to Shego for a moment. Just as quietly though, she did manage to whisper back. “Yes and hurry you don’t have much time.” She could only hope that Shego wouldn’t bolt at that type of statement but it was the truth. She was glad when she heard the door swing open then click shut. Her immediate impression of Shego changed after she got a good look at the woman. She looked like she had barely been touched while Kim was covered nearly head to toe in bruises and assorted injuries. “My my aren’t you the charming sight, Ruff day at the spa?”
As she took in a quick study of Kim on the hospital bed Shego let herself smile and released the breath she had been holding. “What’s going on Possible?” She demanded quietly as she crossed the room in a couple of steps and sat softly on the bedside. “You trying to weasel out of the deal?”
Kim chuckled and grimaced as the twinges of pain it caused, “I’m ok Your Highness, thanks for asking.” She forced herself to repress another chuckle as Shego made an unrecognizable face. “Mom is tweaked, as expected. Dad is trying not to show that he is scared, also as expected and the tweebs are openly scared, which in itself is scary. There’s only one person in the mix I can’t explain.”
Shego turned to look at Kim knowing full well who she had referred to, if it had been anyone else she would have left that instant. “I was worried ok? Happy now?” Shego huffed a bit trying to avoid her instinct to smack the redhead. “And don’t go blaming me for healing faster, it was a package deal, came with the bodywork and paintjob.”
Kim reached out, cupped the older woman’s face, and turned her so they could see eye to eye, “I am fine Shego, battered bruised and bloodied yes, but fine. A couple of minor concussions and a bum wrist, nothing the vacation time you managed won’t fix.” Shego scowled and twisted her face away from the younger woman’s hand not wanting her to see the relief in her eyes. “And no I don’t plan to ‘weasel out’ If nothing else this proved your point loud and clear, not that I needed the lesson.”
Shego snapped her head away from her covert glances at Kim, she had heard something at the door, their time was up. “Ok Princess I’m going to hold you to that. I’ll pick you up at seven am sharp. Be ready or I will come in and collect you.” She enjoyed the scowl decorating Kim’s face just then but turned to open the large window for her exit. She was most the way out when she heard Kim call her name, “Yes Kimmie?”
“I liked ‘Peaches’ best, cya at seven.” Kim laid back and rolled over cutting off any response from Shego who promptly dropped out of sight over the edge of the window, she had just settled when the door opened and her mother came in. The look on her face told Kim she was busted.
“Care to explain this Kimmie?” She was beyond outraged, when she arrived at the door she heard the pair making covert plans and now Kim was discussing pet names with the woman who had just tried to kill her, not on this Doctors watch. “I want the whole story and I want it now!”
Kim winced at the anger and concern she could hear in her mother’s voice but she was well beyond caring at the moment. The pain had long since caught up with her and the medications to ease it were only just beginning to take affect. “Mom I know you’re just worried but I’m eighteen now and technically I don’t have to answer to you anymore. If you don’t like that then forgive me please but I won't be answering any more questions tonight.” She looked to her mother’s angry face and smiled sweetly, “I don’t know how much you heard nor, at this point, do I care but I will tell you this, it may have taken some rather extreme measures to get through but I am reconsidering things and getting a vacation out of it.”
She couldn’t resist chuckling over that remark, Kim hadn’t had a real break for going on seven years now. “Kimmiecakes I’m glad to hear that your thinking about this but that woman could have killed you tonight.” She didn’t want her voice to crack but it had, she hadn’t had the chance to let go and the strain was getting to her.
It took a minute for Kim to figure out how to say what she wanted to say, even longer to figure out that now wasn’t the time for all of it. “Listen mom that woman was in as bad, if not worse, condition than I am. In the end though she was the last one standing and yet here I am.” She laid a hand across her mothers and tried to stifle a yawn, it could not be contained however and shook her for a moment. It was near midnight and they were only just now allowing her enough of the medicines to let her rest.
Mrs. Dr. Possible opted for silence after the yawn settled into a comfortable smile on Kims face, she would drop it for the time being but not forget. Mysterious rendezvous with violent criminal types would be discussed when they could both be calm and level headed. After a few moments she checked to made sure Kim was asleep before she picked through the duffel bag of Kims clothes and found the Kimmunicator. Outside the room she keyed it up and waited for Wade to get into camera view. “Wade I don’t care what it takes or what you have to do I want this entire hospital monitored but more importantly I want Kimmies room to be recorded from this point till she leaves the hospital, understood?”
From her bed Kim scowled as she heard her mother talking, she was getting rather fed up with the authority figure role being used against her but her mother was a pro and Kim hadn’t yet found the reason strong enough to tell her to leave off. Kim did expect that the time to do so was getting closer in a hurry. Well, there’s not much to do for it tonight, she reasoned and wrestled with the stiff pillows and bed sheets, she wasn’t able to fight them for comfort long as the painkillers took affect and she drifted into a relaxed if unmoving sleep.