Kim finished ringing up the latest customer’s clothing purchase. “Thirty nine point eight creds have been deducted from your account.” she said. “I hope you enjoy your new outfit, and thank you for shopping at Club Banana.”
Kim watched the customer leave the store and, since there were no other customers in the store at the moment, went into the back room.
There, sitting where Kim had told her to, was Shego. After the fiasco of last night’s visit, where Shego had somehow managed to overload that boy’s computer, Kim didn’t feel it was a good idea to leave Shego at home.
“Kimmy!” said Shego happily when she saw Kim. Kim sighed at the pet-name and then came over to give Shego a hug.
“I hope you’re not too bored. “ said Kim, patting Shego on the head. “Maybe after work, we can go out somewhere.”
The dark-haired persocom smiled happily. Kim leaned over impulsively to kiss Shego on the forehead when…
-ding-a-ling-
The bell, above the front entrance, rang as someone entered the store. Kim turned from a disapointed Shego and went back to the main store area. “Good afternoon, and welcome to Club Banana…” said Kim, then frowned.
The girl who had just entered the store was the bane of Kim’s existence at school. Bonnie Rockwaller. Extremely popular, with rich parents and a snobby attitude. A blonde-haired female persocom, styled to look seventeen years old, followed Bonnie in.
“Why, hello there Kim.” said Bonnie. “My, Club Banana must be pretty hard up to hire you.”
Kim gritted her teeth, trying to ignore Bonnie’s barbs. “How may I help you today?” asked Kim, doing her best to be polite.
“I was in the mood for a new outfit. Maybe something like what you’re wearing, but only… you know… actually in style.” said Bonnie.
Kim bit back a snippy reply. “We have some new blouses in stock from the Cleopatra line…” she said instead.
Bonnie shrugged and walked over to the blouse rack, temporarily losing interest in tormenting Kim. She picked out two blouses and looked at them. “What do you think, Tara…” she asked her persocom. “Do you think Brick would like me better wearing the purple, or the gold?”
“You would look wonderful in either, mistress Bonny.” Tara said.
“I knew you always had to buy your friends, Bonny.” said Kim, her desire to get revenge overcoming her good sense. “But I never realized it was literally.”
Bonnie sneered. “Aw… Kim jealous because I’ve got a persocom and she doesn’t?”
“I’ve got a persocom.” said Kim.
“Buy it at the Smarty Mart? Maybe a reduced cost item like your buddy Ron Floppable has?” said Bonnie.
“My persocom is a lot better then yours.” said Kim. “She even impressed one of Ron’s super-geek friends.”
“Kimmy, dear… ALL of Ron’s friends are super geeks, including you.” said Bonnie smugly. “Now, I suppose you MIGHT have scraped up enough cash to buy a persocom from Loser-mart, but there’s no way she can compare to MY Tara.”
“Wanna bet?” snarled Kim.
“Well… if you insist.” said Bonnie, smirking.
Way to go, Kim… thought Kim. You just let your ego get you into another mess.
“I think puzzle solving should do for the contest.” said Bonnie. “Where’s your persocom?”
“In the back room.” admitted Kim.
“Good… bring her out, while I go get two Rubik’s cubes.”. Bonny said. “If my Tara can solve the cube before yours can, you’ll pay for both of the blouses I want.”
“And if I win, I get to pick what you wear on your date with Brick.” said Kim, hoping the stakes would be too high and Bonny would call off the bet.
No such luck. “You’re on, Kim…” said Bonnie. “Get your money ready… I never lose.”. Bonnie walked out, as regal as a queen, while Tara followed her.
“Me and my big mouth…” said Kim. She went to the backroom. “Um, Shego?”
“Yes, Kimmy?” asked Shego, smiling.
“Do you know what a Rubik’s cube is?” asked Kim, tentatively.
“No, Kimmy.” admitted Shego.
“Um, right.” said Kim. “It’s this cube with these little pieces on each side… with the pieces being different colors. You can twist the cube, so the pieces go on different sides. The idea is to try to get all the pieces matching up, so that one side has all the yellow pieces, one side has all the blue, and so on.”
“Ok.” said Shego, as she carefully stored away the information on Rubik’s cube.
“I’d like you to try to come and solve one.” said Kim.
Shego tilted her head. “Why?”
“I… kind of a made a bet with Bonnie, and I don’t want to lose.” said Kim.
“You don’t like to lose.” said Shego. When Kim nodded, Shego went on to ask “What is a bet?”
“A bet is… well, it’s a challenge between two people. The winner gets a prize from the loser.” said Kim.
“Are the fights between us in the dojo challenges?” asked Shego.
“Yeah, I’d definitely say they were challenging.” said Kim, remembering how hard she had to fight to keep up with Shego.
Shego suddenly frowned. “Kimmy… you have been losing forty seven percent of our matches… was I doing wrong?”
“No, no!” said Kim. “You were doing right… trying to be the best fighter you can be.”
“But you do not like losing.” said Shego.
“Shego, winning isn’t everything.” said Kim. “I’d rather lose to an opponent because we both did our best, then to win because someone let me.”
“I understand.” said Shego. “I too have been doing my best in our fights.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” said Kim. “But this time, it’s a mental challenge…”.
Kim led Shego into the store. Bonnie was already back, carrying a bag from a local toy store. She took out two Rubik’s cubes and tossed one of the brightly colored puzzles to Kim. “Ok, we’ll both mix a cube up.” said Bonnie. “Then we’ll give a cube to the other person’s persocom. First persocom with a solved cube is the winner. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” said Kim. The two girls began twisting the cubes, trying to mix them up.
Tara, following instructions given by Bonnie on the way back from the game store, watched Kim intently. Her computer pathways were recording each twist Kim was giving the cube, so that all Tara would have to do is reverse the movements to solve the cube.
Shego glanced around the store, then looked at Tara and Bonnie. Tara’s ears were pyramid shaped, dark purple with the bottom sides of the pyramids bbeing painted gold. Bonnie, the person who Shego’s owner had bet against, was grinning as she gave the cube a last twist.
“Ok, Kim.” said Bonnie. “I think that’s enough. Ready to go?”
Kim frowned, giving the cube a last twist. “Ok, Bonnie.” she said.
“On the count of three…” said Bonnie. “One, two, three.”
Bonnie handed her cube to Shego, while Kim gave the cube she had randomized to Tara.
Tara began twisting immediately, the glitter-flecked nail polish on her finger tips glistening in the store lighting as she began undoing the many twists Kim had used.
Shego stared at the cube… her green eyes turning pale white.
Bonnie smirked. The cheep-ass persocom Kim had managed to buy somewhere hadn’t even started on the cube, while Tara would be sure to finish in just a few more minutes.
“Shego?” asked Kim, nervously. “Is something wrong?”
“No, Kimmy.” said Shego. Her eyes returned to their normal green color. “I was just considering possibilities.” Shego twisted the top and bottom sides of the cube roughly 45 degrees, then turned the cube on it’s side. Another set of twists caused the cube to ‘break’ into about 27 sub-cubes.
Bonnie laughed. “My word, Kim… your persocom is even more defective then you are!”
Kim blinked in confusion. Shego showed no signs of confusion. Instead, Shego quickly grabbed the pieces and began fitting the pieces together. “Done!” announced Shego, holding up the fully reassembled cube.
“That’s cheating!” snapped Bonnie, just as Tara reported ‘Done’.
Kim blinked, then took the cube Shego had been holding. All six sides were the appropriate color. “Bonnie, you said ‘the first persocom with a solved cube’. And this definitely IS a solved cube.” pointed out Kim.
Bonnie spluttered, but Kim just crossed her arms and looked firm. “Come on, Bonnie.” said Kim. “Not woman enough to live up to your own bet?”
Bonnie growled. “Fine. Whatever. Pick something, but it has to be from inside the store. I do NOT wear Smarty-mart clothes.”
“Ok.” said Kim, her eyes looking around the store, then grinned. “What I want you to wear on your date is… HER outfit.”. Kim pointed at the blue skirt and top that Tara was wearing.
“You want me to wear something a ROBOT wore?” gasped Bonnie.
“You said from inside the store, and Tara is definitely inside the store.” said Kim, smirking. “And don’t try to go back on your wager… I can always ask Brick what you wore on the date last night. “
Bonnie growled and stalked out of the store. The thought of wearing Tara’s clothing… the clothing of a menial robot, no matter how expensive it was, was demeaning… but so was the thought of welsching on a bet with Kim Possible.
Shego looked at Kim. “You are pleased I won?”
“Very pleased.” said Kim. She hugged Shego. “That was some very creative thinking you did… I’m proud of you.”
Shego smiled and hugged Kim back.
Adrenna Lynn glared at the three persocoms in the back of the hover truck. “Ok, bozos…” she said. “Dr. Drakken paid a lot of money for you guys. I worked very hard, stealing that money for him, so you guys had better be worth it.”
The three persocoms, uploaded with the combat/infiltration data from the disk, just looked at Adrenna Lynn.
“Number one, you know what items to steal?” asked Lynn.
“Yes ma’am.” said one of the persocoms. “The Hex-Ion power cells and the high-energy leads.”
“Very good.” said Lynn. “Two?”
The persocom she had designated number two spoke. “I will be getting the high-performance motivators.”
“And Three?” said Lynn.
“The carbon-crystalline extruders.” said the remaining persocom.
“Ok, we’re right outside the electronics warehouse.” said Lynn. “You’ve got ten minutes. Go.”
The three persocoms exited the van.
“They’ll never make it.” said Lynn to the goon who was driving the truck.
The goon, Gus, considered. The persocoms were pretty standard models, but they were moving a lot smoother and more adjile now then before Dr. D had uploaded that disk data into them. Also, they were carrying the welding tools and electronic lock picks with considerable confidence.
“Bet you twenty creds?” he suggested.
Dr. Director looked over the four remaining prototypes of the Global Operatives Project. She frowned in confusion. “Dr. Flanner… We only authorized four GO prototypes. If SHE/GO was stolen, why are there still four here?”
Dr. Flanner coughed. “Um… actually, we had a problem with the WE/GO model. As you recall, the WE uses a form of ‘solid holograms’ to create multiple copies of itself. The problem is that the process requires considerable energy and computer power. We weren’t able to shoehorn all the equipment into one body.’
“So, you made WE/GO a set of twins.” said Dr. Director, nodding in understanding. “How about the other two? Fully functional?”
“HE/GO definitely… He was the simplest power to design, super strength and durability.” said Dr. Flanner. She smiled proudly. “He’s strong enough to crush a military tank in his bare hands, and an entire army could try to pound him into submission without leaving a scratch. ME/GO… I’m afraid we haven’t been able to have him shrink down to smaller then an inch tall. Any smaller, and we start picking up interference from the quantum-physics level.”
“I doubt shrinking will be required to get back SHE/GO.” said Dr. Director.
“Doctor, doctor!” said Will Du, rushing in. “We’ve just got a report that a string of high-tech burglaries has been going on. We think Dr. Drakken is behind it.”
“Why’s that?” asked Dr. Flanner.
“Dr. Flanner, we field operatives are highly trained in annalyzing clues and deducing the meaning behind those clues.” said Will, glaring at the four persocoms. “It is an innate ability that no machine can ever duplicate. Furthermore…”
“He’s been leaving calling cards again?” asked Dr. Director, interrupting Will’s tirade.
“Yes.” admitted Will. He took out a plastic bag and handed it to Betty Director. Inside the bag was a white business card, with the words “Dear Global Justice: Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Love and Kisses, Dr. Drakken” written on it.
Dr. Director shook her head sadly. “What type of mad scientist WRITES OUT a demented laugh? With five exclamation points?”
“Um, ma’am, there’s six…” said Will. “The boys in criminal psychiatry think he’s trying to overcompensate due to his insecurities about whether he truly is a mad genius or not.”
“What’s he stealing?” asked Dr. Director.
“A bunch of high-tech parts.” said Will. “Almost as if he was planning to build himself another S.H.E./G.O.”
“Mayby S.H.E./G.O. was damaged in the theft, and he needs to get her operational again.” said Dr. Director. “In any case, this gives us time. Will, sit down with Dr. Flanner for a bit. Work out what other parts Dr. Drakken might need to fix or rebuild S.H.E./G.O. For his next theft, I want our G.O. operatives waiting.”
“Yes ma’am.” said Will.
“Just a few more parts, and my Dark She/Go will be complete!” said Dr. Drakken.
“Yeah, yeah, wonderful.” muttered Adrenna Lynn.
“My, you’re certainly a grumpy gus.” said Dr. Drakken. “Oh, that reminds me… Gus, in the goon pool? He said to remind you that you owe him twenty creds.”
THE END…
….OF THE BEGINNING. THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY IS STILL TO COME.
HAD YOU WORRIED THERE, DIDN’T I?