“Hey KPuh… huh… nuh?”
“Hi Ron,” said Kim dryly, opening her locker. “Nice to see you too.”
Ron scratched the back of his neck. “You look… different.”
“Don't I know it,” said Kim.
“I mean, I thought wearing white after Labor Day was a huge no-no,” said Ron.
Kim gave him a Look. “Well, you know, when I woke up this morning I went through my closet and I decided to wear this backless white top which I don't recall owning yesterday, because, you know, wearing anything not backless would be difficult what with my new wings.”
“Yeah…” said Ron. “You know, I wasn't gonna mention it, but now that you have… what's with the wings?”
“Apparently, some higher power chose me to carry out a mission.”
“Ooh,” said Ron. “What mission?”
“Stopping Shego.”
Ron frowned. “Since when do you need wings to stop Shego?”
“Since she became demonic.”
“What?”
Kim sighed. “It's a long story. Well, actually it's not, but…”
Kim went pale and stared off into space.
“Kim?” Ron said. “Kim? Hello?”
“She's… near…” Kim whispered.
“Who? Shego?”
“I… uhm… I have to go.”
“But what about cl-” Ron began before noticing that he was talking to a retreating back. “Right, Rufus,” he said. “Let's get going.”
Rufus poked out of Ron's pocket. “Uh-huh?”
“Kim needs our help,” said Ron. “So it's not just about skipping class, OK?”
She found Shego in one of Middleton's main streets, lounging against a wall. She looked up when she sensed Kim and smiled.
“Hey there, Princess,” said Shego. “I could feel you coming a mile away.”
Shego stepped forward and now Kim managed to get a good look at her wings. They weren't the black, leathery monstrosities she'd been expecting. They were made out of feathers and looked as soft as her own. The only thing that hinted at their less than divine nature was the fact that they were black. Not surprisingly, she wasn't wearing her jumpsuit, but what she was wearing was black and green, which was strangely comforting to Kim.
“So you're an angel now, are you?” said Shego.
“Apparently.”
“Got any powers?”
“A few,” said Kim, who had no idea.
Shego chuckled. “Well, so do I, Princess. Not that I asked for them, but I got stuck with ‘em anyway. So. I take it you're here to defeat me or something.”
“Well, it is what I do best,” said Kim.
“Fine,” said Shego. “Let's get this over with.”
Shego flicked her hand and suddenly she was holding a stream of fire, twisting this way and that.
“A whip?” said Kim. “Hardly a practical weapon.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Shego. “But it's kind of expected. How ‘bout you, Princess?”
Kim was about to think that she didn't really know, but then she did know. Cold knowledge sank into her brain. She had no idea where it had come from, but now it was there and it almost felt as if it had always been there.
Kim held out a hand. It started glowing, emitted a fierce light that slowly formed into a sword. Which then caught fire.
“A flaming sword,” said Shego. “Not particularly original either.”
Kim took the sword in both hands. “It'll do.”
Shego smiled faintly. And then the fire whip came towards Kim's face it high speed. She instinctively raised her sword to block the strike, but the whip appeared to have a very limited mind of its own, snaking down and wrapping itself around her ankles. If Kim had the time, she would have wondered why the flames weren't burning her flesh, but with Shego pulling on the whip and her falling backwards, she didn't have the time.
Lying on her back, Kim felt the whip letting go of her legs. She raised herself onto her elbows to see Shego grinning. The ground beneath her rumbled. Acting on orders from that part of the brain that was most concerned with survival, Kim leapt up into the air, narrowly avoiding the sudden burst of lava.
“Seems like you know a few new tricks,” Kim said.
“So do you,” said Shego.
It was only at that point that Kim noticed the fact that, while she had indeed leapt, she hadn't landed just yet.
“Huh,” said Kim, her wings flapping slowly. “You learn something new every day.”
“I'll say.”
Kim pushed against the air and flew towards Shego, flaming sword at the ready. Shego kept standing, grinning, until Kim was almost near her. She lept up, the swing of Kim's sword harmlessly cutting the air underneath her feet.
“Of course, I know how to fly as well.”
Kim looked up. Storm clouds started gathering high above.
Shego raised an eyebrow. “What are you looking at?” Then she looked up as well. “Holy crap!”
The black-haired woman flew to the side and the bolt of lightning struck Kim. Electricity sparked through her body, her hair spreading out.
“Try to aim better next time, Princess,” said Shego.
“What?” said Kim, turning to face her. “You think I missed?”
Shego managed to stop herself from flinching. Kim's eyes were completely white and looking at them was like looking at a discharching Tesla coil. It was not something you expected to see outside of comics.
“How much of an angel are you?” Shego asked.
Kim pointed her sword at her. “Enough of an angel to judge you.”
“Judge me? That's rich.”
“No,” said Kim. “Just the truth.”
“F-F-Freeze!”
Kim and Shego looked down. Police cars were lining the street and very nervous looking men in uniform were pointing guns at them.
“Cops?” said Shego. “When did they get here?”
“I don't know,” said Kim. She blinked a few times and, much to Shego's secret relief, her eyes returned to normal. “How come I didn't notice them coming?”
“I guess I had all your attention.”
“You don't distract me that much,” said Kim. “Well… not always.”
“Oh please,” said Shego. “How many times did Drakken get away with his latest theft just because you were too focused on getting physical with me?”
“That's… that's… I did say ‘not always',” Kim snapped.
One of the very nervous police officers raised his megaphone. “D-drop your weapons! And, also, uhm, get back on the ground.”
“I don't have time for this,” Shego groaned. “Come on, Princess, let's get going.”
“Why would I go anywhere with you?”
Shego raised an eyebrow. “You know your policy of ‘shoot first, ask questions later’? Well, you shot, so let's go and talk. Unless you want to go talk to the nice men in blue down there.”
“What are you up to?” Kim asked.
“Look, you want to stop me being a demon,” said Shego. “Well, so do I. So maybe we could work together for once.”
“It'd be the second time, actually,” said Kim.
“Whatever,” said Shego. “Now are you coming?”
“T-This is your final warning!”
“OK, fine, I'm coming with,” said Kim. “But if this is some sort of trick, you will pay.”
Shego rolled her eyes and flew off with Kim following close behind.
Down on the ground, Ron looked up with slack-jawed awe.
“Did you just see that?”
“Uh-huh,” said Rufus.
“Too bad,” said Ron. “I thought I was going insane.”