“So why don't we have superpowers?”
Kim groaned and closed her locker.
“Ron, we weren't hit by a meteorite, remember?”
“Details, details,” said Ron, trailing along next to Kim. “But wouldn't it be cool if we had them too?”
“Yes, Ron,” Kim sighed. She really didn't mind that Ron was so enthusiastic after meeting Team Go, but that had been a week ago and a girl could only take so many talks about cool superpowers before it really got to her.
“I mean, OK, shrinking may not be the most useful power ever, but think of the possibilities of multiplying! I could go hang out at Bueno Nacho while a copy of me is sleeping through English!”
“Yeah, but which you would be the real you then?” Kim asked.
Ron scratched his chin. “The one who could make even more copies of himself?” he suggested.
“Actually, all of them would be the real them.”
Kim and Ron stopped at the exact same time, and turned around simultaneously. A girl dressed in green and black clothes that suggested she wasn't interested in conforming to anything, but still wanted to look incredibly stylish while doing so, lounged against the wall.
“Shego?” Kim asked.
“What tipped you off?” said Shego. “The skin?”
“The whole of you, really,” said Kim.
Shego grinned. “Aw, glad to see you haven't forgotten me yet, Princess.”
“It was only a week ago,” said Kim.
“A lot can happen in a week.”
“So why're you here?” Ron asked. “Did Aviarius escape again?”
“Not that I know of,” said Shego. “Nah, I decided to transfer to Middleton.”
“OK,” said Kim slowly. “Why?”
“Well, there's a lot of crime in Middleton and I am a crime-fighter. I want to help out.”
“Thanks,” said Kim. “But me and Ron can handle it.”
“Kim! She's got superpowers. How can you not want her to help us?”
“Yeah,” Rufus agreed.
“Maybe Kim here is just scared I'll slow her down,” Shego said. “Maybe she thinks I rely too much on my powers and can't really do anything else.”
“That's not it,” said Kim.
“Then what is it?” said Shego.
Kim looked away from Shego while trying to look as if she wasn't looking away from Shego and certainly wasn't looking for ways to escape. She hadn't really seen Shego all that long, but there was something about that air of laid-back competence that appealed to her. Something about the way she smirked and grinned and looked at the world that was… thrilling.
So thrilling, in fact, that Kim had spent her week trying hard not to think about it.
“Tell you what,” said Shego. “Meet me at the gym after school and we'll spar. If you think you can use me, great. If not, well, we'll see.”
Kim gratefully flung herself onto the rock sticking out of rushing stream. “Wait, you go to school here?”
“As of this morning,” said Shego.
“Aren't you a little old for high school?”
Shego grinned. “You'd be surprised. And anyway, all it took was a little bit of shuffling with papers.”
“That's illegal,” said Kim.
“But for a good cause,” said Shego. “So? Gym?”
Kim looked at Shego's face and didn't know what to say. Various conflicting emotions battled for control of her tongue, until rationality rolled its eyes and intervened.
“Alright then,” said Kim. “But only because we're probably gonna need all the help we can get.”
“Great,” said Shego. “It's a date.”
“It's not a…”
“See you then, Princess,” said Shego, breezing past her. “Maybe you too Stoppable.”
“Hey, you remembered my name!” said Ron.
“Why shouldn't I?”
“Oh… no reason.”
“I see,” said Shego. “Later, guys.”
Ron waited very carefully until Shego had turned a corner. “Booya! Our very own superhero on the team! This is so awesome.”
“Yeah,” said Kim, chuckling nervously. “Awesome…”
“Hey girl, did you check the new girl?”
Monique sat down next to Kim at one of the cafeteria's tables, the tray in her hands filled with -for lack of a better word- food.
“Who? Shego?” said Kim.
“So you checked her,” said Monique. “What do you think?”
“She's awesome,” said Ron.
“I don't know,” said Monique. “That skin of hers… maybe she got a condition.”
“She got struck by a meteorite once,” said Kim.
Monique realised that any normal person would think Kim was trying to make some kind of weak joke, but she'd hung around with Team Possible long enough. “Right.”
“Plus, she can shoot fire from her hands,” said Ron.
“Oh,” said Monique. “She a threat?”
“Hero, actually,” said Kim.
“That's cool,” said Monique. “So are you gonna hand the hero business to her then?”
“I hope not. Mind if I sit down?”
“Shego!” said Ron. “Yeah, please, sit down.”
“Thanks,” said Shego, taking a seat next to Ron and putting her own tray on the table. “You know, I gotta ask, is this stuff actually edible?”
“Well, it won't kill you,” said Monique.
“Good enough,” said Shego.
“Oh, Shego, do the flaming hands thing,” said Ron.
“Not in public, if you don't mind. That kind of thing freaks people out even more than the skin.”
“Oh,” said Ron, deflated.
“Maybe at practise.”
“Practise?” said Monique.
“Me and Kim are gonna have a little session together after school. Aren't we Princess?” Shego purred.
Kim stood up abruptly, banging her knee at the edge of the table and not caring or even noticing. “I should be going now. Class, you know.”
Shego watched Kim go, smiling faintly for a while, until that smile suddenly drained from her face.
“Girl, you're bad,” said Monique.
“Sometimes,” said Shego.
The joys of cheerleading were that it was fast, physical and exhausting, leaving little room for any kind of thoughts. So Kim had thrown herself into practise with the kind of energy and enthusiasm that probably made her look like a perfectionist spaz, but she didn't really mind.
“OK, girls,” Kim said, clapping her hands together. “That was almost right, but…”
“Almost right?” said Bonnie. “We were perfect.”
“But we can always do better,” said Kim. “So that's why I propose…”
“Hey, it's that new girl,” Tara suddenly pointed out.
“Urgh, what is that freak doing here?” Bonnie asked nobody in particular.
Feeling the cold, heavy weight of dread settling in her stomach, Kim turned around. Shego, sitting casually in the bleachers, half raised a hand and waved vaguely.
“She's early,” Kim groaned.
“Early?” said Bonnie. “You're actually meeting her?”
Kim's thoughts suddenly jumped into overdrive and grabbed the first convenient lie it could find. “Well, she's new and I'm kinda showing her around.”
“So now, because of you, we got a freak watching us,” said Bonnie. “Oh, the joy.”
“She's not a freak,” said Kim.
“She's got green skin,” said Bonnie.
“So? Since when is a person defined by the colour of their skin?” said Kim.
Bonnie's eyes narrowed dangerously. “Whatever. Practise is over, let's go.”
“I'm the captain, Bonnie,” said Kim. “It's not over until I say it's over.”
“Fine,” said Bonnie. “What do you say then?”
Kim went through all the routines in her head and then considered how it would feel to perform any of them in front of Shego.
“OK, practise is over.”
Bonnie rolled her eyes and left. One by one, the rest of the squad followed.
“So you're a cheerleader too, are you?”
Kim jumped and turned around to see Shego standing next to her.
“Don't do that,” said Kim.
“Sorry,” said Shego. “You wanna take a break first?”
“What?”
“Well, cheerleading must be a bit exhausting. Maybe you want to take a rest before we start fighting.”
“Nah, I'm good,” Kim lied.
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“If you say so, Princess,” said Shego. “Shall we get started then?”
“Let's do it.”
Fighting, like cheerleading, left little room for thought, provided you were facing a competent foe. And after the first few probing punches, it occured to Kim that Shego really was a competent foe. The girl could punch and kick and dodge and block, leaving little openings and a lot of feints.
“Not bad, Princess,” said Shego. She'd started panting, Kim noticed.
“You're pretty good too,” said Kim. Only now did she realise she was panting too.
“It's been a while since I faced someone this good,” said Shego. “It's kinda exciting.”
Kim launched herself at Shego again before her mind could fully explore all the possible meanings of what Shego had said. It looked as if Shego had expected Kim's reaction since she blocked effortlessly. Kim didn't let up, punching and kicking until, finally, she saw an opening she could take advantage of.
“Damn,” said Shego, landing on her back.
“Looks like I win,” said Kim, putting her hands on her knees.
Shego raised herself slightly on her elbows. “Looks like. So what's the verdict?”
Kim offered Shego a hand. “You're in.”
Shego took it and got back to her feet. “Great,” she said, not letting go of Kim's hand.
Kim blushed slighlty. “So, uhm, welcome to Team Possible.”
“Thanks,” said Shego. She smiled. “Well, that was intense,” she said, her voice suddenly growing louder and more carefree.
She let go of Kim's hand, much to her immense relief and her unsettling disappointment.
“Pretty much, yeah,” said Kim, giving herself a mental pat on the back for keeping the tremble out of her voice.
Shego suddenly put an arm around Kim's shoulders. “Come on. Let's go hit the showers.”