A\N HI! This is one of the one-shot that was brewing in my head for at least several months. It's rated M just in case, but i can assure you, nothing overly graphical in here. It's a darker fanfic, but not to extreme. I hope you'll enjoy it!
READ AND REVIEW.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
"Thank you for granting our request Miss Possible!" a chubby bald man said with glee. "With you here we all can be insured in safety of these most valuable exhibits"
"No big! Team Possible is always glad to help, Mr. Plieto." Kim waved of, as usual.
"This place is wrong on SO many levels!" Ron made a remarked, fidgeting awkwardly and glancing from ones glass stand to another.
"Does something troubling you, young man?" Mr. Plieto asked politely as the name of the lad completely avoided his ears.
"This whole expo is dedicated to monkeys." Ron had a mini freak-out. "Monkeys!"
"And that is exactly why we were called Ron." Kim tried to reason with him. "Monkey Fist would surely try to get his grabby paws on those."
"Ah. Sir Montgomery Fiske." bald man shook his head in disappointment. "Shameful downfall of once respectable man. Anyway, i'm leaving you here, inside, while guards are placed on all exits. Let's hope there won't be any incidents until tomorrow's grand opening."
"You can count on us." Kim proudly declared.
"Right…" Plieto looked at the blond boy, who was mumbling something about evil monkey hell spawns, and returned his view towards red head heroine. "At least on one of you."
A giant well-lit hall with high ceiling was filled with different monkey-themed goodies. Paintings, carvings and tapestries covered white walls, while sculptures, pottery and glass stands placed neatly all around area. Beings surrounded by all this rustled all of Ron jimmies. The trauma he got from days in Camp Wannaweep was deep rooted. Kim, however, confidently stood in the middle of the hall, ready for the future confrontation with a foe.
One of upper windows opened silently. Green and black jumpsuit-clad figure jumped down, gracefully landing on the floor. A pretty raven-haired woman with light green skin looked around until her eyes stopped at familiar pair of teenagers.
"Shego" Kim hissed and took a fighting stance.
"Oh great. And here i thought it would be simple boring side-job for poor sick Monty." Shego lit up her hands in green plasma. "Why couldn't you be like all other teens on saturday nights? Mall, arcade, bad choices? You know, normal teen stuff."
"Wait a second!" Ron made a pause hand gesture. "Monkey Fist is sick?"
"Yeah, nose is running, nasty cough, chicken soup, bunny slippers and all that. So i'm doing some groceries for him. And by groceries i mean some monkey mumbo jumbo items. In fact, i'm pretty sure that ugly monkey-shaped silver cutlery set is on the list. What do you say, princess? Is it gonna be easy, or is it gonna be fun?"
Kim didn't move an inch, keeping her ready for a fight pose. Ron meanwhile breathed with ease, knowing that there won't be any monkey ninja in nearby area today.
"Fun it is, then."
Kim stepped to the side to dodge a fiery green ball flying towards her. Shego threw a series of punches and kicks at her, with little regard to stands around. Kim was too busy dodging it with her usual flips and gymnastics, while occasionally countering her attacks, to notice a havoc that they were causing around. Fierce female fighters, in a heat of their struggle, bumped into numerous stands. Valuable items flew of them, or were falling along with the stand itself. Thankfully swift, though slightly shaky, hands of Kim's trusty sidekick were busy saving them from their unfortunate fate. Ron put them on a soft bench, and ran back to the brawl to continue the damage control.
The one of advantages Kim always had over Shego's aggressive style was unpredictability. Green and black clad villainess was clearly more experienced as fighter, but this cheerleader learned to adapt to situation and use an environment around to stand on the same ground. Using a perfect opportunity, Kim run up to wall, pushed off it and air kicked her opponent with great force. Shego flew back, smashing her back at the unfortunate blond sidekick, and both of them hit a stand with red crystal monkey skull on it. Before it fell, both Ron and Shego grabbed the shiny thing instinctively. Everything around turned into haze for both of them. Hushed ghastly voiced echoed all around.
'Warriors, your challenge is here. Your souls would be quenching in blood of each other cycle after cycle. Your lives will differ, yet your fates the same, either kill or be killed. Go forth, enhance yourselves, become the greater than you were before.'
With this words heard, both of them disappeared in the haze.
Cycle 1
Student's life is full could be tedious sometimes, if you actually trying to do your studies. Ron never was the brightest bulb in a bunch. His brain was exhausted after only half of report done. Holding a pencil between upper lip and nose, he turned side to side on the computer chair. He laid his baggy eyes on lower right corner of the monitor to check time. It was past 2 a.m. already.
"Hey!" his roommate barged in with a giggly girl under his arm. "Dude you look like hell."
"Feel like it too…" he mumbled back, pencil dropped on floor.
"Listen man, Mindy and i here want to, khm, snuggle, if you know what i mean… Can you like, give us some privacy."
"Sure, i can take a five minute break." Ron rose slowly from the chair and stretched up.
"DUDE!" flustered roommate exclaimed, as girl at his arm giggled again. "Hour, at very least!"
"Whatever you say, just text me when you over."
"Sure man."
"I was talking to Mindy." Ron smirked and put on his jacket.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Ok Ron." Mindy reassured him, since she was pretty familiar with her boyfriend's tendency to doze off immediately after their physical activities.
"I feel so loved in here." roommate rolled his eyes.
"You will be soon." girl said sultry.
"And on that note i'm out." Ron picked his wallet and walked out.
The night was chilly and not many places were open around in these parts at this late hours. There was however one place that every student knew, a heaven on earth, 24/7 working coffee shop. Yawning widely, he strolled down the street, craving for some bracing dark beverage. The coffee shop was in his eyesight already, with its welcoming indoor lights. A woman went out from the front doors, her heals clatter as she walked towards the parking lot.
From the distance he noticed her face. Something clicked in his head. He was sure he never met this woman before in his life. And yet he knew perfectly who she is, and also who he was before. A memory of a teen sidekick hero emerged from the deepest part of his soul. He remembered himself, and he remembered her as well. Ron strolled fast to the parking lot, having one thing on his mind, one desire. To kill her.
Said woman walked up to her car holding a coffee cup with one hand, while rustling in her purse in search of the car keys. Her eyes noticed a shadow rising on the ground and dark reflection of someone coming from behind her. She made a quick jump to the side, avoiding a hit that landed on car window cracking it. She saw a face of her attacker, cringed from the pain as he held his bleeding hand. He recognized this young boy, despite never seeing him before, at least in this life. She knew him now. And she knew she wanted him dead, for no particular reason.
"Hello, Sidekick." she smiled wickedly, leaving her purse to the ground. "Care to explain what the hell is going on before i end your miserable life"
"All i know that we touched the ugly monkey head, i heard some weird stuff, lived a whole new life and now i want to kill you." he said and launched at her.
"Ah you think you can kill me? How sweet."
She splashed a hot coffee right at his face and tripped him. Ron screamed in pain on the ground. Shego grabbed his hair in a tight grip and began bashing him to the hard concrete over and over. His already burned face was turning to the bloody mess. His body was going numb, his consciousness slipping away. Feeling her victory drawing near, she went to the finishing move. She raised his upper body from the ground, put her hand on the back of his head and his chin. With one fast and strong move she twisted his head, snapping boy's neck. Ron's now lifeless body fell on the concrete once again.
"Ron…" all color drained from Shego's face, as a realization of what she just done hit her fully. "No, no… i' didn't…i…"
She put a hand on her mouth, resisting the urge to throw up, as tears ran on her cheeks. She was confused and scared. Too many questions ran in her head. What was happening? Why she didn't remember him or her previous life before? Why did she live a new one, this time without her powers, being neither hero nor villain, but a plain clerk with green belt for self-defense. If this is her life now, how come she also remembered her moves from a past one? Why did she want to kill Ron? Why did she kill him?
As her brains unsuccessfully tried to piece all these together, a thick haze began to devour the world around her. She could mutter a single world before it got to her. This cycle was over.
Cycle 7
"Please got to the door 3A and take a sit. The others will join you shortly." a woman behind corner smiled professionally at her.
Shena Go growled quietly and went towards an appointed room. An Alcoholics Anonymous will be held there in several minutes. She didn't think that she got problem before. She was, relatively, young. No strings attached, no children, no family of her own. All her female friends one after another had found themselves boyfriends that became their husbands in no time, while she continued her free-spirited lifestyle. And eventually it took its toll. In the recent drunken debauchery she got in a bar fight with three women, continued it outside of it when they got kicked out, bit the officer that arrived to settle the situation, stole a cop car and hit the nearest pole with it. So she got a choice between time behind bars or AA meetings plus public services. Sitting alone in a room of chairs circle to face each other she began to think she made a wrong choice.
"Hel…lo" blond man entered the room, his blood pumped up as he saw the woman sitting there. "Shego, nice to see you again."
"Sarcasm again? You are getting bolder each time we met." she stood up, getting memories from several previous lives, and threw a chair to his face.
Surprisingly for her, he caught it mid-air and immediately jammed the doorknob with it.
"This is so no one could disturb us like last time." he pointed out.
"Aw how considerate." she stood in fighting pose, ready to finish him off once again. "I'd rather kill you without bystanders getting in between. Let's make it quick, we both know how this ends."
"Won't be so easy this time Shego. There is a reason i have a drinking problem in this life, you know." he unzipped his jacket, revealing two army dog tags on his neck, and drew a butterfly knife from the hidden pocket.
He was a bit more buff, compared to his past life incarnations. They both were older than their original selves once again.
Ron unfolded his knife as she threw a punch at him. He grabbed it quicker than she expected and twisted it. Before she could do anything else he kicked her leg, breaking her ankle. Screaming she fell on her knees. Using this moment he stabbed her abdomen, damaging an aorta. He knew from experience it would be fast death. And as expected, her lifeless body fell several seconds later. Ron saw as blood drop slid down the blade on his hand. He threw the knife up the wall, as his recently raging will to kill her evaporated the second she died. The room disappeared in a dark haze.
Cycle 29
In a dark alley way Ron and Shego fought fiercely with one intend, to end each other lives. Ron was close to his thirties this time, while Shego to forties. She didn't look much older though, not counting couple wrinkles and a white stripe in her hair.
"Come on Shego." he said and spat some blood on the ground. "Why so quiet lately? Can we at least speak a bit? This is getting tedious? How's your life here? Or the last one? Or the one before?"
"Shut up!" she mouthed with bloody lip and kept attacking him with broken sharp pool cue.
"If you feel bad that you killed me more times than i did you, don't worry, you just had a head start. I will catch up in no time…" he kicked her in the stomach and shoved a knee right between her eyes.
"You…" she stepped back quickly, holding her head as her eyes was watering. "You were just a KID! Eight or nine years old! For god sake…"
"Ow, that's it?" Ron said almost nonchalantly.
In a fit of rage, Shego jump-kicked him with both feet, tackling him to the ground, and pushed the pull cue into his chest. Her bloodlust started to drain slowly, as Ron's life faded away as well. She felt his hand touching her wet cheek.
"Hey, listen." his voice was raspy and weak. "We both know we can't control it. It was five lives ago. You need to let it go."
"I can't…i…" as his hand began to slip down she caught in in hers and kept it on it, it was strangely comforting.
"Hey, it…s….ok…."
His hand was limp now. She put it on his chest and waited for this life to end.
Cycle 54
"Captain Go?" an officer entered her office with a pack of folder in hands and put them on her desk. "These are reports for today."
"Thank you Carlos" Shego opened the top folder and saw the mugshot inside, as her chest tightened. "Hey Carlos, where is this guy?"
"This one is in a custody cell downstairs. What, you know this one?"
"Yeah, you can say that. Take the rest of the day off."
"Thank you." he made a short bow with his head and walked off.
Shego took her pistol and went off towards the custody cell. He steps echoed through the corridor. She told the guard she needed to speak with someone in incarceration for the case. She got through and soon was standing in front of bars. On the other side of it a young man noticed her and rushed towards. No matter how much killing intent he had at that moment, he couldn't fit through metal.
"Got an easy one again, eh Shego?" he said, still trying to reach her.
"You might say that." she pulled down a pistol and shot him in the chest. "You've got some freebies before too, you know."
"That's true." he cackled with his last breath.
A guard barged in, but froze on the spot as haze was closing.
Cycle 71
Miss Shena Go was relaxing at her hotel suite. Going from one photoshoot to another to a banquet, to a fashion show, was tiresome. In fact, the times when she could just be on her own, doing absolutely nothing were a heaven on earth for her.
"Room delivery." someone said, knocking at door.
Lazily, she stood up from soft comfortable chair and went towards the door. As she opened it, a hand holding a knife flew towards her. She moved away, as it slashed her arm. Frightened, she fell on the floor, as her attacker stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. A blond young man. The fear in her instantly got replaced with pure bloodlust. He launched towards her with a combat knife, Shego kicked up, tossing him away.
"Well hello to you to Ron." she jumped up into upright position.
"Saw you in a magazine." Ron twirled his knife. "You looked good."
"Aw, thanks." she smiled and kicked the vase towards him.
He blocked it with a free hand, tossing it aside, and jumped towards his target. They were caught in a fight for life and death once again. Each time bringing past experiences with them. Not every time their physical conditions were compatible with set of skills they obtained over past cycles. More usual than not, one had some advantage over another. This time, however, they felt on an equal footing.
The knife was stuck in the wall, as they fight continued. Ron caught one of her punches and tossed her over his shoulder towards the open balcony door. As soon as she stood up from that she got tackled by him. Both of them fell over the balcony railing. As both of them falling down, an inevitability of death cleared both of their heads.
"You know." he held her wrist. "I hate it when i love it, and i love it when i hate it."
"Same here, Ronnie." she said, pulling him closer.
Ron and Shego embraced each other tightly, wishing for this nightmare to end.
Cycle ?
The city was in ruins. Broken building, explosions, fiery inferno. Two super powered beings battled each other with little regard for anything or anyone. Green and Blue bright lights clashed with each other on the skies above the shambles.
"I wonder where have you been all this time?" Ron said, rushing into her.
"Kidnapped by aliens as a child." she shot a barrage of green flaming spheres at him and flew higher. "And sent back today as spy and scout."
"That sucks." Ron flicked his hand horizontally, sending a blue wave, destroying each of the spheres. "This can go forever, how about finishing with a bang?"
"Already on it."
Shego charged a massive attack and released it at his direction. Ron wasn't taken aback at it at channeled as much as he could back. The power of her attack was overwhelming. Suddenly it broke through and exploded, leaving a giant crater and a dust cloud behind. Shego knew it wasn't over, since her killing intent was as strong as ever. A strong blast hit her back, to her utter surprise. She lost her glow and started falling down. Ron flew and caught her, gently descending and putting her weakened body to the patch of grass that was a local park just minutes ago.
"Well, that was fun." she said, smiling slightly.
"We don't get any powers to play most of the times." Ron said, trying to get as much conversation as he could, knowing that times like this are passing fleetingly.
"Are you going to kiss me goodnight this time?"
"Well uhm…"
"I kinda liked it." she admitted, sounding weaker with each sentence. "When was it… nine or ten lives ago?"
"Eleven." he admitted. "I didn't think you'll remember it. You looked out cold… Ok, that sounded way creepy."
"It was. Yet i liked it…so…"
Ron leaned to her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"See you next time." he said to her, as haze surrounded them once again.
'Warriors, your challenge is complete. Your souls sustained the trials. Your minds absorbed the knowledge. You are free.'
Ron and Shego gazed into each other's eyes. Something was the same. They didn't want to kill each other this time. They looked around, still sitting on the floor. It felt like it was so long since they were in this exhibit. Red monkey skull fell from their hands, still intact, and rolled away.
"Are we…back?" Ron asked.
"It seems so." Shego confirmed.
As this realization finally caught up with them, they embraced themselves in a hug. Both of them were shaking slightly, relived and happy.
"What the heck is going on here?" Kim shouted in shock.
"Shut up, Princess, and let me have it." Shego said, still holding Ron in her arms.
"Am i going crazy here?" Kim muttered, noticing red crystal monkey skull and leaning to pick it up.
"STOP!" Shego shouted,
"KIM NO!" Ron did the same.
"What?" Kim was taken aback by their reaction, as she held the artifact in her hand. "What's the matter?"
"Kim, i beg you." Ron said, with concern in his voice. "Gently put this…thing…on the stand and move away."
"Do as he says, princess, for your own good." Shego added, equally frightened.
"Ok, ok." Kim walked to the stand near them, and placed it on the soft surface.
"We can't just leave this…thing…here." Shego stood up.
"You're right." Ron nodded. "I know someone who has expertise in ancient monkey related stuff. I'll contact him as soon as i can."
"You don't mean Monty, right?" green villainess raised her concerns.
"No, no. That one is way wiser and not coo coo crazy." he reassured her.
A sound of many stomps could be heard coming towards the hall. Guards outside heard the ruckus and sent several people to check.
"That's my cue to leave." Shego said as a bunch of them barged in. "See ya later, Ronnie."
She winked to him and climbed the wall, faster than she ever did before.
"Miss Possible, is everything ok?" one of guards asked.
"Yes, we were able to keep exhibits save. Everything is still here. You can go back to your post, we'll stay here in case of another intruder." she said in her usual manner.
"Yes, miss." he nodded and walked out of the hall, along with other guards.
"Now." Kim said in oh so familiar to Ron tone. "Care to explain what happened between you and Shego there?"
"It's a long story, Kim." Ron sign, feeling tired. "A long, long story"
~The End~