12. Bellum Paratus (Preparations for War)

Training Day 1
Thursday, July 10th
8:12 AM.
Okay...I can do this...just haven't done it in a while. Need to stretch. Extension. It's not about the reaching the–forehead to the thigh—

Kim leaned a little further toward her outstretched leg, bowing to her right as she sat spread-eagle on the exercise floor.

—it's about–aiming the chin to the knee. Keep the back–straight – uurrhhh...strretch Kim, streeetchh...exhale...move slow, don't bounce...rrreeeaacchhh—

She extended her arms along her calf, smoothing her hands toward her ankle, breathing out in little puffs as she stretched further. She resisted the urge to grab her foot as she flexed her fingers at it. She slowly let her head sink until her forehead touched against her thigh and held this pose for about 10 seconds, feeling the tension draining from the muscles in her shoulders and upper back. I haven't stretched like this in weeks...but between dealing with everything not working and dealing with fights with street rejects with chips on their shoulders over their issues with Cellers...and trying to deal with what happened to Tina because of what Drakken and Shego have done...who's had time for even warming up, much less stretching ou—

"You napping, or just stuck like that?"

Kim lifted her head slowly to a pair of feet in front of her, covered in a pair of Tiger Claw training shoes and white socks. Kimi was dressed in a pair of workout pants in Penn State colors – deep navy blue with a white stripe up each side. Her torso was mostly bare, covered only in a close-fitting grey "crop top" with a "racer" style back which left her shoulders all but bare, save for where the straps met in the back some six inches below her neckline and the strap of the black sleeve containing her Escrima sticks that lay across her back.

Kim lifted her eyes further to her daughter's crossed arms and slight smirk of playful defiant challenge. "You and I have always done different stretch routines." She made another short stretch toward her foot. "Speaking of...were you going to do one this morning—" she lifted a finger from her ankle, extending it in Kimi's direction "—or are you stuck like that?"

A bit of the smirk slid from Kimi's expression as she unfolded into a rudimentary stance, gyrating slowly and extending one rigid palm out in front of her. "I told you on the phone...already did." She shifted, bringing her arm back, curling into a fist as she thrust her other arm out suddenly in a punch. "I was warming up when you called at 6."

Kim slowly straightened into a sitting position, then began to bow again toward the floor between her legs, stretching her arms in front of her, her palms against the floor. "If you would have ridden—to the gym this morning instead of walking, I—could have made sure you did a proper warmup. Did you do your chambered kick exercises?"

Kimi responded to the query by turning slightly and bringing up a leg a bit to her side, bending at the knee. "Yep," she said. "30 seconds—" she began to extend her leg slowly in a series of kicking motions "—each leg—" she then whipped the leg out in a rapid-fire sequence "—twice. I always do those, since I work more with my feet than my hands."

Kim straightened again from the floor with an expression of annoyance. "Did you remember to do any upper body warmups?"

Kimi shot her own display of exasperation at her mother's doubtful attitude. "Yes..." she sighed, adopting back into a preliminary fight stance. "Arm swings...wrist rolls—" she suddenly crossed her hands, pulling them back quickly into fists near her waist, then brought one up in a flat-hand swing across her chest "I remember everything you ever taught me."

Kim brought up a knee and rose to her feet, rolling her neck and shrugging her shoulders forward in an arc, feeling the tiny pops in her shoulder blades. "Well, we'll see in the next week how much you remember."

We'll see how much we both remember.

Kim then turned to her daughter/student. "Tell me what Kempo means."

"Kempo is a system of Karat—"

"No. Tell me what the word means."

"What? It's a Japanese subset of—"

"No, no," Kim interrupted again, waving her hands. "The word, Ki. Tell me what the word Kempo means. Okay, let's try something else. Tell me what 'Karate' means."

Kimi brought up her hands, turning her palms up as she presented them a bit forward. "...Empty Hands?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Kim shot back.

Kimi was a bit taken aback by her mother's stern tone. "Empty Hands," she repeated with more conviction.

Kim gave a nod of affirmation, but the serious note of her expression did not change. "Now...tell me what Kempo means."

Kimi mentally searched for a second. "I—" she stammered haltingly. "I'm...not sure. You never told me."

"No...I haven't," said Kim, "but that doesn't mean you shouldn't know it. In fact you actually should know it. You would have found it in the Tao of Kempo back when you were doing your Black Belt essay on Yin and Yang. Kempo means, 'Law of the Fist'. Now...I've never told you this either...but would you like to know why I think that your fighting style is actually a contradiction of both of those concepts?"

Kimi shuddered a bit from her mother's statement as if she had physically struck her. "Contradiction? You taught me nearly everything I know about Karate...from Day One. Now you're going to tell me I've been doing it wrong all these years?"

For the briefest second, Kim's stern tutelary expression was erased by one of motherly compassion. "No, no," she shook her head slightly. "Not in the least. Don't take it as other than how it was meant. Your style is something that quite a few other people have told me they're jealous of. What I meant by what I said was, I think your style kind of...strays a bit from the basic philosophy of both Karate and the Kempo style..."

Kimi was still a bit perplexed. "I...I'm not sure I get what you're saying...you've always told me I do everything just like you taught me."

"And you do. You learn every sequence perfectly. You always have."

"...then I don't know what I'm doing wrong..."

"It's your application."

Kimi canted her head just a bit further, still dumbfounded by her mother's line of logic.

"Look at what Karate and Kempo mean," Kim continued, taking a step closer to her pupil, holding out her open palms, then curling her hands into fists. "'Empty Hands.' 'Law of the Fist.' Look at the common thread between the two...they both refer to using your hands...especially Karate itself. It's using hands, elbows, fingers and other parts of the body as weapons. Now look at your style." She patted Kimi's outer thigh firmly. "The main weapons in your style...aren't your hands. You just said it a few minutes ago. You work more with your feet than with your hands."

"Hands are good for blocks."

"It's more than that," Kim countered. "Grappling, punching, throwing. Your hands should be your first weapon in a fight, because they're the quickest thing you have. They're the first thing you have...the first thing available to you. You know that. It's bad form to lead with a kick—"

Kimi squared a bit more toward her mother and her line of accusation, answering a bit more quickly. "I know that. I don't lead with kicks. That's a Junior Belt move."

"So is forgetting the basics. And when someone strays too far from those basics, anything they learn from that point forward is based in their own style...not the style of Kempo. Their moves from that point on, no matter how effective they may seem, are a corruption of the root style." Kim then held out a hand. "Give me your sticks."

Kimi complied after a few seconds, sliding the strap off her shoulder and presenting the black canvas sleeve.

Kim took the sleeve and held it up. "I'll tell you...I've watched you work with the sticks for years. You're nothing short of lethal with these. They're the shining star of your style—" she turned to place the sleeve on the floor next to a box holding a collection of books and other items, then returned to her daughter "—and they're also the main corruption of your style of Kempo. I want you to be lethal with what I taught you...rooted in the basics." She gave Kimi a rather hard pat on the upper arm, then grabbed for her wrist, holding up her hand rather forcefully and giving it a sudden shake to emphasize her words as Kimi's hand closed a bit. "I know you can be just as lethal with these...and that's what we're going to work on. You need to re-learn to rely on the weapons you were born with."

Kimi retreated her hand slowly as her mother released it. She searched Kim's expression, looking for some indication of the reasoning behind the steeled look in her large Celler eyes as she rubbed lightly over her wrist. "...why are you being like this...?" she spoke softly.

"Because of what we might face. I don't know what we'll be up against when we go to the Rift...and neither do you. That's why I want us both to get as ready as we can in the next week." Kim looked slightly up and to the side, thinking for a few seconds. "How much of the episodes with Monkey Fist have you ever watched?"

"I don't know," Kimi said. "Some..."

"That style he used in the show...that's a real style of Kung Fu."

"Monkey Kung Fu?" said Kimi with a bit of a giggle.

"Yes, Monkey Kung Fu," Kim repeated sternly. "It's called 'Tai Shing Pek Kwar'...and it's deadly. It focuses mainly on the upper body. You have to be ready, in case he's at the Rift...and if I know Drakken the way I do, he recruited Monkey Fist early on for whatever he's planning."

Kimi recovered a bit of her earlier bravado. "I'll be ready. Remember, I've gone through something like this before..."

"You mean Cairo? This is totally different...much more important. There's way more at stake."

"More important than you?"

The question broke a chip out of the mental armor Kim had set herself behind. "Yes, Ki. It's way more important than just me. It's about you too...it's about everyone you ever met...ever knew—" a slight pause – and Kim finished with a softer tone "...ever loved..."

The image flashed in Kimi's mind directly after those of her parents—

—Zachary Matthias Corello.

Her gaze slid toward the floor, reaching for the back of her neck. "...and Shego's there, too..."

Kim bristled a bit, her brow lowering. "You leave Shego to me...there's not going to be any repeat of what happened in Cairo..."

Kimi shrank back at her mother's mention the result of her fight with the raven-haired vixen. "...that's low, Mom. I was just a Red Belt back then—"

"Yeah—" said Kim, holding up air quotes "—and Shego was 'just' a Brown Belt. You've gotten way better since then...you think Shego hasn't, too? I'm betting she has." Her voice and expression softened again. "After you got me free and went to look for Shego...the next time I saw you was when Shego had dragged you into the room after your fight with her. I didn't know if you were unconscious, or..." She reached across her body to clutch her other arm, as if she suddenly felt a chill. "...or worse. Seeing you on the floor like that...that image...that moment...it was the worst feeling I've ever had in my life, before or since. It's something that stayed with me, even after all this time...and it's something I don't ever want to feel again." Kim then returned to the box, beginning to reach into it. "That's what this next week is about...getting ready, so nothing like that happens again."

"Shego had that taser stick," said Kimi.

"Just another good reason to work on disarm techniques."

Kimi's expression firmed a bit. "I know disarm techniques. It's just that Shego was better with the stick back when—"

Kim quickly turned to Kimi, her tone sharpening. "Okay, so you're going to learn better disarm techniques—"

"That's why I learned the sticks!"

"She beat you and your—"

Kim suddenly checked up, breaking her gaze on her daughter, looking down and away as she realized what finishing that sentence might impart in the mounting heat of the moment.

They stood for a few seconds avoiding each others' eyes, Kim's sudden silence and the air of the moment acting almost like a buffer zone between them. "Ki..." Kim began again softly, cautiously choosing her words, seeming to pick out random places on the floor around them to look at as she slowly lessened the distance between them, "...this could be the hardest thing we'll ever do...this is a fight to save the entire world...everybody." She then raised her eyes to meet Kimi's. "We don't know what's waiting for us at the Rift. We're...we're going to have to really work this week, to make sure we're on top of our game when we go."

"...no Mom..."

Kim's eyes focused a little tighter on Kimi's stare, wondering if her severed accusation had gone too far and had opened a chasm of defiance and parity in their common cause.

"...we have to work...together...to make sure we're all about top of our game."

It took about six seconds for Kim to give a single nod and raise her hand.

There's the attitude of the Kimi Hodge I trained for fifteen years.

Their hands met in a loud high-five, clasping with a slight shake. My young daughter has become a young woman. She's become one of my strongest anchors...and in a couple of weeks...she'll become my partner in a fight to try to save the world.

"Let's get busy," she said, backing away a few steps toward the box, her expression returning to Determined Teacher Mode and her confidence resetting into preparing for a fresh assessment of her daughter's abilities. She reached for a whistle on a nylon necklace and slid it around her neck. "Show me how many block defenses against a cane or club you can remember..."

The two then entered into a routine they had played out countless times over years of training during Kimi's ascent through the ranks of Kempo; the wise and knowing teacher and the eager-yet-attentive student. Kimi had come to know that during these sessions, the "mother" part of Kim would fade a bit, shadowed by the drive of the "teacher" to mold her pupil and impart her knowledge of the art.

While she was used to Kim exhibiting a bit of a hard exterior in her role as instructor and mentor, Kimi noticed that the drive of her teacher-mother seemed to have an even sharper emphasis on perfection this morning. Kim would call on her pupil to execute sequence after sequence, going through elaborate combinations of punches, blocks and swings, and giving a quick sharp bleat on the whistle when Kimi would show the slightest hesitation in carrying out the move that was called out or when it deviated in the least detail from how she had been taught. The interruption would be followed by Kim going through the move or combination in its entirety, step-by-step, going out of her way to point out her daughter's missteps in the sequence and the potential openings those missteps could leave for counter-attacks. She would then have Kimi go through the entire series of moves from its beginning, having her repeat it several times until she was satisfied that she had seated it deep into her memory to the point that it would fire simply from the subconscious rather than merely being remembered.

/xx/xx/xx/xx/

Toward the late morning, a man approached the pair at the far corner of the gym floor. Kimi recognized him as one of the Black Belt members of the base's Karate club that had been employed during her training for her mission in Cairo. Chet Ketcham stood about six feet in height, and while not slender, was able to contort his figure into what seemed like painful poses as a product of years of Yoga alongside his martial arts training. Chet told Kim that he was available in the afternoons, as Mark had managed to "wheedle his CO into relieving him of his PM duties." His arrival brought a smile to Kim's face as it meant an opportunity to continue at least part of their training against something besides punches and swipes at empty air, and would further sharpen their skills being employed against an actual opponent. He excused himself to head for the locker room, his Keatonite training suit draped over his shoulder.

Kim went to the box, pulling out an item made of a dense red rubber-coated foam and tossed it to Kimi. "Here."

Kimi caught the item in one hand. "...a sparring helmet?"

"You didn't think this would stay no-contact once we got a partner to spar with, did you?" Kim continued through her daughter's slightly fretted stare. "When I said 'get as ready as we can', I meant it."

Kimi tucked the helmet under one arm. "Speaking of...I've been all about work all morning. When do you—" she threw up a pair of air quotes "—'get ready'?"

"I wanted to see how much work you were going to need to get back into form. From now on, you'll be working your forms with Chet in the afternoons. My training will start tomorrow morning...and you'd better be on your toes." Kim then reached again into the box, looking for a book – and her next words as she fished through the box made her daughter's jaw drop—

"—that's when I'll be working forms against you..."

/xx/xx/xx/xx/

1:31 PM.
Kimi stood toward the middle of the exercise floor, wiggling her hands loosely at her sides, trying to relax a bit. Trying to let the tension flow from her muscles. Trying not to seem braced for any kind of sudden, unseen attack—

A gloved hand landed from behind against the top of her right shoulder.

Kimi's eyes flashed to the hand. Left hand – it's a right punch!

The harsh touch on her shoulder fired the spark in Kimi's neural net.

She reached across her body, grabbing the wrist of her attacker with her left hand, shifting onto her right foot while turning a bit to her left and striking his knee with her left foot. As she retracted it, she quickly shifted her weight to that foot with the grace of a gazelle, releasing Chet's hand as she twirled clockwise, swinging her right leg in a sweep against the outside of Chet's leg, buckling him to one knee.

Kimi shifted back to her right foot and continued her rotation, scooting to her left and circling around behind her opponent to deal a crippling blow to the side of his head – but the piercing shrill of her mother's whistle froze her. She dropped her hand from Chet's shoulder and turned to her tutor, who stood some ten feet away, pulling the whistle from her mouth and crossing her arms.

Kimi took a step to the side of Chet, meeting her mother's interruption with a roll of her eyes and slapping her hands to her sides. "...now what did I forget..." she sighed.

Kim shook her head slowly. "If only you had your principles down as well as you do that question this morning..." she moved toward the pair as Chet rose to his feet. "Ki, what is one of the main principles of Karate that I taught you through all of your martial arts training?"

"You mean the one about following through a move to its completion? The one that I can't seem to apply without being interrupted by the Whistle of that ancient martial arts master, 'Lau'd Se Tongue'?"

Kim let out a quick sarcastic chuckle at the pun, then returned to Serious Mode. "No, not that one...and you'll get to that point once you get through the moves cor-rect-ly. I'm talking about High-Low-Low-High. It's a key to defense during any attack. Strike high – check low...strike low – check high. When you do a strike, you need to keep the other half of your body covered from counters." She walked to stand in front of the suited Chet, turning to face away from him and patting the top of her shoulder to prompt him to grab at her in the same fashion he had done with Kimi. "The first part, you did right," she said, reaching up with her left hand to grasp Chet's wrist. "The reach was good, breaks the hold." She raised her left foot back, tapping Chet's leg just above the kneecap, where Kimi had. "The back side kick was good, right on the patella—" she then spun to her right, slowly swinging out her right leg until her ankle caught against the side of Chet's knee, holding it there "—but here's where you forgot High-Low-Low-High. When you did the Dragontail Sweep, where were your arms?"

Kimi brought her arms to about 45 degrees from her body. "About here? I was spinning to deliver the Sweep."

Kim nodded with a slight sarcastic smile of frustration. "Mm-hmm. At your sides, basically...leaving you wide open to just about any punch your opponent could come up with before you dropped him...or any counterstrike with a weapon if he had one. Or even to deliver a blow after he was on his knee." Kim turned to the position before the spin and brought her arms to about chest-high, her left arm under her right. "With your arms up and set before the Sweep, you're covered from any of that. You'd even be able to throw an Outward Sword Hand, a Whip, Back Knuckle or even a Hammerfist with your leading hand, or a good thrust punch or left hook with your trailing hand while using the leading hand for blocks. The last was good, though. You got around quick for a thrust punch to the head." She then backed away from Chet, motioning Kimi back into position. "Again."

Kimi moved to stand in front of the man covered in Keatonite and turned away from him, shaking out her hands again and standing for a few seconds and stealing a quick glance to her mother before huffing out a breath and settling into a relaxed stance.

Kim stood a few feet away, preparing to watch the technique after her tutelage. After so many years of working with her, she recognized the determination building in Kimi's expression, mouth slightly tightened and eyes set, the silver in her irises twinkling.

The hand on her shoulder lit the spark like pulling the trigger of a gun.

Left hand –

—all about KILL IT.

She grabbed the hand with her left and immediately thrust her left foot back, driving it into Chet's knee. She released the hold on his hand as she whirled about, flinging the back of her right fist hard against his jaw. She continued to twist in a quick circle, throwing her weight into a full-swing left hook as she came around, both blows accentuated with sharp shrieks. She used the momentum from the punch to spin a third time, jumping and launching her right foot against Chet's head, screaming "eeye-AHH!" sending him tumbling to the floor.

Kimi landed in a wide stance crouched nearly to the floor and looked over her shoulder to Kim with the fiery silver glint still alight in her eyes.

Kim looked on, impressed and stunned. "That's...better?" she managed. "Not...true to form...but good execution."

Kimi sprang to her feet and turned to her downed opponent, helping him to his feet. "Form or not...it's all about nobody gets up from a triple like that. Sometimes deviating from form is necessary to adapt to the situation...and the element of surprise all but eliminates the possibility for counters. It's all about drop your opponent before they can put together a defense."

"She's right about that," said Chet, softly hefting the face patch of his training suit against the palm of his hand. "The transition between the back kick and the first punch was so quick, I didn't even have time to think about mounting a defense."

"That's true," said Kim, "but we're not really here today to innovate. We're studying form and application, and sharpening our skillsets." She picked up a towel hanging over the side of the box and tossed it to Kimi. "Let's break for lunch...you need a little time to cool down. You're too wound up, if you can't apply form when it's called for."

"All about agreed," said Kimi as she slipped the towel around her shoulders and removed her sparring helmet. "I can use an hour to go over that one book on—"

"No," Kim returned quickly as she began to move the box toward the edge of the exercise floor. "We have too much work to do. That's 20 minutes for lunch."

"20 minutes? That won't even be enough time to get over to the—"

Kim straightened from the box. "20 minutes...in the gym caf. We don't have time to be running all over the base for a bite." She returned to moving the box – but got about four feet and stopped as the red sparring helmet came sailing into the box with a loud slap.

She immediately stood and fired a rather fierce disbelieving stare at her daughter standing about 15 feet away, who threw up her hands slightly and shrugged. "Sorry," she said with a hint of sarcasm, "I would have walked over and set the helmet in there, but I had to throw it because I only have 20 minutes for lunch. I don't have time to be running all over the gym for a box."

Kimi then turned and walked away, muttering under her breath. "...guess we have enough time for yelling and slave-driving and turning the whole morning into lead..."

Kimi went to the gym cafeteria, picking up an electrolyte sports drink and a small bag of wheat crackers for quick replenishment during her short respite. She carried her dark pensive mood over to a table near the corner of the cafeteria, slumping into a chair and opening the bag of crackers, singling out one that had fallen from the bag and prodding it around the table in small taps with the tip of her finger. Mom's been all about Hardline Karate Teacher Mode all day.

Teacher? More like Shiznek-a-Tweak Karate Fuehrer. She's riding me like a stolen horse when I make the smallest mistake or don't jump right into whatever move she calls. It's like she expects Karate to be my life...

...well, its not my entire life...especially not lately. Getting home through three days of night, finding out Mom got beat up and almost killed at the Market by Celler-hater slugs, finding out the whole thing was caused by Drakken and Shego, finding out that Aunt Tina is dead because of what they did, getting proposed to on the night before we—

Aunt. Tina.

One of our best friends is dead...and Mom blames Drakken and Shego for it...even if they didn't do it purposely.

That's why she's been mostly Animal Tweakoid since the night we found out Drakken hacked the Conduit. It's Cellers that are behind all this death and destruction...and Mom is all about can't stand it.

Because she cares that much. About everybody.

She cares enough to want to do everything to get as ready as can be when we go to the Rift.

She cares enough to want me as ready as can be.

Kimi looked up from the table to a window still filled with the unrelenting darkness.

I'm all about get it now. Mom is right. This is bigger than Cairo. Way bigger.

I've got to do everything I can to be ready when we go to the Rift.

Karate isn't my whole life.

But right now, it's the only thing that'll let me keep my life – and everything in it.

Right now...it's Karate or my life.

Time for this Swan to sharpen her eagle claws...

/xx/xx/xx/xx/

2:03 PM.
Kimi opened one of the double doors leading from the lobby and walked onto the large exercise floor toward her mother, who was moving through a set of stances, making swipes and swings at the air. Kimi set the bottle containing her sports drink next to the box that had been pulled back onto the corner of the matted floor. "Whatcha doin'?"

Kim made a wide arc with her arm, bringing her fist close to her side. "I haven't worked out in a while. I'm just making sure I'm not still stiff from the thing in the Market."

Kimi nodded slightly. "Where's Chet?"

"He went to take a shower. He said it can get a little sweaty being in that training suit for a couple of hours straight. He wanted to be fresh for the afternoon workout." Kim then slid into another stance, thrusting both arms in front of her, her palms rigid, and pulling one back to her waist, then quickly trading positions with a quick jab. "How was lunch?"

"Filling, but unsatisfying," said Kimi, motioning to the bottle she had set down. "That and some crackers. Wha'd you have?"

"I didn't take a lunch," Kim said, tipping her head toward a similar bottle sitting on a folding chair next to the box. "I just got one of those out of the machine in the locker room. I wanted to use the time to get ready for tomorrow morning."

Kimi slid the towel from around her shoulders and let it drop to the floor near the box. "Yeah," she muttered as she plucked her sparring helmet from the box. "Nothing makes the day like looking forward to trashing your daughter in Karate..."

Kim stopped in mid-move, her leg about chest-high. She relaxed and walked toward Kimi, picking up the bottle from the chair and taking a drink. "If that's what you think this is about, you have the wrong idea. I'm not sparring with you to 'trash' you. This isn't a competition, Ki. It's not You vs. Me. I'm sparring with you because you know my style the best. You're the closest to my level out of the people available to be here on a daily basis."

"Chet's a Black Belt, too..."

"True, but he can't be here in the mornings, when I'll be training. And he's not as accomplished as you are. He said so himself." Kim took a long drink from the bottle. "Besides...it'll be more of a challenge to work with someone who knows my style as closely as you do." She took another drink, then set the bottle onto the chair and turned in the direction of the locker rooms as Chet emerged through the door, suited in the dull gray Keatonite. She gave Kimi a nudge on the arm. "It might also be a bit of motivation for you to remember your forms a little better if you're up against someone who can beat you by the book." She brought the whistle up from her chest. "Let's get back to it. Chet's back." She punctuated this with a quick bleat of the whistle.

Kimi slipped her helmet on and slid her fingers under it, brushing her hair to the side along the padding that covered her forehead and her cheeks within a couple of inches from her mouth. She studied her mother as she turned and walked to the edge of the exercise floor. Fourth-Degree Black, she thought as she fastened the strap under her chin, and I have to spar with her in the morning to help her get ready for the Rift. If she's this tough while teaching...ugh.

Compared to that, it's all about today is nothing.

Time to get sharp, Ki.

Like diamond-laser sharp.

/xx/xx/xx/xx/

The balance of the afternoon progressed as before, with Kim's dogged scrutiny of her daughter's Karate technique. While the pace of the routines they worked through was just as intense, there was a major difference which Kim noticed almost from the moment they returned to their schedule; Kimi seemed to be on a higher focus, more defined and committed in execution of her sequences. The whistle which had threatened to become the bane of Kimi's existence during the morning was largely unused in the afternoon session, as she performed form after form with nearly flawless perfection, ofttimes interrupting the action and going back over her own missteps before Kim could give so much as a puff on the accursed whistle.

While Kimi thought that the increased level of effort would please her mentor, Kim's reaction to the improvement was instead to increase the level of expectation, quickening the pace of Kimi's training and heightening the intensity of the grey-suited opponent, instructing Chet to use more and more aggressive methods of attack to the point where both trainee and opponent were asking for short resting periods a few times each hour.

As the clock on the wall over the double doors indicated that afternoon was becoming evening, Chet touched to the points on his face that released his face mask and pointed out to Kim that he would need to excuse himself for the day to return to his quarters and his wife. Kimi turned to Chet and bowed deeply, placing her left palm over her right fist in a Kempo salute. "Thanks for coming out and helping," she said.

Chet pulled off his headpiece and ran his fingers through his matted hair. "Glad I could help," he said. "I almost forgot what a fireball you are. This afternoon was quite the workout."

Kimi blushed a little. "Sure was. I really feel...worked out."

Chet turned to Kim. "Same time tomorrow?"

Kim showed little emotion as she gave a quick nod. "Yep."

Chet stood motionless for a few seconds, his brow raising slightly as he looked at Kim – then set off in the direction of the locker rooms, walking at a brisk pace.

Kimi gave her mother a look of quizzical displeasure as she removed her sparring helmet and swiped her towel around the inside. "Thanking him would have been all about nice..."

"So would being here for another hour. I still had some things to go over."

"We...do have more than one day to 'go over things'."

"Maybe we need to pull in more people and get them working with us."

Kimi tossed her helmet into the box. "...maybe they won't be able to come out because they'd be worried about you putting their style under your microscope, too," she muttered under her breath.

Kim was in the act of removing the nylon chain from around her neck when she stopped, letting it fall back to her chest as she turned to Kimi. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

Kimi wrapped her towel around the back of her neck. "You've been all about hard-line teacher today. More like Countess Hardline of Perfectionastan. Most people wouldn't like their style being picked apart like that."

"Yeah, well," Kim shot back, "I wouldn't have had to be so...'hard-line' if you had been less rusty in your moves...like...Princess Rusty of...Lower Noobopolis." She pulled the chain over her head and dropped it into the box. "You'd better be in better form tomorrow. It's going to be hard enough to train without having to stop and work you through each of the moves at the same time." She reached into the box and handed a book to Kimi. "Here. Read through this tonight."

Kimi took the book, reading the title aloud. "...'Tai Shing Pek Kwar: A Master's Art'. Think this will help?"

"It'll have to. We don't have anyone around here who actually knows Monkey Kung Fu. This is all we have. I read through it last night. It should give you more of an idea of what to look out for if we do run into Monkey Fist." Kim then turned for the entrance to the exercise floor. "Get a shower. I'll see you later."

"Wh...where are you going?"

"I'm going to get an equipment manager to lock up this box in storage until tomorrow. I don't need a shower...not now, anyway. I haven't really done anything yet."

Kimi nodded. "Okay," she said, looping her towel around her neck and stopping by the box to pick up her Escrima sleeve, then sliding it over her shoulder as she started in the direction of the locker rooms.

"Ki—"

Her name, though not sharply spoken as she had gotten used to through this day, was still loud enough to bring Kimi to a halt. She looked back over her shoulder to her mother. "Yeah?"

Kim hesitated for a second or two, fumbling slightly over her words, the tone in her voice slightly uneasy and acquiescent, her eyes alternating between Kimi and the floor between them. "I, just wanted to say, today...actually was good, considering, you know...everything else...and the fact that we haven't really worked together in, like...a year. We actually remembered more than I thought we would, given the circumstances."

Kimi's response wasn't immediate; a few seconds passed while she gaged the weight of what she took as her mother's apology for the day's harsh behavior. "I'll...be more on the ball tomorrow."

Kim looked up again from the floor, and for the first time today, a hint of a sincere smile lit onto her face. "I know you will, Hon." She turned back toward the doors, tossing a slight wave over her shoulder. "See you in the morning. Sleep well."

Kimi turned again for the locker room, the book in one hand, the ends of the towel on her shoulders clutched in the other.

7:42 PM.
Kimi entered her quarters, leaning her Escrima sleeve against the side of the desk, and flopped down onto the couch. All about beat. Mom really put me through it today...and tomorrow's going to be even worse. I feel like I've been run over. Too tired to even cook anything for dinner. Guess I could get by with some popcorn and some juice.

She made an effort to push herself from the couch and plod into the kitchen, taking a small bag of popcorn from the counter and getting a bottle of juice out of the refrigerator. This'll work.

She returned to the main room, sitting at the desk. Should check the mail, just in case Amy or Dani may have gotten back here and left a message. If there's no message, I can read that book until I fall asleep. She shook the mouse a little to wake the computer from its sleep and entered the base Intranet, opening the mail program and scanning over the messages. Nothing new. Nothing new since – geez, the last messages on here were when I stayed on the base for the training for the mission to Cairo...six years ago. When Major Mark said things were as they were the last time I stayed here, it's all about really meant it.

Kimi looked away from the screen in thought. Hope they're okay. They probably stayed on campus up in Lehigh Valley. Amy wouldn't let Dani talk her into anything that would put them in any—

Kimi's attention was drawn back to the computer by a small beep and a box in the lower corner of the screen. A chat message? Maybe Mom has something more to say about the way she was acting today.

Kimi swept the cursor across the screen and clicked on the notification. The box became a larger text window with a message across the top; "Chatting with: teri". A soft tone sounded and a short line of text popped into the window. :hi kimi ive been waiting for u sence after diner:

My 'gammon rematch, Kimi thought. Don't know if I'm in the mood, after the way today went...and I still have reading to do about Monkey Fist. :Sorry about that: Kimi typed hesitantly. :I had to work kind of late:

:i bet u did: came the reply. :saving the whole world is hard work:

:Sure is, in fact I was just checking my mail before turning in for the night:

:aw we gotta play ive been waiting all nite:

Kimi looked at the screen and blinked hard, reaching for the back of her neck. I'm so beat...but I did kind of promise her...

:cmon just 1 game:

Kimi's hand remained at her neck, gently squeezing as she brought out an extended exhale.

:pleeez: the plea came again.

:Okay. But just one game tonight. I'm really tired:

:ok:

The board then came up on the screen for a game. :u can go 1st:

Kimi clicked on the dice icon to roll her move and moved two of her pieces. Don't know how I got talked into this...especially with how tired I am...

The game progressed with Kimi gaining a slight edge. By the middle of the contest, Teri was waiting longer and longer for Kimi's response, several times eventually sending a notice to the screen, the beep of the computer shaking Kimi out of her losing battle against the insistence of slumber, raising her head from her hands or from the back of the padded chair and committing a move.

:u must realy be tired: came onto the text box of the game window. :maybe i shuld just let u win so u can get some sleep:

:I'm sorry: Kimi typed in response, :I'm even more tired than I thought:

:its ok: came the reply :we can play more this weekend if u want i dont think u play very good in ur sleep:

Kimi breathed out a small giggle. :You're right, I can't. Wish I could though, you're really good at the gammon:

:yeah but u need ur sleep cuz u need alot of energy to save the world:

Yeah. Hope we have enough, Kimi thought. :Yep. I'll try to make more time tomorrow if you want, and we'll definitely put some time aside on the weekend for more games:

:ok get some sleep superperson kimi:

:Goodnight Teri: typed Kimi – then a small smile crept onto her face. :And you can just call me Ki:

:ok goodnite ki:

The game window closed and then the small initial chat window, indicating that Teri had left the Intranet network. Kimi did the same, closing her mail program and logging off. It was a bit of an effort for her to drag herself from the desk and sluff to the couch. I can wake up early and read, she thought as she took a drink of her juice and sat again on the couch, bringing up her legs and pulling up the cover. Tomorrow I'll help Mom sharpen up her moves...but as of right now, I'm all about done with this day...

Kimi was fast asleep a mere moment after her head settled on the pillow.

/xx/xx/xx/xx/

Traning Day 2
Friday, July 11th
COTQ Quarters 1-H
4:28 AM.
Darkness.

Silence save for the rhythmic tick-tick-tick of a small alarm clock, its luminous hands softly glowing as if smug about being the only light in the room.

The shape under the blanket on the couch slowly drew in a lazy breath differing from the slow drone of slumber – then the covers rustled, moving steadily downward to reveal uncombed auburn hair from a night's sleep. A hand lightly swept the bangs to the left in a woozy attempt to organize them or at least keep them out of the way.

Kimi slid her legs from under the covers and draped them over the front of the couch, swiveling to a sitting position. She reached for the clock on the table in front of her and brought it to her face, tapping a button on the top. Just beat the alarm.

She replaced the clock on the table and slowly reached to her left for the mast of a floor lamp, feeling for the switch and turning it, squinting for a few seconds at the sudden light that greeted her. She rubbed her eyes and looked to the table at the half-eaten bag of popcorn and partial bottle of juice. I guess, she thought. Dinner, continued as breakfast. She reached for the popcorn, bringing out a small handful. Where's that book I'm supposed to go over...no. It's all about tea first...

4:47 AM.
"The style of Pek Kwar was developed by a master of northern Chinese Kung Fu named Ma Chi Ho. Prompted by a cryptic statement made by a Taoist priest in passing, Master Ma Chi Ho taught himself to direct his chi through his arms and legs. By filling his limbs with energy he created a protective aura around them. He learned to use his arms and legs in swinging and chopping motions similar to the movements of someone wielding an axe. Pek Kwar uses both circular and linear strikes and blocks, and requires flexibility for high kicks."

Kimi stopped for a second, sipping from her tea and mentally going back over the footage of her mother's series she had seen that contained fighting scenes wth the Monkey Kung Fu master, Montgomery Fiske. Yep...all about flexible.

"The Monkey style of Kung Fu originated in the early part of the twentieth century. It was developed by a master of Tei Tong Kung Fu named Kou Sze. Tei Tong Kung Fu consists of ground-rolling techniques and kicking and striking from low positions. Master Kou Sze was a fierce fighter. One day he killed an evil man in his village. Consequently Kou Sze was sentenced to eight years of solitary confinement in prison. From his prison cell window he could observe a troupe of monkeys in the forest near the prison. Over the years Kou Sze closely studied the monkeys' movements and behaviours. From these observations he created an entire Kung Fu system based on the physical, mental and energetic characteristics of monkeys. There are five separate styles of monkeys contained within the art. These are the Tall Monkey, the Stone Monkey, The Lost Monkey, the Wooden Monkey, and the Drunken Monkey. Each style expresses a different monkey personality type and form of movement."

Kimi slowly brought a small handful of the popcorn from the bag at her side, tipping her hand to let a few of the puffy kernels tumble into her mouth. All about a lot of monkeys, she thought, reading on.

"Master Kou Sze was friends with Pek Kwar master Kin Ming Kwai. The Ken family operated a successful bodyguard service in China. After Kou Sze was released from prison, Ken Ming Kwai sent his grandson Ken Tak Hoi to study with him. Ken Tak Hoi Served as a bodyguard in the royal palace at a young age, and he soon opened his own bodyguard service. Ken Tak Hoi became the protegé of Master Kou Sze and studied with him for ten years. Ken Tak Hoi was a master swordsman as well as a great chi Kung master. He combined the three arts of Monkey, Pek Kwar and Tei Tong into a style he called Tai Shing Pek Kwar."

...guess we'd kind of have these guys to thank if we run into Monkey Fist at the Rift.

She flipped forward a few pages, glossing quickly over the text. So Monkey Kung Fu is mostly upper-body attacks, like Mom said...and mixed with striking from a low position. It's all about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Monkey. She scanned a few pages deeper into the book. This is mostly history and theory...not much about technique. Mom didn't say much about that. Where are the moves? The positions and sequences?

Kimi dropped the book to the couch and glanced over to the computer desk, giving a small sigh. Maybe the Karate club site on the Intranet might have something. She rose from the couch, taking the popcorn and juice to the desk. She placed them to the left of the keyboard and sat into the rounded secretary's chair, reaching for the mouse and giving it a shuffle. The monitor leaped to life. She quickly clicked the icon to connect to the main site of the base Intranet and found the menu link to the Karate club. The window opened, with several people in fighting poses and the message "Welcome to the 111th Silver Dragon Karate Club" across the top in red semi-Oriental lettering. She went into the area marked "Literature" and clicked on the search box, typing "Tai Shing Pek Kwar". Let's see what this gets me, she thought as the screen brought up a list of articles.

5:56 AM.
"Hou Quan, literally 'Monkey Fist', can be traced back to the Han dynasty and is recorded in the Mi Hou Wu dance performed at the Emperor's court. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually a number of independently developed systems of Monkey Kung Fu. Traditional Hou Quan as taught in mainland China includes running on all fours, various difficult acrobatic movements such as flipping sideways in the air, front flips, back flips, back handsprings, hand stands, walking on the hands, forward lunges/dives, backward lunges, spinning on the butt, spinning on the back , and combined with many kicks and strikes. Most of the attacks are aimed at the knees, groin area, throat or eyes of the opponent and hand strikes are normally either open handed slaps or clawing with a semi-closed fist called the Monkey Claw."

Kimi moved the cursor to the top of the browser window, highlighting the address of the article. All about help, she thought, copying the address and switching to the mail program, opening a new mail to her mother and dropping the article address into the text area. Mom will want this one. She switched back to the article window and continued reading.

"There are five variations of Monkey Kung Fu developed as part of the Da Sheng Men system, and still utilized in the later Da Sheng Pi Gua system:

"Drunken Monkey uses a lot of throat, eye and groin strikes as well as tumbling and falling techniques. It incorporates a lot of false steps to give the appearance it is defenseless and uses a lot of off-balance strikes. The practitioner waddles, takes very faltering steps and sometimes falls to the ground and lies prone while waiting for the opponent to approach at which time a devastating attack is launched at the knees or groin area of the opponent."

I've seen some of that, in the episode where Monty first gets his powers and he fights Ron...

"Stone Monkey is a 'physical' style. The practitioner trains up his body to exchange blows with the opponent. Stone Monkey uses a kind of iron body method. It will leave an area exposed on its body for an opponent to attack, so it can attack a more vital spot on the body. It is important not to attack reflexively at open spots, and try to hammer away at their weak spots until they give in."

Hmm, not so much his style...but good to know anyway, just in case.

"Standing Monkey or Tall Monkey is a relatively conventional monkey that likes to keep an upright position and avoid tumbling around. This style is more suited for tall people. It is a long range style.

"Wooden Monkey mimics a serious, angry monkey that attacks and defends with ferocity. The attitude of this monkey is more serious, and its movements are noticeably less light than the other monkeys. Wooden Monkey likes to grapple and bring its opponent to the ground."

Yeah, that's him. All about Monty. This is what I was looking for—

The electronic shrill of the phone on the desk broke Kimi out of her train of studious thought. She reached for the phone, thumbing the "talk" button as she brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

Kim's voice came through the earpiece, the tone a bit short and terse, similar to that of yesterday. :::Morning Ki:::

Ooo-kay, maybe it's Karate Fuerher, Day Two, Kimi thought, already a bit sour at the continued attitude. She decided to chalk it up to the early hour, giving her mother the benefit of the doubt. "Hey."

:::How'd you sleep?:::

"Not too bad. I got up kind of early so I could go over that book you gave me."

:::Ah. Good. Find anything in there that you think you can use?:::

"A little...but not too much on technique. That book is mainly history and theory. I looked on the Karate club site on the Intranet and found an article that goes more into sequences and stuff. I sent you the link in email."

:::Thanks. I'll take a look at it over breakfast. Were you going to ride to the gym with us this morning, or were you going to walk again?:::

"I can ride in...if it would make you happy..."

There was a slight pause in Kim's speech. :::...make me...happy?:::

"Well something has to...I just don't know what..."

:::Maybe being a little more of the Black Belt that I taught you to be and a little less of the one you've taught yourself to become. That'd make me happy:::

I thought I was all about, Kimi thought. "I'll work a little harder on remembering to use the things I was taught."

:::See? There you go. I'm already happier. I'll let you get to your breakfast. Mark called a little bit ago. He said he'll be out front with the Hummer around 7. See you then.:::

"'K."

The phone clicked into silence. Kimi replaced it into the charger on the desk and returned to the article. This'll be all about quite a day...Monkey Fist and Mommy Fist, she thought, reaching again for the bag of popcorn and hefting a handful, jostling the kernels.

7:02 AM.
Kimi was slipping on the second of her training shoes when there was a knock at the door. She stood from the chair, sliding it under the desk, picked up her Escrima sleeve, and walked to the door. She turned the knob and pulled back the door, and was met by a sight she had seen many times throughout her years of Kempo; her mother dressed for a day of active Karate training.

Kim was dressed in black sweatpants and a blue polo top which had been cut to midriff length, with a Meridian logo on the upper left chest. Her feet were adorned in a pair of black training shoes with the Sieto Kemmei Kai logo on the outer sides. To Kimi's surprise and a bit of relief, Kim's face wore a bit of a lighter expression than the rigorous day before. "Hi," she said. "Looks like you're ready."

"As I'm gonna be," Kimi replied.

"Let's go. I passed Mark in the hall. He'll be out front."

Kimi stepped through the doorway, pulling the knob behind her and followed her mother down the hall to the front door. Kim held the door open for her daughter, then joined her on the front stoop of the building.

Mark had brought the Royal-blue Hummer around to the front of the building, and exited the truck as the two women began down the steps to the sidewalk. "Morning Ladies," he called as he rounded the vehicle and opened both of the passenger doors.

"Morning," offered Kim as she slid into the front seat.

"Morning Major Mark," followed Kimi, climbing into the rear seat, setting her sticks between her knees.

Mark smiled and closed the doors, rounding the vehicle again, the strong headlights of the truck showing bright streaks on the legs of his jeans. He slid into the driver's seat and touched the switch to start the hydrogen circuits to the engine, then turned the key to start the engine.

He brought the truck to a stop at the end of the block and turned left. As he accelerated around the corner, a manila folder slipped from atop the center storage bin and slid onto Kim's lap, threatening to continue to the floor until Kim trapped it with a hand on her lap

"Nice save," said Mark. "I should have stowed that before we took off. That's some stuff that Johnny tracked down for Mike and I last night."

Kim shuffled the folder a bit to rearrange the papers that had partially slid from it. She picked out one of the papers and glanced at it. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yep," said Mark, "it's a full list of what was stolen in the Flagstaff armory raid last month."

Kim read a bit down the list. "Two cases weather-resistant polarized goggles...you told us about those already...but most of this other stuff is just military mumbo-jumbo to me. AR-15s...FGM-148s..."

"Can I see that?" asked Kimi from the back seat.

Kim passed the list over her shoulder. Kimi ruffled the paper to straighten it before glancing down the list of items. "Desert Eagles...big handgun. .45," she said.

Mark nodded. "Yep. Standard military issue sidearm."

I know the AR-15, too," said Kimi. "That's a military assault rifle. I've fired one at the range at school. They're almost as mean as an AK-47."

"They sure are," Mark said, "but at least you don't have to deal with a foreign manufacturer to get one." He turned to Kim. "The FGM-148...that's a portable shoulder-fired missile system. It's called the Javelin. It has infrared imaging tracking...and night vision capability. The choppers will really have to keep an eye out for those. They're actually an anti-tank weapon, but they can be used to bring down a helicopter, like a Stinger would."

Kim screwed up her face. "Assault rifles? Missiles? Eesshh..."

"That's no joke," said Mark. "The fight at the Flagstaff armory was pretty intense. There were casualties on both sides...one of the Guardsmen lost his life in the attack...so did one of the Cellers."

Kim lowered her eyes to the folder, her brow furrowing. "...this is serious...more serious than I could have imagined..."

"Serious is right. You're going to need more than just Karate to get through this."

Kim looked up from the folder to Mark, waiting for what she began to expect after she learned the deadly potential of the list of stolen items, but still feared.

"I've scheduled some time for both of you at the firing range this weekend," Mark continued. "Ki is already familiar with firearms...but we need to get you through a crash course with them."

That'll help, Kimi thought. I'll feel better going to the Rift if we're armed. And even better if Mom's armed too.

Kim looked at the folder again. Shego...with a gun. Might as well have the green glow...it'd be just as deadly as a gun if it were a real effect...

7:14 AM
Mark brought the Hummer to a stop at the front of the gym and slid the shifter into Park. "About the same time as yesterday?"

"Depends on how late Chet wants to stay," said Kim. "I'll call you when we're done."

"Okay. I'll be spending most of the day with Mike, going over the data Johnny got us and contacting other bases to get the word out about distributing the KISS suits to Cellers. Mike is still working on getting a Nightwing up here from Offutt by the weekend so it can be modified to carry the EMP device. They have a lot of modification to do to it and other vehicles to have everything ready by the time we leave for the Rift."

Kimi leaned forward in her seat. "...When are we leaving?"

"It could take up to three days to drive from here to the Canyon," said Mark, "and Wade wants us to leave a little time before the Conduit cycles, so he can set things as right as he can. We should have everything in place and ready by next Friday, the 18th. We'll leave early that morning. That'll put us at the Canyon sometime on the 20th...three days before the Conduit is scheduled to cycle."

Kimi didn't say anything as she sank back into her seat.

Kim also said nothing. Her eyes slid slowly to Mark, her brow displaying the new worry she carried upon hearing the closeness of their deadline. Getting both Ki and I ready in Karate...getting myself psyched up to train with firearms...not to mention getting psyched up enough to fight against what could be hundreds of evil Cellers before we're done...and saving some for Shego...and we have only one week to do all this.

One week to be as ready as we can.

Mark's voice stirred her out of her deer-in-the-headlights gaze. "I'll be a phone call away if you need me for anything. Chet should be by after lunch."

Kimi climbed out of the back seat of the Hummer and reached to open the front door. Kim turned to look at the door for a second, then back to Mark. Her expression indicated that her mind was working feverishly to process the load of tasks that lay ahead in the next week. "I'll call when we're done," she said softly.

Mark nodded with a slight smile as she turned to exit the vehicle. A lot of stuff to work on before we leave – and adding firearms training is just adding to the burden. At least it'll only really be one of them training, since Ki is used to working with firearms. As quickly as Ki got used to them, her mother shouldn't really be a problem. After all, Ki just about grew up in her image.

If there's anyone who can be ready and get this done, it's these two.

Kim stepped out of the truck onto the sidewalk. She was a bit startled as the front door slammed shut. She tried to cover with a sweep across her bangs as she recomposed herself, turning to Kimi. "That was loud."

"Sorry," Kimi apologized as the Hummer pulled from the curb, "I didn't think it would shut that hard."

Kim offered a quick smile and motioned to the gym. "Let's get inside and start stretching." She turned and began up the walk toward the building.

Kimi followed three steps behind, studying her mother's movements lit by the streetlamp and silhouetted against the lighting of the gym entrance as they approached the building. She watched the confident strides Kim took along the cement and the subtle sway of her hips. She made note of the swing of her arms as she walked and the trademark heart-shape of her hair, gently bouncing against her back and shoulders as she moved up the stairs. Looks like Mom is all about over the fight in the Market, at least physically. That's good. Her shoulder really looked banged up...and that bruise on her face? Oooh, if only we had left school earlier. I could have been home to go with her that morning...and Liquid Murder would have made two big messes in the street if they tried anything. Maybe that would have made her attitude a little better.

Kimi missed a beat in her gait with that thought. Yeah. Then all she would be worrying about is the Earth not turning anymore, Aunt Tina being dead along with a few million others, and the bunch of evil Cellers behind it all wanting to send the rest of us straight into the Sun.

Frost it, Ki. It's all about enough to worry about without adding your mom's list on—

"Ki?"

Kim was halfway in the entrance of the gym, looking back with a questioning expression to her daughter paused at the foot of the stairs. "Coming?"

Kimi shook her head for a second to clear her mind of her previous train of thought and shift her focus back to the morning's activities. "Yeah," she said, grabbing the rail and taking the stairs in a series of quick hops.

Kim held the door open and followed Kimi to the counter, where she asked to have someone move the box of their equipment out to the exercise floor. Kimi stood off to the side and a few feet back from the counter, trying to hide her apprehension about the morning's coming agenda, but the glint of uneasiness in her eyes and the nearly constant motion of grabbing at her elbows as she crossed her arms were a telling indication of her concerns. It took a tap on the shoulder from Kim to get Kimi moving toward the doors to the exercise floor.

Kimi waited at one corner of the large blue floor while Kim went to the locker room for a few towels. After a couple of minutes, a man came from the storage room with their box of equipment on a small cart. He recognized Kimi and began to move in her direction along the outside border of the floor. Kimi uttered a "thanks" with a small wave as the man set the box just inside the edge of the floor and leaned two folding chairs against it.

Kimi made a motion to reach to the box – but stopped as Kim emerged from the locker room carrying a collection of towels draped over one forearm. Her hair was now pulled back into a tight ponytail. Kimi straightened slowly as she took in the fluid movement her mother made as she approached, and she wondered how someone who could unleash so much power through Kempo could still put forth such a graceful presence and lithesome, flowing motion. She compared it to her own gait, which she self-described as having a bit more of a "toughness" to its appearance, brought on through years of muscle toning exercises and Kempo training.

Kim plucked two of the towels from her arm and laid them over the side of the box. "They sure got this out here quick." She slipped one of the remaining pair from her arm, offering it to Kimi. "Two for this morning, and two for later."

Kimi reached for the towel rather slowly, giving the same soft, semi-distracted "Yeah" she did at the foot of the stairs outside the gym.

Kim clutched the last of the towel just before it slipped from her hand, stopping Kimi's motion as the slack between them tightened and her eyes rose to meet those of her mother. "You okay, Ki?" she asked. "You seem like you're...almost somewhere else this morning."

It took another second or so before Kimi again swam to the surface of her thoughts. "...Sorry," she said, slowly resuming her tiny tug-of-war with the towel, "...just...a lot on my mind..."

Kim relinquished her control over her end of the towel, letting it slide from her grip. "I understand," she said softly while doing a quick mental inventory of her own list of concerns, "but we both have work to do today. Let's try to focus more on that for now." She then turned back to the box, reaching for one of the folding chairs leaning against it and passing it to Kimi with a small smile and a slight shooing motion. "We'll need about ten feet between us so we can stretch." Kim then turned, slinging the remaining towel over her shoulder and reaching for the other chair against the box, thrusting it outward with her hand to snap it open. She set it down next to the box and laid the towel over the back.

Kimi watched her mother for a few seconds as she slowly backed along the border of the exercise area, dragging the chair until she was about twelve feet away. She steadied the top rail of the chair with one hand and pressed on the seat with the other to open it. She draped her towel over the back of the chair and moved to stand a little over a foot to the right of it to begin her stretching, starting with slow circular arcs of her arms, stretching a little more when they reached overhead or behind her back, to the point of her hands grasping and wrapping around each other.

Their routines went on – 10, 15, 20 minutes in length. Even though she had seen her warm up countless times over the years, on several occasions this morning, Kimi would look over to Kim, at times even stopping in mid-stretch to study her mother's purposeful motions of extension. Maybe she's saving those kind of stretchy moves to teach me when I get into the higher Black Belts, she thought.

Kim began to move her legs apart, her feet sliding before and behind her as she slowly sank to the floor in a "cheerleader's split", her palms cushioning her landing.

Kimi watched her mother's stretch to the floor. What's the big there? I do that all the time. She showed this to her mother and herself by launching into the same stretch, putting out her hands as her legs slid into a graceful split, bouncing slightly on the muscles of her thighs, a semi-smirk of confidence on her face.

Kim's eyes slid to her left to her daughter, and a sly smile slowly appeared along with a slight wriggling of her eyebrows. She then slid her feet together in the reverse of her split until she was mostly in a standing position – and Kimi's smirk melted from her expression. While the bottom half of Kim was upright, her upper half was still doubled over, her palms still against the floor, not having moved during the recovery from the split – until she reached for her ankles and slowly moved upward until they were grasping the back of her knees. She then slowly dipped her head between her knees, her ponytail brushing lightly against the floor in small swishes between her feet, her legs remaining straight the entire time.

Well now she's just showing off.

Kimi recovered from her split in a more conventional fashion, rolling to her left until she could bring up her trailing leg and move to a sitting position. She continued her motion, reaching toward her ankles in a full stretch until her forehead was mere inches from the floor, her hands reaching forward, fingers spreading against the coolness of the material of the slightly padded floor. Mmmm, she moaned silently, it's all about this is the best part of morning stretching...the Exodus of the Knots. Just flowing out of me like—

"You napping? Or just stuck like that?"

Kimi slowly raised her head and turned to Kim, who still had the smile on her face, and one palm and foot on the floor. The other leg was stretched toward the ceiling, her hand smoothed along the back of her thigh. "Y'know, I can roll up a towel, if you'd like a pillow."

Kimi brought one arm across the other and rested her forehead on her forearm, rocking slowly from side to side. "Yeah...she funny. Mommy funny..."

8:14 AM.
Kim took a few short quick swipes at the air, shook out her hands, and turned to reach for her towel, giving her face and neck a quick swipe. She slung the towel over her shoulder and reached into the box, plucking out two red sparring helmets. As she straightened, she turned in Kimi's direction and watched her finish up a rather complex combination of punches and swirls. Left Inward Parry, right upward Back Knuckle to the inside of the elbow—

Kim slowly placed the helmets on the chair. Her eyes never left Kimi as she swept both of her arms to her right, splaying them out into two separate punches. ...clockwise circle with both hands...left Back Knuckle to the back of the neck and a right Hammerfist to the Solar Plexus. Palm up, of course. I never taught her this. Where did—

Kimi arced her left foot low in front of her and planted it directly in front. She quickly whirled a half-turn on that foot, thrusting her right leg backward in the same direction, continuing the twist and throwing a quick punch at about waist level with her right fist. Left sweep – turn – right back kick – turn – and Vertical Thrust Punch to the chest to finish him off.

Kimi straightened from her stance and turned to reach for the towel on her chair. She stopped after the first step, interrupted by soft applause behind her. "Sweet form, Ki," Kim said, dropping her hands and reaching for one of the helmets she had placed on the chair. "Good execution."

Kimi retrieved the towel and patted the end of it lightly over her face and the front of her neck. "Thanks."

Kim hefted the helmet in her hand a couple of times. "One thing, though...I've never taught you the Destructive Fans sequence. Care to share where you picked it up?"

Kimi patted over her forehead again. "There's a v-book that Zach and I would work from sometimes at school. It describes a lot of the more advanced sequences. We used to read over it after our sessions in the gym. We'd polish up on the standard forms, and try to pick up some of the others...a lot of them got good to me since they're mostly moves with—"

"—with the feet," Kim finished, rolling her eyes slightly. "I should have known." She tossed the helmet to Kimi and picked up the remaining one on the chair, slipping it onto her head. "I guess I can take that move to mean that you're all stretched out and ready to go to work this morning."

Kimi tossed her towel to the chair and donned her helmet, leaving the straps hanging to the sides of her head. "Depends on what you mean by 'work'..."

Kim cinched the strap into place at the side of her jaw. "Well this morning, 'work' will be you working on your upper body technique...and me working on defending against it."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning, what else? Hit me."

Kimi canted her head slightly. "You-mean, like, hit you with...punches?"

"Punches. Thrust, Cross, Jab, Hammer. Whatever works."

Kimi remained a bit hesitant. "What- what if I actually...you know...hit you?"

Kim shrugged. "Then...you hit me. That's exactly what I'm focusing on this morning...polishing up my defenses so I don't get hit."

"...so...I won't have to worry about Retaliation Mode if I land one?

"Ki!" Kim almost shouted. "For the last time, this is not a competition. It's not You vs. Me. This is you throwing punches to work on your technique, and me blocking punches to work on mine. That's it. That's all we have to concentrate on this morning." She turned and took a few steps away from the edge of the floor, then turned back to Kimi, curling her hands in a "come hither" motion.

Kimi hesitated a few more seconds, then started out onto the floor. "'K...this'll be interesting," she smirked, fastening her helmet and tugging on the strap to tighten it. "Trying to give my Fourth-Degree Mom a third-degree workout."

"Now you're getting the idea. So bring it over here."

Kimi walked out onto the floor to Kim, stopping when she was standing within a couple of feet of her. She could see the look of concentration building on her face, along with the tensing of her forearms as her hands tightened, bracing to take action in response to the assault she was requesting. Welp, this is all about what she wants...so it's all about what she's gonna-GET—!

The quick lunge punch to Kim's midsection was just as quickly deflected with a swift downward cross-swipe of her forearm. Kim nodded once – and when Kimi didn't move for a few seconds – "What are you doing?"

Kimi loosened a little from her stance, standing a bit straighter. "Sorry. I was just...waiting for the counter. Guess it's just natural."

Kim was a bit surprised by her daughter's continued reluctance. "That's a good, um, nature. But it's not needed this morning. No counters. Remember, not You vs. Me. Just concentrate on landing a punch...and I'll concentrate on defending against it." She then brought up her hands a bit, repeating the "come hither" motion and moving into a preliminary stance.

Kimi returned to a ready position as well, curling her fists. Guess I shouldn't complain, she thought. This is a situation that a lot of kids dream of...where they have permission to beat on one of their parents. Doesn't fit me too well, though. I'm just doing what Dear Mommy-SAYS—

Kimi's left-right combination was artfully defused with two more forearm blocks. Kim began to bounce a bit on her toes. "Nice form, Ki. Step up the pace a little."

Kimi lashed out with a left, which Kim blocked – and she suddenly had to duck as another left swing quickly followed, just inches from landing against the side of her head. "Whoa," she recovered slowly. "Didn't see that coming."

Kimi retreated sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Remember, it's my fault if I get hit. Keep going...and leave a little less time between moves."

That really was a quick-follow-up, Kim thought as she blocked a right thrust punch from Kimi. I don't know why she doesn't like-working-with her hands. She's got good-form-and exe-cution. Kim let out a soft grunt as she went through a series of swings from Kimi, matching her move for move with blocks and deflections. I think maybe I should-be-glad that she's not using her feet-this-morning, too. She'd really be a handful...almost as much of a handful as She— "Ow!"

Kimi straightened from her posture as Kim put up a hand to stop the exercise for a moment, her other hand rubbing over the front of her right shoulder. "You okay?"

Kim kept her hand against her shoulder as she rotated her arm through its range of motion once – twice, checking for any twinges or catches. "I'm okay." She gave her arm another rotation. "Must just be leftovers from the fight in the Market. No big." She shook out her hand and moved a little to her left. "C'mon. Go again."

Kimi gave her mother a quick lookover to see if her motions might be masking any more serious injury – then stepped again into a stance, tightening her fists and curling slowly to her left to keep Kim square before her. "'K...going again."

Right. Right. Left-Right. Kim blocked another quick combination from her daughter. These are good-solid-punches. She's strong. Even though I'm three belts-above-her, I might actually-be-in trou-ble if I didn't know her style so well-WHOA!

Kim raised her arm suddenly as she dropped her head back to put distance between it and the explosive left hook that Kimi threw. Even with the defense, Kimi's blow got through and nearly found its mark. The force of the punch pushed Kim's arm down, and even though she moved her head to evade the rounded punch, she still felt the points of Kimi's knuckles brush against the skin of her forehead.

Kimi dropped her rhythm, straightening from her attack. "Did I getcha?"

Kim rubbed lightly over her forehead. "Just barely...that's the closest you've come to my face yet."

"I'm exploiting your...weakness," Kimi said slowly. "Your right side seems a little slower than your left."

"Yeah...you might be right," said Kim, bringing up her right arm and flexing her hand a few times. "Must be because of the fight in the Market. I'll have to do some extra exercises this week to tone up. This workout will help, too, so don't let up on that side."

Kimi nodded and began to dance on her balls of her feet. "When you're ready."

Kim shook out her hands and crossed her arms against her body twice – then nodded and returned to a stance, tightening her reflexes. Concentrate. Strengthen up the right side. Ki picked up on it in just a couple of minutes. It wouldn't take Shego that long.

Kimi circled a little to her right and flashed out with a right aimed at Kim's midsection, blocked again with a quick sweep of her arm. Left side is all about covered...and even with her right side weaker, I can only get through with a right-left combo or a quick left double punch...but now she's seen both of those, so she'll be looking for them. And even then, I've only really landed one punch, on her shoulder. I need something else to—

"Ki. You're spending too much time planning your moves. Don't think – feel – and act."

Kimi responded with a nod and a quick left – then a flurry of alternating swings, which Kim parried with an equally quick series of blocks, all with her left arm. Okay...even right-left-right-left doesn't work...not with her left arm working that fast. It's all about lucky I'm not using my feet too, Mom. But then again, I guess I'm lucky she's not using hers...and that she's not countering whatsoever. I'm all about good...but still not as good as a Fourth—

"Stop thinking about it!"

Kim's words coupled with a light yet purposeful shove to the shoulder broke Kimi out of her internal planning. "I almost have enough time for a nap between your punches. Less thinking – more swinging."

Kimi flew into a tight right-left-right combination, met each time with alternating thrusts of Kim's rigid palms, each punch making loud slaps as they landed against her hands. "That's more like it. C'mon, Ki, go!"

Heh. Kigo, Kim thought as she blocked another hard right thrown by her daughter. Fan fiction fantasy. Even if I was going to be attracted to another woman...that way...it sure wouldn't be that woman. Shego is attractive, physically, sure. But the evil that's between her ears is more than enough to keep me away from being attracted to anything else on her. Especially with what's she's done lately, with the upheaval of the entire world and the death of millions of innocent people.

And Tina.

Even with all the others, Tina's death alone is enough to justify going to the Rift to stop her once and for all. Even though I'm not attracted to you, Shego, we have a date...and nothing you can do is going to stop me from keeping it...and nothing is going to stop me from making you pay for what you've done to so many.

You. Are. So. Gonna-PAY—

The punches stopped.

"...Ki?"

Kim came back to full reality and looked down at her daughter now sprawled on the floor several feet away, holding a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were alight in pain and shock.

Kim took a step toward her felled daughter. "Ki! Oh my God I'm so sorr—"

She stopped as Kimi suddenly gasped and pushed away with one foot, the other half-cocked in the air, putting up a defense as if she was expecting another attack. She held up her other hand as well, visibly shaking. "I already paid, okay," she said through the hand still covering her smarting mouth.

"What?"

"'You are so gonna pay'. That's what you said."

"I said that out loud?"

Kimi rose to her feet, hand still over her mouth, and backed a couple of steps away from Kim. "Yeah. You did – just before you clocked me with a right. A hard right."

"Ki...I was—" she stuttered. "...Let's take a break and have a trainer look at your mouth."

"Break!" Kimi shot back unbelievingly. She brought her hand away, looking at the smudge of fresh blood on her palm. She quickly brushed a tear from one eye with a finger before returning her hand to her mouth. "No. I'm going to see a dentist. I think you might have knocked one of my teeth loose." She immediately turned away, headed for the doors to the lobby.

Kim stood motionless, as if the horror of her present level of hatred for Shego breaking loose on her daughter left her unable to follow. "...Well please come back afterward and let me know—"

"Done for the day," Kimi swiped with a hand while still walking toward the door, her voice wavering from the pain of the sucker-punch right hook from her mother and the shock of surprising disgust at the incident. "Enough of You vs. Me."

"Ki! It's not You vs.—! I said I was—"

"Chet will be here later. He has protection, so you can trash him all you want."

"Ki, hang on a sec, I'll come with—"

"That'd be a NO..."

"Ki!"

The next answer Kim received was the banging of the door against the wall as Kimi flung it open and stormed into the lobby. It slowly sank closed, and Kim sank as well, her knees touching together as she slumped to a sitting position on the floor, her eyes still riveted to the doors as if she was waiting for some change of heart from her daughter and she would reappear through them at any second. After a few more seconds without that change, Kim's immediate hopes for the continuance of the intense training schedule with Kimi began to also sink as she lowered her eyes, looking into her hands. "...What have I done," she whispered.

Kim remained on the floor for nearly 20 minutes, her mind a tug-of-war between the fire of hatred that had grown for the black-haired foe from her show, and the alarming scene that was borne from that hatred, lashing out against the wrong person – someone who was anything but a foe. The battle continued with one set of thoughts fueling the other and intensifying the emotions accompanying them. She was brought to the extremes of those emotions several times, either to punch or pound the floor angrily, or to cave forward onto all fours to shed painful tears. The outbursts felt to Kim like an extension of the emotions she felt after the horrifying revelation that not only were Cellers behind the widespread carnage that had embraced the globe in the past week, but that carnage had been brought by none other than the ones from her show that had hatched so many cinematically-scripted plots of worldwide upheaval.

But this upheaval was all too real.

So was Kim's anger.

And so was Kim's pain.

Shortly before 9:30, Kim rose and slowly went to the lobby to have someone store the equipment for the day. She thought about leaving a note for Chet when he came to help in the afternoon, but remembered that the phones on the base were operational.

Kim thought that calling Mark so early in the day for a ride from the gym would no doubt prompt questions as to the premature end to the day's training activities which could lead to actions on his part that, while Kim realized the good-hearted nature that would be meant, she was just not in the mood to endure them so soon after the incident in the gym. Instead of contacting Mark for transportation, Kim walked the six blocks from the gym to the COTQ building, taking the time during the walk to further admonish herself for letting her feeling toward Shego manifest itself in physical form against Kimi, causing her unintended injury. She made a decision to temporarily detach the polishing of technique and execution from the base purpose of the training sessions. She also gave a silent prayer that this decision hadn't arrived too late to be put to use, hoping that any apology she would offer her daughter over the coming weekend would be treated as an olive branch rather than kindling.

111th Transportation Coordination Operations
Bldg. 6, Office 108
10:22 AM.
The fingers flew over the keyboard, filling in fields of the form on the screen. To someone watching nearby, it would almost seem as if the words were appearing by magic. The peripheral actions of pressing the Shift key to capitalize a word or the Tab key to advance to another field were performed without the slightest break in the quick steady rhythm.

He could never definitively decide if he owed his typing reflexes to his years in high school and college classes in journalism, or his years of training in Yoga and Karate – but if there was one thing Chet Ketcham was thankful for, it was that either or a combination of the two blessed him with wickedly accurate abilities on a keyboard. An average of 110 words per minute with 100% accuracy, even with his large hands. It left him with one less thing to think about as he set about his tasks.

A pert young brunette leaned into the door from the corridor. "Chet, you've got a call at the front desk on 5104," she said, the perkiness of her voice matching her general appearance. In spite of the strict protocol currently in place, she wore her uniform rather casually, the first two buttons of her blouse undone, exposing the top half of her well-tanned cleavage and a wavy spill of hair falling alongside each ear from the nonchalant bun she had rather hastily arranged before coming to work.

Chet looked up from his screen, intrigued. "Front desk? It can't be from outside. Who couldn't look up my extension?"

The brunette shrugged. "I dunno. It's some girl."

Maybe Atkins found someone to do his phone barking for him, thought Chet as he nodded to the woman and she disappeared into the corridor, shutting the door. He picked up the handset and punched the numbers into the keypad to accept the call from the front desk switchboard. He could have at least given her a copy of the base directory. "TransCoordOps, Second Lieutenant Ketcham."

The voice in the earpiece was a bit subdued. :::Hi Chet, this is Kim.:::

Chet moved to set his elbow on his desk, his head resting on the hand curled around the headset. "Oh hi Kim. This is...kind of an unexpected call. What's up?"

:::Yeah,::: Kim replied with a kind of "You can say that again" air, :::this whole morning has been kind of unexpected. Listen, I was calling to tell you that you don't need to show up at the gym today. There was an...incident, and we called off training for the day.:::

Chet lifted his arm a bit from his desk. "Ooh. Nothing too serious, I hope..."

:::I don't think so...but I should know more by tomorrow.:::

"So things are kind of on hold?"

:::Far as I know, you can plan on being at the gym on Monday...unless you get another call. I'll let you know.:::

"Okay. I'll sit tight and be ready on Monday unless I hear from you."

:::Thanks Chet. Have a safe weekend.:::

"You too." Chet hung up the phone. Hope everything's okay. Nah, they're okay. They're both Black Belts, after all. They know what they're doing. Even though they're going through some dangerous routines, they have a handle on their technique. He turned back to the displayed form on his screen. Now I have the afternoon to implement some of the stuff Atkins was asking for...and I can use some of the weekend to work a bit on logistics.

Quarters 1-G
4:22 PM.
Kim spoke in a low voice, her tone heavy with seriousness and colored slightly with emotion. "Ki...the thing you have to know, first and foremost, is how sorry I am about what happened this morning. Over the years that we've been working in Karate, I have repeated to you several times that I would never...ever strike out at you in anger or with the intent of harming you in any way...and this morning's training should have been no exception to or deviation from that.

"I will be the first to admit that the error was mine...the mistake was mine...and it was a serious one. It's one I've warned you about so many times. It was the mistake of letting your mind wander when trying to focus on your task. Even with the conditions we're under and the seriousness of what we're training for, our minds have to stay sharp...and even sharper with what we might have to go up against at the Rift. We have to work as a team...we have to work together, and be tight together. Things like this morning can drive a wedge between us. And that's the last thing we need right now. That's why I'm asking, if there is a way in your heart, for you to—"

A short series of electronic tones announced that someone was at the door. Kim quickly looked over the notepad she was holding, the page filled with hastily-scrawled sentence fragments, before placing it face-down on the desk. She turned from the tall mirror near the desk and walked to the door, sweeping her hands through her hair on the way as a second thought to arrange her unmanaged locks.

She got a bit of a surprise when she opened the door – and a bit of relief as well. "Oh...hi Mark."

"Hi," Mark replied. "Just relaying a message. Melfina has made up a good dinner tonight, if you're interested. Johnny and his wife are there, too."

Kim shied away a bit. "Oh...well, I hadn't really planned on...going anywhere tonight..." Her statement was true, as she was still wearing the outfit from the morning.

"I thought something wasn't normal when I stopped by the gym this afternoon. I tried calling you but there was no answer. I called Chet since he wasn't there either, and he said you told him not to bother showing up today...that...something had happened, and you had called off practice for the day."

Kim now turned away from Mark slowly, her eyes falling to the floor. "...yeah...I did..."

"Chet said that you didn't get real specific about what had happened...just that there was an...incident of some sort—"

"—there was," Kim cut in, still looking down and away. "Ki and I were training on punches and defenses and things were going well and I let my mind wander to everything else that's happened and all the evil that Shego has done, especially with what happened to—"

Kim's eyes closed and her face screwed into a pained expression which lasted until Mark placed a hand to her shoulder.

"...I hit her, Mark," came out soft and weak. She now turned to him, her eyes large and bleary, and gave a long gasp mixed with a sob. "I – I hit Ki – hard...right in the mouth." Her words came with some effort as tears began to run. "I told her to throw punches at me and all I was going to do was defend...nothing else. She was...she was reluctant even though I told her several times that I wouldn't counter at all. I started thinking about Shego and all the people that are now dead because of what she and Drakken are doing...and the more I thought about it, the madder I got, and...and before I knew what had happened, Ki was on the floor holding her mouth and there was blood on her hand and her mouth...she wouldn't let me come anywhere near her and she said I had knocked one of her teeth loose and she needed to see a dentist—"

Kim stopped and slowly moved into Mark's arms, weeping, the side of her head settling against his chest. "I hit her...I hit my daughter and I hurt her—when I told her to trust me—and when we have so much to do to—get ready...and I don't know if she'll ever—tr-UST me again..."

Mark gently patted Kim's back. "I'm not so sure it's as bad as you're making it out to be," he said. "The dentist said that one of her upper teeth was a bit loose, but he was able to immobilize it...and he gave her some drugs to reduce the swelling and any pain."

Kim looked up, wiping her eyes. "You...you talked to her?"

"She gave me a call from the dentist's office for a ride earlier this afternoon."

"Mark...you have to get a message to her for me. You have to tell her how truly sorry I am about this whole thing, and that it was totally my fault."

"Well...I don't know that that's the right move, given the situation..."

"You can tell me, Mom," came softly from the doorway.

Kim and Mark parted slightly and looked to the still-open doorway, where Kimi stood, her hands clasped in front of her. "It's all about no messenger needed."

Mark moved to the side as she slowly entered the room to within a couple of feet of Kim. She didn't know exactly how to interpret the approach, but in light of the morning's events, she fought a bit with her maternal instincts and remained at a conscious level of preparedness to be ready for whatever might come next. She could not bring herself to look straight at Kimi right away.

She was not prepared for what came next.

"Mom..." Kimi started.

"Ki," Kim cut her short, mentally reconstructing the thoughts on the notepad, "I want to say, first and foremost—"

"—Let me finish first," Kimi countered quickly, softly. "I've had basically all day to think since...since this morning...and I thought a lot about what happened...and I want to say...what you did...you know it hurt. I know it hurt...but I also know that, even though the punch came from you..."

Mark smiled softly and began to back toward the doorway. He saw that things were moving toward what he thought was a necessary process of forgiving and rectifying, "Dinner will be in about an hour, you two," he said, slowly closing the door.

Kim nodded to Mark as they acknowledged his exit for a few seconds, then turned back to each other. Kimi blinked a couple of times before picking back up. "Like I said, even though the punch came from you, I...realize that it wasn't really you."

Kim now looked directly at her daughter. "What?"

"I know it was the hate for Shego behind that punch. You'd never hit me like that, just like I'd never hit you like that, even if you let me."

"...You almost did, a couple of times. Good thing I ducked."

"Especially that one where I almost got the side of your head."

Kim nodded. "You're wicked fast, Ki. All you really need now is to work on your technique a little." Her eyes left Kimi, drifting down and to the left with her shameful affirmation. "...and I need to work on not letting emotion take the place of motivation...a lot."

Kimi dropped her eyes a bit as well. "Yeah. Me too. I...kind of left the gym in a mondo hurry this morning...I didn't give you a chance to explain. I wasn't really thinking right then. We could have had this talk a lot earlier today if I had stayed around, or even had you go with to the dentist. Sorry." She now brought her eyes back to her mother. "You've helped me work on both my technique and my emotion through my whole life...and because of that, I can give back, and help you with the things you say you need help with. That's the only way we're going to get through this...by helping each other...by working together." She held out her hand. "...still teacher and student?"

Kim lifted her eyes back to Kimi and grasped her hand firmly. "Still teacher and student...both ways. Still mother and daughter...?"

Kimi's already softened expression melted into warm compassion, and she reached for Kim. "Always, Mom. Nothing could ever change that. Nothing's ever gonna change that."

Kim wasted no time in nearly throwing herself into Kimi's embrace, wrapping her arms warmly around her. "I so love you, Ki," she said, gently kissing her cheek.

"Love you too, Mom." Kimi returned the gesture to her mother, albeit a bit gingerly.

Kim pulled back to arms' length, studying Kimi's appearance after the devastation of the hooked right that morning. "How...how are you...?" she said cautiously.

Kimi retracted a hand to her face, tracing lightly over the left side of her slightly swollen upper lip. "Better, after the dentist. It took a while to get in, but once I was in the chair they worked pretty quick." She lifted her lip slightly to show her gumline. "They used a couple of drugs to numb my gums and to fight the swelling. It really doesn't look bad, considering, you know...how hard I got hit."

Kim winced for a second, then shook it off. "Um," she started meekly, "how...how's your teeth?"

Kimi's expression brightened a bit at mention of the dentist's efforts. "There was one a little loose." She lifted her upper lip again, pointing to the bicuspid next to her canine tooth. "Now this one—" She tapped lightly on her canine tooth and the premolar behind the formerly-loosened tooth "—is connected to this one and this one with a small bridge." Kim bent a bit and craned her head as Kimi tilted her head back and opened a little wider to try to show. She noted a small strip attached to the inside surfaces of three of Kimi's upper teeth, molded to their contours. "He said it's made of 'PFM'," Kimi said as her mother straightened. "Porcelain Fused to Metal. He said he or my regular dentist can check it in about a month, and it might come off then, depending on how much the tooth has tightened."

Kim's next question was also laced with caution. "Did...have you eaten anything...?"

"I haven't eaten since breakfast," said Kimi. Kim's brow began to twist into worry until her daughter explained. "There just hasn't been much time. Like I said, it took a little while to get an emergency appointment...it's all about go fig, right? Once I got into the chair, the dentist checked out quite a bit of stuff. Then after he gave me some painkillers and stuff for the swelling, I sat there for a while. He took some X-rays and did a partial impression, so he could make the bridge thingy. After he was done, he had me sit for a while longer until some of the drugs wore off. That's when I called Major Mark for a ride. It was about an hour ago when I finally got home."

Kim shied the slightest bit. "Ah, well. You must be starving. Guess that means that you'll be joining everyone for dinner..."

Kimi slid a hand over her stomach. "Oh yeah, all about. Major Mark told me about dinner when he picked me up. As long as it's not something really crunchy, I think I'm all about golden." She then made a slight sweeping point to Kim and her still-morning attire. "You...weren't going to go, like that, were you?"

Kim's mouth slid into a sly smile. "Mark did say that dinner will be in about an hour. Plenty of time for a shower and fresh clothes."

Kimi swept the back of her fingers over her own clothes – clean black workout pants and a white tank top. "All about more than plenty." She reached for another hug. "I'm glad we cleared things up and that you forgive my behavior this morning."

Nowhere near as glad as I am, Ki. Kim again entered her daughter's arms. "I'm glad too," she said as they parted, "and you don't have to apologize for anything this morning. It was my fault that it happened."

A few seconds' pause – and Kimi nodded with a grin. "Okay." She turned for the door. "I'll go visit until you come down. Major Mark owes me a rematch in chess, and Melfina might want a little help with dinner."

"Did Mark say what Melfina is fixing?"

"No...but I know that it won't be bad at all. Even if it was bad, Melfina could make it good." She gave a quick wink. "She cooks a lot like you do."

Kim let a peal of laughter slip. "Who do you think taught me about cooking Flesher food, Hon?"

Kimi snickered in response, then walked out into the hall. "See you in a bit," she said, closing the door.

Kim stood for a few seconds before peeling off her cropped polo top. She tossed it to the arm of the couch and turned for the bathroom, curling her arms behind her to undo the clasp of her sport bra. She stopped at the desk, picking up the notepad and turning it over. I worked on these notes for nearly two hours...and before I even got started on what I wanted to say to Ki, she comes out with her own apology that she didn't really need to say...and she not only explained her own actions, she explained mine as well. She pretty much apologized for both of us before I got ten words out for me.

Kim let the notepad plop down onto the desk and continued toward the bathroom, lightly patting her tummy and chuckling softly to herself. "Yep...that's one hell of a Black-Belted, college-educated daughter I raised..."

COTQ Quarters 1-E
4:38 PM.
The tall, alluring blonde sitting on the couch to the left of Mark leaned slightly in his direction, looking over the layout of his pieces on the board. "So how good is she, you think...?"

Mark studied his position before slowly sitting back on the couch and tilting his head to Melinda Wilson. "She's not bad. I imagine she gets quite a bit of exposure to chess in college. I think she needs to work a little more on seeing ahead and gathering in the overall picture though. She actually held a pretty tight position until she undid the linchpin and I went in with a bishop sacrifice that allowed a mate in four."

Johnny Wilson shifted slightly in his seat across the table, tracing combinations of future plays with his eyes and branches of sequences from them. He looked up from the board to Mark with a smirk. "I imagine you made that into a life lesson for her, too."

Mark's face spread into a smug grin. "Hey, she worked for it. How could I resist?"

Johnny and Melinda both chuckled softly. "And I'm just sure she was very grateful for the advice," said Johnny.

The three turned their eyes to the door at a soft knock. "That'll be them," Mark said, beginning to rise from the couch.

Johnny held up a hand. "I can get it," he said while sliding a bishop several squares across the board before standing. "You'll need the extra time to ponder the lesson I'm about to teach you." He stood and walked to the door, opening it wide and greeting Kimi with a grin as wide. "Oh look – it's Kim Possible Jr., come to call!" he beamed.

Kimi shook her head for a second as if shaking off the barb, then adopted her own expression of faux surprise and reached up to swipe her hand through Johhny's crew-cut head of orangish hair. "Oh look – it's Jimmy Olsen, come to greet me!"

Johnny laugnhed and placed a hand across her shoulders, bringing her close as he closed the door and they entered the living room. "Her wit's as quick as her Karate. There are quite a few eligible young bachelors that would be in trouble with that combination."

Kimi gave a quick smirk. "Not as much trouble as when my BF found out about them." The other three broke into laughter. Kimi pointed at Johnny as she smiled to Melinda. "Can you tighten the leash on this guy? He's harassing the guests." Melinda bent forward with a snicker.

Mark wiped at an eye. "Speaking of Possibles, where's the original?"

"She was just heading for the shower when I left. I said I was on the way here to see if Melfina could use any help with dinner."

"Your timing is impeccable, Kimi," Melfina's voice bounced from the kitchen. "You may come and take the baked potatoes from the oven."

Kimi perked and started for the kitchen. "Starch – that's the magic word."

Melinda giggled again, turning to her husband, who had sat to rejoin his match against Mark. "When this is all over and everything is back to normal, we need to talk to– what was her name, Misty? We need a visit from a Celler."

As Kimi entered the kitchen, Melfina turned from the stove with a smile and a hug. "Hello to you, Kimi," she said. "I have a pair of oven mitts for you."

Kimi donned the padded mitts, each with an image of an animated cat, and opened the oven door, taking out the tray of potatoes wrapped in foil and setting it on a large hot pad on the counter. As she closed the oven, she looked to the large covered earthenware pot simmering on the largest burner. "What's in here?" she said, reaching for the handle of the lid. "Anything I need to mess with?"

Melfina moved quickly to stop Kimi just before she lifted the handle. "That, my dear Kimi, is the main course of tonight's meal, and it shall remain a secret until it is served."

Kimi suddenly retreated from the pot. "Oooh. That must mean it's something good." She then smirked. "But it's all about d'uh. Like I told Mom, anything you cook is good."

Melfina gave a quick titter as she set a platter on the counter next to the hot pad. "I am glad and grateful that my cooking can bring such compliments from those who partake of it...and I can state with a high degree of confidence that this meal will be no exception to that."

"Aw, you gotta be kiddin' me!" boomed from the living room. Kimi laid her mitts on the counter and hurried to the living room with Melfina close behind.

The usual happy-go-lucky Johnny was bent deep over his side of the board, sliding his hand over his scalp and grabbing the back of his neck as he looked over the position after Mark's move. His brow was high on his head with the pain of realization, crowned with a series of worried ridges. "How could you move your Queen? You're gonna lose your Queen's-side rook without that protection."

His opponent sat back on the couch, his hands behind his head. "Collateral damage, Johnny," Mark smiled. "I'm not going to need it for what I'm about to do to you." He leaned forward to motion to his opponent's moved piece. "You might have been able to stave off the attack if you had kept your bishop where it was...but now it's immaterial. With my Queen where it is now, I'll just pick it off the second you bring it back." He then tipped his finger at his opponent's King. "And since you castled Queen-side after I had that Knight so advanced, you pretty much set your own trap. All I had to do was wait for you to lower your guard and open the door. Now it's just a matter of prying open your Queen's-side pawn structure with my King's-side bishop as the vanguard, and coming in with Queen and Knight."

Johnny ran his hand through his hair again, then reached to tip his King onto its side, conceding the game. "I don't get it. All the studying I do. All those books on chess tactics. All the hours I spend with the chess computer and all the online opponents...and I just can't find the edge against you..."

Melinda nodded. "He spends a lot of time trying to sharpen his skills to beat you."

"Chess is a game of planning and details," Mark said, "and the more details you can gather, the easier it becomes to formulate a plan. The key to gathering details is to look at every possible capture and check within a given position."

Melinda took one of the pawns Mark had captured from the table, studying the grain of the wood before looking to him. "And being a senior investigator must mean that the game of chess comes that much easier to you."

Mark slid into a somewhat satisfied smile of affirmation. "Annnd it gets me the big bucks."

"You're always a tiger in the field," said Johnny. "You're just as much a tiger on the chessboard."

Kimi walked to the coffee table, placing a hand to Johnny's shoulder. "He stomped me just like that a couple days ago. Just like you, I never saw it coming."

"And I pretty much told you both the same thing. Chess is about details and planning."

Melfina emerged a bit from the doorway of the kitchen. "In that same vein of conversation, the final planning for dinner is complete. The only remaining detail now is—" the electronic tones of the doorbell cut her short, and she walked to the door. "—please disregard the last of my previous statement," she smiled, opening the door.

Kim was modestly dressed in a dark blue Meridian polo shirt and workout pants in a lighter shade, short zippers opened to let the bottom of the legs flair a little. Her hair was immaculately arranged in full flourish. "I can smell the potatoes," she said, advancing through the doorway to give a hug. "I hope I'm not late."

"On the contrary, your timing could not be more poignant," said Melfina, returning the hug. "I was just about to commence gathering everyone to the table."

Johnny rose first from his footstool, followed by those on the couch. "That's all the hint I need," he said.

Kim entered the living room, where she was met by Melinda. The two hugged. "It seems like forever since I've seen you," said Kim.

"And you," returned Melinda. "Stressful conditions can make time seem to fly. Mark had a good idea in bringing you and Kimi back here. Time might be flying, but at least you're among friends in this wilderness."

"There are friends back in Eastgate, too. I just wish there had been room to bring them along."

"If there had been any way," said Mark, "they'd be here with us...but they're safe. William is well-armed and he has a Black Belt as backup."

"Well, given the circumstances, I'll have to take your word on that." Kim turned to accompany the others following Melfina into the kitchen.

The table was set for six, with extra chairs set at one end. Mark sat into one while Melfina continued to the stove, transferring the potatoes from the tray to the platter and presenting it to the table along with one of the oven mitts for the others to bring the potatoes to their plates. "Mark, would you assist me please?" Melfina positioned him at the stove to stand in front of the large earthenware pot while she brought another platter over and began to bring items onto it, both of them with their backs to the others and blocking the view of the stovetop's contents.

Melfina then turned around with the platter, a wide smile on her face. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby present, tonight's main course."

A second of surprise – then the faces of those at the table matched the host's; six steaming lobster tails in a row. "Su-goi!" Kimi perked.

"A gift from Atkins," said Mark, returning to his seat. "He said it was his way of expressing gratitude for Kim and Ki stepping up for this mission."

Kim donned the mitt and reached for one of the potatoes, then held up her plate as Melfina placed the second platter in the center of the table and took a pair of tongs from it, plucking up one of the shellfish and placing it on Kim's plate. She then turned back to the counter for a small bowl containing wedges of fresh lemon. "Gratitude is just the word," said Kim as she reached for a lemon wedge and slowly squeezed it over her lobster. "Please pass ours along the next time you talk to him." She then took a few seconds to look over the richness of the food on her plate. "This is going to be perfect. Lobster always makes me a little sleepy. Tonight may be the first night I get a good night's sleep since we got here."

Melfina smiled as she placed a lobster tail on Mark's plate then turned to Kimi's plate. "It is good to know that my cuisine can have such a soothing effect."

Activity at the table came to a momentary stop as everyone turned to a distant roar from outside. "That'll be the Nightwing," Mark said.

"That's, like, a military Scramship?" asked Kimi.

"Yep, but much faster. It's actually the same kind of ship your mother was on when she came back from Cairo. It'll be carrying the EMP device to the Rift. They'll probably get to work in the morning modifying it to carry the device. I'll see if we can stop by the hangar on Sunday to check it out, and get a peek at the helicopter and the vehicle we'll be taking to the Rift."

"That'll be neat," said Kimi, motioning to be passed the bowl of lemon wedges. "One thing's for sure, this sure won't be a boring weekend."

"Yeah," said Mark. He then turned to Kim. "I hope that lobster doesn't make you want to sleep in. I'm setting up for an 0700 wake-up call."

Kim looked up from her potato she was gingerly unwrapping. "Hm?"

"I thought Ki would have told you earlier...I've got the three of us down for a couple hours at the firing range tomorrow morning. I wanted to introduce you two to the sidearms you'll be taking to the Rift and give you a little time to get acquainted with them."

"I...think that would be my bad," Kimi admitted sheepishly. "With the other stuff we were talking about, it...was all about kind of slipped my mind..."

"No real harm. At least we're all up to speed on it now."

Melfina leaned slightly past Mark. "...Kim? Are you alright? Is there something wrong with your meal?"

The others looked to Kim, who was now more than a bit pale. She reached to scratch at the side of her neck as a couple of beads of sweat appeared at her hairline. "No...no no, the meal is fine, I'm fine. It's...nothing..."

The meal is fine because it doesn't shoot bullets, she finished in apprehensive thought.

to be continued...