Story: Empire (all chapters)

Kim was not what one would call a drinker. She’d only had, perhaps, four glasses of wine in her whole life and those were at weddings. Therefore the young woman did not know the taste of liquor that had lit a fire down her gullet, striking her organs at the first taste of punch that Josh had given her.

She’d tried to be polite about it, about the feeling not being nice in the least and not wanting it, but Josh had smiled at her and Ron had said, “C’mon KP! It’s off the hizzay!” He was too drunk for anyone but Kim to really understand and Kim hesitated.

Rufus grinned up at her, his pink lips pulled back to where his ears should have been. He chattered something to her that could be interpreted as a go ahead. She could afford to be a little loose tonight, couldn’t she? There was no world saving tonight, and this would be her only chance all month until the real spring came for her to be relaxed.

The heroine drank it quickly and found that the flame in the pit of her stomach was more tolerable if she didn’t pause. It felt a little like the one she got when she and Shego fought during the many unsuccessful experiments of Dr. Drakken. The one Shego started was a lot more pleasant though. Josh gave her a smile when she finished her punch and wordlessly went to get her another cup. The blond boy’s smile was a little to sly to just be happy to get her punch.

Kim was settled at a table a good few feet from the movement on the dance floor. She grinned when she saw that Monique and Felix were the only two on beat with the entire student body of Middleton Senior High School.

Ron had abandoned her to dance with Tara, Bonnie’s second in command, who seemed a little to giggly to just be talking to Ron from her perspective. He was either much funnier drunk or everything was funny drunk. She, Josh, Felix, and a tall, unidentified raven-haired girl in the corner were the only ones who hadn’t been drinking from the crate of Jack Daniel’s Brick had bought to the school.

The red-head adjusted herself in her chair before sighing with boredom. The slim boy she’d arrived with was still not back and the red-head fidgeted with repressed energy. She checked to make sure no one was around before she left.

Her long legs carried her out the hot and sweaty room outside and she savored the cold air. Kim was certain that it was the boy’s that smelt so bad. Even after hours at cheerleading practice, the girls never smelt half as bad combined as Ron did as the Middleton Mad-dog.

Her sweat attempted to freeze at the cool night air and she cursed herself. She’d decided on a soft blue sleeveless dress that her mother said brought out her eyes. Kim had frowned at her and said, “My eyes are green. How does blue bring out green?”

Her mother had pushed her out mumbling something about closer to teal or whatever. The girl had rolled her eyes and kissed her mother before heading into the SUV Josh was taking her, Ron, Monique and Felix in.

The moon was bright on the nearly cloudless night, and Kim stepped into what could only be considered a corner, and leaned against it. The cool helped ease the tension that was trying to form a headache. She peered at the sky and counted the bright lights of the airplanes. She was on twenty-eight when the door opened and another girl stepped out.

She was the tall, black-haired one and she leaned next to the doors. She was pale, paler than Kim, and her hair seemed to be both long and it seemed soft under the moonlight. She shifted and watched the other girl out the corner of her eye adjust into a stance easier to attack from.

Kim shifted again so the other girl would look at her and smiled at her, “Hi. I’m Kim Possible.”

The taller girl moved from foot to foot and said quietly, “I’m Sheila Guinn.” Kim blinked a little and shrugged. Her voice was familiar but she wasn't able to pinpoint it.

“You enjoying yourself?” Kim asked her. The other girl scoffed and said, “Not in this lifetime.”

Something in her sneer, in her manner, in her looks, reminded Kim of someone. She stared at the girl who’d turned to go back in with the ceased communication.

She moved gracefully and Kim felt something in her quake in recognition. "Shego," The red head whispered. The dark haired woman turned to her and smirked, before winking and continuing inside. Kim felt herself flush and then wondered why before following her in.

Chapter 2

With a slight smirk on her face, Shego entered the cafeteria-turned-ballroom where all the teenagers were celebrating. Or rather where they once were. Most of the teenagers were in various states of unconsciousness, except for three, excluding Pumpkin who was outside; an African-American girl, a paraplegic brunet, and the slick-haired blond boy they'd employed for this manner. They were all that was left of the once two-hundred strong upperclassmen of Middleton High.

Most of them were passed out on the floor, some still standing, and one boy's face in the punch bowl. She surveyed them and watched in some amusement as the wheel-chair bound boy and the girl argued about something. She smiled; that was the beauty of Dr. D's newest invention. It made everyone and anyone who drank it see what they wanted to, while their bodies played knocked out, until he activated the switch and a certain amount had entered their system. This plan might just pan out.

The little monkey boy, she couldn't remember what his name was but he seemed like a monkey boy, approached her, a cup of something in his hand. She narrowed her eyes at him and prepared to hit him if he tried to give it to her but instead he said, "Parting gifts from Dr. Drakken. Your services will no longer be needed," and he threw it on her in one smooth motion. She lunged at him, leaving a harsh hand print on his throat, the skin already blistering from her plasma.

They fell to the floor when he showed some aptitude and kicked her feet from under her and Shego aimed to punch him again and felt for her plasma. This was the first time since she was in her early teens that the plasma didn't come with a single thought. That didn't deter her from smashing her fist into his perfect nose, a spray of blood flowing from his face and leaking on her fist.

She sat up and, with a swift kick to his ribs, walked away. When she got her hands on Dr. D, there wouldn't be enough left to bury. Shego stalked out the room, anger evident on her usually indifferent features. It was a good thing, for her at least, that Drakken had told her where he would be waiting for her.

The door to the principal's office swung inwards with a large bang and he sat up quickly, unbalancing the chair and fell flat on his rear. When he saw who it was he sighed in relief, which quickly turned to anger. "Shego! How many times must I-" It was cut off when Shego lifted his like a baby by the collar of his shirt.

"What did you do, Drakken?" She hissed.

"Oh that, it was simple really, I modified the Lather, Rinse, Obey shampoo because of how much I had and changed it into a liquid form that makes the person want to become obeyed so it isn't mind-control, because I remember how much you hated mind-control and isn't this so much better," He babbled, hoping that was what she wanted.

She held him tighter and growled, "I don't care about these hicks, and I want to know what your little lackey did to me."

Drakken's face brightened dramatically and he grinned, "Oh, that. You remember how I first employed you and asked for a tissue sample so that if your employment was called into question, I found a better replacement, or you wanted to retire, I would negate your powers?"

Her hand inched around his throat, tightening its grip until he was bluer than ever and she said, "No."

"Oops. Must have forgotten to write it in the contract," He said his bluster evident. Her anger manifested itself in one of the worst things that anyone could do to someone else and still wants them to live; the microphone would never be the same as it went where no microphone had ever gone before.

Kim entered the gym hoping against hope that everything was the same as it had been when she stepped out for some fresh air, but knowing Middleton as weird central, knew something was wrong almost before she blinked. For one, everyone was unconscious. Two, Josh was holding his nose in his hand, blood flowing from it. Rather than run to Josh, her instincts told her to survey the gym. The hair on the back of her neck rose as she watch some of them slowly rise, including Ron who was in the punch bowl.

An instinctual part of her told her to run, the part that had saved her many a time from being road-kill or air-kill depending on who you asked. She always listened. Kim backed away from the door and ran down the hallway, pausing only momentarily to slip her heels off and send them clattering against the floor. The red-head jumped, pushed the ceiling tile out of place, and climbed up. She covered the hole once more and crawled through the dust, thankful that it muffled the sounds of her movement and kept her from banging against unnecessary pieces of metal.

This was familiar territory and she made sure to imagine the floor-plan of the school in an effort to get a feel of where she was going.

She paused when she heard a suspicious sound and strained her ears. She knew those voices from somewhere, didn't she?

"Please, Shego," The whiny voice said, and she swallowed down the urge to get down there and mutilate Drakken. He'd done this to her fellow Middletonians and he would pay.

"Can't we just be one big, happy, evil family?" He pleaded.

"We stopped being 'one big happy, evil family,'" she growled, "when you negated my powers and brainwashed those brats!"

He seemed to have found his backbone and blustered, "It is not brainwashing! Their minds have just altered to make them want to be controlled!"

"And I'm about to alter your rectal system if you don't shut up!" Shego yelled. Kim could hear the sounds of her heels clicking and the way the fabric moved as she paced. Kim could imagine the fabric rustling along her legs and the dark green fabric against her mint-green legs. She wondered if it was possible for Shego to get tan lines, then blushed darkly. She heard a thump and figured Shego was sitting on a desk.

"So tell me when this negation thing wears off," The villainess said.

Drakken stuttered, shifted and finally said, "It doesn't. I've already used it on your brothers so their DNA isn't going to help when it takes effect. This is the one thing, that'll make you a normal member of society. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

She could hear the sound of the heels slamming on to the tile floor.
"You're gonna die, Drakken!"
And that was when Kim Possible made her entrance.

Chapter 3

Some of the night after landing in the room was a blur to Kim. She could recall fighting Shego, how much more furious her blows had landed but without the green glow that normally accompanied them, how Drakken had tried to escape only to encounter the mob of kids and had, screaming, led them away from the school. How he transported them was a mystery, but she could recall how Shego's face, usually a sneer, a smirk, or a laconic look on it, had been angrier than she'd ever seen it before. Kim could recall the angry green color rising up and staining her cheeks and neck, how her eyes had glittered furiously in the silver light of the moon when they ran outside, and how her mouth had become pinched and pained just before she vomited all over her opponent.

Kim stared down at her dress, then at Shego who was bent double, clutching her stomach in either pain or laughter, and swore. She swore violently, passionately, and in ways that didn't even seem to go together, in ways that made Shego's ears burn and would have made her mother wash her mouth out with laundry detergent.

The villainess looked at her, said, “Oh, Princess, you are in so much trouble,” just before she passed out. Kim ran a clean hand through her hair and sighed. “I don't believe this,” She muttered to herself just before she put Shego in a bridal hold, wiggled her high heeled shoes off, and walked towards her house. Shego was of just the right weight for a woman that tall and with her job. Her entire body was laced with muscles, light as they were, but that didn't make Kim's job of lugging her any easier to do.

The young woman tried to do a few math problems in her head but she rolled her eyes after she caught herself trying to count how many lashes Shego had. She eventually decided on the Fibonacci sequence.

“1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2207, um, 3804,” The teenager frowned trying to come up with the other numbers but drew a blank. That always happened to her; she would be in the middle of a math problem or a science problem or even in English class when it came to analyzing literature, and she would almost have it when the answer would slip from her fingers or it was like she suddenly couldn't go any further. The psychologists said it was a mental block, but whenever they gave her the exercises, it was no problem whatsoever.

She sighed in relief when she saw that her house was in view and hurried up to get rid of the strain on her aching muscles. Her arms were fine, but her legs hurt from the trek barefoot with the added weight. She'd have to get Hope to help her exercises tomorrow if her feet didn't hurt too much, she reminded herself. Then she sighed again, this time in exasperation, as she realized Hope was with Drakken and no help whatsoever.

Kim banged her shoulder against the doorbell and leaned against the wall to help the strain that Shego caused.

Mrs. Dr. Possible opened the door and gasped. Her daughter was standing there, covered in vomit with an unconscious woman in her arms, looking only slightly disgruntled. Sometimes, Kim was to much like her grandfather. Her grandmother could fight with the best of them, but it was Ivan that would take time out of whatever he was doing so he could help some poor wretch.

Anne took the woman from her daughter and almost dropped her. She was heavier than she'd expected and caused her arms to shake from the weight. Kim sighed and took the woman again, lifting her easily and starting towards her room. Anne looked down and saw that there was blood on the wooden floor. She looked at her hands and saw that they were perfectly clean which meant...

“Kim! Get down here and let me fix your stitches!”

Twenty Minutes Later

Kim paced back and forth, her footsteps swift and silent on her bedroom floor. Her leg itched because of the redone stitches and the skin felt tight, but she was so restless she needed to move. Shego was on her bed, a bucket next to her as she continuously heaved even though her stomach didn't have anything left in it. The teen hero bit her lip as she tried to think of something that would warrant Drakken taking all of the juniors and seniors at Middleton and drugging them. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of schools with bigger populations than Middleton. She slowed down a little as she recalled the Middleton slogan, “Not the biggest but the best.”

The red-head hurried out the room, slid down the banister and headed for the office her parents, the Tweebs, the Stoppables, and Wade's hologram were talking in. She slammed the door open, and blurted, “I know why they took all the kids in Middleton.”

James frowned at her, “I thought we told you to stay with your little friend.”

And Anne added, rather irritated, “And you’re supposed to be resting your legs. You just broke twenty-seven stitches in your calves.”

She waved a hand dismissively, “Never mind that. I figured out why.”

James leaned forwards, “Why do you say that, Kimmie?”

“Middleton is the best high school every year,” Kim said, “So he thought that he'd get all the greatest kids as his minions.”

Mr. Stoppable frowned, “That can't be. There has to be a better school than Middleton High.”

She turned to Wade, who was already typing, a deep frown on his face, “From what I can tell, she's right. If the football team doesn't win, the basketball team does, or the cooking competitors, or the soccer team, or the chess team, or the tennis team, or the cheer-leading squad. Nobody ever fails, and no one gets below a C average. The only overweight kids are the ones that come from out of town and they become average weight in a year or less. Middleton is the most active town in the country, has the least traffic, the most intelligent jobs, the most responsive children and the best scores. And this year, everybody won top in the nation.”

Mrs. Stoppable frowned quizzically, “You mean every team.”

“No, I mean everyone. Everyone won in the top five in something, even if it was second-runner up in crocheting,” Wade said.

Jim mused a loud, “The probabilities of that little rinkie-dink school winning everything is mathematically impossible.”

James puffed out his chest, “Anythings possible for a Possible, son.”

Anne turned to her husband, “Yes, but not everyone's a Possible, dear.”

Kim sat on the floor next to Hanna and asked, absentmindedly playing with the baby, “Mom, have you ever done blood-tests on people in Middleton or given anyone drugs?”

The brain-surgeon replied, “Of course. We have to do it for surgery.”

The oldest Possible child asked again, “What about something everyone takes?”

Anne leaned back for several long minutes and finally said, “There's a supplement that everyone in Middleton takes with their breakfast. There's a slightly different type for pregnant women and new families after their first check-up.”

Kim turned to the Stoppables, “Does Ron take the supplement too?”

Mrs. Stoppable nodded, “Yes. He went to Dr. Wilburn for his check-up, since Dr. Watering moved, and they started giving them to him.”

Wade asked, having caught on to Kim's train of thought, “Around what time?”

Mr. Stoppable's face became slack as he said, “It was around the same time he became running back.”

The room was silent as everyone finally realized what Kim was trying to say. Tim shook his head, “You mean everyone in Middleton's being drugged to be the best?”

Hana giggled, reached for her hair gurgling, before saying, “Kim,” and grabbed her hair, anticipating her movements.

Kim stared at the child before standing and pacing, mumbling to herself.

Wade offered, “I think it's more than that. Online I learned that the census for Middleton has been the same for the last fifty years until fifteen years ago; the same time Global Justice and WEE were founded. Everybody either lives here, goes to Go City, or join the army. Lately Gemini has been getting worse and smarter, collaborating with others and I think that the pills are a way to stop him. Drakken hates playing nice and he'd want the credit all for himself.”

The heroine shook her head, “Nah. Drakken may not play nice but his plans are really short-term, just like Gemini's. The amount of research, waiting, and planning that those pills would require is just not something either of them could pull off.”

She pulled Hana up to rest on her hip and continued, “But Global Justice has been begging for me to quit school and join them since I was about twelve and helped stopped Gora El from melting the ice-caps. Maybe they figured that if they can't get me, the town might be better.”

Mrs. Dr. Possible said, “As it is, I'm going to see what effect those pills have on you three, and Hana too, if you don't mind George, June.”

June waved a hand, “It's fine, Anne. We aren't sure what those really could do, and I'd feel safer getting your take on it.”

Anne smiled at her and then headed to the kitchen where they kept the children's pills. Getting one of each, she looked at the pills and saw that they differed. Most of the time, she just put them in the individual cups with the vitamins and she'd thought that they needed different pills, the same way they needed different vitamins.

Now, she pondered what it was that these pills could have that made them individualized. Jim and Tim's, she knew was to increase their reasoning skills. Before their second year check-ups, the boys had been smart, active and attentive, but after that they were bouncing off the walls and practically geniuses.

Kim had been the biggest change though. They hadn't moved to Middleton until she was about four, and she'd been rather chubby then. She'd been an adorable girl with large green eyes, a little thoughtful frown, a quick study, and a desire to help and teach others right from wrong. Soon after taking her pills, she'd lost a lot of the baby fat that had composed much of her, and she was peppy, no longer content to lay on her Mommy's growing belly and listen to a story or go to Daddy's job and watch the rockets quietly. At the time, it'd been a good way to stay in shape for the twins, and after that it was good to know she wasn't mourning the loss of being an only child. Now she wondered what kind of person she would be.

It wasn't that hard to imagine her the same size she was now, because the twins had also been large until about first grade then lost weight to be normal sized. Kim's vision had been lacking until the pills, so probably glasses, and a small frown, as if something had seized her attention. They'd called her Rodin for awhile, because of how much of a thinker she was. A small book pressed against her hip, maybe a pen behind her ear to scratch notes with. For some odd reason, this image pleased her very much and she briefly hoped that Kim would become like that but then threw it away. There was no way Kim would be satisfied curling in a ball at home and reading instead of being out there and helping people.

Anne headed into the den, where most of the boy's toys were, and some of Kim's things. She glanced at the plush leather seat Kim typically sat on, sometimes still curling up with her mother when she had a hard day and just needed to rest, or listened to her read a medical journal. Maybe those Global Justice people hadn't robbed the world of a literary genius after all.

Chapter 4

Shego felt like she was going to die. Her stomach heaved constantly, she was sweating like crazy, and she was in the home of resident heroine Kim Possible. Kimmie had been caring for her for at least two days, probably more with her barely being conscious, and never complained about any of the jobs that came with nursing a sick person back to health. The villainess knew that anyone else would have dropped her off to a hospital a while ago and let the authorities come for her.

Kim had stood by when she ranted about delusional things, helped her get into the shower with only a major blush, took out the waste bucket, and helped feed her. The fact that Kim had also let her sleep in her super-comfortable bed was a plus. Such a shame that the teenager that needed the bed was sleeping on a futon only feet from a bucket filled to the brim with vomit and stomach acid. Shego knew that before this was over, she would owe the other girl a lot.

More than a lot; her life.

The side-kick took it as a good thing that she was actually conscious and able to sit up. Most of the days had just been her vomiting and the occasional clear moment. She could truly appreciate the room now. The wall in front of her had what appeared to be authentic Japanese paper lanterns, bringing a soft glow to the room.

The bed was large with a dark blue comforter and sheets twisted around her legs. The headboard was metal and there were bars running along the sides of the bed, probably for decoration since they weren't lifted.

There was a wooden floor with a throw rug at the foot of the bed. The ceiling was painted in the likeness of both the Ara and the Ursa constellations. The walls were a warm green color and there was a desk covered with loose papers and textbooks.

A cork board hung above the slim laptop, filled with pictures of her and her friends in goofy poses and laughing. There was also a picture of the red-head and Shego when she was Ms. Go. Her good counterpart looked especially happy in that picture, her arm around the slender heroine who was holding a thumb up.

Shego attempted to stand up but found her legs wobbly and her sense of equilibrium out of whack. She tipped over worse than the tower of Pisa and crashed to the floor.

Kim rolled out of the way instinctively, rising into a crouch as she did so. Her stitches were gone already, and her calf was fine besides a healing scab. She breathed a sigh of relief when nothing crazy like elephant ninjas were climbing through the door or a pig/monkey hybrid stampeding through the room appeared. It was relatively normal; just Shego on the floor, swearing and moving weakly.

The red-head stood up and, not saying anything, lifted Shego into a secure hold and put her back in the bed. The teenager mumbled to herself, “I think I liked you better when you showed up, did some evil, and gave me just enough fantasy material until the next time.”

A familiar drawl started and nearly made her drop to the floor like the invalid; “Why, Princess, I didn't know you felt that way. I was sure that this was merely a one-sided love.”

Kim inhaled slowly and asked, her voice quiet, “How long have you been awake and able to understand?”

“Just now,” Shego replied, smirking, “And what a perfect time too.”

'Abso-fucking-lutely,' The other girl thought.

The red-head tucked Shego back in the bed, saying nothing, and gave into a cat-like yawn. She blinked sleepily and turned to head back to her sleeping pad only for Shego to hold onto her overly long sleeve. Kim turned to Shego only for the older woman to shake her head. “Never mind, Princess,” Shego muttered then released her and turned over.

The teen stared at her back for several moments before sighing and going back to her futon. The dark room helped her think about the news Wade had given her several days ago. It continuously ran through her mind, and the respect that she’d once had for Betty Director plummeted.

Three Days Ago

“Those pills must have something that makes people into, what do you kids call it, uber-heroes?” James asked. He was referring to how the rats they were testing on were going through physical changes now that the pills were gone.

Jim rolled his eyes and Tim corrected him, exasperatedly, “Übermensch*, Dad.”

Anne sighed and said, “That's correct. The pills have a combination of medicine that would, potentially, have the ability to boost adrenalin to staggering heights. The unusual thing is that it doesn't just target the muscles. This combination can target the brain, causing your left hemisphere to become less focused and your right hemisphere to take that percentage and use it to keep from being what we would consider, 'silent.' It's ingenious, but could, in the long run, be dangerous. It might rob you of your language skills, or even paralyzing your entire right side.”

Wade's hologram asked, loudly in the groups growing mumbles, “Guys, you mind if I talk to Kim privately?” The other impromptu group members left, talking quietly about the new information. Kim sat in the arm chair, every bit the leader that they needed.

Even Bonnie wouldn't be able to say anything to her rival if she saw her. Her face was grim, and her normally sparkling green eyes were bright with fury. The high-cheekbones that most of the squad secretly sighed about were even more pronounced with her metabolism struggling to support her body with little sleep and less food.

The chubby boy turned to her and said, “I've looked at the samples of Shego's blood and DNA that you've given me and your right. Some of the unusual cells are identical to that of the pills chemical composition. A previous meteorites remains were taken by GJ and used to create the pills; it was pure dumb luck that a second one came and hit the Go Heroes.”

At the thunderous look on the red-head's face he hurried, “It's not life changing though. The only reason that they had those powers is the massive qualities they took in at once. It only lasts for as long as you take the pills. From my calculations it should take, at a steady rate, only two weeks or so to wear off for as long as you've been taking them.”

Her face cleared slowly before she said, “They must have still needed work on them if seventeen years of taking them can be erased in two weeks. What's Drakken's new plan that will only take two weeks? Even he isn't stupid enough to think that something two weeks old will last.”

Wade cleared his throat before saying, hesitantly, “I don't think it's just Drakken anymore. He would have tried to find a way to gloat by now. Someone smart is planning this.”

She leaned back in her chair, blowing air out of her cheeks. The red-head mumbled, “There must be something we're missing. GJ made the pills, Josh infiltrated the school, Drakken kidnapped the kids. There's more than three hundred teens in Middleton high; more than any lair can hold. Where'd he put them?”

She closed her eyes as a thought hit her, “Give me some feed on the Señor's island. That's the only island that Drakken might be able to borrow that's completely secured from normal invasions.”

The dark boy was typing before she'd gotten everything out. He checked the feeds and shook his head. “Sorry, nothing but Junior tanning. Anything else?”

The teen say up again, “Whose been in charge of GJ since it's founding?”

Wade gave a little sigh, knowing that the answer would devastate her, “Dr. Director.” He watched as her mouth pinched, as her face lost color and then gained it again as she said, “Thanks, Wade.” He gave her a half smile and logged off.

Present

The heroine had known that GJ sometimes needed to do things that weren't exactly ethical but drugging teens was lower than low, especially since they'd started when most of them were still toddlers. She sighed and rolled onto her side. At the very least, she was glad that Shego was doing better. In the week that the woman had been here, her body had released the toxins that the meteor had given her, her usual green shading was absent and, when she'd looked at Kim earlier, her eyes were hazel, a green-shaded amber, rather than the usual emerald green.

Something pooled around her navel at the thought of Shego. It felt like guilt, invading every corner of her body and thoughts, but it was more... pleasurable. It wrapped around her insides, and it made her heart pound faster than any plane she'd jumped out of or any fight she'd been in. It also warmed her, as if someone had just placed a large blanket on her. It was a good feeling but also left her feeling as if something wasn't being fulfilled.

The red-head turned onto her back and closed her eyes again. It would do her no good to think of those now. And if her dreams were of bright eyes and teasing smirks, of muscles playing under tanned skin, of breathy words from a full mouth, she wasn't telling.

The morning sun was late compared to Kim. She was outside, stretching in the backyard after an intensive run. Sweat was still on her back and her shirt felt sticky against it. Her breath came in shallow gasps and it hurt her to know that the pills were what had made her such a nuisance to the evil community. She knew how to do everything, the techniques that were involved in each move, exactly how her body would twist to avoid this blow and land that punch; but her body wasn't up for everything. Just a fifteen mile run made her pant and ache.

She wiped her forehead off on a towel and drained the last of her water before heading indoors. A pot of coffee sat in the coffee maker and she poured herself a generous amount in her favorite mug. The acrid taste of it helped her muscles feel less tense and helped her feel as if she could face the day. She could hear her mother shuffling into the kitchen, her footsteps were slightly lighter than her brothers but heavier than her father's, and she put the coffee down to tell her, “Good morning.”

Anne yawned, “Morning, Bubblebutt.”

A familiar voice, laced with sleep and raspy, asked, in an amused tone, “Bubblebutt?”

Kim groaned as Shego stepped into the kitchen, a smirk on her face.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4