Kim opened one eye. Then the other. What the - ?
Then she looked to her right and remembered. Of course. Shego.
That was why she had been sleeping - sitting up.
Kim and Shego's careful attempts to sleep in such a way as to avoid setting off the collars had failed. Twice during the night, they were activated. Desperately Kim had proposed an idea she got from a movie they showed in science class last week, The Elephant Man. There a man with an oversized head slept sitting up every night, because if he were to sleep lying down, the first time he rolled over in bed his neck would break because his head weighed too much.
The idea had been similar. Push the bed against the wall, use pillows to make their sleep less uncomfortable, and sleep sitting up. And that, at least, had worked.
Neither had even commented on sharing a bed, albeit in a situation where they were sitting two feet apart from each other.
Kim couldn't wake Shego after the night they'd had, but she needed to check the time, and she couldn't see the clock from where she was sitting. Careful not to do anything that would set her collar off, Kim crawled over to where she could see the clock readout . . .
. . . and screamed when the electricity hit her.
The convulsion that yanked Shego from sleep came so hard that she smashed her head backwards into the wall, and she grabbed her head with both hands. "Nice move, Kimmie!" she snarled.
"It wasn't me!" Kim cried out. "You must have moved - in your sleep," she managed to add.
"Then why isn't it stopping?!"
Kim realized the pain was going on longer than usual, and it seemed to be increasing. She tugged on the rope, but it hadn't been severed. What was happening? Was this the end? Did the devices have timers?
Shego growled through her gnashing teeth. "If I've gotta go, I'm taking you out first!" she screamed as she threw herself at Kim, arms outstretched.
Her hands grabbed at Kim's shoulders just as the collars deactivated.
Both looked at the other in confusion.
"I'm trying to decide whether to ask what the hell happened," Shego finally said, "or to just moan in pain."
"Moaning sounds good," Kim said. Her voice was almost unrecognizable from her throat always being where the electrical charge originated.
"I'm almost afraid to let go," Shego admitted. "Maybe it'll start again."
"Well, we can't stay like this forever," Kim pointed out.
Carefully Shego let go, and nothing happened. "Okay, let's analyze," Kim went on. "What was the last thing either one of us did before the electricity shut off?"
"I tried to strangle you," Shego said bluntly.
"Somehow I doubt it was cowed by your homicidal rage," Kim replied. "But . . . you had to get closer to strangle me."
"We're never more than three feet apart thanks to this," Shego reminded her.
Kim frowned. "Maybe things have changed. Come on, stand up. Carefully."
Gingerly they got off the bed. Neither woman enjoyed having to move about like a pair of invalids, but frankly that was what they were close to turning into. Their bodies had withstood a lot of torture over the past couple days because they'd always been in such top physical shape. They were starting to get worn down, however.
"Okay," Kim said. She untied the rope from her wrist and held onto the end. "I'm going to back away slowly. If the rope gets taut and nothing happens, fine. If not - then we've obviously got a problem."
"A bigger problem, you mean."
"Right," Kim sighed. She began inching backwards.
A minute later, they were hit with something very familiar, and extremely unwelcome. Teeth gritted, Kim quickly took a step forward again, and the collars turned off once more.
Kim and Shego looked down at the rope. Part of it lay sprawled on the floor.
"That wasn't three feet," Shego said.
"Bigger problem," Kim said.
"How far apart were you?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked, trying not to sound worried but failing.
"About two-and-a-half feet," Kim told her over the phone. "We're closer than that now."
"Something's obviously going wrong. Perhaps the number of shocks you've received is causing the collars to start to break down, although I'm no mechanical expert."
"Great," Shego muttered as she listened in on their conversation.
"I'm in the middle of surgery, Kimmie," her mother said regretfully, "but as soon I'm finished, we'll bring you into the operating room and decide on the best way to remove these collars immediately."
"Thanks, Mom," Kim said. "You know what? It's only an hour to the hospital by foot. I think I'd rather walk than wait for you to pick us up. Get this over with ASAP."
"Don't you know how to drive?" Shego asked irritably.
"Hello? No car?"
Shego blinked. "Oh, yeah."
"If you think you're up to walking a few miles," her mother said dubiously.
"Neither of us are used to all this inactivity," Kim said. "Walking might do us good."
"All right, dear. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom," Kim told her with the utmost seriousness. Then she hung up. "Well, guess we should get dressed."
Shego grumbled. "I'm dirty, I haven't washed, my hair's a mess, and I'm going to have to wear yesterday's clothes. And now we're going outside. Perfect."
Kim lost her patience. "Then go through my closet and pick something out! These stupid collars are killing us, so I don't need your complaining too!"
Shego actually flinched. "Sorry," she muttered. "Fine, I'll go through your stuff."
Five minutes later, Shego was trying the best she could with her hair while Kim finished pulling on her white T-shirt with the pink trim, and a pair of pink pants. Shego had found a sleeveless tank top in the shade of lime green she usually wore, and a pair of jeans that was a darker shade of green. Kim didn't understand why Shego always had to wear green and black, especially considering the colors originated from her Team Go days, but she supposed Shego was trying to find some shelter in the things she was comfortable with. "Should we shorten the rope?" Shego asked.
"As a precaution, yes," Kim agreed, "but there's no guarantee that two-and-a-half feet will remain a safe distance. We should try to stick together." She hesitated. "I've got an idea, in fact, if you're as strong as I am."
"I'm stronger," Shego sneered. "What is it? Iron chains?"
"Worse," Kim said. "We hold hands."
Shego gaped at her.
"My humiliation is complete," Shego thought. "I'm walking through suburbia in my archenemy's clothes, holding my archenemy's hands like we're best friends for life. Or worse, girlfriends!"
"Shego can be as mad as she likes," Kim was thinking meanwhile. "I don't like this any more than she does. But if she squeezes my hand any tighter, I'm going to tell her off - or break her wrist!"
Before either could finally explode, a sound caught their attention. They both turned their heads and spotted a black van come barreling around the corner two blocks behind them. The tires screeched loudly.
"Somebody's got a date with a telephone pole," Shego said morosely.
"Who would drive like that in a residential neighborhood?" Kim asked, annoyed.
The van sped along the street, but it began to slow down. As it passed them, it stopped.
"What the - " Kim began to say when the back doors opened.
"Good morning, ladies. Care for a ride?" Monkey Fist asked before grabbing an astonished Shego and dragging her into the van.
"Monkey Fist!" Kim gasped, but a monkey ninja bounded over his shoulder and socked her square in the nose, sending her back a step, before back flipping and retreating into the van. Fist slammed the van doors shut - without noticing the rope connecting them. Then the van shrieked as it began to accelerate.
"Oh, no!" Kim thought, understanding what was happening. Somehow he learned about their problem, and he was trying to put so much distance between them that there was no way they could shut the collars off. "Good thing I wore the right shoes."
As the van pulled away, she kicked her heels against the pavement, causing the rocket boosters to be activated. And since she was still connected to Shego, the van merely pulled her behind it.
Best of all, the collars remained dormant, which meant she had a few moments before they saw her to plan her next move.
Then Kim's eyes narrowed. She'd been powerless for over a day. And she was sick and tired of it. "Screw it," she said.
With the combined speed of the van and her booster shoes, she had no problem catching up to the van and grabbing onto one of the rear doors. Almost casually she knocked.
"Eh?" Monkey Fist asked, opening the other door and looking out.
Kim's foot moved at double speed as it arced out and struck him in the mouth, bowling him over. She followed him inside, allowing her shoes to switch back to normal.
Inside she discovered that two monkeys were driving the van, which had been stripped of its seats. One drove and perched on another's shoulders, who handled the pedals. Another dozen monkeys were piled atop Shego. From the flashes of light, Shego was definitely using her powers to fight them off. But their collars were still inactive, which meant Shego was also protecting her collar from being pulled on. Undoubtedly that was why she was unable to fight off her captors.
Monkey Fist looked at her with hatred. "Your little stroll played directly into my hands, Kim Possible," he said. "I won't let you cheat death now!"
"You're willing to let Shego die to get to me?" Kim asked. "You really are an animal, Monty."
"My name is MONKEY FIST!" he snarled, beating his chest with his fists.
"Here, let me help you with that," she retorted, crushing him with a left-right combo to his torso. He flew back and plowed into the two monkeys at the wheel, causing the van to careen wildly. Everyone flew against the side of the van helplessly, and Kim cried out as the collar once again delivered excruciating voltage to her body.
Because of the close quarters, however, the electrical shock also hit all the monkey ninjas latched onto Shego, and that broke the resistance. They didn't even notice the van smashing to a halt. They just ran past Kim, broke the rear doors open, and leapt from the vehicle.
"Curse you, Kim Possible!" Monkey Fist whined. He shook a fist. "Next time you will die, and even the Monkey Master poseur won't be able to save you."
"If you're the real Master, fight me," Kim hissed as she recovered from the latest shock.
Even in her condition, Monkey Fist's courage wilted, and he climbed out of the driver's side window. "Wait for me, monkey ninjas!" he called as he ran.
Kim shook her head and sighed. "Shego, are you all right?"
"Not exactly," she said as she stumbled to her feet. "Let's get out of here. It smells like monkey poo."
It wasn't until they got outside into the sun that Kim noticed two things. One, Shego's powers had burned the rope so that it no longer connected them.
Two, Shego was seriously injured.
"Shego!" Kim said. The bruises below her cheekbones were comparatively mild next to her wrists and hands. They were bleeding from what appeared to be dozens of cuts, bites, and claw marks.
Shego looked down and shrugged. "They panicked when I used my powers," she said. "I guess they were trying to make the flames stop, so on instinct they attacked my hands. Which would never work, by the way," she warned Kim.
"Forget that," Kim said. "We need to get those taken care of."
"I'm fine - "
"No, you're NOT," Kim said forcefully, surprising Shego. "I've been electrocuted enough times in the past two days to know that I feel like hell, and with all that blood you're losing . . . maybe you hate me, Shego, but let me help you!"
Shego's expression was unreadable. "Always the hero," she muttered, taking a step away. But then she swooned. "Oh - "
Kim grabbed her. Shego didn't fight as Kim led her toward the sidewalk. Ironically, Kim saw that the van had in fact had its date with a telephone pole, as Shego had predicted. That was why the van had stopped.
There was a 24-hour pharmacy nearby, and Kim brought a strangely unresisting Shego there. "Sit here," Kim said. "I'm going to call an ambulance - "
"I don't need - "
"I'm going to call an ambulance," Kim repeated, and Shego muttered something. "And I'm going to get some bandages for your wrists while we're waiting."
"Guess I shouldn't sit down then."
"Oh. Yeah, right. Come on."
Once inside, Kim realized she didn't have any money. Frankly, she didn't care. Leading Shego to the first aid aisle, she took rubbing alcohol and rolls of gauze bandages from the shelves. "Now sit," she ordered.
"Aye aye," Shego grumbled.
Kim sat cross-legged next to her. "This is going - "
"I know what alcohol feels like on open wounds, Kim. You've inflicted enough of them."
"So have you," Kim retorted.
"Damn straight."
"Excuse me, ladies? What do you think you're - oh, my." A manager had just appeared, but his ire faded in the face of Shego's blood-covered hands. "Is she all right?"
"I'm right here, you can ask me," Shego shot back.
"Call 911, please," Kim said. "She needs to get to the hospital."
The manager nodded, worried, and disappeared the way he came.
Shego didn't say anything as Kim applied a bandage to her cheek. She did hiss as Kim poured alcohol on her wrists and hands, heedless of spilling any on the floor. And she remained quiet as Kim slowly but expertly wrapped her arms in gauze bandage until it was halfway up to her elbows.
"Do you hear that?" Kim asked as she finished. "Those sirens are for us."
"Good, because as messed up as we are, we need it," Shego sighed. She looked down at her right hand. Kim was still holding onto it. "You can let go now, if you want."
Kim didn't. She held her arm gently. "Feeling any better?"
"A little," Shego admitted.
"Good. I'm glad."
" . . . Thanks."
They left it at that until the paramedics came in. There was nothing more to be said.
To be continued . . .