THE GRUDGE MATCH
Kim Possible knew. Shego knew. It was to inevitably happen.
They battled countless times; eye-feasts for anyone who loved two women cat fighting. The acrobatics lessened. The physicality intensified. Shego had increasingly angered. Kim increasingly bathed in Epsom salts.
But the pale villainess lost each time. That was why this grudge match was about to happen.
Middleton High School, Friday morning
Kim Possible, the sixteen years-old heroine, rummaged through her locker until she gasped at something moving under a sweater. A smile widened on her face upon sight of Rufus, an intelligent naked mole rat, whose legs jutted around as if he were dreaming.
"How the hell did you get in here? I asked the animal that can write code," she said.
Ron Stoppable, her best friend and sidekick, squeezed through a crowd of high school students, and saw Kim lifting Rufus out of her locker. "Ah, good, you found him!"
"Why was he sleeping under my sweater?" She handed him over.
"He's naked. Probably cold. Duh." he analyzed, and slid Rufus into his pants leg pocket.
"Keep better track of him, okay? My locker isn't equipped to have rodents as yours. I don't want Rufus raisins at the bottom."
"Rufus raisins; nice alliteration," Ron chuckled.
A computer inside her locker hummed. The ten years-old genius named Wade appeared on its screen.
"Wade, what is the sitch?" She asked him.
"You two will need excuse notes from your parents," Wade seriously said.
"Just like how Spike Lee wanted kids to skip school to see Malcolm X," Ron recalled. "I wish my parents let me go."
"You were six," Kim noted.
"I was deeply in touch with my African roots at that age," he said.
"Focus! Shego's gone on a rampage in a mall!" Wade sharply announced.
The screen cut to coverage of a hostage crisis at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ. The woman anchor was already speaking. "Once again, a superhuman woman is holding workers and patrons hostage. At least one person is dead, and she has threatened to kill more if the teenage super-spy Kim Possible does not arrive soon. The terrorist is five foot seven, mid twenties, pale white skin, clad in a green jumpsuit. She is on the FBI's most wanted list.
"Holy fuck," Ron said,
"She killed someone because of me?" Kim quietly uttered,
Ron did not like seeing Kim slip into another world, but she shook her head, snapping out of the mental haze.
"Kim, you already have a ride standing by," Wade answered on screen. "None of this is your fault."
"Of course it's my fault! The bitch should be in prison," she said through clenched teeth.
Kim slammed her locker closed, loud enough to halt the rumbling crowd. They parted once they saw her approach. Ron followed closely with a fixed expression of worry.
Paramus
Police advanced on the food court where Shego's hostages were. All of these police officers, ill equipped to deal with her unique, incendiary power, ended up dead. She was speedy and stealthy. She ripped out the throat of a young officer and disemboweled another. Several more were slaughtered even more ruthlessly. Their blood flowed across the hard floors. Once a wave of SWAT snipers made their way in, she took cover behind babies.
"No matter how good a shot you fuckers think you are, if one of you tries, I promise you these infants will be my shields," she announced. "Don't assume I'm bluffing. Now, for every ten minutes Kim Possible is late, I'll kill someone. Have a blessed day."
Somewhere over Georgia
Kim and Ron sat in an experimental supersonic passenger jet, a favor returned after she re-orbited NASA satellites. She silently sat in a chair, face resting in hands.
"Shego completely lost it, Kim," Ron flatly said, and pet sulking Rufus.
"Did they mention how many people she murdered?" Kim instinctively asked, and still not looked up.
Ron paused, having never heard this question. This was the part of their job that they never considered, the what might have been had they never stopped Dr. Drakken, Senor Senior Sr., Monkey King. Shego murdered people based solely on hatred for one teen hero.
"Even one is too many," Ron generalized.
"I'm to blame, Ronald." She used his full name which meant she was not thinking with everyday Kim thoughts. "Here I am, the bubblehead cheerleader, while she had pent up frustrations."
Ron rested a hand on her shoulder uniform shirt. Kim swatted it away and still had not looked up.
"Shego had pent up frustrations way before she met us," Ron tried to reassure her. "Look at how she taunts Dr. Drakken and how she treated her own goddamn family."
Kim raised her head for the first time during the flight and winced. "She killed people, probably doing it right as we speak."
"Wade said it's not your fault and he's right!" Ron forcefully answered. She was not necessarily reassured.
"There's no denying my existence was the catalyst," Kim said.
Ron rolled his eyes and loudly groaned. He remained worried about her lack of focus.
Paramus
Highway Route 17 was cleared of traffic for this particular jet to land adjacent to the mall. Ron and Kim stepped out and jogged to a bevy of police cars and FBI vehicles. One police officer stopped them.
"Uh, yeah, can I speak to whoever is in charge?" Kim politely asked.
The heavily armored man grunted then pointed to a bearded, suited man. Kim and Ron jogged through a crowd of armed officers. Their dirty looks sent quivers down her spine, as she had never felt before. Ron had the same feeling, albeit no one really stared at him. Rufus could only peek and hide again from inside Ron's pocket.
Special Agent Nicholas Phillips watched the two teens approach, exhaled sharply and spoke to Kim. "I don't know what the fuck this world is coming to. We got little kids defending our country."
"While you're wasting your breath by bitching, people in there are dying. Have you forgotten that?" Kim retorted.
"No I haven't, young lady!" Phillips snapped. "Just because Shego wants to see you doesn't mean I want her to. I don't want you to die, either."
"She has a grudge against me. You have no choice. Let me go in there!" Kim demanded.
"Just one goddamn minute," Phillips dragged her toward a squad car away from everyone's ears. "What exactly do you expect to accomplish? She isn't the same woman you're used to."
Kim paused, for he was correct. It would be no ordinary fight. The passing seconds seemed like hours for her to process that she may not survive, "I'll do whatever it takes to defeat that so-called woman."
"Kim, I can prevent you from trying this," Phillips said.
"Agent Phillips, I can prevent her from trying any more of what she's done," she countered.
Phillips paused, thinking as a father to his own sixteen year old daughter. After that moment, he nodded as permission. She ran over to Ron, who looked anxious to enter the ensuing fray.
"Okay, Kim, let's kick Shego's ass," Ron anxiously said, rubbing his palms together.
"Only me, no time to debate," Kim answered. "Remember, you're my best friend whom I love very much."
Ron did a double take. "What are you talking about?"
She kissed him on the lips and then ran toward the mall. Phillips and Ron stood beside each other and stared at her departure.
"Tell me, why does she do this?" Phillips asked.
Ron processed what was and was to be and found an appropriate answer. "Because she can."
END OF ROUND 1