Chapter Text
Kim and Felix sat in anxious silence beneath the desert sky. The starlight filtered down from above, drawing jagged shadows across stone and sand and glinting off the cruel spines of the cacti. It felt like the landscape itself was holding its breath.
The quiet had become deep and threatening. It had been agonizingly long since they had heard from Shego, and Kim‘s imagination was spinning out of control, coming up with every possible worst case scenario. The hero’s hands worried in her lap, barely able to fill her lungs.
A hiss of static burst from the kimmunicator, and the two of them startled at the noise.
“Shego!” Kim cried in relief. “We haven’t heard from you in forever! Are you alright?”
“Well, well, well!” Kim felt her stomach drop into her shoes. The voice was not the one she was desperate for, but it was familiar: Electronique. “If it isn’t the famous Kim Possible! This is quite the surprise. I suppose this means you are in charge of these two?”
“Two?” Felix silently mouthed. Kim answered with a curt shake of her head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kim knew she didn’t sound convincing, but she had to try.
“I’ve caught Shego and Drakken,” the villain's voice echoed on the empty hills. “Don’t disrespect me by playing pretend like a desperate child. I hold all the cards here.”
Kim tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. She struggled to find her voice.
“Your stunned silence is cute.” Electronique laughed on the other side of the line, accompanied by the triumphant crackling of her electricity. “I don’t know how or when you recruited these two, but it’s embarrassing that you thought a single, shoddily built robot full of anti-lube would stop this plan.”
Kim finally forced a breath. She shoved her emotions aside, working to regain her focus. What did she know? The villain couldn’t resist gloating, and ended up giving up more clues than she probably intended. Shego had teamed up with Drakken. They had been caught. Electronique already knew about the plan, but she didn’t seem to know about the other teams. It was a small relief, but it was something. Kim decided to push for more.
She cleared her throat. “So you know everything. Shego is working for me. Who are you working for?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Electronique replied. Kim could hear a hint of a lisp as she spoke. It sounded like a split lip. Shego would never have gone down without a fight. “Worldwide Empire of Evil.”
“Of course,” whispered Felix.
“They have been funding Drakken since the very beginning. His plan had potential, but because of his track record, they didn’t trust him to successfully execute it, and he certainly didn’t deserve to reap the rewards. WEE will be taking over all of California when it slides off into international waters… this lair is just the start. Gemini personally tasked me with making sure there were no last minute hiccups. It looks like his concern was well founded. You are finished, done, kaput, and your two little double agents will never see the light of day again. I’m sorry to be taking away your adorable nemesis, but this betrayal won’t go unpunished.”
Felix pulled out a second communicator. “Kim, I’m calling Global Justice. We can’t fix this on our own.”
A high, splintering laugh came through the open line. “You think they don't already know exactly what is going on here? Answer me this: what happens to them if Drakken’s little plan succeeds? GJ’s operating budget goes through the roof, the leeway the public affords them increases dramatically, and it might even convince a wayward hero and her sweet little sidekicks to enlist. If you look hard enough and high enough, you will find we work for the same type of people. It runs in the family, you might say. You must know Drakken has never been a real threat to the world, but he’s been oh so useful. His antics alone provide more than enough justification for GJ’s ongoing existence. They have always known what he was up to, and always stop him just in the nick of time. So, answer me this: where are they now? Why haven’t they managed to intervene yet? And do you think that maybe, just maybe, they are funding this project too?”
Felix put down the communicator, and his jaw hung slack.
“Anyway, kiddos,” said Electronique with flippant confidence. “This was a lovely little chat, but I simply must go. See you around!”
The line went dead.
“Felix?” Kim asked in a wavering voice, desperately hoping he could tell her it wasn’t true.
“Fuck.” His voice broke. “I… I believe her.”
Kim leaned over and pushed her forehead into her fists. She felt sick. “So do I.”
The kimmunicator crackled back to life. “Kim! Come in Kim!” Wade’s voice warbled across the connection. “Bots One and Two are almost in position, and bot Three is thirty minutes out. You’ll never guess who tried to stop us!”
“Global Justice?” Kim asked, knowing the answer.
“Yes! What the heck is going on?”
“Acknowledged, Wade,” Kim replied. She knew that if she gave a full explanation she would break down in tears, and she simply didn’t have the time to fall apart. “Get yourselves somewhere safe, Wade, and try to keep this channel clear. Oh, and see if you can track GJ’s movements. I need to know if, when , they are coming our way.” She hung up.
“Kim, I—“ Felix began, voice full of contrition, but she cut him off with a sharp motion of her hand.
“Save it. We don’t have time for the blame game right now,” she explained. “Global Justice is going to allow this to happen, and then they will cover it up. They are probably going to pin this whole thing on us. We were working with Shego, a famous villain, so it looks just as likely that she turned us as we turned her. Hench Co, WEE and Global Justice will need to destroy any evidence of their involvement with each other. Shego is the evidence. If she’s still in there when they show up…”
“So, we turn off the bots, give them what they want. Get her out of there.”
Kim shook her head. “We can’t, Felix. We have no idea what will happen if this quake goes off. I can’t risk an entire population just so I can save one person I care about.”
Felix sighed painfully before nodding in understanding. “So what do we do?” he asked.
“I’m going to get them.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, he placed his hand on the chair’s joystick, ready to follow her into battle without a second thought. The look on his face said he was prepared to follow her into hell if she asked. “Then I’m going with you.” It was a statement of fact, not a question, and it rang with determination.
“No. I need you to stall GJ. You’re one of them now. Maybe you can use that. I don’t know, try to talk some sense into them. It won't work, but it might buy me enough time to get Drakken and Shego to safety.”
He stared at her for a long moment before removing his hand from the controls.
“Kim…” the apology was writ large on his face.
“Later, Felix. I need to go get Shego.”
“Ok,” he conceded, voice as grim as his face. “Go get her.”