Fanfic / At the Centerfold of the Storm

At the Centerfold of the Storm is a Kim Possible Fanfic written by SHADO Comander, a follow-up to the one-shot CLIQUE CLIQUE.

Posing for THAT risque photo in CLIQUE CLIQUE lit the fuse. Now, stripped of the protection that being a minor gave her, Kim has to come to terms with herself, her changing relationship with a certain green former hero, and a deadly new world where there's a price on her head!

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Tropes:

• The Ace: Kim, as in the show. Though also like the show, the fic depicts the perfectionism and stubbornness that go along with it.
  • Broken Ace: Shego has shades of this, mostly in her backstory. Though she’s mostly recovered by this point, she’s also very much aware of it, thus she’s trying her damndest to keep the same thing from happening to Kim.
• Action Survivor: Bonnie Rockwaller, after shaking off Señor Senior Jr.’s brainwashing.
• Actor Allusion: The two ultimate masterminds of grand plot surrounding the bounty on Kim Possible turn out to be Vinnie Wheeler and Big Daddy Brotherson. In other words, Pinky and the Brain
  • One scene has Kim and Ron holographically disguised as Ren and Louis Stevens from Even Stevens, a reference to how Kim and Ren are played/voiced by the same actress.
• Adaptational Villainy: Team Impossible, who are shown to be far more mercenary here. In addition to trying to cash in on the bounty and working with Adrena Lynn, it's mentioned that they done some shaddy jobs before.
• Badass Crew: Team Possible, later reorganized into Global Rescue.
• Banana Republic: Kalpanika Rastra.
• Batman Gambit: Brotherson paired Gale with the Mathter specifically so a) the former would blab about the game in order to put pressure on both Hench and the contestants, and b) the latter would kill her after she outlived her usefulness.
• Battle Couple: Kim and Shego, again. Apart, they’re considered all but unstoppable. Together, they ARE unstoppable.
• Big Bad: Nominally Jack Hench, being the one to post the bounty on Kim’s head.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Though thanks to said bounty, there are A LOT of bad guys gunning for the heroes. Mostly split into teams of two.
    • Sheldon ‘Gemini’ Director and Nana Nane
    • Team Impossible and Adrena Lynn
    • Moter Ed and Electronique
    • Senor Senior Junior and Camille Leon
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Hench doesn't actually go after Possible himself, rather sending his Dragon and Elite Mooks to take her out.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Señor Senior Junior. Despite being possibly the most vile and evil villain of the Big Bad Ensemble, entering the story fairly early, having a ‘Fake Kim’ (Bonnie) at his disposal, and starting the disaster that ultimately draws the heroes out for the final battle, he’s not actually that competent, VERY prone to Bond Villain Stupidity, and severely underestimates how dangerous Kim is, let alone her girlfriend and the rest of her team.
• Brainwashed and Crazy / Easy Amnesia / Laser-Guided Amnesia: Bonnie, due to one part nasty fall into a pool, one part attitudinator, loses her memory, and is manipulated by Junior into thinking she's Kim. She gets better.
• Call-Back: During the mission at Castle Senior (which, for the record, is located at a mountain glacier in Romania), Rufus is only used once, to save Bonnie from the McHenry laser grid.
• Character Development: After being assigned to Global Rescue, Will Du starts becoming more likeable.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The mysterious 'Payout Agent' who is handling the massive bounty Jack Hench has put on Kim Possible. Turns out it's none other than Vinnie Wheeler, who is also Brotherson's co-conspirator in his plan to ruin Jack Hench.
• Crack Pairing: Motor Ed and Electronique.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Camille Leon is mentioned using her powers for fake Elvis sightings and celebrity stand-ins. Later, she contemplates getting a job as a call girl.
  • DNAmy is mentioned to have supplemented her income with GMO hash, and plans to sell a permanent hair dye that works on the genetic level.
  • At the start of the story, Frugal Lucre has decided to use his extensive money-saving skills for good, streamlining GJ's budget, successfully running for mayor of Middleton, and being the one to come with the idea of using the calendar to fund the rebuilding.
• Deconstructed Trope: One of the major themes is a Deconstruction of the Harmless Villains. It's explained that they simply had reservations about killing a minor. When it becomes apparent that Kim has grown up, they stop holding back. Also discussed, how an organization like Henchco. could function without Global Justice or other law enforcement agencies cracking down.
• The Dividual: Turns out there was originally one Wego: During one of the experiments into his Healing Factor, one of the removed pieces regrew into an entirely new Wego. Since then, no one's been able to tell which was the original, and neither is willing to say.
• The Dragon: John Q. Cholla, being the head of Jack Hench's Elite Black Widow team.
• The Dreaded: Kim was already considered this prior to the story, to the point that many of the major villains are plotting her demise. Likewise, Shego is also greatly respected and feared by the criminal underworld. Which is why said underworld pulls a Mass "Oh, Crap!" when the two hook up.
• Elite Mooks: The Black Widows.
• End of an Era: Part of the reason Jack sets up the bounty is out of concern that, if left unchecked, Kim will bring about the end of villainy as he knows and loves to exploit.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Played with. A major plot point is that, until the calendar photo shoot which started the plot, part of the reason the villains were so harmless is because the had reservations about killing a minor. Now that it's clear that Kim's an adult, the kid gloves are coming off.
  • They also don't want risk being labeled as terrorists, which brings a whole other level of legal problems.
  • Senior Senior Senior is horrified when he learns of Junior's little... 'hobby'.
• Everyone Can See It: Zigzagged. For people who only knew Kim and Shego professionally or only one of them (such as Kim's friends and family), them hooking up was a surprise. However, to anyone who knew them both personally like Ron and Drakken, their mutual attraction was pretty obvious.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Brotherson is confused and freaked out by the fact that Kim doesn't lord her superior intellect over others.
• Evil Versus Evil: Needless to say, with the huge bounty on Kim’s head, the various members of the Big Bad Ensemble spend almost as much time fighting each other as they do the heroes.
  • Big Daddy Brotherson, after having his arm twisted to help fund the bounty, quickly turns it into an opportunity to ruin Jack Hench.
• Frame-Up: Junior tries to frame Kim of the robbery of a Linga (translation: large effigy of a monkey dick) from Kalpanika Rastra. Not only do Will and a disguised Shego poke every possible hole they can in the accusation, but to seal the deal, Dr. Director calls the Kalpanikan diplomat and threatens to revoke all treaties pertaining to dealing with Kalpanikan criminals (including a terrorist orginization that tried to kill the Kalpanikan royal family).
• Four Is Death: Invoked with Mathter's Shi Stars.
• Gilligan Cut: Exceedingly common, to the point that it ends up forming roughly 90% of the scene transitions in later chapters.
• Harmless Villain: Played with. While Senior Senior Junior is far more ruthless than he let's on, he still makes lots of short-sighted and absent-minded mistakes.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Shego and Drakken at the start of the fic, as per the events of the finale.
  • Frugel Lucre, who by this point has begun to use his financal skills for good, leading him to eventually become mayor of Middleton.
  • Senior Senior Sr., after he learns how much of a monster Jr. is.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Kim is a lot smarter than she lets on, having supplemented her income with several patents. And as her misadventure in Kalpanika Rastra shows, she has a proficiency with firearms that no one-not even her parents-knew about.
  • Shego is shown to be an ace pilot, able to fly anything from jets, to helicopters, to hovercraft.
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: Getting their Relationship Upgrade has apparently done little to quell Kim's and Shego's sexual tension, as they still seem to really enjoy beating the crap out of each other. And they apparently both enjoy Shego's... imaginative use of her Plasma.
• Intrepid Reporter: Anna Stein and Cynthia Rushing, though they're more Photojournalists than regular reporters.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Kim and Shego, naturally. Also Betty Director as it turns out.
• Loophole Abuse: Hench uses this when the cost of the bounty threatens to put Henchco. under: If Hench's own men claim the bounty, then the payout agent (ironically, the same bank that's threatening to seize Henchco.) will have to pay Hench.
• Mission Control: Wade, as usual, though he’s also joined by Jim and Tim Possible.
• Mundane Utility: Ron mentions how his Mystical Monkey Powers include a tingle in the back of his neck everytime one of his souffle's is about to collapse.
• Named by the Adaptation: Senior Senior Sr. is revealed to be named Ricardo.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, Brotherson has sold some of his intel to Tom Clancy as transcripts for story ideas.
  • When Global Justice manages to hack into Henchco.'s files, Dr. Director finds the real reasons for the Kardasian wedding.
• Pair the Spares: Ron and Yori.
• Pass the Popcorn: When he sees that his plan is about to go off the rails, Brotherson does the only thing he can do: grab a truly impressive amount of snacks, a baggie of hash, and enjoy the show.
• Persona Non Grata: Despite Dr. Director giving her a clean slate, Shego is still not allowed in the country of Kalpanika Rastra due to crimes she committed there.
• Power Perversion Potential: Shego mentions in passing that Wego has used his/their powers as 'the ultimate form of masturbation'.
  • As her partnership with Junior becomes more and more unstable, Camille Leon begins to seriously consider a job as a shapeshifting call girl.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Brotherson to a T. The reason he makes the bounty into an invite only game instead of keeping it open is because of the fear that, if left open, he and Hench would attract all sorts of terrorist organizations, hate groups, BananaRepublics, and SerialKillers that a) would have no need for either of their services and b) would cause massive amounts of collateral damage that would make the inevitable shit storm that killing Kim Possible would cause worse.
  • Lampshaded by Dr. Director, when specultaing why Brotherson disappeared. She rules out the possiblity of something apocalyptic like the Lowardians or the Killer Bebe's (aside from the fact that they wouldn't exactly drop something like that in the very human info channels Brotherson works with) is that, if that were the case, he would at least give someone a heads up (albeit for a price) since the extinction of the human race wouldn't exactly benefit him.
  • Jack Hench to a lesser extent. The reason for the bounty instead of a simple assassination is that, due to her fame and relative youth, Kim's death would attract more attention than, say, a 30-year old FBI agent killed in a car crash due to faulty breaks.
• Pretty Little Headshots: Averted, though only in mentioning. Kim points out that since the bounty on her requires her head intact as proof, anyone interested in collecting won’t be aiming for her head.
• Quality vs. Quantity: Kim and Shego, in terms of fighting styles. Kim knows more forms than Shego, but the latter has greater mastery in the forms she does know.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: It's implied in the first chapter that Duff Killigan tried to rape Kim. It didn't end well.
  • During his and Aviarius' attack, Gill is initially distracted trying to decide which girl to mate with first. Thankfully, he's taken out before anything can happen.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: After Will's latest blunder, Dr. Director calmly asks why she shouldn't reassign him to a GJ antarctic outpost... only for Will to point out they don't have one of those. She instead decides to make him the GJ liason to Global Rescue... meaning he now has to work under Kim and Shego. Played with in that this turns out to be a good thing, since a) his skills gel nicely with GR's mission statement, and b) it gives him some much needed Character Development.
• Reformed, but Rejected: While Dr. Director gave Shego a full pardon of her past crimes as thanks for helping to save the Earth, there are still many criminal organizations, corrupt officials and Banana Republics that felt no need to honor such, meaning she had to spend the year between the end of the series and the story effectively cleaning house. And even then, there are still countries where she's effectively Persona Non Grata.
• Seers: Dr. Director and Kim are revealed to be these.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Kim first lays out her idea for Global Rescue to Shego, the latter notes similarities to a certain puppet show. Later, she ends up aping their catchphrase every time Rescue One takes off.
  • When Dr. Director is threatening to have Will Reassigned to Antarctica, she casually name drops March of the Penguins.
  • When Aviarius and Gill attack Kim, the latter wears a battle suit similar to the Vulture's.
  • Motor Ed's improvised mech is described as being similar to the lamp in the Pixar logo.
  • When Adrena Lynn suggests Team Impossible think up a new name for when they go after Kim (to keep up their good image), Dash ultimately goes with The K Team, complete with a cigar and a jaunty grin.
• Took a Level in Badass: Ron. With full control over his Mystic Monkey Powers and being a full-fledged Yamanouchi Ninja, any trace of his Sidekick / Non-Action Guy status are long gone.
  • Aviarius and Mathter. The former attacks Kim wearing a battle suit that would do the Vulture proud, the latter seemingly kills Gale with some well placed throwing stars.
• Uriah Gambit: It's implied that Hench has been using WEE's high mortality rates to cull the herd of henchmen that are at the wrong ends of the bell curve (read: too incompetent to train, too smart for their own good).
• War for Fun and Profit: Jack Hench and Henchco., as in canon.
• Would Hurt a Child: Averted. Part of the Henchco. contract has a heavily enforced 'no children, no pets' rider. Breaking it will not only terminated said contract, but Jack Hench will personally give Global Justice your last known address.
• Xanatos Gambit: Big Daddy Brotherson sets up a truly impressive one to ruin Jack Hench after being forced into setting up a half-billion-dollar open bounty on Kim Possible. While the plan itself is pretty convoluted, the overall plan effectively leaves only three possible outcomes for Hench: Because paying both the bounty AND supplying the manpower for the supervillains to carry out said bounty has effectively bankrupted Henchco, if one of the supervillains kills Kim then Hench will be financially ruined AND have a bunch of angry unpaid supervillains gunning for him. If Hench manages to kill Kim himself to regain his own money (see Loophole Abuse above) then HE'LL be the one to take the fall for Kim's death and the ensuing wrath of her allies, friends and family. And if nobody manages to kill Kim, then Hench will inevitably take the fall as the one who posted the bounty on Kim in the first place. Meanwhile, in ALL these scenarios, Brotherson himself, despite masterminding the game, remains effectively an underling who was strongarmed into helping Hench.