Ever wonder what would happen if Kim Possible was to have a Face–Heel Turn and embark upon a life of evil, with the issue never being Played for Laughs? Written by Gerardain
, Morality's Choice explores that scenario and plays it completely straight every single step of the way.
After learning that her boyfriend, Ron Stoppable has been dating her rival, Bonnie Rockwaller, behind her back, Kim loses control of herself and assaults the two for what they've done. Doctor Director is an unfortunate witness to the incident and tries to get Kim to surrender. When Kim refuses to, the head of Global Justice attempts to have her arrested, only for the confused and upset teen hero to escape. Kim is eventually rescued by Shego, who becomes her guiding hand in helping Kim to translate the shocking swerve that she has taken her life in the direction of and tells her that there is more to the world than the Black-and-White Morality Kim has always believed in. Through Shego's teachings, Kim begins to see that the morality of heroes is holding the world back from becoming a better place and decides that she could change all that by adopting Shego's own morality to finally see all those changes she's always wanted to happen come to be.
Morality's Choice was followed by three sequels, none of them good.
See the story here.
Morality's Choice contains the following tropes:
- And I Must Scream:
- Being affected by the reverse polarizer is described to be this by Shego, Kim and Electronique.
- The eventual fates of the Possible family, when they continue to hold on to their Black-and-White Morality in the face of the person Kim has become.
- Anti-Hero: Bonnie Rockwaller
- The Bad Guys Win: Depends on which side the reader is sympathetic to.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Global Justice comes under a two-pronged attack from an army of Henchco henchmen-for-hire and the Worldwide Evil Empire, Doctor Director believes the goal of the enemy forces is to procure the reverse polarizer for Shego. The entire siege is all a distraction; Shego is far away, attacking a prison in a bid to break out and seek the help of Electronique, the polarizer's inventor.
- Batman Gambit: When she realises there is no way for her to get to a brainwashed Kim without Global Justice sighting her, Shego leaves her reverse polarizer with Bonnie, betting that the former cheerleader hates Kim enough to turn her back to normal.
- Black-and-White Morality: Deconstructed, coldly and brutally.
- Dark Fic: The story is a serious and edgy depiction of what would happen if one event was to tip Kim Possible over the edge into evil.
- Determinator:
- Ron wants to make up for his mistakes and bring Kim back to the side of good, even if it'll cost him his life.
- Doctor Director will not rest until Kim and Shego are both captured
- Downer Ending:
- The conclusion of Morality's Choice can be described as being bittersweet at best. If not interpreted that way, then it's this trope. Kim Possible is on the path to becoming a world conqueror after all.
- Morality's End and therefore the series, on the other hand, is played completely straight.
- Enemy Mine: With Sensei passing away, Ron's death at Kim's hands, and Rufus not having learned enough in Monkey Kung Fu, there is only one person left who can train Hana Stoppable in that particular martial art.
- Face–Heel Turn: Kim Possible
- Good Is Not Nice: On either side.
- Hero Antagonist: Ron Stoppable, Betty Director
- Hope Spot: There is a moment in a rooftop battle six months into the story where Bonnie is about to fall to her death but Kim grabs her hand. Ron and Bonnie both take it to mean the former hero may not be so lost. Then Kim delivers one cold Wham Line and lets Bonnie go.Kim: One down, one to go.
- Killed Off for Real: By the end of the story, three major characters are dead, and Kim had a hand in all their murders.
- La Résistance: Wade and Yori work together to build up a rebellion to counter Kim and Shego's conquest of the world. By Morality's End however, they are two of the few remaining.
- Moral Sociopathy: Shego expresses to Kim about how weak the morality the teen hero lives by is and how it does not make one iota of difference for the world she wants to make better.
- Orange And Blue Morality: Later, when Kim accepts Shego's point of view, she starts looking at her more controversial actions as things she is forced to do in order for her to finally make the world the better and safer place she's always wanted it to be.
- A Pupil Of Mine Until She Turned To Evil: How Doctor Director initially approaches Kim's Face–Heel Turn.
- Refusal of the Call: Wade, after disappearing early on in the first story, is revealed to have done this in Wades & Measures, choosing to regard Kim's Face–Heel Turn as a lie. He takes it up later.
- Revenge: During the course of the story, Kim seeks this on three different characters: Ron for cheating on her, Bonnie for a lifetime of misery, and Doctor Director for using the reverse polarizer on her.
- In Morality's End, Yori and Hana Stoppable become so obsessed with taking Kim and Shego down that the two of them no longer see Kim as human anymore.
- This Is Unforgivable!:
- Kim reacts like this upon discovering Ron has been dating Bonnie behind her back.
- Bonnie wants to take Kim down after the latter tortured her.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Shego trains Kim to overcome this belief.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Throughout the early chapters, Kim struggles to find what morality she now believes in after she is forced into a life of crime after torturing Bonnie and assaulting Ron. She eventually adopts Shego's orange and blue one.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Ron cheats on Kim with Bonnie, which is what causes Kim to snap. Doctor Director falls into this as well by using the reverse polarizer to turn Kim into a state of permanently pure goodness, never once considering the consequences of what would happen if the process was somehow undone.
- Wade pictures himself as this in the second instalment Wades & Measures for not being there for Kim after they saw Ron was cheating on her or for him calling Global Justice at Ron's demand.
- Villain Protagonist: Shego, later Kim.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The best way you can label Doctor Director for her actions in the story. Kim and Shego also apply for the whole series.
- Wham Shot: The return of the reverse polarizer.
