Work Text:
Infiltrate the Institute as Ambrosius Goldenloin. Gather the evidence. Get out quietly.
The plan had sounded simple on paper.
In reality, Nimona had made a mess of it.
But hey, it wasn't her fault exactly! How was she to know that the real Ambrosius Goldenloin would barge into the Director's office right while she was busy rifling through that woman's cabinets?
"Sup, Nemesis."
"You!"
And that was how Nimona found herself escaping through the same Institute halls that she had destroyed a week ago.
"Halt, you monster!" Ambrosius yelled after her, racing his hoverbike over ruined walls and abandoned corridors as fast as he could.
"Catch me if you can, Golden Ass!" Nimona cackled, gliding past the fallen statues and broken columns with her trusty pink wings. Quality villainous stuff, as usual.
She was focused on reaching the window. The same window she had broken last time as a rhinoceros to bust Ballister out of prison and land him on the Institute gardens. The hole in the glass was still there, so all Nimona had to do was slip past-
Something scorched and whizzed past her ear. Nimona had just enough time to look up and spot an arrow hurtling towards the ceiling. An arrow that had been undoubtedly fired by Nemesis.
It struck a chandelier. The lasered head melted the attachments as it shot past the structure and brought the entire thing crashing down.
Nimona dodged and weaved past the falling glass and debris. Smoke and dust clouded her vision and clogged her lungs as an enormous boulder missed her by a bare inch.
It was a miracle that she was able to emerge on the other side unscathed.
Her heart racing in her chest, she hovered in the air and assessed the damage left in her wake. The silence that followed the crash was deafening in its absoluteness.
There was no sign of Goldenloin.
Nimona looked over her shoulder. The window was right there. She still had a clear exit. More knights would be pouring into these halls any moment from now. Last time, they had almost managed to contain her with that tasered net thing. Who knows what other weapons they might bring now?
And yet.
A lone cough pierced the clouded air.
What kind of a villain would she be if she did not stick around to mock her enemy for failing to capture her yet again?
Her mind made up, Nimona flapped her wings and surged over the devastation to land on its other side.
Goldenloin lay sideways on the ground, an elbow supporting his entire weight as he tried to lift himself from the floor. He was not trapped or crushed under any debris, although some slivers of glass stuck to his hair. Barring the few scratches on his face and the dazed look in his eyes, he appeared unharmed.
Ambrosius hissed when he gingerly touched the back of his head.
Okay, so maybe not entirely unharmed. The knight seemed to have hit his head on something. It was hard to say how severe the damage was but the fact that she could see no blood meant that the Golden Prick was not about to die, right? Gosh, her boss would be insufferable otherwise.
"Any last words, Nemesis?" Nimona boomed, arms crossed before her chest.
Goldenloin wheezed and panted, still trying to breath through the dust-clogged air, as he followed her voice and blinked groggily in Nimona's general direction.
"Bal," he whispered. "You know Bal?"
Nimona was taken aback, not only by the words, but also by the softness behind them. Such a far echo from the harsh edges in his words when he was chasing her.
She narrowed her eyes, not sure what the man was playing at. "Of course, I do. I am the best sidekick of the best villain in this Kingdom."
"Pl… please, give this to him." A hand rose weakly towards Nimona, as if beckoning her closer. "From me," he breathed. "It's important."
Whoa, was Nemesis actually going to pass on a message to Boss? She wondered what it could be. A secret code? A physical object? Things just got so much more exciting.
It was foolish to approach an enemy, no matter how vulnerable they appeared to be. Yet, Nimona approached him regardless, transforming into an otter as she bounded towards the fallen knight and stood on her hindlegs before him.
Ambrosius' face was gentle, so incredibly gentle, with none of the hard lines of revulsion and anger from earlier.
Even though she was eyeing him warily, Nimona was still caught off-guard when Ambrosius grabbed her paw, pulled her closer and kissed her on her head, warm and full of affection.
The shapeshifter froze, too stunned to react, even as a hand brushed over the fur of her head.
"Bal…"
His eyes rolled back and Nemesis promptly blacked out, just as a bunch of knights rushed into the halls, screaming bloody murder.
Ballister was waiting for her in a darkened alley near The Antlered Serpent , just like the two of them had agreed on.
"Where the heck have you been?" he hissed anxiously, once Nimona the cat had transformed into Nimona the teenager.
"Your nemesis showed up in the Director's office and chased me," she huffed. "But then he bonked himself on the head and passed out."
"What?" Ballister gasped, horrified. "Is-is he alright? Was he bleeding? Nimona, why did you leave him alone?!"
The shapeshifter brought up her hands in a placating gesture. "Relax, man. His buddies came for him just as I made my exit. I am sure he is in good hands now."
Some of the tension and concern in Ballister's eyes left at that statement and his shoulders visibly relaxed.
"I see, tha.. that's good. That's good," the ex-knight mumbled, trying to compose himself as he pulled his cloak over his head. "Come on, then. We need to come up with a new plan."
"Oh, by the way, Boss!"
Boldheart stopped short in his tracks. He turned around to look at Nimona, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Your nemesis gave me a message before we parted ways. He asked me to pass it to you," Nimona chirped, far too happily for Ballister's liking.
"Really?" Ballister asked, surprised.
"Yep, come here," the shapeshifter said, waving her hand to beckon him closer.
Ballister lowered himself on his knees to get to her level, looking at her expectantly. Nimona paused for only a beat before she surged forward and pressed a kiss over his scarred brow, brushing back an errant strand of hair from his forehead as she did so.
Ballister spluttered, his skin heating up and his words choking in his throat.
"Good Gloreth," he finally managed to say as he fell back on his haunches. "Ambrosius- this is really his message?"
"Don't give me that look," Nimona deadpanned. "I wish I was making this up. I can't believe I got stuck as a sidekick to a villain whose nemesis doesn't even hate him. You guys are so mushy, it's disgusting actually."
She ran a frustrated hand over her face. "I can't imagine what it would look like if you were actually together."
"I am not a villain," Ballister muttered, his face hidden behind his hands, as if Nimona needed eyes to see that he was withering away from the embarrassment.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever Evil Larry," Nimona said, bored, as she sprouted her wings again and grabbed Ballister by his shoulders before taking off towards their dark and evil lair.