Mind, body, and Soul

Highway officer David Mcoy had been a highway patrolman for over fifteen years now. Five quiet carefully planned years working in the police department of Middleton as a uniformed street cop, five as a desk sergeant in the local station and now after mulling over his options, a highway patrolman, with a partner. A partner currently sitting next to him, her hat pulled tightly over her head, snores sliding from underneath it. Shaking his head, David glanced into the mirror and stared at the face that looked back.

Time, as academy colleagues who were already looking worn out, had been good to him. Barely thirty-nine his face was still as comfortable and easygoing as it had been when he started. His body, while having lost its youthful elasticity through the usual cop are of doughnuts and coffee, was still trim. Yes, life was good.

Sighing, Mcoy glanced across at the traffic in front and behind him on the highway. Recently, patrols had increased along this stretch of the highway to Middleton. Reports of a high-speed chase between a ‘Flying saucer! You heard me! Flying… saucer!’ and a ‘Car that bloody well was driving itself!’ according to witnesses, had resulted in the decision to enforce police presence along the route.

Most of his colleagues had scoffed at this, what could they do to stop it if it happened again. David agreed. His fifteen years in Middleton had taught him many things, one of which was that Middleton itself, for all its beauty, attracted some very, very odd people. People who could blow things up with their bare hands, shooting green, flaming… things! Men walking around a bright blue, driving odd hovering devices. Men who walked like monkeys, talking about weird magic. Women capable of splitting your genes into tiny parts and turning you into walking mutations. Yeah, he’d seen it all, and agreed that the police would be useless if the self-driving car and the flying saucer were to reappear.

Of course, their complaints had been ignored. The department heads, and yes himself and all his friends, were still smarting and enraged at the loss of good officers when the saucer had fired into the police chasing the car. Again, David could understand their anger. He felt it himself. But what would the use be of sending him and his friends into the same situation? What use would they be? He was willing, as he had always been, to lay his life down for the public, but not on a whim or for a pointless reason. For all their blustering and promises to the media to track down the menace, David doubted they could, let alone would.

So, that was why, on a lovely morning like this, he was stuck in his patrol car, with a slumbering partner, watching his wheels eat the miles between the points of his patrol. Yeah, this was pointless, a pointless waste of taxpayers money and his time.

Pointless…

Just as he thought this, a sudden roaring red blur shot past his car, rattling the windows and spilling the coffee that sat in the cup holder. Shocked by the sudden noise and the change in air pressure pulling the car off course, Mcoy swore, fighting to regain control. Narrowly missing a Greyhound coach and swerving to avoid a plumbing van, the experienced cop swung the car onto the outside lane and hit the sirens.

Waking with a snort, his partner coughed, slid her hat up, and glanced over. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Well, lets just say that we were passed by a red blur, doing about a hundred and thirty or more per hour.” The engine of Mcoy’s pursuit car roared as he forced it to its top speed. “I’d very much like to bust this son of a bitch!”

“Figures, all the good stuff happens when I’m asleep. You get the reg?”

“Yeah, I got the reg of a red blur travelling at a hundred plus, Ricardo. Jeez, wake up will you?” Mcoy glanced up as his partner grumbled to herself and grinned. “Gotcha, you son of a-“

The red blur had resolved itself into a sports car of some sort and boy was it moving. Mcoy tried to make out the numberplate, but blinked as the car dodged to the left lane, narrowly avoiding a car.

“Oh no you don’t!” Swerving, the patrol car swung into the lane behind the red sports and Mcoy slapped his hand down on the dash. “This bastard can really move!”

“So can we.” The female cop yawned and idly sctrached her arm. Just another day in Middleton. “Step on it!”

“I have been!” Mcoy countered, making Ricardo stare at him in surprise. “We’re catching him up… barely!”

Both cars continued along the highway at high speed. The red sports car dodged left and right, sometimes veering across the entire highway at speeds that had even the weathered Mcoy and Ricardo wincing in horror.

Somehow, and neither of them could figure out how, the car in front always managed to slip effortlessly through the traffic. Almost as if it had a sixth sense about what lay in front. The cop car was not so lucky, and now it had dents scratches and a rather impressive cracked front bumper thanks to Mcoy not being as fast at swerving to avoid panicking drivers.

To Mcoy’s own horror, he was beginning to physically sweat. This was ridiculous. He was one of the best, if not the very best, high-speed driver around. The car underneath him was heavily modified to be Middleton police’s premier chase car, and stillthe red sports was able to stay ahead.

Deciding enough was enough, he reached over and flicked on the radio. “This is highway two nineteen to two twenty one… come in.”

There was a gentle hiss of static for a few seconds and then a woman’s voice answered. “This is two twenty one. David is that you?”

“Yeah. Anne how far are you from our position?” Mcoy asked, cursing as a white van veered into both his and the targets path. Spinning the wheel, the highway patrolman managed to whip past the white van, only for the body to shudder as the trailing end of the white van caught the side of the front bumper. Both cops heard the groan of stressed metal but it was Ricardo who watched their bumper bounce down the highway behind them.

The red car seemed to have barely moved, almost as if it knew where the white van’s trajectory would take it. He watched as the van that he had frantically swerved to avoid simply slipped past the red car as the driver flicked a slight arc into its path.

Determined, Mcoy slammed his boot onto the accelerator pedal and hunched over the wheel of his car with new determination. As Ricardo glanced across, worry on her face, he slid one eye, the gaze heated, towards her.

“Nobody does that to David Mcoy… Nobody!”

The radio hissed again. “David, I’ve just checked your GPS position. We’re currently about two or three minutes away. Why’d you want to know?”

“I need you to set up a spike trap for me. I’m currently tracking a red sports car, numberplate will follow when I get a chance to read it. Listen, we’re both currently doing… one hundred and fifty miles an hour?” Shaking his head in disbelief, Mcoy scowled at the car in front. “I need this guy to be cut off so to speak. If we can burst the tyres in a controlled way then we should be able to corner and arrest this idiot. Anne, this could be that car we got the report on… it’s certainly shifting fast enough.”

“Roger that.” The radio announced, making both cops grin. “Three minutes… we’ll set up at the second intersection that you’ll pass. Oh, and we’ll close off our end of the highway and get another team to shut the other. I’ll also get a chopper into the air and request backup in case your target dodges us. Keep us apprised David.”

“Roger that. Oh, we’ve got you now you arrogant…” Mcoy managed, before tailing off to concentrate on the chase.

Minutes passed quickly, and soon they were a few seconds away from the spike trap that Mcoy’s call had set up in front. Ricardo could see the strobing flash of the other car’s lights as they roared along the tarmac. Bracing herself, Ricardo glanced across at Mcoy and noticed that the sheen of sweat had become trickles of it as he had fought to keep up with their target. Now, a good fifteen or more metres in front of them, the red car seemed oblivious of their chase, as well as the obvious second patrol car in front of it as it tore along the highway.

“Okay you son of a bitch, time to slow down. Ric, give me the count until this bastard hits the trap and we pop his tyres!”

Ricardo glanced at the distance readout that the radar gun of their car was recording and did some mental arithmetic. Mcoy slid their car to the right, ensuring that the trap would not pop their tyres when deployed. Nodding, she gave the count.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…” She paused and her eyes narrowed at the radar gauge. “Jesus, is he speeding up? Five, four, three, tw-“

Ricardo’s count broke off as the red car simply drove over the spikes as if they weren’t there. Her eyes widened in disbelief as it swerved into the lane next to them, narrowly missing the parked patrol car and the cops staring at it in horror. The sight of her fellow patrolmen was brief as both vehicles shot past, Mcoy wrestling and cursing as he floored it to keep up with a vehicle he thought would be crippled.

“How the hell did he drive over the damn trap?” He demanded as Ricardo just shook her head. “Look at his tyres! They’re intact and… holy-!”

Both cars smashed through the wooden barriers the third team had set up a few miles in front of the spike trap to cordon off the highway. Splinters of wood whipped around and both cops had a second to see another set of horrified fellow officers as they roared past them.

“He keeps this up?” Ricardo muttered, desperately trying to cope with what was happening. A sudden bluish flash at the front of the red car caught her eye even as both cars swerved to avoid another public vehicle. “He’s going to kill people!”

“Yeah, well I-“ Mcoy broke off as he swerved alongside the red car and began to pull up against its drivers side window. “Let’s see who’s driving. Come on… lets have a peek you arrogant son of a bitch!”

“Uh, David?” Ricardo whispered, eyes fixed on the front of the other car, as Mcoy glanced across at the drivers window and muttered a curse as he realised it was tinted a dark black. The sudden grip of Ricardo’s hand on his shoulder as she shook him made him glance at her in annoyance. “David!”

“What?” He snapped, blinking at the look of glazed shock that had appeared on her face. “Ricardo?”

The young cop licked her lips. “There’s a woman on the bonnet of that car… a woman!”

David’s head snapped to the front of the car he was alongside and his eyes widened in total shock. There, sitting cross-legged on the red bonnet sat a young woman, silvery blue in colour. Her hair was barely whipping in the wind, and she seemed to be watching the horizon, along with occasional glances at the road behind, with a calm and almost amused expression. As he stared at her she seemed to notice and waved at him with a grin. David blinked.

“What the hell?” Staring through the window, Mcoy watched as the blue woman leaned back on the hood and let her arms slide behind her to support her head. “Ricardo… am I seeing this right?”

“Y… yeah.” His partner managed. “And is it me, or is that car starting to pull away again?”

“Pulling awa-“ Mcoy glanced down at his Speedo and stared at the reading. They were both currently clipping along at one hundred and thirty miles an hour and his patrol car’s engine was revving into the red zone. Yet, as he glanced across like Ricardo, the car carrying the silvery blue woman on its bonnet was effortlessly pulling away. “Oh, this is bullshit!”

Mcoy forced his eyes away from the spectacle to the side of him and reached down to pick up the radio’s mic. With a gulp, he held it close to his mouth. “This is car two nineteen. We are currently in pursuit of a red sports car, registration unknown at this time. Anne, do you copy this? Listen, there’s a blue woman sitting on the bonnet of our target! I repeat this is-“

“I am well aware of what you are looking at, patrol car. I can see you both from the helicopter I am currently sitting in.” A Female voice snapped, the tone annoyed. For a second, there was a pause and then the voice came back. “You were not supposed to be on this highway!”

Mcoy and Ricardo’s eyes both slanted up and widened at the sight of the huge black jet helicopter speeding along above them. Both cop’ eyes took in the gleaming government crest embossed on the side and both swallowed. Licking his lips, Mcoy clicked the mic again.

“Um, what’s going on?”

“This is a government operation, patrol car two nineteen.” The female voice sounded annoyed. “You do not have authorisation to request me to explain myself. Now, the car you are currently alongside is part of that operation. Pull away from it, now!”

“I can’t dothat, Ma’am. I don’t have authorisation, and there’s a young woman sitting on the roof!”

The voice went silent for a few seconds and then came back, even more annoyed than it had been before. “Regardless of what you are seeing, young man, you willdo as I say! This is a government operation, general authorisation code fifteen, gamma, delta, seta. Now, do as I say and pull away!”

“Ricardo? What’d you think?” Mcoy glanced across at her and the young woman shrugged. Even as she did so, a whimper escaped her lips and he glanced across at the red car and realised that the woman was nowhere to be seen. “Oh god… did she fall?”

“She… she vanished.” Ricardo whispered, frightened. “She just… vanished.”

“Bull!” Mcoy snapped, only to glance across as the car next to him began to shift slightly. Something was happening to the entire vehicle. As he watched, the entire car seemed to shift lower, the wheels sliding further into the body shell. Slits were appearing along the rear part of the car and as he watched, something blue glowed and spat from them as though whatever was inside was building up a charge. “What the hell is going on?”

“We should check with central, see if the code’s valid.” Ricardo managed, only for Mcoy to snort. “David, this is madness!”

“Keep buckled up!” Mcoy commanded and pushed the accelerator harder into the floor of the car, trying to ignore his Speedo and rev counter. The former telling him that he was dangerously dipping into the red, and the latter clocking both him and the car alongside at one hundred and seventy miles an hour. “I’ll be dammed if some hotrod is going to cut me up and drive freely out of here!”

“Hotrod! An insulted voice came from behind them, making both cops freeze. As Mcoy was still driving, now slowly slipping back from the red car in front, Ricardo swallowed and glanced behind her into the rear seat that should be empty. There, sitting primly on the back seat sat the silvery blue woman. Ricardo let out a whimper as she leaned forwards, the world weary and experienced cop shrinking sideways, away from the spectre. “Hot… rod? Why you cheeky… I’ll have you know that I’m damn well unique! And a professional! Professional enough to outrun you with my eyes shut!”

The radio chose that moment to crackle again. “Car two nineteen… you are beginning to try my patience. I told you to let the red car go! Do as I say! Do not attempt to keep up with the vehicle in front! Keep this up and you’ll both lose your badges! Do I make myself clear!”

“I think you should do what she says.” The young woman whispered, an almost guilty look on her face. “You’re in trouble because of me. I forgot myself, went too fast… and you jumped me. She’s gonna kill me when she’s finished yelling at you.”

Mcoy glanced in his rear view mirror and the car wobbled violently as he fought to maintain control. With his heart hammering in his chest, the tyres of his car scraped against the mud of the central reservation and then slowly found purchase on the tarmac once more. Unable to help himself, Mcoy risked a slanted gaze to the left, hoping that what he had seen in the mirror was a figment of his imagination. As the blue woman gazed right back at him, he swallowed and felt his heart pound harder. “Fuck!”

“Madre de Dios!” Ricardo agreed, crossing her heart, as the young woman sighed and leaned companionably on the seats between them. Risking a glance, Ricardo realised that the woman’s gaze was fixed on the sports car now pulling slowly away from them. It was at that moment and to her growing horror, she realised that the woman was faintly transparent!

“Oh, wow! I’ve never actually had a chance to see myself before…” The slivery woman muttered, amused. “Boy, red is not my colour is it? I prefer blue. Ah well, I feel it fits the tone of what I’m doing. Red for vengeance… yeah, that fits this perfectly. Which reminds me. You had better do as the lady on the radio says, guys.”

Mcoy swallowed. This is not happening… this isnot happening to me!

“Look, how about I narrow your choices down to one? Which is to stop because I’m so far away and there’s no point in continuing the chase. That’ll give you a chance to find out that the code my friend there is giving you is genuine.” Both cops let out a gasp as the figure slowly flickered and began to fade. “Oh, sorry to make your day so crappy…”

As the figure vanished, a loud humming came from the car in front. The humming became a vibration that both Mcoy and Ricardo could feel through their car’s body. The rear of the sports car shifted and the slowly retracting panels revealed what almost looked like a jet exhaust. A jet exhaust that began to pulse a faint blue as the vent lit up with a flickering mix of energy and heat. As both cops stared, the airfoil at the back split from one gull wing shaped piece of metal into three, all of them shifting into place smoothly and Ricardo blinked as two smooth pieces of metal slid from the wings at the front of the car.

Mcoy had just enough time to realise that what he had been chasing was so in advance of his own vehicle, that it was a miracle that he had been able to keep up in the first place, before the world exploded around them. With a concussive roar, that rattled the windscreen, the pulsing blue vent erupted and the red car blurred into a streak of colour that rapidly outpaced them.

Within seconds, the red blur had dwindled to a dot on the horizon, a quick glance at the radar gun from both of them showed an error message. Ricardo quietly couldn’t blame it, even though she knew that it could read up to two hundred miles an hour. It was only by the occasional distant sound of a horn being pressed that told them its location. The smoking trails of rubber on the tarmac next to them as they drove along, the only evidence that it had initially been anywhere near them.

For a few moments, the cars cabin was quiet, and then Ricardo glanced across at Mcoy. She swallowed and slowly reached up to her hat and yanked it off, rubbing at the sweat soaked hair underneath.

“I need a drink… a damn large one.” She managed.

Mcoy glanced across, his own face white, and his foot slid from the accelerator to the brake. As the car slowed, he ran a hand over his own sweat soaked skin and nodded. “I need two large ones… but first we need to cover both our asses.”

“How?”

With half a smile, the older cop waved at the angry female voice still spouting from the radio. “I think we’d better check that code… and if it is genuine, we’ll leave that damn car well alone. After all, we’re just doing what we’ve been told, ordered even.”

Ricardo nodded, wondering who could drive a car like that, and then deciding she didn’t want to know. “Sounds good to me.”

---

Doctor Director

Doctor Director paced the tiny free space inside her transport helicopter, microphone headset clamped firmly over her ears. While she paced, the marines and members of Team Impossible glanced at each other with worry and kept their heads down.

“I’m glad to hear that commander.” Doctor Director replied to a voice only she could hear. “Yes, I think your highway patrolmen have done an outstanding job and yes I should have notified you sooner of an operative vehicle on the road.”

The troops watched their leaders face darken in response to something said at the other end and deciding self defence was the sensible option, all of them looked anywhere but at her.

“Do not question my authority, thank you! My men know who is in charge!” The GJ troops winced. “No. You listen to me. Remove the highway patrol cars on this highway for the next two hours. I have the authority to order this and you have no idea what is at stake if you do not do as I say! Goodbye!”

Half the troops expected their commander to rip off the headset and throw it on the floor to crush it, something that Dash had seen himself once, and only once, before. Instead, Doctor Director clicked in a new frequency and tapped her foot while she waited for a response, her remaining eye blazing.

“Ah!” She snapped suddenly, making the troops jump. “This is supposed to be a stealth mission, Mara! If you were intending to go so fast, why didn’t you cloak! I know you can, having helped design the very technology you have inside your pretty shell!” One of the Marines winced in sympathy. He knew that tone well, having had his own balls bustedonce, longago. “I’ve just had a very interesting demonstration of what men call a pissing contest! A demonstration I did not appreciate!”

The voice on the other end responded and Doctor Director shook her head. “All right, so we are not part of the stealth section, but we’re miles from the target! Why couldn’t you cloak and…”

The troops watched as their boss tilted her head and listened to whatever was coming across on her headphones. Suddenly, she sighed. “No, nobody bothered to explain that… not even when they were designing you all those months ago. You can’t cloak and project the field without adjusting the projectors, and the charge takes all the reserve power you have… I see. That could be seen as quite a design flaw… I apologise for being insulting, yes… I know.”

Doctor Director sighed and flicked off the headset. As she leaned back in her seat, her one remaining eye slid across to Dash and she shook her head.

“I never thought to check if Mara could cloak and charge lockdown at the same time. Foolish… no wonder Ron wanted her to remain cloaked, find a safe spot when she had arrived and thencharge the lockdown. He knows more about her than I do it seems, or at least had Mr Load advising him.”

Dash mused for a few seconds. “True, but you can’t blame yourself for not knowing. Nobody informed you when we helped design the weapon systems. Nobody was hurt and I think Mara can handle herself enough that nobody will get hurt now that the police are backing off. Besides, you know what they say about missions like this… the important ones.”

Doctor Director closed her eye and toyed with the GJ issue communicator on her belt. “No, what?”

Dash interlinked his hands. “That every op, every plan, has a screw up in it somewhere… no matter how well planned. I’m kinda hoping that Mara not being able to cloak and charge the lockdown system was it. If all it did was annoy some flunkies for the local force, then I can live with that. It means nothing else will go wrong when we try to save Kim and her mother… and that Shego woman too.”

“Dash, do you know how dangerous this is?” Doctor director slid her gaze to him once more, the single eye staring at her second in command with worry. “For all my determination and confidence back at Mr Stopp… at Ron’s, I know our chances. Kara will know we’re coming, no matter how stealthily we initially attack, that fortress is too damn large for her not to. We’re going to lose people Dash… and I have to live with that.”

“Doc…” Dash began.

“Worse, if we can’t provide a big enough distraction, andkeep the largest number of her troops as busy as we can, then Ron and Yori will be discovered. If they are? Then two young adults, no matter how good they are, will die… swiftly followed by Kim’s mother.” The GJ director leaned forwards and Dash realised how truly anxious she was. “To say nothing of handing the second best thief I have ever seen, along with her super powers, and Kim Possible, someone I hoped to train as a replacement, to this Kara Fang. If we fail, we will be responsible for letting a young woman, someone who has done nothing but helppeople, end up shattered and forced to perform atrocities for the rest of her life.”

Dash nodded. “We won’t. After all, it’s not like the GJ’s alone…”

Doctor Director nodded and both of them glanced out at the helicopters in the distance, so much like their own, but regardless, very different. “Ron trusts this Yori woman, and I trust Ron… so we trust this Yamanouchi School and its Ninja’s… I just hope they know what they’re doing as much as we do. I hope Mara is up to the task, I hope that Ron and Yori can play their part… all I can do is hope.”

Dash had no answer for her and he realised then and there just how lonely she must feel. Though he had lead his own team, it had been tiny compared to Global Justice. Worried for her as much as everyone else in the battle to come, the bulky man exchanged glances with his fellow Team Impossible members and all of them were helpless. So, in silence, the leader of the GJ and the members of Kim’s one time competition sat, waiting for the orders to go into battle.

---

Kim

Kim stumbled on the rough concrete of the main laboratory as Shego shoved her brutally forwards. The unfamiliar boots she now wore clattered on the surface as her body fought to keep itself upright. She was so exhausted, the toll of fighting Kara for a whole night would never have been healed by a few hours sleep and now Kim struggled to cope as her body slowly suffered.

The footwear was part of the uniform Kara, or rather the two guards she had ordered, had forced her naked, battered and shivering body into while they had stopped at the medical bay. The request to do so had come from Shia, who had looked pale and distracted as she had done so. For some reason, Kim noticed, she had kept glancing at her mother and then looking away as her mother had fixed her with an accusing gaze. All she knew was that Shia had repeated the request, in such a quiet voice everyone had to strain to hear her.

An impatient Kara, who had tapped her foot rhythmically as the Doctor had checked Kim over, had reluctantly agreed to her sister’s request, though she had glared at Shia throughout the exam and had rolled her eyes once it had been completed.

Once she had been pronounced healthy enough to undergo Servus insertion, Kim had been gripped tightly by two guards as Shego and Shia had dressed her struggling form in the black lycra unitard that was to be the only clothes she would have while working as an Assassin. A puppet with no name, no freedom… just a number. It was a fact that Kara had obviously had no desire to let her forget. For there, printed on the back of her unitard in blood red, was the number one.

Her feet had been forced into combat boots, far tighter and uncomfortable than the shoes she wore on missions, and her long red hair had been dragged backwards into a ponytail, the pressure on her scalp making her hiss in pain, and bound with a single red leather chord. Another guard had walked forwards with a pair of scissors to trim the tail to a stub, but Kara had held up a hand, grinning at Kim’s upset expression.

“Hmm, I think that Shego was a good girl yesterday. Yes, very good indeed. In fact, I think she was so good that you can keep your hair, Kim.” Sighing Dramatically, Kara brushed the red locks gently. “Keeping pets happy is so hard!”

The laughter that accompanied this comment, both from Kara and the surrounding guards, had made Kim scowl in rage. It was only the sight of her mother’s compassionate face and Shia’s whisper of “Do not to rise to such bait. Do not give Kara the satisfaction.” while she had looked away, ashamed, that made Kim bite her lip and her tongue.

When Kara had turned to Doctor Possible and asked if her mother wished to wear a black armband or maybe indulge in some makeup, all she received was a stony stare.

Kara had then waved a hand and they were off once more. Shego had once again gripped Kim’s cuffed arms and pushed her along, the door to the medical chamber hissing shut behind the hesitant figure of Shia, her head hung low.

Finally, they came to the huge doors that granted access to the main laboratory. As they swung open slowly, Kim let out a strangled gasp as the huge space behind them came into view. Filling almost all the open space, stood fifty Blood Jade ninjas. As well as various henchmen. They watched her cautiously, hands twitching near daggers or Katana’s.

As Kim and her mother stared in disbelief, Kara’s voice trickled past her. “I am nothing if not prudent, Kim San. Despite all you have endured, you are still too dangerous to underestimate. Therefore, I have not, as you can see. The same number surrounded Shego when she was undergoing the treatment, even though she was sedated. For I know her well, Kim San… she is even more driven than you at times. “

The Ninja’s all saluted as Kara drifted past Kim, who stumbled forwards as Shego brutally shoved her once more. Her foot twisted, the muscles still damaged from straining against the manacles while she had been tortured, and Kim landed with a cry of pain against the cold concrete. As she fought a sudden bout of dizziness, a familiar and cruel laugh echoed around her.

“Well, well. Kim Possible at my feet! I finally manage to accomplish something I have dreamed of, and it’s all thanks to Miss Fang showing me how Shego could not be trusted!”

Kim managed to raise her head and there, towering over her as a sadistic smile tugged at the scar along his cheek, stood Drakken. She could see it in his eyes, the gaze of a man drunk with power, with his own importance. As she struggled to rise, a booted foot slammed into her shoulder and forced her back to the concrete, grinding her face into the rough surface and pulling a cry from the young woman.

“Doc, I’m going to beat you into putty for that!”Shego thought, watching helplessly as her one time nemesis shivered from the effort ro stand. Itwas heartbreaking to see, thefeebleness so much suffering had caused to a strong woman.Finally, Kim fell and then lay under the boot, too exhausted to move. “Come on, Kimmie… get up! Don’t let them win by making you surrender! You never did to me, I fell in love with you partly because of that! Now, come on, fight them to the last!”

“Pathetic.” Drakken cackled, twisting the boot against her skin and listening to the groan of pain that echoed up. “All this time and it wasn’t you I should have been worried about after all. Why does Kim Possible always beat me? Because Shego is actually playing for her team! Well, no longer. Miss Fang, everything is prepared… I just need the subject here to be strapped in.”

Kara watched silently, her mind exuberant with the success that one tiny lie could bring her. A lie, and the right person to use it on. Drakken had, after careful observation, been simply in the right place at the right time. He had employed Shego, and that was enough for her plans. However, she had swiftly come to realise after reading the reports, that Drakken had been a mind just waiting for the right spark to use its massive intellect. That spark had been Shego herself and Kara had, and still was, enjoying herself immensely by using his secret affection for the green bitch against her.

Now, as she watched Kim moan, Kara sighed with triumph as she glanced across at her little green pet and the redhead soon to come.

All this from one little lie.

“Certainly Doctor, we do not want Kim to think we are stepping on her ambition to join us.” Kara quipped.

As Kara smirked, Drakken began to laugh, only for the laughter to break into a cry of sudden shock as his leg was violently swung to one side. The movement and shift of his balance point made him stumble backwards and crash into a table filled with various technical devices.

“Yes!”Shego enthused, wishing she could smile or give any outward sign. “You may have hurt her, Kara, but Kimmie ain’t broken. Nothing’s ever going to sap that will of hers… Hell, I tried so many times, and look at me now. I love her for it!”

Kim pulled herself to her feet and staggered upright. The grazed skin on her right cheek burned and the slight pain had helped to clear her head. As her gaze took in Drakken, she managed one shuffled step forwards, her leg muscles quaking, before the Jade Ninja’s acted. With a whisper of steel on leather, Kim blinked as her neck was surrounded with a wall of viciously sharp steel. She paused, and remained as still as her exhausted body would allow.

“You see what I mean about taking no chances now, Kim San?” Kara walked across her vision and gently sat Drakken upright. “Doctor? Are you well?”

“Yes…. Yes, I’m fine!” Drakken managed, swallowing as he glanced across at Kim, who simply stared with a gaze of pure malice. “Um, she just caught me by surprise, that’s all!”

“Yes, Doctor, I can see that.” Kara agreed, while silently adding that Kim’s ability to do so, even when exhausted, was the very reason why she was so determined to have Kim under her control. “Then if you are unharmed, shall we begin?”

Drakken nodded and reached into his pocket. While the Jade ninja’s stepped back and sheathed their blades at Kara’s hand movement, and Shego stepped forward to take Kim’s manacled hands once more, he pressed the button set in the centre. With a hiss of escaping gas, a recessed panel set into the floor slid apart and a gleaming construction of cold steel and red leather slid upwards through the vapour.

Shaped like a chair at first glance, it took a few seconds for Kim and her mother to take in the thick steel manacles welded into place at either armrest and at the base, exactly where a victim’s legs would lie. However, it was the ring of steel that formed a vertical ring above the chair that made both the young hero and her mother gasp in fear. There, recessed in a concentric circle around the inner surface of the ring, gleaming in the harsh light of the lab’s halogen lights, sat ten thick needles.

Drakken watched both Kim and her mother take in the malevolence of the device and then smirked as both sets of eyes glanced across as he snickered. Bowing slightly to Kim, Drakken smiled. “Shall we?”

---

Ron and Yori

It was cold on the upper levels of the mountain, which was why it was considered amongst the henchmen and Jade Ninja’s to be the worst patrol route Possible. Not only was it cold, but the tiny path that had to be walked along was laden with rocks and loose gravel. It was, simply put, unpleasant in every way. Still, it was a patrol that had to be done, as the main vents that took in air for the whole of the lair complex were up there, artfully camouflaged to look like rocks or shrubs, but nonetheless, they had to be patrolled as much as any other section.

I hate this… why did I draw the short straw?Mike Jondoe thought as he stumbled on a large rock and almost twisted his ankle. Why the hell do we have to patrol this sector? I mean, we have the damn cameras. They can warn us of any intruder way before they have a chance to stumble across anything. Besides, almost every single person thathas been up here are ramblers! All you have to do is point them in the direction of the lakeside walk and they go because this mountain is so boring!

A sudden roar above him made Jondoe look up. The sight that met his eyes had him yanking off the backpack behind him and reaching into it for the hidden rife. There, above him and passing dangerously low over the mountaintop, was a black helicopter of some sort. Even as he slid the rifle to his shoulder, he watched as the door to the side of it opened and waited for troops of some sort to jump out.

Had to fly this low to avoid radar detection, came in from the east so it could avoid most of the cameras… But if that was a troop chopper, then where are the troops?The henchman watched in disbelief as the chopper vanished over the peak, the roar of its engines slowly dopplering as it headed away. No troops? What the hell was all that for if there are no troops?

Holstering his rifle, Jondoe glanced around suspiciously and then reached down to his belt for the radio that sat there, clipped for security. With another glance around at the empty, rock and scrub surroundings, gleaming in the midday sun, he gently raised it to his lips.

“Excuse me.” A faintly exotic female voice whispered next to his ear. Jondoe froze and his eyes slid to the right, only to see nothing there. Even as he moved to speak into the radio again, the sudden cold sensation of a blade at his throat had him pausing in fear. He felt a hand slide down to take the radio off him, and then the rifle. As he swallowed, the voice echoed around him once more. “Are there any more guards here?” He shook his head and then fell to the ground unconscious as a heavy hilt slammed into the back of his neck, his body suddenly coming to halt in mid-air as it fell. “Thank you… most co-operative for an evildoer.”

There was a subtle click of metal on metal as a small shiny disk clamped itself out of nowhere to the camouflaged camera next to his unconscious body and a male voice echoed into the air. “Wade… you’re connected… go!”

The air was quiet for a few moments and then a second male voice echoed around the empty landscape. “Okay, Ron. I’ve hooked into the system and all the cameras in the local area are running on a looped simulation. You can come out of hiding now.”

To the actual eye, it was as if two figures just appeared out of thin air. One second the area was empty of anything and the next two people stood there, phasing into existence with barely a flicker. Both reached up to the helmets covering their faces and yanked them off with mutual sighs of pleasure.

Yori glanced around as she let her helmet and breathing apparatus drop to the rocky ground and happy that they had not been spotted, crouched down and slid the paragliding backpack that Ron had given her behind a large boulder. “That went far better than I could have hoped, Ron. Your training in Yamanouchi arts is still impressive. I have never seen anyone perform the fade stance quite so perfectly.”

Huffing with exertion, Ron glanced over from where he was dragging the unconscious henchman into a ditch and nodded. “Thanks and yeah, we’re very lucky right now. Especially that the patrol was just one person. Seems Mara was right about their security for this high up on the mountainside. Now, if everything else goes to plan, if Kim isn’t already a puppet and they aren’t already expecting us, then everything will be fine.”

Yori nodded, her black clad form crouching on the ground and gazing into the distance with sharp chocolate eyes. “We had best hurry… I can just make out the global justice force choppers in the distance and Jasmine’s squad is rapidly approaching on foot from the west.” Her voice carried a satisfied tone that she obviously was having trouble hiding. “They left after the GJ and yet arrived first. I am most proud of them, as would Sensei be.”

“More importantly, check the highway.” Ron whispered, his hands checking the suit Wade had given him as well as the lotus blade that sat quietly in its scabbard on his back. “I can see a certain red dot over there that I hope to hell is Mara.”

“It is, Ron.” Wade’s voice echoed around them and Ron glanced down at the tiny screen of the disrupter RonCom as he pulled it off his belt. “She’s been holding there for five minutes, waiting for everyone to get into position. Oh and I thought you might like to know that Mego has been hounding me for sick bags to be put into her next time.” As Ron blinked and Yori muffled a giggle, Wade shrugged. “As far as I can tell, she had a little trouble with the cops, and had to outrun them. A lot!”

“Great…” Ron managed and shook his head, making Yori sober. She blushed as she realised that now was not a time for humour, both about to possibly walk into the jaws of death. Not noticing his effect on the Ninja standing next to him, Ron shrugged. “Well, as much as I’d like to laugh, we have a job to do. Wade, I need you to-“

“Second boulder to your right is fake. The one next to the boulder Yori shoved her ‘parapack’ behind. There’s a vent underneath it and the rock is actually a well camouflaged sponge… it’s just been hardened with epoxy paint so that people won’t notice. Pretty clever considering that hardly anyone would want to walk up here.” As Yori and Ron walked over, Wade hummed. “I’d say it slides on hidden rails in the dirt. Try pushing it.”

Ninja and hero glanced at each other and with a shrug, slammed their shoulders against the boulder. As both heaved against it, they felt it give a little and finally, after Yori closed her eyes and grunted with the strain, the entire boulder slid to the side. Below it, lay a metallic vent, the slight suction as it drew air into itself finally apparent.

Yori carefully crawled across to the vent and peered over, finally settling back on her haunches and glancing across at Ron. She sighed. “I should have anticipated this. The drop is a good thirty metres or more and we do not have the time to wall walk down.”

Ron grinned. “Don’t worry about that, Yori. Where there’s a Ron, there’s a way. Well, a Ron wearing the latest in battle suits. Rufus, if you would.”

The molerat popped out of his pocket and with a grin scrambled up to his wrist. With a squeeze, a thin tensile wire shot out of Ron’s wrist and the tiny clamp adhered itself to the boulder with a quiet thud. Rufus yanked on the wire and glanced up at his master.

“Kay! Let’s go!” he chirped, hopping up to his usual place on Ron’s shoulder.

“Right, Wade patch me through to all of our teams would you?”

Wade tapped at his keyboard and then nodded. “You’re up, Ron.”

Ron glanced down at the RonCom as the screen flickered and showed a list of all the teams he had assembled. Each had a flashing green tick alongside its name and he nodded. “This is jailbreak one. CarGo team, you’re up in three, two… one. Go and good luck!”

“Roger that Jailbreak, this is Car. I’m on my way! Time to dodge the welcome mat and knock guys, lets do this!”

As the red dot in the distance suddenly began to move, Yori slid up to Ron and at his direction melded her body into his. Her legs gently wrapped around his and her soft-shoes gently slipped onto his boots. A hand curled around his neck and she leaned tightly against him. Before Ron could move, however, he suddenly found her lips gently brushing his.

“For luck, Ron.” She whispered, breaking the kiss after a few seconds and blushing at his slightly unfocused gaze. “Yes, luck, oh Monkey Master.”

“I don’t need luck.” Ron countered, moving them across to the lip and tugging on the thin chord to ensure it was well secured. “I have you, Rufus, and the knowledge that KP is in danger. It’s all I need to know that I won’tfail her! Not this time… no way! So, to coin Mara, let’s DO this!”

With a hiss of rapidly unwinding chord, Ron, Yori, and Rufus shot into the vent.

---

Kim

Kim stared at the gleaming metal contraption, her eyes drawn to the ring and the needles protruding from it. The entire chair oozed malevolence on some basic level and Kim knew that if she were to be strapped into it, she would lose… everything! Face pale, she swallowed and reared backwards, her spine making contact with Shego’s firm stomach and staggering the green woman a little with the impact. Watching with amusement and drunk on power, Drakken grinned.

“Oh come now, Possible! After all you’ve been through at my hands before, is this really that bad?”

“You were useless at torture, or coming up with schemes that worked!” Kim managed, instinctively struggling in Shego’s grip. “Everything you’ve come up with before was a joke, or worse, not even worth my time!” She watched his eyes narrow while her hands gripped the cuffs slightly and her body weight shifted. “Drakken, this… what you’ve created, isn’t evil! Servus is… is… the word hasn’t been created to describe just how sick eventhe idea is!”

“And here I was thinking you were going to insult me, Kim.” Drakken shrugged. “To be honest, I think Servus is my greatest creation. It has rendered Shego, someone I trusted and found had betrayed me, to be obedient! Her! We both know very well how obedient Shego is when free to make her own decisions. Well, I’ve changed that, and soon I’ll have you under my power! Miss Fang and I will rule the world!”

“You’re nothing but a sad little man who was bullied at school and never got the dates at college!” Kim countered, watching as Drakken’s face darkened to deep purple while Kara gently slid a hand across her mouth, stifling a laugh.

“You dare to use the attacks by others too stupid to see my greatness? I’m Doctor Drakken! I make everyonewhoknows mequake!” Drakken snapped.

“With laughter, yeah! Drew, you still let your mom boss you around!You attacked my father and his friends because of an event that happened at college! College! You became sad and twisted because you just couldn’t grow up! Swore revenge because you couldn't find something normal to be good at!”

“You know nothing about me!” Drakken yelled, his small hands clasping at the air as though he could wring the life out of them. “Nothing about what I had to endure as a child! Why I decided that I should rule the world, why vengeance would be mine! You want sad and pathetic? Take a look at your girlfriend, Possible! Shego was a hero and look what happened to her! Now that’s sad and twisted.”

Kim shook her head. She had to keep this up, use the distraction she was creating to think of a plan. “You? You’re nothing but a whiny mommy’s boy, trying to get even with the world over nothing!” Kim felt the warmth behind her, the faint spicy scent of Shego’s hair, the way the green woman’s skin touched her hands and she shivered. “Shego? She didn’t deserve this life. Any of it! And you’re clueless about what I’m talking about, because you’re so wrapped up in your own pathetic plans!”

Forgive me for what I’m about to do Shego. I’m sorry.Kim thought, watching with growing dismay as the final words of her verbal attack passed through Drakken with barely a flicker. The blue man was so drunk on the power and stroking that even Kim had seen Kara giving him, that he had lost all rational thought, or what little he had left.

Drakken sniffed and stared remorselessly at his former employee and sidekick. “Well, frankly I don’t care that you think Shego, your oh so precious ‘redeemed’ girlfriend, had a valid reason for becoming evil! So did I!” Drakken stalked towards her, the cruel smile sliding back onto his face. ”All I know is that when you’re strapped into that chair and the needles are burrowing into your neck? I’ll enjoy every second of it! And think back to every word you called me, then and now! Strap her in! I’ll get the Servus vial ready!”

As Drakken turned away to prepare, and Kara glanced across to order the guards around them to take Kim to the chair, the redhead took her chance.

While her arms had been manacled behind her, the cuffs biting into her skin, Kara had done nothing about her legs, an oversight when dealing with a cheerleader who knew martial arts. With all the attention diverted for a second, Kim brought her leg violently up behind her, biting her lip in sympathy as felt it slid between Shego’s legs and smash as hard as she could muster into the green woman’s crotch.

“Oh my… g… good one Kimmie.“Shego managed to think, as Kim yanked herself out of her grip and ran towards her mother. Servus blinked in cybernetic shock, the overload of pain too quick and too much to handle. Shego felt her world crash in on itself and all she could focus on was the pain between her legs. The burning, throbbingpain!

As Kim ran across to the shocked figure of her mother, she was brought up short by the blod figure that leapt in front of her. Shia moved swiftly, aiming a punch to Kim’s midsection that would incapacitate her. As her fist flew through the air and Shia felt a spurt of regret at her actions, Kim simply back-flipped over her, the redhead’s legs curling quickly through the cuffs that bound her arms as she rolled mid air. To Shia, it was as if she had been in front of her one second, and then gone the next, only for the Ninja to hear the sound of feet landing behind her.

Impossible! She moves as fast as Shego… faster!Shia managed to think as she spun, left leg rising in a kick that would take Kim down without harming her.

As her head snapped around after her leg, she blinked as her foot swung past her, the heel hitting nothing but air. Kim, who had dropped to a crouch so low her chin was brushing the concrete of the lair, lashed out with a sweep of her own leg and Shia could only cry out as her supporting leg was smashed out from under her.

As the blond crumpled, Kim’s own fist swung towards Shia’s face and the Ninja felt the world reel as it connected with her skull. Rolling, Kim slid to her knees, gripping Shia around the throat as Jade Ninjas and Drakken’s henchmen ran towards her.

“Stop!I’ll break her neck, I swear!” Kim announced, making the men and women rushing her stumble and jerk as they heard her and backpeddled. As Drakken and Kara stared at her in astonishment, Kim nodded, standing slowly. “You heard me, Kara. Move one inch and I’ll snap your sisters neck!”

Kara stood, almost bemused by the picture of her own sister sweating in the grip of someone who should have been a prisoner. “The great Kim Possible, taking a life?” Kara smiled, cruelly. “I rather find myself unable to picture it.” Her amused gaze slid to Shia and narrowed into annoyance. “You are becoming more of a burden than I appreciate… sister.”

Shia closed her eyes, watching as Jade Ninja’s began to surround the tired redhead and her mother. Surrounded her… and waited for orders from Kara.“I am worthless as a bargaining chip, Possible San. Much as I wish it were otherwise.”

Kim glanced down, the murmured comment had been for her ears only. She lowered her lips to Shia’s ear. “What? You’re her sister!”

“And she killed our mother without so much as a single tear. She left me to slavery and then when she realised I could be of use, she… she… lied to me! She wants you, Kim San. She wants you and nothing will stop her from having you. Because of this, I am no use to you!”

Kim stared at her in shock, only for Kara to break her out of it as the oriental woman drew a thin knife from her suit. “Besides, Kim. You haven’t thought it out. Whiel you could escape, by distracting me with Shia's dead and bleeding form, you have forgotten about the people you love. You see, right now I have two bargaining chips to your one. Shego, stand!”

Shego, the sweat from Kim’s attack and subsequent pain standing out on her skin, slid to her feet soundlessly. Kim knew that the only reason she did so was due to the nanites in her brain ignoring any pain, or more likely agony, that Shego was feeling. Walking around the green skinned villainess, Kara ran the knife gently over her skin, making Kim hold her breath is sudden icy fear.

“You have also not considered how ruthless I am. I do care for my sister, but my oath to the jade is far more important to me. If I have to obtain you for my master’s through Shia? I will. However, I do not think that it will come to that. Shall I demonstrate what I mean, Kim?”

Kara turned to Shego, an anticipatory gleam in her eyes, and raised the knife. Before Kim could even scream, the sharp blade had slashed across Shego’s face, her blood splattering on the concrete. As Kim felt her heart hammer at the sight of the sharp cut on Shego’s impassive face, blood oozing from it in a steady bead, Kara turned back to her.

“You see what I mean? I am totally capable of the most ruthless decisions.” Kara sighed. “And of course, my other bargaining chip is your mother. Oh, I know you have her next to you, Kim… and you think that can stop me?”

As Kim glanced across at her mothers worried face, Kara smoothly reversed her grip on the small blade and flicked her wrist. The knife shot across the room with a quiet whistle and a second scream yanked itself from Kim’s throat as the point hit, and then slid effortlessly into, her mother’s shoulder. Mrs Possible fell to her knees, her face pale as she felt the knife hit bone and lodge there. She managed to turn to her daughters terrified face and shake her head.

“N… never mind me-” She managed, clutching her shoulder to try and stem the stain of red slipping down the T shirt Shia had given her. She began to shiver as the Doctor part of her clinically diagnosed that she was suffering from shock. Teeth chattering, Mrs Possible tried to talk to her daughter once more, only for Kim to cut her off.

“No! I’m not leaving any of you with her!” Kim turned back to Kara, who stood quietly in her dark suit, examining her nails as though she were waiting for a hairdressing appointment. With only a second’s hesitation, Kim’s arm slid from Shia’s neck and she stood back. “Okay… okay. You win Kara! Just… just don’t hurt them.”

“If you try those tiresome heroine tactics again, I promise your mother will not survive and I will rub Shego’s death blood in your face while I strap you down. Are we clear?” Kara snapped, the venom leaking through her passive face once again. “Shia, perhaps you could stop being my disgrace for a few moments and manacle Ms Possible to the chair? I really am very tired of her and you being so very useless!”

Shia nodded, blinking in shock as her hand moved of it’s own accord to the second Katana she had clipped to her belt. The blade would have been familiar to anyone who had seen her win in the sword mastery contest all those years ago. The hilt was a light blue, the blade from Yamanouchi. Clenching her fist, Shia forced her hand away from the blade and nodded.

“Yes… sister.” She managed, glancing up and freezing as the wizened figure of Quia stood next to Kara, his eyes fixed on her. You waste no time, Quia.“Kim San, please… do not resist!”

Kim felt hands grab her roughly and as she was dragged towards the silver menace of the chair in the middle of the room, she struggled long enough to glance back at her mother. Mrs Possible lay kneeling where she had initially been, swaying as the shock and steady loss of blood assaulted her. “Wait! My mother! You have to help her!”

Kara glanced across, her eyes dismissive. “That was not part of our deal.”

Shia blinked at her sister’s comment and winced as Kim cried out and began to struggle harder. Determined, despite the bad blood and harsh words between them, Shia coughed and attracted Kara’s attention. “Life would be easier for us if Doctor Possible were treated. Kim would be easier to control, Mistress.”

Kara sighed and glanced back at the swaying Doctor. She rolled her eyes at her sister and shrugged. “Compassion will destroy you one of these days, Shia. But as you wish.” She motioned to Dr Lo. “Treat the redhead and hurry. She is bleeding onDrakken San’s floor.”

“Yes, Mistress Fang.” Doctor Lo whispered, scuttling across to Mrs Possible, who collapsed into his arms.

At the sight of her mother being treated, Kim slumped into the arms carrying her, totally defeated. She knew that to show even an ounce of resistance would mean both Shego and her mother would die… or worse. As Shia moved past, she glanced up, glaring at the blond woman. Shia paused and Kim stared into her eyes, sensing the guilt behind them. As she began to open her mouth, however, Quia slid alongside Shia and tilted his head.

“Well? Strap her down! We have little time to stare at each other, Shia.”

Shia rankled slightly as Quia cut any mention of her position in the Jade, but nodded and motioned to the three guards carrying Kim. With a nod from all three, Kim felt herself being bodily flung into the cold metal and ruthlessly unpadded leather of the chair. Even as she strained against the three men holding her down, Kara walked across to her and grinned.

“I wanted to do this myself.” She whispered and Kim muttered a curse as the oriental woman almost lovingly gripped her right arm and held it down, yanking the metal manacle over Kim’s wrist, clicking it to the first lock position. “Comfy?”

For a second, Kim reared up against her, the manacle holding her wrist groaning under the pressure. Before Kim could do anything, however, Kara had flicked a hand in the air. The gentle swish of metal on leather and her mothers cry as a Jade Ninja whipped his Katana in front of her neck, made Kim halt immediately. Hero and Blood Mistress stared at each other for a few seconds. There were no words, as none were needed. Finally, Kim sat back in the chair and her green gaze stared at Kara with helpless rage, but Kara merely grinned. Walking back, she gazed at the secured manacle and then pressed it firmly into the locking pins on the chair.

As it secured with a click, and Kara pushed against it again, listening to the ratchet system click and the band tighten, until Kim winced in pain. The only thought running through the teens head was that she had failed… failed and dammed herself and everyone she cared about to this woman’s psychotic rule. Another click made her glance across and she watched Kara muffle a snigger as she secured Kim’s left arm. Her feet quickly followed and Kim closed her eyes, fighting back the unfamiliar sensation of helplessness and the tears it made her want to cry.

Noticing, Kara sighed. “Oh, don’t be like this, Kim. Don’t look at it as the end of your life. Look at it as a start, a nice new one where you don’t have to do anything at all. Every decision and need will be taken care of for you! Won’t that be nice?”

Kim stared at her, the helplessness she felt being rapidly consumed by her hatred for Fang and everything she had done and stood for. Unable to free herself, Kim managed to do the only defiant act she could think of. Curling her lip, Kim spat into Kara’s face. As a gasp went up around the room from Drakken and the Jade, Kara reached up slowly and wiped the spittle running down her cheek with a shaking hand. She glanced at it and then at Kim with the familiar psychotic gaze.

Leaning close, Kara’s voice was so soft, it dripped poison. “I am going to have fun, breaking you… but I won’t inject you with Servus. No. I’m going to give that privilege to the woman you tried to save. I want Shego to suffer as she injects you, Kim and she will, oh she will! As much as you’ll suffer watching her do it! Doctor Drakken, it is time!”

Drakken walked around behind her and Kim felt her heartbeat thunder in her ears as he snapped the metal ring open and positioned it on either side of her neck. The needles gleamed in the light of the lab and Kim could only stare in horror as she realised that two of them, one on each side of the broken ring, where far longer than the others. Noticing her expression, Drakken cackled.

“Oh, I notice you’re fascinated by the device that will soon be clamping itself around your pretty neck. Well, the shorter needles inject your skin with a paralysing agent. Don’t worry, it’s quite mild, and is only designed to prevent you moving your neck too much. Though it will make you immobile for a bit. We wouldn’t want you wriggling free would we? The two longer needles are the ones that will inject you with the Servus nanites, Possible. One for each of the two main blood vessels that sit on either side of your pretty neck. ”

Kim heard a tiny motor start up somewhere behind her and she flinched as all of the sharp needles around her began to leak a cold liquid. “Don’t worry, Possible. That’s just saline solution. Wouldn’t want my prize being damaged by an air bubble in her veins or arteries, would we? Now then… lets get this fitted. You may feel a slight pinch…”

Desperate, Kim screwed her eyes shut as Drakken’s tiny, gloved, hands gently pressed the two separated halves of the ring together. With a quiet click, Kim felt them lock together, trapping her neck in a solid band of metal, sharp needles ready to pierce the skin at the slightest movement. Kara watched her silently for a moment, savouring the look of hate and fear on Kim’s face, and then nodded to Drakken.

With a hiss of hydraulics, the band began to compress. Kim shivered as she felt the initial pricking touch and then growing pain as the two large needles pierced her skin and began to burrow into her neck. She tried to remain still, but a whimper escaped her lips, the sound making her mother shiver in sympathy. Shego’s body remained impassive, but locked away, Shego herself closed her eyes, unable to watch.

The remaining ten shorter needles all slid into place, Kim letting out a gurgle of agony as they seated themselves in a neat circle in the flesh of her neck. She shivered involuntarily as her skin chilled, the saline solution rushing into her bloodstream via the artery and vein needles and then found her ability to move her head was rapidly diminishing as the paralytic drug flowing into her tissues.

“Ahh…” Kim felt her mouth slur as the local paralytic froze the muscles and her eyes slid across her mother. “Mmn… Sokay… Shgg n yrr… gtta gt outa…arr…” She broke off, a single tear running down her face, as everything shut down.

“Oh, Kimmie.”Shego watched Kim struggle and then go limp The rage, as Kara walked towards Kim and gently kissed her forehead, made Shego burn inside.“Why the hell did I ever want to see something like this happen to you? That bitch is SO going to pay!”

Kara sighed as Kim’s struggles lessened and then ceased to a faint gasping of breath and the occasional moan. As Drakken checked the redhead’s heartbeat and vitals with a handheld scanner, she nodded and grinned toothily.

“Ah, that was wonderful! Her cry of pain as they slid into her was music to my ears, Doctor. I really do appreciate good entertainment…” Kara winked as Drakken glanced back at her, his expression mixed.

“Um, okay… Well, as long as you are enjoying yourself. Now,” Turning back, Drakken examined the moaning teenager and gently thumbed her flesh away from the edges of the ring, inspecting the needles burrowed deeply in her body. Nodding with approval, Drakken turned and walked to a small red container sitting on a side table. “Well, she’s prepared. I think it’s time we both had a Kim Possible servant, Ms Fang.”

Kara nodded, rubbing her hands. “Then proceed.”

“For the love of god, leave my daughter alone!” Mrs Possible managed, leaning heavily on Dr Lo, and then Shia as the blond Ninja slid into place alongside her. “You’re all sick! Drew, listen to me. She’s my daughter! My husbands daughter! He was your friend once and-“

“Baited me for years!” Drakken countered, but his eyes failed to meet hers. As he turned away, Doctor Possible found she was staring at his hunched back. “I think enslaving his only daughter will be sufficient payback. How he will suffer, knowing that it was me that took control!” Drakken yanked the stainless steel vial that contained Kim’s dose of Servus from his pocket and waved it at her. “This has given me everything I ever wanted!”

“Drew, listen to me!” Doctor Possible began, only to break off as Kara yanked the vial from Drakken’s trembling hands and examined the ring around Kim’s neck.

“Doctor, where doesthis go? I keep forgetting.”

Drakken stared at the young oriental woman and then sighed. “Screw point based injection system…” At Kara’s blank stare, Drakken pointed to a protruding circle of metal. “There! Just twist the vial onto that protrusion and twist it counter clockwise. When it won’t turn any further, you’ve reached the seal point.”

Nodding, Kara pursed her lips as she gently slid the vial onto the metal and twisted the vial a few times, only to pause and unscrew it. She turned to Shego, beckoning her over. “Come.”

“Ah hell!”Shego whispered as her body walked across to Kim’s immobile form. “No… damn it! I won’t… I won’t!”

With a cruel smile, Kara held out the vial of Servus and Shego gently took hold of it. “Shego, I want you to screw the vial in and then ut your hand on the control that will inject Ms Possible. Do not press it until I gave the order.”

Kim watched silently, as Shego took a step forward and like a machine screwed the vial into the receptacle with slow, steady movements. For the second time, a small chime sounded and Shego’s finger gently rested on the flashing red button next to the vial on the ring. “Done, Mistress Fang.”

“Goood.” Kara purred, feeling the familiar thrill of hurting Shego. “Now, when I give the command that you may inject Kim, Shego. You will press the button and take away your lover’s freedom. Understand?”

“You bitch, you’ve been drooling to say that to me!”Shego whispered dejectedly. She long since given up trying to resist the commands that came from the tiny devices in her head. No matter what she did, no matter how much willpower she fought it with, Servus barely noticed. “I’m going to damn us both… this is all my fault! First I try to kill her, then I try to beat her… and then I fall in love. Damn, damn! I should never have come to care for her, the universe doesn’t give a shit about those I hate!”

“No!” A voice echoed around the lab and all eyes turned to the wounded woman who had screamed. Doctor Possible managed to get three steps closer to Kara, only to fight Shia’s arms as they gripped her tightly. “No! She’s my daughter! I won’t let you do this! I won’t! Shego, please don’t do this!”

Sorry Doc… so damn sorry!

“Doctor, enough!” Shia managed, struggling with her. She was so busy restraining the redheaded woman that she never saw the hand whistling through the air towards her face until it was too late. The crack of Doctor Possible’s hand across her cheek echoed around the room and Shia staggered backwards, disorientated.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Doctor Possible screamed at Shia, tears flowing down her face. “You’re standing there doing nothing to stop this! She’s my daughter, your sister has no love for you! Why don’t you stop this!”

“Because I swore to be hers until death or dishonour!” Shia managed to mutter, feeling the gaze of Quia, her sister and the Jade Ninja’s around them.

As she grabbed Kim’s mother once more and dragged her back, she glanced across in worry at her sister. Kara’s face, much to her secret dismay and upset, was one of mild amusement, rather than the annoyed gaze that would have spelled death for Kim’s mother. While she did not wish for Doctor Possible to die, in any way, Shia felt another splinter dig itself into her heart and chill her at the obvious lack of love her sister had for her.

“That’s an excuse!” Doctor Possible managed, before Shia slammed a hand across her mouth, gaining a small nod of appreciation from Kara. Still, the redhead struggled and Shia knew that Kim’s mother loved her to the point of being willing to sacrifice her own life to try and save her daughter.

Shia felt ashamed, right down to the bone. The morals that she had come to secretly believe in at Yamanouchi were screaming at her and Shia closed her eyes as the shame and guilt froze her skin and made her feel sick. More so as Doctor Possible tried to stamp on her foot and free herself.

“Stop it!” Shia hissed into her ear. “You will achieve nothing and I cannot help you! If you keep this up, you will be killed! If you die, who will help make Kim’s life, no matter how little is left, as comfortable as it can be? She will need you Doctor! Both to heal her wounds and hold her at night! Comfort her as only a mother can! Her life will be suffering beyond measure, do not add to it by throwing your life away foolishly!”

She felt Mrs Possible slump, felt her tears run down her gloved hands. “What my sister is doing is impossible to stop, so I will do what I canto help Kim. That means keeping you alive. Now, stop struggling and be strong for her!”

Everyone else in the room ignored the hissed conversation as Kara stood over Kim’s helpless body and licked her lips. Shego remained standing inertly next to the helpless heroine, her gloved finger resting lightly on the button that would damn Kim to Kara’s will and will alone. With a sigh, Kara opened her mouth.

“Shego… G-“

Her command was drowned out by the sudden shirking, clamour of alarms that began to echo around the entire lair and lights that flashed bright red, bathing the room in splashes of colour. Alarms that, as Kara, Quia and almost everyone else slapped their hands over their ears, wincing in pain, had Drakken screaming in rage and running across to the main computer system that lined one side of the lab.

“No! It can’t be!” he snapped, punching buttons and bringing up views of the outside. “Nobody knows where I am… nobody!”

As he punched viciously at the controls of the computer, Kara smoothly slid next to him and reached across, her fingers killing the blaring sirens and flashing lights. As she did so, the main screen flashed, and a Jade Ninja and henchman appeared on the screen. Both had been assigned to duty in the main security control room and both looked worried. As Drakken scoured the images from the security cameras around the lair, Kara stared at the two shuffling people on screen.

“I would very much like an explanation as to why my final triumph was interrupted!” She snapped, her hands convulsing as she glared at the two unfortunate men. “Well?”

“We… we’re picking up a contact Mistress.” The Ninja spoke his voice quavering. “It is currently heading towards our position from the Middleton highway, and it is exhibiting some strange… energy signatures.”

“Do you have a visual?” Drakken demanded, punching buttons and glaring at the camera images that flickered, one after the other, showing nothing but empty scrub. “Well?”

“Yes… here.” The henchman standing stiffly next to the Jade Ninja pressed something only he could see and his face vanished to be replaced by the distant, blurred vision of a red car. It hurtled along the dirt track towards them, wheels sending huge plumes of dust into the air like twin shark trails.

Kara’s eyes narrowed. “I recognise that car… it is the one I shot to disable it when we kidnapped Possible. How did it survive my attack? More importantly, how has it found us!”

Sudden peals of laughter, as the image vanished and was replaced by the two anxious and worried Security guards, echoed around the lair. All eyes slid towards the sound, and Kara stared at Doctor Possible in disbelief as the older woman, still held tightly by Shia in a disabling grip, laughed with relief and delight. She strode across to Kim’s mother and leaned in, her eyes hard.

“What? What is it!” Kara snapped, her voice a hiss of rage, laced with just a hint of apprehension. She blinked at Doctor Possible’s relieved smile and quick, reassuring, glance across at Kim’s helpless form. Annoyed at the lack of response, Kara slapped Doctor Possible across the face. “Tell ME!”

“Oh, they found you!” Doctor Possible whispered, rubbing her red cheek, her eyes bright with delight, with revenge. “They found you and they’re on their way. Kimmie’s friends are coming to save us, Fang! I hope you all rot in prison!”

Kara heard the shuffle of feet, the rise of fear in the room as if it were smoke, and turned towards the control panel. Drakken wrung his hands, the camera images on the screen showing the image of the red car racing towards them, as Kara stared at him with bitterness in her expression. The Mistress of the Blood Jade glared up at the pictures and her voice was as cold as ice.

“Kill it, and them!”

---

Mara

With her tyres thrashing through the dust of the track, her engine burning with effortless power, Mara’s gleaming red form cut along the ground towards the mountain, an unstoppable force. The spoiler at the back had been folded down, but the plasma vent at the back of her body shell was still exposed, the concentrated ionic flame kicking up it’s own dust trail as it added its own thrust to her speed.

This, Mara thought with excitement, as all her systems flashed combat readiness, was what she had been designed for!

Threat! Her onboard sensor systems announced, making her clench her cybernetic knuckles in preparation. Laser and energy cannons detected… combat systems, initiate!

“Hold on,” She announced to the three people inside her cabin, all of who were holding tightly to anything they could grab. “This is where it gets bumpy!”

The barren landscape of the mountain suddenly echoed with the sound of groaning metal and hydraulics as camouflaged bays opened up, dust cascading from their joints, allowing huge weapons of destruction, the huge devices hissing with steam and trailing cables that pulsed with energy, to slide into the sky. In total, fifteen activated and as one swung towards the racing vehicle, their nozzles flaring to life.

Alert. Laser cannon’s preparing to fire. Activate defence matrix. Photonic cloak set to combat status. Photonic mirror systems activated.

Wade, as he had been helping Doctor Possible design Mara, had realised ong ago that in order to protect Kim from her usual foes, Mara would have to carry protedtion for all the usual weapons. To that order, Doctor Possible had created a plastic underlay to Mara’s bodyshell that could absorb and defect plasma attacks while wade had examined the various weapons Drakken himself had created.

He had come to the conclusion that Drakken preferred to use powerful laser cannons and also the common ‘deathray’ or, as Wade knew from GJ information on those they had captured and taken apart, a disintegration beam that dissolved the bonds between molecules directly. Armed with that knowledge, Wade had worked long and hard to design systems to combat such weapons. Now, his technology would be put to the test.

Mara’s sensors went crazy as the first few cannons prepared to fire. She calculated that there was a fifty-millisecond pause between the command to discharge and the system actually releasing any energy. She hoped it would be enough.

Warning! Lock detected! Mara swerved to the right as soon as she received the warning and a bolt of energy smashed into the dust less than an inch from her left wheel. That cannon was out for five seconds, while it built up another charge. But that left fourteen to cope with, all locking in on her profile. Mara increased speed, ignoring the warnings from her traction control systems.

Danger! Secondary lock! Three cannons fired this time and the AI desperately plotted the best route through the fire in less than four milliseconds. She was running three parts of her cybernetic brain in parallel, to cope. She dodged once more, swinging left. The pure red beam slipped past her red shell, less than fifteen millimetres from impact. Immediately, Mara swung right, avoiding the second beam as it hissed past her left side view mirror. As she swung to the right, Mara’s brakes slammed on for just a second, allowing a slight drift into her right-hand swing, which provided her enough time to dodge the third cannon’s fire. The third came so close Mara hissed in desperation, as it shot over her bonnet to impact the dust on the other side. She almost feel her paint blister.

My luck’s going to run out sooner or later… Mara thought, and came to a decision. There was no way she could deliver her package if she had to contend with all the cannons firing at her. She had no choice but to fight back. While her sensor systems screamed warnings and Mara dodged more and more laser fire, her path becoming erratic on the dust track, she gave her tactical systems instructions that had them crunching data within seconds.

Another two cannons fired, both missing her, as Mara desperately dodged their projected paths. However, not even she was infallible. Her overtaxed systems managed to identify and plot the next four shots, all streaking past her so closely one laser stream blew dirt onto her windscreen. They missed the fifth cannon as it tracked, charged and fired. The red beam slammed into the front of Mara’s bonnet and she vanished in an exploding plume of dust as her wheels locked.

---

Kara

“Ah! Finally!” Kara announced, smiling as she watched the red car vanish in the drifting cloud of brown. “An excellent shot….”

A quiet whimper echoed behind her and Kara turned to see Kim, still unable to speak, struggling against the bonds that held her in the chair. As she caught the redhead’s frantic gaze, Kara’s smile became feral and she walked across to where Kim jerked and gurgled, kneeling in front of her.

“Yes, you see the truth of my words now, Kim San.” Her voice was a purr, smoothed with honey tones. “That gangly blond teen you hang around with, his little pet rat and the young black woman… Monique was it? All of them dead, because they simply got in my way.”

As Kim let out a gurgled scream, Kara sighed with mock understanding. “Yes, I know. However, maybe there is some good out of all this. Out of all the people you care about right now, two stand in this room. Now that you have seen me wipe out your other friends, maybe you understand that I feel no remorse or guilt about killing people. I feel that my previous demonstration was lost on you, and your mother.”

“Ron… oh god.” Doctor Possible’s voice echoed across to the crouched villain and Kim, both looking over to see the older redhead staring at the screen in shock. “He’ll be fine! Fine! James told me that your car was armoured like a tank, Kimmie! That’s why I let them build it for you! Ron’s alive… alive!”

Trying not to smirk, Kara shook her head. “No, Doctor. Ron stoppable is quite dead… you saw the explosion and-“

“Warning,” Drakken’s computer announced in dulcet female tones. “Target not destroyed!” The main viewscreen blinked and all eyes fixed onto the image of Mara, very much intact and moving once more.

“Yes!” Kim’s mother whispered, grinning. Still holding her gently, Shia shook her head in disbelief and admiration as the red car roared towards them once again, laser blasts impacting it and seeming to have no affect.

The computer spoke once more. “Danger! Target is on move approach high vector towards main hanger. All security, report to main hanger bay! Repeat, all security report to main hanger bay!”

“No!” Kara snarled, sliding to her feet and ignoring the look of relief that swamped Kim’s face at the image of Mara. “I want them dead! Do you hear me? Dead!” Drakken nodded and turned to frantically enter commands into the system, while Kara paced behind him, her eyes alight.

“Fire again! Kill that vehicle!”

---

Mara

Photonic mirror systems successful. Mara ignored the report that spilled from her defence systems as she fought to get herself back on track. Wheels spinning as the dust billowed around them, she fought to regain traction. Laser frequency intercepted by optical refractor. Forty five percent deflected. Remaining fifty five percent converted to heat and transferred via conduits to main emitter.

She felt her wheels bite the ground and began to accelerate towards the lair once more. The main emitter, or in Mara’s case with its metal ribs fully extended once again, her rear spoiler, discharged the built up heat of the absorbed laser blast, glowing a faint red in the cool air.

A second impact of laser fire was absorbed as well, the spoiler heating to a dull cherry red as the heat was once again transferred to it. All the time, the tactical subsystems onboard were plotting her route in relation to the laser cannons firing at her.

Plot finalised… co-ordinates transferred to GPS systems. Fifteen seconds until waypoint one and primary targets one through seven in range.

Got to keep moving!Mara thought, skidding to the left as she aimed for the invisible line her combat systems had painted for her. Just fifteen more seconds of this, and I can fire back… and then we’re inside! Got to keep it together!

Another four blasts shot towards her and Mara screamed around to the right, wheels flaying huge streams of dirt off the track as she did so. Two of the blasts impacted her body and were again absorbed by the shield. However, this time, Mara knew she was in trouble. Red alerts flicked across her vision, all warning of dangerously high levels of heat being transferred to the spoiler. Outside, her spoiler flared a bright white for a few seconds and then cooled to yellow. Superheated air flared off it and Mara knew that if she were hit more than two more times, it would melt… the titanium weave only able to take so much before succumbing.

Just a little longer!She thought, ignoring the warnings and speeding along the track. Another burst shot into the dirt, blast dirt into the air as she dodged desperately. The force of her skid as she did so swung her wider than she had planned, traction systems screaming in desperation and reallocated drive power to compensate.

So great was the skid that two of her wheels left the ground, making not only her traction but also her internal inertia systems battle to prevent her rolling. While Mara did not swear at the violent motions the battle caused, the members of Team Go inside did and Mego clutched at his stomach, battling nausea.

“Hang on!” Mara screamed. “Don’t move, or we’re all over! I need to keep the weight even so I can get us back on all four wheels! So I repeat. Don’t move!”

Another laser blast screamed inches past the tilted car. Dodged more out of luck than by any planned manoeuvre. Finally, with a squeal of brakes from the rear and a roar of power from the front wheel still on the ground, Mara’s slid to the right, counteracting the tilt that she was in. With a thud of a heavy weight impacting dry soil, Mara righted herself and once again increased her speed.

Targets in range! Her combat systems suddenly reported, making the AI sigh a breath of relief. Activating missile offensive systems. Locking targets one through Seven. Alert! Seven to fourteen in range before primary target point of no return! Tracking and plotting firing pattern!

Just above the rear wheel arches on either side of her body, lay two oval vents, protected by a light grey mesh. It would have shocked anyone in a condition to watch them, to see the mesh slide back as though on small rails. As it did so, a tiny platform slid from inside the car and the small white missiles clamped to the cylindrical launcher connected to it, rolled up into position. A product of Global Justice, and stolen by WEE for Gemeni’s use in his gloves, the tiny rockets were far more powerful than they looked.

Targets locked… firing!

With a burst of rocket motors, the tiny missiles began to launch in a staggered pattern, a single missile flaring off into the distance for each laser cannon. There was no counter fire as the security systems in control of the platforms blinked in cybernetic shock. What had originally been classified as a non-offensive target, had rapidly turned out to be anything but. With an explosive crack that echoed around the mountain, each laser platform bust into flame as the small missiles hit.

“Yes!” Mara’s elated scream echoed in the cockpit and Mego glanced up, still pale and queasy.

“Oh great… now they really know we’re here! How the hell do we get in anyway?”

With her time now not taken up with dodging lethal laser blasts, Mara’s holographic image flickered into being on the cockpit. Her face was set into a feral smile as she grinned at Team Go. “I thought I’d knock…”

“Knock?” Mego repeated, only to groan as the car roared with acceleration, punching him into his seat.

“Hang on, this really isrough!”

With her radar systems online, Mara could ‘see’ the outline of the main hanger superimposed over the mountain. In front of her, hidden by a huge hydraulic powered door and camouflaged to look like a sheer wall, the hanger was divided into two sections. The bottom contained the storage space for vehicles, while a lift connected the top half which stored aircraft.

She angled towards the top section and her fusion engine powered them along the final few hundred metres of dirt track, finally reaching two hundred miles an hour. Vents along the front half of her underside hissed open, the inside of each containing a micro version of the same jet exhausts that were currently forcing her along the track at such speed.

As Mara reached the inclined portion of the track that lead up to the hidden doorway, Mara gave the command she had been waiting for.

Initiate maximum afterburner.Jump system engage… online!

With a roar, the rear afterburner glowed a bright blue as the ionic plasma from her main engine mingled with helium gas in a sub chamber. The heavier atoms caused the plasma to increase in heat, making the exhaust vent with far more force. The extra thrust was necessary. With less that twenty metres to go, the portion of plasma that powered her normal drive chain was diverted, making Mara rely on the thrust form her rear afterburner to compensate for the loss of power to the wheels. The diverted plasma funnelled into the small chambers contained within the vents on her underside and the hot gas exploded into the dirt of the track Mara travelled along.

Within a few seconds, the front half of Kim’s car lifted off the ground, drawing elated gasps from the passengers within. Combined with the thrust from the rear jet exhausts and the elevated track, Mara screamed into the air. Her entire one tonne weight forced into a high-speed jump through the application of a rocket scientist’s knowledge and engines.

The camouflaged doorway, the grey rocks and scrub cleverly applied to the metal surface, rapidly approached, pulling a scream of horror from Team Go as they watched it fly towards them through the windscreen.

Laser cannons activated. Missile systems activated. Her combat systems camly confirmed, following the plan.

Twin laser cannons slid out from their compartments on either side of Mara’s headlights with a speed the human eye could hardly keep up with. Angled towards the top and bottom of her body shell, the barrels of each shooting high-powered beams onto the door, piercing it easily. As Mara continued to fly towards the surface, the cannons rotated in a perfect circle, cutting a Mara shaped hole into the hanger door. Then, it was the turn of the missile launchers at the rear of her body. With a click of released safeties, the launchersfired one missile each. Both impacted on the huge metal disk that had been cut out and the force of the explosion caused the disk to fall, Mara’s bumper just grazing it as it fell into the hanger bay.

Inside, Mara’s face creased into a grin, the gaze feral.

“Knock, knock… bitch!”