Mind, body, and Soul

Mara

The stars shone their weak light down on the dirt track that wound it’s way along towards the mountain that his Drakken’s lair from view. Night had come quickly and the only noise that could be heard in the vast expanse of wheat, grass and cows, was the dull rumble of traffic as it shot along the tarmac.

Starlight slid along the plants, bounced off cows and skittered along the compacted earth of the track. It did not, however, slid across the surface of the blue sports car now sitting quietly to one side of the track. Instead that light was absorbed into a molecular layer of silicon imprinted diamond and fed into the systems of Mara. The wavelength of the light was recorded and a counter wavelength calculated for the full 360 degree arc around her body. This was then fed into, and projected by, hundreds of tiny optical chips embedded on the car’s bodywork.

The result of this created a Mara shaped bubble, a few picometres above the metal of her body shell that forced the photons to slow and change direction as the counter frequency intercepted any light that hit the car’s bodywork. The result of all of this highly advanced technology was that the bubble literally bent the light around the car, which meant that Mara remained invisible to the naked eye. The AI herself really did appreciate this wonder, and used the advantage to good use, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

I’m so bored… Mara thought to herself, watching the information trickle into her databanks and assist in the building of a 3 dimensional image of the lair’s interior. Her passive thermal camera’s recorded the moving heat blooms of guards on patrol, as well as the stationary ones, and she sighed. Screw this, I should just go in there and rescue them!

Even as the thought slid across her CPU, Mara dismissed the notion. While she knew that the chances of anyone in that building having a weapon capable of disabling her before she could complete such a rescue were one in ten, odds she knew she was more than willing to accept, there was another reason.

I can’t drive upstairs… or use lift shafts, and surprise, surprise, Drakken’s lair has many floors. As well as that little problem, my more powerful weaponry, to say nothing of my lethal armament, needs authorisation by one of team Possible to be used.

No, it was best to just get as much information as she could and then had back to Ron. Sighing, Mara returned to watching the data trickle in, and to be bored.

Keep at it because Ron and Yori will need every bit of help they can. I’ll just have to remember, the fun comes later…

---

Kara’s Personal Quarters.

Kim Possible groaned as something cold trickled into her arm. Her entire body felt as though it had been flayed alive, with fire and ice of all things. Wherever her skin wasn’t burning with pain, it was freezing. She could feel her arms and legs as they jerked slightly, still suffering from the neural overload Shego had caused by shocking her without rest. No, NO it had been Kara’s commands, Shego had been the pawn! The woman she loved had suffered just as much, Kim knew.

Shego’s in there, trapped and helpless. So, Kara’s hurting me to get to her and I-

“Now, now, come on Kim San! It’s only been three hours of electrocution, well… on and off. I expected far more from the great Kim Possible.”

Kim moaned and her eyelids flicked open. As her pale green eyes, red rimmed from tears, focused on her surroundings, a pale blur of flesh and lines slid into Kara’s amused face. The oriental woman waved a hand in front of Kim’s eyes and grinned as she blinked.

The slight pain in her arm vanished as a hypodermic flashed past Kim’s view. Kara walked over to a cloth-covered table and gently tossed the hypodermic onto it with a sniff.

“That was most disappointing. We have only just started Ms. Possible.” At Kim’s moan of horror, Kara sighed with mock understanding. “Oh, I know it hurts. And I am certain, or I promise in any case, that it will get worse before the night is out.”

“Listen to me…” Kim managed, gasping as her arms and legs screamed at her to be released, to move. “You can’t do this…”

Kara blinked, almost as if, to Kim’s opinion, the words had puzzled her. “Why?”

“You… I…” Kim stuttered, realising that nobody knew where she was, she had no way right now of letting anyone know, and Kara –though psychotic- was smarter than Drakken ever was. The bonds that held her were so tight she could feel her heart pound harder to push the blood around her limbs. The fact that Kara had removed her gadgets, all of them much to Kim’s private shame, meant that she had no way of breaking free. Normally, she woud have been able to rely on her hand to hand skills, but Kara had a army of skilled martial artists at her call, a bodyguard who seemed very highly proficient and… and she had Shego.

Normally, Kim would have known that she could take the green thief, even before Shego had admitted her love. Now, with Servus controlling her lower brain functions, ruthless, unfeeling and uncaring to any pain or injury, it would be like fighting a zombie of sorts. Kim had the terrible feeling that the only way she would stop Shego would be to knock her out or kill her. Neither would be easy, the second choice so hard Kim knew she would never be able to bring herself to do it, so she was trapped.

“Well, much as it has been amusing to see you realise I can do anything I wish, we really must get on.” Kara snapped her fingers and Kim’s eyes flicked across as a sound of a boot thumped into the carpet. The blur of green and black as Shego quickly walked past her made Kim flinch and then feel ashamed.

Kara smiled as Shego kneeled in front of her and she patted the green woman on the arm. “You should have heard her Kim San. Even after you fell unconscious, she was pleading with me to stop her… pleading. Shego has never pleaded or begged anyone before. She often bragged about that fact when we were students. Well, we all learn new things in life, yes?”

Kim stared in horror. “You kept her shocking me even after I was knocked out?” At Kara’s giggle and nod, Kim could only shake her head in disgust. “In the name of decency, why?”

“I wanted to.” Kara stated. “That is enough. I was enjoying myself far too much, and now I get to play with you again. Well, Shego does anyway. Hai Shego?” Kara rapped the thief on the side of her head. “Ready to play again?”

Trapped, Shego wiped angrily at tears that her body refused to cry in the real world and refused to acknowledge the wet smears on her skin. Shego didn’t cry, she was strong, unfeeling, and nothing moved her enough to make that happen. Nothing…

“Fuck you, Kara!”

“Yes Mistress Fang.” Shego’s body gave the response that Kim had grown to expect and hate.

“Good, I knew you would be. Now, what to do next…” Kara twirled a lock of her dark hair around her finger as she pondered. “Hmm, no… I shall leave that as the Grande finale before they haul you out of here and back to your cell, Kim San. However, I suppose I can show you how your mother felt… would you like that?”

Kim sighed and stared at Kara with frank eyes. “If I said no, would it change anything?”

Kara giggled, the sound disturbing in the quiet room. “Not really, no.”

Kim closed her eyes. “I sort of figured that…”

“Your mother was quite the canvas for me to demonstrate on, did you know? She was quite able to tolerate her own pain, so I confess to showing her some rather advanced techniques, even for someone her age. However, due to your rather impressive physique and stain, Kim San. I have decided to use a very advanced method for you. It is so advanced, that it challenges me, the torturer to actually cause it… and to do so, I will need a assistant.”

Kim’s eyes flicked open and rested on Shego. “You’ve caused her enough trauma.”

“Not yet… but by the end of tonight I will. In fact, I doubt if Shego is even coherent right now to be honest. What she did to you was quite brutal.”

“She’s strong, she’s here, and she’ll take anything you make her do. I can handle anything you dish out as well.”

“Always the brave one, Kimmie.”Shego sighed. “Always the brave one… even when its stupid to be brave.”

“So you can handle anything I ‘dish out’ can you? Well, we shall see. The technique I want to try has a very long name… so I shortened it to how it makes the person feel.” Kara walked across to the chest and flipped it open. “I call this one the ‘Iron Maiden’… it’s very apt.”

The ‘Iron Maiden’?Kim swallowed and forced herself to breathe slowly. Okay, relax… try to relax. Whatever she has planned, you can take. You have to… for Mom and Shego’s sake! Cause the more attention she gives you, the less she’s got fixed on them. You can handle this sitch… you can!

“You have suddenly gone very quiet Kim San.” Kara turned to gaze at the restrained woman, her hands wrapping a sash, so familiar to Shego, around her waist. “Come, no pithy comeback?”

“You don’t deserve one.” Kim whispered.

“Ah, well. Regardless, I think it’s time for us to begin. Shego, go over to where Kim is and remove that sweat soaked shift would you.” Kara drew a gleaming needle from her sash and examined the tip. “Let’s see. Five of these normal ones… but to achieve what I wish, I need forty five copper tipped ones.”

The Blood Jade Mistress began to rummage in her chest while Kim stared at her in horror. Forty-five? Forty-five needles in my body?

The sudden yet gentle touch of Shego’s gloved hands against her skin made Kim flinch, and she crained her neck to try and see the green woman’s face. Unable to, Kim flushed as, despite the situation she was in, the gentle caress as Shego removed the wet fabric from her body made her arch a little. Despite all that had happened, she still loved Shego. The realisation made Kim relax and a determined expression slid into her eyes as she stared at the woman trying to destroy Shego and rip them apart.

Whatever happens here, none of this is Shego’s fault. I believed that when she attacked mom, I know it’s the truth now… I’ll hold on Shego, I promise… I promise.

It would have shocked her to know that Shego, helpless as her body pulled the tiny white dress from Kim’s body, was promising the same things.

Kimmie, you have to hold on! You have to! I swear to you that while you resist her, I will stay sane. No matter what happens, I’ll fight her. I promise you, Pumpkin… I promise.

“Excellent… I have everything I need.” Kara stood up from the chest and turned, smiling cruelly. The smile grew wider as she took in Shego standing to attention next to Kim’s naked body, the redhead shivering in the cool air as the perspiration on her skin began to dry. “Shall we begin?”

Kim watched as Kara approached her, the amused gaze becoming almost clinically observant. As she felt the woman’s hands, covered in thin red gloves, gently touch and then trace a pattern across her skin, Kim fought against the initial revulsion of having someone she hated touch her.

The sting of the first needle made Kim gasp. A noise that had Kara murmuring sympathetically sarcastic noises as she skilfully slid the copper needle into the nerve bundle. A second followed swiftly, then a third and a forth. By the time Kim had fought back the sting of the third needle, she realised ten of them were violating her body. Shuddering at the protruding metal, she glanced across at Kara.

“What-“

“Shhh, Kim San. You should not talk. Not only does it disturb the artist, me, working on your body, it is also potentially deadly. What I am doing is one of the most complicated forms of this torture method I know. Now, if you do not wish to become crippled, do not move!”

Kim fell silent, a trickle of fear slipping into her eyes as she realised Kara was deadly serious. The oriental woman’s hands slid to a spot against her breastbone and Kim’s eyes widened in shock as the gentle press of two fingers against it made it feel like she had been physically punched. Unable to help herself, Kim felt the air rush from her lungs in one go, a whimper mingling with the air.

“Ah, success!” Kara grinned. “That touch, it felt like someone had hit you. Yes?”

Kim just glared at her captor, who much to her disgust winked and hummed happily. She watched as Kara drew another five needles from her belt, all of the gleaming copper, and slowly walked behind her.

“You know, it is a shame I do not find women sexually appealing. If I did, I doubt very much that The Fox would have even been tempted by Shego.”

“She wasn’t, Kara you heard what She-“

“Silence!” Kara hissed her eyes narrowing, unseen, behind Kim’s back. “I do not believe that. I will never believe that! Servus is experimental, and there are many ways to lie and make it seem as if you are telling the truth. Shego was lying, not ‘may have been’… she was lying! LYING!”

“Or she’s better than you… like Carmen said andaarrgghhh!”

Kim’s cocky response broke down into a harsh scream as fingers brutally shoved a copper needle into her spine and twisted it. Blood trickled down Kim’s skin and the heroine breathed harshly through her nose as the pain rose and then gently ebbed.

“Do NOT speak!” The voice was almost inhumanly harsh. “If you wish me to cripple you permanently, I suggest you keep talking the way you are. I am sure that will destroy Shego just as completely as any other method I can use! I’ll lose an assassin, but that matters little to me right now… so, it is yourchoice, Kim San.”

Her breathing unsteady, Kim swallowed and hung her head as she tightly bit her lip, fighting her anger and rage at being so helpless. Kara watched her for a few moments, before waving a hand behind kim’s body.

“Shego, come.” Kara glanced over Kim’s shoulder and watched as the green woman strode up and stood behind the sweating young woman. Walking behind Kim, Kara gently took Shego’s fingers and placed them hard against two spots on Kim’s neck. “Now, you will keep your fingers in these spots, understand? No matter how much Kim writhes or screams, they must be kept right where I showed you. If you do not, Kim will go into shock and die… and I’m sure neither of us want that do we?”

“No Mistress Fang. I will keep my fingers where you have shown.” Shego’s dull tone echoed around the room.

“Kill her? What the hell are you doing to her!”Shego’s mind reeled and she willed her own fingers to stay in one place. “Damn it! All those years of dreaming about crippling Kimmie and making myself free to do what I want, and now all I want to do is save her life. I said it once, and I’ll say it again, life sucks.”

“Good.” Kara nodded and then reached up and gently jabbed five copper needles into the area above the two pressure points Shego pressed. Kim’s body jerked and a hiss of air escaped her body as the young hero’s mind reeled in agony.

“Wh… what are you doing to me?” Kim whispered, frightened as she felt Shego’s fingers, life-giving fingers if Kara was telling the truth, flex slightly on her damp skin. “Tell me!”

“Such impatience… such arrogance. I like you Kim San, you remind me of myself.” Kara smiled, ignoring the slight grind of her victim’s teeth as she considered the words an insult. “This little method I am performing will hopefully do something just as unique as the ones I have done to Shego and your mother. Yours however, will be far more painful and dramatic. Call it punishment for falling for your enemy.”

“You arrogant-“ Kim broke off as a needle in her spine suddenly burned as unseen fingers wiggled it. Biting her lip, Kim closed her eyes.

“Ah, the girl learns quickly.” Kara’s fingers began to insert needles once again, each tiny scratch on her skin, followed by a cold stinging sensation, making Kim wince. “Now, what does it do? It is rather special though I would have thought that what it does is rather obvious from it’s name, unless you are trying to not think about what it may do.” Kim kept her eyes tightly shut, avoiding Kara’s gaze, and the Jade Mistress tilted her head. “I’m not going to tell you, Kim San, I want you to feel it… and the surprise will add to the shock. I can only guess as to how Shego will feel when she watches by my side.

Kim groaned and opened her eyes, steeling herself. “God, you are so pathetic.”

She arched at the sudden shooting pain from her spine, anticipated it and tried to counter. The resulting gasp pulled a gentle snarl of annoyance from the torturer.

“Resist me all you wish Kim San. I do not care if I break you or not… as I know Shego is suffering as she watches. You know it is rather amusing, do you not think? All those years she must have dreamed of hurting you, defeating you… even possibly killing you. Now look at her. Love for you has made her weak, pathetic… and vulnerable. I wonder if she ever realised that, how her growing need for you left a hole in her armour?” Kara whispered the words quietly to Kim as she worked, smiling as Kim went still and tensed. “Oh yes, the only reason I was able to capture her and render her my puppet is due to you, Kim. Your refusal to be her lover made her distracted and far less wary, a fact I took advantage of both before and after her escape.”

“I… you’re lying!” Kim whispered, feeling the gentle pressure of Shego’s fingers. “I’m not the reason she was caught.”

“Oh yes, you are.” Kara slid the final needle home on Kim’s back and moved around to her front. “Almost done, just twenty or so here,” Kara gently ran her hand along Kim’s stomach. “And here.” The same hand brushed the space between the young woman’s breasts and lingered as Kara cast a knowing glance at Shego and smiled slyly. “And we are done.”

“Touch her there again, Kara and I swear…”Shego’s voice echoed around her as she stared with hatred at Kara, the gaze burning with each touch of her hand to the more private areas of Kim’s body. Area’s that Shego had dreamed of touching, night after night. Both the frustration as Kara molested Kim, and her own inability to stop her, made Shego so angry it burned inside her. “You are dead, Kara! I get free and you will die. It’ll be my first execution. No… put down. You execute a person, a living person… you put down an animal. But nothing’s going to stop me, not even Kimmie. I swear to you, I swear!”

“Why is Drakken helping you?” Kim managed, shivering with revulsion at the gentle stokes. “He’s never done anything like this before.”

“Because it seems Shego was the brake, surprisingly, on their plans to rule the world. Almost as if she did not wish to rule or at least assist in ruling the planet, though I cannot understand why. When I removed Shego from the equation and replaced her with myself, the good Doctor really has blossomed into the genius he is.”

“A psychotic genius.” Kim countered, blinking as Kara merely shrugged. “What the hell did you offer him to earn his trust?”

“Money, power and resources beyond his wildest dreams. Men are simple to please.” Kara winked. “You should know Kim, do you not promise Ron friendship and the chance to be close to someone popular and attractive? I am sure it makes him feel far better about his own stupidity and liability in a fight.”

Kim felt heat rise in her stomach, ignoring the prick of the needles as they started to slide into her skin. “I don’t do that! I’d be friends with him regardless!”

“Oh yes, I am sure you would.” The voice was dry and sarcastic. “Much as I am with my sister. She can be irritating at times, and she has compassion that I should finish crushing out of her. Still, she is an excellent bodyguard. After all, Shia was the only one who got close enough to stab Shego in an attempt to keep her from escaping.” Kara frowned. “What annoyed me most of all about that, was that she was truly regretful about attacking Shego that way. She felt Shego had earned her freedom.”

“Shia was the one who managed to stab me?”Shego blinked and frowned as she realised she felt no anger towards the woman. She sighed, realising that the woman who had stabbed her was the very same person who had saved her from raping Doctor Possible and had also been taking quiet care of her since her sister had stuck, whatever the hell it was controlling her brain, inside her. “So why the hell did she end up looking after me? Is she really that big a believer in honour? Hell, if so, then why the fuck does she stay with Kara? Skilled person like that, anyone would pay for her to work for them. Besides, hello? Your sister is a total fruit loop.”

“You really are doing a good job of distracting me Kim San.” Kara blinked, glancing down and realising that she was still clutching needles that should have been inserted into Kim’s skin. “I should have been finished by now. Still it was fun to discuss your problems with admitting you manipulate people as much as I do.”

Kim winced as Kara began to rapidly slide the remaining slivers of copper and steel into her body. The pattern traced down her stomach and ended up circling her navel. Standing back, Kara nodded with satisfaction and smoothed her Kimono down slowly.

“There, all done. Now, before the fun can start, I am surprisingly hungry.” Kim watched in disbelief as her ‘host’ wandered away towards the open plan kitchen and began to rummage. “I confess that I have developed a taste for the popcorn people eat since I came here. It is a rare thing to find where I come from. A different society you know…”

“You have to be kidding. Popcorn’s everywhere…” Kim blinked, realising that she had spoken the words. I’m babbling! I never babble to anyone, never… Oh god, am I that frightened?

“Kimmie, ever the one for pointless banter… why was I such a sucker for it? Then, and now?”Shego thought, shaking her head in disbelief. The woman she loved was about to undergo terrible torture, and yet her mouth seemed to be discussing food critic tips with the woman who was going to hurt her. “Sometimes, I really wonder how I lost so much to her to even realise I was in love! She should have been another victory to me by now. God has a sick sense of humour at times, I’ll say that.”

“Oh I am sure that popcorn is everywhere, but in my job I never had the chance to visit the places that did. Places that are fewer in China and Japan, believe me.” Kara strolled back with a bowl of popcorn and curled into her lacquer chair. “Still, as much as I enjoyed this delightful interlude with you, I really must get back to doing what I do best… torturing Shego. Which means torturing you.”

Kim felt the same sick feeling assault her again and she wished she could do anything to stop what she knew was coming. With her hands and feet manacled and her gadgets confiscated, she was helpless.

Kara skilfully snapped up two pieces of popcorn between finger and thumb, and nibbled with exaggerated care. “Now, Shego listen to me carefully. When I tell you, I want you to let go of the areas I told you to press and stand in front of Kim… just enough so you can watch her, yes?”

Kim shook her head violently. “No! Stop using me to hurt her, damn you!”

“But it is so much fun, Kim San!” Kara winked her eyes gleaming, as she picked up more popcorn and chewed slowly, smirking. “This will be so much fun… for me. Maybe not for Shego and certainly not for you. Ah well.”

Glancing across, Kara noticed Shego still stood behind Kim’s manacled body, fingers tightly pressed against her neck. “I keep forgetting you have to give orders. Most annoying! Shego, carry out my instructions and enjoy the show.” The oriental woman’s head swung back to gaze into Kim’s panicking face. “I know I will…”

The feeling of pressure on her neck vanished and Kim let out a gasp as her entire body suddenly tightened as though something was stretching her. Even as she tried to deal with the odd sensation, her attention was distracted by Shego’s impassive green face sliding in front of hers. Swallowing, Kim looked away from the dull gaze and her voice whispered quietly to the enslaved thief.

“I’m sorry, Shego.”

“Sorry? What the hell have you got to be sorry about?” Shego could only watch, the fear creeping up her neck as she stared into Kim’s vulnerable eyes, watched her helpless body twitch as something began to happen to her.“I’ve really screwed it all up, haven’t I? My life, both as a hero and a villain and now-“

“Oh god!” Kim arched suddenly and Shego felt herself tense. The redhead swallowed and flinched again, her arms and legs convulsing. “No, I won’t give in to this, no! Oh man, this feels so… it hurts! What… what the hell is happening to me?”

“Tell her how it feels Kim.” Kara’s excited voice echoed around the room and Kim’s defiant eyes locked with the amused almond eyes of the Blood Jade Mistress. “Tell her, make her feel it! Make Shego feel it!”

“No!”

“You can’t hold back forever,” Kara sighed, vaguely disappointed. “I think the screams will explain how you feel to Shego quite well if you are intending to hide the pain. However to ensure I get the desired result, how about I fill her in for you?”

“Lave her alon-“ Kim broke off, wincing in agony and Shego swallowed as her trapped consciousness watched the sweat breaking out along the redheads body.

“You see Shego, you helped me to accomplish a very hard acupuncture torture. It uses, oh, many of the chi and nerve points on the body to achieve what you and I get to see happening now.” Kara glanced over and Kim let out a choking breath, her body shaking. “You see, what Kim is feeling right now is deliciously ironic. Her own body is trying to break itself in two.”

“Oh my god.“ Shego felt ice creep along her spine.

“What she is actually experiencing is two rather unpleasant things at once. Firstly, by setting up the neural channels the way I have with the copper needles, they are currently causing her muscles to tighten against each other. For poor Kim San, it is very much as if something is crushing her body… very slowly. Constriction after constriction, and If it keeps up her own bones will break, crushed by her muscles as they contract around them in opposite force.”

Shego felt sick and the feeling became far worse as Kim choked and drew in a desperate breath. The thief could hear the fight that Kim was already involved in to just draw air into her lungs and the sound terrified her. Had she finally found the courage to tell Kim how she felt, just to lose her to someone in her past that had been even more screwed up than her? Would Kara really go that far? Let Kim die in front of her?

“Kim…” Shego whispered, knowing the answer. “You have to hold on… somehow! Life would be boring without our fights, our taunting, seeing you and… and, damn it, touching you. You have to get though this! You must!”

“Oh and I almost forgot. As well as the pressure, Kim will probably enjoy the sensation of spikes forcing themselves into her body.” Kara shrugged and gently wiped the sweat from Kim’s brow. “It is all in her mind of course, neural feedback you see, but to Kim it will be very, very real. That is why I named it the iron maiden.”

The pain was unbearable now. Kim forced her lungs to expand, coughing and letting the air rush back out as the pressure against her ribcage collapsed her futile efforts to breath. She was in hell, sheer, unending hell! And it was getting worse.

At first, she had only felt mild discomfort, easy enough to snap at Kara through that, easy and distracting. For the mild discomfort of the dull ache across her entire body had suddenly felt like someone was gripping her tightly and squeezing with all their might. That too had been easy, in a way, to ignore. Then something else had intruded. Not only had the pressure continued to increase until it had felt like the time she had found herself in the grip of that mutated gorilla, who had squeezed and squeezed until she had fallen unconscious. On top of the terrible pressure, hundreds of icy pricks of fire had crackled across and into her skin. The shock on top of the pressure had made her gasp in shock, the air rushing out of her lungs as her ribcage rapidly collapsed in on itself. To her horror, Kim found it increasingly harder to suck back in.

Kara was talking to Shego again, gloating more likely. But as Kim fought to stay alive, the woman’s amused voice had dulled to a murmur around her while she stared at the helpless woman in front of her.

“Shhheg-“ Kim managed, only to let out another gasping scream as the icy prickles slid deeper into her body and the pressure spiked. “Gahhhd!”

“Damn it! Hold ON Kimmie!” Shego screamed the words as Kim slumped against the bonds holding her. Even as she did so, Shego could only watch in horror as the woman she had come to love was ravaged by her own strength. The muscles along her arms, legs and abdomen bulged visibly through the skin as, conned through Kara’s trickery, they put an almost unbearable pressure on her skeleton. The redhead’s breath was coming to her in shorter and more violently explosive snaps, a sign that she was having more and more trouble breathing.

Got to stop this! Shego thought desperately, running through the empty darkness of her prison. Got to do something! Anything! She’s actually going to kill her! But her body just stood there, and Shego was forced to watch.

Suddenly, she felt cool hands slid around her shoulders, almost gentle. Red fingernails slid down her green and black cat-suit and Shego blinked as Kara’s voice, almost sweet in tone, trickled into her ears.

“Look at her…” The hands gripped her head and gently tilted it so that Shego ‘s eyes locked with the exhausted and agony wracked soft green of Kim’s. “The pressure and pain is stil increasing for Kim San, Shego. Soon, very soon if I am any judge, Kim will have a bone fracture, most probably one of her ribs. It could kill her if it punctures a lung or her heart.”

The words chilled Shego and for one of the very few times in her life, she could feel panic trickle into her. She stared into Kim’s exhausted face and moaned inwardly as tears began to trickle down the redhead’s cheeks. She heard every word, Shego realised, every damn one of Kara’s words.

“Kimmie… Not like this, never like this! I never wanted to see you… and then I fell in love and I-”

“I can be merciful, even towards you.” The voice spilled into Shego’s hearing once more, even sweeter and compassionate. “All I have to do is pull a single needle from her skin… any of them and it stops instantly. One needle, that is all you or I need to remove, Shego. So, all you have to do is this…” Kara’s face slid into view and the venom Shego felt almost clouded her vision. But she snarled at Kara’s smile, sparkling in the dim light. For it was anything but compassionate. It was triumphant. “All I want to hear is one word from you… of your own free will. ‘Please’. That is all I need. Give me that one word, and I will spare her life and you will have proven to me that you deserve some respect.”

Shego stared at Kim and paled in horror as a trickle of bright red blood spilled down her chin, followed by a choking sound. She had barely any time left before she began to die from asphyxiation as her skeleton caved into the pressure it was under. One chance… I have to save her! She didn’t give up on me, damn it! I won’t give up on her!

Desperate, Shego closed her eyes and concentrated her entire willpower on the muscles that controlled her lips. One word… please. I have to do this. I will do this! Kara’s not going to kill Kimmie! She won’t beat me! She won’t!

Her mouth refused to move, held in the iron grip of Servus. Determined, Shego focused harder, sweat dripping down her forehead as she did so, and still her muscles refused to budge. All in my damn mind, I can do this… it’s an invention by Drakken! I’ll die before anything he makes cripples me this way.

“Just one word, Shego… and you are running out of time.” Kara’s whisper jolted the thief, but she dare not open her eyes to see Kim’s face. She could only imagine the pressure and agony the redhead was feeling at that point, and it terrified her. “Hurry… Kim is, dying due to your weakness.”

Kara’s sad and sympathetic tone slammed into Shego with terrible force, and she fell to her knees in the dark as the strain of willing her body to do as she wished began to cripple her. However, no matter how much she strained against the invisible bonds holding her, Shego couldn’t make herself utter a single word.

G…go…got to move… m… my mouth!” Shego thought, fighting the lure of darkness as her terrible strain threatened to black her out. “Kimmie, think of Kimmie!“

The quiet sound of a moist crunch made Shego flinch and her heart pound violently inside her chest. She was too late!

“No! Oh please, please no! Not a bone! Not Kim’s body!”

Another wet crunch echoed around the room, mingling with Kim’s moans and Shego shook her head violently.

“NO!”

Her eyes twitched as Shego fought to keep them closed, to concentrate on forming the word that Kara wanted to hear, to save Kim’s life. There was only one possible explanation for the dry cracking crunches that she had heard… one explanation that she dreaded! She hadn’t been fast enough! Not damn fast enough or strong enough! Kim would have been good enough she wouldn’t have failed to protect her! But she had… and now Kim’s ribcage had shattered, or her arms, legs or… or…

“Oh god, Kimmie…” another faint crunch and moan echoed around her and Shego swallowed, fear creeping through her. She opened her eyes.

To her mingled relief and anger, Kim lay half-conscious in the manacles that held her to the ring. Though her body was dripping with sweat that mingled with the streaks of blood from her mouth and from the needles that remained lodged in her skin, Shego could see no broken bones. Slowly, Kim’s head rose, the faint and dull splash of sweat droplets hitting the carpet as her soaked hair fell across her face in wet strands.

To Shego’s further relief, the young woman’s eyes were glazed with exhaustion and pain, but she was conscious and as Shego watched her try to smile slightly, still coherent. Examining her body, as far as Shego could see, Kim had thankfully suffered no broken bones. But what had made the cracking sound, and what had stopped the crushing of her body?

Another quiet crunch echoed around the quiet room and Shego felt her head move slightly to take in the sight of Kara, grinning with amusement, and chewing thoughtfully on a single grain of popcorn. In her hand, a single gleaming copper needle reflected the dull light of the room into Shego’s eyes as she stared with growing anger at Kara.

“Oh, I am sorry. Did you think the sound of my eating,” Kara crunched another grain of corn and the slightly wet crunch made Shego snarl. “Was the sound of Kim San’s bones slowly breaking? Well, it could have been… I will admit that. I suppose I should also apologise for scaring you… That is, if I didn’t care what you think, or know how weak and pathetic you are. Besides, you should be thanking me for doing what you couldn’t, Shego.”

“BITCH!”

“One word… that was all I wanted from you. One word and you couldn’t even fight the tiny robots in your brain to say it. No wonder you have lost for all these years to Kim Possible, a teenage cheerleader and now a young woman. So, what does the great Shego do?” Kara’s smile cracked and the violent rage underneath her calm exterior shone through. “She does exactly what she did to shove me to one side. She whores herself to the person who is better than her! Didn’t you Shego!”

“Yes Mistress F-“

“Silence!” Kara snapped, the words making Shego’s mouth close instantly. “I did not give you permission to speak Shego!”

Kim fought to raise her head, coated in sweat and drying blood. Every single muscle ached and her bones felt even worse. She had never felt such terrible pressure in her life, ever. The crushing of her entire body, so tight she couldn’t breathe… just couldn’t. Licking her lips, Kim swallowed and opened her mouth, her voice quaking with exhaustion.

“Kara, Sheg-“

Her head snapped sideways suddenly, as Kara carelessly backhanded her. Again blood splattered the dark carpet as her lips cracked and filled Kim’s mouth with a warm metallic tang.

“You too, ‘Princess'bitch! You may not fully be my puppet yet, under my total control… but you will learn your place! Be silent, or I swear, I will cut your tongue out and make Shego keep it as a gift!”

With the familiar crazed gleam in her eye, Kara turned to Shego with a triumphant smirk. The droplets of Kim’s blood that coated her hand remained barely noticed. Her breathing slowed and the insane gleam faded as it always did, hidden behind the mask again.

“Where was I? Ah, yes… This time I showed you how powerful I am! I captured you, captured the woman you have found impossible to kill and then decided to whore with… I pulled the needle from Kim San’s body, ended her suffering where you couldn’t Shego!” The needle dropped from Kara’s hand and rolled to a stop on the carpet. “Me! I’m better than you are! I always was better than you!”

Shego’s body stared at her with dull emerald eyes as Kara began to pace backwards and forwards. Both Kim and Shego watched her pace, but with different feelings.

“You did this to her in the first place!” Shego ranted, trapped. As she watched Kara mutter and pace, a loathing filled her at the sight of Kim, slumped behind the pacing oriental woman, so exhausted and physically hurt. “And now you think you’re better than me because you stopped it! You egotistical, deranged, psychopathic bitch!”

Insane… Kim thought, trying to remain quiet and stifle a wince as her muscles around her ribs complained as she took each breath. Truly insane… no wonder Shego never expected to see her again. I’d have thought Kara would eventually end up in an insane asylum. What sort of organisation is it that gives a woman like this power?

“You cheated to gain the tutorship of The Fox and I hated you for it. You whored yourself to her to push me aside, Shego and I hated you for it. And when I tried to prove my worth to her by not only stealing the gem she desired, but also erasing anyone who could have identified who took it, you both attacked me! Attacked me!” The mask slipped for a second and the rage slid back into her eyes. “Well now I have the power! The Jade is my Fox, my life and my power! Nobody tells me what to do now! I tell them! And now that I finally have you, I’m going to make you suffer. Your whore too! What happens here tonight is just a taste of the future, I promise you that. I’ll hurt her until I drive you insane, Shego and maybe I’ll also do the one thing you haven’t been able to…”

Shego watched, hands curled into claws in the darkness, as Kara gripped Kim by the hair and roughly caressed her breasts. “How much have you yearned to sleep with her, Shego? To touch her, caress her… How would it make you feel if I took her instead?”

Shego began to tremble with rage as Kara trailed a finger down the quaking redhead’s skin. “You touch her… and I’ll-“

“Get your damn hands off me right now!” Kim’s voice lashed out and Kara blinked at the steel in the exhausted woman’s tone. Her hand slowed and she backed up a step. The rage in Kim’s eyes was clear as day and the redhead curled her lip. “Touch me again like that and I swear, Shego is the last person for you to worry about!”

“You darespeak to me that way?” Kara snarled and Shego could only watch, amazement rippling over her face, as Kim stared into Kara’s eyes and nodded briskly, her wet hair flipping into her own.

“You’re pathetic, and no amount of pain or torture will make me think any less of you than I do now. If you even think of trying to assault me sexually, I’ll break your legs! Manacled or not!”

“That’s my Kimmie.”Shego whispered, smiling for the first time in days. Even helpless, Kim was Kim.

“Why you little-“ Kara raised a hand and Kim braced herself for another blow to her face. The sudden chime of Kara’s personal communication system made the oriental woman pause, a look a anger rippling across her face.

“Better answer it…” Kim told her, raising her head and staring defiantly. For a second Shego thought Kara would do more than strike her, as she watched the oriental woman’s fingers twitch near her belt, the needles oh so close. All it would take would be one in Kim’s eye for this to all end, violently. Shego knew Kara and her initial pride at Kim’s defiance turned to worry.

“Don’t push it Kimmie… She’s not going to take that.”

The chime rang out once more and Kara inhaled one huge breath before turning away from Kim’s helpless form. “Yes, I should… though I shall have to think of one more little entertainment before you and I retire for the evening, Kim Possible.”

If Kim was frightened at Kara’s cold statement, she didn’t show it. Kara meanwhile walked across to her console and slapped violently at the controls. As a Jade Ninja shimmered onto the screen, she glared.

“I instructed nointerruptions!”

The Ninja on the screen swallowed and he bowed his head. “My apologies, Mistress. The Grand Master instructs you to make contact with him once more regarding the subject of Bodyguard Shia.”

“Now?” Kara snarled the word and the Ninja paled even further, nodding slightly. Fuming, Kara gripped the console and the plastic façade cracked as her fingers dug into it. Blood spilled between her fingers, but the pain helped her to focus. “Very well, transfer it down here.”

“Um, the Master commands a private conversation, Mistress. He is waiting for you where he first communicated with us and has explicitly said that you are to go to him.” The Ninja wished he could truly vanish as Kara just stared. “Mistress?”

“Where…”

“Um, it would appear that the Grand master appeared on the newly finished Servus control system. I think Doctor Drakken was surprised to field an incoming communication. He was busy fine tuning the satellite relay and the signal from our own cloaked network was picked up by Servus and-“

“Do I look as if I require an explanation as to how an encrypted communication was intercepted by one of Drakken San’s greatest inventions?” Kara inhaled through her nose and rubbed her forehead. “That is why Servus was created in the first place! To hack into, and transmit through, any sat network that exists to send commands to my assassins. I am not surprised that Servus picked up our transmission at all. Very well, I shall be down immediately, have the lab cleared of everyone, and I mean everyone!”

“Yes Mistress! At once!” The ninja vanished and Kara turned to stare at Kim and Shego with a thoughtful expression.

“A lucky break for the two of you it would seem. Time for you to get your breath back Kim San and for Shego to stare deeply into your eyes and dream.” The taunt was half hearted and Kim realised that Kara was distracted by the call she had just taken.

Something major’s going on… a big drama for Kara by the look of it. I wonder what it is.

“Anyway, I have to leave you for a while. Please, enjoy the fire while you wait, for there really is no escape from here.” Turning, Kara strode to the door and halfway through it as it hissed open, only to pause for a second and glance back. “Oh and I shall bring something especially wonderful for you Kim, to thank you for the little comments a while back. I do not appreciate my pets answering back… so this will help you learn. Shego, keep an eye on her and if she tries to escape, or so much as fights against the manacles, I want her knocked out. Understand!”

“Yes, Mistress Fang.”

With a nod, Kara let the door slide shut and strode down the corridor, towards Drakkens main laboratory. As she neared the door that lead to the vast cavern, she paused and closed her eyes, focusing herself on the task at hand.

Time to set my plans in motion… And they have all given me an opening by believing it was Shia who lead the attack at Middleton mall.Kara snorted, amused. As if she would be so bold and reckless as to do that. ‘Dangerous and it reveals us to the world’… please. We are strong enough to destroy countless governments and yet we still hide in the shadows. No, once I use Shia’s punishment, as well as a little ‘demonstration’ of Kim San and Shego, to lure them all here, Kim and Shego will take care of those standing in my way… and I will rule the Jade!

Amused, and finally settling now that she was away from Shego, Kara glided elegantly through the door to the cavernous laboratory. As she stepped through, she stared with humble obedience at the annoyed face glaring down at her from the vast screen of Servus’s main control panel.

“The council commands me?”

---

Mara

Well, that’s about all I can get from a passive scan. Mara’s AI personality stood in the construct of her system’s memory and examined the rotating three dimensional map in front of her. Red dots, heat blooms from the past few hours of observation, wandered along skeletal corridors and entered rooms. All the while being carefully observed as Mara watched their pattern. Jeez, look at the size of this place.

Mara’s avatar in the digital world was of a striking young woman of twenty, body dressed in a suit of neon colours, that shifted as she moved. Her face was attractive, a face that would be very familiar to Kim herself without the blue hair and silver eyes. Now, as she stared at the model, Mara shook her head and kneeled down at the base of the wire-frame diagram.

Okay… So we have a massive energy signature here that matches, rather crudely, my own fusion plant. So, this has to be the main generator for the lair. Above that, Mara slid to her knees. The main laboratory got to be as I can read all sorts of strange energy signatures in there, which is next to the main hanger. Neat, quick way to get supplies in and out of the main place that uses them, and also allows one hell of a quick escape if you need one.

Standing, Mara sighed. And there we reach the end of my insights. The next levels are a mess of various sized rooms… many with guards in them or possibly technicians, hell even cooks. The problem is that I don’t know where anyone is… especially Kim, now that her biochip’s been fried. Damn! So, I have no idea where the people I need to rescue are, which is a major drag considering the tight security. Not so much as a one-minute crack between shift changes and there have been two of those since I’ve been here. This is going to take some doing.

Sighing, Mara turned her attention to the ‘real world’ once more and stared up at the dark shadow of the mountain in front of her. There was no way in hell that she could do anything on her own. She had known that when she arrived, now she was certain.

Too many troops, too small a set of corridors, and one hell of a load of stairs and lifts for me to risk even trying to sneak in. Mara knew that her photonic cloak would hold, even indoors. The problem would be when someone walked into her. Nope… I have to go and get Ron if we’re to stand a chance of saving Kim.

With a gentle hum, she brought her fusion engine online and began to gently back down the track. The slow speed kicked up a tiny amount of dust, and she hoped nobody would notice the four puffs that would explosively appear along the track as she drove down it. The chance was small in the dark of night, but she had developed a healthy caution for taking any chance after reading about blunders and ‘lucky’ discoveries by various generals and spies thorough the ages.

After a tense few minutes of backing along the track, including a jarring five minute detour around the same damn cow that she had shocked earlier, now sleeping on the track she was on, Mara reached the turnoff onto the road that lead onto the highway.

I need to tell Ron. He’ll be able to get Director to listen and then we can go in and kick some serious ass!

As the invisible car slid gently onto the highway towards Middleton, the cloak shimmered and Mara's blue form gently faded into view. She pulled neatly onto the highway and with a roar of power and the squeal of rubber, blasted off into the night.

---

Shia’s Quarters- Late Evening

Relax…. Concentrate on your breathing.Shia, sitting cross-legged in the middle of her room on the dark carpet, breathed slowly. Meditation had been ingrained into her during her time at Yamanouchi. Sensei had always told her that meditation was the path to a calm soul and right now she needed all the calming that she could obtain.

The discussion with Doctor Possible had unnerved her more than she cared to mention. Especially the comment about the person she had betrayed. No, Kim’s mother had said ‘her’ even though there was no way she could know that Jasmine had been her lover… no way at all. The only thing she still kept, well hidden in her bedroom, was the small locket that Jasmine had given her. No, there way no way that Kim’s mother could have found it, and even less chance she would have been able to read the inscription inside it. Was there?

Shia shifted, agitated at the thought and growing annoyed by the fact that her mind had wandered enough off meditating to the point of making her agitated.

This is not how a Ninja behaves! I should be calm and serene, not worried about a prisoner ‘maybe’ finding a locket and then working out what it meant. The only other way she could have found out about us is through Yori, and I doubt they had the time to… No, no she wouldn’t have told anyone about our ‘link’. It would have shamed the school… and does it matter how Possible worked out I liked Jasmine? No… not at all and… there I go again!

Scowling, as meditation was obviously not going to be hers tonight, Shia slid to her feet and kicked half heartedly at the table next to her. The tea set rattled slightly and she glared at it with murder in mind. Why, she had no idea and what the hell was she so angry and upset about? Why did she want to… she didn’t know what she wanted to do, except maybe…

Tea would be an excellent idea right now. I know it is late but I can handle a cup of tea. Besides, it will calm me, as it always has. Sighing, Shia smoothly picked up the tea caddy next to the pot and opened the lid. She stared. No tea. Great, what have I done to obtain such bad luck recently? First my sister begins to lose herself around Shego, and I can’t get her to stop it. The two people I should be guarding, and helping my sister to subdue, and I actually like them. I still feel guilty about stabbing Shego in the arm, so I do what I can to keep her away from Kara. And now after I help Doctor Possible escape being raped by Shego, thanks to my sister, I have no tea! Would it be too much to expect the maker of all things to allow me one last cup of tea before I retire? Just one cup… after all that?

Dropping the caddy back to the table, Shia sighed. She knew that the main stores would have more tea, the only problem for her was that it was quite a walk, passing the main lab on the way. Still, she had to go if she wanted tea.

And I do… I deserve a cup.

Striding across to her door, she slapped the panel on the side and slid through as the door hissed open. The corridor was deserted, oddly. Both Drakken’s henchmen and the Jade contingent took equal turns in guarding all the main access ways, but Shia frowned as she counted only two on guard at the main lifts and stairwell. She quietly walked up to them and tilted her head.

“Skeleton crew tonight?”

The Henchman and Ninja stiffened, knowing who she was and her reputation, as well as her sisters. The Ninja spoke first.

“Master Quia has rearranged the guard duty. There are more of us guarding the main laboratory and jails now. We do not know why, except that Master Quia may be worried about Kim Possible or her mother escaping.”

“Well, that explains the prison, but the lab?”

“No idea Bodyguard Shia. It may be that Mistress Kara wishes to remain undisturbed while she takes a call from the council regarding your-“ He broke off, paling.

Shia blinked. “My what?” The Ninja began to sweat and Shia’s eyes narrowed. “Speak!”

“Um, well… As far as we have been told, Mistress Kara is being made to explain your handling of the Mall attack. The council is far from happy.”

“I know they are! I was there when the first call came though!” Shia stared. He said ‘my’. “I would like to know where the lie that my sister is being asked to explain my actions, when it was her orders that caused such chaos, has come from?”

“I do not know, Bodyguard Shia!” The Ninja blurted the words, knowing that he was lying. He knew. The whole Ninja contingent knew, as did Master Quia. Kara had placed the blame on Shia. Why, they had no idea. Shia herself had seemed to be unaffected by the blame and now he knew why. She hadn’t known, didn’t know. “All I know is that is the rumour currently circulating. You are being blamed for showing us to the world.”

“I see. Well, I am sure that Kara is defending me to the council. I did nothing wrong and this will all be resolved soon.” Shia stared at the sweating Ninja and knew that he was holding back.

Could it be that she had been deliberately blamed for the attack? If so, why? It had been Kara’s order to attack the mall and it had obtained them Kim Possible. Plus, if her plan to bring the current council here, so that she could kill the Grand Master, was to work, this was the perfect excuse to get him to come. If Kara had been responsible, it would have forced them to come here… for a Jade trial of a Blood Sister. She was not important enough to warrant such attention. No, it had to be a lie or a ridiculous rumour.

“Well, regardless of such foolish rumours, I intend to continue my original plan for the night. So, guard us well gentlemen, I shall expect to see you both alert before shift change tomorrow. Yes?”

“Yes Mistress Fang!” The two guards saluted and Shia nodded with satisfaction as she slammed the door to the stairs open and strode down them.

At the bottom, she pushed open a second door that lead into the main corridor for the laboratory, hanger and also Doctor Drakken’s personal quarters.

The man really does eat, breathe, and live his work… Quarters just up the corridor to the main lab, amazing. I wonder if he is-

The sudden click of a door made her blink and then sigh as Drakken slipped out of his room and, spying her, quickly trotted up to her. She fixed a smile, wishing her eyes would stop focusing on the blue man’s scar, only to blink as she realised the grown man in front of her was clutching a teddy bear. Oh dear lord. No, concentrate on his lips! Ignore the scar and the… stuffed animal.

“Ah, Shia. Just the person I wanted to see.” Drakken Smiled, but it looked annoyed. “Could you explain to me how we seem to have Kim Possible as a prisoner, and yet I seem to have not had a single chance at torturing her? I mean, hello? She was my arch nemesis for months! It’s not fair!”

Shia stared. He is ranting like a little boy!

“I don’t understand. I let you share my lair, I let Kara use my Servus invention to control Shego and soon Kim Possible… and yet I don’t get to torture Kim Possible now that we have her!”

“Doctor, I do not dictate my sisters decisions. Have you asked her if you can?” Shia muttered, wearily rubbing her face. “It is Kara you should be talking to. Not me.”

“I would! If it wasn’t for the fact I’ve been so busy getting the main Servus control system rebuilt. Shego really diddo a number on it. I have never seen so many burnt out parts. Well, not since Kim Possible, damn her, destroyed my Beauno nacho lair. All those burnt out Diablo’s! Do you know that our punishment was to pick each and every one up? Well, those in America, It took us a year! And that was with Shego, the henchmen in the building at the time and myself! We would have been there for years more if it wasn’t for Shego suddenly deciding she’d had enough and blowing her chains off with her plasma.”

Shia frowned. “How long was she there for?”

“A year, like us. She quietly picked up each toy, day after day, and then decided to bust out. I still don’t know what went through her head.” Drakken shrugged and picked at the bear’s ears. “Actually, I suppose that’s when she went to see Possible and betrayed me. Her enthusiasm for my schemes had faded a bit, I could tell. Though she still got a kick out of stealing… the evil in general, not so much.”

“Doctor, I really need to-“

“I think she went to France, I think that’s where she said she was going. After a stop off in Switzerland.”

“Doctor-“

“Of course, I got on with my evil schemes, and with her gone I could do some more Servus design and-“

“DOCTOR!” Shia swallowed as Drakken jumped and gripped the bear tightly. “If you let me go, I swear I will ask if you can have some time with Kim Possible once she is mind controlled. I doubt you wish to face her while she can escape and attack you, yes?”

Drakken grinned. “You mean it?”

Shia nodded. “If it means I can go, yes. Now, if that is all?”

The blue skinned genius waved his bear in the air and nodded. “Oh sure, please carry on! Ha, I knew letting the Jade into my life would be beneficial! Now look at me, I have all the resources I need, even the GJ would be stupid to attack the lair with all the Ninja’s and guards I have and I finally have the chance to get my revenge on Kim Possible. This has been a very good week!”

Yawning, Drakken smiled at Shia. “Well, goodnight Shia. Oh, could you please ask your sister to request that the ranting man on the Servus control panel keep it down? He was ranting for ages and it kept me up.”

Shia suppressed a smile, a rare thing for her. “I will try to pass that on to my sister, Doctor. I promise.”

“Oh, fine… Well, goodnight.” Drakken nodded and wandered back into his room, the bear trailing behind him as the door hissed shut. Shia watched him go and then shook her head. The man had serious issues. Maybe a good dose of therapy in childhood would have stopped him being this way.

Shrugging, Shia walked quietly down the corridor once more. Ah well, if she hadn’t met Kara her life would have been different too.

That thought was still running through her head as she passed the huge double doors to the massive laboratory. Double doors that, although sealed, were not designed to prevent noise escaping. Shia blinked as a conversation echoed around her, the two voices she recognised… Kara and the Grand Master.

---

Kara

“I had my doubts about Shia, Kara. Now I know I was right to be cautious.” The Grand Master of the Jade, an imposing man with green eyes, black hair and a muscular body dressed in a grey charcoal suit, a tiny red Jade pin on its lapel, stared at Kara from the huge viewing screen of the Servus control system. “Explain to me again, what happened?”

Despite all her plans to have this man removed, seeing him on such a large screen made Kara slightly nervous. “Master?”

“Your last explanation was woefully insufficient in explaining her actions to the council and myself. How is it that you let her take Shego on a mission to apprehend Kim Possible, and then for it to degenerate into a mass slaughter of innocent people!”

“Well, it has to be said that practically no one died, innocents anyway. And those that did were not slain by Shego, or Shia, but by our-“

“Enough!That is not what I mean by an explanation!” The Grand Master narrowed his eyes. “Could it be that you find this amusing?”

“No Master.” Kara stared up at the scowling face and smiled sweetly. Not when I am using this to my advantage and that it was me that ordered such a violent display. After all, nothing would get you so incensed as the Jade appearing to the world before you are ready. Well, I am sorry to say that soon this will not be a problem for you, Master. Very soon!

“Your sister caused the death of civilians. Admittedly not something we are usually worried about, but these are unusual times. You are alone out there, Kara… even with all the Jade Ninja’s you have transferred, you have very little resource compared to what you would normally have at your old province.” The Grand master sighed. “American police are just as corruptible as any other, but the Jade has not been there long enough, and nor have you. If Shia had been captured, or had any of the jade Ninja’s not taken their poison, you could have been discovered. What exactly was your sister and Bodyguard thinking?”

“I do not know, Master. I told her to use stealth to capture Kim Possible. Shego had enough power to send the Mall into chaos, attack Kim Possible San, and obtain her for the Jade with minimal chance of discovery. I do not know what happened.” Kara bowed her head, while her eyes gleamed with evil amusement. “I told her to keep our profile minimal. I… I do not know what happened!”

The Grand Master glanced back at the council table, and at the shadowy figures behind it. Each one nodded and he sighed, turning back. “We cannot ignore this woeful betrayal of our basic operating plans. Shia risked everything by this foolish attack. We cannot let this lie, Kara.”

“What would you have me do?” Kara fixed a look of fear on her face and lifted her head, wishing she could make herself look tearful. Anything to make the Grand Master either sympathise or recognise her weakness over Shia. Both were a lie of course. “I cannot trial my own sister!”

“You can and will and we-“

Master, I cannot! Shia is flesh and blood to me! I know I should place all Jade business above her own welfare, but I find it impossible to trial her, especially if it leads to her death at… at my hands.”

Come, realise that I cannot do it! That you all were right about me and have to take matters into your own hands. You know as well as I do that a Blood sister’s bodyguard, just like a brother’s, has to face trial by the one he or she protects. If that is not possible, you all have to come and judge them both. So, come and be destroyed by Kim and Shego so that I may rule!

“Kara, we are surprised at this lack of, well, enthusiasm on your part. You have always placed Jade above family ever since we knew you. You became an assassin for me to defy your fathers decision to have you forcibly removed from his area of the Jade. You then killed him, quite remorselessly for me, when he became a problem. That rather surprised me, your ruthlessness.

“Yes but-“

“And you moved up the ranks to become a true Jade assassin. So, when we found out that your mother, Shona Fang, was stealing large sums of money from the Tang using her lover as cover, I was even more surprised when you enthusiastically asked to go to, ah, resolve the problem.”

Kara sighed while her mind replayed the satisfying last few minutes of her mothers life, and how she had been the one who had gently bled them away. How dare she become pregnant with her! All for nothing but a simple blackmail scheme, saddling her with a father who hated her for what she represented! As for him, placing her in a damn home, alone and uncertain. Well, the bastard had died at her hands, a singe clean shot through the heart! He’d lived just long enough to see the person who had killed him. Watched as Kara had mimed the word ‘Father’ and blown him a kiss while he spilled lifeblood from the wound in his chest. Yes, that had been satisfying.

As for the bitch who birthed her! Kara closed her eyes and sighed, the memory of all the blood was so wonderfully satisfying. Splattering the walls, the carpet, the rug that her bitch mother had lain on. The whimpers, as she struggled to crawl away from the young girl in her black assassin’s outfit. Already dead from the loss of blood, but never realising it until it was too late. Yes, most satisfying.

“Kara? Are you listening to me?”

Kara blinked and stared up at the confused face of the Grand Master. “Yes, sorry Master. I was just recalling how, ah, professionally I killed my mother.”

“As I recall, it took our teams two days to clean the room sufficiently for the forensic department of the police to not find anything. You call that professional?” The look on his face was astonished horror.

“Yes, I was making a demonstration of her to anyone else who wishes to steal from the Jade.” Kara slid into one of the chairs around the table that sat next to the Servus control. “But my sister has done nothing to incur my wrath or the requirement of my skills. She has been nothing but loyal.”

“Yes, I recall the gleaming reports from you about her. I have to say I am amazed her has no idea that you were the one who killed her mother. Or that you were the one who had the Tang waiting for her when she came home from a days grafting. Did she really think that the bloody death was the result of the Tang?”

“Oh yes, though they would have found such manners… distasteful. Still I was angry that they wanted me to pay full price to obtain her from the slavery market. Though considering how powerful a member of the Jade Shia has become, I cannot complain.”

“But this brings us back to the matter at hand. Shia has committed a terrible and foolish act. She has to be punished and-“

“Ad I have already said, Master, that I cannot punish my own sister. I cannot do it and will therefore gladly stand at her side and be judged at the same time for my lack of resolve.”

Say yes, oh please say yes and that will seal your fate. All of you!

The grand Master turned and watched as heads nodded, some enthusiastically, others less so. With a sigh, he turned to Kara once more and brushed at his suit before nodding.

“Very well, you have invoked the trial of yourself and your bodyguard in the traditions of Blood Jade immemorial. Know that this could result in your death, Kara, as well as Shia’s.”

“I know, but I stand by my sister, as I always have.” Kara raised her eyes, forcing worry and pride into them. “We are innocent of all charges and I hope the council will see this.”

“Very well. Life for the Jade, Kara.”

Kara Fang smiled, her eyes gleaming with triumph as the screen flickered and the image of the Grand Master faded. “Oh yes… life for the Jade. But this time, it is your life that will be forfeit, Master!”

Grinning, Kara pursed her lips. Well, that has been resolved to my satisfaction. The fools think I intend to stand trial for something I ordered to happen. Oh, the irony is so delicious. If only they knew what will actually happen. For the first time in her life, Shego will kill and I get to watch. This is going to be so much fun!Kara paused and the thought of Kim’s scathing words echoed in her head. Smiling, she glanced across at the two pieces of technology that she had asked Drakken to make for her. One a deadly little concoction and the other the technological cure. Oh yes, I wanted to try this out. So, why not on Kim Possible? She is strong enough to take the terrible toll this causes. After all, having that happen to your body must be like drowning in air.

Waking over, Kara picked up the plastic container with the tiny vial and odd devices nestled inside it. Oh yes… perfect. Kim San will regret answering me back and the punishment will hurt Shego terribly. Forced to watch and unable to act. This has been so much fun!

With a swish of silk, Kara strode out of the Laboratory.

---

Shia

Shia slammed the door to her quarters, her face pale. With trembling hands, she fought to activate the door lock, finally managing to hit the button on the fifth try. She staggered across to the table holding her tea set and fell heavily against it. The china rattled and a singe cup fell to the floor with a thud. Thankfully, though Shia barely noticed, the cup rolled intact around her feet.

It cannot be true! Shia's mind screamed the words, desperately trying to make them vanish. No… No she couldn't have!

Feeling her legs suddenly go weak, Shia stumbled across the dark carpet of her room and collapsed into an ornate chair. Her fingers scrabbled at the scabbard attached to her back and the blond woman cursed in desperation as she fought to remove it and the blade it carried. A blade she once swore her life in servitude to, the symbol of the Jade inscribed in the hilt. And now it seemed she had sworn her life on a lie, a manipulation.

“No… No… No!” The words hissed into the air, full of fear and anger and shame. “Kara… I cannot, you couldn't have… did you?”

“Hi, what's your name?” The memory slid into her mind, unbidden. Kara standing there, so young… nineteen or so, before she even went to study with The Fox. The badge of a Jade assassin proudly gleaming on her black T-shirt as she had stared at Shia, stared at her with compassion. “Well? Come on, I won’t bite.”

“Sh… Shh…” Fifteen days of being beaten, denied food, and only the occasional cup of water, water that she swore the guards at her slave pen had urinated into. She had found it hard to form words to the kind face staring at her.

“No rush then.” Kara had smiled and leaned back on her haunches. “My name is Kara, Kara Fang.”

Shia had blinked. She has my surname…

“M… my name is Shia… F… Fang.” She had managed, frightened that the woman who worked for the Blood Jade would take offence. She had known, even then, who they were. More she had known the level of power they had wielded. “Shia Fang… yes.”

“So it is true.” Kara had smiled again, musing. “I came here, Shia, to perform a little assassination job for my master you know. While I'm doing this job, I come across papers with my mother’s name on them… and then yours. I have an offer that could be beneficial to us both.”

“You… you want me as a slave girl?” She had licked her lips, both scared and needy. Anything to escape THAT place. Even now, she could feel her fingers tremble. “Is that it?”

“No young one.” Kara had winked, they were barely three years or so apart from the look of her back then. “Shia, you are my sister. Well, half sister actually. Now that I know this… I have to take care of you now that your mother has, well, died.”

“You… mean it?”

“Yes. I know you're in trouble with the Tang… and that’s okay as they do what the Jade say.” Kara had smiled again. She had been so knowing, so wise, calm… sisterly back then. “I've paid them off already… I just had to know that I was right, which is why I came to see you before they let you go.”

“They… they're letting me go?”It had sounded so amazing back then, it still did even now.

“Yes and now you have a choice. Stay a thief… well, a pickpocket and petty little thug with some lock picking skills, or join me in the Jade. I'll be a power soon, and I'll need a bodyguard… want to be it?”

She remembered how shocked she had been at the offer… and how eager she was to take it. But, even then in that cell with its concrete floor smelling of urine and blood, she had been careful. Her mother had instilled that in her since birth and it had served her well.

“I… I want proof that you are my sist… half sister.” She had whispered the words, frightened at rejection again. At being left there to be sold into sex slavery or a plaything for a fat Arab or crimeboss. “Please, don’t be angry. But you have to understand that I-”

Kara had just nodded. Nodded and shia had relaxed at the action. “Yes, I would be just as cautious… But if you accept, you’ll be safe. I promise.”

Shia groaned and opened her eyes. All those years of her believing that Kara had saved her life. Now… now this. What she had heard, what she had stolen into and listened to, had to be a lie! It had to be.

Because if it is not… I have corrupted my soul for… for a lie. I have dammed myself for nothing and I… I left Jasmine for honour that means nothing!

Shia swallowed and stared at the blade on the carpet. What scared her most of all, was that she couldn't decide which worried her more.

With trembling fingers, Shia picked up the blade and stared at it. The red etching along the edge gleamed in the light of her room and she swallowed. If it was not a lie… If Kara had killed her mother and deliberately allowed the Tang to lock her away, all so she could act the heroine and bring Shia into her plans. What did that make her? A victim? A fool? A devil trying to find out if she could be saved… she didn’t know.

It had to be a lie! This is a test of my loyalty. It has to be! Kara would never have killed our mother. It would be an act of sheer cruelty and I-Shia broke off. But then I have seen a side of kara I never knew existed in these past few weeks. Shego brought out the demon inside her, and now… oh Jasmine. Did she kill my mother? Have I been following the directions of an insane person?

The blade had come up to her chest now, almost unbidden and she gazed at the handle, wrapped in leather, well worn through the few years she had had it. It had been tradition in the jade itself for each bodyguard to be given a new katana when they joined their mistress or master. Shia had been no different and she remembered that she had watched the ceremony with fascination. How a few drops of her blood, collected by the forger, had been added to the molten metal that formed the blade. The hilt, carved from finest wood, had some of her hair burned and mixed with charcoal that was inserted into a tiny hole bored though the core of it. All very ceremonial, and something Shia appreciated. The blade had represented her honour, her life, and how she had given it all to protect Kara, the woman who had saved it. Or so she thought.

Her eyes flicked across to the weapon rack and the light blue leather grip of the sword she had won for Yamanouchi. No blood or hair in that blade, there had been no need. Sensei had handed her that blade the day she had won the tournament and had smiled at her.

This represents nothing more than your skill. Who you are is in here.He had touched her heart. Never forget that.

“What have I done? And for whom?” Shia whispered, swallowing at the memory, trying to forget that Jasmine had been the one clapping the loudest. So proud of her. Her hand curled around the hilt of her Jade blade and she stared at it.Just a blade…

With sudden anger, Shia’s muscular body flipped from the chair and the blade whistled as it cut through the air to bury itself with a resounding thud into the wall. Shia continued to push against the hilt, tears streaming down her face as she used her entire body weight and muscle strength to force the blade deeper and deeper through the concrete. Finally she heaved a breath and stood back, eyes wild. The Jade katana jutted from the wall, half of its length sunk into the concrete. Shia’s hand gripped the hilt tightly and her leg raised up so that her booted foot lay against the blade itself.

I have been betrayed!The foot raised back and Shia put her entire muscle power into bringing it down on the blade and snapping it. She was shocked therefore, to find her foot still rested gently against the metal. I… I cannot. It could be that I did not hear correctly. Maybe Kara was sent to kill her, but ended up doing something or-

Knowing she was grasping at shadows, Shia fell to her knees, and felt the first tear well and fall onto the carpet. What have I done… and why? I… I am a killer! Without a reason anymore… oh god. What am I going to do? Oh, Jasmine.

---

Kara’s Personal quarters

“I hope I did not keep you too long.” Kara announced as she walked into the darkened room. The two women in the room both turned to look at her, one with emotion, and the other dully. She smiled. “I see I did not. Still conscious Kim?”

Kim raised her head and glared. Her arms and legs were screaming at her now. She wasn’t surprised, hanging from metal manacles for five hours would do that to anyone. The problem was that her ribcage, her abdomen, hell, all of her screamed for her to rest. To just lie down for a few hours and relax. Whatever Kara had done earlier had exhausted almost every single muscle, and now as she watched the crazy oriental woman place a slender plastic box on a table and glance up at her with anticipation, she knew that it wasn’t over.

“I’m glad you are as I did promise a more interesting punishment, didn’t I. Well, here it is and I think we will all derive some interest in this. Shall we get started? Oh and yes, I will be using Shego to perform the acts, as it’s so much fun to imagine what she’s thinking.”

“Trust me, Kara. You don’t wanna know. It’d keep you up at night.”Shego swallowed and watched as Kara opened the box and took out a syringe. The needle gleamed in the dull light. “More needles? What is it with you and needles, you’re bloody obsessed with them!”

Kara gently filled the syringe with a odd green liquid from one of the tiny vials and turned to Kim, holding it gently away from her body. “Can you guess what this is?”

Kim swallowed. “Poison I’d guess.”

“You really are a smart girl. I’d have expected Shego to take a good, ooh, four or five guesses to work out what’s in here. But yes, you are right. It is poison. But it is a very special type of poison.”

“Well, I’m glad to see that I’m such a big deal to warrant a special type. What’s the deal though? I thought you wanted me to be your puppet. Can’t do that if I’m dead now, can I?”

“True, very true. Which is why this will not kill you. Oh, it could if you didn’t have the second stage. Indeed, this is why I asked Doctor Drakken to help me finalise the solution. After all the Jade scientists have been working on this for months. No, this is very, very special. You should feel privileged to experience it.”

Kim stared at Kara, while inside she trembled. The previous physical assaults were taking their toll and she was truly running on pure adrenaline. The problem was she knew she had little of that precious substance left. When it ran out, Kim knew she would collapse. Collapse and be unable to protect Shego or her mother from this psychopathic weirdo.

“I’ll pass if it’s all the same to you and-“

“Shhh, just enjoy the reward for threatening me earlier. Maybe this will make you realise where your place lies, Kim.”

Kara handed Shego the syringe and whispered in her ear. Kim went cold as Shego turned and strode up to her, syringe in hand. As the cat-suited thief came to a halt, Kim stared at her in surprise as her mouth slid open.

“I’ve been looking forward to this, Kim Possible.” Shego told her, voice dull. “A chance to take my revenge for every humiliation you have done to me.”“What? What the hell did I just say? Kim always won fair and square, I don’t hate her for that I-“

“Shego what-“ Kim managed, before the thief plunged the syringe into her neck and pressed the plunger. Kim let out a gasp of pain, her body automatically arching in the manacles as the cold liquid trickled into her bloodstream. “Ahhh, god! What… what the hell was that?”

“Poison. We both know that. Now, I should really hurry.” Kara stepped up as Shego stood back. While Kara slid the plastic box open, Shego busily began to fill the syringe once more, much to Kim’s horror. Kara smiled at the look on her face and gently attached four metal circles around her heart. As each one was placed against her skin, Kim whimpered in agony, the devices piercing her skin with small barbs. “I know these hurt, but it’s better than dying, yes?”

“Wha… what the hell are you doing to me?” Kim gasped, blinking as she felt a dull pain begin to grow in her chest. For some reason, she could feel her heart slowing. He regular heartbeat every so slowly beginning to decrease. “I f… feel cold!”

Kara glanced at Shego. “Tell her.”

“Yes, Mistress Fang.” Shego’s face turned to Kim and the redhead watched in shock as her face twisted into a cold sneer. “The injection is a poison designed to block the ability for the heart muscles to constrict. While the order to beat still comes, the heart cannot respond.”

“You… oh my god.” Kim felt the chest pain increase, her heartbeat slowing further and further. She could feel a slight dizziness begin to nibble at the edges of her consciousness. “You’re going to make me have a heart attack… you’re going to… to-“

“Kill you, yes. But only for a little while.” Kara smiled. “It takes the human brain up to fifteen minutes to die without oxygen. I promise we are going nowhere near that, as I do not need a vegetable for an assassin. No, the effect of the poison is completely and instantly reversible, I promise. All it requires is a good dose of ultrasound at the right frequency and the blocking agent denatures. This is the next stage of modern torture, I have had so many people asking me to supply it to them. But you, Kim, you are my first true test subject in the sense of using it to hurt someone. So, how does it feel?”

Kim blinked. The dizziness was becoming worse and she could feel her heart had slowed to a few beats a minute. Her vision was beginning to blur, a bad sign she knew from the information she had gleaned from her mother. “I… I…”

“Oh, shall we listen as well?” Kara pressed a button on the central disk on Kim’s skin and the gentle thud of her heart echoed around the room. “Hear that? That is the sound that keeps you alive and, oh my, it’s becoming slower and slower. What do you think, Shego?”

“You are so weak, Kim Possible!” Kim stared muzzily at Shego, feeling the pain at the tone of her voice rip into her. “How could I love someone like you?”

“I don’t mean it! Shut up!”Shego watched in horror as Kim’s head lolled, her eyelids rolling shut. “Kimmie? Kim? Pumpkin! Wake up! Damn it wake up!”

“Shh…y… I…. Cld. I can’t brth…” Kim managed, her chest spasming.

“Oh, listen!” Kara cocked her head and Shego realised that the thud of Kim’s heartbeat had stopped. “She’s actually dying! This is far more exciting than I thought it would be, I hold her life in my hands right now!”

“You sick motherfucker!”Shego screamed the words, watching as Kim’s body stilled in the manacles, her face going slack. “Turn the thing on! The thing that stops this!”

“I think we should give it thirty seconds to start with, right?” Kara leaned on the green woman’s arm, gazing at Kim. “Look at her, so peaceful. Who would think she’s going to wake up and feel like she has been through hell.”

“Kara turn it on!” Shego swallowed as she felt the need to reach out and touch Kim. She closed her eyes and bit her lip at what she was about to whisper. “Please… turn it on!”

“Twenty eight, twenty nine… Well, time to test the nullifier. I hope this works correctly, because if not I am down one assassin and I doubt the Jade will be happy with me. But you know what they say, Shego. You cannot make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Still, I hope this works as it should do. Now, let’s see.”

There was a gentle click as Kara pressed a tiny control on the centre disk. Immediately, the five disks around Kim’s heart hummed into life, lighting up with a soft blue. Shego watched desperately as the disks began to whine, the humming becoming so high pitch that she could only feel it by the way it set her teeth on edge.

Inside Kim’s body, the inhibitors that blocked the impulse for the muscle cells of Kim’s heart to contract shivered under the invisible assault and then broke up. Almost immediately, the pulse from her nerve cells jerked the muscle cells into action and Kim’s heart pumped once, twice and then faster and faster.

Kim’s body jerked in the manacles, and her chest expanded violently as she breathed explosively inwards, the air whistling shakily into her lungs. Just as quickly, it was let out in a scream that made Kara back away and Shego stare in fear.

Choking, Kim could only scream as her body awoke to a sensation of fire inside her veins. Her head throbbed with agony, the sensation almost like someone was ramming pins into her skull.

The sensation refused to stop as she shivered and shook in the bonds that held her, tightly manacled to the metal circle. As if the burning pain inside her skull wasn’t bad enough, Kim could feel her heart racing as it tried to cope with the demand for oxygen from her starved muscles and organs. The affect was making her body throb, and she shivered again.

Groaning, Kim opened her eyes and stared at the two women gazing up at her.

“Whha… what happened to me?” Kim licked her lips and let out a cry of pain as her memory came flooding back. She whimpered and then raised her sweat-drenched face, glaring at Kara. “You… you killed me!”

“You seem to be quite vocal for a dead person, Kim San.” Kara grinned and glanced across at Shego. “Well, a successful test, yes? I think this means we can have some fun now.”

“Kara, no! Look at her. Kimmie may have taken that, but it’s exhausted her. You keep this up and it could kill her!”

“Yes Mistress Fang.” Shego glanced up and Kim and tilted her head. “Pathetic.”

Kim felt herself shake at Shego’s words. “Shego, don’t.”

“Look at you, Kim Possible. I could have endured that pain without ending up a sweaty, whimpering mess. Look at yourself, some hero.”

Kim closed her eyes, breathing deeply as the barbed words struck her deeply. The physical pain was bad enough, but now Shego was attacking her as well? Why? Wasn’t Shego in love with her and… Suddenly the answer came to her and she glared at Kara.

“What did you make her do?”

“Oh, I just told her to say hurtful things to you as she injects you. Petty I know, but fun. It is amazing how a few simple words can hurt, especially from a loved one and she does love you Kim San. I can only dream how Shego must feel right now! As for you, this will teach you to threaten me! I do not like pets talking back!

Kara turned away as Kim opened her mouth quickly to snap at her, almost as quickly as the sudden pricking sensation of the hypodermic in her arm. The same cold feeling filled her arm as the green liquid slid into her. Panicked, her eyes slammed sideways to see Shego pulling the syringe from her arm.

“No!” Kim gasped, writhing in the manacles. “Not again! Not again!”

”Kimmie, I can’t stop myself! I’m useless, I can’t… damn it!” Shego blinked back tears. She didn’t, wouldn’t cry! “You have to hold on… just a few more times! Kara has a short attention span and-“

Kara raised an eyebrow as Kim yanked futilely at her bonds. “Kim, did it really hurt that much? Tell me!”

Kim wanted to ignore the fascinated woman in front of her, the demand. But she nodded, unable to hold it back the venom she felt. Kara wanted to know? Well, she would tell her.

“It felt like I was buried alive, you fucking bitch! I couldn’t breathe, or move, or escape and it was agonising! I swear, I’ll rip out your heart and… and… oh god…I can feel it slowing!” Kim closed her eyes, a single tear spilling down her cheek. “Shego… it hurts so much! I can’t hold on for much longer…”

“Kimmie…”

Kara raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Oh, yes. An excellent tool to have for the future.” As Kim swallowed and began to shake, feeling the same odd sensation inside her chest, Kara sighed. “I told Shego to give you a much smaller amount this time. I hope it takes longer. It gives us both more time to savour your panic as you slowly fade into unconsciousness. Well, more as you fight to stay with us.

“You… bitch!” Kim managed, blinking as the room swam once more. “No… no damn it. Oh god… I… I can’t! I feel so cold a… an… and-”

“Kara stop this! You’re going to kill her!”Shego watched as Kim slowly began to slump again, her body becoming liquid as her muscles went into lactic acid shock and shut down. The redhead’s eyes lolled and Shego felt herself let out a single sob as the manacled woman began to twitch, only to still a few minutes later. “Kimmie… oh god. How long can she stand this? How long before this is too much and she dies? Damn it, I have to break free!”

Kara gently stroked Shego’s hair and leaned her head once again on the green thief’s shoulders. “You and I both know I intend to do this a few more times, right? Kim is very strong and I think she can take a few more tries with this.” Kara sighed. “I’m having so much fun, hurting you this way that I suppose I could get carried away. So, how about another three times after this? I’ll increase the time between her heart stopping and activating the nullifier. If she dies? Well, I’ll let you hold Doctor Possible and comfort her. Sound good?”

“You… you…”Shego growled, vengeance in her eyes as words failed her.

“Oh, look at that. One minute already! Time to see if Kim can stay alive.”

Kara reached out for a second time and hit the centre disk. The same whine echoed through the chamber once more, and Kim’s body shivered in response as her heart sluggishly thudded into life.

“Ahhhkk…” Kim managed, her head jerking as she woke once more.

The pain this time was so intense she felt as if her skull would explode. The burning sensation inside her mind and body was so intense it felt as if it were crawling around inside her and ripping at bone and tissue alike. Unable to help herself, the tears spilled down her face, as she let out a choking sob, breathing harshly to try and oxygenate her blood as much as possible.

“Oh, thank god.”Shego stared into the unfocused blue eyes and wished she could touch Kim’s face. Kiss her… anything.“You did it, Kimmie. You managed to hold on like I knew you could. Just a couple more times, Princess… for me. You have to… have to hold on!”

“Fascinating, look at you Kim.” Kara wiped the tears from Kim’s skin with interest. “The great Kim Possible, crying. How would this make your other enemies feel I wonder? Revulsion, amusement… disappointment maybe. What do you think?”

“I… I need a drink of water.” Kim managed, her head hanging down. “Please, just a little water?”

“Of course.” Kara quickly strode to the kitchen and filled a plastic cup, brining it back and tilting it gently to Kim’s lips. “You need to stay hydrated, as this is a terrible shock to your system. Still, it seems to be most effective.”

Kim swallowed the water, for the first time she didn’t care about Kara or the scathing words and amused expression. She was too busy trying to stay alive. As the final few sips emptied from the cup, Kara sighed and snapped her fingers. Shego stepped forwards, Syringe in her hand and Kim shrank back.

“Oh come, just a few more tries?” Kara gazed at her, amused. “The great Kim Possible cannot be frightened?”

“I… you don’t know how it feels!” Kim whispered. “If you have any compassion, Kara… stop this, please!”

Kara pursed her lips and then shrugged coldly. “Not just yet, Kim San. This is too fascinating for words right now, and I know this must be distressing Shego. So, we have a few more tries of this little poison to get through. Still, I am sure you can handle them, yes?”“Kara no! She’ll die for sure this time!”

“Shego, again! But cut the injection in half once more.” Kara commanded, striding over and picking up her wineglass. “ I want to truly absorb every moment of this one.”

“Yes, Mistress Fang.

As Kim felt the hypodermic slid into her skin, as she felt Shego’s dull and emotionless taunts swim over her ears, her mind fixated on one word. A word she never thought she would think of again since Beauno Nacho.

I hate you Kara… and I want… Revenge…

---

Ron’s House- 2AM

“Ron San, you must rest!”

Yori, dressed in her usual black Ninja outfit, strode alongside Ron. She nibbled her lip as the blond man shook his head, a weary but determined expression on his face. She watched as he reached the door to his home and struggled to fit the key into the lock.

“Ron, listen to me…”

“No, you want me to sleep, to take eight hours where I could be finding Kim and use them to dream instead about her being tortured by that psycho we met at the mall! No way!” Ron turned to her and Yori felt her heart lurch at the raw emotion on his face. “Kim trusts me, she’s always trusted me, to save her when she ends up in trouble. I’m not letting her down by sleeping!”

“You need to sleep! We have been looking for the past few days with no luck!” Yori grabbed his arm as Ron moved to turn away from her and walk into the house. “Ron San! Please!”

“Yori, get off me!” Ron reached up and took her hand, only to blink as her second covered the one he used to pull off the first. Unable to help himself, he looked up into her dark eyes, saw the fear and worry swimming in them. Ron sighed. “I can’t sleep… every time I sleep, I see them Yori. I don’t want to see them. They’re in so much pain!”

Yori blinked, her mouth sliding open in surprise. “You are having visions?”

“Yeah… well, no. Ah, god… I don’t know, Yori.” Ron stopped shaking her off and he sat down on the door step of his home, staring up at the night sky. “When I dream, I keep seeing them… all of them, being tortured or hurt. Kim, Shego and Doctor P. It’s awful and the first time I almost woke mom and dad with my screams.”

“I… I did not hear them.” Yori managed, blushing with shame.

“I’m not surprised, you always did sleep like a log when you know you’re safe.” Ron grinned as Yori flushed deeper. “You do you know. Always thought that was cute about you. Now, if anyone had crept into your room? You’d have been awake quicker than Rufus when he smells a Naco.”

The Molerat shot out of his pocket and both Yori and Ron stared down into the hopeful face.

“Naco?” Rufus squeaked, sniffing the air hopefully. His tiny hands rubbed together in anticipation and both teens laughed at the action. Rufus sighed as his nose told him that there were no Naco’s in the vicinity and he tilted his head at his owner. “You okay?”

“I’m fine buddy,” Ron assured him, smiling down at the tiny, worried face. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

“Exhausted!” Rufus squeaked, jumping up and poling Ron in the chest with a tiny paw. “Sleep!”

“See? Even Rufus agrees with me.” Yori told him. “You cannot keep this up and expect to find and save Kim if you are exhausted. Look at Kim, she was so much better and more alert once she had slept for the eight hours my tea gave her. Do I have to do that to you as well?”

Ron smiled. “I know not to drink or eat anything you give me right now.” His smile slid away. “Look, you wanted to know about my dreams? Well, I think you might be right… they are more than dreams, and if that’s true, then I have to find Kim!”

“Ron, if the power you were given is giving you such visions, you have to endure them and-“

“Why? Why does this damn power have to show me Kim and Doctor P suffering like they are? Hell, even Shego and neither of us have ever lost much sleep over each other. Now, now I can feel every single time that bloody Fang woman cracks one of her ribs in my dreams. But does it tell me where they are? Hell no!” Ron swallowed. “Yori, I can’t sleep… I’m not strong enough to take all the pain I feel from them, okay!”

Sighing, Yori slid to her feet. “If you do not, what will you do when Kim needs you?”

“Have to find her for that, Yori. Otherwise, what use is sleeping if I can’t find her so I can save her?”

“Well, more tea to keep us both awake then.” Yori yawned and waved a hand. “Come, we both need some stimulant and then we can see what sections of Middleton we have still to cover.”

“Sounds good to me and-“

The sudden roar of a familiar engine made Ron blink and slide to his feet. In the distance, he could see two headlights, slowly getting closer. Licking his lips, Ron touched Yori’s arm and pointed. “Look, I think that’s…”

The headlights grew even closer and Ron realised that the roar of the engine was almost deafening. Even as he took one step forward onto the street, the headlights became the blue body of Mara. She screamed up the street and Ron jumped backwards as the vehicle came to a skidding halt in front of him, engine revving.

“Hey! Ron, I’ll give you three guesses to where I’ve just been!” Mara’s voice was excited and the blond teen felt his heart lurch with hope.

“Mara, you know where Kim is!” Ron grinned, the exhaustion he had been feeling, vanishing as the blue car sounded it’s horn, much to the annoyance and suddenly yelled complaints from Ron’s neighbours.

“Give the man a stuffed panda!” Mara yelled, flashing her headlights. “I know exactly where Kim, Shego, Doctor P and that oriental psycho bitch are… and I also have another lovely little gift to give you.”

Ron felt Yori’s arm curl around his, smelt the waft of jasmine as she leaned in close next to him. For the past few days he had been too focused to notice. Now, as he felt his heart skip with excitement and relief, he inhaled as deeply as he could. Yori blinked as he did so and then flushed, even as Ron winked at her and turned to the car.

“Well?”

“Oh, just a little three dimensional blueprint of his entire lair!” Mara grinned and her headlights flashed again. “Yup, the whole kit and caboodle.”

Ron grinned with satisfaction as the holoprojectors on the outside of Mara’s body flickered into life and a shimmering blue structure appeared above her bonnet.

“Better warn you though, Ron. This place is crawling with guards… though I do have their numbers andpatrol schedules!” Mara cautioned the blond teen but her voice was full of satisfaction. “I’d have gone in to get them myself too, but I can’t climb stairs.”

“Oh, well… but still. Man, you did this on your own? This is just so… so… Booyah!” The blond teen turned to Yori and gripped her by the shoulders. “How long until we can get Yamanouchi here?”

Yori inclined her head, as ready and elated to act as Ron. “Four hours, five at the most to recall all of us that are currently in the country.”

“Good, we’ll both go inside in a second and make the calls.” Ron turned to Mara and patted the bonnet. “Mara, you know I sometimes wondered if Kim had been given the car she actually needed. Now, after all this, I know she has been. You rock, in so many ways I lose count.”

Mara grinned, her avatar’s head flickering into life above her bonnet. “Flatterer.”

“Sure, I am the Ron Man! But I need another favour.” Ron turned to see Yori smoothly glide into the house. “I want you to get to Middleton Space labs as soon as you can and let Doctor P know, okay? He’s been working twenty-four hours on the cure for Kim and Shego… and I think this information will cheer him up a hell of a lot. Okay?”

“Sure, what about you?” Mara asked. “Ron, they have a damn army in there… I’m not sure a few Ninja’s like Yori and you two are going to be enough to rescue Kim.”

Ron grinned and stared up at the night sky, watched as the stars winked back at him. For the first time since Kim had been taken from him, he felt confident that he would be able to save her, to rescue her and beat that bitch Kara into the ground. With a whisper of displacing air, the Lotus blade flashed into his hands and glowed intently, the blue darkening to a deep purple as he stared at it.

“I’d agree, Mara.”

“Well then, we-“

“But the fact is, I’m not going in alone…” Ron span the lotus blade in an arc and the blade whistled in the air to come to a gentle rest, tucked into the belt of his trousers. For the first time, his face was full of confidence.”

“I have a few calls to make, like Yori is doing right now. One of them being Doctor Director…”

Mara nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. Global Justice marines would certainly help us out here, but what if Kara sees them coming? Will she kill Kim?”

“I… it could happen.” Ron nodded and his face was thoughtful. “Which is why I need to make the second call. Because the first attack will be one very powerful initial thrurst… as well as a distraction.”

“Yeah? You know someone who can help us out with that situation?”

Grinning, Ron thought back to the time a group of people had come rushing to ask for the help of a certain Kim Possible and a green and black villain. A green and black villain with a past she rather wanted to forget. With connections she wished she could forget.

“Oh, I intend to make a call that I think Shego will kick my ass for when she finds out. Though I think this time… she maybe thankful to see them. Maybe.” Ron turned and began to walk to the house. “Still, they owe her big time, as well as their being other reasons, so they can’t say no.”

Mara frowned as her engine hummed to life as she prepared to drive as fast as possible to Middleton Space Labs. “Who?”

The sound, and quietly asked question, made Ron pause and glance back, his eyes determined.

“Let’s just say this requires some special talents, very special talents… and I know exactly where to get them.”

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Well, there you go… Chapter 13. Sorry it took so long but I have been and still am sick. So, it took longer than usual. Also please be aware that though I will try to get chapter 14 out ASAP, I am on holiday at the end of ausgust for two weeks (YAY!)

Thanks for all the reviews, I love to read them and peoples opinions. Take care,

Teh Hob! cough, sniffle, COUGH