Mind, body, and Soul

Ron- 12:30PM

Ron glanced around at the slowly closing circle of steel. Monkey Kung Fu was all well and good when facing unarmed opponents, hell even four or more armed opponents. However, a trained force of ten or so remaining Jade ninjas, all armed with lethal blades they knew very well how to use, that was pushing it.

Turning, Ron examined the group surrounding him, trying to ignore the scrape of the razor sharp circle as it tightened further. If he could just get to Yori, or even Kim, then he stood a chance.

It was then that he heard Kim’s cry for help and the world became incredibly clear to him. His subconscious tapped into the monkey power that sat quietly inside his soul and with a leap that would have been impossible for a human, apart from Kim, Yori, Sensei and Shego, Ron flipped neatly over the heads of the ninjas that had initially surrounded him. Landing smoothly in a crouch, Ron took in the scene before him and felt a ball of ice punch inside in his stomach.

Shego and Kim were wrapped around each other, but the only frantic sounds of desperation were coming from the beaten and badly injured form of Kim. As he watched, Kim fell to her knees as Shego, attacking her with no emotion, chopped her across the front of her neck. Kim choked, fighting the sudden loss of air and dizziness that came with the slight pause of blood to her brain. Ron narrowed his eyes.

I need the Lotus Blade, and Kim needs Rufus and the disrupter.

Seeing his mole rat buddy jump onto Shego’s back and yank her hair, only for the green woman to grip him and toss him back into the wall, made Ron snarl. He knew it wasn’t Shego attacking Kim and Rufus, but he had to stop her. Luckily, he had just the thing. Yet still, as he pulled the modified Roncom out of his pocket, he paused.

“We have no idea what’ll happen if you use it. It could kill the subject…”

Jim’s warning echoed in his mind, but the sight of Shego pulling Kim up by her unisuit and then slamming her fist into Kim’s face, making blood spill down Kim’s chin as a dazed whimper slid past her bleeding lips, forced him to act.

As they floundered in surprise, Ron wasted no time. Taking a deep breath, Ron ran along the floor, falling to his knees and ducking as Shuriken shot past his head, the Jade ninjas scrambling to keep up with him. Using his suit’s frictionless surface, Ron skidded along the concrete and aimed the Roncom at Rufus.

“Rufus, buddy! Think fast!”

The dazed mole rat glanced up and nodded in understanding as Ron made sword motions at him. With a squeak, Rufus waved the tiny Lotus Blade at Ron and made grabbing motions with his hands at the Roncom. Nodding, Ron held his breath in concentration and slid the device along the floor. As it skittered towards Rufus, the mole rat reversed his paws on the tiny Lotus blade and threw it in return, towards Ron.

As it span towards him, the blade shimmered with the familiar soft blue glow that embodied the power of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar. As he held out his hand to catch it, Ron instinctively reached out with his mind and controlled its shape. With a pop of displaced air, the blade flickered and then expanded to its normal size. The blond teen’s hand curled around the hilt and with a grin, he turned towards the ninjas almost directly behind him.

As one of them swung his Katana down, Ron swung the glowing blade upwards, his eyes gleaming. Both blades met with the clang of steel on steel, but only one continued to rise. The other fell with a soft clatter onto the floor, the blade neatly cleaved in two. As the Jade Ninja raised the snapped blade to his eyes in horror, only for the blond teen to quickly lash out with an upward kick, flooring him. Satisfied, Ron rose to his feet and moved the lotus blade into the pose of the monkey ninja. Held high above his head, the blade curving towards the hand stretched out in front of him, Ron smiled.

“I’d say Booyah guys, but it’s pretty redundant from the looks on your faces. Now, if you want to take me on, fine… but I’d better warn you that I’ll kick the ass of anyone who tries to slip past me to go after Kim!”

As the Ninjas all backed away, knowing the tables had turned once more, Ron glanced across at the sight of Kim feebly trying to fend off Shego’s vicious attacks. As much as he wanted to help, he couldn’t risk attacking the thief, as that would leave himself and Kim both open to Jade attack.

Instead, Ron watched the grey shape of Rufus, as his pet scurried across to Shego, pushing the Roncom along the floor like a surfboard. As it skidded towards the two grappling women, Rufus leapt onto it and gripped the device tightly with his paws.

Good luck buddy! Ron thought, before turning to face the Jade once more.

---

Kim 12:35PM

The plastic and metal device bounced, skittered and then slid between Shego’s booted feet, coming to rest against Kim’s bruised thigh. The quiet clatter had not gone unnoticed by Shego. Servus itself glanced down, almost for the first time in annoyance, as the mole rat that the control device thought it had disposed of waved upwards at the emerald gaze.

“Hi, hi!” Rufus chirruped, watching as Shego let go of Kim, who slumped onto the concrete. After a few seconds, the exhausted and battered heroine managed to raise her blood stained head to stare muzzily at the small rodent standing next to her thigh.

“Rufus?” Kim whispered, blinking and spitting blood from her mouth with a grimace. “Is that you?”

“Uh huh… rescue!” Nodding, Rufus turned his attention to Shego once more as the green skinned thief, eyes glazed, reached down with clawed hands that exploded into flaming green plasma.

Despite her lighting fast reactions, she never managed to touch him.

“Sorry Shego!” Rufus squeaked, his little face determined. With that, his paw slammed down as hard as possible on the button marked ‘Disrupt’.

With a flash of the screen and a high pitched whine that started low but soon set Kim and Rufus’s teeth on edge, the disruption version of the Roncom exploded into life. Already set for the frequency Shego’s Servus control system operated on, the frequency taken from the excess repair nanites that had been trapped in Shego’s congealed blood sample, it wasted no time.

The program wade had designed began by firing a burst of biary code that Wade had managed to hack from the tiny robots. It was a simple command, asking any Servus network around it to respond.

The nanite network in Shego’s brain blinked in cybernetic surprise, and in response to its basic programming responded by sending a received and reply command, complete with its full wavelength information to the device that Servus thought was an out of sync nanobot. The Roncom accepted the information, sending a false wait signal in reply, and then used the data to select one of the thousands of counter waveforms that Wade had pre-programmed into it.

Primary track located, initiating counter waveform burst.

Shego’s body blinked and then stepped backwards, away from Kim and the humming device. Something was interrupting the communication network that formed the backbone of Servus’s neural net, and the AI tried to back away from the source of the interference.

“My… my head… god! It’s itching like crazy! Like there’re ants inside my head! Damn, damn!”Shego winced, wishing her hands were under her control, so she could scratch her scalp. “What the hell is going on?”

Doppler burst successful. Recorded waveform is 99.99898 counterproductive to Servus communication. Generating full high energy counter waveform… standby… standby… activated.

With a crackle of discharge, the small device generated a high-powered energy wave in a huge bubble shaped emission. Precisely adjusted to match the exact frequency that would cancel the one being used by Drakken’s mind control, the effect was instantaneous. Servus blinked in cybernetic shock as nearly its entire communication web splintered into malfunctioning fragments.

“What the… OH MY ARGHHHHHHHHHHnnnnoooo!” Shego screamed, clutching her head.

Shego collapsed onto the floor, as the painful buzzing in her head suddenly exploded into agony. Something was crawling around inside her brain, its touch like liquid magma! Red hot claws dragged themselves across her mind, ripping her apart!

“Nnnggg…” Shego’s body moaned between gritted teeth. Kim watched in terror as the green woman began to shake and convulse, tears streaming down her face as all muscle control went haywire.

“Shego? What’s wrong?” Kim whispered, hesitantly reaching out a hand.

Snapping upright for a second, Shego’s body went rigid and Kim hastily pulled her arm back. “Error! Un… unab… unable to read primary program. Cohesion breakdown detected. Emergency systems engaged.” Her voice stated coldly.

Inside her brain tissue, the tiny robots that had locked their long spindly legs around Shego’s neurones automatically let go. Unable to function as a whole without the communication network they had established, many drifted inertly around. Some however, the ones who acted as central points, nodes to the others during communication, began to malfunction.

Some attempted to give orders, causing many of the nanobots to grip each other, their malfunctioning systems misinterpreting their fellow droids as cells. Others remained latched to the neurons they controlled, but sent high-powered waves of electricity through them, triggering them to fire.

“Kimmiee!”Shego cried out, writhing in the dark as wave after wave of pain shot through her body and through her mind. She reached out to the one person she didn’t feel ashamed of begging for help. The person she would do anything for if she would just stop the pain.The agonising, terrifying pain!

The burning coursed down her spine as if it were made of fluid and Shego sobbed uncontrollably in response. Paralysed, she was forced to endure the sensation as ripped its way across her skin, through her muscles and even into her very bones. To her horror, part of her remembered a similar agony. The same greasy waves of pain that had stuck to her, burned themselves into her, forced her to accept them no matter the cost. The day she lost her family and almost burned to death.

The nanobots in her autonomic centre reacted differently to the disruption signal. Some dropped away from the neurones they were latched to, but others began to feedback on the wave. With a flash of energy, many exploded as Doctor Possible, Jim, and Tim had both speculated, and feared, could happen. The damage to her motor cortex was severe, and the effect on Shego was terrible.

Black splotches swam across her vision as Shego screamed once more, hoarse from the blinding agony that continued to burn into her mind, the exploding robots inside her brain hammering an invisible spike into her skull.

“Am I dying?”She managed to whisper, feeling her heart hitch and tremble, hitch and almost stop breating.She could actually feel it missing beats. Another bolt of agony had her choking back vomit. “Is this hell? I… I don’t believe in hell, but… oh god, the pain!”

The pain in her chest was almost unbearable now. It felt like someone had reached in and had squeezed her heart to a stop. Feeling both unbearably hot and yet cold at the same time, the green woman sobbed helplessly.

“It’s not fair! I… I… I told her how I felt! She… she told me it was okay, that everything was making so much sense now! I didn’t have to pretend to be something I’m not around her. Shego felt the world darken, the cold overtaking the burning. Oh fuck… I’m really dying here! I… Kimmie, I love you, I wanted to be with you! I had so much to make up for everything I did before I worked it out! Why does the universe want to shit on everything I try to do? Everyone I love! It’s… it’s not fucking fair! I… Oh, so cold! So… so… Kimmie…”

Kim stared as Shego fell sideways onto the floor, her body flipping around like a beached fish. As her face slid towards the redhead, Kim flinched at the sight of her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, blood trickling out of her nose.

“Sh… Shego? Shego this isn’t funny, wake up. Wake up!”

“Kuh… Khhhim?” Shego slurred. So beautiful… why couldn’t I have met her first?

“Wake up!” Kim quickly slid next to the green woman and shook her gently. “Shego! Wake up, come on now!”

“Luvs yah, Km.” Shego managed to whisper before slumping in Kim’s hands as she fell unconscious.

Unseen inside her brain tissue, a flicker of green light gently traced the damage wrought by the nanobots detonation. With a sudden flash of energy, neurons that had been severed slowly began to reform their connections, the green glow of Shego’s power shining in the darkness.

“Kimmie… I… Kimmie… need you…”A voice whispered silently in the dark of a damaged mind.

“Rufus, what did you do?” Kim whispered, gently tugging Shego towards the wall, out of range. She quickly slid her ear against the woman’s chest and sighed with relief as she heard a heartbeat, no matter how irregular and weak. “What the hell did that thing do to Shego?”

In response, Rufus scampered across to the flashing Kimmunicator and tapped it. Keeping an eye on Ron’s battling form and the brutal combat between Yori and Shia, Kim picked up the device and glanced down at the screen. On the tiny device, she could see a flashing graph of some sort of radio wave and a green tick.

Waveform online… fully functional. Servus disruption successful.

“What is this?”

“Jammer!” Rufus chirruped. “Servy Jammer!”

Kim blinked and her eyes widened in understanding. She walked back to Shego’s unconscious form and gently tucked the Kimmunicator under the green woman’s belt. “I know why, I mean she was pounding me, but… is she going to be okay?” Kim asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.

“Dunno,” Rufus sighed, glazing at Shego’s slack face and tapping it gently. “not Doctor.”

“Doct… Oh god. Mom!” Kim glanced across to where her mother lay bound to the pillar, her eyes wide as she watching Ron fight the Jade. “I’ve gotta set her free. Rufus, think you can use monkey power to bite through the handcuffs?”

“Sure.” Rufus replied, jumping into her outstretched hands. “Let’s go…”

Kim moved towards her mother, only to gasp in horror as doors in the side of the lab wall slide open and Synthodrones began to march through. Their glowing eyes took in their designated targets and six moved towards Kim’s exhausted and beaten frame while four moved towards Shego’s unmoving body.

“You think you’re all that, Possible! But my drones have other ideas about you and that, that… slut I employed!”

Kim blanched, barely noticing Drakken’s mad laugh and taunt as she watched the drones walk towards Shego. She had to stop them, no matter how badly hurt she was. With a limp, Kim moved as quickly as she could to put herself between the drones and Shego.

“Rufus, get to mom, get her free!” Kim whispered to the mole rat. As Rufus nodded and jumped off her palm, Kim could only hope that her mother would remain as unnoticed as she had been. With one last glance to make sure Rufus was running towards her mother, Kim turned back to the Synthodrones and wearily raised her fists.

“Ron, I could really use some help here!” Kim cried out, dodging the blows of two drones while she battled her own injuries, and exhaustion, to slam fists into their soft, bioplasm filled bodies.

The problem was exactly that. Their bodies were soft, too soft. Every time Kim threw a punch, she felt her fist ram into the biopolymer ‘skin’ of the drones. She could feel the impact stretch it, feel the bioplasm slide out of her hands path, and yet she did no damage. Her fist would spring back into shape and she would be in the same situation as before. Her normal course would have been to use her lipstick laser, but here she had nothing but her bare knuckles and feet.

She missed the third one creeping up behind her, only knowing about its approach as a fist smacked into her back, making her stumble and cry out in shocked surprise. Her right foot slammed into its face, but she winced as the impact felt like she had hit a sack full of jelly. The retaliatory kick into her stomach left her choking on her knees.

Lifting her head, she watched in horror as one drone reached Shego and yanked her slack head upwards by the long dark hair. Staggering to her feet, Kim ran screaming at the drone, which glanced up and then stumbled backwards as she pushed him with all her might. As the drone righted itself and stared at her with emotionless glowing eyes, Kim felt sweat pool at the base of her spine as she took in her situation.

Surrounded on all sides, trying to protect a woman who had been her Nemesis before all this had occurred and was now something… else, with foes she couldn’t hurt, Kim knew she was in trouble.

“Ron! I can’t fight them! I… I’m losing?”

It was then that a rumble echoed around the cavernous space as a detonation made the entire lab shake. The huge strip lights flickered and as a new alarm sounded, they died in a fiery explosion of glass and electrical discharge.

---

Ron 12:40PM

“Doesn’t anyone find a weird glowing ninja blade scary anymore?” Ron muttered, ducking under a hissing blade and rolling away from the ninja who had swung it. “I mean, is it too much to ask for you all to be scared?”

A blow to the side of his head made the world spin for a second, and Ron rolled to the left and slashed upwards with the glowing blade in his hand as a counter. It met the ninjas sword in mid air, only for the Lotus Blade to slide through the shining steel as though it were butter. As the tip fell to the floor with a clatter, the Jade ninja stared at the hilt in his hand and then threw it.

As the wooden handle smacked into his forehead, Ron shook his head in disbelief. “Oh come on!”

Dodging the fists and feet of his weaponless opponent, Ron sidestepped as the enraged man charged him. Smoothly turning, the blond teen brought the Lotus Blade’s hilt down hard against the side of his head as he passed. The ninja crumpled, but Ron had no time to relax.

Three more charged him, blades gleaming, and Ron backed away. The sound of more razor sharp steel being unsheathed behind him made the blond teen turn. Another six Jade walked towards him, eyes intent. With his feet set in a defensive stance, and holding the Lotus blade across his chest with the tip of the blade pointing outward, Ron flicked his gaze around the approaching group.

As one charged, the point of his weapon aimed at Ron’s heart, the teen slashed outwards and upwards with the Lotus blade, knocking the tip of the sword away from his body. Smoothly, the blond teen stepped past the out held hand with the sword and, with no remorse, swung his knee directly into his attackers groin. Ignoring the scream, Ron watched with satisfaction as the Jade ninja crumbled, his Katana clattering onto the floor as he clutched the bruised and now agonising flesh between his legs.

Bonnie, thank you oh so very much! I never realised how useful you doing this, to that insulting prat in French class, would be to me.

That left the group of eight coming towards, exchanging glances between each other, and then staring with hatred at him. Oh yeah, fun… not. Despite the prowess he seemed to have with the Lotus blade, thanks to Yori’s hard training all those years ago, Ron knew that eight was pushing it for anyone.

While monkey power made him slightly faster, stronger and more alert, it did not make him truly superhuman. While it gave him superior ability with the styles of martial art that both Kim and Yori had taught him, it did not make him immortal or invulnerable to taking hits or feeling pain. That he could attest to, blood still leaking slightly from the red slash on his forehead and incalculable pain from the bruises. Some bone deep.

No, to fight these guys, he’d need something different… something capable of engaging multiple foes at once. Something he had been trained with and felt comfortable using. Suddenly the weapon came to him and concentrating as hard as he could, the Lotus blade shimmered and then vanished. Locking the shape that he wanted it to be in his mind, Ron let the monkey power flow and blend that image with reality. With a flash, where the sword had been, Ron now held two fans, identical to the ones that Yori used herself, except they shimmered with the same glow of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar energy.

Ron recalled all the training and sparring that he had done with Yori and her friends at Yamanouchi, knew that the fans were one of the few weapons he was comfortable with that could engage multiple foes such as this, and snapped the glowing fans open slowly.

“Okay guys, as Pain-King would say. ‘Let’s rumble!”

Turning with a grace that would have impressed Yori, Ron engaged the first two that attacked him with grace that would have shocked Kim. Dodging both blades swung at his body, Ron brought up the glowing fans and caught each one with a powerful slash. As before, the power of the lotus blade made the edge of the fans he held sharper than diamond. With a hiss, both passed through the ordinary metal of the Jade ninjas swords with a gentle, silky, whisper.

As they backed away, Ron held out his fans as all six of the remaining armed ninjas charged. He dodged two, ducked under the blade of one, cursed in pain as another missed with his weapon but caught the side of his head with a fist, and felt the air leave his lungs in a rush as a foot caught in his stomach, kicking him backwards. Only monkey power had Ron countering with a slash across the stomach muscles of the ninja who kicked him, a dodge of a second blade, and the smooth slicing of muscle and bone as Ron remorselessly removed the fingers clutching it.

Spinning away from the now screaming, fingerless, and bleeding ninja, Ron slid into a crouch and rolled away towards the staring Jade. The fans slashed out once again, catching the two ninjas in front of him by surprise, neither expecting him to move as quickly as he had. Both fell to the floor, screaming and clutching their legs as the fans sliced the muscle across their thighs.

Standing, Ron watched as the few still armed and standing backed away. His triumph was short lived as more Jade slid into the lab with a quiet whisper of cotton and leather. Taking in the scene, they moved towards him with determination. Cold, almost cruel determination was clearly written on their faces and Ron backed away, trying to judge the situation.

“Enough!” Kara’s voice echoed around the hall, and all eyes turned to her. “No more Stoppable. I am tired of your antics to save Kim Possible as much as I am tired of her resisting me. You have had your fun with my ninja forces, and I see I should have taken Yori’s boast of you being their Monkey Master seriously. However, though you may have Tai Sheng Pek Kwar skills and the Lotus blade itself, I doubt even you can stop a hail of bullets. Guards, deal with Mr Stoppable!”

Ron glanced around and paled as the Jade retreated, and the circle of Henchmen who had been staying back and observing, stepped forwards, rifles at the ready. He swallowed and agreed with Kara. Though the Lotus Blade could form any shape, he was at a loss to think of anything that could stop the hail of gunfire about to come his way.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kara nod with satisfaction and turn to watch the combat between the two women across the lab, one of them someone he cared for deeplyThe ratcheting sound of guns being cocked brought him back to the here and now.

Well, if anyone wants to suggest how I get out of this then please tell your local miracle worker about… now if you would. I’d really appreciate it.

“Ron, help me!” Kim’s cry and sudden shriek of pain made him start, and Ron turned to see what had happened to his friend. Kim had stumbled as a Synthodrone had punched her in the spine, making the redhead pitch forwards. He wished fervently for something to make him stronger or faster… anything to give him the power to save Kim and Yori.

As the Henchmen took aim, and the commander of the forces opened his mouth to order them to fire, the lights flickered with an electric buzzing, and the room began to rumble and shake as though someone had set off massively powerful explosives. The Henchmen, and Jade ninjas behind them, glanced around nervously, as the rumbling became worse. Suddenly, it died into an eerie silence.

Still alive, Ron snapped his eyes open in time to see the lights above him blow out in a shower of sparks, glass, and smoke carrying the pungent odour of ozone, plunging the room into darkness. In the pitch black, Ron rolled backwards, trying to find cover, while all the time shaking his head in disbelief.

Wow… miracle workers really do move fast in the twenty-first century. Well, they seem to do so for us heroes in need of assistance.In the dark, a single shot rang off the concrete close to him, and Ron paled, even as he heard an even more desperate cry from Kim.Hang on Kim… hang on!”

---

Kara- 12:40PM

“Hah! I knew that the automated factory would work!” Drakken crowed the words as the vast screen of his computer system showed the GJ scrambling towards the main hanger lift. “Yes! Run all you want! There is no escape for you on the second level, fools! I have my lovely self building battle droids coming through there as well!”

Watching Drakken cackle with satisfaction while she stared at the pictures on the main viewer, Kara nodded, pleased by what she saw. The GJ force had been whittled down on the top level, though the bottom floor had a strong force remaining. Now, with Drakken’s battle droids marching through the upper hanger door like a red tide, Kara knew it was only a matter of time until they were wiped out. She knew from the schematics, and long and dull lecture Drakken had given her, that the factory was pretty much impervious to attack. You would need a sky scraper suited demolition charge to destroy it, and the GJ had not come prepared. So, though she had lost many troops, more to Yamanouchi than the GJ, she now had a large number of both Henchmen and ninjas in reserve.

A definite stroke of luck… for I think I shall need them to beat this Ronald Stoppable.Kara mused as she watched Ron plough into her forces with the glowing blade of Yamanouchi. I should have held more respect for this legend. It seems the blade is truly magical in nature after all, most interesting… I wonder if it can be utilised for more ‘unique’ situations by someone without Tai Sheng Pek Kwar.

“Mistress.” A soft voice, strong yet elderly pulled Kara from her musings and she turned. Quia stared respectfully at her and then bowed his head. “Mistress, it seems Shego has failed… she is unconscious.”

“What?” Kara glanced across to where, minutes before, Shego had been smashing her fist into Kim’s cheek. Now, the redhead lay cradling the green woman as she jerked in her arms. It was almost as though Shego were having a stroke. Kara turned to Drakken. “Doctor! What is wrong with Servus?”

Drakken blinked at Kara’s words and glanced across at Shego. Seeing the green woman shake and then still, he turned to the computer and entered commands. The main servus status screen flashed onto the viewer and Drakken stared at it in horror.

“I… they’re malfunctioning! All of them!” Turning, the blue genius swallowed at Kara’s darkening gaze. “Something’s jamming the nanobots from taking to each other. The programs broken down and they’re malfunctioning. It could be killing her!”

“Ah, so not a total failure then.” Kara murmured, watching the flashing display. “This jamming signal, where is it coming from?”

“Somewhere in here, that’s the closest I can say,” Drakken muttered, punching buttons. “It has to be something Team Possible brought with them when they attacked. Everything was working fine until they showed up! It’s also got to be on or near Shego… I can barely detect the signal with this equipment as it is.”

“Then I suggest we incapacitate Kim and Shego as quickly as we can. Kim Possible will be powerless now, considering the beating she has taken. Shego is unconscious. We can handle both while Stoppable and Yori are being kept busy.”
“Ah, my synthodrones!” Drakken realised, pressing another set of buttons. “Excellent idea.”

“Why not let me handle this, Mistress?” Quia asked softly. “I can deal with a beaten and semi-conscious teenager.”

“Because I want you here.” Kara muttered for his ears only. She turned her attention to where Shia and Yori fought. “This is the ultimate test for Shia’s loyalty. I want to see if her oath to the Jade and her foolish notion of honour will keep her with us. If so, then she will kill Yori, a friend to her once, without remorse. If not, then it is time for Shia to retire from my side and you to take her place.”

Quia stiffened and a cruel smile flickered across his lips. “As my mistress commands.”

“Synthodrones are online and will intercept the targets in a few moments.” Drakken piped up from the computer.

All three glanced across to where Kim, battered and bleeding, stood in front of the unconscious form of Shego, fists raised. Around her, Synthodrones, masked as always, walked towards the two figures, their stride uncaring and unemotional.

With a grin, Drakken cackled. “You think you’re all that, Possible! But my drones have other ideas about you and that… that… slut I employed!”

Kara shook her head as the blue man grinned, pleased at his crude insult, and then moved slightly so that she could watch Shia and Yori once again. Something made her glance across at Ron’s fight first however, and she stared in shock and then in growing disgust and rage.

The blond teen now faced another group of her Jade forces. The previous, armed, group now either lying around him, bleeding or unconscious, a few now part of the third group to attack the so called monkey master.

This has gone beyond a joke!Kara thought, snarling and glancing across at Quia, who shrugged in disbelief. I am tired of Ron Stoppable as much as I am tired of Kim San and accursed Yori.

“Enough!” Kara’s voice echoed around the hall, and all eyes turned to her. “No more Stoppable. You may have Tai Sheng Pek Kwar skills, and the Lotus blade itself, but I doubt even you can stop a hail of bullets. Guards, deal with Mr Stoppable!”

She watched as the blond teen swallowed in shock as Drakken’s armed men all swung their guns from their shoulders and moved forwards amongst her ninjas. As she heard the metallic clicking of the weapons being armed, Kara smiled with cold satisfaction and then turned to watch Shia and Yori fight.

Good… everything is back in order and proceeding well. Kara’s smile widened. I doubt we will have any further prob-

The thought broke off as a rumble ripped its way through the concrete below her feet, making the entire lab tremble. Shocked, Kara glanced up as the main lights in the cavernous room flickered.

“What-” She managed, before the entire room plunged into darkness and the combat cries of Ron, Yori, Shia and the Jade became cries of shock.

No! Kara thought, staring with growing anger into the darkness. Not now!

---

Mara- 12:20PM

“Hurry up Doc!” Mara screamed the words loudly through her speakers as she tore around the upper hanger bay, tires screaming in protest as she hurled herself around obstructions. Red laser blasts, along with the explosions of missiles, from the huge mechanical monstrosities storming along behind her the very reason for her mad scramble.

Her armour plating was badly damaged, had been before this robots had appeared. Now, as the red droids all packed far more advanced and deadly weaponry than the Henchmen and ninjas that she had dealt with before, Mara was seriously beginning to take punishment as round after round slammed past her defences and peppered her armour.

Huge gaping holes covered her once pristine red body and underneath, the secondary covering of heat and impact absorbing plastic and ceramic sandwich was already glowing brightly in places and cracked in others.

Fifteen of her thirty vital systems were in the flashing amber of alert status, indicating major battle damage. Two were in the red, almost totally destroyed. One of these was the cooling system of her engine, and Mara knew that her emergency cooling systems were almost as badly damaged from the way her displays kept dipping into the critical section of her awareness.

Let alone the fact that she herself was battling agony, thanks to Wade allowing her to feel pain for ‘self awareness’, Mara was also trying to focus on her surroundings. Her CPU’s worked almost to the point of self-destruction as she dodged laser and missile blasts while staying mobile… hell, even alive! All so that Global Justice had cover, vital cover, as they retreated towards the lift shaft.

Just another few seconds…Mara thought desperately. If she had been programmed with the ability to sweat, she would have been. Another shot slammed into her side, luckily where the photonic defence net was still operating, barely, and the energy shot into her warped and melting airfoil. Just another few seconds!

---

Director- 12:21PM

Doctor Director yanked a half-conscious soldier along under her arm, sweat pouring off her forehead as she tried to ignore the explosions, laser blasts, and screams of pain from Mara as they echoed around behind her. She knew that Kim’s car was giving her time to get her men to safety, but for what?

Around her, the surviving medics and many Yamanouchi ninjas who had, to her great surprise, gone back into he maelstrom of firepower to drag GJ agents to safety after resting their own injured on the platform, pulled the final few bleeding marines onto the lift.

“Hang on!” Doctor director screamed, ducking as a battle droid turned towards her and fired a missile. The weapon screamed overhead and blew part of the wall behind them to pieces. Slamming the button on the control panel next to her, the lift shaft hurtled downwards to the lower level.

The sounds of battle did not diminish however, much to Doctor Director’s horror. In fact, they intensified. As the lift slid to a halt, everyone on the platform stared in shock at the bedlam around them.

The same blood red battle droids, though far fewer of them, lay in pieces around the lower hanger. Someone had overturned cars and trucks with inhuman strength to act as barricades and cover for the marines and ninjas crouched behind them. Everyone who was capable seemed to be firing guns and missile launchers at lower inner door. Narrowing her eyes, Doctor Director could see why. There, stuck halfway in-between the huge metal blast doors, with its claws scraping them frantically as it tried to get free, stood a Battle Droid. Behind it, eyes glowing in the gloom beyond, stood fifteen more.

“Push everyone!” The deep voice of Hego, the man himself leaning against one of the huge doors and straining, echoed around the hanger, above the sounds of explosive combat. “Push with everything you have! We’ve got to close this door and stop them coming through!”

On the other side, GJ marines and ninjas, the black clad figures jammed in-between the door and the runner it ran along in a column, six people high. All of them strained with effort and with a squeal the doors closed another couple of inches, making the droid retract one arm

“Squad three, flank that droid on the left and take it down!” Dash Deman’s voice echoed from Doctor Directors left and she glanced across to see her second in command giving clear orders into a walkie talkie. Glancing up, he yelled over the din. “Hego, how long? Mara said she was about to deal with the problem upstairs! We have to close that door!”

“Another thirty seconds!” Hego yelled back. “Mego, jam the hydraulic pipe again and we’ll try to shut it!”

Doctor Director couldn’t see Hego’s brother anywhere, but knew that the purple man must be in the thick of it. Shaking her head, she ran across to Dash while the ninjas and troops all pulled their injured comrades off the lift platform to safety.

“Dash! What’s the status here?”

Dash glanced up and a relieved, almost thankful, expression slid onto his face as Betty Director, bleeding but in one piece, slid into place alongside him. “Sir, we have contained the Henchmen and Jade ninjas down here, in no small part to Team Go, and are currently trying to shut that damn door!”

“Why?” Doctor Director asked, watching as the doors slid shut with another squeal of protest, until only a thin crack lay between them. As the troops cheered, Hego picked up a truck and rammed it into the runner on his side, before running across and doing the same to the other side.

“Didn’t she tell you?” Dash asked, receiving a shake in response. “Oh.”

“Well, we were in quite an A1 hopeless situation, Dash. I rather think that Ms Mara don’t think she had time to brief me. All she said was to get our men and the injured down here and to tell you to shut the lower hanger door. Something I see she has already informed you about. Now, could you tell me why?”

Dash shrugged, ignoring the flash of annoyance in the dark haired woman’s remaining eye. “All she said was that she was going to take care of the droid problem.”

“How?”

---

Mara 12:26PM

Mara’s sensors, or what remained of them, reported that no human lifesigns were in the upper hanger any longer and she sent out a prayer to any artificial intelligence benevolent god that was listening.

Another impact slammed into her bodywork, blasting a huge chunk out of her final defence layer, but Mara barely paid it any heed. As she screamed towards the gaping inner doorway and the marching squads of droids, she busily prepared one of the few weapons left to her.

Initiate plasma charge of Flanner anti-matter grenade. All safeties off, all fuses charge and prime!

With a click, a small portion of the liquid plasma from her fusion engine was diverted into a glowing blue cylinder nestled inside her rear ammunition chamber. It pulsed and whined with energy as small rods slid into its bodyshell and, with an audible click, the middle began to glow yellow.

Mara roared straight into the massed lines of battle droids, twenty in all, who proceeded to aim at her bonnet. In defence, and to buy her the time she needed, Mara charged her lockdown generator. Though badly damaged itself, the generator had enough systems intact to create a narrow field in front of her, and Mara shot through the mass of lethal metal, the droids in front shattering and flying sideways as the field ripped into them like a plough.

With a scream of brakes, the car span around near the entrance to the factory until her boot pointed into the huge clicking machinery. Another set of laser blasts slammed into Mara’s rear armour, the titanium glowing red as it dissipated the energy. Mara knew she had seconds to do what she wanted.

The bumper on her rear dropped a few centimetres with a hiss of hydraulics and as it did so the glowing blue and yellow grenade slid into position. Behind her bumper, concealed, lay a military issue, heavily modified, grenade launcher. It was into the barrel of this weapon that the grenade settled itself.

Mara’s tactical systems judged the distance to the middle of the huge factory, the number of obstacles that lay between it and Mara herself. With some intense number crunching, they plotted the perfect arc of trajectory and uploaded it to the grenade launcher, the anti-matter grenade primed inside.

More laser blasts slammed into her armour, making Mara wince in pain as she ordered the grenade to fire. With a roar of power, the grenade launcher blasted the glowing device over the heads of the droids that stomped towards Mara’s parked form. The Flanner grenade bounced once, twice and a third time, to come to a rest next to the huge computer system that controlled the automated factory, a green line around the rim rapidly beginning to turn red.

Move! Gotta move! Mara’s wheels screamed against the concrete of the hanger and her red body hurtled towards the lift that would take her down to where the others were waiting. Mara could only hope that they had managed to get the door shut below, or else it would be very unpleasant for all concerned.

Her thoughts were disrupted as a lucky shot from one of the droids behind her smacked into her rear right tyre and blew through the kevlar/rubber mesh. With a scream of unbalanced power, and the strange grinding of metal on concrete, Mara span out of control as her wrecked traction control systems tried to compensate. While she wrested with the earlier battle damage and her own body, the countdown inside her head ticked steadily downwards.

Inside the factory, the Flanner grenade flashed and began to hiss into the concrete, ignored by the stomping feet that slammed around it as more droids rolled off the assembly line. With a flash of energy, the grenade began to hum, building up a charge.

With a squeal of brakes and a flash of sparks from the tyre-less wheel rim, Mara wrested herself under control and began to move as fast as she could to the lift and safety. The countdown inside her head reached zero, and Mara cursed loudly. She wasn’t going to make it at this speed.

A sudden blast of laser energy behind her made her scream in pain. The shot, coming from the closest droid, the only one in range, slammed past the secondary layer of ceramic and ripped its way into her engine bay. It peppered her fusion engine with damage, wrecking havoc inside the delicate parts assembled in their vibration dampening assembly and breached one of the hundreds of doughnut shaped electromagnets. With a hum, the engine deactivated itself, as safety systems flicked on to prevent plasma breaching the emergency shield of the main fusion core. With no energy powering the magnetic turbines connected to her driveshaft, and no plasma flowing into her ionised afterburner, Mara found she had no force going to her wheels.

“No! No! Damn it!” Mara cried out the words as she helplessly rolled to a stop, inches from the gaping lift shaft. Not only had she run out of locomotive power, but she had also run out of time. Closing her eyes, or what passed for them, the AI waited for the end.

Inside the factory the grenade flickered one final time and the whine reached a pitch that set teeth on edge. In a blinding flash of white light, the device detonated. With a rumbling roar, the factory and droids were engulfed in an expanding mass of white energy that seemed to dissolve anything it touched. The grenade shell had been literally one hugely powerful magnetic bottle, much like the donut shaped rings that contained the plasma Mara’s engine generated. The difference had been that inside the magnetic force, keeping it from touching the sides, had lain a tiny single molecule of pure metallic antimatter. Now, as the antimatter met matter, both annihilated each other into pure energy that generated terrible heat and ionised the atmosphere.

In front of the hissing white barrier of superheated vapour and ionised gas, the distortion of pressure had caused the air to ripple into a barrier of powerful sound waves that shook and destroyed anything in its path. The force of this barrier ripped and distorted the upper factory door as it shot past, only for the thick metal begin to thin and ripple as it was consumed by the inferno of white gas and heat.

In the lower portion of the hanger, the GJ troops, Yamanouchi Ninjas and team Go, all watched in horrified fascination as the huge inner doors shook with energy and then began to bend. They ran as the doors cracked, almost giving way as the antimatter maelstrom picked at the other side but Mara had been careful and the explosion had been carefully calculated to make it oval in shape.

The shockwave finally reached Mara, and she let out a shriek of fear as the wave picked her up and shoved her over the lip of the lift shaft, hundreds of her systems flashing alerts and dying as her badly compromised EMP shielding failed to hold up against the onslaught. Her body barely slid out of the way as the barrier of energy shot overhead, the tip of her warped and melted spoiler vanishing in a hiss of vapour as the superheated mass clipped it.

Her heavy red body plunged helplessly into the hanger below and was met with screams and the sounds of people desperately diving out of the way. She hit the platform of the lift with a scrape of metal on metal and bounced, flipping onto her rear and smacking into concrete with a deafening thud. The front section of her bonnet crumpled slightly as it hit and as Mara pitched over onto her roof, the plastisteel windows cracked. With a final groan of stressed metal, Mara flipped one final time, before finally rolling to rest on her roof.

Above Mara’s still form and the trembling humans, the glowing bubble of white energy flickered and then vanished with a bang. The air roared back into the vacuum it left behind and then silence reined. Where an automated factory and part of a hanger used to be, now lay a huge spherical hole smoothly carved out of solid rock by incredible energy.

After a few minutes, Doctor Director ran a trembling hand over her face and slowly walked towards the leaking and hissing wreck of what was once a powerful vehicle. Licking her lips with uncommon worry, the one eyed woman gently reached out and touched the red metal of Mara’s warped and coolant leaking bodyshell.

She quickly pulled her fingers back, hissing in pain as the tips blistered, the car’s metal body radiating whatever it had been subjected to above them. Mara was, in short, hot. Terribly hot,

Glancing around, Doctor Director leaned in close. “Mara? Mara can you hear me?”

She stared, feeling helpless, as the car remained silent. After a few minutes, she tried again. “Mara? Say something if you can hear me!”

Just as she was about to give up hope, a faint flicker caught Betty Director’s eye. Almost ghostlike, the image of Mara’s avatar flickered weakly into life next to her front left tyre, upside down. To her horror, the AI was clutching her body and ‘kneeling’ in the air, but the obvious physical distress she was in was clearly printed on her face.

Doctor Director knew that Mara could feel pain. Indeed, she had been one of the few to agree with Wade that it would make the AI far more human in attitude, and able to mesh with Kim’s own ideas of the value of life. However, as the GJ leader stared at the flickering figure in front of her, gazing at the way the AI’s hair lay clumped, and if she wasn’t mistaken, smoking, while her mouth worked silently, she wondered if it had been a good idea.

“Mara?” She whispered again, worried as the main display inside the car flashed red alarms for every single system that Doctor Director knew the car had. She could only imagine how the AI felt, or even if she was aware of her surroundings. If the EMP shielding had been compromised in her databanks, then Mara would probably have the computer equivalent of brain damage.

The AI blinked, almost coming back to herself and the pained expression vanished, artfully buried, though Doctor Director could tell she was still in agony. As Mara’s eyes glanced up at her, the one eyed woman kneeled gently and waited. Finally, the AI spoke in a harsh voice.

“Well, fuck me if all I can say is… Ow!”

---

Jasmine 12;40PM

Tucked inside the air vents that lead to the lab, Jasmine and her two fellow ninjas crept slowly along the metal surface, all the time listening to the sounds of combat coming from the vent in the distance.

As the three of them finally reached the metal grate that covered the air vent’s exit, Jasmine took in the scene in front of her with dismay.

Yori and Shia, her beautiful and foolish Shia, both stood facing each other, locked in combat. Both almost seemed to… to dance while they lashed out with kicks and punches, some impacting with the terrible sound of flesh on bone. Both looked for an opening in the others defence, both held their favoured weapons, and Jasmine winced quietly as she noticed the terrible slashes and blood that trickled across the bodies of both of them.

Close to where they fought, the hated figure of Kara Fang watched with almost obscene delight. Jasmine felt her hands clench at the sight of Shia’s sister and she snarled, only for Hirotaka to gently place a hand on her shoulder as he too took in the fight and the amused woman who watched.

“No, not yet… do not let rage control you.”

Taking a deep breath, Jasmine nodded and glanced across at Yori’s American friends.

Kim Possible fought with what had to be, from the description Yori had given her, Shego. The redhead fell to the floor, obviously exhausted from the Jade treatment of her and feebly raised her hands in supplication. Shego, however, did not seem to care, and Jasmine could only wonder at the terrible feeling the green woman had to feel as she attacked the helpless woman. According to Yori once again, Shego was assaulting the woman she loved. It had to be this Servus device. Jasmine decided it was truly an evil creation and had to be stopped, along with Fang and the Jade.

Ron Stoppable, the Master of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar as every Yamanouchi student knew, was busy fighting what seemed to be a flood of Jade ninjas. Initially unarmed, Jasmine could only watch in horror as he punched and kicked his way inside a rapidly shrinking circle of razor sharp steel.

She had been about to slip out of the vent and go to his aid, when the blond teen seemed to almost flip into the air with barely a twitch of muscle. His black clothed body had slid along the floor and then, to the three Yamanouchi student’s admiration, the glowing shape of the Lotus Blade had flown to Ron’s hand.

The tide had turned as the Lotus blade shimmered and flashed, and Ron had become a black and blond blur as he tore into the Ninjas attacking him. All Jasmine could see from her vantagepoint in the vent, was the occasional Jade ninja staggering away, wounded. A sudden hiss made her glance across to the huge lab doors as they slid open and more Jade ninjas poured in.

Hirotaka watching next to her glanced across. “We must help both Ron San, Yori and Kim Possible. While Yori is a fellow student, Yamanouchi owes Kim and Ron a debt of honour. Hai?”

Jasmine nodded, sliding her black mask down over her head. The sound of combat coming from where Ron and the pile of Jade ninjas fought below them was becoming intense and far louder and vicious in nature.

“Hai. You and Brianna will go to help Ron San and Kim Possible. Keep them safe and aid them as much as you can, understood?”

Nodding, Brianna tugged on Jasmine’s foot, the young student lying behind Hirotaka and the white haired woman. “Jasmine, what will you do?”

“You know very well what I have to do… what I must do.” Jasmine sighed and licked her lips. She had never felt this nervous before. “I go to face Shia one last time, and it will be her decision as to what will happen. If I am forced to, then it will be me who ends her life… someone who loves her with all her heart. Do you understand?” Hirotaka and Brianna nodded, and Jasmine took a cleansing breath. “Then we should-“

A sudden rumble slammed into the air vent, shaking the young Yamanouchi students around inside the tiny metal tube like peanuts. As quickly as it had begun, however, it stopped and they glanced at each other.

“What was that?” Hirotaka whispered, rubbing his head where it had slammed into the metal side of the air vent’s surface.

“I do not know. However it does not change our plans. We should… look!” Jasmine pointed excitedly to the flickering lights and then as the room plunged into darkness, her fingers slid onto Hirotaka’s arm. “This is an unexpected advantage, we can keep the element of surprise.”

“Yes.” Hirotaka murmured. “Do we move?”

All three Ninjas heard the toneless female voice of a computer. “Warning. Main power offline! Auxiliaries routing in five seconds.”

Jasmine nodded in the dark. “We move… now!”

---

Ron 12:41PM

In the dark, Ron was becoming desperate. Bullets had begun to ricochet off the concrete once again. To his dismay, the Henchmen were aiming roughly in the direction he had been before the lights vanished, and they were good shots. In defence, Ron rolled to the right, but the problem remained. How would he defeat people with guns?

“Could you kill someone trying to kill you?”Doctor Director’s words slipped into his mind and Ron wondered himself if he really could.

A feminine scream echoed around the room and Ron paled. That sounded like Yori…. Oh god! He couldn’t help her, if she was in trouble, as he had his own fight to stay alive. Ron could only pray that all her training had meant the scream had been a wound.

“Automatic backup online. Emergency lighting activated.” The same female computer voice he had heard echoing around the room announced. A dull hum echoed around the dark space, and suddenly a sickly grey white light flickered into life that dully lit the huge chamber. Though darker than before, the room filled with gloomy shadows at its edges, the hulking machinery now almost black shapes with the pulse of dull lights, there was sufficient light to see by, but only just.

Ron knew he was in trouble, something confirmed by the clicking of loaded guns being aimed right at him. Laser aiming spots danced across his battle suit and Ron wondered just how many lucky shots, scraping past the Kevlar armour and mono filament weaved panels, it would take to kill him. Even the Lotus Blade’s ability to form a shield would be useless, surrounded as he was.

“Ready!” The commander of the Henchmen ordered, and Ron swallowed.

Damn, I wish KP had been saving me, then this would all have worked out and we’d have won. Kim, Yori, Mrs P… Shego, I’m sorry.

“Fi-“ The commander broke off as an air vent behind him blew into the huge lab. Blinking, he had seconds to recognise the figure, glaring at him with determined eyes from the darkened tube, as Yamanouchi, before it rolled into the laboratory. To his horror, the figure slid out Shuriken from its belt and, with an experienced flick, they whistled through the air. He barely had time to open his mouth and order his troops to attack, when the bladed stars slammed into his throat. Choking, he fell to the floor as blood spilled between fingers as he clutched at his throat.

Five Henchmen whirled to fire, but another two figures had rolled out of the vent and were faster. More Shuriken whistled across the room, burying themselves into flesh, causing screams of pain. Clatters of metal on concrete echoed around the room as rifle after rifle was dropped, the injured Henchmen backing away and finally running from the black clothed figures.

Before the remaining six Henchmen could react, the figures launched themselves into the suddenly terrified guards. Swords flashed, blood sprayed and Henchmen scattered left and right, dashing for the main doors clutching their hands or stomachs in pain. Others fell out of the writhing group, some unconscious, others stanching bleeding heads and Ron guessed that they had received a Katana hilt in the face.

Screams echoed around the room, along with the yells of Jade ninjas trying to force their way into the group of men to defend them and assault the attackers. As the red sashed ninjas pushed past screaming men, there was a sudden silence.

“Yamanouchi! Yamanouchi!” A voice suddenly cried out in the middle of the Jade ninjas, now huddled around the three figures at the centre, before screaming. The Jade fell back, blades held out and Ron stared in shock.

There, standing in the middle of the backing away ninjas stood three figures, one male, two female. None of them he recognised, except for the familiar slash of a white lotus flower embroidered on their chest that did indeed indicate they were from Yamanouchi.

One of the figures glanced across to where he stood and, making sure to keep his back away from the carefully retreating Jade, ran across to where the blond teen kneeled. The hood covering the face of the ninja who had saved his life slid off as a hand yanked at it, and Ron stared into the soft eyes of the man underneath. The face nudged his memory, but Ron came up blank.

“Um, thanks?”

“Ron San, I am Hirotaka. Sensei sends his regards to you and Yori and wonders if you require assistance?”

Ron breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I wouldn’t say no. Quick, we have to save Kim! Well, I have to save Kim. I need you to help Yori!”

Hirotaka smiled and pointed. Ron followed his gaze to see one of the female figures holding the Jade at bay, nod at her partner and then backflip over a group of Jade ninjas that kept Yori and Shia from view.

“Do not worry about Yori, Ron San. One of us is already going to help her.” Ron caught sight of a white blond woman flipping effortlessly over a group of Jade ninjas, and running in the direction of Yori. Hirotaka bowed. “As for Kim, you go and give her assistance, myself and Brianna will take care of the Jade in here. Go!”

With that, the spiky haired Ninja ran towards where the woman known as Brianna fought multiple Jade ninjas. Hoping they could hold out, Ron dashed across to where Doctor Possible lay manacled to the pillar she had initially been bound to.

As the redhead breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar face, Ron raised the glowing Lotus Blade and slashed through her bonds effortlessly.

“You okay Doc?”

“I’m fine! You need to go and help Kim. Quickly now Ron!”

Ron nodded, casting a quick final check around to make sure that Mrs Possible was safe for the moment, before launching himself across the short amount of space and slamming into the body of the drone closest to Kim. The redhead glanced across, and a smile flickered on her lips as her best friend leapt into battle next to her.

“Miss me, KP? Booyah!”

---

Yori 12:30PM

Staggering, Yori caught Shia’s swung blade between her fans and tossed it to one side. The spin made Shia stagger slightly, thrown off balance by the weight of her own blade. However, bleeding from multiple cuts on her body, exhausted from the battle between them, Yori found it hard to counter and impossible to actually attack.

The dark haired ninja was badly injured. Her right arm was badly slashed, the muscles underneath herbleeding skin ripped and sliced to the point of them being unable to lift her fan. To compensate, Yori had shifted defence to her left fan, but that had meant leaving her right side open to attack. Shia had noticed and had taken advantage as any professional would. Yori now tried to ignore the burning bruise on her kidney, a gift from Shia’s Katana handle,and the painful cuts on her side. It had resolved itself into a difficult task, even for her.

Shia fared no better. Bleeding from her Jade outfit in multiple places, she dragged her right leg, the muscle slashed so many times that, like Yori’s arm, it was useless. Her response had been to shift all weight off her damaged leg, which had caused her to leave her left side open to attack. Shia, being the professional she was, had taken advantage of a weakness. Now, Shia tried to ignore the fan slashes and aching bruises from Yori’s kicking feet. A hard task, even for her. Her right hand held her Jade blade tightly, so tightly that her knuckles were white with the effort and she smiled grimly.

“You are… proficient… as always.” She managed, grimacing as her breath left her body in feral pants. It was a sign of weakness, just like clutching her side, and she hated herself for it. “Yet, I cannot wonder why you do not strike me down… you have had many chances!”

Yori stared at her once friend and smiled back, teeth gritted against her own pain. Her voice however, was quiet and tender when she spoke. “I am not going to kill you… even if you wish me to.”

The words made Shia hunch slightly, an almost defensive expression slip onto her face. “I am not letting you kill me.”

Yori’s smile faded, a look of regret replacing it. “Now you lie to me? Despite all you have done since you told me the truth in the snow and the blood, swore to never lie to me again, I never thought you would break that oath!” Shia winced, backing away slightly, feeling her sisters gaze on her neck. “We shared a moment of peace up there, a time for telling of truth! I knew you were working for the Jade, because you told me. I knew of your love for Jasmine, because you told me! Now, because of your guilt, you lie to me?”

“I told you, I am notletting you kill me!” Shia snapped, her expression almost panicked. “I am defending myself and my sister! I am not betraying the Jade!”

“More lies!” Yori whispered, her gaze boring into Shia’s hesitant one. “It occurs to me that though I am far more proficient in hand to hand and fan combat than yourself, you are an expert in sword combat. Sensei himself was impressed with your abilities, which is why you went to the contest to represent us, not me or any other!”

Shia swallowed, a tiny motion, but one that made Yori’s eyes narrow. The blond woman shook her head. “Contests mean nothing! I-“

“Stop this lying!” Yori snapped. “Do you really think that you have reached that point, Shia? The point where everything you have done for honour, for the Jade, sickens you and you wish to die as well as you can?”

“I am not-“ Shia swallowed, the doubt rippling under her fealty to the Jade. The guilt tearing at the locks she had restrained it with.

“You areand it frightens me that I almost did not see it! You have been holding back, holding back and fighting to just under your abilities. You want me to kill you, why?”

“You will only kill me if you win!”

Yori shook her head. “I do not kill those who wish to die for the sake of leaving life behind. Which is what you wish… I can only begin to feel compassion for you.”

“I said I do not!” Shia’s composure broke and the blond woman launched herself at Yori with as much force and muscle power as her tired body could provide.

I am not letting her win! I am not… I… I cannot…I… She is better, shewill win and I will die cleanly! That is all that can happen, what fate wishes to happen. Shia’s thoughts whirled around inside her head, mind fighting her heart, as she staggered across to the Yamanouchi ninja and slammed her Jade blade hard against the fans held up in defence. She did not notice the tears begin to trickle down her face, months of denial and self hatred releasing as part of her knew Yori was the key to leaving the shame she denied she felt, behind. She is better! She will win! She must win! Her fans are better, she was always better than me in so many arts… she has to win! I cannot keep living one set of beliefs while performing another! I hate what I have become! I hate it!

Yori hissed as the pain rippled up her arms as Shia hammered again and again with her Katana, almost sobbing. Defending against such an attack was hard, but she could do it. She would do it for Shia… her friend. Even as Shia hammered, Yori could only wonder what terrible conflicts had raged inside a woman, she had originally thought as calm and rational, to take her to the point of self-hatred.

Sliding to one knee under the blows, Yori pivoted smoothly, her foot snapping out in a sweeping kick. Shia was too preoccupied with hammering her blade against Yori’s fans and did not notice in time to defend herself. With a cry, Shia felt the stinging impact of Yori’s foot against the back of her right leg, and she stumbled backwards and fell.

But then, the Jade is a terrible society to swear an oath to… I knew that, years ago, when they offered. Which is why I sent their messenger away with a definitive response when he called at my parents home. Shia, you never had the option, did you? The woman who saved you, or so you thought, was part of them, offered you warmth and safety instead of more pain and suffering, after you had lost all… yes, I can see why you joined. I would have as well if in the same position. You saw the Jade as kind… but never knew the truth about your mother’s ‘theft’. Nor did your sister… though I doubt she would have cared when she slaughtered her.

A blow was taken, but ignored. Still, you do… you feel you owe the Jade everything now that you know the truth about your sister and her perverse pleasure at killing your mother. But the Jade has hidden a terrible truth from both of you! While Kara would not care, you will… it could save you! I have to try! Though I wish Jasmine were here… she might have given it far more impact.”

The realisation of Shia’s impossible position, the lack of paths other than death, became clear to Yori and the ninja rolled away. She had the information that could save her. Sliding to one knee, fans open once more, Yori shook her head. “Shia, wait! I have an offer of more information… something that may make a path to freedom and honour remain open!”

“There is none!” Shia whispered, pausing to gain her breath. Sweat trickled down her spine, her sisters ranting and demands for Yori’s death a dull buzz. “Defend yourself!”

“Shia, no! Listen-“

Yori held up her fans as the blond woman ran forwards once more, intent on absorbing them all, catching the blade, twisting to hold it in her fan’s grip, and telling her face to face. That was when the power failed.

Shia blinked, stumbling slightly as the ground beneath her feet vanished into darkness. She fell forwards and the tip of her Katana whistled through the air, unheeded by the disorientated woman. She felt the tip scrape and skitter along the metal of what had to be Yori’s fans, and then it hit something soft. Her body weight pushed the blade into the surface and Shia’s face blanched in fear as a high pitched scream of agony almost deafened her.

Tugging on her blade and feeling resistance, the blond woman felt a terrible realisation began to creep over her. A second tug had a moan of pain slip from the darkness in front of her and as something wet began to spill down across her hand gripping the hilt, Shia felt horror grip her and her voice trembled. “Yori?”

“So, I see you are resolute, Shia…” Yori’s voice was quiet, a moan mingling with the words.

“Auxiliary power engaged.” The computer voice echoed behind Shia.

With a hum, the main lights to the lab flickered back on and Shia blinked, gasping in horror. The stumble had caused her to fall forwards, the tip of her Jade blade piercing Yori through the shoulder. Now, the Yamanouchi ninja lay kneeling on the floor completely pinned by Shia’s sword, the tip having gone into a concrete pillar behind her, a good few inches.

The injured woman gritted her teeth against the pain of her situation and stared up at Shia. “To see a time when you would hurt an old friend like this, it saddens me.”

“I didn’t… I mean, I hadn’t…” Shia swallowed, her eyes drifting down and widening at the sight of her fingers, trembling. As she tried to will them to stop, Yori’s right hand slid onto her hand as it clutched the hilt, the red trickles spilling over both.What have I done?

“It is not… too… late.” Yori murmured, trying to will the shock that threatened to swamp her away. “I am a friend, Shia.”

“I know…” Shia whispered. She looked up into Yori’s pain filled eyes. “I cannot do this. I cannot kill a friend, no matter the reason!”

“Yes you can.” The voice came from behind the two of them and Shia turned slightly as a gentle clapping echoed around her and Yori. Kara stood next to Doctor Drakken, nodding with approval at the sight in front of her, eyes gleaming with delight. “Well done, Shia. For a moment, I began to doubt your true loyalty. I see that I was wrong, you certainly have it inside you, the capability to kill even those closest to you.”

“It was an accident!” Shia retorted, the words spilling quickly. “I never intended to… I mean, I had no chance to attack as I wished!”

“Does that really matter?” Kara stared into the blue eyes and watched them flinch. “Shia, all you need to do now is take Yori’s life. Do as I ask and then take your rightful place by my side, sister. I need you Shia. I need someone I can trust and family is the closest bond I have!”

Liar! You killed our mother! Regardless of that however, I have… duty.Shia turned back to where Yori kneeled still, grasping the shining blade piercing her shoulder. Can I do this? Can I kill a… a friend? I have always had trouble with killing people I do not know! To do this… I… I.

“Kara, do not ask me… please!”

Her sister shook her head and sighed as Shia swallowed. You still cling to life being precious, when so many let it flow through their hands like so much water. When I saw that, living in the slums after the orphanage, I realised then that to take life is no great deal. There is no shame, no fear, no stain… only professionalism and knowledge in a job well done. Of course, that extends into taking the difficult task of torturing to death those that opposed or harmed you in some way. Prolonging the pain, the vengeance, until they beg you to end it… that is hard. Still, we all have to start somewhere, and for you sister, it will be taking Yori’s life.

“Sister, if not for me, for the Jade. For those who clothed you, fed you and trained you. Yori is Yamanouchi, our sworn enemies. Kill her and fulfil the pledge!”

“I-“

“Kill her!”

Shia crouched next to Yori, who stared at her with pain filled eyes. As Shia gazed deeper, she realised that Yori’s eyes were not only pain-filled, but that they shone with silent forgiveness and understanding… An acceptance, calm and humble, of what might ultimately happen to her. Almost… almost peaceful! The knowledge made Shia shake her head, as the feeling of guilt twisted painfully in her gut.

“Shia, you are free to choose your path.” Yori murmured, the gaze never leaving her friends face.

“I wish it were that simple.” Shia whispered, feeling Kara’s eyes bore into the back of her skull. “I am sorry for what I must do. However, I promise I will make it quick, you will not feel a thing.”

“Those who say it is never simple are often being fooled, by themselves or others. Shia, no matter what you have done, I cannot help but feel something … Pity.” Yori shook her head. “Pity for you, for the life you will choose if you take mine.”

“Pity is something the powerful allow themselves to feel when confronted with the powerless!” Kara snorted, not noticing that both women ignored her. “Shia has power, Yori. And she can have more if she obeys me! And the Jade! Shia, I will ask this one last time. Kill… Yori! ”

Shia turned back to Yori and stared at her, watched as the Yamanouchi ninja gritted her teeth trying to free herself from her Jade blade, but failing. Shia tugged gently on the Jade blade, but Yori cried out in pain, fresh blood spilling down the sword as she did so.

Unable to free it from the pillar without causing Yori agony, Shia shook her head and her hand slid down to the blue hilt of the only sword left. She glanced down to the blade she had won all those years ago at Yamanouchi and began to slide it free from the scabbard. With the quiet sound of tempered metal leaving leather, the point of her katana whispered out of the scabbard’s top and Shia swung the blade, testing it as her eyes fixed on the gleaming metal.

Won for honourable combat while at Yamanouchi. Always sitting on my wall, always kept…well, clean. I never expected, never wanted, to use it against anyone. Can I do this? Will I do this?

She watched as her hand almost involuntarily moved the point down towards the ground and Shia shook her head.

“Sister, I-“

“I grow tired of this! If you will not kill her, I will!” Kara hissed the words behind her. “I will do it painfully, and prolong the experience I promise you, in return for all the inconvenience that Yori and her accursed school has caused me for years!”

“No! I won’t let her death be painful!” Shia whispered and the blade slid upwards to rest against Yori’s neck. The Ninja struggled to rise, to defend herself, but the loss of blood had made her feel woozy, and the burning sensation of pain that shot along her shoulder made Yori fall to her feet once more. As both locked eyes again, Shia hardened her resolve. “No pain. I promise!”

Raising the blue handled blade, Shia swung. The sound of metal on metal echoed suddenly around the huge lab space, mingling with Kara Fang’s snarl of anger, as a black figure flipped alongside Yori’s pinned figure and its own blade slid into place. Shia’s Yamanouchi blade scraped against the tempered steel, sparks flashing into life as it skittered down, easily deflected.

The black clothed figure let go of her hilt, and quickly slid to where Shia gripped the blade impaling Yori. Its second hand flew up to impact under Shia’s jaw, making the blond woman stagger back in shock. Ignoring the shocked woman, the black figure gripped Yori tightly by her right shoulder and, gripping the hilt of Shia’s Jade blade tightly, pulled on it with all her might.

The concrete cracked and suddenly puffed dust as the blade slid free, sliding through Yori’s injured flesh and drawing another cry of agonised pain from the dark haired Ninja. While Yori crumpled, supported by the masked figure, Shia slid to her feet warily. As Kara backed away, putting her sister between herself and the figure, the masked face turned towards her bodyguard.

“I never thought I would ever see Shia Fang attack a friend.” The voice was pained, sad, and smooth as honey. A voice that Shia thought she would never hear again. “I never thought that the blade you asked our craftsman to make would be used to defend against you!”

“Jasmine…”

“You remember, Shia? The night after we had told each other how we felt… truly felt? You asked our Master to forge this blade for me!” The figure ripped off the black hood and, underneath, Jasmine’s beautiful face, long white hair slick with sweat, stared at Shia with mixed emotion. She twisted the handle of her Katana, the inscribed symbols running along the base of the blade flashing into Shia’s eyes. “ It has our initials inscribed on the blade! A time when you promised you loved me!”

Shia continued to stare, frozen by the face she had regretted leaving all those years ago.

Jasmine…

---

It was cool; that was always the problem with Yamanouchi in the autumn. The school was wonderful in summer and spring, the way it was constructed keeping everything and everyone comfortable. In autumn though, and especially during winter, it was cold.

This was probably why, Shia Fang thought, amused by the sight in front of her, that her lover had decided to bring as many thermal blankets and soft woollen covers as she could carry up the hill to the school. Now, Jasmine H’dara lay idly on four thick blankets, a fifth wrapped around her body, while she hummed and stared into the fire.

“The cold is keeping you up?” Shia murmured quietly, watching Jasmine jump slightly and turn, annoyance on her face. The blond ninja slid next to the huddled woman and ran a finger gently along the frowning jaw. “Would you like another blanket? Someone to stoke the fire?”

Jasmine smiled at that, as she always did when Shia ignored her ease in becoming irritated. She had no idea where the young woman had picked up such a trait for dealing with hot tempers, but she was thankful.

“No, I have another idea to keep warm… Sensei was explaining to us earlier today about survival in the wilds. The most important thing is to ensure you stay warm and that means sharing body heat during rest periods.”

Shia smiled and sighed. “Oh?”

Grinning now, Jasmine tugged the blond woman under the blankets with her, only to let out a squeak as something hard that Shia had kept behind her back jabbed the woman’s side.

“Ow! What is that?”

“A gift… to show how much I love you.” Shia smiled. “Take it. I thought a ring would be inappropriate for my love for you. I want my love to defend you from those who would try and hurt my Jasmine.”

Rolling her eyes, Jasmine yanked up the long, thin, linen wrapped package and began to tug at the silk holding it closed. “I have nothing to give you…”

“You do not need to. I have you and that is enough.” Shia murmured, her mind wandering to the terrible missions she had done already for her sister. “I do not deserve you, so to me you are my gift.”

“Oh!” Jasmine whispered as the blade slid free of the wrappings. She angled it gently, admiring the craftwork and skill into making the sword, and then frowned. “What is that near the handle? Look, symbols of some sort and… Oh, oh, Shia!”

“I wanted this to be more than a sword. It is… special to me and I hope to you.”

“Our initials, both of them…” Jasmine ran her hand lightly across the etched symbols. “But this, I… what is this one?”

Shia smiled as her hand rested on the odd symbol sitting in the centre between their names and gently reached out to lift and kiss Jasmine’s soft fingers. “Oh, very ancient samurai code, only known to Sensei. Part of the words and symbols created during the time of Tai Sheng Pek Kawr. Sensei was there when I asked for this, and suggested the symbol for me as well. It means, as far as I understood, ‘bonded for life’.”

The world to Shia suddenly became a maelstrom of blankets, warm flesh and lips kissing her skin, as Jasmine launched herself at her lover. Succumbing to the simple pleasure, Shia moaned slightly as white hair trailed over her face, so sweet and aromatic.

“Jasmine?”

“Yes?” The woman whispered above her, the warmth of her breath tickling Shia’s nose.

“I love you. No matter what happens… I will always love you.”

“I know, Shia. I know.”

---

“Well?” Jasmine whispered, using her cloth mask to staunch Yori’s bleeding while the chocolate-eyed ninja watched Shia’s face slip from sad determination to unbridled panic. “Say something!”

“I… I…” The last few events too much for Shia, the blond ninja fell to her own knees, fighting the urge to cry. “Jasmine, I thought I’d never see you again!”

“I am not surprised, considering you let the people you actually work for cut off my finger.” Jasmine held up her right hand and Shia let out a stricken moan of pain at the sight. “You have no idea how I felt when I came back from recuperating with my parents, to rejoin my friends, and to be with you, that I was told Shia Fang, myShia, had left to rejoin the Jade! The people who had abducted me! Worse, that you had helped them accomplish it!”

“Jasmine, I-“

“Do you have anyidea how I felt?”

“I cannot even begin to-“

“Angry, Shia! In fact, anger is not a sufficient way to describe how I felt towards you when I learned the truth from Sensei and Yori. From them, not from you! It took me months to forgive you, to realise that after all this, I still loved you!”

“You still… loved me?” Shia felt the world shift, her entire perspective move away from honour, from doing what she could for the Jade.

“I still do.” Jasmine whispered, shifting slightly as Yori slid to her feet, sweat prickling her brow as she picked up and checked her fans. “Shia, come away from the Jade and come back to me!”

The white haired woman watched as Shia shivered slightly, while the woman she loved shook her head. “I can’t! Jasmine, as much as I… I want to be with you, I have duty! I… I…”

“Am being foolish.” Yori told her quietly. “Though not through your own fault. Shia, you never let me tell you what Yamanouchi has discovered. You have been lied to.”

Shia stared at Yori and Jasmine, ignoring the fighting and screams of pain echoing around them. “If you intend to tell me that my sister was responsible then it is pointless. I know that Kara was responsible, which is why I am only following her and obeying her orders because of my loyalty to the Jade itself. I know they are a criminal organisation, but they clothed me, saved me even if Kara was responsible for my predicament and-“

“They are responsible for the Tang requesting a Jade assassin.” Yori interrupted her.

Shia felt the world shake again, the foundation rock of her debt to the Jade she used in place of her sisters love, trembling and giving way. Swallowing, Shia shook her head. “No. The Tang said my mother was stealing from them, stole huge sums of money while pretending to love their leader. The Jade had nothing to do with her death apart from sending Kara!”

“Shia, they are trying to confuse you! Ignore what they say and kill them both!” Her sister’s voice echoed from behind her, but Shia ignored her, focusing on Jasmine’s face, the calm expression and gentle nod as Yori glanced at her. The ninja sighed and continued.

“Shia, your mother was part of the Shinta clan and had been allowed to join her lover from the Tang to bring the two criminal organisations closer together. While you grew up, the clans had a stable peace because of this. It lasted until the Tang were sent confidential information that your mother had stolen vast sums of money from them.” Yori watched Kara’s eyes narrow in anger at the information Yamanouchi seemed to have. “The information was sent to the Tang by the Blood Jade.”

“NO! You lie!” Shia coughed and both Jasmine and Yori watched in shock as her body began to violently shake. An expression of sheer horror etched itself onto Shia’s face as the stress she was under ripped her emotional control to shreds. “You must lie! I cannot have followed them for so long and not know!”

“Shia, the Jade wished the Tang and the Shinta clans to feud. By doing so, they would take control of the drug trafficking they were performing. Your mother was the perfect solution, as she had been the way the clans united. I doubt they knew that Kara was her daughter, and you were caught in the middle of this. Kara knew of course but did not care, and thus used you.”

“I… I… How?” Shia swallowed bitter saliva. Her world was crashing in and she had no defence… anything to dull the shock, the feeling of guilt and betrayal that hammered at her all the harder. “The Jade have been… my sister has been… I cannot, I… I need proof I…”

“Yamanouchi has proof, Shia. All the proof you will ever need. We obtained documents of this long ago, but were never able to find you. Well, now I have found you and told you of the truth. What you decide to do with this knowledge is up to you. However, I told you once and will tell you again… there is a choice.”

Jasmine felt her heart break as Shia’s face clamped down to a passive mask. As the blond woman slowly began to sway, her mouth moving soundlessly, struggling to cope, Jasmine reached out to her. Reached out, and touched her gently.

“Shia, they lied to you, used you.” The blond woman gazed at her once lover with such pain, such guilt, that Jasmine wondered if she could go on, knowing that every single thing she had done for both her sister and the jade was based on cruel manipulation. “They do not deserve the loyalty, the honour, of such a strong woman. I know that you have done all this to remain loyal, to uphold your own honour… I remember how important it was, even at Yamanouchi. But the time to defend such an organisation has passed. Come away, start again… be… be with me. Please? ”

A single tear trickled down Shia’s face and Yori looked away, embarrassed. For all Shia was responsible for, even despite the fact that Shia had fought her, impaled her and helped Kara take Kim, Yori could feel pity. Shia had done what she had done for her own sense of honour, no different from hers. If the foundation it was built on was rotten to the core, was that Shia’s fault? Or was it the cruelty of an organisation that knew how to twist people into shadows of themselves.

I was lucky once… Shia was not. She did not have Sensei to bring her back from the edge of the chasm. She did not have the support of parents as I. If it had been otherwise, I could stand there as she.

Yes, Yori could feel pity, and as a keening sob echoed past her, she could feel pain for Shia. There was a terrible pain that came with hearing a strong woman cry.

“They do not deserve you, but Jasmine does.” Yori whispered quietly, hoping to break into Shia’s suffering. “She has waited to see you again for so long.” Yori smiled, watched the blond woman’s eyes soften. “Yes, waiting for you, always.”

“Stop this! I have had enough!”Kara’s voice broke the silence that had enclosed the three people. As she strode forwards, anger on her face, Jasmine and Yori both slid to their feet, raising their blades. A bitter smile slid onto the Jade leader’s face and her own hand slid from behind her back. The gleam of metal made the two Ninjas blink and then back a few steps away from the kneeling figure of Shia. For in Kara’s hand lay a gun. “You will not do this to me! To her! Shia, get up! Get up and take your position once more! You have two deaths to perform!”

“Is it true?” Shia asked quietly. “Is it true, Sister?”

Kara, who knew very well that the Jade had ‘arranged’ for her own mother to be set up, though it had never bothered her, indeed suiting her own plans for revenge, shook her head.

“No sister, it is not. Yori is lying to you, to make you betray the Jade.” Kara smiled, a terrible mistake in her sister’s presence.

Shia stared at the smile, something Kara almost never did in her presence and looked up into Kara’s eyes. She could see anxiety and fear wash through them. As her mind replayed the tone of voice that her sister had used to deny the Jade’s betrayal, she saw the truth. Her head turned, the gaze resting on Jasmine’s worried face.

The Jade were responsible… itis true! They… they were the ones who set up mother being blamed for the theft! Kara killed her… Oh gods, I have… I have followed the ones who took my family away… I have nothing left! Nothing!

Almost sensing her thoughts, Jasmine shook her head and while Yori and Kara faced each other and exchanged bitter barbs, held out her hand once again. Come back… you have me.

“Yori, you are pathetic, as always.” Kara told her, smiling as Shia slid to her feet. “You see? My sister believes in the Jade, not your false lies! The poison you tried to use against her, against me, has failed. The Jade is her life, she is mine, and you both will die by her hand!”

“No sister, they will not.” Shia whispered quietly, her breathing slow and even. “I refuse to kill them, or anyone else for you or the Jade.”

Kara turned to stare at her in disbelief, holding up a hand as Quia moved towards the two sisters. For the first time Shia could remember, her sister looked baffled. Almost worried. “You… are turning away from power? From me?”

“I am turning away from someone who killed my mother, and I am turning away from a organisation that I trusted once… only to learn that you both were responsible!” Shia’s voice was coldly bitter. “You both made me betray my friends, my lover, everything I held dear. You both took away things I cared for, hurt them! Hurt me!”

“Shia-“

“No sister! No more!” Shia turned to Jasmine, felt something stir deep inside. “I have been with you for so long I have almost forgotten what it feels like to be free! I do not wish to kill, I do not want to do as the Jade wishes any longer! I wish to retire, I wish to leave the Jade… the killers I serve! But most of all, I want to be free of you!”

Kara’s face became ugly as Shia slid the blue hilted Yamanouchi Katana into the scabbard on her belt. Glancing down, she noticed her sister’s Jade blade lying on the floor, coated in Yori’s blood, and bent to pick it up. As her hand clasped the handle, Kara spoke. “This is a sudden change of heart, Shia.”

“No, sister it is not.” Shia shook her head. “I have argued against you for months now, watched you try to destroy Shego and Kim Possible, attacked Doctor Possible and ruin countless lives with cruelty. I have gone behind your back to try and help them, always holding back when I reached the point of outright betrayal… all in the name honour.”

“Honour you swore to uphold.” Kara muttered, her gaze distant as she stared at the red handle of her sister’s sword.

“ Honour that is corrupt! Meaningless! By the gods, how could I have been so blind? How could I remainso blind? You and they offer honour I no longer care for! The Jade arranged my mother’s death, they are honourless in my eyes! As you follow them knowing this, as you did this! I… I… hate you!”

“Is that your final word?” Kara hissed, angry now as events began to slip from her control. “You intend to betray me, the oath you swore to uphold to protect me… everything being a Jade is?”

“I do not think I was ever Jade… was I sister? Always you have been disappointed in me, in the compassion and morals I hold.” Shia felt her strength, her path in life, everything, begin to form and focus. “How long until you would have disposed of me? A month… a year? I am nothing but a tool for you to use, no matter how much I wish it were otherwise.”

“I see… then you choose to be my enemy!” Face to face with her sister, Shia nodded, meeting Kara’s furious gaze with a calm expression that angered her sister no end.

“If that is what you wish. I do not wish it myself, but I will protect those that I care for…” Shia glanced across at Jasmine, who could only feel her heart thud in relief. “People that I love.”

“How very saddening.” Kara’s angry face carried a feral smile as she stared into Shia’s eyes. “Of course you realise that there is a very important thing you need to know about me, Shia.”

“What?” her sister asked, wary.

“If I killed our mother… do you think I have any qualms about killing a sister, especially when she ends up being a betrayer?” Kara’s hand flashed upwards and Shia jerked slightly as her body absorbed a blow. “You wish to join Yamanouchi? Do so as a corpse!”

Shia felt the blade pierce her stomach, the cool metal strangely chilling, and though there was pain, it was surprisingly sharp and quickly over… until her sister gave the sword a twist. The world to Shia spiralled into agony and could only move her mouth soundlessly as her hands tried to grasp the blade and stop Kara. Even as her right hand touched the warm, slick, metal, Kara stepped back, face impassive.

Shia looked up and her expression was shockingly accepting. “She warned me… this… could happen.”

“NO!” Jasmine screamed as Shia fell backwards, crumpling to the floor. The Red handle of her Jade blade jutting from her abdomen, red blood beginning to stain the fabric of her clothes. The white haired ninja moved to kneel next to her lover, panic swamping her voice. “No, no, no, NO! Yori! Help me!”

Yori however had seen Kara draw and raise a pistol at the one kneeling and one fallen figure. The strangely calm, psychotic, smile she had seen while Kara had taunted Kim was back, twisting her features once again. As Kara cocked the gun, Yori moved swiftly.

The dark haired ninja, still bleeding from her shoulder, the flow stemmed by Jasmine’s mask, darted forwards, her fans snapping up and out. Kara managed to dodge the first fan aimed at her gun hand by sweeping the weapon up and away, but the second slashed across her stomach. It was a glancing blow that drew a thin red bead of blood across the woman’s immaculate suit and the skin underneath. In response, Kara howled with almost feral rage and raised her gun hand like lightening. A shot blasted from the barrel aimed directly at the young ninja. Yori, watching Kara’s body language, a skill taught to her by Sensei, knew exactly where the bullet would hit her body. With a snap, she brought her fans up across her body in defence. With a whine, the high tensile metal deflected the shot up and away.

“Jasmine, get behind me! Hurry! Drag Shia behind me as well!” Yori yelled, wincing as another shot rang off her blades, the impact making her muscles ache. “Hurry, Jasmine! The pillar!”

Jasmine tugged her lover across to the huge concrete pillar, placing it between the two of them and Shia’s insane sister. Trying to stem the tears flowing down her face, jasmine desperately ignored the streak of red that had followed Shia as she had pulled her along and kneeled close, ripping off the top part of her clothing and using it to stem the terrible flow. As she did so, the white haired woman lay close to Shia’s mouth, listening for something… anything. To her sobbing relief, she felt a shallow, hitching breath rush into the blond woman’s lungs, only to wheeze out gently.

“Hang on… just hang on.” Jasmine whispered, cradling her head. “You cannot die on me, Shia! You have years of pain to make up for yet! I refuse to let you escape them so easily! So, unless you wish to annoy me again, you will not die!”

The spang and crunch of bullets smashing into plaster announced the arrival of an exhausted and bleeding Yori. Crouching next to the white haired woman, Yori sighed. “That was a timely arrival, I owe you my life. However, my gratitude will have to wait as you can plainly see. Kara has literally gone insane, Jasmine! She is actually ranting out there, and has the look of those possessed by madness!”

“She is not important to me! Yori, what do we do?” Jasmine cried out, holding onto Shia for dear life. “She’s dying! We have to help her! She needs medical attention! I will not give up! Not when I can help her, save her… love her!””

Yori glanced down at the pale face of a young woman who had been her friend once. Maybe a friend always, who had been placed in an impossible position. She nodded. “We need Kim San’s mother! She is a Doctor, a Surgeon! She can help Shia… keep her alive until we can obtain proper medical help.

“How do we get to her?” Jasmine asked, determination creeping into her face. “She is all the way over there, hiding behind that pillar, close to Kim Possible.”

“Kara will be looking to kill those Kim considers important to her. She needs to be distracted. How, I have no idea.” Yori admitted, ducking as another shot blasted her with concrete powder. Seeing Ron fighting side by side next to Kim, Yori sighed again. “If Ron were here, he would know. We, instead, must trust to the gods and fate.”