Mind, body, and Soul

Kara

“Always Yamanouchi! Always!” Kara hissed as Quia appeared beside her, his blade out and ready to attack or defend as his Mistress backed away from the pillar, firing shot after shot into the concrete. “I should wipe that accursed school from the face of the earth! No, I will wipe it from existence, grind the stone to dust and spit into it once I am done! And I swear that When I have Kim Possible? It will be as easy as it was to obtain Shego under my control!”

“Uh, Ms. Fang?” Drakken, busy staring in mounting horror at the displays on his computer, missed the look of bitter rage that was rapidly coating Kara’s face. “I think I’ve just worked out what that violent shake was.” Drakken swallowed nervously. “I’m not getting any readouts on the automated factory or the droid army it had produced. Something must have destroyed them all!”

Kara felt her teeth begin to grind as a familiar pain made itself known inside her head. The rage, buried but always so close to the surface, always came to her when things began to slip from her control. It made her lose focus, lose the steel will she used to keep her darker impulses in check and she always had to fight to regain whatever ground she lost. Now, with her determination against what she deemed ‘the beast’ already frayed by Shego’s presence, Kara clenched her hands and tried to keep her anger in check.

“So we have lost the droid army and the facilities required to produce them? Something you told me was impossible?” The voice she used was like bitter honey, and Drakken recoiled instinctively from the hidden rage, something inside him recoiling from the cloying sweetness, from the rage some small part of him knew was there. “Well?”

“It should have been impossible!” Drakken whined. “That factory was shielded against EMP and anything up to C4 style explosives! I’ve fought Possible far too often, now, to learn she has the most unfair technology and an uncanny ability to destroy my things!” Drakken wrung his hands. “Which is why I built that factory to last and the self-destruct button is in here, not down there!”

Kara stared at him, the pain in her head now an intense throbbing. You actually designed a self-destruct into something we need?” The headache intensified. “Maybe I shouldjust kill you, it would save me so much trouble!

“Something down there must be equipped with an advanced form of explosive. I tell you it shouldn’t have happened!”

“But it has. Now, how badly will this affect our ability to repel Global Justice?”

It was Quia’s turn to cough, a sound that had Kara’s head snapping round in an almost snake-like way, her eyes blazing. The old man shifted uncomfortably, while keeping an eye on the pillar, behind which the two Yamanouchi Ninjas had dragged the bleeding and unconscious Shia Fang.

“Almost all of our troops have retreated to the main lab doors, though we do have a contingent keeping the main corridor open up to your quarters and the main medical section. Mistress, I… I do not think we can keep them back. After all, they have Yamanouchi with them, as well as this ‘Team Go’.”

“I asked for information, not excuses!” Kara hissed. She turned to stare enraged at the two figures currently holding back the Jade reinforcements trying to get in through the door. Apart from a few injured men, the only remaining forces inside the lab were herself, Quia, and the Synthodrones. Drones that both Kim Possible and the misleadingly foolish blond teenager were currently fighting against. Her eyes stared with hatred at the whirling blur of red, standing back to back with another blur of blond, surrounding by the hulking forms of their attackers. “I see I have underestimated Team Possible in every way. I have… and so have the Jade. We should have killed Kim Possible when we had the chance, not tried to take her.”

“Maybe we should retreat to a more defensible position.” Quia suggested, Drakken nodding enthusiastically behind him.

“You want to run?” Kara’s voice was almost amused, the unstable personality now let loose. “You are weak!” The smile broke into a giggle, quickly stifled behind a hand, and Quia shifted.

“Mistress…”

“Kim Possible has no weapon!” Kara giggled again, making Drakken and Quia share a glance that spoke volumes to each other. The stress had finally reached her, events beginning to slip from her grasp, and her sanity was beginning to fray. “Even Ron Stoppable, the so called Monkey Master and possessor of the Lotus Blade is only human. He can be stopped!”

“Not by my Synthodrones.” Drakken whispered, watching as Ron caused two to explode in a cascading fountain of green goo.

“No, by me. I will let the drones take care of Kim Possible!” Kara enthused. “Though maybe if they do take her alive I will inject her anyway. After all, I am nothing if not efficient when it comes to Jade plans!”

“And Shego?” Quia asked, reluctantly.

“Shego?” Kara hissed the name, a bitter expression slipping onto her face for just a second. As quickly as it arrived, the expression vanished. “We shall have to see, as it depends on Doctor Drakken here.” Kara turned to a cowering Drakken. “Doctor, can Shego be fixed?”

“Um, maybe.” Drakken whispered, relaxing slightly as the answer seemed to mollify Kara to some degree. “If they have managed to disrupt the Servus system in her head, then I’ll need to give her the deactivation key fluid you have. Then all it needs is another injection.” He brightened. “And that means using the version Doctor Possible helped create! Far better than what she has right now.”

“Good.” Kara smiled, only slightly crazed this time, and leaned down to pick up a grey case that had been leaning against the computer. Reverently, Kara flipped the latches while Quia kept guard. Inside, nestled in soft red foam, lay her custom built, gas compression discharge, sniper rifle. She glanced across at the wizened man. “You wish to take Shia’s place? Keep Yori and anyone else away from me while I assemble this. You should have little trouble.”

“Mistress?” Quia asked, glancing around at the carnage and coughed to show his doubt.

Kara waved a hand, focused on her rifle. “As I said, little trouble. Considering Yamanouchi is being kept busy at the lab door by our remaining troops and Stoppable and Kim San are busy fighting Drakken’s drones. Unless you feel incapable of the task?” Quia shook his head and Kara nodded. “Good.”

“Will this take long?” Drakken asked her, punching in commands to his computer. “I’ve only got fifteen or so drones left!”

“I see. A challenge!” Kara smiled and drew the titanium barrel from its place, slotting it gently into the main body. Securing with a click, Kara nodded in approval and stroked the weapon. “Ah, such memories. No Drakken San, it will not take long.”

---

Kim

“Damn it! Jeez that really hurt!” Kim blurted; staggering forwards as a Synthodrone weaved through her tired defences and punched her in the chest. While she coughed and gripped her ribcage, the Drone raised his other arm, hand curling into a fist. Before he could strike, Ron flashed past it, the Lotus Blade slashing through the air. As the edge bit into the body of the drone it erupted into green goo. Droplets of the foul fluid spattered around the falling form, coating both heroes. Kim sighed, spat out what had landed in her mouth, and then focused on the three drones that joined the others circling them. “Thanks Ron.”

“No problem KP.” Ron whispered. “Could really do with some help though. I mean, I can’t keep them from separating us. What about their weak points? That always worked before…”

“Ron, I can’t hurt them!” Kim muttered, trying to ignore the stinging pain in her knuckles. “Drakken’s done something to their skin. It was tough before, but now? Now I can’t dent it! Not with feet and arms anyway… I need something sharp to pierce them with!”

Ron ducked as a Drone launched itself at the two of them, and as it shot past him, the teen slashed upwards with the Lotus Blade. The drone erupted, and the remaining drones seemed to pause as if waiting for something. Considering that he and Kim were outnumbered, that made him nervous. Glancing at his friend, Ron shrugged.

“I’d ask Yori for her fans, but considering I can’t even see her right now, I don’t think that’s going to be likely.” He gestured at the hulking figures surrounding them. “I suppose that I’m on my own then-“

“Wait!” Kim whispered suddenly, her eyes bright. Crouching down, she gently rolled the unconscious form of Shego, that both of them had been quietly defending, onto her back. The green woman’s head lolled, and Kim gently stilled it before sliding her hands down to what she wanted.

“Uh, Kim? Is this the time?”Ron asked, embarrassed, as Kim seemed to stroke Shego’s arms. He turned back to the Drones, who continued to circle.

“Ron, get your head out of the gutter!” Kim sighed, her hands gently sliding across and then into the top of Shego’s gloves. Feeling some sort of catch, Kim sighed and began to fiddle. “Typical, she had to lock them on! Why did I have to fall for the most paranoid women in the world?”

“Natural opposites?” Ron offered, earning a narrowed glare despite the situation. “What?”

“Never mind.” Kim told him firmly, and turned back to attack the locking system once again.

As Shego’s green glove gave a sudden click, Ron blinked and realised what Kim was doing. “Oh, right! Shego’s gloves! They have titanium fabric mesh tips! Good thinking KP!”

“Well, when you’ve dodged, and been on the receiving end of these things, you kinda remember them. She needs something strong enough to match those nails of hers. They should be perfect for dealing with these walking sacks of sludge!” A sudden click made Kim smile and she tugged both gloves gently free. Leaning down for a second, Kim stroked Shego’s head, quietly making sure the woman was breathing. “Sorry, but I need these more than you right now.”

“Kim!” Ron warned her as two drones suddenly jumped towards her. Rolling, Kim dodged the first and as she spun on the spot, her right hand slammed into Shego’s green glove. The drone blinked as Kim’s hand slashed effortlessly across its torso. It was even more surprised, for the brief seconds its CPU continued to function, as the gaping cuts Kim slashed into its synthetic hide allowed the bio-goo to pour out in a torrent. As the second Drone staggered around and launched itself at her once again, Kim’s other hand settled inside Shego’s black glove and the tips ripped into, and through, the drone’s skin. More goo splashed the teen, making her spit as it coated her grinning face, the Synthodrone crumpling into a pile of dripping synthetics.

“Nice one KP!” Ron called, grinning.

Kim turned to wink at him, but her face registered shock as her eyes took in the scene behind him, the space now free of the two drones. She began to move forwards, time seeming to slow, limbs moving like syrup. “Rooonnn!”

The blond teen frowned and with the warning scream of his name echoing in his ears, felt adrenaline flow into his tissues. The monkey power he kept bottled up also saturated his body, supercharging his reactions. Both saved his life.

---

Kara

Kara, lying prone on the floor, rifle cradled into her shoulder, watched as Kim incapacitated the two drones attacking her with Shego’s gloves and snarled in annoyance. Still, as much as she itched to fire her rifle and incapacitate the teen, her primary threat and target was the laughing blond teenager, Ron Stoppable.Let us see the ‘Monkey Master’ dodge this! Even as Kim noticed her taking aim and opened her mouth, Kara smiled. Kim San was far too late. The cross hairs smoothly positioned over the back of Ron’s head, she pulled the trigger, and the rifle let out a gentle ‘pfft’ from its silencer.

To her shock, the blond teen seemed to move with inhuman speed so that the high velocity round pierced, and shot through, his collarbone. Though he crumpled, face registering pain and shock, Kara cursed vehemently.

Missed… AGAIN! I never miss! Never! How could he turn so fast? That should have been a lethal shot!

While Kara ranted and picked herself up from the floor, Kim dashed across to where Ron lay cursing and trying to stem the blood pouring out of his body. Quickly, Kim reached across to one of the incapacitated drones and ripped the uniform, using the cloth to stanch the flow.

“Ron! Oh Ron!” She whispered, tears in her eyes. Being the daughter of a surgeon made Kim have more knowledge than most. She quickly probed the wound and sighed, relieved. “Not life threatening, as long as we keep pressure on-“

“K… KP! Behind you!” Ron managed between gritted teeth, wishing monkey magic could stop the agonising burning he could feel from the bullet’s path.

Turning, the redhead’s eyes narrowed and the two drones that had been sneaking up on her met Shego’s sharp gloves coming the other way. Both exploded into shreds of polymer skin and goo as Kim literally shredded them, her anger taking over. She missed the third Drone as it crept quietly around her, the redhead too occupied with its colleagues. She didn’t notice it pick the unconscious form of Shego in its arms. It was only the sound of the Drones boots slapping against the concrete, the hulking form running towards Kara, which made Kim turn. As she realised what had happened, she panicked,seeing the green woman being taken away from her protection.

“No! Shego!”

The drone managed to take another five steps before a boomerang caught it viciously in the back of the head. The glowing, razor-sharp, edge decapitated it in a fountain of green bio-plasm. Kim could only stare at her friend, as the boomerang flew back to Ron’s crumpled form. She blinked as he caught the weapon in his hand… easily. She blinked a second time as the blade flickered and vanished. In its place, the same glowing Katana she had seen him with before, now sat gripped in his hand. As Ron noticed her expression, he shrugged, wincing in pain as he forgot the clotting wound.

“I… I… Ron!” Kim managed, her eyes fixed on the glowing Katana, and the implications of everything she had just seen, sinking in. “What did Yori end up teaching you at that school?”

Ron smiled, weakly and rubbed his hair, before remembering his wound and wincing. “Don’t ask, okay KP? At least, not yet. Just think of this as a really cool advantage.”

Kim nodded, but her eyes were fixed on the crumpled form of Shego now a good fifteen metres away from her, and closer to Kara. As she took a step forwards, Kim heard the clack of a rifle bolt and paused, her gaze rapidly switching to the Jade leader.

---

Kara

Kara watched as the drone picked up Shego and began to carry the green woman towards her. Inside, she laughed triumphantly. Shego was hers once more, and when she held her, Kim’s resistance would dissolve away. The young redhead would gladly sacrifice herself to keep Shego alive, Kara knew.

However, as she rubbed her hands in anticipation, a whirring sound echoed around the lab and she watched in horror as a glowing blade cleaved the head of the Synthodrone clean off. As it crumpled, green goo spraying and spattering the body of Shego as she fell to the floor, Kara cursed. The green thief was still too far away from her to make it easy to grab her and force Kim to surrender.

Not that I really want her to. I want to see her fight me and slowly lose! She thought venomously, only for a sudden cry of warning from Quia’s to intrude into her fantasy.

“Mistress! We have few ninjas left to defend us in the whole base! I am getting scattered reports that Global Justice is making headway towards us!” As Kara snarled, Quia pointed to five figures running towards them. “We do have five Jade ninjas, those who managed to bypass Yamanouchi. But the others are encountering too much resistance from the two of them to reach us!”

“Kara,” The soft call of her name interrupted Quia’s report and made both the wizened ninja and his mistress turn to see Yori crouched in front of the concrete pillar, her fans wide open. As Kara curled her lip in annoyance, the Yamanouchi ninja waved a fan towards her. “It is hopeless, Kara! Give in and surrender to me or the authorities before it is too late!”

“You dare think you will win?” Kara managed, the pistol from her belt leaping into her hand as if possessed. “I will show you how wrong you are!”

“Miss Fang! Kim Possible! Keep an eye on Kim Possible!” Drakken whimpered; his cry of fear warning Kara to the fact that as soon as the dark haired woman’s attention had been diverted, Kim had begun to run towards her.

“Damn!” Kara hissed, swinging up her rifle with one hand and pointing it at Kim. “Move and I shoot, Miss Possible! Believe me, I would love to as well, thanks to the trouble you and your friends have caused me! However, I would like to salvage both you and Shego out of this rapidly spiralling mess! But do not push me…”

“Shia!” Jasmine’s voice echoed around the lab, full of fear. “Yori! Shia’s… she’s having trouble breathing! I… I don’t know what to do! A Doctor… I need a Doctor! Someone help me!”

A sudden movement had Kara’s head snapping around and she growled as Doctor Possible, running as fast as she could, scrambled across the huge laboratory, dodging and stumbling over unconscious figures. Kara’s eyes gleamed strangely and Kim let out a cry of fear as Kara swung and quickly aimed the rifle.

My sister’s life in exchange for revenge against Possible? A good bargain I think.

“Goodbye, Doctor.” She whispered, finger pulling the trigger.

The sudden impact of a Shuriken embedding itself into her shoulder jerked Kara back, the rifle swinging upwards, blowing a hole into the roof above as it discharged. Rock and dirt rained down on top of her as she staggered backwards, gritting her teeth. Her eyes took in the sight of Yori, fans snapped down and replaced in their holders, gripping a set of the gleaming stars, determination in her eyes.

How did I become surrounded? Kara blinked, the burning sensation in her shoulder flowing down to her fingers. I am surrounded! I must think of a plan, something! I refuse to have my revenge against Shego taken away!

---

Doctor Possible

Doctor Possible, ignoring the chaos going on around her, skidded towards the fallen figure of Shia. Thoughshe could barely keep up with what was happening,she noted with some relief that her daughter seemed to be unharmed and, though injured, Ron stood next to her. Knowing her daughter would be alright, she turned her attention to Shia.

She’ll be okay! I can help her… She helped me, I can help her! She deserves a second chance!

The booted foot came out of nowhere and impacted against her side. Kim’s mother felt the searing shock ripple through her, and collapsed as she felt the air rush out of her lungs. Unused to combat, she fell to her knees, catching sight of the wizened male Jade ninja. Obviously, she realised, he had moved to intercept her and prevent her from coming to Shia’s aid. A second blow to her back, her daughter’s cry of rage and fear echoing around her as it did so, forced Mrs Possible onto her stomach, the world swimming in her vision.

Satisfied with his work, Quia turned to where Kara stood, switching her glare between the dark haired Yamanouchi girl and Kim Possible. The five ninjas behind him were shuffling with anxiety, and Quia knew why. The sounds near the lab doorway, cries and orders being given to Jade ninjas, were rapidly becoming desperate in nature. Seeing Kara injured, and training a gun and a rifle on Kim and Yori, made Quia come to a decision.

“Mistress, this is a hopeless battle, we should retreat.” Quia murmured. Kara glared at him, her breath beginning to come in feral pants as she tugged at the Shuriken embedded in her flesh. As it pulled free, and despite himself, Quia winced. He remembered the reports about his Mistresses ‘problem’ when it came to dealing with pain and swallowed. “Mistress, forgive me, but my duty is to your safety!”

Kara glanced left and right, snarling at the blond and brunette who slowly began to advance. Raising her injured arm with the rifle, and taking aim with the pistol once more, Kara hissed a warning. “One more step from either of you, and I fire!”

As they paused, ideas passing between them as they exchanged glances, Kara’s own mind spun desperately. I cannot win this now… Not without Kim or Shego becoming mine!But Kim Possible is too dangerous to apprehend without sufficient resources, and Shego is useless to me now… useless!

Even as these last words echoed into her head, the beast inside her uncoiled and bared fangs. Without Shego’s use to the Jade being a factor, the desire for revenge swamped Kara. She stared with burning hatred at the unconscious green figure, felt her teeth grind.

How I wanted to cause you suffering as you died, glory in it… revel even. I wanted to cut you, beat you… hurt you in every way I could think of. Now… now thanks to my own underestimation of this little redhead’s resources, I could lose you! You could live, free and happy, and that I will not allow!

Kara ignored Quia’s sudden urgent warning and nonchalantly curled her finger against the pistol trigger and pulled. The shot slammed into the concrete closest to Yori’s foot, sending up a puff of concrete, and the Ninja paused in her creep towards her. A small part of Kara was disappointed. The distraction of her thoughts had been so great that she had missed her target once again, but she was too busy with other matters.

Not how I wished it to end… not at all! However, would it be enough to see Shego die at the hands of those who do my bidding? Enough to know that before she died, I caused her suffering, shame, I made her weep and scream and shake… I broke her! And then I made her watch as I ripped Kim Possible into pieces! Her special little girl… totally destroyed! Would it be enough to see her blood spilling onto the floor? No exotic death, no prolonged agony… just her life leaking away in the dust?

Two more Shuriken shot through the air, but Kara seemed to barely notice as she tilted her head to let them pass.

Is it enough? No. Would it sate me? Kara thought long and hard, and grudgingly sighed.Yes… I cannot allow Shego to live. She has to die! Besides, it has other benefits. Kim Possible has vexed me almost as much as she has! If I kill Shego, how she will suffer! It will destroy her, leave her always wondering if Shego was her once chance at true love… Oh yes. The thought warmed Kara almost as much as the dreams of Shego’s suffering. Yes, though not perfect, this is a good resolution to what seemed a hopeless situation.

Coming to a decision, Kara glanced up at Quia and watched as he and the tiny group shot to attention.

“Quia, finish Shego! NOW!” Kara snarled the words, dropping the bloody Shuriken on the floor and firing her pistol repeatedly at Yori, who remained crouched behind open fans once again as she defended Jasmine and the bleeding figure of Shia. Her other arm held out her rifle, the barrel pointing at Kim, wavering slightly as she fought to keep it steady. The teen remained still, knowing that Kara was itching for one reason to fire. “Kill her, and quickly if you must! I don’t care about her being mine anymore!”

“Mistress, the Jade-“ Quia began, thinking of the repercussions if the Jade heard they had lost an entire Dojo’s worth of Jade ninja’s and millions in province money, only for the two prizes that Kara had promised to slip though her fingers. He swallowed.

“Just kill the bitch! Kill her and earn your respect and position!” Kara snapped, annoyed. “I will worry about the Jade, as it is me who they will expect answers from. Now, Do as I say! Kill her!”

“Shego!” Kim whispered, her eyes going wide as Kara glanced across and smiled. “No… no you… you bitch! I won’t let you kill her!”

“Maybe not, but I think you and your little friends will be too… busy.” Kara glanced across at Drakken, who swallowed. “Doctor, order your Drones to Keep Kim Possible…entertained. We wouldn’t want her interrupting.”

“Y… Yeah.” Drakken managed, staring at Shego’s unconscious form. “I mean, no.”

Can I do this? Can I watch her die? The blue man shuffled, his hands wringing with anxiety once more.I mean, I knew she betrayed me, but… but… she was an excellent sidekick for all those years. She was the only one who actually thought I was worth hooking up with…

“Doctor!” Kara snapped, making Drakken jump and wince at the look in her eyes. He nodded.

“R… right! Drones, attack!”

“Good. Quia, I want to see Shego’s blood… I want torrents of it! Oh, and once done, bring me her head.”

The old man nodded grimly, a tiny part of him wondering why she could possibly want Shego’s head. Regardless, he had been given an order and had sworn to follow his mistress in all things, unlike the traitor Shia. Wizened features set, he nodded, and Kara smiled cruelly. A moan made her glance down at the figure lying at Quia’s feet and the smile became vicious.

“Oh, and do something about Doctor Possible would you? She has been such an inconvenience, putting that vial into Shego’s pouch, corrupting my sister until she betrayed me… Yes, deal with her as we deal with all traitors. I will deal with Yori.”

“As you command, Mistress.” Unsheathing his own blade, Quia stalked to where his kick had made Doctor Possible roll onto her stomach, badly winded. Even as she felt him approach and looked up to try and ward him off, Quia backhanded her hard so that she rolled away from the prone woman clad in green and black. He ignored her screams as his impatient waving of a hand had the six ninjas, who had been the only ones to manage fighting past the two Yamanouchi students, surrounding her and dragging her off. Sparing a single glance, Quia shrugged. “Kill her! Painfully!”

Kara grinned with a feral smirk as she heard Quia’s order. Now that is a real Jade bodyguard! Stalking towards Yori, reloading the pistol as she did so, her grin turned ugly.

The Yamanouchi ninja suddenly found herself embroiled in a deadly game of survival with Kara as the Jade leader fired shot after shot at her and Jasmine, pinning them both down. Yori’s fans snapped left, right and in front of her, as she frantically judged, countered and tried to ignore the agony of her pierced arm.

“Mom!” Kim cried out, forced to turn and defend herself as Ron called a warning, under attack himself by the remaining Synthodrones. They had changed tactics, probably thanks to Drakken giving them new instructions. Kim found five launching themselves at her, piling on top of her in one huge tackle. Trapped, she struggled and thrashed around, trying to free herself from the mass of walking goo.

“Gerroff!” She heard Ron cry out, followed by the sound of his katana slashingand bio-plasm spattering on the floor. “Damn it! Get off me!”

“No! Kim!” Doctor Possible felt fear rip at her, as hands dragged her away, her fingers clawing at the rough concrete as she tried to pull herself back. Back to the safety of her daughter. As a fist smashed into her spine, making her scream, Doctor Possible felt herself dragged backwards once more, her hands jerking limply. A brief struggle had a hand slapping across her face and Kim’s mother cried out. “Kimmie!”

The scream from Kim’s mother made Kim fight all the harder, her dangerously low levels of adrenaline kicking in once more. Galvanised, Kim kicked and fought, slashing left and right with Shego’s gloves as she did so. Green plasm, warm and vile to the taste, spattered her and poured out in torrents. After a few seconds, Kim managed to twist free and finally turn to try and see her mother, only for the hero’s face to pale in shock and fear.

“MOM!” Kim cried out, only to turn in horror to see Quia standing over Shego’s prone form. Kicking violently, she fought to free her legs, to be the hero she was… do something, anything! Failure was not an option for her even though, deep down, she knew there wasn’t enough time to save both of them. She was a hero, not superhuman.

As she pulled her left leg free from the tightening grip, Kim gasped with exertion and pulled as hard as she could on her other leg. The thought of having to choose between her mother or someone she had rapidly come to realise she had fallen in love with, despite being on opposing sides for so many years, terrified her. The sight of Quia drawing his sword as he stood over Shego, followed by an agonised scream from her mother, yanked bitter tears of defeat from Kim. She yanked on her trapped leg, ignoring the sharp pain from her kneecap, weeping in frustration.

“Mom, Shego! No, I… I can’t loose either of you! I can’t choose… please don’t make me choose. Someone stop this!”

The scream echoed around the lab, and affected the one person nobody thought it would. As Quia raised his Katana to drive it into the skull of the green thief in front of him, a set of liquid emerald eyes opened, unseen by anyone in the room. Eyes that glowed in the soft light… Eyes that opened and burned with incandescent rage…

Shego’s eyes.

“For the Jade!” Quia chanted, raising his weapon. Hearing the words, Kara spun on the spot, eyes wide, eager to see Shego die. The Katana slowly whistled down, even as Kim began to slip and slide in bio-goo trying to reach the green thief. Kara knew at that instant, that the redhead would never make it in time to save either of the people she loved.

So my revenge begins on Kim, and ends with Shego. Die you green freak, and may you never find peace!

Giggling once more, but this time not trying to hide it, Kara took a deep breath. “Lots of blood, Quia… I want BLOOD!” The cry making Kim glance across and a sob escape her lips, perversely increasing Kara’s delight.

Time seemed to slow for Kim as she watched the blade gleam in the light and slowly descend, her mouth forming a second cry of horror. Too far away to save the woman she had slowly realised was far more than her equal, a woman who had become someone she needed, Kim felt a ball of ice slam into her belly and her heart ripped painfully, regret and guilt tearing at her.

I never got a chance to tell her….

“NO! Shego… Shego wake up!” Kim screamed in desperation. “I need you, damn it! Wake the hell up!”

The blade never reached its destination.

With a gentle whisper of skin on metal, Quia’s Katana became immobile in the grip of a pair of naked hands. Hands that had exploded into glowing green flame with a crack of heating air, so loud that everyone glanced across to stare in shock at the sight. Seven people breathed a sigh of relief; but only one person with red hair smiled knowingly.

Oh thank god! Shego never, ever gives up. I should know.

Shego, scratched, beaten, bruised, and trickling blood from her nose, rose with a feral growl and stared at the elderly man who had tried to kill her. To Quia’s horror, the full black lips on the pale green face twitched upwards into a smile, a smile with pure white teeth behind it, empty of amusement. A predator’s smile.

“Hi… just one question.” Shego whispered, the smooth silk in her tone deadly. “Are you trying to piss me off? Because if not? Weeelll, you’ve kinda succeeded!”

The sudden sensation of heat made him glance across to where his blade lay in Shego’s grip, and he gaped at the sight. Where her skin had come into contact with the tempered metal the sword was already an incandescent white and the red glow around it steadily moved further along the weapon. Quia watched it creep down the blade and heard Shego’s guttural voice growl around him.

“You know, I look at us here right now, and I can’t help but wonder what people will say about you in the final few years of your life. I’m sure it’ll be something like ‘You shouldn’t be lifting that.’ Or maybe it’ll just be ‘What happened to you? It must have been terrible!’’” Shego snarled softly, stalking towards Quia as she held the sword, making the old man grit his teeth as the Katana began to twist the muscles around his elbow. “I mean, you can see their point right? How will you be able to look after yourself with one FUCKING ARM!

Quia let out a cry of pain and tried to drop the glowing, semi-molten weapon, as Shego’s plasma roared along the hilt and over his gloved hand. In response, Shego simply reached out with snakelike reflexes and gripped his arm, holding it tightly. The hiss of burning flesh was horribly loud, the smell of it drifting around them greasy and unpleasant. Shego smiled cruelly as Quia fell to his knees. Her clawed hand sunk slowly into the flesh of his forearm and the plasma glowed brightly as it cooked the flesh around her glove.

“How’s that feel you son of a bitch! Not hot enough? Not a problem!” She gripped tighter, glowed harder. Quia let out a scream that had even two Synthodrones glancing over, only for the Lotus blade to flash across their vision, slicing polymer skin, letting goo spray, and rendering them helpless.

Finally, Shego dropped the wizened man, and Quia backed frantically away; an animal whimpering escaping his lips. As he crawled on his knees across the cold concrete, clutching the mass of burned flesh and skin that had once been his right arm, his eyes were locked, fearful and hunted, at the triumphant and heavily breathing thief.

Quia managed to get three feet before Shego walked up to him and coolly kicked him in the head, knocking the old man out. The threat dealt with, the green woman dabbed at the congealed blood that had trickled down her face, and sighed in dismay.

This is bad… How can I be dangerously sexy while looking like something from a horror movie?

Catching sight of Kim staring at her with mingled relief and worry; Shego tilted her head towards her and grinned. The smile was so familiar to Kim, so… comforting now, that the hero sighed in relief. As both women examined each other for battle weariness, Shego could only laugh as Kim winced.

I must look like hell. Still, when your brain tries to crawl out of your ear, can you blame me?

“Don’t worry about it Pumpkin. It’s worse than it looks. Regardless, your bad gal’s back!”

“No! No! Curse you!” A hissed voice made Shego turn slowly, her eyes widening as they locked onto Kara Fang. The Jade leader stood trembling with anger and hatred. “You should be dead! You should have been mine! Not again! I won’t let you beat me again! You will not steal victory from me a second time!”

“Why not?” Shego replied, voice dripping with sudden rage. “After all, I think this time you owe me some screams!”

“Kim!” Shego’s head snapped up at the sound of screams coming from Doctor Possible. She knew a cry like that, from the days of Team Go and her face twisted in rage. She had almost raped Kim’s mother when Kara had controlled her like a marionette… almost raped a woman who had saved her life. As she watched Doctor Possible twist in horror at the centre of five Ninjas, their Katanas cutting into her skin and leaving bright beads of blood, their fists impacting into her body and making her cry out in pain, Shego’s face became feral.

“Oh, hell no! No you don’t! Nobody is touching Kimmie’s mom!”

Before Kim could move, Shego was already in motion. The pain from her wounds and throbbing headache charged her body with adrenaline, and she practically blurred. Nearing the circle of Jade ninjas, Shego smoothly dropped onto her left knee, while her right foot slid outward and tensed straight. The suit fabric whispered along the concrete, it’s weave providing just enough of a friction resistant surface to allow the green woman to shoot along, right into the back of the closest Jade. Her boot rose and snap kicked the back of his ankle, making the Ninja scream as his foot gave way. As he crumpled, Shego tucked into a roll and shot through the gap his fallen frame had given her.

“Get down Doc!” Her voice snapped the order as she rolled upright, her hands bursting into green flame. The Jade ninjas exchanged worried glances and backed away, giving themselves space to attack or defend against such a dangerous foe.

As she caught sight of the first attacking blade coming towards herself now, as well as Kim’s mother, her flaming hands caught and gripped the sharp weapon. The flickering plasma energy formed an impenetrable barrier between her skin and the sharp surface and as she grinned, Shego noticed Mrs Possible staring at her in fear.

Shock… fear about what happened the last time we were forced together. Damn! The image of Doctor Possible, sprawled against the floor of the cell where Shego’s own hand had slapped her. The flash of memory as the redhead, bleeding, frightened, crawled away to huddle in the corner… away from her, made Shego swallow back vomit. Never had she felt so helpless as she watched herself try to rape an innocent woman. Never had Shego seen such animal… fear as she had done then. Until now. Staring into the woman’s eyes, Shego knew that Kim;s mother was reliving everything that had happened a scant day ago, and now she had to trust the same person with her life.

Shego did the only thing she could. Ducking under another Katana as it whistled at her neck from behind, Shego neatly kicked the back of Doctor Possible’s leg, stunning the muscle, while her fist ploughed into the Ninja whose blade she gripped.

As the ninja fell back, clutching his bleeding and badly burned nose, Doctor Possible fell to her knees, blinking in surprise. Shego stepped around her, shielding the redhead from any attack. “Doc… just… listen to me next time, okay? I’m not gonna hurt you, and we’ll deal with… with what happened after we’re out of mortal danger.” Shego twisted to the right, a blade slicing open air as she dodged, and responded by firing a bolt of plasma that had the attacker rolling away in panic.

Kim’s mother glanced up and Shego could see the fear being fought back by her rational side.

She’s fine… she’s free of Servus! It wasn’t her fault! Focus on that fact, Possible! The redhead blinked and nodded, looking up into worried emerald eyes. “O… Okay.”

Shego forced a smile, wishing it didn’t feel so fake as Kim’s mother fought back her own demons.

Damn, you have to respect this family… you just have to! Kimmie’s one of a kind, but you can see where it all came from. The thief winced as a spike of pain shot through the front of her head.Crap! Maybe once this is over, I can ask Dr P to give me some paracetamol or something. Well, as long as she doesn’t run screaming in fear from me. Damn Kara and what she made me do! Ah, hell! My head is killing me!

Even as this thought ran through her head, a small part of her paid attention to her surroundings. The fist that flew through the air behind her was noted, judged, and Shego turned smoothly to catch the hand. The Ninja screamed as her plasma-soaked hands made contact. The smell of burning flesh rolled into the air as Shego held it tightly.

“You know, most villains? They make really bad puns when they’re winning.” The Ninja could only scream, and Shego’s face was terrible to behold. “Me? I just go straight to the bloody violence. It’s a failing, I know.”

Yanking the Ninja along by the, now, burnt stump that had once been his hand, Shego let go as he stumbled past her, half conscious, and let fly with a kick into the back of his spine. The strength behind it was perfectly judged, and the Ninja rolled away, unconscious.

“Surround her!”

Shego glanced across at the remaining four ninjas and realised that the one who had spoken was bleeding from a badly burned nose and face, the skin cracked and oozing fluid in places. She rolled her eyes. “Oh great. Mr Crispy is back.”

“You will pay for this!” The man snarled, drawing his blade and pointing it at the two women. “You will suffer for what you did to Master Quia! You will both die as per our mistress’s order! For the Jade.”

“Yeah, yeah! Yadda, yadda!” Shego snapped, grinning with anticipation. “Look, do you have any idea how many times I’ve been ‘surrounded’ by people with sharp and pointy objects?” Her smile was making three of them shift uncomfortably, and only the wounded one glared at her with any effort. “Fifty three times… well, fifty four if I count the time I-“

The move came from the left, Shego warned by the slightest raising of the wounded Ninja’s eyebrow. Twisting in response, the green thief jerked her right arm behind her as a gleaming blade whipped past. Her left foot snapped out, flying upwards into her attacker’s crotch and she ignored his choked gasp as he fell forwards. Her left knee snapped up, catching him on the chin, and he shot backwards, out cold.

Three left…

Two came at her this time, one from behind, and the other in front. Shego dodged a fist and then a leg from the man in front of her. The battle sharpened reflexes that had kept her alive for many years tingled, and Shego ducked as a katana whistled past her head, just missing the long flowing dark locks of her hair. The green thief tucked her body into an athletic roll, her hands shooting out and letting pirouette into the air, legs straight as an arrow.

As the two ninjas stared in shock, Shego grinned and, with a crack of displacing air, her boots erupted into the glow that usually came from her hand. The black booted leg shot backwards, smashing into the cheek of the Ninja behind her and his cry of pain was cut short by unconsciousness.

Two… and damn, I am good!

Shego’s green-booted foot lashed out towards the ninja who faced her front. It smacked into his hand, knocking the Katana he was drawing from its scabbard into the air before landing with full force into his stomach. As the ninja fell back, trying not to vomit as his diaphragm went into spasm, Shego gracefully slid onto one hand, and then dropped sideways. As her legs screamed through the air at an angle, they were in the perfect position to impact the side of her opponent’s neck. With a crack, her boot smashed into the side of his face, hurling the ninja into the concrete surface of the floor. Shego finished the pirouette neatly, her flaming boots extinguishing to impact onto the concrete floor with a thud. The green woman slid upright, and then glanced up, taking one step back as the katana slammed into the concrete floor by her side.

Oooh, shiny! She smirked as her eyes gazed at the blade, and the smirk became a dangerous smile. And sharp!

As the Ninja staggered upright, blood oozing from cuts and missing teeth, his fist lurched towards the green woman. For a second, Shego stared in disbelief, dodging the blow through reflex. Annoyed that her initial attack had not felled the ninja, she snarled. Ducking sideways to avoid a second blow, Shego gripped the injured man by the face and her hands blazed into green fury. With a cold snarl, she raked her fingers down his face, effectively blinding him as her nails cauterised the tissue it came into contact with, and then smashed her fist into the side of his jaw, knocking him cold. Unable to help herself, the thief grinned.

One… and this is… fun!

Grinning, the thief plucked the Katana she had knocked from his grasp, prying it free from the concrete surface, and then glanced across to the one remaining Ninja, his burned and bleeding face staring at her with renewed fear.

“Well, well… Mr Crispy is allll alone. Sucks huh?” As he shivered, the villainess bent her head to one side. The crack of bone and muscle resettling made the injured man jump slightly. Or maybe it was the way Shego brought up the Katana she clutched in her right hand and twisted the blade so her emerald eyes gleamed in the polished metal. “The big question is, are you smart or stupid?”

He attacked, soundlessly. Blade flashing into the air, his injured face drawn back in a snarl, the remaining Jade ninja aimed for Mrs Possible, not Shego. That annoyed the green woman and her captured Jade blade lashed out to catch and deflect the ninja’s own from Mrs Possible’s head. The red-haired woman let out a choked gasp as the razor sharp edge slammed onto Shego’s blade smoothly and quickly slipped into its path. Her blue eyes watched, wide with shock, as it scraped along the surface, sparks hissing into the air.

With Kim’s mother safe, Shego tutted and raised a finger. “Well done! If I were taking classes on how to make me lose any mercy I have for people? Well, I’d use you as an example every time!”

The Ninja swung again, this time screaming in anger. Again, Shego raised the blade smoothly, deflecting her opponent’s with reflexes that were almost inhuman. As he staggered, off balance, Shego reversed her grip on the sword, and the black and red hilt smacked into the Ninja’s forehead. He stumbled back, the katana slipping from his grasp.

Fighting against the impact, which had sent the world spinning, the Ninja blinked as a whistle echoed around him. He looked up to see Shego, her katana embedded into the concrete, leaning gently on her procured weapon’s hilt. Her other hand glowed with her trademark power, and it bounced a small plasma ball into the air with a gentle rhythm.

“I’ll give you three seconds to start running.” Her voice was cool, and the ninja swallowed. “Three…”

Turning, the injured Jade ninja pelted away from the green woman and Kim’s mother. As she watched him run towards the two figures still fighting near the main doors, and she could only sigh in dismay at his stupidity as he did so. With a sniff, Shego tossed the glowing ball into the air and then jumped. Her right foot slammed into the side of the glowing mass and it streaked across the lab, catching the Ninja in the back of his head. The explosion sent him sprawling, eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“I really am this damn good and… oh, is that all of you?” Glancing around, Shego sighed in vague disappointment. “Game, set, and match to Shego. One distance knockout, no fouls… well, not on me anyway.”

Smiling with satisfaction, the green woman turned back to where Kim was still fighting. Catching the disbelieving stare of Mrs Possible, she winked. “Hey, what’s the point of being this good if you can’t be flashy from time to time?”

“I… I… thanks.” Kim’s mother managed, swallowing slightly.

She’s not going to hurt you. She’s not! It’s all in your head. Focus on the job in hand… you’re a Doctor! The redhead glanced across to where Jasmine clutched the motionless form of Shia and turned back.

“Shia’s dying, I have to help her, but Kimmie… I need someone to look after my daughter.” Doctor Possible whispered.

Shego sighed. “Doc, you don’t even have to ask. Get going Dr P. I’ll watch your daughter’s back. Yours too, I promise”

Nodding, Kim’s mother picked herself up and gave Shego a quick glance, worry at the green woman’s physical condition clear in her eyes, before running towards the figures of Jasmine and Shia.

Saving the day, saving Kimmie’s mom… Saving Kara’s, kinda cute, sister… Shego thought, turning to see if Kim needed help. The sight of the redhead viciously taking out the remaining Drones made her smile. Kim, her Kimmie, the little princess that had forced herself into Shego’s life, didn’t need help. Then we have Princess saving me multiple times in one week… Jesus! What a screw up to a simple life!

Her musings faded as her emerald eyes took in the sight of Kara, firing at the Yori girl with a pistol, and holding Ron at bay with her rifle. They narrowed, the pupils flaring to life and burning with desire. Her mind was filled with one word, a word that hissed between her teeth.

“Revenge…”

---

Doctor Possible, Jasmine and Shia

Jasmine looked up, her face pale, as Mrs Possible skidded to halt in front of the bleeding form of Shia and slid to her knees. For a second, the redhead stared and then swallowed at the mess in front of her.

“God…”

Shia lay where Jasmine had been forced to drag her to safety, the long streak of blood drying gently on the concrete behind her, a sign of how badly injured she was. The jade katana stuck out from her abdomen like some perverted growth of steel and wood, Shia’s blood staining the gleaming blade.

Setting her jaw, Mrs Possible quickly checked her pulse, the slight movement of Shia’s chest all she needed to know that the slender blond woman was breathing. Her questing fingers felt the subtle, but irregular, thud of Shia’s heartbeat and Doctor Possible licked her lips with worry.

“Severe shock, blood loss, perforation of her abdominal wall… maybe leading to severe internal damage to organs, low blood pressure. Darn that bleeding!” The redhead ignored Jasmine’s sob as the ninja listened in horror. “I need to stem the flow… got to!”

“Who are you?” Jasmine asked her, panic in her voice. “Are you a Doctor?”

“I’m Kim’s mother and yes.” Mrs Possible told the white haired woman curtly. “Listen to me. I need to get Shia on the… the… ah, the lab table over there! So, I need you to help me.”

Jasmine nodded and gently helped Kim’s mother pick up and carry Shia’s limp body to the lab table. As they laid her down, Mrs Possible noticed a figure hiding behind a remote pillar and sighed with relief. “Doctor Fah Lo? Is that you?”

“Yes…” The gentle faced man slid out from behind the pillar and tilted his head. “I was just wondering if the attacks from this young woman and her friends apply to all Jade, or just the ones trying to attack them?”

Jasmine stared at the old man. “You are a Doctor as well?”

Fah Lo smiled faintly. “I used to be… still am in a way.”

“Yes he is, and from what I’ve seen is a damn good one, a good surgeon too.” Doctor Possible muttered while she examined the blade protruding from Shia. “Which is why I want him to get over here and help me! This is going to take two people if we’re going to save her life! I’m a surgeon, not Ganish!”

“Pardon?” Jasmine asked, confused.

“I don’t have multiple hands.” Kim’s mother glanced up. “Lo, look. Shia treated you better than any of the others, right? Well, now she’s dying and needs your help to live. Nobody is going to hurt you, in fact they’re here to save you! Most importantly, you’re still a Doctor! So, get over here and give me a hand! Please!”

Grabbing the old man, Jasmine tugged him away from the pillar, eyes pleading. “Please, you say you are a doctor? Help the woman I love…please!”

Fah Lo’s face softened further and the old man nodded briskly, picking up his case. “Well, when you put it like that… how can I refuse?”

Sighing with relief as the old man stood on the opposite side of the table Shia lay on, Doctor Possible glanced up. “Hope that bag has some gloves, sterilising medical alcohol and some other bits and bobs we’ll need.”

Fah Lo racked the case open with a sniff. “When you are forced to work for the Jade, you come to learn most wounds are like this. They all seem to enjoy hacking bits off or stabbing each other. My… bits and bobs as you put it are a little more advanced after Shia yelled at that ‘Doctor’ Drakken.”

“Well then… Shia may have a far better chance to survive than I thought.” Doctor Possible glanced reassuringly at Jasmines panicked gasp, while inwardly kicking herself. “They were quite good anyway, but now I think they’re better. Lets get started.”

---

Kim

While Shego protected her mother, the screams of injured Jade echoing around the room, Kim was busy fending off the attacking Synthodrones. Shego’s gloves slashed left and right, coated in the viscous green ooze that filled the walking polymer sacks.

“I hate these things!” Kim muttered, ducking under an outswung arm and ploughing Shego’s glove into the drone’s eyes in return. The thing’s head exploded and it thrashed around, out of control. Kim paid it no heed, turning to a second, and then a third. Her breath was coming in feral pants now, as she ripped through the evil smelling things.Oh god! I saw Eric’s face on that one… jeez. First I fall for Shego, then I meet kara from her past and now I see Eric? Oh this is so, SO the drama! I still have issues!

One managed to punch her, sending her into the arms of a second, but Kim was too buzzed on adrenaline to care. As the drone in front of her rushed forwards, fists raised, Kim’s leg swung up violently to impact with a crunch into its visor. Sparks shot from the damaged sensor goggles that formed its eyes, and while the drone staggered around, flailing hopelessly, green bioplasm spurted from the gaping rips in its skin.

Green ooze sprayed and coated her skin and hair, until finally, Kim stood alone.

With the threat dealt with, Kim turned, intending to go to Shego’s aid in protecting her mother from the remaining Jade forces. As she turned however, Kim could only stare. Where there had been a number of Jade attacking and trying to kill her mother, now only two remained standing, and only one was uninjured. He was quickly felled when Shego gripped his forehead with flaming hands and scraped her nails down his face in one smooth motion; It was a dirty tactic, something Kim would never have thought of, but it was effective.

The final Ninja fell to the floor, clutching his face and screaming at the deep groves burned into the flesh, including his eyes. Kim marvelled at the fact that she could still feel pity for him, even after all she had been through. A much larger part of her was relieved. It seemed that the softer side of her ‘Kimness’, as Ron was wont to call it, had survived intact. She was Kim Possible… in every way that counted to her.

With her attackers down, that left one person to deal with… and she intended to deal with her as harshly as the law would let her. Turning, Kim glared viciously at the sight of Kara Fang. The Jade leader was preoccupied, almost fixated on firing her pistol at the defending figure of Yori, while her other arm held her rifle, the muzzle pointing at Ron as he hovered to one side with the Lotus blade. Kim’s green eyes flashed with a rare emotion.

Revenge.

“Karaaa!” Kim blinked as her own voice blended with another. The second, despite the fury in its tone, was warm and silky. Instantly, Kim knew who had snarled the words, and her determined green eyes sought and then met sparkling emerald ones.

Shego, stalking towards Kara, glanced across at Kim.

“Leave her, Pumpkin… She’s mine! I want to pay her back for both of us, and that means blood, and a lot of screaming!” Kim blinked, she had never seen Shego so angry before, not even when they had fought tooth and nail. Holding up her hand, Shego curled it into a claw. “Nobody takes away my freedom like that, not again! And I’ll be dammed if they’ll do it to you! Especially now, when I’ve finally worked out that I love you!” The green woman caught herself, coughed and then snarled. “Ah, damn it! I can’t think straight with this mushy love crap!”

Despite what was happening, despite all that had happened, Kim felt a slight warmth flicker in her belly at Shego’s words. Love… I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing Shego say the words. No… never.

Kim wanted to step back. Worse, a larger part of her wanted to go with Shego. To help her grind the woman, now backing carefully towards the rear of the lab, into red paste. To stop anyone from enduring what she had been put through and what Kara had intended afterwards.

Oh, she yearned to shove Shego back and pounce onto the gloating woman in front of her. She wanted, so badly to use all her skill and physical strength to make Kara bleed, scream, suffer as much as she had! To punch, and punch and keep punching until the gloves on her hands dripped with blood and flesh and she herself had nothing left inside her to continue!

She desired revenge, she wanted to kill Kara, but that wasn’t who she was. Oh, despite the terrible need inside her at that moment, Something held Kim back. It was regret… and a memory.The last time I gave in to anger like this, I kicked someone into a tower charged with enough electricity to fry an elephant! I watched her fall and gloated about it! Me! Kim glanced across to where Shego glared at Kara with bitter hatred. I almost killed Shego… my Shego! I won’t give in to that anger again, not even if it means leaving scum like Fang alive. It’s who I am…

She was Kim Possible, teen hero. Someone who obeyed the law, no matter how wrong it could be sometimes. Someone who, like Shego, refused to kill because it was… wrong. No matter how much she wanted revenge, to hurt the woman backing away, she couldn’t. Because if she did, in essence what made her different from Fang?

“Shego, stop!” Kim called after her. “Don’t! We both have reasons to want revenge. But… just stop a second!”

Shego glanced back. “Sorry, Kimmie. Kara fucking Fang here has a debt to pay me, you… everyone!” The thief smiled viciously. “My debt? That comes with interest too…” Shego watched as Kara raised her pistol. “Oh please, do try! It’ll be a pleasure to vaporise any shot you send at me, and then melt that god damn gun to the bones of your hand!”

“You were never strong enough to kill me before.” Kara hissed, gun wavering and then dropping to her side. Slowly, the Jade leader backed away from Shego and her rage filled eyes. “I don’t think you can now… because you’re even weaker! You are as soft as my sister for falling for this red headed slut! Pathetic… especially when it all comes down to you wanting to find another Marie, yes?”

Kara’s eyes flicked around the room. Doctor Possible and her sister’s whore, Jasmine, were crouched over the still figure of the traitor. Yori was exhaustedly slumped where Kara’s repeated firing with the gun had left her. However, though she was being distracted by the blond teen, Stoppable, as he gently dressed her wounded shoulder, Yori kept her eyes locked on Kara.

She had no ninjas left, well… standing. And her reinforcements, though they too sounded few, were being held back by the two Yamanouchi ninja’s Yori had brought with her… experts by all account.

I have nothing to rely on but my own abilities… and that means using my ability to manipulate and cause pain. But how? The idea came to her like lightening as she stared at Shego, mercenary and thief, and the woman Shego quietly loved. A hero and innocent teenager. Oh, so simple when you think about it…

Kim blinked in horror as Shego snarled and raised a hand dripping with plasma. “No, Shego! You can’t be… you’re not serious!” Kim whispered, beginning to run towards the green woman. “You… you can’t! Look, let the law judge her, let-”

“I’m evil Pumpkin, so you’ll excuse me if I think law means jack shit in some circumstances!” Shego turned to stare into soft green eyes, unwilling to surrender to the tug that flickered in them. Kim would not stop her, couldn’t this time. Kara had to pay, and the law wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be! “You believe in the law being able to punish monsters, but they often get away… It’s not strong enough to lock someone like her away. You know that Pumpkin… you have to! If I can escape, if Drakken can… she will. Trust me.”

“You are implying I am a monster?” Kara’s smile was manipulative. Almost, Kim thought, as if she wanted Shego to grow even angrier. “I am normal, bitch. You… you are a demon, with your green skin and fireballs! Maybe that is why you enjoyed the pain, enjoyed watching Kim San scream…”

Shego trembled, the circling flames around her hands growing so bright Kara felt spots. “Shut up! I’m not a monster.” Shego told her, hands bursting into flame and burning hotter and hotter as her emerald eyes sparked with vengeance. “You, you were a monster when I met you! And maybe sometimes people like me need to be there to remove such people!”

Ah, and will Kim Possible… denizen of the good and lawfulallow this to happen? Kara watched as Kim, finally coming to rest behind Shego’s body, stared at her. She could see in the woman’s eyes, the terrible conflict. Desire for revenge, to pay her back for the pain and suffering warred with Kim’s natural nature to be kind and her upbringing. Her belief in law and order… in good.Will she take revenge, despite what I did to her and Shego? No… for she is so naive it sickens me. But the conflict is passed to her lover… for Shego wants me to suffer.

“So, you finally realise the truth, and it is too late for me to use it to my advantage.” Kara, still backing away from the advancing woman grinned. “You finally realise that sometimes you have to kill… but then maybe you always did and were too weak to use such knowledge.”

“Shut up!” Shego hissed. “If it means you’re out of the picture then yeah I’ll do something I always swore I wouldn’t!“

As Shego shot forwards, a triumphant snarl on her face, she suddenly found a pair of arms slam around her, the muscles like steel. Even as she blinked and staggered to a halt, hands still burning with green plasma, Shego felt the familiar scent of Kim’s hair waft past her. Trembling, the thief stood stock still, while Kim gripped her as tightly as she could from behind, trapping her arms and holding her back.

“Kimmie.” The voice was as hard as diamond, and so full of rage that it seemed to shimmer with white-hot anger. “Let me go.”

“No.” Kim managed, fighting Shego’s own terrible strength as the thief tensed her shoulders to try and break free.

“Pumpkin, I’m warning you…” Shego hissed and, as Kim refused to let go, allowed the plasma flame around her hands to cool slightly but flow up her arms. As it ran across Kim’s skin, the teen let out a gasp of pain and automatically let Shego go. As the thiefturned back to her, Kim noticed a flicker of regretin hereyes. “When I say let go of me. I mean let go! Understand?”

“Shego, this isn’t you…” Kim whispered, swallowing and gently putting her hand without hesitation on the green and black jump suit as Shego began to walk towards Kara once more. “I’m worried about you, damn it! I want you to step away and leave Fang, and the reason is personal, something selfish!”

The soft touch and frightened tone forced their way into the swirling maelstrom of anger burning desire for revenge that was Shego’s mind. Hesitant, she glanced back. “What?”

“You told me once that you won’t kill! Have never killed!” Kim pleaded with the green woman, tried to make her understand. “Don’t… just… don’t do it now. I don’t want you to become like her! Can’t you understand that!”

“She hurt me, Pumpkin!” Shego hissed, staring at Kim with such terrible anger. The redhead could tell, however, that it wasn’t aimed at her, but rather the woman pressed against the laboratory wall. “She hurt you! Made me watch, helpless! I couldn’t help you… I… I couldn’t and nobody makes me helpless like that again! Not since Hego… nobody! Understand?“

Unseen, Kara reached into her pocket and fingered a small device

Yes… yes it is working. Conflict is easy to generate… and with what I have tucked neatly inside my suit, along with a few items I can pick up from one of my stashes, I can still pull this around to work for me…

Shego shook her head, pulled away from the stroking fingers, but hesitated as the redhead let her hand hover in mid-air. “Kimmie… listen to me. I… I have to do this! I have to. If I don’t…”

“Don’t use me as a reason, an excuse, please!” Kim swallowed. “I thought I wanted to watch you kill her, but… but I don’t… I can’t! That’s the difference between her and us! Not as a hero or villain, but people with our own morals… and one is we both won’t kill! Please don’t do it, Shego!”

“She’ll escape! Kimmie,” the thief murmured, biting her lip at the thought of taking a life for the first time, dirtying hands that had never taken life. “I… I can’t let her get away! Can’t you see that? Not only for my sake, but also for yours, Pumpkin. She’ll go after you to get revenge… to wipe you out as a threat, and to hurt me!”

I can live with that.” Kim whispered to her, the grip tightening. “I live with many promises like that. So not the drama! But you can’t kill her. Not for me! I don’t want someone’s death deliberately placed on my hands! It was stupid to even think it! And I couldn’t… I… can’t find someone like that attract-” Kim broke off, swallowing as the emerald eyes turned to hers, wide and almost, needy. “I told you it was personal and it is… I…I need to tell you that I… I…”

Just say the words Possible! Kim thought to herself. Tell her how you feel you coward!

“I… I just want to say that I… you and me…” Kim sighed, unable to say three simple words, but instead, something far simpler came to her. “Shego, you’re many things, but not a killer! That’s the difference between you and Fang. You’re not a monster!”

I couldn’t fall in love with a monster… but I’m in love with you. Please don’t make me wrong… please!

Shego blinked, felt the anger, the terrible rage, dissipate slightly. Kim was right and for some reason she could almost feel the part that wanted her to kill, to corrupt herself in some irreversible way. It whispered to her, as it had done when she had held Kara over Marie’s balcony, all those years ago. The French woman, still bleeding from the knife, had been tugging her arm and whispering, pleading, with her.

“You are not a killer, Mon Amie. You are my apprentice, my chosen one, not her. I do not choose killers to give my secrets too. Shego, you are not her!”

Damn it, Kimmie… what a time to remind me. But… but you’re right. You both were and are right. I’m not a killer! That’s always made me different to anyone else in the evil assistant game. It was once what Marie said set us apart from a hired thug or mercenary… made us special. I’m a thief, an expert thief, a Cat’s Paw, one of the top three in the world, and I won’t kill now… no matter how much that bitch deserves it! I… I really want to, but… but like the first time, I… I can’t do it. Fuck!

“Shego, it’s okay.“ Kim began, seeing the conflict on the green woman’s face.

Sighing, the thief glanced up and smiled weakly. “You’re right, Pumpkin. I’m not a killer. Oh god, I really want to be right now, but I can’t do it! I can’t kill that bitch! I… I’m not like her!”

“Denial, Shego? Please, do explain to me, to Kim San, all the times you hurt her, tied her up, placed her in danger… tried to kill her!” Kara, pressed tightly against the rear wall of the laboratory, snapped, interrupting the redhead. Her words caused Shego to shudder. “Despite all that, how can you say am I a monster and you are not?”

“Stop it!” Kim hissed, staring at Kara with the same hatred Shego did. The only difference was that hers was locked tightly by her nature, her will. “Stop baiting her! The only reason I don’t want her to kill you is personal. It has nothing to do with me wanting to save your miserable life!”

Shego backed away from Kara’s prone form and her hands snuffed out with a quiet bang. The teenager blinked as she bit her darkly painted lip. “It was the job! I… Damn it, Kimmie! She… but I… knew you’d get away… I… I’m sorry!”

Kim shook her head. The sentence had been so fragmented, but she had an idea what Shego was trying to get out, to explain.

“Shego, it’s okay! I told you, we… we’ll work it out later. Right now I need you to listen to me… to step back. Let the law deal with her, please?” As Kara opened her mouth, Kim glared at her. “One word, Fang, and I promise I’ll be the one to knock you on your ass!” Turning back to Shego, who stared at her in surprise due to the snarling threat that she had issued, Kim tilted her head. “She’s not worth it, okay?”

Shego gazed deeply into the redhead’s eyes and sighed, seeing the hope glimmering in the soft green so like hers. “Alright, alright! You’re right, Kimmie. Okay? I’m not a monster like her… because I… I just can’t kill her!” Pausing, Shego felt her eyebrow rise slightly. “But I want her to suffer if I can’t kill her, painfully suffer! So, can I at least pound her to an inch of her life? Make her next few weeks in jail… or more likely hospital, really, really, unpleasant? Please, Pumpkin?”

For the first time she could recall, the smile that Kim aimed at her was vicious and deadly. To her shock, it made Shego shiver with desire. The teen shrugged and held up green goo stained gloves, her gloves!

“Considering what she tried to do to you and mom? What she did to me?” Kim’s smile turned cold, something so rare Shego blinked. “Only if you let me help… and when we haul her unconscious ass out to the prisoner transport chopper, I’ll keep hoping that Kara ends up in prison with a bunkmate called ‘Large Lucy’.”

“Large Lucy? Oh, Princess.” Shego whispered, a smile curling her lip. “How about that? My Kimmie can be… cruel! The evil side of Kim Possible does exist!”

“Well, as much as I enjoy watching you both argue, flounder, and then make up, I’m afraid that this is where we part ways.” Kara hissed the words, the smile that of a predator cornered. “You see, I always plan ahead… for everything. Oh, and you two both escaping? That was always on my list… I know Shego far too well. ” As Shego and Kim both turned to her, the dark haired woman smiled and her pistol hand shot up and fired repeatedly at the two figures.

Shego snarled, the plasma dripping from her hands coalescing instantly into a rippling, ultra thin wall of green plasma, shielding both herself and Kim from the bullets. As the slugs hit the shield, they hissed into vapour, and Shego thanked anything listening that Kara had not been able, or had insufficient time, to have bullets made from the heat proof metal her throwing stars were.

The click of the empty clip echoed quietly in the huge space, and the noise galvanised both Shego and Kim into action. The two women ran in tandem towards the crouching woman in front of them, only for Kara to grin knowingly and gently press a button on the tiny device nestled in her palm.

There was a sudden set of four muffled explosions. Around the lab, four main circuit and energy control systems balanced the flow of power around the room. Having learned his lesson long ago in a time-share lair, Drakken had devised them to route power to not only all of his devices, but also to the lighting and ventilation systems. They were vital to maintaining a suitable working environment and in defence of this, Drakken had, for once, thought ahead and built in four of them. He had never planned on someone reading the specifications and deciding to cripple them.

As Kara had pushed the tiny device she had taken out of her suit, four small charges of C4, planted without Drakken’s knowledge by Shia, detonated inside each of the distribution power systems. Without them, the entire lab plunged into darkness as the main lights exploded in a shatter of glass.

All that could be heard was a quiet clatter of a pistol falling to the floor, the sudden gentle hiss of a gas driven grapple, and Kara’s gloating voice. “Au Revior, Shego.”

“Fuck!” Unable to see her opponent, Shego let her plasma rip, twin beams of concussive force shooting forwards, only for them to splash harmlessly against the wall. Blinking as the bright light of her own power caused spots to flash in front of her eyes, Shego forced the glow around her hands to flare brighter and brighter, until she could see Kim crouched in a defensive stance. “Did you see her? Where is she!”

“No idea!” Kim glanced around and called out. “Ron? Yori? Mom?”

“We’re fine, KP. That is, uh, me and Yori are fine and-“

“Kimmie, if that girlfriend of yours is the one generating her own darn green light, then Shego better get herself over here right now!” Her mother’s voice snapped out, not panicking, but worried. “I’ve got my hands inside someone and I can’t see what I’m touching!”

Shego blinked. “Um, a living person?”

“No, a dead one… I thought I’d do it for fun!” Mrs Possible shot back, her tone sarcastically dry. “Of course she’s alive! But with the lights gone, she’ll be a dead one if I move… so get your green glowing self over here!”

“But Kara is-“

“NOW!”

Shego swallowed and glanced at Kim, who coughed and shrugged with embarrassment. “Um, she’s not normally like this… must be all the stress of the last few days.”

“Well, I’m not going to piss her off further…” Shego muttered, only to gaze at Kim gently. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, looks like Kara did a vanishing trick.” Kim sighed, looking around. “I’ll be fine, go on. Time for you to actually do some good. Kinda rare… for a villain.”

“I wish you hadn’t said that.” Shego muttered, drawing a grin from the redhead, before her face faded into the dark as Shego ran towards Kim’s mother. I’m still evil in how I think damn them! I just have this thing for Kimmie that’s keeping me… well, neutral. Yeah Neutral! Sighing as she realised she was lying to herself, Shego swore. “Ah damn it! Doc, where are you?”

“Right here!” Close to Shego, the woman’s voice was strained, but calm. “Now listen. I’m sorry I snapped at you, but I’ve had a few trying days. I need you to generate as powerful a light as you can, without heat, okay?”

Nodding, Shego concentrated and her hands flared brighter and brighter until herself, Doctor Possible, Doctor Fah Lo and Jasmine could see each other clearly. In the green light, Shia’s still form looked even sicklier… and Shego swallowed at the sight.

“Is she going to be okay?” As Kim’s mother glanced up, raising an eyebrow at her concern, the green woman coughed and shrugged. “Hey, I owe her one… its not like I care or anythi-“

“Shia’s lost a lot of blood.” Mrs Possible told her gently, continuing to work. “We’ve managed to get the sword out of her,” Her hand waved at the blade lying unnoticed on the floor. “And both myself and Doctor Fo are pitting our skills against some… no, a lot of terrible damage. Let alone the fact this isn’t a damn operating theatre! It’s only thanks to Drakken of all people that Shia’s not dead from blood loss. Doctor Fo has a tiny machine in there that creates synthetic bloodcells and plasma. As it goes, this is one of the hardest operations I’ve done. Right up there with the multiple artery bypass and replacement I did on the mayor of New York a few years back.”

“So, what can I do?” Shego asked, sighing as another raised eyebrow and glance headed her way. “Look, Kara’s already killed enough people and… and tortured enough. I don’t want to see another one added to her tally, okay?”

“Fine…. I’ll play along. Just keep still and make sure that glow of yours keeps going until the lights come back. Speaking of which…” Doctor Possible raised her head and her voice. “Kimmie, I need you to see if there’s anyway to get the power back on… can you do that?”

The hero’s voice echoed back. “Not a problem, Mom… Maybe Drakken has an override on the main computer over there… you hear me Drakken? I’m coming over, try any funny stuff and… well, I’m not in the mood!”

“You think you’re all that…” A familiar voice whispered from across the room. “But you’re not!”

“I will be when I come over there!”

She is… oh she is… Shego thought quietly, before staring down at the pale face of Shia. All she could see when she gazed at her, was another person attacked and betrayed by Kara. Not the woman who had stabbed her at all, but the woman who had taken her out of Kara’s clutches as much as she had been able. Just hold on… Kimmie’s mom knows what she’s doing.

For five minutes, Shego quietly concentrated on keeping her glow steady and as bright as she could keep it. She could hear Kim’s muttering, along with a quiet thud that she took to be her body bumping against the metal of the computer. As she began to wonder how much longer she would have to keep it up, the emergency lights along the walls flickered into life.

“Emergency systems reset.” The female voice of Drakken’s computer quietly announced. ”Emergency lighting activated in lab. Repair crews, please go to main Laboratory immediately, primary power distribution systems offline.”

As the small lights brightened and began to light the lab as well as they could, Shego saw Kim pressing buttons at a control panel that lacked a certain blue skinned man.

“Pumpkin!” Shego called across to her, exasperation in her voice. “Where’s blue boy?”

“Eh?” Kim glanced up, and growled in annoyance. “He was right here! Cowering under the computer! For the love of… where on earth did he go?”

“Error… user voice print not recognised. Security has been called!” The female voice announced briskly.

“Oh shut up.” Kim told it, turning away from the screen and glancing around. “Shego, when you normally do your vanishing trick, it’s either by hoverpod or this. How’d you always disappear?”

About to weigh the pros and con’s of telling Kim one of her secrets, Shego slapped herself inwardly. Old habits dying hard…

“Um, well… Pumpkin, we use secret tunnels.”

Kim, half hidden in shadow, stared at her. “Um, yeah… I kinda guessed. I was more sort of hoping you’d tell me what I’d need to look for. You know… doors and hidden hatches?”

“Oh.” Coughing slightly and earning a warning muttering from the two Doctors as her glowing hands moved away from where they were working, Shego thought back to all the hidden escape tunnels that Drakken usually built in and remembered the quiet thud she had heard. “Ah damn! Um, you said he was standing next to the main console?”

“Yeah.”

“Try the second panel underneath the keypad desk. It should slide to the side if you bang it hard enough and open into a reinforced air duct. Usually leads to the main hanger bay and a few other places too.” Suddenly Shego sighed in annoyance. “You know, I bet if we wandered up to the upper walkway and had a look around where Kara escaped? My bet is you’d find that the wall slides sideways and opens into another secret duct or corridor, if you touch the right place. I bet Kara knew.”

Kneeling under the console, Kim ran her fingers along the panel that Shego had suggested she try to open. It seemed solid, until her questing fingers found a slight depression in the metal. Pressing it with her hand, Kim let out a gasp of surprise as the entire panel shot to the right silently. “Hell… he did this right under my nose!”

“Don’t worry… I’ll find him.” Shego assured her. “Well, only after I’ve found Kara. That little Jade bitch is number one priority for me! Still, the blue coward’s gonna pay for what he did to me, I promise him that!”

“Maybe I should go in and have a look…”

“No!” Kim blinked in surprise and her head angled up to stare at Shego. The green woman gazed at her with worry, almost fear, in her eyes. “Don’t bother, Princess! That tunnel has as many access points as the local mall. It’s perfect for Kara to ambush you! Or… or for you to end up getting lost and maybe in danger.” Glancing down, Shego cursed inwardly and sighed. “I won’t lose you to her! Not again!”

Kim felt a blush slide onto her cheeks. “Okay… but what about-“

“Princess, we’ll get them, okay? Trust me.”

Boy… now that felt odd, asking her to trust me. Shego thought, only for her mind to glaze as Kim nodded and smiled with that cute little smile she always used.

“I bet it’d shock you to know I do right now.” The hero stepped backwards and slid the hidden hatch closed. “I do trust you, Shego. Maybe I always have in a way.” The words echoed into the lab and Kim blushed a deep red. She bit her lip and chastised herself. Whoops. Think thoughts inwardly, Kim!

“Now that’s crazy talk.” A smile curving her dark lips as she caught some of the blush on Kim’s face before the hero turned away in time, Shego glanced down at Shia. The weak emergency lights now lit the blond ninja’s bone white face, and Shego’s smile vanished. “Doc, you still need me?”

Kim’s mother glanced up and rubbed the back of one of her blood-covered hands across her forehead. “Yes, it’s still too dark in here…” As Shego opened her mouth to protest, Doctor Possible glanced up. “Please, do something you did often once? Help me save a life.”“Low blow, Doc.” Shego mumbled, but her heart wasn’t in arguing. Sighing, she angled her green glow towards the wound, lighting it as much as she could in conjunction with the feeble lighting. As the two Doctors continued to work, Shego glanced across at Jasmine, catching her eye. “All this hanging out with Kimmie and her goody, goody friends is corrupting me! I was evil once… I mean, I am… I still am!”

The Ninja shook her head, squeezing Shia’s shoulder gently. “Evil people, those totally corrupted like Kara Fang, would not help save a life. No matter how reluctantly.” Shego snorted, and Jasmine glanced up at her. “I am not familiar with you personally. However, I can tell that you have shadows in your life that darken who you are. That is not the same as being the shadow itself.”

“Yeah, yeah. Look, it’s payback okay?” Shego muttered again, as all three turned to gaze at her. “What? How many times do I have to repeat that I’m evil? I’m not a nice person and I’m not a hero!”

“No, of course you’re not. That’s why you kissed my daughter in the lair all those days ago I presume?” Doctor Possible told her dryly, not looking up from Shia’s wound. “You do remember spilling every detail to me when under Servus, right? I mean, pinning, kissing and then telling someone you love them is such an evil thing to do. Saving my life, for no real gain to yourself personally, is such an evil thing to do…”

Shego glowered at the redhead. “You’re humouring me, aren’t you!”

“Oh yes…”

“Great, and this is the woman whose daughter I‘ve fallen for.” Shego missed the way Kim’s face shot up and angled towards her back, a deep red blush glowing on her face. “First you’re all smiles and acting the good housewife, and then you’re sarcastic, demanding and a damn professional Doctor! What is it with your family?”

“Maybe we’re odd.” Kim called across the room, pressing controls. “I mean, how many people end up having a green thief fall in love with them after spending years trying to track them down?”

“Anything’s possible for a Possible.” Kim’s mother murmured, only to glance up in annoyance. “Well, it is if someone keeps the light still!”

“I should have just cut my losses and run when Drakken kicked me out! And I should have stayed away from Kimmie!” Shego grumbled, focusing her glow on Shia’s wound. “Would have made my life so much easier!”

---

Kara

Crawling through the tunnel that Drakken had told her about, Kara’s thoughts were anything but calm. As she turned left and headed for the storage room that held the equipment for her backup plan, pushing her rifle along in front of her, she fumed.

I’ll show Shego! I’ll show her and that little slut what it means to anger me! Inside her pocket, Kara’s hands fingered a steel case, the unseen biowarning signs glowing fluorescent in the dark. She thinks she has won! HA! I have come too far to fail in my revenge against her!

Reaching an exit, the leader of the Jade popped the hatch quietly and peered through. The room around her was empty, and the gleaming container, one of five she had placed for safety’s sake around the lair, shone dully as her eyes slid over it. Inside, lay what Kara needed to take her plan forward.

Sliding out of the hidden hatchway, Kara quickly strode over to the door and slid the restraining bolt set into it across. Locked and secure, she nodded, eyes gleaming with cool madness, and then turned back to the container.

“I always plan ahead Shego!” Kara hissed to herself, the image of Shego’s grinning face slipping past her eyes. “Ever since you shamed me when I tried to end The Fox’s life for dismissing me so easily, I have always considered every facet I can.”

Her plans to rule the Jade were double pronged. Though her primary idea to take over had involved Kim and Shego, having just one would be just as sufficient, though it would require her to take a more physical role herself. Which, considering she enjoyed assassination, would be quite pleasant. It was a shame, however, that she had not taken the chance to erase Shego from existence while the woman had been strapped into her torture ring. The chance had gone, and Kara could admit that the lure of having Shego as a helpless slave had been too strong. It had corrupted her intent to slowly squeeze the life from the green thief.

I am only human… Kara thought grudgingly. So much power over her once Servus was inside… it was intoxicating. Too intoxicating! I misjudged the… strength of Team Possible and their friends. Yamanouchi, Global Justice! I never counted on those joining Team Go.

Kara admitted to herself that Kim Possible’s contacts with the outside world had not factored into any of the situations she had considered, which was why she was rapidly losing her Jade contingent and now faced the situation practically alone. Still, it was no real concern. After all, she had something to even the score… something that Kim should have accepted while strapped into the chair.

Fingering the case once again, Kara also gently ran her hands along the three steel tubes that sat next to it. These also carried biowarning labels and were individually protected. Inside, each carried a dose of Servus and Kara could only be thankful that she had decided to pocket them while helping Drakken set up Kim’s chair.

“Oh yes… I will cause you such pain and suffering Shego…” A crazed giggle tore itself from her throat. “All the sweeter because you think you have won!”

No second chances with her, no last minute offers of enslavement. No, Shego would die by her hand… but not until she had caused her suffering! Not until she had taken something so precious the woman would abandon all logic to try and save it. Smiling, the box was slid free from her pocket and Kara stared into transparent plastic. Inside, three tubes of silvery fluid, nestled alongside six smaller vials, each a different colour. Alongside these, lay a hypodermic attachment that would attach to any form of dart.

Smiling as she shook the tiny box and watched the liquid dance, Kara giggled softly. “Regardless of how much you try to stop my revenge. Kim Possible will be mine, and you will die!”

Humming, she gently placed the box on the floor, before moving to the larger container and pressing her finger to a recessed plate. With a quiet click, the container top slid open and there, sitting softly in red foam, lay her usual red catsuit and a PDA hooked directly into the main security systems of the Lair. The other objects however were special, very special indeed.

“Ah, yes. Drakken San, you do good work… proven yourself far too useful. Especially when it comes to devices such as these. Yes, no matter what has happened to you, I must find you again.”

Grinning, Kara began to unpack.

---

Doctor Director

“Secure that corridor and then lockdown those quarters!” Doctor Director snapped. “I don’t want anyone or anything getting in or out!”

“Yes Ma’am!” Two Global Justice marines ran past her and began to cover each other as they took it in turns to smash in the doors to the quarters. The call of clear each time made their one eyed leader relax slightly.

With the battledroids defeated, along with most of the Jade contingent neutralised thanks to Yamanouchi and Team Go, Global Justice had managed to push its way out of the hanger and into the corridors beyond. Though Blood Jade ninjas and henchmen still continued to battle them as they pushed along the main corridor Mara’s blueprints had shown connected the hanger to the main Laboratory, it was obvious to Doctor Director that the Jade were now fighting a rear guard action.

“How many corridors until we reach the main lair?” She asked, walking with care around a bend while marines flanked her either side. The crack of gunfire had Doctor Director pressing herself against the wall. Marines ran in front of her and the crack of return fire made her ears ache. “And which leads to the main fusion reactor?”

“Four. And the reactor corridor is the third along.” Mara’s voice replied. “And then the main lair doors. The fusion reactor sits behind the lab and descends five levels below and…” The pause had Doctor Director frowning. “Hey! Would you mind not jostling me? I’m a delicate piece of machinery! Watch what you’re doing inside my body!”

“Sorry, uh… Ma’am?” Came an apologetic and strained male voice. “I didn’t know a screwdriver ‘there’ could hurt a… well, car?”

Mara had been so badly damaged both in the battle and the fall that a few minutes after Doctor Director had crouched down and quizzed the AI on her ‘injuries’ that systems vital to her survival had begun to fail. It was also because of the damage that she herself was unable to divert her need to the backup supply Wade had installed inside her. The only solution had been for Mara herself to shut everything down and for one of the Global Justice marine technicians to follow her directions in hooking her up directly to the emergency power supply. Of course, that didn’t stop the car from wanting to help in any way she could. So, after jacking into Drakken’s computer system directly and with the Kimmunicator in hand, Mara had become Doctor Director’s self-aware ‘map’ inside the lair.

Walking along, Doctor Director passed another two corridors, patiently waiting for her marines and Hego to seal them. As her group approached the intersection that joined the fusion corridor and marines checked down the long corridor, the leader of the GJ waited patiently and then sighed.

“What about the people in the lair? Can you pick them up?” Director asked, trying to stem the insults that echoed clearly across the Kimmunicator’s speakers. “Mara, listen to me! What about our people? Can you see them?”

As her men cleared the fusion corridor, leaving this one open as Doctor Director thought it prudent to keep an access corridor to such a machine clear, the GJ leader heard Mara sigh.

“No… something cut the main power in the lab. So, apart from passive thermal, all the sensors in that area are dead. Backup power is functioning, which means they have lights, even if they are crappy.” Mara paused. “That’s odd…”

“What?” the GJ leader asked. As the main doors came into view, the one eyed woman took in the small group of Ninjas and Henchmen gathered around the small crack between the huge sheets of metal. She blinked as a black clothed figure shot backward with a cry, slamming into the others.

It seems they are meeting resistance. I wonder who is doing such a good job at keeping them out?

“The bulkheads at either end of the fusion corridor are closing and… what the hell?” Mara’s voice went up an octave. “Doc, someone really doesn’t want you getting into the fusion corridor! The bulkheads have just activated their anti personnel devices and… woah! Someone cut the connections to override them! They’ll only respond to the control panels hardwired into the walls! I can’t get them open from here.”

“Ms Possible?” Doctor Director murmured the name as she glanced back along the corridor they had come from. ”Shego? Some sort of warning maybe? Worse, Kara has actually managed to mind control them both?”

“No… No I don’t think so. Shego’s biosigns are distinctive, as her core temperature is far higher than anyone else’s is. She’s in there, and seems to be free to move around. Where she is, Kim probably is… or I hope so.”

“Well then we-”

“Doc! I don’t believe this… tell those idiots to get away from the lab doors!” Mara’s voice cried out the warning, and Doctor Director swallowed as the group huddled around the huge doors to the laboratory glanced across at the echoing voice. Their eyes went wide as they took in the approaching mass of Gobal Justice, Yamanouchi, and Team Go and hands shot to weapons. Doctor Director grimaced. “Oh, damn it!”

Before any shots could be fired however, the huge reinforced doors to the main laboratory hissed with hydraulic motion and began to groan with weight as they slid shut. There was a high pitched scream of agony as one of the Jade ninjas, who had dropped into the area, for better protection from gunfire, where the huge hydraulic ram seated itself, was trapped between the expanding cylinder and the concrete wall. His screams became desperate, and then trailed away into gurgles.

Doctor Director desperately tried to close her eyes, but failed and watched in horror as the screaming and writhing man was literally squeezed into a red mass. Her stomach rebelled at the sight, but she clamped down with an iron will, trying to focus on the mass of Jade and henchmen in front of her. The small group stared in terror at the leaking mass of red pulp, forced into the wall, that had been a colleague.

Mara, what happened?” Doctor Director murmured. “Short? Something going haywire in the security system? I am really, really, hoping that wasn’t you.”

“Doc, please! I’m an AI and right now even I’m actually trying not to throw up okay? Apart from the moral issues, do you have any idea how gross that was? Ick… I knew humans were full of fluid, warm, sticky fluid… so gross! And as for the sound that his bones made when they where broken, ew eww! And-“

“Mara!” The leader of global Justice coughed and tried to push the images inside her head to one side. “Please. Being a human, that’s not pleasant to hear! Okay? I get the impression from your, um… tone, that you didn’t do that.”

“Sorry. No Doc, it wasn’t me. Someone else manually overrode the system though. When it detects any form of blockage in the ram space, the doors won’t shut. Safety feature, and a damn good one! Someone who didn’t care about anyone being trapped closed those doors!”

As the Marines pulled themselves together and took up offensive positions in front of their leader, Doctor Director stared at the Kimmunicator. Deliberate? Who would… who has access to the system like that?

As her troops cocked their rifles, the metallic click broke the air of horrified shock. Both Jade and Henchmen turned to find themselves trapped between an exit that lead to more marines waiting outside and the group lead by Doctor Director.

“Lay down your arms, and I’ll see you all get a fair trial. Of course, still being alive will be a benefit I won’t mention.” The woman told them coldly, her voice carrying a deadly promise of what could happen as Marines, Yamanouchi ninjas and Hego all hovered behind her. Glancing at each other, the ninjas and guards quickly dropped what weapons they carried to the floor with a metallic clatter. “Excellent, now then-“

“Doc! I’m reading heat blooms leaving Shego’s body! She’s attacking something in there!” Mara’s warning made Doctor Director pale. Was Shego attacking Kim or Mrs Possible, Ronald Stoppable? Had Ronald managed to free Shego Kim and her mother, but they were now fighting against the Jade or Kara Fang? She didn’t know, and it frightened her more than the battle with the killer droids.

“We have to get in there!” Doctor Director snapped.

“Stand aside!” The deep voice of Hego ordered as his huge bulk ran straight at the doors, fists raised. The boom of his hands smashing into the metal echoed around the corridor and he pulled back to examine the damage he was causing. His curse of annoyance as he stared at the significant, but not major, dent that lay in the reinforced metal made many of her group blink. Ignoring them, Hego slammed his fists into the metal a second time, and then a third. “Doctor. This stuff is really thick and reinforced. It’s going to take time to break it down so we can get in.”

“What about the fusion corridor? Doesn’t it connect partly with the rear of the laboratory?”

“Yeah, but the bulkheads are closed and made of the same metal!” Mara’s voice was worried. “Plus they have all that juice flowing through them. Okay, so they’re half as thick, but Hego would be facing electrocution if he tried to touch them… and the circuitry that controls that is buried inside the door! Hego, you need to put your back into getting these open!”

“I know! Damn it, my sister’s in there! I know we don’t see eye to eye but…” Hego snarled and smashing at the metal repeatedly, denting it again and again. “And yes, yes. Kim Possible as well! We’ll get through, just give me time!”

“I hope we have enough.” Doctor Director whispered, watching. “For all our sakes.”

---

Shego and Kim.

“Doctor, Shia is bleeding from that artery again…” Fah Lo murmured quietly, his own fingers working furiously. Unable to stop the spray from the damaged artery, a jet of warm blood jetted out of the damaged flesh and spattered the face of Kim’s mother.

“Darn it!” Spitting the blood out of her mouth, Doctor Possible slid her fingers into the wet flesh, working furiously. “This is stupid! I need to seal the wound, not keep trying to suture it! With a cauterising agent, heck even a soldering iron, I could easily…” She broke off and her eyes glanced up at Fah Lo, wide with thought. Sharing the same idea, Fah Lo nodded and both doctors turned to Shego.

“What the hell are you both looking at me like that for?” Shego asked, backing away slightly.

“Shego, you’re the answer!” Doctor Possible held out a scalpel and Shego glanced down at it. She realised with growing dismay what the woman was suggesting.

“You have to be kidding! I’m not a medical tool and-” The green woman glanced right and left, before sighing as both Doctors continued to stare pointedly at her. “Okay… not kidding.” Reluctantly, she held out her hand. “Gimmie the damn scalpel before I change my mind.”

Handing it gently to her, Doctor Possible watched as Shego hummed for a second, judging just how much power she needed, and then glanced up. “You just need the tip heated, right?”

Nodding, Kim’s mother watched, as Shego licked the fingertips of her right hand and gently rubbed the sharp metal. There was a green flare, and the thin blade suddenly glowed a cherry red. Nodding with satisfaction, Shego quickly handed it back and watched as Doctor Possible slid the glowing metal into Shia’s wound, Fah Lo holding it open. The smell of burning flesh rolled, oily in texture, around the four of them as Kim’s mother worked silently, only for the redhead to slide the scalpel out and hold ittowards heronce more.

“Again?” Shego asked, surprised, and received a nod. Thinking that this was possibly one of the most recent uses of her power for… well, good, Shego took the scalpel again and heated it with her fingers. As she handed it back, her emerald eyes slid to Shia and Shego stared wryly at the unconscious woman. “I’ve been turned into a medical cauteriser. Wow, payback is a pain in the ass.”

After a few more minutes, Doctor Possible sighed and gently slid her fingers free. “Well, that’s that. We’ll stitch her up for now and hope it all holds until we can get her to the emergency room.” The redhead turned to Jasmine, who clutched Shia’s hand as though gripping her very life. “She’s stable, but critical… and needs someone strong to stay with her right now. I think you’ll be the perfect choice.”

Jasmine stared down at Shia’s face, the colour that trickled back into it giving her hope. “You have saved her. I am eternally grateful to you, as I am sure Shia will be when she wakes.”

Doctor Possible nodded, exhausted from the terrible concentration she had been under. “All in a day’s work.”

“So, I can stop now?” Shego asked, the glow in her hands dying down slightly. As Kim’s mother nodded, wiping her brow after peeling off the blood-coated gloves she had on, Shego breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. While you’re still being the Doctor around here, got any paracetamol or something? My head is killing me.”

“I’ll see what Doctor Fo has.” Doctor Possible told her quietly, stepping away from the table.

Still not comfortable with me… damn! Shego cursed inwardly and then blinked. Since when does the opinion of Kimmie’s mother’s matter to me? Ah hell, this goody, goody stuff is infectious!”

Stretching, the thief leaned gently against the table, listening to Jasmine’s quiet whispers of affection to Shia’s gently breathing form.

Well, it’s all over, apart from Drakken and that psychopathic bitch getting away from me. Still, I doubt they’ll come back and that’ll give Kimmie and myself a chance to hunt them down. I’m looking forward to showing Kara how much I dislike being mind controlled. After all, Drakken only pissed me off when he did it. Kara… she’s a different matter. Still, Kimmie’s right. Leaving her alive and in agony… let alone failing to enslave us as assassins and not even managing to take me out. Oh yeah! Definitely a much better idea now I come to think about it.

With these thoughts running through her head, Shego let her glow flutter out quietly and sighed in contentment, rubbing her hands. After a few minutes, she glanced up and her gaze unerringly found Kim. She watched the young redhead typing away at Drakken’s computer, smiled as Kim began cursing mildly and shaking her head as it denied her access to something.

She’s so damn cute and sexy when she’s angry. Oh yeah… I’ve got it bad! The green woman grinned again, unable to help herself as the memory of their first kiss sidled in. It was only when she felt a sudden intense light green gaze fixed on her body that Shego snapped out of it and glanced up. Once again, Kim stared at her intently, a smile on her lips as she did so. The green woman stared back, cocking her head. Where do I stand with you Princess? You give out every signal I’ve ever seen indicating you want us to… well, date I suppose. But then you’ve never said anything close to that. Where do I stand?

I should go and tell her now. Kim thought, watching as Shego gazed back at her, still rubbing her hands and gently putting most of her weight on the table behind her. Even battered and bruised as she was, Kim could only stare at a woman who had rapidly become something more than a foe to her.

God, look at her! How could I have been so blind all this time? She’s so… sexy! All our fights, the touches, taunts, and I was so dumb I never noticed! Or maybe frightened of what it could mean to me. Still… Kim glanced around. Everyone’s safe and sound, if injured. Though mom and the hospital can fix that. And okay, so Drakken and Kara got away, but we’ll get them. I doubt Doctor Director’s going to just let them both waltz out of the country after all this. A grin slid onto her lips, and she felt it widen as Shego blinked in surprise and interest. Yeah, I bet you wanna know why I’m smiling. Still, I suppose this is the perfect time in a way. We’re injured, bleeding, and bruised to Hell and back… story of our lives in a way. Come on Kim, now or never!

“Hey, Shego.” Kim called, cursing inwardly as her voice quavered slightly, the nerves she felt inside her escaping. “Don’t move, okay? I want… I need to tell you something!”

Shego’s face slid into mild interest, one smoothly slick black eyebrow raising slightly. “Oh? Something on your mind Princess?”

“Yeah, just… don’t move from there okay?” Kim felt the giggle, relief that despite everything they had all come through alive, and began to walk swiftly across to where Shego leaned against the table, the look of interest rapidly slipping into a hopeful smile. As she walked slowly across to the green woman, Kim felt her own feet suddenly burst into a quick jog… and she grinned. “Ah hell… here we go. I hope I’m doing the right thing…”

Shego blinked as Kim began to dash towards her, a grin on the redhead’s lips and her eyes sparkling. No… I… I’m imagining things! There’s no way that I’m this lucky! Shego, much to her shock, realised she had her hands open to accept the running redhead. “Oh hell, please let her say what I’m hoping she’s going to say. It’s been years since I got any! The inappropriate thought made her grin widen.

Around them, everyone quietly watched the scene unfolding and nodded in satisfaction. As Doctor Possible took in the way her daughter was laughing as she ran, the older woman sighed. Perhaps, despite it her own reservations about Shego and Kim making a relationship work, it was the best outcome after all.

Shego felt herself tense as Kim reached the last few metres before she could wrap her arms around her once nemesis and now the woman she desired. She could feel the anticipation building up inside her as her thoughts ran to all the romantic crap she secretly craved, and who, if Kim told her what she yearned to hear, she could be doing it with in the weeks to come.

Man, life’s never gonna be the same!

The sudden stumble in Kim’s step, the smile that faded as quickly as her eyes registered pain, and then horror made Shego’s heart lurch. A lurch that exploded into pain as Kim failed to right herself, and staggered into a tumble towards her, almost as if someone tried to rip it out of her ribcage. Shego fought to ignore the sensation thudding against her chest as the Kim’s silently screaming face had the green woman letting out a worried whimper. For a second, the memory of Kara’s eyes, gleaming as she promised vengeance against Shego and her Pumpkin, swamped the thief.

“You see, I always plan ahead… for everything.” Kara’s voice whispered around Shego.

As Kim’s agony stricken face stumbled towards her, Shego stepped forwards and caught the redhead, her alert eyes trying to catch the flash of red that she knew… knew had been the cause. Only someone as insane as Kara Fang would come back and try again.

“Kimmie,” Shego called her name as the young woman slammed into her body. Grunting slightly at the impact of the teens shivering form, Shego swallowed and, desperate for the dreadful realisation she felt to be proven wrong, called Kim every nickname she could think of. Anything to get a reaction. “Kimmie, Princess, Sweetheart, Honey… Pumpkin? S… say something!”

“Gahhdd…” Kim managed, collapsing into her arms. Arms that were supposed to cradle her gently, hold her tightly, and allow Shego to whisper the question she’d nervously been repeating to herself. Instead, the green woman found herself holding a writhing and shaking teenager, who managed to jerkily raise her head. The green eyes were wide, with agony, with desperation or maybe both, Shego couldn’t tell. As Kim opened her mouth, the thief fought back tears as her teeth chattered uncontrollably almost as if the teen were freezing. “Shheeggg…”

“Pumpkin?” Shego stared in shock at the redhead’s neck, and in mounting horror at the hypodermic dart that gleamed almost cruelly from behind the red strands. As she heard Doctor Possible cry out, as she heard the gasps of shock from Kim’s friends, their pounding feet, all Shego could do was stare at the familiar dart, and the single silvery bead of liquid that spilled down Kim’s skin.

“N…no… it can’t be! It can’t be there!” Stubbornly, Shego gently pulled the dart free and gazed at it with rage filled eyes. She knew where it had come from, had seen this sort of dart only once before. Knew that only one rifle in the world used ammunition such as this.

The terrified, fear stricken, part of her willed it to vanish, to erase itself from her grip. For Kim to be okay, just a stumble and nothing else. Instead, the dart remained gleaming in her grip, taunting her with it’s cold clinical use. Suddenly, Shego snarled and her bare hand exploded into flame, melting the tiny device instantly. “Servus… fucking Servus! It’s not fair!”

Letting the tiny dribble of molten metal splash carefully away from where she cradled Kim, Shego stared at the tiny hole in the back of the redhead’s neck and fought back a sob of helpless anger as a dribble of silvery liquid trickled from it. The shot had been impossible for almost anyone else to pull off. She knew, without looking, that the dart had been fired at the precise moment it needed to hit the soft spongy tissue in-between the vertebrae of Kim’s neck. Fired so that it would deliver its sick package directly to the tissue Servus was used to control. Only one person could fire the shot and hit the target she wanted.

Unable to help herself, a sob escaped Shego’s black lips as she stared at the trickle, the sound echoingaround the lab. “No… Kara… damn you…. Damn you! Why her? It’s me you hate! Why Kim? My Kimmie?”

Kim pawed at the soft green and black suit, tried to grip the long dark hair that gently waved around her. Anything! But something was taking over, and she knew with a cold horror what it was. Focusing her willpower, suddenly a rapidly vanishing commodity, Kim hauled herself upright, fingers stabbing into the skin of Shego’s shoulders, the green woman ignoring the bite of pain, and stared into the deep emerald eyes. Eyes that stared back with terror etched deeply inside them at the woman’s own helplessness.

“Shh… Shego.” Kim forced the words past lips that wanted to lock. She felt her legs just go… dead. She could feel them, feel the cold concrete underneath them, but they did nothing she told them too… and she knew that it was spreading. It was now or never, and she would never be able to forgive herself if she didn’t manage to tell Shego before it took her. “I… I need to say that… that…”

Kim broke off, the chattering of her teeth becoming worse as Servus took further control. Shego, shook her gently, knowing deep down that what Kim needed to tell her was important, life changing… something Kim had to tell her and her alone. “Kimmie, take it easy! Sp…Speak slowly and clearly to me! Kay?”

Kim couldn’t even nod, but tried again, desperate to force the words out. “SShhhh… I… I… loo…ooov-“

Shego’s eyes widened, moistening as Kim suddenly stiffened, let go of her shoulders and fell into her lap with a thud. As the hero lay still, only an occasional tremble of muscle succumbing to something she couldn’t fight, Shego let out a scream and clutched her tightly. “It’s not FUCKING FAIR!

Inside, Kim screamed at the same time, her own body shutting down on her, locking her out, trapped without bars or a way to escape. The scream echoed around the darkness that she found herself in. “It’s not damn fair! Why wouldn’t you give me the time to tell her! Everything I’ve ever done was for other people! Why couldn’t you give me just a few seconds more? Why!”

Cradling Kim, Shego held her tightly, and fought back the pain as she stared into green eyes that rapidly dimmed into emotionless voids. She knew what was happening, had felt everything Kim would… but the redhead she had finally been able to admit she was falling for, was feeling the pain that Shego herself had been spared, thanks to Drakken. The rush as Kim’s mother and friends dashed towards them both was lost on her as a single ungloved hand reached up and stroked the red hair.

“As soft as I dreamed it would be… just… fuck!” She looked up, staring into the shadows and her face twisted into rage, rage at the very universe itself.

“I wanted just one little thing… one! Was that so much to ask, after you took everything else… no matter how crappy! After you stole it all, raped me with a power I didn’t want and then let even the love I had for my brothers die, you take this? You take her, too! Do you hate me that much?”

“Well, if you mean me… yes.” The reply echoed around the lab and Shego blinked in shock as her question was answered by a calm and almost sickly sweet voice.

Suddenly, to everyone’s shock, the doors to the laboratory began to ponderously close, locking any assistance on the other side. As Shego exchanged worried glances with Kim’s mother, the redhead running towards them, a voice echoed around the lab’s shadowy walls.

“Did you really think I would run from you?” A voice that made Shego’s head snap up, eyes moist with tears of rage and helplessness. “Did you think I would let you have a ‘happy’ ending? Did you really think I would come this far without my final prize? No, Shego. You are going to pay blood for blood, shame for shame, and your precious little ‘Kimmie’ for what you made me lose!”

“KARAAA!” Shego roared the words, pausing to gently place Kim’s writhing form in her mother’s lap as the older woman slid to her knees beside them. Sliding to her feet, Shego felt her fingers stab into the palms of her hands as she fought for control against the roaring rage inside her head, and harshly hissed. “What have you DONE?”

“Why, taken what’s mine…” The voice echoed again, shaking off any attempt to track it, but Shego glanced upwards with a whip of snakelike muscles. “She was always mine, as soon as you wanted her, Shego. But if you mean the little hypo-dart? You know very well what was in that. Doctor Possible’s new and improved Servus nanites. Kim San is rapidly losing all ability to fight me and will in… oh, I’d say twenty-five seconds now, be my puppet.”

“It hurts!” Kim cried out, shuddering and writhing on the cold floor of Servus, of its prison. “Oh god, it feels… I… I…”

As the nanites sought, locked and settled into her tissues, onto her neural cells and muscle fibres, Kim could only react to the agony they caused her. To her, every single part of her that became corrupted spilled a sensation like flaming mercury down her spine, skin… everywhere. She wondered if this was how it felt to be flayed alive. Wondered if it was less painful. For a second, just a second, she wondered if Kara knew how outclassed she was by tiny robots performing what could only be described as cellular rape.

“Someone kill me! Take the pain away! I… I can’t stand it! Shego, kill me… please!”

“No damn you!” Shego glanced down at Kim’s face, the streak of tears from the young woman’s eyes freezing her blood. “There’s no point to this, Kara! No point, because you’ve lost again! So give it up you crazy bitch!”

“I have not lost, not yet!” Kara, propped on one knee in the shadows of the upper walkway that ran around the edge of the huge laboratory, smiled, mirthlessly. Below her, Shego and Kim Possible’s mother and friends all gazed around frantically. “If I take Kim Possible to the Jade, they will forgive me for losing so many resources. The little redhead is worth an entire province’s resources for her abilities! Plus, I have to be honest that they are a secondary concern to me. My revenge against you, Shego, has always been my driving factor since you kicked me away from the Fox’s tuition!”

“Mmrggh!” Kim’s gurgle of pain made Shego wince, and Doctor Possible gripped her daughter tightly as the young woman spasmed. She knew, with horrible clarity, that the nanites in Kim’s blood were rapidly infecting themselves into her nerve clusters, spinal tissue and brain matter. Soon, everything that allowed her daughter to control herself would be gone, controlled by Servus.

“So, I think I will enjoy watching the agony endured by you, as Kim Possible’s will is sucked away.” Kara sighed. “Most enjoyable… and certainly worth the price of my province if it comes to it!”

“Ron San… what about the disrupter?” Yori asked Ron as she helped him gently across the lab her eyes darting around, wary for any attack. “Could it save Kim?”

“What disrupter?” Shego hissed, overhearing and turning to the blond teen with a look of desperation. “Hang on… it’s that communications box the rodent had! He did something and I… well, it fucking hurt, but it freed me!”

Ah, so that was what freed Shego… how interesting. Kara’s eyes gleamed in the dark, trying to work out a way for her to use the information.

“No! We can’t use it!” Ron told her, even as Shego reached down to prise the device from her belt. “It can only disrupt one Servus at a time, not two! Besides, Kim’s father… or rather the Tweebs, told me that if it’s turned off before we get those things out of you, anything could happen!” Ron watched as Shego’s gaze on the device turned calculating. “Shego, don’t! I know what you’re thinking, and for a villainess it’s surprising. But don’t do it! Even if it can disrupt Kim’s Servus, we could end up with you mind controlled again, and none of us have any chance at stopping you right now!”

“Well what the fucking hell are we going to do?” Shego screamed, the panic that had welled up under her usual cool exterior breaking through the suddenly thin crust. Ron blinked and stared at her. Was this Shego without the usual cool and sarcastic exterior? Was this how she used to be? Before she became a… a mercenary for hire? His thoughts were dashed as Shego gripped and then shook him, ignoring Yori’s murmur of concern. “I’m not damn well going to watch my… my Kimmie, slowly slip away and end up a puppet like I was! I won’t let it happen again and no fucking way is it going to happen to her!”

“Shego San, let Ron go! He is injured and-“

“All of you stop yelling at each other and listen to me. You too Shego!” As the green woman glanced down at the voice, Kim’s mother looked up at her with eyes as cold as will could make them. The Doctor then yanked her head to one side, indicating a huge safe, unlocked and unnoticed. “Forget sparring with Kara, and you can certainly forget self sacrifice if you really do care about my daughter! She’d never forgive me! There’s another way, thanks to Drew of all people!”

“What?” Shego managed, feeling a small part of her unfreeze. “Doctor Drakken?”

“Inside that safe is a transparent box. It’ll have small steel tubes with blue caps and a set of smaller plastic tubes with differently coloured caps. Get it and bring it here.” Doctor Possible glanced down and stroked Kim’s hair, trying not to think that what slowly infected her daughter, she had helped create. “Drew is stupid, but not thankfully on an intellectual level. He made a key to each of the Servus ‘packages’ as he called them, needed my help to do it, which is why I know about them. Now, listen closely. It comes in two parts. A basic decryption fluid and a smaller capsule that contains a synthetic RNA code the other stuff needs to disarm each Servus package. If we can find the right code and inject it, we can save Kimmie and also cure you.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem Doc.” Ron began, feeling relief well through him. Kim was going to be okay, okay! Shego would take care of Kara and everything would be fine, better even! “Shego, you go get the vials while Yori, her pals and myself keep an eye on Kara-“ He broke off, as the woman in question began laughing softly.

“Yes, I am going to sit here and let that happen… Oh, my.” Kara’s laughter faded into a cool, almost cold tone. “I have a rifle, Ron Stoppable. I know how to use it as well… However, I doubt right now that any of you are a threat to me. Especially poor, poor, Kim San and her confused, conflicted, and would be lover. Right, Shego?”

Everyone turned to try and track the voice, especially one person whose hands blazed into green fury as she did so. Shego stared up into the shadows, ignoring the tears that she refused to believe where coursing down her face. “Show your face, you bitch!”

“Ohh, I do not think so. I am most amused by your bickering, and especially by the fact that you think the antidote vials for yourself and Kim Possible are still where Drakken San put them. No, Shego, think carefully and you will realise that-“

“You have them…” Shego whispered, everyone else silently realising the same thing. All horrified by the notion.

“Yes, I have them, because he gave them to me when I asked for them. Men are easily led with the right smile, the right movement of your body, a flirtatious gesture… something I know to be true, countless times. Yes, Drakken San was almost innocently immature and it was easy.”

“Why?” this time, Kim’s mother asked the question towards the upper walkway, covered in shadows. Her eyes were dripping with tears, her voice choked. “Why take them?”

“Ah, Doctor… again, it is the matter of Shego.” Kara sighed with almost a wishful tone. “Think of it as insurance… for when I had you, Shego, under my thumb. When I had grown tired of you being my assassin, when I finally, finally took my revenge and watched you die slowly by my hand, how could I enjoy that with you under Servus? No, no… I wanted you free so you could feel your life slip away! Maybe, once I am finished with the one you wish to love, I will grant her the same exquisite demonstration!”

“You… you… sick bitch! Give me the cures!” Shego roared, her fingers clenching into fists. Before anyone could stop her, bolts of plasma instinctively left her hands.

Smashing into the concrete above the walkway, the glow from the energy bolts outlined Kara’s crouching form. More plasma shot from Shego and impacted with explosive force either side of the Jade leader. Kara seemed unaffected and stepped forwards, the light gleaming from the rifle barrel she pointed with one hand towards Kim’s form and the other holding a small transparent plastic case, inside of which lay three long metal vials and two smaller ones. The small vials were coloured individually. One green. One red.

“Here they are, Shego…” Kara whispered, opening it and taking out the red vial and one of the silvery vials. “Three vials of the liquid you need and one vial each of your, oh so very precious, codes.”

With a cruel giggle, Kara slid the red vial and it’s metal counterpart into a tiny pocket. She then slid a second one from the box and, one handed, unscrewed the steel tube. As everyone below her watched, Kara poured the tube onto the walkway floor, the light bluish metallic liquid splattering uselessly around her feet. “Whoops. Still, two left.”

“You-“ Shego whispered, hands flaring.

“Now, if you want to destroy any chance for yourself or Kim, Shego, then please do continue to fire that power of yours.”

Shego heard Kim’s mother gasp with worry, noticed the fearful glances Kim’s friends were giving her. There was no need. Almost calmly, Shego lowered her hands and the glow flickering around them spluttered out. “Fine… I’ll stop using it. So, what do you want?”

“Revenge really.” Kara smiled as Shego stared up at her, rage still flickering in her emerald eyes. “You have nothing, none of you, that I want. All I want is to have Kim San and, as I’m sure you realise by now,” Kara slid the case inside her red cat suit and pulled out her personal Servus controller, which chimed repeatedly. “I’m not in a giving mood. Oh, and this little device is telling me Kim is mine now, so it is a bit late to try and bargain with me.”

“She’s not yours to have!” Shego snarled, taking a step forwards. “I want her to be mine! All of her, not just her body! You… you’re trying to make her dance like a puppet, but you’ll never have her fucking mind, her heart! That’s given, not taken!”

“Ah, romance… how pathetically tender. Once again you try to steal what I already have.” Kara’s eyes gleamed. “Servus is staying right where it is, in Kim San’s head. As for you? Well, as much as I wish I could end your life, wish that it is me who chokes the life from you, I will have to rely on someone else.”

“Don’t…” Shego whispered, her eyes flicking down to Kim’s still form.

“Oh, yes I think I shall. Pumpkin?” Kara whispered into the remote, cruelly using one of Shego’s nicknames for Kim, her voice filled with excitement. “Do be a dear and take Shego for me. I want you to break her arms and legs. Then, once she’s disabled, kill your friends. Oh, and your irritating mother. Then return to Shego and break every other bone she has… slowly. I’m sure other ideas will come to me after a while.”

“Yes, Mistress Fang.” Kim announced coldly, sitting up despite her mother’s attempts to hold her down. Even as the Doctor tried to grab her shoulders, Kim glanced over and with emotionless eyes, backhanded her. As her mother flew backwards, sprawling on the floor and shaking her head, Kim slid to her feet and turned to stare at Shego. “Target located…”

“Oh shit…” Shego whispered, ice running down her spine.

“KP? What are you-“ Ron began, taking a step forwards. Yori and her friends from Yamanouchi also began to move towards the redhead, concern in their eyes.

“Ah, ah!” Kara’ voice echoed above them as the concrete floor near to Yori’s left foot exploded into a puff of dust. Taking action, the ninja yanked Ron behind her and snapped her fans out, covering as much of their bodies as she could. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Brianna and Hirotaka ran behind a pillar, which also let out a puff of dust a few seconds later. “Nobody interferes with this fight… and that goes for you too Doctor Possible.” Kara laughed as Jasmine gripped the horrified woman standing next to the table, kicked it so that it rolled over, and yanked her down behind it. “Yes, that’s right! Cower before me! I am in charge now!”

Stay back! Kara’s too dangerous for you to be in the open!” Shego snapped at them, a small part of her groaning as she realised that she was acting like a hero, something she swore to never be again. “Kim’s not going to hold anything back when she attacks. So right now, considering you’re all injured and trapped, I’m the only one who can take her on and… damn!“

She ducked the foot that screamed towards her head more out of luck than skill, hands coming up to instinctively block and counter the fist that shot towards her­­­, right behind it. Letting the arm drift past her, bouncing along her own, Shego stepped forwards, eyes intent. Her own right fist shot towards Kim’s stomach, intending to wind her. As it buried itself in the tightly wound muscle under the young girl’s skin, Shego felt the redhead stagger backwards slightly.

Sorry Pumpkin. The green woman thought quietly. I know how much that must have hurt, trapped as you are… but I have to try and put you down without hurting you too much. She sighed, eyes alert as they watched Kim circle. I promise, every punch on you? Kara’s gonna get ten in return.

Shego moved in once again, her right leg snapping outwards and upwards to try and catch Kim’s chin, to knock her unconscious or at least disorient her. Servus was ready. Plundering Kim’s impressive collection of combat moves and counters, some from various martial arts, others stolen from the very woman she was fighting, it countered.

“Shego… oh god! Not that move! I worked out how to counter-“ Kim’s scream of warning inside her head never escaped, and she watched in horror as her own body dropped to the floor on one knee. Arms crossing tightly over her head, they caught Shego’s leg as it dropped back down. As the move knocked the green woman off balance, who tried to compensate by beginning to twist in a kick with her other leg against the side of Kim’s head, Servus moved Kim forward in a lightning fast snap punch to Shego’s groin.

Shego’s pale green face drained of even that touch of colour and she hissed in agony, staggering back from Kim, who slowly rose to her feet and tilted her head, watching in interest. The thief herself felt sick, a dull throb slowly making itself known to her as the sharp pain in her groin trickled away.

“Damn Princess, where the hell did you learn to fight so dirty?” Groaning, the thief slid upright and smiled wryly. “Actually, if I recall, that’s one of mine you little thief! Maybe I’m rubbing off on you.”

Kim ignored her, darting forwards in an attack aimed at her chest.Not even a glimmer of a counter insult… nothing. I’m fighting a damn puppet!

Seeing the attack coming, Shego gracefully flowed to one side, her body sliding to the right of Kim’s and as the redhead shot past, trying to counter her own momentum, she twisted. Her right arm went rigid as she could make it and she put all her weight into the swing as it connected with the lower portion of Kim’s neck. The thud of flesh of flesh echoed slightly around the lab and the blow sent Kim’s body sprawling to the floor. Inside Servus, Kim felt the world spin with disorientation and a sharp agony rip its way into her mind. The blow was too much for her, and Kim blinked as the world went dark, as she dropped into unconsciousness.

The control system in her body did not. As it had done with Shego, Servus ignored the pain responses, and merely checked itself for battle damage. Finding nothing of importance, it set Kim’s body into hauling itself upright.

As Kim propped herself on her elbows and continued to rise, Shego stared in disbelief. “Um, suggestions? Considering that blow should have put down a rhino for a couple of hours!”

She danced back, swearing, as Kim lashed out backwards with a kick. Obtaining a few seconds breathing space, the control system slid Kim to her feet and turned to locate its primary target and process combat options. To Shego, it was one of the most disturbing things she had ever seen. Servus did not see a broken finger as significant damage, but Shego did. She watched in horror as Kim raised her hands into a combat stance and the finger dangled limply. Worse, much worse, the green eyes empty.

God… did I do that? I broke her finger? Damn it, she’ll be pissed… and Kimmie can’t even scream! I hate this mind control shit!

“Shego, how about the green zappy thing you did to Doctor P?” Ron called, from his crouched position behind Yori’s fans. A shot rang out from Kara’s rifle, but the round bounced off the fans as the ninja countered with her body weight, groaning as her shoulder wound burned. “That’d knock her out, right?”

“Are you a total moron?” Shego snapped back, blocking a series of strikes as Kim lunged at her once again. As she bent away from a second kick and managed to narrowly avoid a strike to her neck, Shego flipped and rolled away from the redhead. She hissed as Kim managed to slash at her with her own gloves, the tips raking a fine furrow of bleeding lines across her back. “If I use that, what the hell will these things do? How will they react? This is Drakken we’re talking about! The things in her head could easily turn it into blancmange if I use my powers!”

“Well we have to do something!” Ron snapped back. “Even you can’t hold her back forever.”

“I damn well can!” Shego answered, ignoring the dribble of sweat that splashed across her cheek from her long hair. The truth was that she had already gone to her own limits, limits that had dropped from where they usually were from the abuse her body had received in the past week and also from their earlier fight. Now, without Servus to override her will, Shego felt the pain of exhausted, bruised and torn muscles, and battled to keep on fighting. “Fuck it… any suggestions before she gets past my defences?”

“Um, well the only thing I can think of is someone needs to get the controller Kara has! Along with that box and the red vial from her pocket.” Ron winced as another round from Kara’s rifle sent Yori back a step, whimpering. He stood behind her and slid his hands over hers. “I’ve gotcha. You’re not alone Yori… not with me.”

Shego countered an arm as it swung towards her and gripped it tightly, before spinning around so she and Kim were back to back. As the redhead tugged and lashed out with her other arm behind her, Shego caught and then gripped it tightly. Standing back to back, Kim tugging and writhing to little success, Shego breathed as slowly as she could, trying to get her breath back. “Hello? Ideas!”

“I’m thinking…” Ron muttered, glancing around. The problem was he had no idea what they were going to do. “All this monkey power and I can’t think of one damn thing…”

---

Rufus

Watching his master and Shego argue, Rufus stared upwards at the laughing and clapping form of Kara Fang. Rubbing his head, the molerat glared at the unaware woman and bared his teeth.

He had woken a few minutes ago from behind one of the concrete pillars. It had been where the foot of a Synthodrone had accidentally kicked him as the hulking goo sacks had attacked Kim. His tiny head had slammed into the concrete and had knocked him out. Now, as he glared at the scene in front of him and rubbed his bruised head, all he could think about was getting even with the horrible human woman who had done all this.

A muffled swearword from Shego made Rufus glance across to see the green woman sweating terribly as she desperately tried to defend against Kim’s attacks. He watched as she ducked, punched Kim hard in the face, a blow that should have knocked her out, only for his master’s friend to calmly punch her back. As Shego staggered back slightly, blood trickling down her chin, Rufus winced. Shego was at a disadvantage and Kim was too much her equal for the battle to swing in the green woman’s favour.

Servy! He thought, dread crawling through his small frame. Gotta do something ta help!

“Um, well the only thing I can think of is someone needs to get the controller Kara has! Along with that box and the red vial from her pocket.” His master’s words echoed across to the small molerat, whose eyes widened.

While Shego snapped back at him, Rufus ignored her and stared up at the laughing and clapping woman on the upper walkway. She had a rifle, that he could see. A rifle that she occasionally fired in the various directions of Ron, the Yamanouchi ninjas and a turned over table for some reason. Coming to a decision as Shego let out another pained cry and Ron’s responding holler echoed with worry, Rufus scurried along the wall, and knew that the horrible Fang woman didn’t see him in the shadows.

Climb, need to climb! Gotta help! Rufus thought desperately as he ran underneath where Kara kneeled. Glancing up, the molerat took in the thin pipe that carried electrical cabling towards the ceiling and his eyes gleamed. Booyah!

---

Shego

“Jeez!” Shego whispered, sweat pouring into her eyes as she dodged a vicious kick, only for her chest to burn as Kim’s carry through punch slammed into her. “Don’t you say anything at all? I mean, Kimmie? Give me a sign here!”

Shego backed a step away from Kim and slid her hands into a defensive position once more. She was, though Shego wanted to deny it, losing.

Her trick with Kim’s own defensive move, the two of them standing back to back, had brought her time. However, it seemed that Kim herself had worked out a counter for the move long before she had used it against Shego in the warehouse. The green woman had no idea how it had happened, but one second they had been back to back, and the second Kim had managed to free herself and swing her facefirst into a pillar. The impact had forced the air from Shego’s lungs and by the time she had turned around Kim was lunging at her once again.

Bleeding from various slashes on her body, thanks to her own gloves, and bruised badly, Shego dodged the redhead and countered with more blows and kicks. Kim danced backwards with a speed only she could manage, and both women stared at each other. Unable to help herself, Shego shook her head.

“We’re going to need to see a counsellor after this and-“ Servus lunged again, and Shego rolled, cursing, to block the attack. “Kimmie, you have to fight it!”

Kim gazed at her, and blinked. Servus suggested a solution it thought would logically solve the problem it faced as Shego blocked and lashed out with her own punch. “Fighting my control is illogical and pointless. It would be more efficient and logical for you to stop resisting.”

Shego sighed. She knew that Kim couldn’t respond, had hoped deep down that she would despite that. Shego had a terrible feeling that one of her attacks had already knocked ‘Kim’ out, as she had been herself once, and the fact that Servus itself had answered her question upset the thief more than she wished to let on. “Not gonna happen. Not till I get you out of Princess and kick Kara’s ass for doing this to her.”

Kim didn’t respond, why would Servus bother? Instead, the control system inside her brain launched another kick and flurry of punches at the green woman, who backed away deflecting them with incredible skill. But Shego was tiring, and tiring quickly.

As she moved to deflect a kick to her right side, Kim countered faster than she could react, and a kick to her kidney on the left was the result. Wincing, Shego lunged forwards, her fist swinging out to impact on Kim’s face. The redhead rocked with the impact, but that was all. Her own gloved hands shot up, curled so that the razor sharp points that Shego’s nails would usually fit into stood upright in her palms, palms that faced the green woman’s head. As Kim smashed her fists up into Shego’s face, the tips of the gloves scratched ragged lines across the base of Shego’s neck, making the her cry out in surprise and lash out with a kick that had the redhead stumbling backwards.

“Damn, Damn!” Shego managed, her own hands sliding to her neck as she checked the damage. She never noticed Kim’s leg smashing into her side until it was too late. Falling to the ground, Shego rolled and slid upright into a crouch, breathing heavily. Something sparked on her belt and the thief swore. “Fuck… fuck!”

“Shego!” Ron’s voice made the green woman blink and glance over, even as Kim ran at her once more. “Watch the Roncom on your belt! Kim’s already hit it once, and it’s the only thing keeping your Servus from working! You gotta protect it better!”

“Stoppable, would you like to fight Kimmie? She can’t feel damn pain right now! Or rather she can but you think Servus cares! I’m doing what I can!” She glanced down at the plastic device, noticed the screen was cracked, and quietly panicked herself. “I’m doing what I can…”

“I almost forgot about that,” Kara’s voice laughed, making everyone glance up apart from Shego who caught Kim’s foot on crossed arms, before pushing upwards. The force made Kim fall and the breath leave the redhead’s body as she landed on her back. “I wonder what would happen to you, my little green demoness, if something were to, oh, destroy it?”

Ron paled. “Oh no… Shego, Shego she’s going to-“

“I kinda guessed Stoppable!” Shego managed, groaning as Kim flipped to her feet. “I’m surprised it took her this long to suggest it!”

“Well, I will not keep you waiting any longer, Shego.” Kara hissed, insulted despite the smile that flickered on her lips. “Princess? Do be a dear and smash the little plastic device tucked under Shego’s belt. I want her back where she belongs! Under my feet and obeying me!”

“Yes Mistress Fang.” Kim replied, eyes fixing themselves on the small Roncom. “Target located.”

Her foot lashed out, aiming for the device tucked under Shego’s belt, making the dark haired woman scramble backwards cursing. Deep down, Shego felt fear. What would happen to Kimmie if she ended up being controlled again? She knew with certainty that if it did take her over again, then Ron, Kim’s mother and all of hr Pumpkin’s friends would end up as greasy, red stains on the concrete.

Worse, without anyone to help them, she and Kim would end up being just what Kara promised. Mindless assassins… covered in blood day after day, year after year. Until the day Kara became tired of her playthings. When she did, would it be Kim Kara killed first? Would Shego be forced to watch as the young woman she loved was slowly killed? She knew Kara would never do it quickly, not when her old foe could hurt her. Or, and possibly more likely knowing the bitch, would Kara order Kim to kill her? Would the last thing she see be the redhead stabbing a knife into her body until they were both drenched in her blood? Her own hands slickly sliding off the young woman’s shoulders, trapped and helpless to stop her, forgive her… tell her that she loved her?

I can’t let this happen! The vision froze Shego’s blood, made her heart thump painfully in her chest as her stomach lurched at the idea. She had to stop this! Not just for herself, but for the redhead who had annoyed her, charmed her, and then made her feel love towards her. Shego dodged a blow and snarled in defiance Kimmie’s mine!

The problem was, as Shego rolled to the left and then slid to her feet jumping backwards, away from Kim, that her exhaustion was rapidly spiralling into physical collapse. She dodged the next set of blows aimed at her face, her right hand managing to drop down and deflect the leg that had swung in to destroy the device on her waist.

“Someone… wanna… hurry?” Shego managed, the sweat pouring into her eyes now as Kim continued to coldly use move after move, the young woman never relenting as Servus drove her body on and on, ignoring any exhaustion or pain that the body it controlled felt. “I can’t keep… this up forever!”

Desperate to help his best friend and the woman she secretly loved, Ron rolled out from behind Yori’s fans. Ignoring the ninja’s cries of warning, the blond teen dashed across to where Kim fought Shego, the Lotus Blade morphing into a heavy cosh. He didn’t want to hurt Kim, but nor could he stand by and see her attack Shego to the point of the disrupter being destroyed. With the warnings from Jim and Tim mingling with the guilt of attacking his best friend, Ron raised the cosh as Kim came into view, Shego’s eyes widening in surprise.

“Look out!” Shego cried out the words, a tiny part of her wondering why she cared. “Buffoon… ah hell! Ron! Get down! You’re a target!”

She was too slow to warn him, and Ron was too focused to react to the cry of warning the monkey power screamed into his mind seconds before the gentle puffing sound of Kara’s rifle echoed around the lab.

The shot passed cleanly through Ron’s forearm, blood spattering the wall as the impact spun the blond teen around. Shock clearly on his face, Ron dropped the glowing cosh, which fell to the floor with a metallic clang as the Lotus Blade resumed its normal shape. As he fell, desperately clutching his spurting arm, Kara’s laughter mingled with Yori’s terrified screaming as the soft-spoken ninja ran towards him. He wanted to warn her that she was in much danger as he was, but the pain in his arm had stolen his breath.

No… not Yori too! Picking up the Lotus Blade with his undamaged arm, he forced the pain to one side and concentrated. With a pop of displaced air, the sword turned into a fan and Ron swung the blade up as the monkey power flowed cleanly into him, this time focused on defending the scrambling Ninja. As Kara fired again, Ron hurled the lotus fan, allowing Tai Sheng Pek Kwar to guide his movements and aid his strength and reaction times. Fan and bullet smashed into each other, the spinning blade deflecting the hypersonic dart away from Yori.

Oh yeah, Stoppable saves the day… and now he’s gonna faint from blood loss. Shot twice in one mission! Since when did saving the world become so dangerous?

As Yori gripped his arm and tugged him behind a pillar, Ron could only watch as Shego, too slow to defend against Kim any further, cried out in pain as the redhead clawed at her face.

The razor sharp gloves slashed sideways across her face, snapping her head to one side and spraying blood across the concrete as they gouged a fresh set of bleeding rips into the green woman’s skin. Shego gasped, blinking and trying to clear the blood that trickled into her eyes as her hands slid up, trying to futilely defend her body while she was essentially blinded.

Deep in the dark recesses of the prison Servus held her mind in, Kim woke with a groan. Blinking at the pain and exhaustion of her body as it trickled into her, all she could do was stare, her face a terrified blank, as she watched her own body claw Shego violently across the face, blood spattering the air and dribbling into her face. “No…”

Servus,ignoring the weak defence the thief’s hands posed, crouched down. Using Kim’s athletic body, it lashed out, foot spinning and impacting viciously against Shego’s legs, making the green woman fall with a curse onto the cold concrete. Blinded and disoriented, Shego could only cough in agony as Kim, eyes cool, rolled to a sitting position and her right leg rose into the air.

Inside, Kim’s consciousness realised where Servus was aiming her leg and she staggered to her feet, searching for any way to stop the blow from impacting. “No! Shego… I have to stop this, I can do anything!” Kim sobbed the words as her leg descended, Servus ignoring its hosts feeble and weakening attempts to take control. “I can do anything…”

The redhead’s foot impacted against the plastic device, shattering the screen further and forcing it out from under Shego’s belt. As it clattered to the hard floor, a spurt of acrid smoke escaped its innards and sparks traced the devices’ glowing controls before the lights flickered and died.

As it did so, Shego blinked as red-hot splinters screamed into her head, slashing into her self control like butter. Choking as she suddenly found it hard to breathe, Shego curled into a foetal position and felt her body tremble violently. Oh shit… not again!

Without the waveform interrupting their program and freezing them into inaction, the thousands of tiny nanites blinked in cybernetic surprise and requested their fellows to form for program integration. Each of them carried a small portion of the main Servus program, which gave instructions to each and every single one as to where they were supposed to latch onto neurons.

The problem, as they communicated with each other, was that the disrupting waveform had scrambled a good portion of the data many carried. The program that formed Servus itself was hopelessly, and horrifically, corrupted. Nanites that initially had remained inert sprang into action, locking themselves around neurons they thought were correct, but were not. Others formed linked chains with fellow nanites, the resulting connection shorting portions of Shego’s brain. As Servus drunkenly tried to take control, the shattered portions of the program asserting themselves, Shego paid the price.

“Naahhhhhh!” The scream tore itself from the green woman’s black lips as Shego jerked ridged, her spine curving as muscles responded to insane commands from her nervous system. Her legs snapped straight and then curled so tightly behind her that her feet touched the skin on her back, bending the woman into a semi-circle. The muscle fibres in her legs began to rip, overstressed by the position they had been forced to adopt. As they did so, the agony yanked another helpless scream from Shego’s lips.

Her arms cartwheeled helplessly, totally out of her control and jerking as Servus caused them to misfire. One caught Kim a blow to the jaw that sent the passive faced redhead sprawling onto the concrete, while the other slammed repeatedly onto the concrete, the plasma flaring and exploding as it did so, pitting the hard surface.

Stop… pain… please! Kimmie… Kimmie! Shego managed to think, her entire mind overloading with confusion, pain and disorientation. Tears spilled down Shego’s face, mingling with the drying blood and creating red furrows across her pale green skin. Dying… gonna die after all… Not fair!

Servus, still trying to take control of her body, dug deeper. The nanites seeking the autonomous nerve clusters… driven on by their corrupted programming. Hundreds of the tiny robots latched onto the clusters and Shego felt her heart begin to stutter and race, sometimes stopping completely, as the malfunctioning programme sought to control it with the wrong set of commands. The same terrible conflicting data caused more of them to grip the cluster that controlled her breathing and Shego trembled slightly as her breathing stopped completely.

As the muscles in her rib cage spasmed against each other, the strength of each one pulling violently against the other, Shego felt something crack and splinter inside her body. She wanted to scream again, but all she could manage was to hiss air through a muscle locked jaw. She knew, somehow, that she had broken a rib, or rather it had broken while under the stress of her own muscles, and the green woman wondered if it had punctured a lung. If so, how long until something else happened that would cause damage far worse.

“Shego!” Doctor Possible cried out the words, and sprang to the green woman’s side, ignoring the danger she placed herself in. As the thief stared at her with puzzled and frightened eyes, Kim’s mother felt the heartbeat under her skin go insane. “Oh god… what’s happening to you?”

A sudden high pitched battle cry above them caused all eyes to turn, and Mrs Possible watched as a small shape launched itself at Kara’s form. Her eyes found Ron and as they stared at each other, the blond teen nodded and slid to his feet, moving towards the area under the screaming woman.

With fresh determination, Doctor Possible gripped Shego’s body and leaned in close to the woman’s right ear, whispered words she hoped Shego could understand, even as the thief jerked and drool trickled from the side of her mouth.

“I’ve got you! Don’t give up yet… not yet! Fight it! You wanted to make Kim happy? Maybe turn over a new leaf? Then live for her!”

Shego heard, but couldn’t understand, the cries that surrounded her, the sensation of hands touching her, someone pumping her chest, breathing into her mouth. Nor could she understand the scream of rage far above and away from her. As the world began to spin around her the thief clamped down with an iron will and stared up at the worried face of Kim’s mother as it steadied. Licking her lips, ignoring the burning of her entire nervous system, she smiled weakly.

“D… dying… everyone wins… so do you…. Kimmie.” Shego whispered. “Tell her…m’n sorry!”

“Tell her yourself!” Doctor Possible whispered as she watched Ron run towards her. “I don’t want you to die, Shego. Everyone deserves a second chance… and maybe my daughter is yours. Just… hang on!” As she watched the emerald eyes begin to slip closed, Doctor Possible slapped her daughters one time foe across the face, and shook her. “Please! Do it for Kim! For yourself!”

Her, Kim’s… everyone’s only hope was a tiny figure lashing out at a trained assassin, far above them all.

To be continued.