Chapter 1

"Now, now, Shego, let's not get testy here!" Drakken urged nervously, bearing his palms in a halting gesture as he distanced himself from the death-glaring sidekick prowling towards him. "This is just a minor mishap! I-I can fix this, I swear! I just need to- GAH!"

A green burst of energy just barely missed his head, leaving a smoking, black crater singed into the wall behind him. The crumbling, blackened remains was enough to make Drakken shudder. He didn't even want to begin imagining what that would have felt like, had he not dodged it. Clearly, this was not the time for excuses.

"You call this minor, doc?" Shego growled sharply, in a voice that wasn't her own. Needless to say, having to threaten in a higher octave didn't make her threat any less real, as evidenced by the green plasma scorching around her balled-up fists. "Just as minor as I am right now?!"

Drakken shrunk back as he watched the green glow flare in level with her temper. Never before had he ever imagined he would one day find himself cowering before a five-year-old. Then again, considering that five-year-old was Shego – and extremely pissed off at that - he felt it was sort of justified. In hindsight, he really should've done a better job of securing the Juvenator, other than simply shoving it into a box simplistically marked 'stuff'.

Would've, could've, should've- it didn't matter at the moment! What mattered right now was keeping his hammering heart inside his chest.

Despite her very recent, very rapid decrease in height there was no doubt in his mind that this was in fact Shego standing before him. Those glaring, green eyes he'd recognize anywhere and even though her hair had shortened significantly along with her, it still retained that black, curvish shape he was so used to. A bit straighter, admittedly, but unmistakable non the less.

The only thing he didn't recognize – aside from the obvious color-pattern, that is - was the green-and-black dress now donning her childish form, most likely a side-effect caused by the Juvenator.

"O-on the plus side:" Drakken ventured, hoping to appeal to her better senses. Assuming she still had better senses, that was. "You don't have to worry about wrinkles anymore!"

Apparently not the answer she had been looking for, Drakken realized as he dodged behind his workbench just in time to avoid a brisk barrage of green plasma, raining over him like hail. Had he not been terrified before, he most certainly was now. Pushing himself against the furniture, the villain silently shunned himself for ever thinking that might work. Wrinkles- of all things?! That was the best he could come up with? Hastily brushing a spark off his shoulder before it could burn through his lab gear, Drakken worked his mind desperately in search of any possible solution.

Reasoning? Already tried that. Threatening? Pfft! Good luck with that. Call Kim Possible? He wasn't that desperate! Continue to cower behind the workbench in hopes of seeing another day? That could work. For the moment.

Gaah! Think, Drew- think! he mentally urged himself, pounding his forehead as if to strike the ideas to life.

This wasn't the first time Shego had fallen victim to one of his inventions, nor was it – by any means - the first time he found himself at the wrong end of her plasma, but this kind of rampage was rare even by Shego's standards. Then again, finding himself reduced to a toddler would probably freak him out too.

Noticing a sudden let-up in the bombardment, Drakken snapped himself back to reality. He could hear Shego panting on the other side of what little remained of his workbench, breathing generous amounts of air one gaping breath at a time. Apparently that new body of her's wasn't handling fatigue as well as adult, well-practiced Shego did. This served as a slight glimmer of hope for the villain, taking this opportunity to give reasoning another shot.

"Shego?" he ventured, wincing at the growl he received in return.

Struggling to find her breath, Shego spat:

"Out of all the stupid things you've put me through, doc, this has gotta be the worst!"

"Worst one so far!" Drakken pointed out, but quickly retaliated when he saw the snarl splitting her lips. Fearing another salvo, he jumped straight to the point. "Look, I know how to change you back!"

At this, Shego stopped herself momentarily from unleashing another lime inferno on him. Gracing him with the benefit of a doubt, she proceeded to glare at the villain, as if silently compelling him to go on. Wasting no time, Drakken did just that.

Ruefully leaving his smoking heap of a cover behind, the villain tiptoed over to the cause of all his troubles: a colorful gizmo which almost resembled one of those wooden stacker-toys kindergardeners used to play with. Oh, how he rued the day he ever invented it! To be honest, he couldn't even remember why he built the thing in the first place. He'd had a plan: that much he remembered. Something about a monkey and kindergarden? He really didn't like to think about it, hence the disposing of into the box.

"Here! See?" he said, showcasing the gizmo. "I'll just hit the reverse-switch and you'll be back to your previous age in a second! Simple!"

He knew it didn't sound as convincing as he'd hoped it would and he didn't seem to be alone in that mindset. Even so Shego only narrowed her glare, making an unspoken promise of what would happen to him if he turned out to be wrong. Drakken gulped, but decided not to waste anymore time. Suppressing any doubts he may have had, Drakken aimed the muzzle at Shego and hastily pressed the button.

This was where a cloud of energy was supposed to engulf her and turn her back to normal.

It didn't.

Bewildered, he pressed the button again. And again. And again. And again. Still nothing. Not even a buzz or a hum! Feeling his hope beginning to falter, Drakken began to fumble with the device, desperately trying to figure out why it wasn't working. Was it broken? Cracked? Dislocated? What?!

He could almost feel the heat of Shego's glare at his neck. Again, this was not the time for excuses!

Come on, come on! his mind raced as his eyes ventured the device. Why? Why isn't this working?!

Feeling his patience beginning to snap, Drakken finally resolved to simply hitting the Juvenator repeatably with his fist, as if trying to trying to fix a broken television. Why did technology always have to bite him in the back like this?! Before he could answer that an all too familiar, foreboding whoosh told him that Shego's plasma was back. Drakken cringed.

"Sh-Shego! Wait! I-I can fix this, I know I can!" he said, landing another fist on it. "I just need to calibrate- reconfigure the-!"

Snarling at his petty attempts at stalling, the Juvenated Shego began to close in, forcing him to shrink back against the wall, Juvenator still in his hands. Oh, he'd put her through a lot over the years, but this mess took the price! Set on teaching him a lesson he was sure to never forget, she raised her raging inferno high above her head. Left at a loss of options, Drakken blurted out what he feared might be his last, desperate plea.

"IF YOU FRY ME, WHO'S GONNA TURN YOU BACK?!" his shout tore through the lab.

There was a stretch of silence during which nothing happened. Daring himself to open one of his eyes, Drakken noticed Shego frozen in her stance, snarl still bearing her teeth and plasma burning lively. She was shaking, caught between the ever-so-potent desire to fry him into a blue crisp and the surprising sense of what he had just said. Although she hated to admit it: he was right. After all, it was his stupid invention! She needed him to turn her back to normal and he couldn't do that from a stretcher.

Anxiously awaiting her response, Drakken almost felt like he was doing so at gunpoint. Finally, the green flames died out and her vicious snarl crept back in a fixed scowl. Jerking his collar, to the point where they were practically face to face, Shego spoke in a sharp whisper.

"Fix this. Now!"

Having lost all control of his limbs, Drakken couldn't other than nod.

Updated. Thank you all so much for the support and reviews!