Kim Possible: Acts of Desperation

Intro: Hi, it's me again. I got the idea for this story shortly after I finished my last fic, pretty much right after I said I wasn't sure if I would write another. Odd how things are like that. Well, if you're not familiar with my past works, I did two stories: The Sociopath Episode and Dark Retribution. TSE took off right where So the Drama left off with the assumption that it was Kim and Ron's senior prom. DR takes place three months later, and I admit with pride I went overboard with a lot of things in that story. I never thought I'd ever write anything 255,500 words long, considering writing was just a hobby I took after losing interest in developing the Techno Fiend theme for Stepmania. Just don't expect epic five-star stories, or any expectations at all. They're just ideas in my head that need to get out somehow, which also applies to this one. But hey, some people like them, so hey, I'm cool with that.

Now for ownage rights and all that hoohah, in case you didn't know:

Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Rufus, Wade Load, Monique, Bonnie Rockwaller, Yori, Sensei, Drakken, Shego, Monkey Fist, Dr. Director and Will Du are Bob and Mark's.
Valia Ryan, Sean Hanteren, Nev Killbourne, Jen Ferno, The Fingers, Eiji, Melissa Uso and Lexis are mine. No takie my characters.

What to expect? Just like the last stories, the KR relationship plays a key role, but the story is much darker, there's a lot of violent action scenes, minor language, and for some strange reason some of my ideas come from what people dislike about the show or thought what was missing from it. Or maybe me. It all started out as one of those "What if?" moments, and then evolved into something else.

Just to warn you though, you're going to see a LOT of "out of character" moments, and it's needed for this story. Intentional! Part of a story doesn't make sense because it hasn't been totally covered? Intentional! (Usually). Not only since Kim and Ron have changed a lot because of their relationship, but in this case, this story take place 17 months after the last one did, and things haven't changed for the better one bit in Kim's life.

And before I start, something I should've done a long time ago, I'd like to thank those who stuck around for my last stories, in no particular order. cman1p2, charazardag, Zaratan, JPMod, Matri, Ace Ian Combat, bdburns7289, Frederick Aloysius, kivlov, demon-sword, aimtbj, chao-hellsing, MrDrP, G-Go, userx, Springo, coolkid2003911, sehnsucht792, yvj, anyone with an anonymous name, and just about everyone else who read.

I have to give cman1p2 a lot of props on this story for giving me an idea I originally didn't plan to go with, but then I realized it had a lot of good potential mixing it with the idea I already had. You probably know what I mean, or you'll find out later on if you don't.

Sorry guys, we won't be seeing multiple-chapter updates like the last time. Yes, the story is going to be extremely long and it's complex, but most of it concerns details, details, details.

Now, assuming someone actually read all that, on with the show.

Prologue

December 2006

"Hah! Victory is finally mine! I told you! You didn't believe me but I told you!"

"If I pretend to be impressed, will you finally shut up?"

The man ignored her. "Please, Shego, do you know what this means?"

"That you're not a total loser?"

"No! I mean, well, yes! Disregard! What it means is that I am in the zone!"

Shego merely covered her face as Drakken held his trophy like a newborn child. She took a seat at the computer as Drakken put his prize on the TV.

"Take that Killigan! Telling me I couldn't win! But who's the karaoke master now? Who's the master of Upperton's Karaoke Competition? Dr. Drakken, that's who!"

Shego covered her face when she noticed Drakken was attempting to breakdance. "Okay, I get it, you won the competition. You've been going on about it for at least two hours! Can we finally drop it?"

Drakken appeared no less cheerful than he did on the plane out of Upperton. "But this is my first major win!"

Shego cleared her throat. "Forget something? Possible?"

Drakken agreed. "Ah, of course! I told you I was onto something that night! Kim Possible dating the buffoon; that was her weakness! And it still is!"

"So if you're onto something, why haven't we crushed her yet?"

Drakken rolled his eyes. "Oh Shego, don't you know anything? What fun would it be destroying her just like that? You need flavor… style… finesse…"

Shego scoffed. "Mmhmm, yeah… Not something you'd be an expert on," she said as she sat down at the computer.

"Oh hush," Drakken pouted. "Anyway, how about we kidnap the buffoon and turn him against her!"

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Mind control! And I still have some leftover chips in the back!"

Shego blinked several times. "I'm sorry, what? Didn't I tell you to throw those out or else, like over two years ago?"

Her boss wasn't paying attention. "Imagine, Kim Possible being destroyed by her own boyfriend! Oh, can't you see it, Shego?"

No answer.

"Shego?"

Shego had occupied herself with doing research on the lair's main computer. It had been a while since they had gotten involved with the world-renown teen hero. At least, when she was once known as that. But that wasn't to say that Kim had dropped out of the hero business, not anywhere close. She still saved the world when she could, but with college occupying most of her time, not to mention certain circumstances in her life, she wasn't anywhere near the top of her game as everyone once remembered her by. There were also other things, other people for that matter, that allowed for this to happen.

Something about Drakken's idea didn't seem that original, and Shego was looking to see if she was right about this.

"Actually I do," Shego finally answered. "I'd hate to be a buzzkill, Dr. D, but it looks like someone beat you to it a loooong time ago."

Drakken ran up to the computer screen in shock. Shego had accessed a public database on everything Kim Possible. Past missions, education information, marital status, honors, awards, her family and the people in her life, and of course the most interesting of them all, extensive information about every single adversary Kim had faced in the past. She had faced hundreds and nearly thousands of people who put the world in danger.

Shego had brought up one in particular, a teenager with dark and deadly look written all over him. Jet black spiky hair, a scar near his left eye and covered most of his forehead, eerie pale blue eyes, and what appeared to be a cybernetic left arm. He had an extremely threatening appearance but didn't appear to be much older than Kim, if at all.

"Hmm, a little bit on the dramatic side…" Shego analyzed. "Oh, look Drew, he's got a scar on his left eye like you, but hey, get this! It's actually authentic!" she teased with a big smile on her face.

"Valia E. Ryan? Who's that?" Drakken asked, not hearing the iceburn from Shego. But his surprised almost instantly died. "Eh, if I haven't heard of him, he's probably nothing then."

Shego turned back to the monitor. "Looks like someone's been keeping Kimmie busy while we were away…" Typing followed. "Let's see… says he tried to use mind control to turn her and the buffoon against each other using some kind of jewel… same age, just as short as she is… Looks like someone doesn't like fairy tale relationships."

Drakken was also reading. "He's not the only one… Hmm…" He became intrigued by the bio again, but with one word his interest was lost. "Dead. Too bad."

Shego shook her head as she continued to read the information. "Nope. Presumed dead until three months later… behind the destruction of government weapons and poisoning a senator, using Kim and the buffoon as pawns. Targeted Stoppable numerous times to tug at Kimmie's heartstrings… in an attempt to teach her how to properly think in life/ death situations? Okay, strange… believed his fight against the conspiracy was for the better of the world. Sentenced to life and death, escaped from jail and has been on the run since… Hey, check it. Just about every one of Possible's enemies have tried to recruit him, some by force… all denied."

"Hmph," Drakken puffed as he crossed his arms. "Someone's full of himself."

Shego went on. "Also hunted by assassins on occasion, all beaten and without a scratch. Hmm. Pursued by Possible since… Wow. Looks like his win ratio against her is nearing your losing one, Doc."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" he couldn't figure out.

"It means that he's managed to outsmart and escape from little miss teen hero for the last year or so. Oh, what do we have here? Video feed?" Shego looked intrigued. "Don't mind if we do."

Whatever was on the screen was powerful enough to knock her hair back. The footage came from a year ago when Kim and her opponent, Val, engaged each other on the roof of the highest tower in Bay City, a brutal fight that sent sweat, blood and rain everywhere. Spotlights from helicopters and flying surveillance cameras provided the scenery as several henchmen held Ron hostage, waiting to make a move. Drakken was surprised to see how much Kim's fighting skills had progressed since the Diablo scheme, and more at her opponent's. Shego didn't seem fazed one bit. They watched the short fight from middle to end, and it appeared as if Ryan was going to win, but Kim made a comeback and defeated her opponent by a narrow margin, at least that's what it appeared to be before the footage abruptly ended.

Drakken couldn't believe the cliffhanger. "That's it? I gotta see more! Wait, what does it say about his skills again?"

Shego navigated more on the page, but for some reason appeared distraught when a few words came across her eyes. Drakken noticed.

"Shego?"

"Now they say he's her arch-rival?" she asked in angered shock, but continued to read on. "For someone the same age as Kimmie, he can do everything she can and more. More agile, smarter, skilled… can control any vehicle, properly utilize any weapon, expert in biomechanics and bio-engineering, trained in more martial arts styles, escape artist, master of infiltration and espionage, disguise… I'm not even going to read everything on the list." It was that long.

Drakken was puzzled. "So… why hasn't he taken over the world yet?"

"Wasn't interested." Shego dryly answered. "In fact, it doesn't say what he's interested in. Toying around with Kimmie and exploiting her obvious weakness of Stoppable and being a teenager… That's really it. Nothing about who he really is or why he does what he does."

Drakken didn't seem amused. "Well, it's no big deal then, but I do like the idea of him giving her a hard time because of her heart. Hee hee hee…"

"Yeah… I need to get my reputation back…" she merely responded. She obviously wasn't paying attention and had other things on her mind.

Drakken knew this was bad. To see Shego appear troubled was one thing, but knowing it was because someone else took her place in the game was another. "Uh, Shego, mayb-"

"No." she quickly came back with. "I need to see this."

She quickly clicked on a button with a second video feed that was available.

Eight months before – April 2006

Go City. The city isn't a quiet one at night. The stars shined brightly as bright clouds were lit by the city streets below. Suddenly, a loud roar filled the speakers as a monorail train flew past the screen at full speed.

Switch to another camera from a farther distance. At first it appeared to be nothing but an ordinary monorail train. But as the angle of the camera turned down, it appeared two people were getting a ride, and they were anything but mere passengers.

"Did you hear me, Val? This stops here!" one yelled.

The other one took his time before answering, letting out an exhilarated laugh.

"On the contrary, my friend! You haven't seen anything yet!"

The camera zoomed in, revealing both Kim and her rival hanging from the bottom of the monorail via grappling hooks. Val was standing upside down from the bottom front car as Kim was in pursuit from the second.

"Whoa, rewind."

Just minutes ago, police and other authorities had confronted him as he came out of the entrance doors with the stolen prize. They had been on his trail for some time, and they wanted to finish this. The second he stepped out of the museum and revealed himself, guns went blazing, along with a grenade. Not only was the grenade a dud, but the bullets refused to hit him. No one would notice until they realized he hadn't fallen and kept himself casual as he walked down the stairs. Finally, it was revealed that some kind of spherical force field was protecting him. He vanished into thin air no different than a ninja, and once the news reporters came onto the scene, many speculated that the stolen stone had something to do with it. Others believed he was wearing some device that allowed for it. Either way, the thief had gotten away without a scratch.

Val stopped on the roof of a tall building to quadruple-check the stolen goods. He checked it with a flashlight, studying it or searching for something.

'Just my luck, when Team Go decides to head to Europe for vacation… but you… why did you start to glow…?' he thought to himself. 'Does that mean that this is-'

"Drop it," a firm voice interrupted.

A smile made its way to Val's face. He simply hid the gem safely in his trenchcoat, inhaling the air with closed eyes as he got onto his feet.

"Ah, Kim. A bit late, are you not?"

Behind him was teen hero Kim Possible, already in a fighting stance.

"You're not going to get away this time," she threatened.

Val slightly turned around to greet his adversary. "Late due to another date with Ron, huh? Which one was it this time? Bueno Nacho again? A movie? The treehouse?"

Kim didn't answer.

He then realized, "Oh, of course, the Spring Blowout Sale at Club Banana. You women and your fashion… Well, I wish I could say I'm surprised."

Not a muscle on Kim's face moved. She stood with skeptical and defiant eyes. "Cut the chit chat already."

Still smiling, Val revealed that under his trenchcoat he was armed with just about every projectile weapon. Grenades, shurikens, knives, daggers, the whole deal. He was armed to the teeth. His hand was moving closer to a rope on his right hip, just as the roars of an engine could be heard approaching.

"As you wish."

He quickly shot his arm upward and instantly disappeared. Kim saw for a split second that the rope was actually a whip, used as a grappling cord, and the engine was the monorail that ran through town. Without taking a second to think about it, Kim quickly grabbed her grappling gun and shot it at the bottom of the train. The hook latched onto the rear car. A second sooner she would have missed and shot at nothing but thin air. Kim of course was yanked from the roof and sent flying past several buildings. The train had a total of eight cars, and Val was on the fourth.

One would normally have a hard time focusing on a single object moving at near 60 miles per hour in a busy city filled with lights, but Kim could clearly see her target. Val was actually armed with a whip and another grappling cord, and he used the other to move himself forward. However, Kim wasn't armed with two grappling guns and she hadn't fixed the grappling cords in her gloves, broken by Val himself before. She could release the hook and attempt to fire again, since Wade had recently implemented a special kind of hook into Kim's gun. At the cost of a thin wire, several tiny, lightweight but powerful hooks were placed in the wire, only to extract when they reached the tip. So if Kim would detach a hook from the wire, which was now an option, another would come out immediately afterward. Because the hooks were so small, a six-foot long cord could consist of well over two hundred of these hooks. Even if the wire snapped, a hook would come out and be ready to hang onto something. Take into consideration that the cord was much longer than ever. If the entire wire in the gun was measured, you would have over two hundred feet.

Kim had to do something to get herself closer. With not even a second to think, she retracted the cord so that her hands were only inches away from the bottom of the train. From there, she released the hook from the wire. Almost instantly another hook came out, but time and gravity wouldn't work in her favor. Aiming it as far as she could before she started to descend, Kim shot the gun again, and this time it latched onto the sixth car. It took her some time to retract the cord because of how much wire was fired. By this time Val was already on the second car himself, and he had it much easier.

The same technique was performed again and again, and in no time she was one car behind Val. He secured the stone along with the rest of his equipment and arsenal.

"What are you really after?" Kim hollered through the air.

Instead of immediately answering, he pulled himself upward as he pulled the wires closer. It wasn't long before he stood upside down on the front train, both hands secure on his cords.

"Did you hear me, Val? This stops here!" Kim yelled.

Drakken rubbed his chin. "He certainly likes to show off, doesn't he?"

Shego brushed her hand towards him, instructing him to quiet down. "Yep, now we're back where we started."

"On the contrary, my friend! You haven't seen anything yet!" Val yelled with a confident smile on his face.

"Do surprise me!" Kim hollered.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with your usual take-over-the-world villains?" he teased.

Kim figured that since he was standing upside down, everything would have fallen out of his jacket, including the stolen object. However, the fierce winds of the train kept his coat from falling down, and everything inside was secure. She grunted as the wind sent her back and forth, nearly hitting the supporting pole in the middle.

"Villain or no villain, you're not stealing some ancient artifact on my watch!" she answered.

The thief laughed. "Steal? No, I believe you misunderstand, my friend!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm only taking it back!"

But Ryan was a master of mind games and Kim knew it. She wasn't convinced. "Even so, you still haven't done time for everything else you've done!" Finally, she retracted the cord and put her foot under one of the pipes. She too mimicked Val's upside-down stance. Her hook to support her right, the foot under the pipe the left side of her body.

Val shook his head as wind blew his hair past his face. "Kim, that was months ago and I had already explained the situation then!"

Kim merely grunted. "You played me good, Val, I'll give you that, but it ends now!"

Val cackled. "Is that why I've gotten away the last ten or twelve times? I enjoy the company but this is getting tedious!"

Kim growled. "Enough! You've been doing nothing but steal relics since you got out!"

"Well, someone hasn't been paying attention!" Val hollered with a bitter tone. "Taking these has only occurred on a one-out-of-three ratio! The other… you've been doing nothing but interfere with my life!"

Kim didn't seem threatened. "Look, Val! I know you tried to pretend to be the good guy last time, but you played me! The truth is, you still haven't done time for the first time we met, and you weren't totally innocent the last time, either!"

Val let out a cynical chuckle as he shook his head. "The truth is that I've been trying to start over since! But no, every time I find a moment to relax, you always have to interfere! Whether it be taking these relics back to where they belong, or trying to live a normal life, you're always there to ruin everything! I can't even eat a spicy corn dog without you messing everything up!"

A tear made its way to Drakken's eye. "This kid speaks to me, Shego. I can't do anything without her getting in my way."

Shego cleared her throat. "Couldn't, you mean. That was back then." She sighed just looking at her boss. "Do we have a violin around here?"

Kim was quick to argue back. "Is that why you set me up with those tickets? You set me up on a ruined date!"

Val laughed as he looked to Kim again. "Who's dwelling on the past now? I've learned to leave everything behind in order to start a new life, so why can't you move on? Besides, it wasn't my fault you chose to engage 'Go' there!"

Kim only growled further, but it hardly affected Val, whose attention was to the skies.

Eyes widened. "Did he refer to me as just 'Go'?"

Drakken seemed amused. "Hmm, so that's why she was there that night. This guy's pretty good if he tricked her and the buffoon into a date he knew would be ruined. Why couldn't I think of that?"

"I'm not even going to bother answering that one," said Shego.

Kim was whispering, and the wind wouldn't allow him to hear her. "Ron, we're heading your way."

Far away inside another building next to the monorail, Ron listened in as the Ronnunicator acted like a headset, pulling out a pair of binoculars and catching the approaching train in his sight.

"I can barely hear you, KP."

"Just get ready over there." she said with little patience in her voice.

"Copy that. Over." Ron giggled as he put the binoculars away. "I've always wanted to say that."

The naked mole rat on his shoulder shook his head before jumping back into his owner's pocket.

"Well, it's a good thing we planned this thing out," he said as he rubbed his hands together. "Okay, buddy. Ready?"

"Ron. On the count of three. One, two…"

Ron took the moment to think. 'I hope this works, KP.'

"So, are you just going to stand there and enjoy the scenery, Val?" Kim taunted.

"I might, though the blood rush isn't good for either of us," he calmly answered.

Suddenly, one of the windows from an oncoming building shattered from someone jumping out of it. It was Ron, and before Val even realized it, he was tackled and knocked off the train.

"Booyah!"

Ron had managed to wrap his arms around Val's neck, but in the same instant Val was able to escape from Ron's grip.

"Booyah denied!" Val yelled.

Seeing this, Kim thrusted herself off the train. From the view of the camera, three teenagers were falling from a tall building.

Since Kim knew how to dive and control her falling speed, she managed to catch up to Ron quickly. Grabbing each other, they tried together to increase their speed. However, Val managed to regain himself and started sprinting down the building, going down faster than his followers were falling. After he distanced himself quite a bit from the two, he stopped running and let gravity do the rest while shaping his body like a torpedo. Kim wasn't surprised that he too knew how to do this. She and Ron released each other and followed suit, gaining speed, but not enough to surpass Val's or catch up to him. Their opponent crossed his arms and turned his head so that he could see a clear view of them, ignoring the oncoming ground. He even waved at them with his metal hand while keeping his arms crossed.

"Aw!" Ron whined. "At this rate we'll never catch him!"

Kim grabbed him again. "Hang on!"

Using her available hand, Kim pulled a cord near her utility belt, revealing her rocket pack. She quickly shot forward much faster, and Val was getting closer by the second. But just when he was within grabbing range, he suddenly shot upward, crashing into the couple and separating the two. It took Kim less than a few seconds to regain herself, but Val was on the rise thanks to the use of a grappling cord, and Ron was already falling into the streets below. Kim had a choice to make and time wasn't on her side.

"What will you choose?" Val yelled in his ascent. "It's either me or him, Kim!"

She looked back and forth only once before she focused on Val with narrow eyes. "Oh, I don't think so."

Kim shot herself upward towards Val, but not before pulling out her grappling gun and shooting it towards Ron. The hook shot right past him, but he was close enough to grab on and that's exactly what he did. Kim began to accelerate upward, but never took her eyes off of Ron, making sure he grabbed the cord before turning her attention back to Val.

One problem: He was suddenly nowhere to be seen.

She couldn't believe it. Not knowing how he did it, she quickly pulled out her Kimmunicator. "Wade? Any idea where he ran off to?"

Wade was scrambling on his side, more amazed than Kim was since Val completely disappeared off the radar. "I can't find him!"

Kim was clearly frustrated. "How could he have disappeared like that?"

The two were approaching the roof already, and just as soon as Kim's eyes leveled the roof, she found her face planted on the roof tiles. Ron and Rufus were knocked not too far away, but Kim's squeeze could see a lingering shadow behind his girlfriend.

"Val!"

Kim took a moment to pull her face out from the cement tiles, only to see the said person standing behind her. "Okay, I gotta know. How did you do that?" she asked.

The shadow that covered her laughed at her question. "Well, if you must know, I came up here, waited for you to come, grabbed you and slammed you into the ground. Not hard to avoid if you kept your distance from the building," he merely answered as he turned around and started to walk away. "And by the way, Wade's equipment won't track me, Kim. I thought we had been through this several times already. And while I would love to stay and talk and have some more fun with you, there are more important matters I must attend to."

Injured, Kim tried to to get on her feet, but something was preventing her from getting up. A small cord wrapped around her leg that kept her hooked to the floor, clearly the work of Val. Angered, she tried to get out of it. "Val! What are you planning to do with those?"

"That's my own business," he quickly responded without intimidation. "It doesn't involve you."

However, his red-haired captive managed to snap the cord that kept her in place, and she went straight for him.

Val wasn't threatened by her one bit, and simply leapt onto the edge of the building. "You've become little more than a disappointment, my dear friend. We've been doing this for quite some time and I've been easily able to avoid capture from you every single time. And here I thought I would never be bored of you. How wrong I was… Kimberly Ann Possible, listen to me… you may be able to do anything, but it means nothing to those who can do everything." He merely put two fingers to his forehead and shot them off, a goodbye gesture. "C'est la vie…"

Kim's hand was just inches away from him before he suddenly vanished without a trace. And just like that, it was over. He was gone, nowhere to be seen. But this wasn't the first time such a thing occurred. Losing against him wasn't just common; it had become frequent.

Angered just from acknowledging it, Kim punched the concrete ledge with everything she had, refusing to show the pain on her face. Again, she lost.

Ron was slowly approaching from behind. "Kim? Didn't that hurt?" he asked with concern in his voice.

Kim only turned around and shot a ferocious glare at him. "Thanks a lot!"

Ron was taken aback by her sudden attitude. "Hey! I didn't do anything!"

"Exactly!" she yelled at him. "Maybe if you tried something he wouldn't have gotten away!"

"And let what happened the last time happen again?" Ron instantly snapped back. "The last time I charged at him while we were on a roof, he tossed me off a building, and when Rufus went at him he threw him off, too!"

"You don't need to remind me," Kim spoke with a less angered tone, "I remember it like it was yesterday. I saved both of you and he got away, but…"

Ron sighed. "Kim, I know you hate to lose, but… can we just not go all crazy about it?" he asked softly, putting his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

Kim finally let out a long irritated sigh. "I'm sorry Ron, I really am. I'm just frustrated, that's all," she said with her face down. "He's been out to steal eight relics we've never even heard of or have any information on, and now he's gotten away with seven. We don't even know what's going to happen if he gets away with the last one, wherever that is."

Ron tried to be optimistic as usual. "Come on, Kim. We've been through hard times and come out of them just fine," he tried to assure her. "I know you're not happy about this, and I ain't too peachy about it either, but we'll get him. I know we will. But since we can't find anything on what those things do, how do we know it'll all end in disaster?"

Kim was still skeptical and looked away. "As much as I'd hate to say it, Ron, I'm not too sure. He's got ambitions for something, and I don't think it's any different than our other relic stealer."

"Pfft. Monkey Fist?" Ron chuckled. "Oh, Kim, that guy's always about more monkey power for himself, and he's more self-thwarting than Drakken's ever been."

"Aha! I told you, Shego!"

"Drew, shut up."

"… yes ma'am."

Kim still wasn't convinced. "I don't know. But he's not like anyone else we've fought before, either. I just don't have a good feeling about this, Ron. Everyone I've fought, everyone we've taken on, they've fallen just like dominoes. Why can't we stop Val?"

"I don't know. You don't suppose you're getting out of sync here…?" Ron didn't realize he just said that out loud, and would have covered his mouth if Rufus hadn't already done so. Kim was quiet, resting her arms on the roof's edge and burying her face in them. She then took a gaze at the sky.

"And while I'm out of sync, he's getting better and better…" she grumbled, "I know I've said before that I wanted an actual challenge, but…" she said with a hesitant sigh, "maybe this is too much…"

The footage came to an abrupt end.

Drakken appeared puzzled yet intrigued. "So that's what she's like when someone gets away too many times… How delightful!"

Shego had other thoughts. "Hmm, not exactly recent footage if Possible and the buffoon were still together. Just who is this guy?"

Drakken scoffed. "Please, Shego, he's a teenager with a gothic appearance who has the skills of a ninja, and he's pretty smart for his age."

"Though… he acts anything but with the appearance," Shego said, referring to Ryan's image. "Most of the Goths I knew in high school were too… moopy."

A small smile formed on Drakken's lips. "I beg your pardon? Did you just say 'moopy' again?"

Shego's eyes widened. "What? Um, no. You heard nothing!" she said with a sour look on her face. "Just focus on Ryan, would you?"

Drakken was already playing with the controls, going back and forth on the footage. "Hmm… with those mad eleet skills," talking Internet lingo, "he can be quite a valuable asset."

However, he found something extra as he accidentally hit the play button instead of rewind, having too much fun with the rewind and fast-forward buttons.

Realizing nothing else could be done for the day, Kim and Ron made their way down the building through the stairs. However, the camera would soon reveal that Val hadn't disappeared. Instead, he was laying down on top of the entrance to the stairway, arms crossed behind his head.

He shook his head. "Again, she blames him," he spoke with bitter disappointment. "Just when I was starting to think that true love actually does exist between two people. Pity. I told her that things would change…"

Doing a handspring to pick himself up, he let out a depressed sigh, grabbing the artifact he stole again. It was still glowing, and it suddenly stopped.

Val put it away as he looked at the oncoming sunrise. "You're not the only one out there trying to save the world, Kimberly Ann…"

And just as he leapt off the building, he made a sudden and swift movement with his arm. The camera was knocked dead by a shuriken frames later.

It was enough to knock Drakken out of his seat. He quickly picked himself upward and tried not to be embarrassed, but that was impossible with Shego standing right next to him with an unimpressed look on her face.

"I tell you Shego, just imagine the three of us together, ruling the world!"

Shego rolled her eyes. "Um, yeah. About that. Did you already forget that just about every other villain on this planet tried to hire him?"

"Oh, right," he said without listening. "Why did he blow them off, anyway?"

Taking a seat, it took Shego some time to get all the information on it. "It doesn't say much, only that he thought it was pathetic that most of the guys relied on books and rules, bizarre appearances and tried to mimic comics and movies too much."

"Well, who doesn't?"

Shego glared at him.

"Wait, you're telling me this guy doesn't follow the rules?"

Shego started tapping her fingers.

"He can do that?"

"He's not the only one…"

Drakken snapped his fingers. "Oh, of course, you don't, either! Eh, but you're just a sidekick, and you still have your old jumpsuit from your days as-"

"Don't say it."

If the Doc hadn't turned around to gather his thoughts like the cunning genius he thought he was, he would have seen that Shego's eyes were glowing no differently than her hands. But he did feel the cold air as she got up and suddenly walked past him.

"Where are you going?" he demanded to know.

"I'm going to see what this kid is all about."

Drakken puffed. "Good luck tracking him down."

"Huh?"

Shego turned around to find Drakken back on the computer and digging further into the records GJ had on Val. There wasn't a lot of information, but enough to keep him interested. "According to this, it says that he had success in stealing that eighth relic, but he hasn't been seen since. Not by Possible or anybody!"

"And there's really no information on those relics he stole, right?" Shego asked him.

"Right… and that was six months ago."

Shego smiled. "Just around the same time Possible and the buffoon separated, right?"

Drakken had his own smile to accompany Shego's. "Indeed, Shego. Indeed."

Shego chuckled. "What a coincidence."

Drakken chuckled as well, and it wasn't long before it turned into a long villainous laugh. It came to an abrupt end as he realized something.

"Okay, Shego. Now."

And out of nowhere, Shego quickly shot one of her plasma beams toward the ceiling, causing something to come crashing down on the floor the very instant. A GJ Cypher, an unmanned flying surveillance device, now completely obliterated. Shego walked toward it and tried to observe the parts, then handed it to Drakken.

"I gotta hand it to ya, Doc, I didn't think you'd pull off the act. But you did." She sounded slightly impressed.

Drakken chuckled as he studied the drone. "So Global Justice thinks they can just sneak in a security drone and spy on us, trying to find out more information on Possible and Ryan? Hah! Take that, GJ!"

Shego tried to see what Drakken was looking for. "So you think they know?"

Finding a memory chip of the recently recorded footage, Drakken crushed it in his hand. He threw the remains behind him, which just happened to whack one of his henchmen in his happy spot. He fell no differently than a statue being tipped over.

"Oh please," Drakken said lightly. "Of course not. Whether they know or not, we still stick to the plan."

"Yeah, this 'plan'," Shego said with air quotes, "You still haven't told me what it was, other than-"

Drakken put a finger on Shego's lip. "Now, now, Shego. Believe me, when I tell you, you'll love it."

Shego tossed his finger aside, disgusted by the taste of his glove. "Blagh! Drew, this has been going on for nearly two years! Do you even have a plan?"

"Of course!"

"Then tell me what it is!"

"Patience is a virtuuuueee, Shego," he sung with a melody.

Shego let out a frustrated yell. For the last several months Drakken had some sort of plan to finish off Kim once and for all, but he had no documented information on it. Nothing written, nothing on the computers, it was all in his head, and he refused to tell her or anyone else.

"Okay, then at least tell me this: What we just did to throw off the spies at GJ, how much of your part was an act?"

"All of it," Drakken answered with a confident smile. "I know more about Possible and Ryan than I gave off."

"Well, yeah, I know about Possible. No duh there. But Ryan? What about him?"

"Oh, I have some plans for him as well…" Drakken snickered.

"C'mon, just tell me already!"

"Trust me, Shego, this will be a thousand times better than every other plan I've thought of."

"It better be, especially if it means not letting me take Kimmie out for good. I mean, look how she's turned out since her boyfriend left her!" she said with clenching hands. "We could cripple her, we could ruin her, we cou-"

"I know, Shego," the Doc interrupted. "But there's a reason I've told you to let her go every time she comes and stops us."

"It's not helping. She comes in, screws up your plan by pure luck, and you make sure she gets away! Why?"

"I'll spare you the details until later, at a more appropriate time. But right now, I've got a craving for-"

"Don't say it."

"But-"

"Don't."

Silence filled the room.

"Can I-?"

"Nuh uh."

Drakken grunted. "Oh, fine then."

Shego had let out a sigh of relief from where she was at. "Thank goodness, if I had to hear him say-"

"COCOA MOO!"

The sound of glass breaking could be heard.

"DREEWWWWWW!"

Green sparks could be seen from miles away, accompanied by a bitter enraged yell. Miles away, two hitchhikers had the satisfaction in overhearing the roar of Shego.

"Cocoa moo again?"

"Yup."