The crowd of henchmen in the auditorium was at an all-time low, and more of them were turning in their letters of resignation every week. Shego slumped in her chair on the front row, grumbling to herself as the last of the henchmen took their seats. Dr. Drakken stood at the podium and cleared his throat, waiting for the room to quiet down.

"Attention," Shego heard him mumble. The henchmen kept talking among themselves. "Attention," he growled a bit louder. Still, the auditorium rumbled with chatter.

"Shut up!" Shego screamed. Instant silence. The henchmen were afraid of her. She sighed as she leaned back in her seat. Yeah, they weren't intimidated by their boss at all, but they'd cry like babies if his female sidekick threatened them.

"I have an important announcement to make," Drakken continued nonchalantly.

A henchman spoke up from the back of the room, "Lemme guess, you gotta great new plan to take over the world and destroy Kim Possible once an' for all."

"Why yes, actually," Drakken replied with a smile, "Good guess, Charlie. That's exactly what I was going to say." He acted as if the man had done some great thing. Shego sighed again. Her boss was so stupid. "I was thinking that our best bet would probably be to take someone Kim Possible cares about captive. That seems like the best way to get to her."

"But how's that practical?" Charlie spoke up again, "I ain't here to help you settle your personal feuds." He stood from his chair, storming toward the front of the room. When he reached the podium, he threw his name badge at Drakken's feet and spun around to face the crowd. "I'm through spendin' all my time helpin' blue skin here fight against a teenage girl! I'm worth more'n that, and so are the rest o' you!" With that, he marched right out the door.

The room was silent for several minutes. Finally, Drakken cleared his throat again and continued speaking. Shego had to fight to keep her eyes open as he blithered on and on. After what felt like a lifetime, he finished his speech about his plot and how it would be carried out, and he asked if anyone had any questions. No one did, so he adjourned the meeting. Shego made a bee-line for the door to avoid having to talk to him.

She hurried down the corridor, weaving among the henchmen. Just as she reached the main exit, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Busted.

"Shego, I was hoping I could have a word with you before you head home for the evening," came Drakken's voice from behind her.

"Sure," she replied with a snide smile, "Go right ahead." She slowly turned to face him, frowning in spite of her best efforts to be civil.

"Would you mind coming to my office? It's rather important."

Shego abandoned her attempt to hide her annoyance. It never worked anyway, so why even bother? "Fine, but make it snappy. I have plans later."

"It should only take a few minutes." She followed him back down the hall in silence. When they reached his office, he bid her sit down. She did so, and he proceeded with what he had to say, "I have a...special mission for you, Shego."

This should have peaked her interest, but she had heard this so many times before-all of which he ended up sending her after Kim Possible-that it no longer phased her. "Go on."

"You know that I've been having problems lately with keeping up with my villainous competitors."

"Yes, of course. Everyone knows that."

Drakken disregarded her comment and persisted, "One villain in particular has been giving me problems."

"Gru."

"Yes indeed," he replied with a scowl, "Anyway, I've received word that his sidekick-if you could call him that-Dr. Nefario has turned up his toes."

"He what?"

"He died, Shego. It's just an expression." Shego stared blankly at him, waiting for him to continue. "Anyway, as I was saying, Dr. Nefario is dead, which means that Gru is on the lookout for a new sidekick."

Now that peaked Shego's interest. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm positive," he said in an exasperated tone, "Shego, I do wish you wouldn't always question me. I'm not stupid, you know."

Despite her efforts to contain herself, Shego let out a little chuckle. "Right. You can continue anytime. I have somewhere I have to be, remember?"

He glowered, but continued anyway, "Of course. I was simply going to say that I'd like you to take the position."

"Let me guess: you want me to take the job and keep you informed of all of Gru's plans so you'll be able to stay one step ahead of him."

"Precisely! Why is it that everyone always guesses what I'm going to say before I ever say it? Am I that predictable?"

Shego ignored his question. "Don't you think he'd be suspicious if his enemy's sidekick suddenly came to him asking for a job?"

"In most cases, yes, but under the circumstances-you know, with us having as many people leaving as we've had-it would certainly be plausible that you would be looking for a better job than the one you have now. And if he knows anything about your personality..."

"I get the picture. Do I get any special payment since this is such a special assignment?"

"Now wait a minute, Shego. You know this is within your job description. You can't just go begging me for more money left and right when you've done this sort of thing before. Besides, do you honestly think I have enough money to give you a raise?"

"No, but it couldn't hurt to ask," after the briefest of pauses, she added, "Fine."

"So you'll do it?"

"Anything's better than hanging around here with you and your loggerhead henchmen." With that, she stood from her seat and strode out of the room, slamming the door behind her.