Ron slowly cracked his eyes open; he knew he was alive because of the horrible throbbing in his head. At first, his vision was blurred, but it dilatorily returned. The ringing in his ears, while deafening at first, was dying down to a tolerable level. He carefully sat up, his head and stomach protesting violently; his vision swan and he collapsed again. Several seconds later, he gingerly pushed himself up until he was again sitting up. He could feel something sticky and wet in his hair, and had seen too many action movies not to know what it was.

Ron gently raised his hand to his head and swept it down his scalp. He suddenly had to fight a fresh, and very strong, rush of nausea as his fingers can in contact with a sizable lump on the back of his head. He quickly removed his hand, which came away sodden with blood. Now, Ron was no stranger to seeing his own blood, but the sight of it still sickened him to some degree. He swallowed to keep his Bueno Nacho dinner down, and then changed a scan of his surroundings. To his right was the path that he had been following on his way home, and to his left was…

"You're never guess whose call-ing!" said a singsong voice; Ron groaned; the noise ripping into his head like a freight train. He shook his head, trying to relive the agony. This act, however, only served to aggravate his panging cranium, which blurred his vision and distorted his hearing once again. As his vision sharpened, he was able to make out Shego standing several feet away, his cell phone pressed to her ear. His ears ceased ringing just in time for him to hear…

" -Ron is feeling a little under the weather."

Ron was surprised and relived to hear, faintly, Kim's voice coming over the phone.

"Shego?"

Ron could practically imagine Kim on the other line, cell phone grasped in one hand, the other typing out a message to Wade on her communicator. In front of him, Shego began to turn, Ron's cell phone still pressed to her ear.

"Oh, he's just – " She stopped in midsentence and gaped at the nervously grinning but obviously still living Ron., who grinned sheepishly up at her. Shego dropped the cell phone and stared at Ron, her eyes wide, alert and most certainly angry.

'YOU!" she shouted at Ron. "YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?"

-----

"Shego?"

Kim almost dropped the phone in shock. Why was Shego answering Ron's phone. Perhaps more importantly, what had she done to Ron? The teen heroine felt her eyes grow wide as realization came: Shego had obviously been waiting for Ron; but how did she know that he would be walking through the park? Feeling waves of trepidation run down her spine, Kim squeezed her cell phone until she was sure that it would break. Bringing the device back up to her ear, she hissed into it, venom dripping from every syllable.

"Where. Is. My. Friend?"

"Oh, he's just – " Kim heard a shrill intake of breathe and then what sounded like the phone falling on gravel. And then she heard Shego's shriek, the volume causing her to pull the phone away from her ear.

"YOU! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?"

Hearing this sent a wave of emotion through Kim; the teen fell to her knees, dropping the phone in the process. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes, which she wiped, knowing that this was no time to fall apart. She picked up the phone and brought it once again to her ear.

"Ron?" she asked, her voice soft and slightly shaky. "Are you – "

There was a horrible crack and the phone went dead. Kim allowed herself one second to agonize over what could have happened before she flipped her phone closed, pulled put her communicator, and punched in Wade's number. Kim didn't even give him a chance to greet her before she was already speaking.

"Wade, Shego was Ron; I need a location."

Wade cracked his knuckles, a habit Kim detested.

"Way ahead of you, Kim. He's in Middleton Park. I also called the hospital; they're on stand-by."

Kim flashed Wade a smile.

"Thanks, Wade. Send them."

Wade's trademark grin faded.

"Kim, do you think Ron is alright?"

Kim dropped her gaze from the communicator's screen. When she met Wade's eyes again, the eleven year old couldn't stifle his gasp. The Kim looking back at him did not resemble his friend; the green eyes were devoid of their usual sparkle, and instead seemed to hold a steel determination. Kim's full lips stretched into an insane grin, which sent a shiver down Wade's spine.

"He had better be…for Shego's sake."

-----

It was hard to say who was more surprised, Ron or Shego. The two stared at each other for a good ten second before the Kim's voice interrupted them.

"Ron?" said the cell phone. "Are you – " Kim's voice was suddenly cut off when Shego brought her foot crashing down on the phone, cracking it in two halves and effectively cutting Ron off from his one hope of emancipation. Shego then began advancing on Ron, her hands glowing with energy, her eyes burning with hate.

"Jeez, what are you, a freaking cockroach?" Shego yelled at him, causing Ron to timidly shrug his shoulders. He immediately regretted this, as it send fresh waves of agony shooting through his already throbbing head. Shego stopped right in front of him, bending down until she was at his level.

"You know, I gotta admit, Stoppable, you have some pretty bad luck." Ron rolled his eyes at her.

"So you just happened to be here?"

Shego pretended to look hurt, but her facial muscles couldn't quite pull it off. She settled for a look of aversion; pushing out her bottom lip slightly and resting her hands on her hips.

"Dr. D was going on and on about his new geokinetic thing-a-ma-whosit, so I left for a bit. That guy and his evil plans, you know?"

"Lemme guess, he was talking about something smart, and you just couldn't keep up." said Ron in a condescending voice, which caused Shego to lose patience and pick him up by the shirt collar. Ron struggled in vain, thus prompting Shego to slam him into a nearby tree, sending yet another wave of agonizing pain flashing through Ron's head; his view of Shego's face not three inches from his own faded to black for a few seconds before gradually returning. Ron grinned, blood staining his otherwise white teeth.

" So you left your evil lair…and came to the park?"

With a growl, Shego tossed Ron aside, sending him sideways into a metal street lamp. There was a sickening crunch and Ron screamed in pain as he slid to the ground, his left leg twisted underneath him in an unnatural fashion. Shego took two giant strides and was on him in a second, stomping one foot into his torso. She began speaking, pairing each word with a kick to the stomach.

"You. Are. The. Most. Infuriating. Person. Alive!"

She brought her foot down once again, but this time she didn't remove it; she began grinding her heel into Ron's sternum. Ron gasped with pain as blood began to flow from his mouth. Shego leaned down, easing up the pressure on Ron's chest in the process; when she was mere inches from Ron's face, she spoke in a low menacing voice.

"And I happen to like the park. It helps me…" she rose back up, bringing her foot knee high, "RELAX!"

She brought her heel smashing down. Ron gave a cry of agony as he felt one of his ribs break. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Shego's grinning face and a flash of red behind her.

-----

Kim landed in a crouch some ten feet behind Shego. Kim fought the urge to yell out as Shego brought her foot down into Ron's chest; the sound that Ron made almost broke her heart. So she forced herself to watch as Shego planted a final kick into the chest of the unconscious Ron and turned to leave. She had taken only two steps when she froze, her brain still processing the figure standing in front of her. When the image of Kim did register, Shego put on smirk and pointed over her shoulder.

"You're a little late, aren't you, Kimmie? I think your sidekick could have used your help about…oh, ten minutes ago."

Kim's expression remained static; perhaps someone how was really paying attention could have noted the slight narrowing of her eyes and lips, but Shego was nowhere near focused enough to notice such minute details. Kim spoke, her voice dangerously soft.

"What did you do to him, Shego?"

Shego brushed a strand of black hair out of her face as she shrugged. "Oh, a little of this, a little of that; usually bad guy stuff."

Kim suddenly leapt into the air, springing towards Shego. She spun in midair, bringing her leg across to come crashing down on her green foe. Shego moved like lightning, grabbing Kim's leg and spinning her around, sending Kim flying over her shoulder. Kim landed on her back, skidded to a stop and jumped to her feet, hands raised to repel danger. She turned her gaze to where she had seen Shego last, only to see Shego's fist, glowing green, racing towards her. Kim raised her hands in a block, shielding her face and neck from Shego's attack. Though moderately successful, she still felt icy pressure as iron claws viscously ripped three small but deep cuts on her back of her forearm. She let out a gasp as she leapt away, blood spattering the ground. Shego raised an eyebrow.

"So the great Kim Possible can bleed."

Kim landed and spun to face her adversary; she grasped her forearm and put pressure on the trio of cuts, attempting to stop the bleeding. Standing five feet from her, Shego laughed.

"That won't do any good, Possible." She held up a hand, "I treat these bad boys with a little anticoagulant I developed. Good luck trying to stop it."

Kim groaned; she did not have time to fight Shego and deal with the cuts in her arm, so she decided to go on the offensive. She again leapt towards Shego, but this time landed right in front of her and aimed a high elbow into Shego's face. Unfortunately, Shego's kick, launched just seconds earlier, connected with the side of Kim's face before the strike could be completed, knocking her off balance. Kim dropped to one knee for a second before rising and hastily backing away. Shego did not pursue her, instead choosing that moment to taunt her opponent.

"You should have seen the look on Stoppable's face when he realized that you weren't coming." Shego paused for a moment to block a spinning back kick that Kim aimed at her. "And you should have heard the excuses he made for you." Shego raised her arm and blocked Kim's left hook. "He kept saying that you were busy, or that you had a lot of important stuff going on, but you could see the disappointment in his eyes. I really think he gave up on you." She laughed as Kim launched a flurry of fast but predictable punches at her. Expertly, Shego dodged or stopped each blow. She then reached out and grabbed Kim by the hair, pulling her in close. She whispered menacingly in Kim's ear.

"Do you know what it felt like to crack your sidekick's skull?"

At this, Kim's eyes grew wide; she let out a cry of rage and, gripping Shego's arm, ripped her foe's hand, and a number of red hairs, from her person. She then launched a powerful side kick to Shego's head, putting all her power behind it. Shegosteppedinto the attack, caught the leg, and brought her hand, and iron claws, slicing upwards across Kim's torso. The teen screamed as blood rose up to stain her shirt and jacket and then continued on to run down her legs and pool at her feet, soaking her shoes. Shego jumped back and stood staring at Kim. A siren, unnoticed by the two earlier, was getting louder by the second; Shego leered at her teenaged nemesis.

"Oh, did I make you mad, Kimmie? You really shouldn't let things bother you like that." She held up her hand as Kim began walking, shakily, forward. "Easy there, princess. I wouldn't exert myself too much. You'll just die faster that way. Besides, it's time for me to leave. I have no intention of going to jail."

With that, Shego turned and sprinted away from Kim, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Kim limped over to Ron, all the while trying to stem the flow of blood from the lacerations on her figure. She reached the limp form of her sidekick and, bending down, grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. She found one and, weak though it was, she let out a sob of relief. She flopped down next to Ron's body and began to slowly run the fingers of one hand through his hair, the other one still clutching her side.