Chapter 3: Hurry Worry

Monique caught up with Kim in the high school hallway, between classes. "Girl, what is up with you?"

"Nothing, Monique." She really didn't want to talk about it, but had the sinking feeling she was going to, regardless. Monique was nothing if not persistent.

"You gotta get your head in the game. Bonnie's telling the world that you shouldn't be head cheerleader."

"And this is new how?"

"You know Tara almost broke her arm yesterday. You weren't there to catch her."

"She screwed up, all right? She screwed up the routine. I'm as good as I ever was. It wasn't my fault."

"Sure looked like it was."

"Look, I've got a lot on my mind."

"My shoulders are wide, girl. Let it fly."

She might as well. "You know I took this position away from Team Impossible."

"Head cheerleader?"

"No! The missions, Monique. You know, saving the world and all that?"

"Oh, that. Girl, you need to focus on the important stuff."

"I was better, faster, cleverer than they were, "she said, ignoring her friend's advice. "I made them obsolete."

"That's not a bad thing, Kim. They were jerks."

"But now there's someone out there that's better than me." She felt herself choking up, but couldn't stop. "I don't want to lose this. It's part of my life. It's who I am: Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything. But I couldn't stop Dementor. Someone else did. I couldn't even bring down Shego. Someone else did it for me."

"You really need to chill. Have you talked to Ron about this?."

"Ron? All he's interested in is Naco Night at Bueno Nacho!" Shame welled up inside her; she knew that wasn't true. Ron was the best friend she had.

"No, "she said quietly, "I haven't talked to Ron."

Suzanne's power was becoming more erratic with every passing day, and there was no more acceleranium. If it failed completely, the chance of a lifetime was gone. There was no going back to Bortel, she was certain of that. Dementor was in prison, and she didn't like him anyway.

And so she had thrown caution to the wind, and sought out this lair, high in the Ozarks. There was no more time. She knew his reputation all too well. She had vowed to avoid his kind. But there was simply no more time.

She had to have an answer.

"Why did you steal it?" asked her last hope, running a scan on her biorhythms. "And why would you use an untested serum on yourself?"

"That's personal, hon, but I'm going to tell you anyway. When I was ten years old, I dreamed that I was the fastest person alive. I remember it like it was last night." Remembered the wind whipping past her as she ran. Remembered the onlookers as they oohed and aahed. "That dream led me to my career. I've spent my life driving the fastest machines ever built. Pushing them to their limit. And beyond."

He seemed content with the readings, put the scanner away. "And? After you rebuilt the Fireball, you broke the land speed record. You were the fastest person alive. Literally. Wasn't that enough?"

"No. It was never enough." It didn't matter what she did; in the end she got out of the machine, the dream unfulfilled. "The cars had the speed, not me. Always."

"And somehow you found out about the acceleranium experiments. Remarkable, the things obsession will drive a person to do. So to speak. Of course, I should talk." He gestured around the lair. "It was on a Tuesday – "

"Enough tabloid psychology, sugar. Can you do this, or not?"

"Oh, absolutely I can do it. No doubt. Step over here to the table. The procedure will be quite simple, really. A tiny bionic implant at the base of your spinal column, and you will have complete control over your power. I will give you your dream. For a fee, of course."

She laid down. "I'm ok with that. You're asking a lot, but it's worth it."

"My assistant will be administering the anesthesia," said the scientist, turning around, donning latex gloves.

"Anesthesia? I thought this was just a local – "

"I'd introduce her, but she tells me you've already met."

A terrifyingly familiar face came into her field of view, green eyes blazing, rich black hair covered by a hairnet. "I think I owe you one, sugarbabe. This is called karma, honeypie." She viciously pressed a softly hissing gas mask over Suzanne's nose and mouth, chuckling as the woman's frightened struggles weakened with every second. "Didn't you know Dr.D. and I are a team? He broke me out of jail. You really should read something other than Drag Racing Monthly."

The struggling stopped. Drakken came forward, surgical mask on. He was ready to go to work.

At Middleton High, the Kimmunicator beeped. "Let me take this, Monique." She was immediately all business. "Sitch, Wade?"

The ten-year-old IT genius was extremely excited. "Finally got my hands on some satellite footage from outside Dementor's lab. Government's trying to lock that up. No wonder." Still photos began to slideshow across the Kimmunicator's screen. " That's about a half hour after you and Ron went in."

"Went in and got caught," Kim muttered.

"See that figure approaching the lair?"

"That blur?"

"Right. That's the best image our finest spycams could get. Einstein says nothing can go faster than light; E=MC2 takes care of that. It would require infinite energy for that sort of acceleration. But she's not far from it."

"Appreciate the science lesson."

"All I'm saying is that we've never seen anything like her before."

"You keep calling this smudge a 'she.' What else have you got?"

"Ran it through some special photo enhancement software." He smiled broadly. "Something I tinkered up one night when I couldn't sleep. Take a look."

Another picture: the woman she'd seen briefly in Cyrus Bortel's lab. No doubt about it. A small blonde, maybe in her thirties, not particularly attractive.

"I've seen her somewhere besides Bortel's lab, Wade. Spill."

"You bet. Her name's Suzanne Personich. She's had her share of news coverage. Used to be the number one driver on the NASCAR circuit. She was trying to break the land speed record in the Fireball L-5X when Motor Ed's gang stripped her vehicle."

"Right! The 'stoplight in the middle of nowhere' trick. Seemed pretty lame to me."

"People have fallen for lamer tricks."

She didn't know if Wade was referring to Dementor's giant flystrips, and decided not to ask. "So how'd she go from breaking the land speed record in a car to breaking it jogging down the street?"

Wade shrugged. "I don't know."

Slowly Suzanne came to her senses, still a little nauseous. There was some pain, but nothing she couldn't bear. It was time to get out of this madhouse. She should have stuck to her vow: stay away from maniacs. Acceleranium or no acceleranium, she should have never come.

Across the room a door opened; Drakken stood there, Shego an ominous shadow just behind him. "I've changed my mind about the money," said the doctor.

"We had a deal." And if you think you can stop me, Dr. Drakken, you're fooling yourself. Not even with your little green hussy at your side. "Take it or leave it."

"I've reconsidered the terms. Before you fly out of here, let me explain something about that implant. You have complete control over your power, just as I promised. It will come on when you want it on, and go off when you want it off. You'll find there are even different levels available to you now. Cousin Ed would say you've got a ten-speed transmission. Seriously."

"Get to the point."

"This little wonder of engineering needs a control signal to do its magic. Every day. And if it doesn't receive that signal, it will shut your neural system down completely."

Faster than the eye could see, she shot across the room, grabbed the sneering scientist, fist raised, ready to strike. "Take it out. Now."

Shego raised her glowing hands; Drakken waved her off. "Power down, Shego. Suzanne isn't going to do anything stupid. You see, Miss Personich, that bionic implant requires a special code before it will accept the signal. A code that only I know. Anything happens to me – and you're next."

Uncertainty showed in Sue's blue eyes.

"It would be a terrible way to die." He smiled, an awful rictus of a grin. "Like being… buried…alive."

She released the scientist, stood with her head bowed. "What do you want?" she asked, fearing that she already knew.

"That's more like it. I have a job for you. A job that my assistant has failed at, again and again." He glared at Shego; the harlequin defiantly met his gaze, not backing down in the slightest. "But you have defeated my assistant in battle, which means you're better than she is. And that's what I'm looking for. You're going to finally put an end to my hated nemesis, Kim Possible."

"When you're done hating your nemesis, "Shego spat, bitterly, "I'll be back. Right now the stupid is getting so high I'm afraid I'll drown in it."

"I must apologize for Shego's manners. She's very sensitive about these things. Not that I care," he yelled after the retreating figure.

Sue stood in silence. So this was where it had all led her. A thief, a fugitive, and now –

"Do it quickly," said Drakken, and snickered. "Get it? It's a joke."

No it isn't, she thought. Not at all.