Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, or those from any other media I may reference in my stories.

I'd like to thank those who reviewed the last chapter, Michael Howard, Reader101W, CajunBear73, Robert Teague and Screaming Phoenix.

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As Shego ran, questions popped into her head. And a couple of them would cause her to alter her headlong dash to the hangar where the robot sat. She was also thinking unkindly of Doctor Drakken, who was basically responsible for this mess, beyond just being the reason she was having to deal with it.

He had no further use for the huge machine himself, yet was loath to sell it to someone else and be held in any way accountable for whatever purpose it was subsequently put to. On the other hand, letting Jack Hench purchase it would be fine. Hench would then be responsible for whoever he chose to sell it to in turn. Or so Drakken reasoned.

Drakken had already managed to auction off most of his old equipment, including his fleet of hovercraft save one. But the robot was a problem. Just flying it at the moment would violate FAA regulations. And if he took it cross country on foot...well, another villain had already experienced the mockery of having his death machine ticketed by the Highway Patrol, and Drakken had no desire to have the same happen to him. So, he had been unable to deliver the machine to the auction location, which was in fact his responsibility.

But trying to sell it to Hench on the spot, and let him deal with the problem, had led to a bid so insultingly low that Drakken could not countenance it. So the former mad scientist played his trump card.

One of the incentives in his lease had been worded rather obscurely. And Drakken had been able to interpret it as allowing him to store the big machine indefinitely in it's hangar, and forbid the new owner access to that space. This had caused two members of Hench's legal staff to seek other employment, and left the man himself quite displeased.

Unless he found a tenant willing to put up with that inconvenience(After all, there were two hangar bays, surely there was someone who could make do with one!), he was going to have to pay Drakken a reasonable sum for the machine, something he was loathe to do unless forced.

Hence the machine still sat in it's hangar. But one question that bothered Shego was, how had Team Go's armored foe actually found that out? And how did he know his way around? Conner Joe had seen the Tyrant go down one passage, but was it the right one, or was he searching all of them? To avoid wasting too much time, Shego headed straight for the men with the possible answers as soon as she entered the main chamber. The relieved look on Jack's face when he saw her registered too late for her to change her plan.

Hench also spoke before she could, indicating a woman standing next to him that seemed vaguely familiar to Shego. "My dear Miss Black, I wonder if you could reassure our distinguished visitor from the Middleton Chamber of Commerce that I did not misrepresent myself at the time I originally developed these caverns as a residence!"

Hench's use of her real name also threw Shego off-stride, allowing the lady to speak first. "In point of fact, Mister Hench, I represent the Chambers of Commerce of all three of the Tri-Cities in this matter, due to the fact that my two colleagues chose not to finish our journey here." The woman couldn't have been much past fifty, and sounded perfectly serious though polite. And she bore a resemblance to...

"Mom, what are you doing here?" A slightly winded Bernadette Barr asked in astonishment as she came up alongside Shego. Who promptly did a double take between the two women. She'd only seen Bernie's Mom once before, at a Halloween party that was not one of her favorite memories. And the woman had been in costume at the time.

"I could ask you the same question, dear." Mrs Barr replied curiously, "But as I was telling these people, Mike Lowe from Upperton simply lost his nerve. And as for Wendy Upton from Lowerton..." She paused to roll her eyes, "She took one look at whatever that is hanging over your entrance, shouted 'My God, They're here, I must go back and pack a bag before they depart!' Then she jumped from our car into a taxi going down the mountain, which already had a large Bavarian man as a passenger!"

Shego grimaced, but tried to take control of the conversation. "Listen, Hench. We don't..." Then she was interrupted by Hank Perkins addressing Mrs Barr.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, did you say a large Barbarian man was in the cab?"

She shook her head. "No, I said a large Bavarian man, young man." she replied tolerantly.

"Oh." Hank replied in a disappointed tone, "Then I guess Nonac the Ax is still a no-show. And I got a full keg for him." He shook his head thoughtfully. "Still, I'm sure there's a frat at one of the local colleges..."

Shego clenched both fists tightly as she fought to maintain control. "Hench, listen, someone's trying to steal Doctor D's old giant robot!"

Hench's eyes narrowed. "Which is still Drakken's property..."

"On your property," Shego countered, "Making you liable.."

"Yes, yes! We can argue the point later!" Hench replied sharply, "Do you know who the thief is?"

Shego nodded. "Yeah, the Tin Plate Tyrant, from Go City."

Hench looked a touch incredulous. "Timothy P. Tinsley, you mean?" Shego rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering why the same initials for his real name and his nomme de crime?" Bernie asked, "Doesn't make him sound all that smart!"

"Oh, he's smart all right!" Shego declared, "He had no choice with the name! See, he built his first suit of powered armor in the family garage, and his mother came across it. Not realizing what he intended to use it for, she monogrammed it for him, and he didn't notice in time."

Mrs Barr's eyes widened. "Monogrammed a suit of armor?" She asked querulously.

Shego shrugged. "His Mom's an engraver. Anyway, Hego saw the letters and interrupted him just as he was going to announce his real villain name, whatever it was supposed to be, and asked what the T, P, T stood for. And that was the best he could come up with." She paused as she beheld Bernie's dubious look. "Listen, you ever heard the line 'There's eight million stories in the Naked City'? Well, there's two and a half million in Go City, and most of them belong in the funny pages!"

"I heard there was a hero that ended up with a lame name the same way back in the sixties or something." Hank Perkins commented.

"Yeah, well, Timmy P. didn't like getting stuck with that moniker at first, but eventually couldn't separate himself from it, so he's learned to live with it." Shego explained, then shook her head. "Listen, we don't have time for this! How did he know the robot was even here? And does he know exactly where to find it?" Her frowning gaze switched back and forth between Perkins and Hench.

"Umm..." Hank began then froze in fear as Shego's eyes locked onto him. She unfroze him by clearing her throat. "Ah...yes, if he received one of the mailers...I sort of mentioned the robot as being part of the tour.." He consulted his watch, "Which I really should be organizing!"

"Perkins," Shego growled, "Does the tour include demonstrations of the security features like the pit traps, etcetera?"

Looking decidedly nervous Hank shook his head. "None were planned..."

"Well, we can change that with a few practical demonstrations, IF YOU DON'T ANSWER MY QUESTION, NOW!" Hench's two security men had just entered the main chamber, Conner Joe still suspended between them. Now with perfect synchronization they spun about and returned the way they had come, releasing Joe with one pair of arms and then catching him with their opposites before he could fall more then a few inches, and heading back into the passage they'd emerged from.

There was also a great commotion around them as many of the guests tried to make use of the few pieces of cover available. "Shego, calm down!" Bernie whispered urgently, "There's a few people in here whose survival instincts we don't want to trigger!" Shego merely shrugged, keeping Perkins' gaze transfixed with her own glare.

"Yes, there's a map!" Hank wailed, "Though it's just the bare essentials, see?" He turned and grabbed a folded glossy flyer from the podium besides the entrance and held it out to Shego, who snatched it and quickly perused it.

She grimaced. "It's good enough!" Then she looked again. "Oh, you got one thing wrong. You marked the waste disposal room as the henchman's 'lounge', and marked it as an alternate mens room." She turned and strode rapidly away.

"Is that a big problem?" Hank called after her.

"If you consider what kind of 'waste' the Doctor had left over from his experiments, I'd say 'yes'!" Shego called back. "Bernie, stay with your Mom, and I really suggest you both get out of here, it's really not your scene! Nice to meet you again, Mrs Barr!" Then she was gone from sight down the passage towards the hangars.

"Oh Boy." Hank muttered as Hench fixed him with a baleful glare.

"So..you're now friends with an ex-villainness, Dear?" Mrs Barr asked Bernie pointedly.

Her daughter grinned weakly back, then cast a concerned look towards where Shego had gone. "Let's talk about it as we exit, Mom, things might be quite dangerous around here in a bit." She said quietly, taking her mother's arm and steering her towards the entrance.

Though allowing herself to be steered, Mrs Barr protested "I'm not done with my business with Mister Hench, Bernadette."

"Did you say Barr?" Hench himself had caught up with them, "I thought you said Farr when you came in! Are you by any chance related to Big Ed Barr?"

Mrs Barr eyed him warily now, but answered politely. "I'm his wife. And mother to this young woman, if you hadn't already caught on to that fact. Now again, about your representation of this place..."

Hench smiled broadly. "I believe I said that it was intended to be occupied by an eccentric and possibly reclusive individual, and what could have been more true?" He told her smoothly. "Now, let's step outside while we continue to discuss this, shall we? There are some fairly questionable types in here, I'm afraid! This sort of thing attracts them. Much to my dismay, of course!"

Dropping back a step, Bernie tried to suppress a smile. If Jack Hench thought he was going to charm her Mother...then she frowned and glanced again back into the lair. "I'm half inclined to call Kim, but having her arrive in the middle of this crowd might end up bringing the whole mountain down on our heads!"

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Professor Dementor had maintained proper discipline most of the way to his objective, constantly scanning his surroundings as he proceeded, but once the hangar doors came into his sight, his gaze began to shift less and less, and soon was fixed solely on them, so he failed to see the Tin Plate Tyrant pressing himself into the niche in the opposite wall. The much dimmer lighting in the passage compared to the main chamber certainly helped the Go City villain, plus the fact that he was rather slender in the first place.

But then Dementor actually processed what he was seeing, the sprung trap, and the stream of blood flowing across the floor. He stopped and became more cautious as he drew a small but very dangerous looking pistol from one pocket. The Tyrant tried to meld with the stone as he held his breath.

But even while scanning the passage, Dementor's eyes kept flicking back to the hangar door. His impatience got the better of his caution soon enough. He stopped his survey to study the evidence of the previous attempt. "Vell, it appears I am not de only one who seeks to get a look at Doctor Drakken's new aircraft! And unfortunately for you, you vere not sufficiently prepared for the security systems of this lair!"

"Aircraft?" The Tyrant mused, "We're not after the same thing, perhaps we could cooperate?" But after only the briefest consideration, he shook his head. "Nah, the Tyrant shall triumph alone...as soon as he opens the door for me, or shows me how he does it!" And with a flick of his wrist, he slid a telescoping riot baton from his sleeve, then carefully eased it open rather then allowing it to snap open.

Meanwhile Dementor placed himself in front of the door the Tyrant's companion had fatally failed to get through. He adjusted his keffiyeh, patting it as if to settle it in place, then took a small device out that looked like a PDA from what the Tyrant could tell. He held it in front of him and activated it, then began tapping it's keys.

There was a sudden series of beeps, The sound of some machinery, and then the inner half of the door slid directly up into the top of it's arch. The anxious Tyrant leaned forwards to get a better look inside, even as he heard Dementor make a sound of disappointment. "Empty!" The diminutive German exclaimed. He then looked down at his feet and the blood which no longer flowed. "Bad luck, mein friend, you died for the wrong door!"

The Tyrant nodded to himself. "So, that little gadget opens the doors? Child's play for me to figure out how to use it!" He thought eagerly, and began to creep towards his oblivious target. Dementor was tapping keys again, paying little attention to his surroundings as he began to move towards the unopened door.

Holding the baton in his left hand, the Tyrant had a momentary qualm as he raised it to strike. "How hard do I hit this guy? I mean, I don't really want to kill him, he might have friends who'd come for revenge. But, he's wearing that headdress, that will cushion the blow...ah, what the heck, it's all in a day's work for a working supervillain!" And with that he struck downwards, with just short of his full strength.

There was an ominous crack as the baton connected, but the Tyrant ignored it, concentrating on catching Dementor's device as it jumped out of his hand. He did so, then jumped back, expecting his foe to collapse unconscious.

Instead, after only a moment, the German villain spun around to face him, face livid with rage, and the dangerous looking pistol back in his hand. "You Schwein! How dare you hit me from behind!"

Cranking his jaw back shut after the shock of not seeing Dementor fall, the Tyrant stammered, "But-but, I'm a villain, we're supposed to do things like that!" Then his eyes flickered to the top of Dementors head, "And by the way, you're hat is on fire, I think!"

Dementor was busy responding to his first protest. "Dat may be zo, but HOW DARE YOU...Vat?" He reached up to pat the top of his head, just as a sharp POP issued from his smoldering keffiyeh. He snatched his hand back for a second, then seized the head gear and threw it to his right, where it landed in front of the still sealed hangar door. The Tyrant's eyes widened as he saw the helmet the German wore underneath. (He had not in fact recognized Dementor, knowing little or nothing about Kim Possible and her stable of villains)"You idiot! You haf destroyed my security countermeasures device! Now how am I supposed to break into the other hangar!" The shout caused the Tyrant's ears to ring.

His eyes flicked back and forth between the smoldering keffiyeh and the device he now held. "You used that to open the door?" he asked in confusion, "Then what were you doing with this?" He held up the PDA.

"Texting mein girlfriend, you verdammt schweinhund!" Dementor shouted back. "Now, give dat back to me, this instant!" He waved the gun menacingly.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" The Tyrant pleaded, sidestepping a little to his left. As Dementor matched his move, the Go City villain tried to reason with him. "Listen, I'm sorry, but listen, I'm not after that plane you're looking for, I just want to steal Drakken's Giant Robot!"

That caused Dementor's eyes to narrow suspiciously. "Dat piece of junk? Vy would you want that?"

The Tyrant beamed at him. "It may be a piece of junk to you, but I have to tell you, when I saw it flying over Go City that one time..." He trailed off briefly, a rapturous look appearing briefly on his face before he shook himself. "I've been aching to have something like it! Building it myself is out of the question, my garage is way too small, and space is at such a premium! But then I heard about this Open Lair thing, and I though 'This is my chance!'" He was still sliding to his left, on the simple premise that standing still in front of a lunatic with a gun was a bad idea, not actually with a plan in mind.

Dementor shrugged. "Dat's very nice, now give me my PDA so it doesn't fry ven I shoot you!"

"Whoa!" The Tyrant frantically exclaimed, "There's no need for..." Then he looked at the screen of the PDA, where a return message was displayed, and his eyes widened. "Whoaaa, you and the girlfriend actually do that?" He exclaimed incredulously.

Dementor's face turned bright red. "GIVE ME DAT PDA!" He screamed, just as his foot connected with the discarded keffiyeh. Which immediately beeped several times in a very irregular sequence. Both mens' eyes went to the smoldering head gear. "Not broken?" Dementor mused in wonder.

At which point the front panel of the second door swung hard open and swatted him down the passage like a tennis ball before slamming into the wall.

The Tyrant found himself doing a poor imitation of a certain arachnid-themed hero on the far side of the passage again, before losing his grip and tumbling to the floor. Only to nearly leap back up when the panel swung shut again. And then to his amazement, the whole door slid up into the ceiling. And in the space beyond...

His jaw dropped, and he stumbled forwards as if in a daze. And barely made it across the threshold when the door came back down again with a solid thump that sent him diving to the floor within the hangar.

After a moment to get his heart to beat at a more sedate pace, he raised himself from the floor to study his heart's desire. A beatific smile spread across his face, and he flung his arms wide. "Nir..Va..NA!" He shouted, then leaped to his feet to scamper towards the giant robot.

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The last thing Shego expected to see as she turned a corner into the last stretch to the hangar was a translucent force bubble containing Professor Dementor flying towards her, bouncing from wall to ceiling to floor to wall, and so on. And by the time she'd processed it, she had no time to stop and double back. Nor any room to avoid the sphere. The only blessing she received was the fact that the force bubble was soundproof, because her ears otherwise may have been seared by the language being shouted within it.

But then the bubble hit her and sent her flying back the way she had come, to bounce hard off one wall and slide down in a crumpled heap.

The fact that the force bubble ceased to exist a second after impact, leaving Dementor tumbling head over heels didn't register with her, she was already out cold.

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"I really don't see any cause for alarm, Ladies." Jack Hench told Bernie and her Mom reassuringly, "First this so-called 'Tyrant' would have to circumvent the security system on the hangar, which is one feature Doctor Drakken always kept fully upgraded! Second, he'd have to figure out how to operate the robot, providing he could crack whatever security protocols Drakken installed in it. And third, he'd have to find the access code to actually open the hangar doors so he could escape!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously, "All before Shego gets to him! So what do you think of his odds?"

The words were hardly out of his mouth when a rumbling noise became audible. The criminal entrepreneur turned around to look up the mountain, a frown on his face. Which turned into an expression of shock as a large opening appeared high on the slopes above him. And within a moment, the object of their discussion flew into view, flames roaring from it's exhausts.

"I don't know," Bernie replied, "But I wish I'd taken them five minutes ago!"

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At the Middleton City Hall, Deputy Mayor Jean Stoppable was in her office going over some financial reports. Francis Lerman, AKA 'Frugal Lucre', now a financial adviser to the city government, stood idly looking out the office window as he waited for her to finish. Then something caught his eye...

"Say Jean, is there any chance the Air Force would be conducting any missile tests around here?" He asked with exaggerated casualness.

"Um, What?" She took a moment to shift her attention from her reading material to Lucre. Puzzled, she replied "No, not much chance at all, Francis, why?"

"Well, in that case, is there any chance at all that Mount Middleton could be volcanic?" He asked with considerably less nonchalance.

Now worried, Jean stood up and moved to the window. "Not a chance, Francis...Oh!"

"Then I think we may have a problem..."

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'BEEP BEEP BE DEEP'

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And so we close out another chapter. This was where the previous chapter was originally meant to end, but I added a few things...

Please, Read and Review.