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

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Even as she made the emotionally charged threat, The Rani's dominant side, her cold, scientific, side, began to force itself to the surface. She looked at Kim, who she had judged as past saving. She noted that what she could see of Shego's exposed abdomen showed no sign of her recent pregnancy. Her anger and frustration vanished almost immediately, and her analytical mind kicked in. "And how is it that you are alive, Miss Possible?"

Having noted the personality shift, and wary of the woman's weapon, Kim suppressed the urge to provoke her. Looking into the eyes of the little girl in her arms, she gave the baby a smile, and replied, "Would you believe me if I said I haven't any idea how it happened?"

The Rani frowned, but grudgingly nodded, "Maybe you don't. But, I am afraid I don't like mysteries, so forgive me if I seek the answer, at whatever cost to you. Now, put the child back in the chamber, and push the small blue switch on the rim, it will induce a sleep state, perfectly harmless. The other one, too." She added to Shego. Reluctantly, both women did as they were told. The babies fussed as soon as they were put down. Kim looked skeptically at the Rani, finger on the switch, but decided the woman had no reason to harm the children, at least yet. So she flipped the switch, and the two babies quieted. She looked carefully, and saw that both were still breathing normally.

"Very good, now stand where I can see you clearly." As she spoke, the Rani had taken her PDA-like device from her pocket and entered several commands.

"Wish I was more familiar with my new plasma..." Shego thought, "It's faster, but how much faster? Can I shoot from the hip, and blast her before she blasts me? If that is the weapon that 'froze' me back in the jungle, can I dodge it? Better not try unless things get desperate, may get a better shot. After all, I know something she doesn't!" Then her brow furrowed, as several of the Rani's creatures entered. Four of the 'jungle sasquatches', each between eight and eleven feet tall, and two of the tentacle spiders. These last scuttled over to stand in front of Kim and Shego. Kim reflexively stepped back.

"I trust you understand what will happen if you don't obey orders with alacrity, ladies?" The Rani was looking more at Kim then Shego as she spoke. The girl had her arms crossed over her bare chest, but the Rani could clearly see that there was no sign of the damage that had been done to her. The Rani frowned, "How? Rapid healing might have been a side affect of the Tempusite, but...show me your lower abdomens, both of you." When Kim showed reluctance, "Or, we can have your clothes off altogether, again." The girl assumed an impassive look, but obeyed the command, as did Shego. After a few moments studying the revealed skin, the Rani made an impatient gesture. "Cover yourselves, I just don't understand what is going on here, but I intend to find out!"

Kim picked up Amy's sweater and donned it again. As she finished, she stopped in shock. One of the spiders was now poised above the babies. The threat was obvious. The second one was in front of her. Though the Rani had implied to Shego that she had tortured Kim during the removal of the infected skin from her body, in fact it had been the spiders she had used to torture the girl, three of them, surrounding her as she lay on the floor, and stinging her when she hesitated to answer the Rani's questions. The Time Lord had actually anesthetized the area she had removed, though Kim had been conscious throughout the procedure. The screams Shego had heard from the cell were from the spider attacks before the 'treatment'.

Shego's eyes met Kim's, and she winked, puzzling the girl. And then she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, near the entrance. Trying not to attract the Rani's attention, she slowly turned her head to look. And saw what was obviously one of DNAmy's creations, moving up behind one of the Rani's humanoid beasts. Suddenly, that animal sniffed the air, then whirled, and battle was joined.

Shego spun and blasted the spider threatening the babies, sending it hard enough into the wall that it splattered. She sent her next shot at the Rani, but surprised or not, the Time Lord had great reflexes, survival instincts, or both. She managed to avoid most of the blast, but her weapon spun away out of her hand as the plasma slammed into her shoulder. She dove out of sight amongst the machinery as Shego had to turn to another threat. One of the big creatures was coming at her, and this one had claws at least three inches long protruding from it's fingertips.

Kim, meanwhile, managed to barely dodge the hated tentacles of the spider watching her. As they recoiled for another strike, she dove over it, doing a forward handspring. Advisable or not, she pulled it off, and as the spider spun towards her, she snatched Amy's sweater off again and threw it at the spider, remembering the odd behavior of the one at Eliana's house. And as she'd hoped, the creature backed away as fast as it could, right up the wall several feet. Kim then spun about and tried to spot a weapon to use.

Three of the Rani's creatures were engaged now by DNAmy's 'Cuddlebunnies', with mixed results. A Rhino headed CB had impaled it's opponent on it's horn, and then lifted it clear off the ground, shaking it back and forth as it wailed in pain. But a half rabbit wasn't doing as well, and seemed on the verge of having it's back broken by it's opponent. The third fight, with a half-walrus, half gorilla, was so far a bloody draw, with both beasts' fangs embedded in their opponent's flesh.

The fourth beast slashed at Shego, but the agile thief ducked, and slammed a plasma wreathed shuto, or knifehand, against the inside of the creature's forearm. To her disappointment, it didn't cut through the arm, but the beast snatched it's arm back with a pained roar. It shook the arm as if it was numbed, for the few seconds before Shego took it's mind off that problem, by slamming the heel of her hand hard into what she judged was the creature's solar plexus. This strike was also boosted by her plasma, which she projected into the creature on impact. The beast, all nine feet and some four hundred plus pounds of it, was physically knocked back nearly three feet, and doubled over in agony, many of it's internal organs ruptured by the strike.

Shego then spun away to try and locate the Rani. She let fly one blast of plasma at the victorious beast that had just slain the rabbit headed CB. She used a stream of plasma, which sliced up her target's back the same way it had the cell wall. As it collapsed, she searched for their nemesis, and abruptly spotted her, disappearing into an opening at the rear of the room. "Damn! Should have known, secret exit!" She turned back to check the babies, and spotted the spider menacing Kim suddenly leap at the girl. Her blast met it in mid-air, tearing it apart. "I do love this faster plasma! But, there are still some things I need to learn about it." Having thought this, she suddenly felt a moment of nausea, but it quickly passed. "What was that?"

The Walrilla finally won it's fight, but was badly torn up in the process. Then two more of the huge Cuddlebunnys came in, flanking their creator. "Took your time, Amy!" Shego yelled at her.

"Don't yell at me! They had to eat, the poor dears have been starved, for nearly a week! Oh! My poor babies!" DNAmy wailed, looking at the dead one at her feet, then the injured one. "Oh! My poor...babies?" as she saw Kim taking one of the little girls from the chamber. "What...where did...they, come from?" she finished, as Kim handed the first child to Shego, and took up the second herself.

"They're ours, Amy." Shego responded urgently, "Now, we need to get out of here, before we get swamped with monsters! How many exits are there?"

But the pudgy geneticist heard nothing but the first assertion. "Yours? Yours and Kimberley's? But how? Who was, or were, the fathers?"

"There weren't any, she combined our DNA to make them! Now, how many ways out of here?" Shego again responded, practically growling with impatience.

Again, Amy heard only what she wanted. Her eyes widened, "Oh, that is impressive! Maybe that horrible woman does know something of genetics!" Her eyes shifted to Kim, "I shouldn't think you would be the type to run around like that, Kimberley!" Kim looked down at herself, and handed her bundle to Shego, who was doing a slow boil, unable to attack Amy without risking a conflict with her Cuddlebunnys. Kim picked up Amy's sweater and pulled it back on, drawing a scowl from the woman.

But Shego drew Amy's attention back to her. "Amy! We have to get out of here, how many ways can we go?"

The geneticist scowled, but then suddenly realized what Shego was saying. "There are only the main passage, and a narrow spiral staircase up from a hidden corridor behind the storeroom...in fact, there's one running behind all three rooms on each side, leading down to the pens on this side, and a smaller chamber on the opposite side. I don't recommend the staircase, however, Reithan's creatures can get into it too easily."

Now knowing how the Rani has escaped, Shego rushed to the Lab's entrance. "How far to the exit from here?"

"Two hundred feet up there is a very large open area, on the left will be another opening, and two hundred feet up that passage is the door. But, it may be difficult to open, it is very heavy. There is a smaller door, but that will also require force, I no longer have the key for it." Amy replied after a moment's thought.

Shego shook her head. "Long way to go, we have to get moving! Can you keep up carrying the baby, Kim?"

The girl looked doubtful, then shook her head, "No, I can't. You take both girls and go ahead, they are the most important concern."

Shego wanted to argue, even though she recognized the determined look in Kim's eyes, and knew it would take too long. Then DNAmy surprised her. "Oh, let me carry the little ones! You need both hands free to fight with, Shego, and I can carry them easily!" Shego blinked in surprise, then looked at Kim. After a moment's hesitation, the girl shrugged, and held out her little girl to Amy. Soon enough, the woman was cooing over both children as she followed Shego up the main passage, followed by Kim, and then her four surviving creations.

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The Rani stormed into her TARDIS, wincing in annoyance as she passed through the security barrier in the doorway. It was a nuisance, and until her encounter with Ron Stoppable, she hadn't bothered with it. Now, it was running, notifying her of any intrusion into her machine. She crossed the control room to one locker, and selected a weapon to replace the Staser she had left behind. She had already released enough of her creatures to pursue her foes, and a dozen more now trooped into the TARDIS. As each set off the security alarm, she grimaced and deactivated it.

Watching her through the doorway to one of the ancillary rooms, Fred and Saul took note of which control affected the barrier. It had been that barrier that had prevented them from escaping the TARDIS. Since the Rani had returned to her lair, Saul had been trying to interface with the machine, but progress had been very slow.

Roy might have been a better choice for this mission, since he had familiarity with Gallifreyan technology, but he also was too impatient, and curious. He probably would have popped out to help the Rani solve the code dilemma, which might have compromised the mission slightly. The two more 'mature' members of the boys had gotten the job, towing one of Wade's Communicators into the TARDIS during the Rani's panicked flight from Ron. Hiding the unit, the two had used their stealth fields to avoid detection so far. And now, they knew how to get out of the time ship.

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"Amy, I don't mean to insult you, honest, but do you consider yourself a person who always keeps her word?" Kim spoke in a low tone, walking besides the geneticist.

Amy frowned suspiciously, "Why? And yes, when I give my word, I keep it."

Kim hesitated a moment, then replied, "If something happens to me and Shego, and you get out, will you take the girls to my parents? I don't know how you will explain them, but...please?"

Amy blinked in astonishment for a few seconds. Then, a smile slowly grew on her face, "Kimberley, I don't know how you can trust me, but I give you my word, I will see them safely to your family, no matter what happens." Her smile faded slightly, before she went on earnestly, "And in return, do you know about the time-share lair in Minnesota?" Kim nodded. "There is a picture of me at Cuddlecon '02 on one wall. On the back, and you will need your computer friend's help to find it, is the location of my collection. If any thing should happen to me, please see that they get good homes." She looked into the eyes of the two little girls she carried, "One each for these little ones, of course, their choice, but see that the others go to people who appreciate them, Please?"

Kim actually felt her eyes getting wet, as she nodded, "Of course I will! Now, though, let's not think about not getting out of here, Okay?"

Amy nodded back. Behind her, a lion headed CB sniffed the air, and growled. "I think they're coming after us, Kimberley!" The passage was rapidly getting darker as they went on. Amy looked up at the ceiling. "Henchco wanted to put track lighting through the whole place, now I wish I had agreed."

They entered the open area Amy had spoken of. As Kim's eyes searched the gloom for the other door, Shego suddenly looked up towards the ceiling. She scanned back and forth for nearly a minute. "I swear I saw something move." Kim looked up as well, but both of them lost interest quickly when a familiar sound came to them from their left, between them and the exit. The echoing sound of a TARDIS materializing.

Shego's "Damn!" overrode Amy's "What was that?"

Kim took a step backwards, as the Cuddlebunnies began to growl. "She got ahead of us!"

Amy still looked puzzled, "But How? What was that noise?"

Kim answered her, as Shego scanned the area for any hiding places. "Amy, Elizabeth Reithan isn't human, she comes from a race called the Time Lords. She is actually called The Rani."

Amy blinked for a few moments, then incongruously began to smile. "You mean, they're Real? Oh, my, I read this blog about one of them, he is supposed to be..." And the smile vanished, "But this one is evil, isn't she? Oh, Dear, I should have seen it!" Kim had turned away, like Shego trying to assess their options, but a sudden loud roar from the lion headed CB caused her to spin back, just in time to see Amy's eyes widen in shock, and her pet suddenly slam it's foot down on something behind her, generating a loud 'Splat!'.

Amy began to fall forwards, and Kim lunged to try and hold her up, while trying to secure the babies. Shego grabbed hold of Amy's shoulders, as Kim got hold of the girls. Amy's eyes, the whites of which began to turn red at an alarming rate, looked into Kim's. "...promise.." she whispered, and then her eyes closed. Kim backed away in horror, as the cuddlebunnies began to rage. A crushed spider was behind Amy, the two spikes formerly on it's head now embedded in the backs of the woman's calves. Shego lowered her to the ground, already knowing without checking her pulse that she was gone. And then her creations, roaring their anger, charged back down the passage.

Shego looked at her hands, accusingly. "They didn't light! Why the hell not?" She looked up at Kim, then to the girl's left, towards the exit, and her eyes widened. A bare flicker of green appeared around her hands, when a blue beam of energy hit her, lifted her off the ground, and then swung her sideways towards one wall. "Hey, I saw this game!" flashed through her mind, just as her outstretched left arm hit an angle. Her humerus snapped like a twig, and then her head hit the wall as well. And everything went dark.

The sounds of bestial combat echoed up the passage, as Kim, burdened by the babies, backed away from the advancing Rani and her creatures. "Stand still, Girl!" Kim stopped, having no realistic options. "God, take care of my babies if she kills me, they don't deserve this!" The girls were crying, but not as fiercely as one might expect, looking at Kim's face, as if to decide from her expression whether or not to go to full bellow. "You are not going to die yet, Miss Possible, I still need answers from you!" The Rani snarled.

The noises of combat diminished rapidly, then ceased. The Rani nodded, "Well, that didn't take long." She turned to one of her creatures, and gestured towards Shego's crumpled form, "Bring her, and be careful." The creature obeyed, carefully lifting the unconscious thief.

"She's hurt! Let me help her, please!" Kim pleaded.

The Rani lifted an eyebrow, "And how would you do that, Miss Possible? Just how would you 'help' her?" Kim remained silent. The Rani gestured back down the passage, "Get moving, we have some things to discuss, you and I." Kim started to turn, then stared over the Rani's shoulder. Knowing it would be pointless for it to be a trick, the Rani turned quickly, as well, but saw nothing unexpected. She turned back to Kim, "What did you see?"

"Just another of your little spies, is all." Kim replied. Then she turned and started back down the passage, trying to watch her step while also checking on Shego. The Rani shrugged, certain Kim had spotted one of the two spiders who had been sentries here. The surviving one, that is.

When they came to the scene of the fight between the rival monsters, Kim nearly gagged, and averted her eyes. Then a horrible thought struck her, and she whirled on the Rani, "What about Amy's body? We just left it there!"

The Rani gazed back dispassionately, "Worry about the living, not the dead, Miss Possible. Keep Moving!" Feeling nauseous, Kim obeyed, trying to ignore the sounds of the Rani's monsters feasting around her.

When they came to the familiar six doors, the Rani ordered Kim to halt, and leaving two of her creatures to guard her, accompanied the one carrying Shego into the cell area. She was back in a few minutes. "Well, a little adjustment to the forcefield was necessary. Fortunately, the one she destroyed recorded her new power 'frequency'. She won't be getting out of that cell." She pointed at the central door opposite. "In there."

Kim entered the room, and stopped just inside. Two monsters still flanked her, and she saw three spiders, all the tentacled kind, rush in and climb up on various surfaces, all eying her and the little ones.

The Rani stepped up to her, and held out her arms, "Give me one of them." Kim warily complied, having little choice in the matter. She expected the Rani to put the baby back in the chamber, but to her shock the Time Lord unwrapped the little girl and set her down in the middle of the floor, causing her to start crying from contact with the cold concrete. "What are you doing!" But the Rani didn't answer, just pried the second girl away from her, aided by one of her monsters, and treated her similarly.

With both babies wailing, the Rani looked Kim in the eyes. The three spiders suddenly leaped to the floor and surrounded the babies, and Kim's breath caught. "As before, Miss Possible, we will have a question and answer session. With a little more at stake!"

Kim shook her head, "...no,no,no, please, you can't!"

The Rani didn't blink. "As before, Miss Possible, now! You remember my rules on disobedience, do you want the children to suffer?" Kim stared into the woman's eyes, but saw no mercy there. Her gaze dropped, and she mechanically began to remove her clothes.

The little dark haired girl had managed to stand up, and was trying to walk towards Kim, as she knelt and took her up. The little redhead crawled towards the girl as she laid down on her side, gathering both as close as she could, and doing her best to wrap her body around them to protect them, even though it left her horribly vulnerable. "Not going to let her hurt you, I promise." Kim murmured to the distraught babies. She braced herself for whatever was going to come.

If she had kept her eyes on the Rani, she might have seen the woman's mask slip, and a hint of relief flicker across her features as Kim obeyed her. "Now, if she just cooperates, I won't have to hurt her. Mustn't indulge my anger." "And now, Miss Possible, let's begin..."

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One hundred feet up the passage, Fred and Saul floated. They had exited the TARDIS as soon as the Rani's horde had, negating the need to deactivate the security barrier themselves. They now sought out a location to set the comm unit down and activate it. Spotting a niche in the stone wall near the ceiling, they headed for it, Fred towing the unit. The Rani's creatures basically ignored them.

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Shego sat against the wall of a new cell. This one differed from the first in that, for some reason, the floor was warm. Not that comfort was uppermost in her pain-wracked mind. "Why the hell didn't my power work? It was going good for a while. I'll bet whatever the Rani used to block my powers adapted to the changes, dammit!"

Some time passed, then she sensed movement. Her right eye wasn't working properly, so she had to turn her head to see the cell entrance. Kim, dressed as she had last seen her, was stepping into the cell, eyes vacant. Shego didn't see who had brought her, though she saw shadows moving out side the cell.

The girl leaned back against the wall opposite Shego, and sank to the floor. "Kim?" Shego croaked, "Kim? What did she do to you? Where are the babies?"

The girl blinked, but didn't look at Shego as she replied, "Asleep, they're all right. She didn't do anything to me."

A surge of anger rose up in the thief. "Huh? Nothing? Then what the hell is the matter with you, Possible?" Kim began to tremble, violently, and Shego scowled. "Hope you aren't expecting me to hold you, Princess, I'm the one all beat ..." Then Kim looked absently towards Shego, and her eyes focused. And the haunted look in them vanished, the trembling stopped like a switch had been thrown, and she moved quickly towards Shego, concern on her face, and just a touch of horror. "Of course, best way to get Kim out of a funk about herself, give her someone else to worry about."

Kim stopped just short of touching Shego, looking the thief in her good eye. "Are you ready for this?"

Shego smirked back, "Question is, Kimmie, are you ready for this?" Kim nodded, and took Shego's hand. Pain shot through Shego, radiating from her broken arm, her head, and one eye. Before consciousness fled again, she saw Kim collapse, still holding on to her.

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Things were slightly chaotic in New Mexico. Barely finished with her breakfast, Jen Paladin spotted Charley and her crew rushing up the path towards their ship. She pulled her cellphone from her jeans pocket and hit speed dial for Wade. "Wade, did the alert go off?"

"Huh? No, why?"

"The girls are in a hurry, running towards their ship, for one thing." The house intercom buzzed, "Hang on a sec, Wade." She checked the panel, the call was coming from the workshop. Frowning, she pressed the key, "Yes?"

Aberdeen's voice answered, "Could you and Sam get over here? Something you should see."

"Abe? When did you get here...Oh, no, you didn't stay all night, your wife will..."

"She's at her sister's, greeting another new niece, or nephew, and never mind that, the two of you get over here!"

Jen blinked. Aberdeen rarely was that brusque to her, and with good reason. Curiosity aroused, but divided between two subjects, Jen spoke again to Wade, "Sorry to have bothered you, but some strange stuff going on here, let me see what's up. Later, Wade." She hung up and headed towards hers and Sam's bedroom. It took her nearly ten minutes to get the sleepy blond into shorts and a tank top before dragging her into the kitchen, pouring two cups of coffee down her throat, and leading her to the workshop.

Inside, Jen automatically checked the weapon system Aberdeen had made her, but no visible changes had been made to it. They had determined that their initial suspicion had been correct, somehow the blue pieces added to the framework and recoil system could help negate the recoil of the fifty-caliber almost completely when the weapon was horizontal, and to a lesser extent if the weapon was elevated or depressed, something that could only be done if both hand grips were grasped and squeezed in a certain way. The system could be turned on and off at will.

But Aberdeen was standing by a different bench, and both women's eyes widened when they saw what lay on it. "Okay, Abe, care to explain?"

"Well, I had an idea to build something like this, and last night I came in here, and there was the frame for it, already assembled, with again some of that blue metal incorporated into it. Anyway, I thought Sam might like something like this." The weapon appeared at first glance to be a simple over-and-under fusion of a P90 and a box magazine fed, semi-automatic shotgun.

"Take a look at this." Abe said, and flipped the weapon over to show them the magazine, demonstrating that it had a hinged bottom, and the same gray void inside as Jen's .50."This one has a neat trick! If you put two types of ammo in it, like buckshot and rifled slugs, you can chose which one to fire with this switch. The '1' position corresponds to whatever goes in first. It apparently can hold 12 rounds total. My only complaint, is you still have to load rounds individually if you exhaust your supply. Oh, and I found out how to empty the magazine on both weapons without firing the ammo off."

Sam looked amazed, and pleased, but Jen had a sour look. "Somehow, this is not sitting well with me, something is going on here, and I want to know what it is." Sam's look soured as well. She muttered something about 'gift horses'.

But Aberdeen's expression shifted to smugness. "Tell me, again, why you aren't going to help those four girls with their problem?"

Both women looked annoyed. "Because we have to work for compensation, always, and you know that, Abe." Jen answered.

"And, are you assuming these modifications are free?" Both women looked puzzled, then thoughtful.

Jen scowled, but Sam's smile came back. "The price is right, as far as I'm concerned." She turned to her sour partner, and bounced up and down on her toes. "Shall I pack?"

"Sam, you're nearly thirty years old, stop acting like a child." "And why didn't I make you put on a bra!" "Okay, this might make sense, explained that way." She turned to regard her weapon on it's bench. Then taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, then nodded, "Okay, I'll buy it. Get what we need together, I'm going to talk to Charley and company."

When she arrived outside Thundagirl, she was surprised to see the Reeder sisters flourishing swords. Both weapons resembled overlong and wide bowie knives, single edged, with the blades being about 18 inches in length by five inches wide, with a clip point, or false edge, running four inches back from the point. Then the girls held the weapons in front of themselves, and before Jen's eyes, they changed shape, To a round shaft the same length, and two inches wide, with the top six inches twice as wide, forming a mace-like cylindrical head, with four rows of pyramid shaped knobs lining it. The hilts for the weapons had enough space for a comfortable two-handed grip.

They noticed Jen, and as if they had been doing nothing unusual, they grinned then pointed at T-Girl's hatch and rolled their eyes. Jen stepped up onto the ramp and entered the ship. Looking around the central bay of the ship, Jen took time to actually study the layout Next to the hatch, towards the aft compartment, was a tall narrow set of shelves, on which were the elements of the girls armor, in separate compartments. There were two empty compartments in the stack. Next to the shelves was a weapons rack. Six rifles of the type the Reeder sisters had demonstrated to her were racked there, above a row of seven pistols like Charley's. Stepping closer, saw that four of them were distinct. The slides on two of them were fire engine red, with small gold dragons on each side. Two more had blue slides, with a small eagle on each side. One pistol had silver, the other gold eagles. And one had a silver slide. Below these were several closed compartments of different sizes. JJ Ko was pacing angrily back and forth, another of the odd weapons in her hands, this one in blade form.

"New gear?" She asked Charley, who was leaning against aft bulkhead, next to the weapon's rack. The girl nodded, "Not exactly, just some 'standardization I suppose you could call it..." She snapped her head around as JJ suddenly swung her weapon about, going through several moves before resuming her pacing. "and, we are not all happy about it." She waited a moment, watching JJ, before continuing. "Our melee weapons changed, except mine. Now we all have the mimetic weapon that I've always wielded. JJ's missing her sword, but I guess whomever is behind this thought it too powerful to keep."

JJ stopped pacing. "I could do anything with my old blade! I mean, it responded to my will, only cut what I wanted it to cut!" She spat out angrily. She paced to the opposite side of the ship, and stopped to study an odd rack next to the port side hatch. "And what do you suppose that's for?"

Charley looked at the rack, as well. "Actually, I think it's for a dirt bike. Those four things over there are to secure a car, put one on each wheel, and activate them, and it keeps the car from shifting around." She turned back to Jen, "Whoever did this, and we pretty much know who, did it without T-Girl being aware of it, again!" Which was followed by what could only be described as indistinct muttering by the sentient ship.

Jen looked around the spacious bay. "You could get a Hummer in here, military one, anyway, without a weapons mount, that would make it too tall." The sound of an electric motor came from outside, drawing all their attentions to the hatch, as Sam rolled up in a golf cart, with a small arsenal piled in the back of it.

Charley looked from Sam to Jen, then back again. "What's all this?"

"Well," Sam answered cheerfully, "We do need to field-test our new weapons, after all."

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Shego's first conscious impression was of someone washing her face. With warm water, and a soft cloth. This made little sense to her, considering her last memory, which this time was right in the front of her mind. She was lying on a hard, warm surface, with her head resting on something comparatively soft. And if her senses were correct, she was naked, but covered by something, at least partially. Whoever was washing her shifted their attention to her left arm, and Shego cracked one eye slightly to see what was going on. Of course, it was Kim doing the washing. Shego opened both eyes and looked at the girl, who didn't realize Shego had awakened.

The teenager looked tired, no surprise. She was wearing what appeared to be a fresh set of surgical scrubs, and appeared to have cleaned herself up a bit, as well. Right now, she was concentrating on her work. Shego waited a moment, until the girl was washing her hand, then spoke. "Hey."

Kim jumped, startled, then blushed. "Shego! Um, good, you're awake, you can, um, finish up yourself."

Shego quirked an eyebrow, "Oh, Really? And how much of me is left to do?" Kim turned redder, and Shego slightly regretted teasing the girl. She reached her right hand over and squeezed her left arm where it had been broken. No pain, no discomfort at all. "Wow, it hurts to do, but this speed healing isn't bad." Kim looked uncomfortable, and her blush faded away instantly. "What's the matter, Princess?" The girl just turned away, and slid across the cell floor to the opposite wall.

Shego levered herself to a sitting position, finding herself covered by a towel, at least her torso. She frowned at Kim. "Kim, what's the matter? And what's all this stuff?" The 'stuff' in question included two buckets of water, one of which had a used washcloth hanging from it's rim, and both the towel Shego wore, and a second, obviously used, laying near her. She then noted that her 'pillow' was another bagged set of scrubs, and what appeared to be the clothes she'd been wearing were in the back corner of the cell.

"I think the Rani got tired of how we smelled." Kim answered. Her voice was flat, emotionless.

Shego's frown deepened, "Kimmie, please tell me what's wrong? Did healing me hurt you more than it should have?"

The girl shook her head. "It's not important, Shego, finish washing up, two of those creatures are coming back for the water and stuff shortly. That's why I started washing you, I was afraid you wouldn't wake up in time."

Shego decided to back down a bit. "Well, Thanks, Princess. I can see the Rani's point, or rather, smell it. Uh, what happened to my undies?"

Kim blushed furiously. "They were covered with blood...your blood, Shego. One side of your face was a mess, it bled all down your front. I covered you up, before I undressed you, but you still have dried blood all over your tummy." Shego blinked at the choice of words, but checking under the towel proved Kim correct. "How badly was my face torn up, Kim?"

The concern in her voice made Kim look up. "You're fine, now, Shego, really, not a mark." But the girl winced slightly as she gazed at Shego, remembering. Shego decided not to ask further.

Taking up the washcloth Kim had been using on her, Shego began to clean up while the water was still warm. Kim turned her back, which Shego thought was slightly ridiculous, all things considered. But she said nothing, and after toweling dry, pulled on the clean scrubs. She noticed that one of the Rani's spiders occupied the wall outside their cell again. A tentacled one. And she may have imagined it, but Kim seemed to be doing everything she could not to look at it.

"I suppose you found Amy in that last room, while I was alone." Kim asked.

"Yeah, her and her creatures, all in cells, as well as their food supply. Apparently, she somehow made them all herbivores. I let her loose and made a deal, we'd help each other escape. That didn't turn out too well, did it! Can't believe I didn't think of her TARDIS!" Shego shot to her feet and began to pace. Then she looked at Kim, "Now, tell me, why are you so upset? Did the Rani hurt the babies? Or, did she hurt you?"

Kim shook her head, then suddenly slumped against the wall. "No," she said in a small voice, "This time, she didn't have to, I just told her everything she wanted, like a good little girl."

Shego knelt by the girl, and saw tears flowing. "Kim, she tortured you before, she hurt you a lot, you didn't want to go through it again, it's natural."

"No, it's not! I betrayed Ron's secrets, and yours! I wanted to protect the babies, yes, but I did it so she wouldn't hurt me, either! I put myself first, and I DON'T DO THAT!" She screamed the last, and shook from the force of her own anger at herself.

Shego frowned, and took hold of Kim's arm, "Protect the babies? What did she do to the babies, or threaten to?"

And Kim told her the whole story, and about the first time, when the spiders had been used to torture her. Three of them, circling her, stinging her whenever she defied the Rani by refusing to answer. "I couldn't let them sting me with the babies there, they might have been hurt by my convulsions, so I just answered each question, and kept on answering, and pleading with her when she wouldn't believe me, like about Ron's Mystical Monkey Power, or all the healing we did, I begged her like..." She trailed off, sobbing.

Shego had to gather her thoughts, and rein in her own emotions before speaking. She took Kim's face in her hands, and turned it towards hers. "Kim, you put the babies first, in my opinion, not yourself! And, nothing you told her was worth being hurt to hide, at least nothing about me. Why did she ask about Stoppable?"

"She went back to your home, and Ron was there. She talked about him setting traps, and glowing blue, and killing five of her beasts, but she wasn't too coherent about it, just odd bits and pieces." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ron found the house, but how?"

"Not sure, Kim, but it means someone followed my trail there. Maybe Nerdlinger and Ron, I wouldn't be surprised. Just Ron there alone, though, means they didn't tell Global Justice about the place, but then again, Ron invaded Doctor D's lair solo. But, setting traps takes time, and only if you know someone is coming back. Maybe he expected monsters, from the local stories, but still...the fact he defended the house means something must be there to defend, like Eliana." Kim's eyes widened, a bit of hope stealing into her expression. "And lastly, stronger people then you have broken quicker under torture, it all depends on how it's done, and how well, and what's at stake."

"But, people expect more of me, they need to expect more from me, I sometimes have their lives in my hands! I don't want to be seen as a failure, or I'll have to stop, don't you see? People have to trust me to save...save them! And to do that, I need faith in myself, and the Rani may have taken that away!" Kim abruptly decided to change the subject. "Why do you think this floor is warm? Is the lair's power source underneath?"

Shego nodded. "Probably, we never found it in any of the rooms we searched, so I bet there's another hidden passage, like the Rani used to escape us before. Hell, probably a whole slew of them." Then she shrugged, "or, just a slikely, that spiral staircase Amy told us about goes down as well as up."

Kim cast a look at the malevolent spider watching them, and looked away again with a shudder. "By the way, the Rani has some robot spies floating around, too. I saw one after you were knocked out, it looked like a little metal skull."

Shego's head snapped around. "What did you say?"

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Thirty feet above the cell, Fred and Saul worked their way through the narrow vents that provided air to the lair. When they had activated Wade's device in the main passage, the signal had been blocked, so now they were seeking a place outside whatever was jamming the signal. The going was slow, as the vents were blocked at regular intervals by grates to keep even snakes from getting inside. At each of these, one skull would have to teleport through, and the device relayed from one to the other, before continuing. And from their sensor readings, they had another sixty feet to go.

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Standing in Thundagirl's central bay, Jen Paladin looked around at the assembled 'response team'. "Okay, each rifle for Belle and Beth will have two mags of fifty cal, and five of 6.8mm RBC. JJ's and Charley's pistols will each have two clips of .50 magnum, and those are going to kick a bit, even with your weapon's compensation, and four clips of .40 S&W. Use whichever you think is appropriate for these 'monsters' we are expecting."

She walked over to her own equipment. "I'm taking Abe's latest, or next to latest, creation, Fully loaded, With 10 loose rounds of fifty, and two extra 50-round magazines of 5.7mm. Also taking my .45, of course, and may borrow one of your rifles, if you won't mind?"

Charley nodded, "Thundagirl will have to 'register' you in order for it to work for you, now that it's security system is activated, but we have no objections."

Jen nodded and gestured at her partner "Sam is taking her new love interest..." Her partner smirked at that, "Loaded with a mix of shot and slugs, and two spare mags of 5.7, too. She is also carrying a pair of high-tech Kama, Which she has never got to use in a fight, which in turn is probably her excuse for not carrying more ammo. I think she wants to go toe-to-toe with some of these things. That's Okay, I get all the partnership's assets in the event of her death." A mildly impolite gesture was made in her direction by a grinning Sam. "I would prefer to do monster fighting from a distance, personally."

She nodded to Charley, who stepped forward to finish the briefing. "Okay, we get the signal, we contact UNIT, and we go. Can't plan farther then that until we see the layout of the Rani's hideout." She hesitated, "If we need to evacuate more people in a jump then T-Girl can hold, there will be no arguments about who stays behind, understand?" She looked at the two mercenaries. "You're older then us, but this is our operation, You are just helping, so you are not last out, understand?" Both women saw something in the girl's eyes they hadn't before. The first real sign proving that she was a leader for a reason. They nodded agreement. "Unless the Rani has something really nasty in the way of weaponry, anyone we get inside T-Girl should be safe, though, so we may have nothing to worry about. In deference to UNIT, we will try and wait until they arrive before we go in." She sighed, "Now, all we need is for someone to start the party."

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Fred and Saul finally reached daylight, finding themselves in dense jungle. Fred flew up to a cleft in one tree's branches, and set Wade's comm unit down. The two skulls then communed for a minute. Saul then faced the device, and interfaced with it, briefly. Then both skulls flew back to the ventilation shaft and dove back in. Behind them, a countdown began on the screen of the device. 20:00:00...

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Twenty Minutes, that is.

Anyway, Please, Read and Review.