Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my characters.

11:43:24 until execution

"The walls are soundproof, or maybe just thick. Either way, we can't hear the others. The seniors can hear us, and we can hear the seniors," Artica's voice was coming clearer and she was even starting to look slightly better, "The cells are lined up in a row, I remember from the first time we came. There are six in all," she drew a line with her finger on the ground as she spoke, slicing the line into six segments.

"We're on the end here, because I didn't pass any cells when Nightfire locked me up," Kim added, pointing at one of the imaginary end segments.

"There's..." Artica counted off her fingers, "Six villainesses including you."

"Hego came, too, and Deseerah, but I don't know where she ran off to," Kim offered. Artica frowned brieftly, but it was too painful.

"Still, with us in one cell, there'd be enough for the others to have their own cell, excluding Deseerah," Artica chuckled bitterly, "Why does this matter, anyway? It's no use to us even if we do escape."

"Yes, it is. If there's an empty cell, we can skip it to save time. Now, Shego would be singled out, wouldn't she?" Kim urged. She needed this to keep her mind off the blaring red numbers counting down, to give her hope, to drive away the part of her mind that knew it was the end.

"Wouldn't she?" Kim pleaded. Artica didn't respond, didn't even look at Kim. And then, softly and hesitantly as though admitting defeat, Artica replied coldly, "Of course they'd single Shego out. They know she's the most dangerous if paired.

11:36:11 until execution

"Hego..." he heard a soft voice call. He was imagining the voice. If he kept his eyes closed, it would never leave him. He felt something touch his burning chest and he flinched, "I'm so sorry, Hego. I, I never meant to hurt you."

"Chloe," he felt foolish for saying it, yet there was hope in the name.

"I'm here, Hego, I'm right here," he felt a wet cheek press to his. He opened his eyes. It wasn't his imagination. He smiled.

"I came to, um, save you," he murmured.

"Knock it off!" Nightfire yelled at them, lighting a cigarette. She turned away, glaring at Marloe, "Why'd you stick those two together, anyway? If it wasn't for their injuries-"

"They wouldn't do anything either way," Marloe cut her off. Nightfire blew a cloud of smoke out, "Besides, isn't it cute how they know they're going to die and yet they're falling in love all over again? It's like a crappy tv soap opera where "love" will save them," Marloe giggled. Nightfire smirked.

"And people think I have a sick sense of humor," she snickered.

9:15:42 until execution

Shego was finally starting to think straight. Her head had been spinning and her vision blurred. Titania had given her a mild concussion. Great. A head butted into her chest, scaring Shego. The gentle purr reassured her, though.

"You should hide. If they saw you, who knows what would happen," Shego said softly. Deseerah looked up at her haughtily, "Yeah, uh-huh, you're bosses' daughter, but that's gonna get you nowhere with these girls," Shego heard the footsteps and quickly hid Deseerah behind her.

&&&

"How did Team Go defeat them last time?" Kim whispered. Artica shrugged.

"They didn't."

"What?!"

"Shhh," Artica warned and then leaned closer, "The seniors defeated themselves. Their personalities, morals, and tactics are so diverse, it's amazing how they could even work together. Their hatred of us freshmen has grown so strong, though, I doubt they'll rest until we're terminated," Kim leaned back, chewing this over.

"There is something we can do, then, no matter how low."

"What are you talking about?"

"Artica, have you been paying attention to the guard changes?"

"They seem to do it every two hours; Nightfire with Marloe, Nomadia with Titania. Why?" Kim smirked.

7:58:00 until execution

Human girls and women are perhaps the cruelest of all the species in the world. They drive each other to suicide and self-mutilation. They make them hate one another or bring each other closer together. They make a pecking order that is almost inalterable. The wounds they create last for decades and decades. All they need is their one defensive/offensive weapon almost unique to human girls and women. They are practically born with it, refining it their whole lives and wielding it like a daggar.

The art of gossip. Not even rumors, just gossip. Some do it more, some do it less, but all human girls and women find themselves using it at one time or another. Kim found herself, in the pit of despair, needing to use it literally to survive.

Kim walked casually over to the cell door and waited. Nightfire noticed her almost immediately.

"Hey, Kimmi. How's it feel knowing when you're going to die?" Nightfire sneered. Kim shrugged.

"Predictable, I guess," Kim glanced away, letting a smile grow on her face.

"What is it?" Nightfire demanded, just as Kim thought she would.

"Oh, nothing. I'd just hate to have to work for such a low-life sneak," Kim baited her.

"Yeah, Tigress is a no-life, but a sneak? What makes you say that?"

"Just something I learned..." Nightfire came as close as the door would allow.

"Listen, Tigress gave me no directions 'bout you. I can kill you whenever I..." Nightfire cursed for emphasis, "...want. I suggest you tell me exactly what the..." Kim noticed she liked combining curse words in politically incorrect ways, "...is going on you-"

"Sticks and stones," Kim cut her off. She tilted her head meaningfully towards Marloe. Nightfire chuckled.

"Marloe? You're worried about Marloe? She's practically deaf. Now," Nightfire lit up her hand in the same manner as Shego, except for it was real fire. Kim fought against the urge to retreat as Nightfire reached the hand until Kim could feel the heat, "Tell me," Nightfire demanded.

"Oh, it's nothing really, common knowledge is all. Tigress had a daughter a few months ago."

"Really? With who?" Nightfire's hand withdrew, the fire vanishing.

"Who knows. Drakken found her abandoned somwhere in the Black Market and Shego's been caring for her since."

"This is too juicy. How do I know you're not messing with me?"

"She came with us. She's bound to be around here somewhere," Kim paused and then added, "Says a lot about her, doesn't it?"

"Sneaky, huh? Thanks, Kimmi. Maybe I'll kill you quickly after all," Nightfire walked away. Kim smiled nervously, going back to Artica.

"Female sabotage. Brilliant but risky," Artica approved.

"I'm starting to wonder if it's worth the risk of Tigress finding out I told her that," Kim said, crossing her fingers.

7:56:23 until execution

Shego was amazed by how intuitive Deseerah was. Everytime Shego went tense, as though understanding why, she would hide behind Shego. Shego couldn't decided whether it was some animal instinct or she was just smart. Either way, Shego tensed as Marloe wandered by, looking bored out of her mind. Not much longer after, Nightfire joined her.

"You look sinister," Marloe noted. Nightfire was grinning. Nothing good could come from Nightfire grinning.

"A little redheaded bird just confided in me. Guess who had a baby?" Marloe perked up.

"Shego?"

"No, Tigress," Marloe's interest dissipated.

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you've got to say about this? That stupid freshman got knocked up!" Nightfire chuckled.

"I knew about Deseerah," Marloe shrugged. Nightfire stood with a stunned expression on her face.

"Hey, I thought we were cool," Nightfire sounded hurt.

"We are cool."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Nightfire snapped.

"I just didn't think it was necessary," Marloe didn't mention the fact that Nightfire couldn't keep a secret.

Nightfire stormed away. Tigress must've told her! How else would she have known? How could you even get an in with Tigress?

Marloe glared at her back. Redheaded bird? Since when did Tigress let anyone into her personal life?

Shego smirked, biting back a laugh. Bad news, two of the four knew about Deseerah. Good news, she had waaaay underestimated Kim's powers.

6:00:00 until execution

"Hey, who put gasoline on your flames?!" Nomadia snapped. Nightfire glared at Nomadia.

"Marloe's being a..." Insert cuss word of choice, she said them all.

"Take a chill pill. What'd she do to you?"

"She knew about Tigress's daughter."

"Tigress's daughter?"

"I'm surprised the whole lair doesn't know. Yeah, Tigress had a kitten and Shego got ahold of it, but Marloe didn't tell me. She knew and she didn't tell me!"

"Makes you feel better, Titania nor I knew about her daughter. She hid her pregnancy well," Then again, she hadn't done anything for a year. Nomadia saw Titania already at her post. She had a chair set up and a laptop on her lap.

"I don't think I like this setup anymore," Nomadia said, leaning against the wall beside Titania. Titania respectfully closed the laptop down.

"Tigress herself doesn't trust those two; you can see it in her cattish eyes. But what makes you say that right now?"

"Tigress had a baby girl. They knew that, Marloe before Nightfire, but still..." Titania sighed.

"Nothing ever happens around here. I want to see some action," Nomadia smirked when she heard this. She supposed the computer nerds never got to see the light of battle.

"We could tick them off a little more," Nomadia suggested. Titania grinned.

"What did you have in mind?"

5:55:25 until execution

Kim and Artica's cell door opened.

"Artica, come out," Titania's red eyes glowed like the countdown.

"I still got six hours."

"Do you want to wait for six hours and die or do you want to be set free?" Artica and Kim exchanged glances, "No tricks, honestly, just a little revenge on our fellow seniors."

"They must've really ticked you off," Artica laughed. Titania shrugged.

"More like we decided not to fake friendship with them," It worked. It actually worked. Kim couldn't believe her luck. She was free without a stratch. She was walking out the door...Titania stopped her.

"Sorry, this invitation is for Artica, and whoever Nomadia's setting free, only," Kim felt like she had been slapped in the face. Artica gave her a sorry look before the door shut and locked behind her. Kim kicked the door, growling. It was her plan! Why wasn't she getting free? Why was Artica going and not her?!

Artica looked at the door a long time. Que lastima. She saw Nomadia bring out Metaphor and together, without an escourt, walked out.

"I feel bad for not feeling bad for ditching them," Artica confided.

"Same here, but Simile comes first, even before them. Who knows what's happened to her?" At the thought, Metaphor started jogging. Artica watched her and wondered why she had a sucks-to-be-her attitude towards Kim.

3:56:11 until execution

Marloe could tell from the long string of cursing something was wrong. She hadn't seen Titania nor Nomadia like she usually did between guard shifts. But then she saw Hego and War Hawk stumbling over each other, running away from Fuego and Incendie.

"What are you doing?!" Marloe screamed. Nightfire glared daggars at Marloe.

"They set Artica and Metaphor free, those..." Nightfire let out another string of politically incorrect cuss words.

"Who? Hego and War Hawk?!"

"No! Titania and Nomadia!"

"Now why would they do a thing like that?"

"I don't know, but I'm out of here! Fuego, Incendie, mount up!" The dogs returned, loyally following their master, "I can't even trust my own kind!" Her whole body lit up with fire. Fuego and Incendie glanced at each other, tails hung low.

"You can't leave!"

"Watch me!" And with that, Nightfire left.

Marloe stood, shocked, hurt, and betrayed. She had thought her and Nightfire were cool, too, until Tigress went and told her about Deseerah. She felt they had bonded against the other three and now she was gone and Marloe was going to get blamed for the prisoner break.

3:53:35 until execution

Golden Arrow looked up as the door opened.

"Get out," Was all Marloe said, Big Al nestled in her arms, before she stormed away. The door was left ajar. Golden Arrow followed out of curiousity. She was shocked to find Marloe simply get into her van and drive away. That was it. She just left? What was going on?

1:57:09 until execution

"Marloe and Nightfire have left," Nomadia reported to Tigress. Tigress was staring out a window at the woods, her tail twitching from side to side.

"Why is that my concern?"

"They freed most of the prisoners. Shego and Kim are all that's left."

"Again, why do I care?" Nomadia's brow furrowed.

"Why wouldn't you care? I mean, they're your prisoners."

"I only really care about Shego," she said absentmindedly. In the blink of an eye, Tigress was in the windowsill. She seemed to be fascinated by something, her eyes darting around.

"Then why the other prisoners? Why was it so important to have the other freshmen?"

"Fodder."

"Fodder?"

"You only came because of Golden Arrow, didn't you? If I said I was going after Shego, you wouldn't give a rat's tail."

"Yes..."

"Then it's your problem to go after Golden Arrow, not mine."

Nomadia knew this shouldn't bug her so much. She was a paid assasin, after all. If her boss had another agenda, why should it concern her? She was being paid. But no, it wasn't quite the same. Her only payment was Goldie's life. Somehow, the fact Tigress was using them to bait Shego to her death bothered her. Maybe Titania felt the same.

1:12:40 until execution

"We're being used," Nomadia said bluntly. Titania glanced at her.

"Your point?"

"Don't you feel that that's wrong?" Titania laughed.

"I haven't truly felt in a long time. Since when did you start caring about being so plainly deceived?"

"I don't know, I've never cared about crap like this, but there's something wrong about our only payment being a freshman's life."

"I've worked for cheaper," Titania joked.

"She's using us but she's doing it in a way that...I don't know how to describe it."

"Then don't. Go with the flow."

"Excuse me for worrying about my neck; it's not made of steel," Titania frowned.

"Are you saying Tigress is going to kill us?"

"I'm saying she sure isn't taking any provisions. I'm going, too," Nomadia walked away.

"Running like a coward?" Titania called after her. Nomadia paused.

"No, running like someone who's a vulnerable human. Stay if you like; you certainly have little to loose."

Titania remained where she was, her mind starting to go. What if nothing was going on and Tigress simply didn't want the hassle of bringing everyone back? That was mostly likely the case. Weren't cats lazy? But what if Nomadia was right? What if some other, more dangerous plan was being milled over in Tigress's mind? No one knew that girl's thought pattern besides her obsession with killing Shego.Titania put her hand over her heart. She had never told anyone this, just let them assume she was 100 robot, but some of her vital organs had been saved from her old body. If Tigress had found out that if her vital organs were damaged she would die... That thought alone scared her to Nomadia's side.

00:21:01 until execution

Shego's door opened. She looked up, only slightly surprised it was Titania.

"Sounded like a war zone out there," Shego commented. Titania smirked, kneeling down beside Shego.

"No villainess likes knowing they're being used, but when it's so plain you think you can outsmart your boss... What do you think?" Shego shrugged.

"You might as well ask me what I think Deseerah thinks about."

"Bout, booouuuut," Deseerah tried out the sound.

"You were so close to your first word, but I don't think that's close enough to be "boot"," Shego said. Not that boot was a great first word. Titania scratched under Deseerah's chin, who purred.

"So Kim wasn't lying," Titania remarked. Shego felt at ease with Titania, more at ease by far than any other senior, but Titania still held a grudge. If she hadn't have screwed up all those years ago, who knew? Maybe they could've been friends. Shego didn't bring this up for fear of raising Titania's fury. Her moods came and went as did all the seniors.

Titania passed a handgun to Shego. Shego looked it over.

"Let me guess; one shot to off myself?"

"No, two. In case you miss the first time, if your aim hasn't improved in the last few years,"

"How can I miss myself? My aim isn't even that bad," Shego joked. Titania's face suddenly turned serious.

"It's for Tigress. In case you miss Tigress the first time."

&&&&&

Wow, okay, I tried to find the least complicated way to pitch the seniors against each other, free all the prisoners except Shego Kim and Deseerah and still get a chapter up relatively soon. I think I missed, lol. Please review.