Chapter Twelve
As soon as Kim and Ron were close to her, Tara raised her hands and the mystical bubble of protection formed around them. Rufus stuck his head out of Ron's pocket, and chattered while pointing at Jinx.
"She'll be okay, buddy... I hope," said Ron.
Drakken, Shego, the two henchmen and Fiske stood together. They were at a loss because they suddenly realized Drakken had screwed up by calling them over; Team Possible was between them and the exit. Thinking quickly, Shego turned up the desk and crouched behind it. The others joined her.
Fukushima sat up, holding his broken nose, and looked over at Jinx. She was glowing bright pink, something he had never seen before. The room was saturated with the color. He had no idea what was going on, and wouldn't learn until later.
Jinx screamed again, and threw her arms up toward the open hatch in the roof. Huge boomerang-shaped hexes appeared above her hands and flew up through it. Jagged bolts of pink jumped to the sides, hitting the floor and walls and hover pod.
One bolt hit Tara's shield and dissipated. Another hit the desk and the villains. A side branch hit Fukushima, who had rolled over flat trying to avoid being a target.
After some ten seconds of pink electricity arcing around the lair, and bolts directed through the roof, the discharge ceased and the havoc died. Jenny Wheeler sank to her knees, and down to her hands. She was panting heavily.
Kim waited a few seconds, then called "Is it over, Jenny?"
"Yeah, that's it..." was the response. Jinx took a deep breath. "I really hope I never have to do that again."
The villains cautiously stood up. Fukushima came over and stood beside Monkey Fist, still holding his nose.
Tara dropped the shield, and the four went over to Jinx. They knelt beside her, but Kim made sure she could keep an eye on the bad guys. "Are you okay?" she called to them.
The villains did a quick inspection of themselves. "Seem to be, Princess," answered Shego.
Just then a groaning sound caught everyone's attention. It was coming from the hover pod.
"Oh, no..." said Drakken, and sure enough, the machine fell apart. It collapsed on itself and left a pile of scrap metal, cloth, plastic, and leaking fluids. When it settled, he sighed. "And that was my biggest and best one." He glared angrily at the bad luck charm. "YOU OWE ME A HOVERCRAFT!"
"Ahh, put a sock in it," muttered Jinx.
Tara took her best friend in her arms. "Are you really okay, Jenny? I was so worried."
"Yeah... what are you doing here?" asked Jinx, suddenly realizing who was holding her. Her pink cat-eyes grew wide.
"We'll explain later," said Kim, and stood up.
Drakken's attention was taken by unexpected movement on a monitor in the console by him. The bank of TVs and controls were for the space station, where the Geissman lens was installed and waiting for Jinx.
As he watched, he saw loose papers fly over and stick to an airlock hatch. A light on the console started blinking red. Puzzled he went over and tapped some keys. A blank monitor lit up and displayed data on the station's status. One line was blinking red. Then a second one popped up. And a third. He looked up at the monitors again and sat down.
"Dr. D?" said Shego, "We need to get out of here."
"Just a minute, Shego, this is important," he answered. He typed for a bit.
This had attracted the attention of Fiske, Fukushima, and the henchmen. Team Possible came over to see as well, with Tara helping Jinx stand. The bad luck discharge had drained her physically.
Suddenly everyone except Jinx gasped. She smirked, but didn't say anything.
The airlock had suddenly crumpled and was yanked out of the wall and into space. The camera kept sending its picture, though. Anything and everything followed the hatch. On other cameras, they saw metal support beams crumple, sparks flew and liquids danced in the now-weightless environment.
The destruction continued until it was quite clear the station was unsalvageable. Then the cameras went out.
"MY SPACE STATION!" wailed Drakken.
"Yours? Didn't you lease it from Hench?" Shego asked.
"Mr. Hench ain't gonna be happy about this..." muttered Charlie. His fellow henchman nodded in agreement.
Drakken leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "How could this have happened?"
Suddenly Wade appeared on one of the monitors. "I can tell you that!" He took a drink of his Slurpster. "The space station was overhead when Jinx let off her energy." He gave an evil grin. "Just your bad luck."
"And that was only the beginning," said Jinx.
"What do you mean, young lady?" asked Fiske.
"While I was discharging, I made sure all of you were hit with it," she gave her own evil grin. "The effect I directed was that any evil you try to do will backfire on you."
The bad guys all registered shock, and looked at each other.
"So, we can't do villainy any more?" asked Drakken.
"That's right," was the answer.
"For how long, Jinx-san?" asked Fukushima.
Jenny pursed her lips. "Mmm... hard to say... but with that much bad luck, it might be permanent."
"But Possible, Stoppable, and whoever that is got hit with it too," Shego pointed out.
Jinx shrugged. "They don't do evil. And by the way, Shego, I'm not mad at you for the chip. I hated it too, but I was a villain, and understand that was just business."
"Hey, don't blame me!" replied Shego, "That was Dr. D's idea!"
"SHEGO! Don't tell her that!" protested the blue-skinned man.
Jinx waved it off. "But remember what you said last night about knowing real pain? I WILL remember that. IF the day ever comes that the bad luck wears off and we meet again, I will teach you."
"Well, come on, then!" said the villainess, and took a fighting stance. Kim and Ron responded by assuming their own.
Jinx shook her head. "A few years ago I would have taken you up on that. But I've changed, and I have too much of an advantage over you now."
With a growl, Shego ignited her fists and lunged toward Jinx. She tripped on a power cord and fell flat before she could go two feet.
"Case in point," said Jinx.
Shego got up, face burning red, and rejoined her fellows, who were doing their best not snicker. She glared at them in warning.
"Um..." said Ron, "What about the lair? Your bad luck was all over the place. Are we safe here?"
"We should be," was the reply, "But it's probably best if we don't stick around for too long."
"Team Possible! Are you fit?" came a familiar voice.
They turned to find Will Du and a squad of GJ men moving cautiously into the room.
"We're fine, Will," replied Kim, moving her burned hand to her side. It wasn't too badly burned, and she didn't want to give the stuffy agent any ammo against her.
Monkey Fist made a move to jump and grab an overhanging pipe.
"I wouldn't do that, dude," said Ron.
Fiske ignored him and jumped, his simian hands and feet easily grasping the metal. With a groan it slipped from its brace and fell to the floor, on top of the ex-Monkey Master.
"Tried to warn you," said Ron with a grin as two agents rolled the pipe off him. "Book 'em, Deano!"
Everyone in the room but Fiske stared at Ron.
"Uh... Alaska Four-Nine flashback?" he said. Silence. "TV Trash Heap?" More silence. "Ah, never mind."
Kim grinned. That's my Ron, she thought.
As the villains were cuffed and led out, Jinx spoke to Charlie. "I am sorry for you, though. You were nice to me, even when you didn't have to be."
"Thanks, ma'am," he replied. "I've lost people too, and know how it feels. Oh, Bill and I are quitting HenchCo. My brother in law has offered us jobs."
"Glad to hear it, and good luck to you, though maybe I shouldn't say that," was the reply. They exchanged a grin, and the red-clad man was led out.
When they were alone, Kim turned to Jinx. "Is the bad luck really permanent?"
The gray-skinned girl grinned. "Nah. I know my own power. It'll last at least a year, but why tell them that?"
They all laughed. "Let's go home, everyone. We've got a lot of stuff to talk over," said Kim.
"Hold on, Kim," said Tara.
She gently took Kim's burned hand in her own and concentrated. A blue glow surrounded the appendages, and over thirty seconds the burns disappeared. Ron was calm, but Jinx astounded. Tara had a lot to tell her.
Kim sighed. "That's better. Thank you."
"NOW let's go," said Tara.
"But how did you do that?" asked Jenny.
"This," was the reply. Tara touched the Amulet. "It gives me a form of Monkey Power like Ron has. It will protect me and anybody who is close enough. I can also detect danger, and heal."
"Wow, lucky you!" said Jenny, without irony. "I guess it stopped my bad luck discharge?"
Tara nodded and smiled.
Just then, several small rocks and dust fell from the lair's stone roof. They all heard a grinding sound.
"And on that note," said Ron. He led the way out of the place. Quickly.