Mole

XX

A jagged range of mountains loomed up ahead, past the jet's cockpit window. Ron could see them past the two seats in front of him, in which Shego and Hego were sitting. Hego was piloting the jet – Shego didn't seem to mind, although she was a bit of a backseat driver. Not that she was in the back seat. Ron himself had asked to turn on the radio for some tunes, but apparently the jet didn't have a radio. Some jet.

"Maybe we should play 99 bottles of beer on the wall?" he suggested.

"Maybe we shouldn't."

"Come on, Shego," said her younger twin brothers. "That'd be fun."

Hego turned back to look sternly into the jet's passenger compartments. "I may not be able to pull this thing over, but all of you must concentrate! We're almost to Cyrus Bortel's lair."

Ron looked at the mountains again – they grew larger as the jet cut through the air like a knife, hurtling towards its destination. He knew Bortel's lair was a little farther, but taking the jet had made their journey quick – and he was beginning to feel nervous about fighting synthodrones if they were anything like Kimberly Anne. At least she was on their side now. The jet ride had been short, but tense. Shego being mere feet away from her former Princess replacement was part of it, but it was also Team Go itself. As far as Ron could tell, Team Go – even if it was reunited – was still rough around the edges.

Hego was flying pretty low, probably trying to avoid attracting attention, and Ron felt his stomach shift queasily as he executed an acrobatic maneuver to weave in between two rocky crags as they reached the edge of the mountain range. The Wegos were listening to some kind of portable music player, headphones on as they bobbed their heads – Ron was a little jealous. Mego, seated behind Ron and the Wegos in the very back, had a surly expression. He had been trying his best to avoid listening to or taking part in any conversations.

"Here we are," said Hego. "Just up ahead."

The Go Jet had already passed a number of peaks and valleys, but a particularly noticeable mountain peak jutted up ahead. Hego came in low and at an angle, hoping to avoid notice, and before long, the jet dropped in altitude until it landed on a flat plateau jutting out from a steep mountain slope farther down from the peak. Up the slope, Cyrus Bortel's lair was partially hidden, although Wade had told them there was a winding road leading up to an entrance on the other side of the peak.

Hego powered down the jet and got out of his seat, squeezing awkwardly past the seats behind him as he made his way to the back of the jet and extended the rear boarding ramp. "Alright, team," he said. "Let's get ready to rumble!"

Mego flinched at the comment. "That's what they say at football games, Hego."

"So? It seems appropriate."

"Let's just go."

Ron followed Team Go out of the jet. They began to ascend the rising slope ahead of them, hoping to gain entry to the lair through a less noticeable entrance than the big one Bortel had in front. Wade had some older schematics for Bortel's facilities, since they had never been all that secret in the first place, but they didn't know what kind of new construction he had been up to – according to Kimberly Anne, he had been busy renovating. Which meant they had to rely on her for the layout if anything took them by surprise.

"Alright," said Mego, "so what's the plan, here?"
Hego pounded his fist into his palm. "Full frontal assault! We should hit them before they know what hit them!"

"How is that even possible?" asked Mego.

"It's a figure of speech, little brother."

Shego had been in front of the group, forging on ahead as the rest followed her, but she stopped abruptly at the sound of her brothers behind her. She turned, a cold expression on her face as her brothers were forced to stop as well. Ron got the impression she was not happy with the conversation. He hoped Team Go wasn't going to fall apart five minutes before they actually got to the lair. That would be just plain pathetic.

"I already said we're going to infiltrate," said Shego. "That's why we landed here – it's behind the lair and out of sight. Didn't we all agree to infiltrating?"

Hego scratched his head, trying to remember. "I thought I said I'd think about it."

"I made it pretty clear we're doing this my way, Hego. Do we really have to go over this again? We can't take on a bunch of synthodrones head on if they're anything like the mayor's assassin, and I guarantee you Bortel has synthodrone guards up there waiting for us. We need to get in, rescue Kim, and get out."

Ron had been silent, listening to Shego and her brother bicker, but when he thought about it, they both seemed to have a point. Taking Cyrus Bortel's laboratory-cum-lair head on didn't seem like a wise idea, but at the same time, infiltrating didn't usually work either. He and Kim got caught trying to break into lairs all the time – but since henchmen were so pathetically easy to fight, it didn't really matter. With Bortel's synthodrone formula, new and improved over the run-of-the-mill drones Drakken had used, infiltration could turn into a hairy situation if they were caught.

"I have an idea," he said.

Shego looked at him, as if amazed that he could have an idea about anything. Her brothers had a similar reaction. Ron folded his arms indignantly. He had ideas all the time. What did they know?

"Alright, then," said Shego. "Spill it."

Ron looked thoughtfully at everyone on the plateau, imagining how they could be divided. Having a group of seven people to break in and try to pull off a rescue mission was a lot – they'd just end up falling all over each other. Ron probably more than anyone else, admittedly. But not everyone had to do the rescuing. Maybe a two-pronged strategy would help, like he and his teammate Justin had pulled off at football practice the other day. At least before he was brutally sacked by Preston.

"Why don't we try both plans?"

XX

The broken crags surrounding Cyrus Bortel's mountain laboratory loomed up as Will Du eased the hoverjet lower, towards a small perch. It would barely be enough for his hoverjet, which was a jumbo-sized Global Justice troop carrier. Earlier there had been a broad plateau on the other side of the peak, but a different jet was taking up most of the room there. If Will Du wasn't mistaken, based on GJ's files on Team Go, it was the Go Jet. When it came to rescuing, apparently they had been beaten to the punch.

Sure enough, as he lowered the hoverjet and took it in close enough to catch sight of the front entrance of Cyrus Bortel's lair, he could see a wide entrance opened in the side of the mountain, almost like a yawning cave mouth. He used a holotech screen to zoom in and scope the place out. He caught a glimpse of several figures in blue, purple, and red jumpsuits fighting just inside the entrance; Team Go was already engaging Cyrus Bortel. Will Du looked at his companion, Agent Ullman, who was sitting in the seat adjacent to his own, also looking out the cockpit window.

"Ready, Agent Ullman?"

"It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum!"

Will Du gave him a disapproving look.

"The proper response is 'yes, sir.'"

Ullman looked at him, bemused. "Yes, sir!" he said, adding an elaborate salute that was entirely unnecessary according to Global Justice protocol.

Will decided to let his subordinate's attitude slip as he took the hoverjet in closer, aiming for the flat area just in front of the lair's entrance. Normally he would have tried for a little more stealth, but Will thought time was of the essence here, and a brute force approach with multiple agents was the best strategy. That, and with Team Go on the scene, stealth was already out of the question. The hoverjet landed and powered down as Will stood up from his seat and turned back to look into his hoverjet's hold, where five more agents were along for the ride.

"Ready, agents?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!"

Will nodded as he grabbed a phase rifle from the gun rack in the hold, his fellow agents doing the same, and then descended the jet's ramp after it extended to the rocky ground. Bortel's lair was not far away. He and his fellow agents crossed the small plateau until they reached the front entrance of the lair.

The sound of fighting grew louder as they reached the lair's open front door. Will stepped inside, phase rifle held at firing position, as rocky earth changed to a metallic floor beneath his feet. He immediately saw Team Go fighting with several synthodrones. He motioned for Ullman to follow him as he called out to Hego, Team Go's obvious leader. The twins were doing a good job of using their duplication ability to keep the synthodrones occupied, confusing them with a plethora of punches and kicks, and Hego took the opportunity to break off from the fight for a moment.

"Ah, Global Justice," he said. "I see you've come to provide me with backup!"

Will didn't like the way that was phrased. It was more that they had come to rescue Dr. Director and Kim Possible from Bortel's clutches, and prevent Team Go from being captured along with them. But it was close enough. "We have the layout of Cyrus Bortel's laboratory," he said. "I am unaware of whether or not Bortel has modified it recently to be more like a lair, but usually supervillains keep prisoners in the lower levels."

"Believe me," chuckled Hego, slapping Will obnoxiously on the back. "I know all about supervillains! Kim's technical buddy, that kid Wade Load - he has the schematics to this place, too. And we've got the syntho-Kim on our side. It seems to know the place. It's infiltrating into the prison area with Ron Stoppable and Shego to rescue the captives while we provide a distraction."

Will grunted, slightly irritated. He was definitely late to the party. And it sounded like Wade had been working with Shego and Team Go more than he had been with Global Justice. Not surprising, since relations between GJ and Kim Possible had soured, and Wade seemed to be attached to Kim by the hip. Either way, Will had to make the best of the situation. The synthodrones seemed to be putting up a fight, but as far as Will could tell, there weren't too many of them.

"Agents," he said. "Move in!"

XX

Maybe it was a good plan, but Ron was beginning to wish he hadn't divided up the groups the way he did. Fighting synthodrones couldn't be that bad compared to crawling through endless ventilation shafts and utility tunnels mired in twists, turns, and cobwebs, could it? He was glad they had Kimberly Anne leading the way, at least – neither he nor Shego seemed to have any idea where they were going.

Cyrus Bortel's design plan for his updated laboratory seemed to going for a creepy animal warren effect, burrowing deep into the mountain with a number of different levels. They had passed several grilles on their way down, peeking out of the ventilation ducts into various rooms, but they hadn't seen much of anything going on, although Ron had caught the sound of Team Go beginning their diversionary fight on the ground floor before they went deep enough into the lair complex that the sound grew more muted.

"Left," said Kimberly Anne, up ahead in the dark shaft.

Ron brushed spiderwebs aside, holding onto the penlight Shego had given him and taking up the rear as she and Kimberly Anne took the lead. Shego's butt was basically right in his face. Ron tried not to look, but he couldn't help noticing it was kind of a nice butt. He had just succumbed to flat out staring when Shego stopped abruptly. Ron did not notice quickly enough, jabbing into her rear end with the penlight held in his mouth before he could stop.

"Ow!" yelled Shego. "Watch it!"

"My bad!"

"Kimberly Anne, why'd you stop?"

The synthodrone turned back Ron and Shego. Beyond her, Ron could see a ladder leading down from their shaft to another level - but she looked to the side instead, down a horizontal fork in the shaft to her right, as if considering something. "The prison cells are down two more levels", she said. "But if I can get to the synthodrone production center, I think I could interfere with his system. I could disable his ability to make synthodrones. If Global Justice arrives and joins Team Go, that could give us the edge over whatever he's already made. I might be able to destroy the synthodrones themselves, too, but I need access to his system through the central hub in his production center."

Shego looked back at Ron, who nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

"You two go down two levels and release Kim Possible and Dr. Director," said Kimberly Anne. "I'll go this way."

"Uh, wait up," said Shego. "How do we find the prison?"

"It's down two levels, then go in the opposite direction of the ladder, then the second left, and the first right, and the third left."

"Just like a computer game," joked Ron.

Shego paused for a moment, whispering silently as she repeated the commands in order to memorize them. Ron saw Kimberly Anne slip away down the tunnel to their right. Shego made a move as if to stop her, but the synthodrone was fast – she was already farther down the shaft. The two of them made their way to the ladder.

"Something wrong?" asked Ron.

"You sure we can trust her?"

"Why not?"

"I don't know, I just think – I mean, she tried to kill Kim earlier. It's hard to ignore that."

"Yeah, but she's learning. I think she's changed her priorities now. And anyway, she could have killed me when she had the chance, and she didn't."

Shego did not respond – instead, the two of the them climbed down the ladder to the next level.

"So, what's up with you and Team Go, anyway? Are you seriously like a good guy now?"

"Trying to be."

Ron tried to get a better look at Shego, but considering all he could see was her butt and the eerie shadows that played across the walls of the ventilation shaft, twisted and warped by the light from their penlights, it was hard to make her out. Still, she didn't seem any different since she had arrived at Kim's house to pick him up. Miss Go had looked completely different – the fresh-faced smile, the erect posture – but this Shego was the same Shego he had always known. It was possible she was just working with Team Go to help rescue Kim, after which she'd go back to her old ways. Ron had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that their old arch enemy could really turn good.

"So, what, you think if you turn into a good guy, you'll get Kim back?"

"Something like that."

Ron was unable to resist a jab. "I dunno how you think you're going to be a good guy when you have no problem stealing someone's girlfriend from them. It's like you don't care about anybody else's feelings."

Shego laughed. "You're saying I should care about your feelings? I don't even know you, Stoppable. And at least I'm being honest with you. It's not like I was trying to hurt you when I kept making passes at Kim, it's just that I knew what I wanted. I can't change that. And Kim was the one who got involved. It takes two to tango. Besides, I doubt you have to worry. Kim left me, she's back with you, and nothing I do matters at this point, probably. I just have to try."

"Who said Kim was back with me?"

Shego looked back with a questioning look. "I dunno, I assumed. She left me for you, didn't she?"

"She left you, yeah. But she's not interested in me, either."

"Oh."

Shego seemed to ponder the new information as they made their way farther into the shaft.

"So how's the good guy thing going, anyway?" asked Ron.

"Not too good. I can't stand my brothers."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"What do you mean? I'm trying to rejoin Team Go."

"Yeah, but it's not like that's the only way to be a good guy. You could always just be a freelancer. Like the lone ranger, or the Fearless Ferret, when his sidekick Wonder Weasel had to go to the hospital after getting run over by his mother-in-law."

"I missed that episode," said Shego.

Ron was surprised that she even watched the Fearless Ferret. Unless she was being sarcastic – but it didn't seem like it. The woman seemed lost in thought – maybe, for whatever reason, it hadn't occurred to her that rejoining Team Go wasn't the only way she could reform and renounce her evil ways. Her past life as a superhero had been so closely tied with her brothers, it must have been hard to imagine a third option. Ron didn't know why he was giving her advice, though. The thought of her with Kim still made his teeth grate. And yet, she did seem to be trying to change. Having Shego as an ally would be better than having her as an enemy.

"So why do you like Kim, anyway?"

For a moment, Ron thought she was going to ignore the question. Maybe she was absorbed in following Kimberly Anne's directions to the prison complex. But then, the heavy silence in the shaft was broken.

"She's like me," said Shego. "But better."

It was a strange explanation. Kind of depressing, when Ron thought about it, although he didn't get the impression that Shego was such a self-hating person. Before he could push her for a more detailed answer, though, Shego stopped abruptly. The gloom was pierced by some shafts of light filtering through a nearby grille; Ron thought they had arrived at the prison cells for a moment, but as he looked through the grille, he could only see a small storage room of some kind.

"What's the holdup?" he said.

She held a finger to her mouth.

"It's below us," she whispered.

Ron noticed another grille set into the floor of the shaft, just ahead of Shego. She gave a grunt of irritation as Ron crawled forward and squeezed in beside her, looking down into the room below them. He could see the edge of one prison cell, blocked off by a set of what looked like neon energy bars; below them seemed to be some kind of antechamber connecting several cells. It was a little hard to see everything from their position in the ventilation shaft, but as far as Ron could tell, there were no guards. They had probably all been called up for the ongoing assault on the ground floor.

"What now?" he asked.

Shego was about to kick open the grille, but she paused and stared at Ron for a moment, thinking.

"You need to stay up here."

"Why?"

"Just in case something happens. That, and you can help us get back up here from the floor. Don't say anything or let anybody know you're up here until we're ready to escape, alright?"

"Alright," whispered Ron. "Good luck."

XX

The sounds of battle came echoing from the lair's entrance, where Team Go and Global Justice were both pushing their way inexorably into the lair. It seemed close; too close for Cyrus Bortel's comfort. Everything was going according to plan, and his synthodrones were putting up enough resistance to draw the two groups farther into the lair while giving them the impression they had the upper hand, and yet Bortel knew he was cutting it close. All he needed was for one last synthodrone to finish its development, and then the next phase of the plan could begin.

Bortel hated to admit it, but his first attempt at world domination had come close to total failure. His attack on mayor Bill Vito's mansion had been poorly timed, to say the least; not only that, but he knew he had been too impatient to get started. Creating synthodrones that perfectly mimicked their human counterparts was a tricky business – the synthodrone Kim Possible was not quite like the real thing, after all, and if Bortel had to guess, replacing Jack Hench so early in his synthodrone experiments was probably not a good idea either. Fortunately, he had gotten an unexpected escape route from someone he least expected: Doctor Drakken. Although the man had asked for one thing in return.

And now, finally, that thing was about to be born.

"She's pretty," said the synthetic Ron Stoppable, who stood beside him along with a few other nondescript, bulky synthodrone henchmen. "She's twitching a lot now – does that mean she's finished?"

"Yes," said Bortel. "Stand back."

He pressed a button on the Gestation Vat. The glass front slid open, letting its fluid contents spill out messily on the floor, along with its synthetic newborn, who flopped awkwardly on the ground, green skin shining and slick. Bortel did not have time for silly preoccupations like sex and attraction – he was usually a solitary man, and his mind was consumed by his work – but he had to admit, seeing a particularly beautiful synthodrone, naked and glistening, was hard not to notice. Although he supposed that being born from a vat took away some of the sexiness.

He waited until the synthodrone began to breathe on its own. It opened its eyes and began to move its limbs.

"Welcome to the world," he said.

The synthodrone got up slowly.

"What – where am I?"

"In my lair, of course."

It looked exactly like Shego.

Bortel was always proud when his creations came out successfully. He had gotten enough to go on from security tapes showing Shego during her previous visits to his laboratory, as well as information Drakken had given him – while he had been busy trying to orchestrate his world domination plan and make sure Kim Possible and that sidekick didn't catch him with his pants down, he had just enough time to fulfill Drakken's request.

His synthodrone creation process had been streamlined and sped up over the last week or two in particular, and Drakken hadn't asked for much in the way of an identical personality, which simplified the process. All he wanted was someone who would serve him faithfully, without any questions or snark. Bortel got the feeling it was vindictiveness and revenge motivating Doctor Drakken's request, but he didn't judge his customers. Or his future partners in evil, for that matter.

"What now?" asked the syntho-Ron.

"Now, we take our captives and move out before our uninvited guests push too far into the lair."

Bortel had felt a surge of confidence as soon as the synthetic Shego was born, but now that it was standing and ready to leave, he felt a pang of worry, equally strong. His security camera system had been disabled – by Kim Possible's little technical helper boy, he assumed – but he still got enough information from his synthodrones fending off the assault. Team Go and Global Justice were staging a frontal attack on his lair, but no one had seen any sign of Shego herself. Or Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, for that matter. He had eyes on his captives down in the prison complex, but now seemed like the time for a bad surprise. He'd feel more secure if he knew of the whereabouts of his two teen foes.

As if in answer to his thoughts, an alarm sounded above his head. The twin fluorescent strips over their heads, providing the only dim light for the synthodrone production center, began to flash with periodic bursts of red. A monotone female voice began to speak:

Intruders in the prison complex.

Bortel smiled. Kim's tech helper had been breaking into his system with surprising speed, disabling security cameras and other warning systems, but he couldn't disable the mole Bortel had in the prison complex. It sounded like he had just gotten an answer as to where Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were – how thoughtful of them to join his captives in the prison complex. He didn't even have to do any work! He motioned for his synthodrone subjects to follow him when he turned and ran smack into Kim Possible.

"Kim Possible! What – how did you-"

"It's me!"

Bortel took a closer look. Judging by the vapid expression, he was mistaken – it was his synthodrone copy of Kim Possible, not the real thing. He ground his teeth; at this point, being surprised by the fake Kim and mistaking it for the real thing was just getting excessive. He really needed to attach some kind of tag to the fake ones, so he could tell them apart more quickly. Apparently, the syntho-Kim had come into the room without anyone even noticing. He looked over her suspiciously.

"What happened with kidnapping Ron Stoppable?" he asked. "I lost contact with you."

"There were some problems, but I still managed to bring him here. And I brought some other captives, too! They're all in the prison complex right now."

"Yes, I am aware of that. Very well, come with me."

Bortel was about to head for the elevator that went down to the level containing the prisons, but he stopped again and looked back at the synthodrone Kim Possible.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked.

"You can still bring Shego back to me, can't you?"

Bortel frowned. He had been stringing the syntho-Kim along, making promises he couldn't keep, but the syntho-Kim did have a mind of its own. He wondered if it could figure out he was lying to it. He had been a little nervous after he had sent it to kidnap Ron Stoppable, since he had expected it to return much more quickly than it did. But it was here now. Maybe it would be better to tell the truth.

"What if I can't?" he asked.

The syntho-Kim looked at the newly born syntho-Shego, who was still naked and covered with a sheen of fluid from the Gestation Vat. His synthodrone henchmen were too stupid to fetch it a towel and a set of clothes, apparently. He caught a look of desire in the syntho-Kim's face, obvious and unrestrained – she wasn't very good at subtlety. She turned to him, pointing at the synthodrone. "You have the Memory Recovery Machine," it said. "Have you updated it to extract memories yet?"

Bortel nodded.

"And does it work?"

"Oh, yes. I have already tested it."

"Then you can use it on Shego, and then use it to make this synthodrone just like her?"

Bortel nodded, his lips curling into a smile.

"Then I'll work for you, as long as you keep your promise."

The syntho-Kim didn't know that the syntho-Shego was meant for Drakken yet, but Bortel didn't have to tell her that. Besides, he wouldn't be working with Drakken forever – the man might prove useful, but only one supervillain could rule the world at a time. That was just how it worked. Once he had gotten Drakken out of the way, the syntho-Shego could easily be modified to love the syntho-Kim. Or he could just make a copy. Heck – if she really wanted, he could just slap some kind of brainwashing device on the real Shego, once he got around to inventing it. Maybe Kimberly Anne couldn't get real love, but if all it wanted was Shego in one form or another, that was promise he could keep.

XX

Hours had slipped by with no sign of rescue, but for the first time since she had been dumped in her prison cell with Dr. Director and Jack Hench, Kim saw a ray of light. The henchmen who had been guarding the common area which connected the cells had slipped away about fifteen minutes ago. Not only that, but shortly after the guards had disappeared, she had heard footsteps running by just outside the main door beyond the energy bars keeping her in the cell. Other than herself, her cell mates, and Bortel, everyone in the complex were synthodrones who didn't need bathroom breaks or sleep, so all the commotion outside had to mean something was going on.

"So what was up with those guards?" asked Hench.

"Just what I was thinking."

"I told you Global Justice would arrive soon," said Dr. Director.

The three of them were startled by a loud clang coming from outside the cell they were sharing. Kim peered past the energy bars, which were bright enough to be blinding if a person stared directly at them for too long – but just beyond, in the antechamber, it was fairly gloomy. It only took a moment, however, to see that a grating had fallen from the ceiling. Kim got as close as she could to the bars and looked up; beyond them was a square hole in the ceiling. She jumped, then smiled, as a familiar figure in green and black suddenly dropped out of the hole.

"Shego!" she said.

"Hey, Princess."

Kim and her fellow captives waited patiently as Shego came up to the wall beside the prison cell and began to look at something which Kim assumed was a control panel. It looked like she was having trouble figuring out what to do. After a moment of fumbling and grumbling, Shego stood back and lobbed a ball of green plasma at the panel, sending a shower of sparks and a twisted square of metal flying to the ground. Kim grinned as the energy bars flickered briefly before shutting down. She stepped out of the cell.

"A little plasma always does the trick," said Shego.

"Actually, that was Wade."

Kim heard the familiar voice coming from behind Shego, up in the open ventilation shaft in the ceiling. "Ron?" she said. "Is that you up there?"

"Hey, KP, what's up?"

Ron's head poked out of the shaft, and Kim couldn't help laughing at the sight.

"What's going on? You both came to rescue me?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "We decided two heads were better than one."

"A lot of heads, actually," added Shego. "Team Go is up there on the ground floor providing a diversion, and Wade said Global Justice just got here, too. Hopefully Bortel and his synthodrones are distracted enough to let us get out of here without any snags. Or maybe we should try to hit Bortel and his henchmen from two angles."

It was an idea, but Kim was confused at Shego's mention of her brothers. "Team Go is here? Really?"

"Yeah. I rejoined them."

The news took Kim by surprise – from the way Shego had acted around her brothers on the few occasions she had seen them together, Kim never would have expected such a turn of events. Why would Shego rejoin her old sibling superhero team? Almost as soon as she asked herself the question, Kim began to suspect she knew the answer. Here she was, after all, saving the day. Both of them. Her ex-boyfriend, and her ex-girlfriend, sort of. Kind of a strange rescue team, now that she thought about it.

"We even have Kimberly Anne on our side," said Ron from up in the shaft. "She's off trying to shut down Bortel's synthodrone production center."

Kim frowned. Her killer clone was here? Not as exciting as Ron and Shego coming to the rescue.

"Hey," said Ron, noticing her look, "I know she tried to choke you and all, but it's no big. She-"

Ron was interrupted by a strange crackling sound coming from somewhere up above them. The group looked around in confusion, but Kim quickly realized what she had heard; it was the sound of feedback on an intercom system. She noticed a couple speakers tucked away in a corner of the ceiling. Not only that, but she noticed a wide glass window along the wall of the prison complex's antechamber, which was at an angle that had obscured it from view while she was locked in the cell. It was dark in the prison, and whatever was beyond the glass was darker. But as she watched, a light flickered on, revealing some kind of observation room.

There beyond the window, microphone in hand, was Cyrus Bortel. Kim's synthodrone clone stood beside him.

"Welcome to my lair!" Bortel's voice crackled over the speaker system.

That didn't take long, Kim thought. Bortel must have been tipped off, somehow. To her right, the door to the prison complex slid open as several bulky synthodrones marched into the room. Before Kim or anyone else in the group could make a dash for the open door, it closed again. The synthodrones spread out, staring menacingly at Kim, her fellow captives, and her would-be rescuers.

"I knew it," said Shego. "I knew we couldn't trust you!"

She flung a ball of plasma towards the glass, hitting right where Kimberly Anne was staring through, but after a flash of green, it seemed to have no effect. Kimberly Anne's face seemed to falter for just a moment, her smile wavering. Kim was surprised they had taken her synthodrone clone along. She could have told them they couldn't trust it; but then again, she knew Ron had a soft spot for it. But sometimes Ron was too forgiving.

"Actually," laughed Bortel, "while it was Kimberly Anne that brought you here, that was not how I was alerted to your arrival in the prison complex. I have a mole in your midst. Would you like to guess who? Okay, no, I do have the patience to wait for you to guess – it is Dr. Director!"

The group turned to look at Dr. Director. Kim hadn't noticed, preoccupied by Cyrus Bortel's sudden appearance, but the woman had moved gradually away from the group and joined the synthodrones who had marched into the room. She flashed a malicious grin at them as Bortel laughed, the sound piercing through the speaker system. "That is correct," he said. "It is not the real Dr. Director, Kim Possible – you and Jack Hench have been in that cell with a synthodrone the entire time!"

Hench shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder why I chose this line of work."

"Money," said Shego.

"Oh, yes. Now I remember."

Kim noticed Ron's head poking out from the shaft; it looked like he was about to drop down with them, but she got the feeling they were in big trouble. She shook her head at him, indicating he should stay up, but trying not to draw attention to him. Ron hesitated for a moment before disappearing into the black mouth of the ventilation shaft. Just in case they couldn't overpower their captors, Kim thought it was best that someone could escape upstairs and let Team Go and Global Justice know what was going on.

"I wanted a pair of eyes on you at all times, Kim Possible," said Bortel, clearly gloating over his ruse. "But that was not all. The Dr. Director synthodrone was a test of sorts. I have the real Dr. Director locked away elsewhere in the facility, but I wanted to put her copy in a cell with you and Jack Hench to see if you would notice the difference. Clearly, you did not."

Kim had to admit he was right – she had definitely been fooled.

"What were you testing?" she asked. "Some kind of new synthodrone?"

"That is correct. Drakken's technology was effective in creating a general personality for my synthodrones, but it is much more difficult to mirror the personality of a real person. I needed a way to improve the personalities of my synthodrone surrogates, and what better way to do that then to fill them with the actual memories of the human beings they are replacing? What is a human being, after all, other than the collection of their life experiences? I stole Dr. Langford's Memory Recovery Machine, reverse engineered it, and modified it so that it can suck the memories from a person's brain, after which I can upload them into a synthodrone. Dr. Director was my first test subject."

Kim glanced over at Dr. Director – the fake one, anyway. She was still standing with the other synthodrones, all of them spread out, but still blocking the general direction of the door. Even if she could get to the door, it was probably locked. Their best bet was to defeat the synthodrones and then, hopefully, they could escape through the air vent in the ceiling, where Ron was still waiting. But she got the feeling it wouldn't be that easy.

"Not only does uploading the human model's memories alter the behavior of the synthodrone," continued Bortel, "but they can then answer any question posed by friends, relatives, or colleagues. They share the same memories, the same knowledge, as the human they are meant to replace. Even if anyone did suspect something was off, there is no way to ask any personal questions and find out if the synthodrone is an imposter."

"So, what," said Shego, "you're just going to replace everyone who any power you want to get your hands on, and control things from behind the scenes with your syntho-puppets?"

"Exactly! I replaced Jack Hench to gain control of Hench Co, I have created a copy of Dr. Director to assume control of Global Justice's Middleton branch, and I attempted to replace Bill Vito to gain control of Team Go, as well as gain his position on the Global Justice Board of Secret Shareholders, which you so kindly let me know about, Hench. Unfortunately, that did not go as well as I planned, but it is no matter. I will just replace him later – and now, I know the MRM can be used to make a perfect synthodrone copy."

"Wait," said Kim, almost overlooking a phrase she hadn't recognize. "What did you say? Board of Secret Shareholders?"

"I see you are not aware of Global Justice's hierarchy of command, Kim Possible. Dr. Director is not in charge of the entire organization. She is not the one pulling the strings. Jack Hench and Bill Vito are both members of the board."

Kim looked at Hench, who shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

"There are others, as well. When I used the MRM to suck out Dr. Director's memories, I thought I would find out who they were - but even she does not know, apparently. They are very secretive as to their identities. I did find some other fascinating information, though. You would not believe what they did to you as a child."

"What?"

Bortel laughed at Kim's reaction, but before he could answer, another synthodrone entered the room in which he and Kimberly Anne were standing. It whispered into his ear, and his face grew darker as he listened. "I am afraid I have been going on too long about my evil plans," he told his captives. "Team Go and Global Justice are making progress into the lair, and I must move to the next phase of my plan."

"How do you even expect to replace anyone with your synthodrones?" said Shego. "The press found out about you trying to replace Bill Vito – it's all over the news! There's no way you can get away now!"

"No one will be looking for me if they think I am dead!" laughed Bortel. "As far as the rest of the world is concerned, I will not be leaving this lair alive. And neither will Global Justice, or any of your brothers, Shego. Now, I cannot talk any longer – we must leave."

Bortel looked down at a control panel on the other side of the glass window and pressed a button. Kim noticed the fake Dr. Director and the synthodrone henchmen moving forward; she tensed, ready to attack, but instead of charging, they seemed to draw closer to the ventilation shaft in the ceiling, blocking their escape route. Kim was about to lunge forward and kick the nearest one when she smelled something strange. A little bit pungent. Besides the smell, there was also a faint hiss in the air – for a moment, she thought it was just the speaker system, but then she realized-

"Gas," said Shego. "He's letting some kind of gas into the room."

She looked up at the air vent.

"Ron, run for it!"

For a moment, Kim wondered if it was the wrong thing to do – without Ron reaching his arms down to grab them and help pull them up into the shaft, it would be harder to escape. But she realized Shego was right – with four synthodrone opponents in the room and only the two of them able to fight – unless Jack Hench had some serious martial arts skills she didn't know about - they wouldn't be getting away in time.

And Kim could already feel the effects of the gas, too. She went straight for Dr. Director, knocking her back with a hard kick, but when she came in for a punch, the synthodrone blocked it easily and punched back. Beside her, Shego managed to knock one synthodrone over before two others pinned her by the arms. Jack Hench moved to the back of the room, but he barely made it to the wall before stumbling awkwardly from the influence of the gas.

Kim blocked a few blows from Dr. Director, trying to come back with a sweeping kick, but the movement was enough to make her queasy. She was embarrassed to find herself falling forward. Not even bothering to attack her, the synthodrone Dr. Director caught her in its arms instead.

"Ugh," said Kim. "Drugged again. This totally sucks."

"Creator," said Dr. Director. "There was another one up in the air vents!"

Bortel held up the microphone beyond the glass. "Just leave him, it does not matter. He is just a sidekick – he can die here like the others, and we do not have time. We must go, now!"

Kim felt her senses fading as the syntho-Director and another henchman dragged her out of the complex. So much for being rescued, she thought. At least Shego and Ron had given it a shot, though. Where they were going, she did not know, but she hoped Ron could meet up with Team Go and Global Justice and figure something out. Otherwise, things were just going from bad to worse.

XX

Expanding on the laboratory had been easy with the kind of manpower and money Cyrus Bortel had at his disposal. A larger synthodrone production center, more lab rooms with cutting-edge equipment, a command center – as was required in any supervillain lair worth its salt, from what Bortel had read. The escape tunnel through which he, his captives, and a handful of synthodrone henchmen were about to escape was a newer edition. He stared into the tunnel entrance, a little sad that he was leaving behind the place he had long called home, but it was time to move on. On to bigger and better things.

"Where are we going?" asked Kimberly Anne.

"Away," said Bortel. "We are transferring to a new base of operations."

Kimberly Anne carried the real Kim Possible on her back, while the syntho-Shego carried her unconscious human counterpart. A couple more bulky synthodrone henchmen were carrying Jack Hench and the real Dr. Director, whom Bortel had drugged and retrieved from her private cell earlier. Bortel carried his modified Memory Recovery helmet to make sure no one dropped it. It was too valuable to let his regular henchmen manhandle it, and they would be needing it at Drakken's lair. The syntho-Director and syntho-Ron were also part of their little group, but Bortel stopped before they entered the escape tunnel – he wanted to make absolutely sure Team Go and Global Justice would not be making it out of his lair.

"You, syntho-Stoppable, and you, syntho-Betty - I need both of you to stay here in the lair and make sure our guests do not escape. I will be entering the shut down code in a moment. Once the lair is sealed, they should be trapped, but make sure they do not live to find a way out. Once I arrive at Drakken's lair, I will establish a link you can use to upload all the information from my system before this lair is destroyed."

"Yes, sir."

The two of them ran back into the lair as Bortel and his followers stepped into the rocky escape tunnel that led away from his lair. Both the syntho-Betty and the syntho-Ron were expendable – although Drakken did not have Gestation Vats or a synthodrone production center at his lair, they would not take long to build again, and Bortel had spent lots of time tweaking the procedure to his heart's content. All he needed was the information, the formulas and data for rebuilding everything - much of which was in his head, anyway. He had the real Dr. Director with him to make a new copy soon enough, and while leaving the real Ron Stoppable behind in the lair meant he couldn't use the MRM to extract his memories, Bortel didn't really see the point of wasting time on a sidekick when he had the real Kim Possible already.

A few meters into the tunnel, and they reached an open blast door. Once Bortel entered a code into the control panel on the wall, the thick steel blast doors would close, separating the lair from the rest of the escape tunnel, which wound its way through the mountain, higher and higher until it exited about a half mile away from the lair itself.

He had a helicopter concealed on a small helipad, but there wasn't a lot of room in it; not only that, but Global Justice had been kind enough to bring their own transportation. Borrowing their hoverjet would leave them stranded, not that they'd escape from the lair in the first place, and plumbing the depths of Dr. Director's mind had given him knowledge on how to disable the tracking and communications features on the hoverjet, so no other agents coming to the rescue would be tracing his escape route. Bortel smiled; since he'd soon have access to Global Justice itself, he could build a fleet of hoverjets if he wanted to.

But now was not the time to daydream about the future. Escape was his priority.

Bortel and his entourage crossed over the metal strip where the blast door would be closing. He entered the shut down code into the control panel on the wall, and watched with satisfaction as the thick doors closed in from either side of the rocky walls of the escape tunnel and sealed shut with a loud clang. All over the rest of his lair, the main entrance, windows, and any other exit from the lair would also be sealed off with steel blast shields.

He entered another code into the control panel for good measure, which shut down all power to the lair except emergency systems. It would have disabled his lair's self-destruct capabilities under normal circumstances, but unfortunately, he had already noticed Wade Load hacking into his system earlier and screwing that up. Which meant he would have to rely on Drakken's invention over at his new lair to take care of wiping his old lair off the map, taking out his enemies, and removing all traces of himself in the process. From what Drakken had said, it would do the job just fine.

"Follow me," he said.

"I get to visit Drakken?" asked the syntho-Shego. "I'm so excited!"

"You'll be working for him, I assume."

"I hope I can make him happy."

"Oh, I am sure you can."

Although he took the lead as they went up the ascending tunnel, Bortel looked back, amused by the sight of the syntho-Shego and syntho-Kim carrying their counterparts in flesh and blood. Synthodrones made to replace real people. Something Drakken had never considered, even if Eric had been human-like in his personality and appearance, according to what Shego had told him during her first visit to make herself a sex-bot.

His henchmen could be altered in other ways, as well. When Bortel had been expanding his operation, he had raised several customized synthodrones with shovels for hands so that they could dig more easily and save him the hassle of hiring construction crews. It was an abomination against nature, and just the sight of those shovel-hands had made him uncomfortable, but taking over the world was a messy business. He was just starting to really hone his imagination. The more he tweaked the formula for his synthodrones, the more power he had. Shape, size, abilities – all of them were under his control.

The tunnel sloped upwards more steeply, eventually shifting from a smooth floor into rock-carved steps. Before long, they reached a doorway. "Here we are," he said to his henchmen.

Bortel opened the door and walked out into the early morning gloom. A helicopter sat waiting on its helipad. They were in a depression near the top of a crag about a half mile away from the mountaintop which housed his lair. Rocky slopes surrounded the little helipad, masking it from view. Bortel clambered up to the top of one of the slopes and looked across the mountainous landscape, morning light just beginning to flood across jagged rock, filling its cracks with hues of orange and yellow. He saw the GJ hoverjet, parked around the entrance to his lair. It wouldn't take long to get there; but first he wanted to make sure he had a place to go. He got into the helicopter for a moment and dialed Drakken's number into a pad on the helicopter's controls, donning a headset.

"Hello?" said Drakken.

"I am about to leave. I hope you are ready."

"Yes – you have the synthodrone Shego with you?"

"I do."

"And the real Shego, as well?"

Bortel wondered why Drakken had wanted the real one to come along. Maybe he was going to gloat and show her how she had been replaced for her insubordination. Or maybe he just didn't want to actually hurt her. The two had been partners for a long time, after all. "Yes, I do," he said. "A little loopy from some knockout gas, but she is fine."

"Good. Then I'll be waiting."

Bortel hung up and got back out of the helicopter, motioning for one of his synthodrones to approach it. "Set the explosives," he said. "Blow it up."

The synthodrone set up the explosives. It had also been upgraded with enough knowledge to fly the Global Justice hoverjet. Having access to Dr. Director's mind had a lot of benefits. He climbed over the rocky edge of the little crater in which the helipad was hidden and looked at his lair again, one last time. His mountain, wreathed in morning mist, its tip lightly touched in gold streaming out from the ascending orb of the morning sun. Bortel was surprised to feel sentimental. It was time to say goodbye.

Already, he could see the possibilities in his future. In a way, it was like being reborn. Sloughing off his old life as a scientist, landing wet and naked like one of his newborn synthodrones, ready to grow into a new life of supervillainy. No one could stop him now.