I don't own Kim Possible, Disney does. Also, Scoutcraft Piratess, aka Backroads, is the original writer on this story, at least for the beginning. I'm only continuing where she left off. Well, looks like I won't finish this before the end of the year, but it won't be long, that I can assure you.

It's coming up on Fannie Awards time folks. Be sure to check out my profile, as well as the forums, for all the details!

And remember this story folks when it comes time to place those Fannie votes for Best Novel-sized Story and for Best Story overall!

One final note, for those fans of mine who are Republicans… I'm going to make a tasteless joke in this chapter, but it's all meant in good fun. Please don't take offense.

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The Ronless Factor – Chapter 34

Will Du led his team towards the entrance to the lair, his mind awhirl. For the sake of secrecy, his true nature had been kept from the majority of Global Justice, with only himself, Dr. Director, and the staff psychiatrist aware of what he was, and if he had anything to say about it, it would stay that way. Already he felt completely embarrassed to have been replaced, as it meant he had let his guard down at some point, and that was something he just couldn't stand. He was a professional, and something like that should never have happened.

That was why he had to lead this mission, to redeem himself, if not in the eyes of his superior, but in his own eyes as well. This was a chance to recover his good name. He knew it was pride that was driving him, but that didn't matter to him. He was supposed to be Global Justice's top agent, and he didn't even know when he had been he had been replaced. He didn't have any blank spots in his memory, nothing seemed out of place in his own mind. That made him mad.

He looked over the strike team he had with him. He had hand picked them himself, the best of the best at what they do. He had also made sure to secure the use of Team Impossible, just recently brought into the Global Justice fold only a few months before. They had already proved their worth, at least in his mind. With these individuals under his command, there was no way they could fail. They wouldn't even need the assistance of Kim Possible and her new sidekick. He still didn't know why Dr. Director insisted on them striking as a diversionary tactic.

He motioned his team forward, weapons ready. He was going to stop Drakken, and nothing was going to get in his way.

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Drakken smiled as he watched the screen. He had expected Global Justice, or at least some sort of military force. They were earlier than expected, but he knew that after he had finished off Kim Possible, it was only a matter of time before someone managed to track him down. He had a few surprises in store for them, some things he had saved just for this situation.

He pressed the button on the console and smiled as his older model synthodrones and his synthoed henchmen pored forth from the door. He was much happier with his henchmen now that they had been replaced. Now they had no fear of death and would follow all orders put forth to them. He wished he had done that with Shego as well, but it was far too late for that. It was a shame really, but it didn't bother him much anymore.

Drakken raised his arms to his troops, a maniacal, demented grin on his face. "Get them my followers, GET THEM!"

The troops streamed through the door to the entrance, and Drakken couldn't help laughing.

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"Do we have to go through these vents? I'm getting filthy."

Kim groaned, not looking over her shoulder. "Bonnie, we are trying to sneak in. You can't sneak in by going through the front door. That's why Will is going in that way, so we don't have as many surprises when we find Drakken."

Bonnie huffed as she called forward, pausing every so often to brush herself off. "Still, you'd think he'd at least keep this thing clean. It's just gross." Bonnie frowned as she tried to brush some of the accumulating dirt off her hands. "And why aren't there any traps or something in here anyways? I mean, if you and Ron were always getting in this way, you'd think he could put some traps or something in here."

Kim shook her head, so Ron decided to answer. "He probably didn't even think about it."

Bonnie just rolled her eyes. "Well both of you are supposed to be dead."

That gave Kim pause. "What?"

"Ron was just saying Drakken didn't think of it this time so I told him…" Bonnie trailed off as she saw a morose look crossing Kim's features, though it looked like she was trying to suppress it.

Ron saw it though, and after his talk with Kim yesterday, he didn't care for it. "Bonnie, tell KP to get her head in the game."

Bonnie nodded sharply, turning her attention to Kim. "Ron says to get your head in the game."

The corner of Kim's mouth twitched upward, the barest hint of a smile breaking through. "Thanks Ron." Kim turned again and started back down the vent.

For the next five minutes, the trio crawled in silence, focusing on the task at hand. Finally, they reached a large opening in the vent, blocked by a grate. "Ron," Kim shifted to the side to allow Bonnie to move in beside her, "scout out ahead, see what there is we have to worry about."

Ron confirmed with Bonnie that he was heading in and he dropped out of the vent. He looked around quickly, and saw nothing right away, but he did he a quiet sound, almost like laughter, in the background. He headed for it, concern growing as the sound got louder and more frenzied. As he rounded the corner, he found Drakken, the large, cavernous room echoing the effects of Drakken's insane laughter, and Ron shuddered. After checking over the room, he headed back, and found Kim and Bonnie already exiting the vent.

"It's clear here."

Bonnie informed Kim of that and she activated her Kimmunicator so that she could hear Ron as well. He detailed everything he had seen, from the synthodrones about to engage the Global Justice forces to the large death ray on the platform near Drakken. He also relayed how Drakken looked and sounded, and that caused both teens to shudder.

Kim went instantly into mission mode as soon as Ron finished relaying the information. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the other member of their team, smiling briefly as he yawned. "Rufus, we need you to take out the death ray on the pedestal. Can you do that for us?"

Rufus nodded, sticking up a paw in agreement.

Bonnie just looked skeptical. "He's going to disable a death ray?" Rufus turned to glare at her and chattered loudly, waving a paw angrily. Bonnie raised her hands defensively, almost backing away. "All right, all right, I won't doubt you." Bonnie lowered her hands when it seemed Rufus was mollified. "I can't believe I'm arguing with a rodent."

That settled, Kim smiling a genuine smile at the exchange, she pushed on. "Ron, I want you to keep near Drakken, and see if you can keep giving us a heads up on any surprises he might spring. And if he does, see what you can do. You blocked hinm pretty well last time."

"No problem KP."

"Bonnie, you stay with me, but stay behind me. You'll have to let me know if Ron says anything, we can't give Drakken any warning that Ron is there." Bonnie just nodded quickly, seeming a bit worried after being reminded of their last visit. "All right then people, let's do this."

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Drakken grinned as he watched his forces engage the invading troops, but that smile got wider as he saw who was leading them. He had already replaced that agent, and while he was hoping to use him to take complete control of Global Justice, he knew he could do it others ways as well. Besides, it would be more fun to throw all those agents into complete disarray.

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Will was fighting hand to hand, a vibro-blade in hand, one of Global Justice's latest inventions. It would slice through any inorganic material yet do no damage to living tissue whatsoever. It came in handy when it came to synthodrones, as he tore through the opposition with ease.

Only two of his men were down, and both were just hurt. Will smirked at the ease at which his people were going through the forces. This would show Dr. Director that she didn't need that amateur Kim Possible.

A screen popped up on the wall, displaying the grinning face of Doctor Drakken. "Hello Global Justice, I see you found my lair. Unfortunately, I don't have time to deal with you properly. Rutebaga."

Will wondered what Drakken was doing when he found himself lock up, all his muscles refusing to respond. That was when Will realized just what Drakken was doing.

"Agent Du, destroy your men."

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Wade jumped when he saw Will's control module going crazy, and instantly began to analyze the signals he was seeing. What he saw was not encouraging. It looked like Drakken had additional controls that he hadn't seen before, and Wade wasn't sure what he could do to override it. It wasn't just synthodrone controls that he had to override, it was a human mind as well, and despite his genius, he still didn't know just how the two interacted fully. His fingers flew across the controls as he fought Drakken's signal, and he hoped it would be enough.

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Will could feel his body moving against his volition. He dropped the knife and pulled his gun, a non-letal weapon that could still do a lot of damage. Before he could react, he turned and fired, catching Burn square in the back as he wrestled with one of the synthodrones. As his attention turned to the next closest agent, he found his voice. "Drakken has control of me, stop me by any means necessary!"

The simple voice warning was enough for the agent to duck out of the way, though it still clipped him slightly on the arm, forcing him to dive away. The rest of the team looked startled, both by what their commanding officer had just done and by what he had said. Crash flipped a synthodrone over and turned his attention to Will. "Sir…"

"SHOOT ME, CUT ME, DO SOMETHING!"

Will shot another of his agents, one still too stunned by the turn of events to move, and Will's unerring accuracy was already moving on to the next target, even as he fought for control of his body.

"SHOOT ME, THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Crash pulled his weapon and fired, but it didn't seem to have an effect on the fully controlled Will, especially given it was supposed to affect the nervous system for which he had none. Will downed another member of his team before one of his agents tried their knives, and was startled to find it drive deep into his commander's body, spewing green ooze like blood onto the ground.

As Will sank to the ground, he felt nothing but relief that he had been stopped, and regret that he could not do more to help, having in fact hurt his team worse than if he had not been there. That was his last thought as darkness claimed him.

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Ron had seen all this on the monitor, as he had gone on ahead, and he yelled for Bonnie and Kim to hurry up. He looked for something he could do while he waited for them to make their move, but there was nothing obvious, with Drakken just laughing as he watched the screen. He did glimpse Rufus as the naked mole rat made a dash for the death ray while Drakken was distracted, and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Kim and Bonnie coming out from hiding. They were moving stealthily around some of the larger boxes, hoping to catch him by surprise, hoping to overpower him before he could spring any more surprises on them.

"Drewbie, would you like your cocoa-moo out here while you watch your boys trounce those awful agents?"

All froze and turned as the matronly voice of Drakken's mother sounded out from beside them. "Mother, for the last time, you will call me Dr. Drakken, not… Drewbie…" Drakken's eyes went wide in both shock and fear as he spied the two teens not more than twenty feet away from him. "Kim Possible? No, it can't be… I killed you. I KILLED YOU! WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD?"

Kim got over the initial shock quickly, pointing an accusing finger at the madman in front of her. "You can't get rid of me so easily Drakken. We know all about your plot, and we're going to put a stop to it, once and for all!"

Drakken was shaking his head, holding it tight in his two hands, almost pulling his hair out. "No, not possible… Kim Possible… mother killed you… dead… should be dead… ghost, like the buffoon…"

Kim and Bonnie shared a brief look, eyebrows raised at the erratic behaviour. Kim turned back to the megalomaniac, her expression set. "Come quietly Drakken. We can…"

"NO!" Drakken head shot up quickly, the demented smile back on his face. "You won't stop me, no you won't. Mother!" Drakken turned to his mother, who was just standing there with a smile on her face. "Is our new guest awake yet?"

"Yes, Dr. Drakken, he woke up just a moment ago."

Drakken slammed his hand down on a button beside him before Ron could react. "Rutabaga! Get to the control room and destroy Kim Possible and her sidekick. Mother, you help him when he gets here."

"Yes Dearie."

Kim tried hard not to laugh. "You're sending your mother after us?"

Drakken's insane glare gave the teen hero pause. "Oh, I think you'll find my mother is much more than your ordinary elderly woman.

As Drakken said that, Mrs. Lipsky pulled a couple of knitting needles from her hip, twirling them in her fingers before dropping into a defensive stance. "Young lady, you should not have upset my little boy."

As Kim contemplated this turn of events, the door opened, and both Kim and Bonnie gasped as they recognized who it was. "The Vice-President?"

Drakken chuckled cruelly. "Yes indeed. He was hard to get, but he will prove most useful."

Dick Cheney gripped the rifle tightly with a smile on his face as he entered the room. Ron gulped loudly at the sight. "Doesn't look like this shooting is going to be an accident."

Bonnie glanced between the two opponents before turning back to Kim. "Umm… I'm going to take the old woman."

Kim gave her a bit of a smirk. "Sure, let me have all the fun."

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Rufus finally got into the death ray and started pulling wires, but as he reached for the third one he paused. Uncertainty crept over him, as his paw reached to pull this third connector, and then he looked over the entire interior. Unsure why he was doing it, he grabbed one of the wires he had already pulled and reconnected elsewhere, and started doing the same with other wires. While he didn't know what he was doing or why, he knew it was something he had to do, something important. For a moment, he feared he had been replaced like his human's mother or that annoying agent, but he still had full control over his actions. Still not understanding why, he continued working quickly, knowing time was short.

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Ron kept one eye on the battle in front of him while he kept his other on Drakken. He really wanted to get in there and help Kim, but he knew he had to stay on top of Drakken, to prevent any other surprises. He just wished he could tackle Drakken and have this over with.

He watched as Drakken started looking frantically about, ignoring the fight in front of him, and that was surprising. "Hey Blue Boy, what are you looking for."

"Stoppable."

Ron was shocked and took a step back in surprise. "What?"

But Drakken didn't respoind to the question, continuing to look around. "I know you're here somewhere Stoppable, you continue to haunt me, even after I killed you. But I'll just have to kill you again… yes, kill your ghost, that's what I'll do… kill you again…"

Ron just shook his head. "You really have gone off the deep end, haven't you." Finally tired of just standing there, he decided to see just what he could do. If he could knock a gun loose from a man's hands, maybe he could push Drakken around. It wasn't much, but it was something, and it would keep Drakken from trying anything else and springing another surprise.

As Ron's hand reached for the mad scientist though, he hit some type of energy barrier, one he actually felt. Ron jerked his hand back quickly, shaking it as he actually felt pain from the contact.

As the field shimmered briefly, Drakken was exultant. "YES, it worked. I knew if I found the right frequency, I could stop you. Yes, I'll stop you and your meddling ways once and for all, yes I will." Drakken pulled a scanner from his belt, swinging it around the room, but mostly in the direction of the shimmer. "Now just stand still so I can find you and destroy you."

Ron backed up quickly, glancing back to the floor. "Bonnie, could you let KP know that he has some kind of force field that can actually stop me?"

Bonnie was rolling around on the floor with Mrs. Lipsky, trying to keep the knitting needles from stabbing her. "I'm kinda busy right now."

Ron turned his attention back to Drakken, who was moving forward with the scanner. He backed away slowly, trying to stay out of range hoping that, despite the field, Drakken couldn't actually find him.

But thankfully for him, Drakken was exceptionally impatient. Not so thankfully, that meant he decided to devote his attention to someone else. "Bahh, I'll find you later. It's not like you can do anything to me now."

Drakken stalked over to the death ray and flicked a switch, powering it up. That surprised Ron greatly, as he knew Rufus had been in there for minutes now, and he should have easily disabled it by this point.

Drakken swung it around, tracking Kim as she leapt around and struck the syntho Vice-President. "Now Kim Possible, it's time to join your sidekick in the afterlife."

Kim was distracted, Ron could see that, as she finished off her opponent. And with Bonnie occupied and her unable to hear him, there was no way to warn her. But there was one thing her could do. He just hoped he had the strength.

As Drakken pulled the trigger on the death ray, Ron dove at the end of it, hoping to knock it off course, but as Ron made contact with the energies being released, he felt as if his very soul was on fire. The canon was knocked off target, but that didn't help Ron, as he felt as if the energies it had released were ripping him apart, as his entire body, such as it was, seemed to be on fire. His scream instantly caught the attention of Bonnie, but Ron didn't even notice as darkness quickly claimed him, granting him relief from the all-consuming pain.

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Author's Notes – Next chapter… the end to the final battle.