A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like it so far. Well, here comes the reason for the "R" rating. As I said before, the next two chapters are very dark and may be kind of disturbing for some, so be warned. You can flame me if it makes you feel better, but don't say I didn't give you a fair warning.
Chapter 3Kim opened her eyes drowsily, unsure of her surroundings. She attempted to move her arms, only to find that something was preventing her from doing so. Abruptly, she became fully conscious when she realized that she had been chained in a standing position to a cold, concrete wall. Her arms were stretched painfully out from her body with thick, metal braces clasped around her wrists. Her muscles felt like they were on fire from being locked in such an unnatural arrangement for so long. Chains were also securing her ankles with just enough give for her feet to rest comfortably on the floor. In this position, she was completely defenseless.
"Drakken!" Kim shouted. "Let me go! You can't keep me here! Let me go!" In spite of her screams, no one came through the door of the small room. She struggled against the metal bonds, even though she knew the attempt was futile. All she succeeded in was rubbing her wrists raw against the restraints. She turned her head and winced at the thin trickle of blood that had begun to seep down her arm. Giving up, she slumped down in defeat. Drakken had even gone so far as to take her Kimmunicator and utility belt so Wade couldn't even help her. Her only hope now rested in Ron escaping and coming to free her.
*****
"Behold, my newest weapon Shego!" Drakken held up a small vial of clear liquid.
"Looks like water to me." Shego said without enthusiasm.
"Trust me, Shego. It's definitely not water. A small injection of this stuff will cause a person to act completely opposite of how they normally would."
"And you're going to try it out on blondie over there." She pointed to Ron, who was slumped over the table with his hands tied behind his back. Rufus uttered a low growl from the cage beside him.
"Right! Under the influence of this drug, the buffoon will become just as heartless and evil as we are! Given his normal caring and sensitive demeanor, no telling what kind of monster he'll become. Kim Possible won't know what hit her" Drakken bubbled with excitement.
"Why not just use the mind control chip?" Shego asked.
"This is so much better than the mind control chip, Shego. It allows the affected person to act completely believable, instead of like a mindless drone. The person remembers everything about their previous life so there is no indication that they are even being subjected to mind control. It's foolproof!"
"We'll see." Shego said disbelievingly.
"I think you're going to be surprised this time." Drakken extracted a needle and syringe from his pocket and began to fill the tube with the clear liquid. After checking for air bubbles, he jammed the needle into Ron's arm and emptied it's contents. "I can't wait to see the look on the brat's face when her beloved sidekick betrays her!"
*****
Kim lifted her head and squinted at the bright light flooding in from the open doorway. Her eyes adjusted enough to make out two silhouettes that she easily recognized as Drakken and Shego. Anger boiled in her blood as she faced her captors.
"Let me go or I'll have Global Justice all over your ass!" She spat.
"What's the matter? Is little Kimmie in a bind?" Shego chuckled at her own joke.
"Why are you holding me prisoner? Normally you just escape at the first chance. This is a new one for you, Drakken." She hissed.
"Yeah, well I decided that it's time for a different approach." Drakken said casually.
Irritated at his lack of response, Kim decided to change the subject. "Where's Ron? If you've hurt him, I swear I'll choke the life out of you with my bare hands."
"Don't worry, your boyfriend is just fine. In fact, I would say he's feeling great." Drakken said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kim asked, feeling uneasy about the remark.
Drakken smiled evilly and turned to the open doorway. "Ron, our visitor wants to speak with you." He called into the adjacent room.
A bewildered look came over Kim's face. This wasn't making any sense at all. Why was Drakken calling Ron by his first name and referring to her as "our visitor?" She breathed a sigh of relief when Ron's familiar face entered the room, apparently unharmed.
"Ron! Thank God you're okay! Lets get out of here!" Kim said with renewed hope. If Ron could find the key to unlock her restraints, then together they could put Shego and Drakken out of commission and escape.
"Why would I want to do that, KP?" Ron's voice had a strange tone to it. .
"What do you mean, Ron? Isn't it obvious?"
"I think you're fine just were you are." The boy's face contorted into a wicked grin, an expression unlike anything Kim had ever seen on him before.
"R-Ron? What's wrong? What have they done to you?" Kim stammered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"They haven't done anything to me Kimmie." Ron's eyes narrowed. "Maybe I'm just sick of being your dopey sidekick. Maybe I just decided to join up with some people who actually appreciate me." He stepped closer to her and gazed challengingly in her eyes.
"Ron, I never thought of you as my sidekick. We're partners." His icy words brought the telltale stinging of tears to her eyes.
"Bullshit!" Ron screamed. His hand shot out at lightening speed and slapped her hard across the cheek. Kim reeled back from the blow, a look of fear suddenly spreading over her face. "You never thought of me as your partner, bitch! You always use me as the distraction so you can claim the victory and take all the credit."
"That's so not true, Ron." Kim said, tears flowing freely now.
"Shut-up!" He barked, slapping her again. A thin trail of blood trickled down her chin where the impact had split her lip. "You know it's true! It's always 'Kim Possible saves the day again, Kim Possible—teen hero.' No one ever mentions goofy Ron Stoppable—the idiot who risked his life so Kim Possible could do all those amazing things. Nobody even knows my fucking name!"
"Please stop, Ron! This isn't you." She wailed..
"Oh, but it is me, KP. You just never bothered to notice before. You prance around thinking you're so popular. You say we're best friends when we're alone, but you barely even associate with me at school I guess hanging around with a fucking loser like me is bad for your perfect image! Don't think that I don't know how you and those other stuck-up bitches laugh at me during cheerleading practice!" He reinforced his point with a hard punch to her stomach.
Kim groaned, sagging helplessly in her restraints. She hung her head in shame, wondering if what he said actually had some validity to it.
"What's the matter? Truth hurts?" Ron grabbed neck, forcing her to look at him.
"I know the real Ron is in there somewhere." She managed to choke out between sobs when he finally released his grip.
"Sorry, KP. The old Ron died. Dr. Drakken showed me that I could be so much more than an under appreciated sidekick. It's simple, really. I don't know why I didn't think of it before." Ron snarled inches from her face.
"What are you going to do—become a villain? That's crazy. You're a crime fighter. You stand for justice!"
"Correction. I was a crime fighter. Those days have officially ended, KP. Now all I have to do is get rid of you so I can start my new life." He reached to his belt and pulled out a hunting knife. The blade glittered in the light as he brought it close to her neck.
"Where did you get that?" Kim's eyes widened in fear.
"Doesn't matter. All that matters is what I'm going to do with it." Ron looked deep into Kim's terrified eyes as he applied pressure and dragged the knife along her throat. He smiled as the cut started to weep thick, dark blood. Kim began to whine softly from the pain.
"This is going better than I had planned!" Drakken whispered from the doorway where he and Shego were watching the scene unfold.
"Are you going to let him kill her? I thought we just wanted to break her spirit." Shego asked uneasily. Although she liked to think of herself as purely evil, she'd never participated in murder before. She didn't like where this was heading.
"Why not? We can be rid of her for good!" Drakken growled.
"But Drakken, as much as we hate Kimmie, I really don't think it's a good idea to kill her in cold blood like this. If they catch up with us, they'll give us the death penalty."
"The buffoon is going to kill her, not us."
"Yeah, but they'll figure out that we made him do it. We'll be directly responsible." Shego tried to talk some sense into him.
Ron swiped at Kim's neck with the blade again, eliciting another terrified scream from her. "That's for all the times you ignored me in front of your popular little friends, bitch!" He yelled hatefully.
"I guess you're right Shego. This is going too far." Drakken gave in. He walked over to Ron and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough for now." He said soothingly. "We don't want to kill her just yet."
"Why not?" Ron turned to face the man with fire in his eyes.
"Well…uh…because we want to have save some fun for later." Drakken stammered, making up and excuse off the top of his head.
"Ya know…you're right Dr. D. I don't think I'm quite through with her yet. There is one thing that I've wanted to do for a long time…" Ron turned back to Kim with a menacing grin. He raised his hand and ran it through her smooth, auburn hair.
Drakken's eyes bulged in surprise when he realized the boy's intentions. He backed away, returning to Shego. "Come on, I think these two need some time alone." He tugged at her arm.
"You're not going to actually let him…" Shego protested. Her stomach tuned in revulsion. Although she hid her feelings, she felt pity for the poor girl. Her female intuition told her that Kim's fate was one of the worst imaginable.
"It's perfect Shego, think about it. When he's done with her, they'll have to ship little Kim off to the nut ward!" Drakken's eyes were practically glowing with wickedness as he left the room.
Shego sighed, feeling powerless to the situation. Her eyes briefly met Kim's pleading gaze. She quickly turned her head away and followed Drakken from the room, closing the door behind her.