Despite having both arms captured by the wall of goo, Shego gave Gemini the best menacing glare she could manage under the circumstances. "This was a trap," she said.

"Oh, how insightful. My, I can see how you earned your reputation as a sharpie," said Gemini sarcastically. He put his hands together in a mocking little clap.

"You went to a lot of trouble to capture instead of kill. What do you want with us?" asked Shego.

"Want with 'us'? My, how you flatter yourself. I'm here for Mr. Lipsky and his magnificent mind. You're worthless to me, you dull-witted harpy," said Gemini. Despite his words, he walked closer to Shego and came to a stop near her, his arms crossed.

Shego pushed off from the wall and attempted to catch Gemini with a kick, but he had stopped just outside of her range. Frustrated, she fell back on verbal taunting. "Oh, I got it. You think you can bully Drakken into working for you, but you know I'm too dangerous," she said.

Gemini chuckled. "Mmmm. And there's that ego again. How is it you consider yourself so superior to Mr. Lipsky, when we both know you'd be helpless without him?"

So shocked was Shego that she just stood there opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. The sheer ridiculousness of Gemini's statement kept her from composing a coherent reply for several seconds. Finally she said, "Excuse me? Excuse me? Blue boy needs me around to keep him from drowning in his soup. He may be good at making gadgets, but I've got the muscle, the common sense, and the style. And you have the nerve to say I'd be helpless without him? Where- Where is that coming from?"

Placing a metallic finger on his cheek, Gemini pretended to ponder. "Where indeed? I don't know, possibly from the fact that, you've never had an original idea in your life!"

Shego pushed herself closer to the wall, not immediately responding to Gemini's taunt. She studied him with narrowed eyes.

Seeing that Shego wasn't going to say anything, Gemini continued. "I must admit, Shego, I was fooled at first when I studied your profile. You reminded me of a younger version of myself. We both have great fighting skill combined with a little 'extra' to give us our edge." Gemini waved his cybernetic hand to indicate what he considered his edge, then continued. "We're both ruthless, intelligent individuals, not prone to making silly mistakes. Yet when I was your age, I was already putting together my criminal empire. You, in comparison, seem content to play second banana to a second-rate Professor Dementor imitator. I had to ask myself, why?"

"And you think it's because I don't have any other ideas?" said Shego. She tried to put contempt in her voice, but something about what Gemini was saying was hitting a bit close to home.

"Why yes, that's it exactly. I've had you under closer observation for some time now, as well as having certain… Agents of mine doing a little research on your past. The psychological profile I've assembled was quite informative. At last, your fatal weakness was revealed to me. You have don't have any grand schemes, any vision of the future, any new notions of how to put your skills to use. As far as I can tell, you've never come up with a plan in your life. I don't think you're capable of it," said Gemini.

"That's garbage. When Drakken sends me out to steal from someplace, I case the joint and I make the plan on how to get in and get out," said Shego in protest.

"Mere implementation, using your training and experience to direct your actions. Listen to yourself. 'When Drakken sends me out to steal.' If you're so much smarter than Lipsky, what was the last scheme you came up with? When did the two of you ever try one of your plans for world-conquest?" said Gemini.

Shego shifted her gaze back and forth, unable to look Gemini in the eye. "Hey, I have plenty of input on Doctor D's plans. I just don't like to bother with the whole 'evil ideas' thing. It's a lot of work."

"Ah, I knew we'd get to that one in time. The last refuge of the incompetent, 'I could, I just don't want to.' You fail to understand, Shego. For men of vision such as myself and Mr. Lipsky, it is not a matter of wanting or 'bothering' with creating plans. They come to us unbidden, visions of glorious potential that our pride and ambition drive us to make reality. That is why, despite the similarities you and I share, I have far more in common with your employer than I ever will with you," said Gemini. So affected was he by this speech that he wiped a tear away from his eye.

Fiery plasma ran up Shego's forearms as she tried yet again to burn away the wall trapping her hands. Something in the goo trapping her arms seemed to conduct and carry away all the heat and force, however, and her plasma bursts had no effect. Panting, she gave up and turned back to her captor. "You both like to run off at the mouth about how smart you are. I can see the resemblance," she said to Gemini.

"Well, I do like a bit of gloating now and then. You're right that I really should get back to business, though," said Gemini. He raised his cybernetic hand and shot Shego with an electric blast. It lasted for several seconds, and when it ended her muscles were twitching uncontrollably and her breathing was shallow. While she was out of it, Gemini walked forward and ran the metal fingers of his artificial hand through her long dark hair. It was a curiously gentle gesture. He then stepped back and began walking away.

When Shego had caught her breath, she asked, "So what, you're going to torture me for a while? Bring it on!"

"Torture? Only if I wanted something from you. No, the pain you experienced was a mere side-effect. I wanted to make sure I destroyed any devices that Lipsky might have given you. It wouldn't do if you were to escape before the big boom," said Gemini.

"Big boom?" asked Shego.

"Big boom," said Gemini. He tapped an empty display pedestal to which he had walked. The panels fell away from the sides, revealing a metal column with a small read-out screen on top. One the screen was a time of fifteen minutes. As Shego watched, the display changed to 14:59 and continued to count down.

"You're going to blow me up!" said Shego. Despite her outrage, she couldn't say she was really surprised. It did seem like kind of a supervillain thing to do.

"Yes. Part of my, um, modus operandi is to create chaos and confusion whenever possible. I think having the remains of an internationally wanted criminal show up in the explosion of a natural history museum should do the job. What was she doing there? Did she set the bomb; did someone else? Did her beloved blue boss get caught in the same explosion? Confusion, you see," said Gemini. As he was speaking, he walked quickly over to Drakken and hoisted the unconscious scientist across his shoulders.

"Beloved?" protested Shego.

"It's alliterative, go with it," replied Gemini.

"I'll escape," said Shego. Once again, she attempted to burn her way free of the wall, to no better effect than before.

"I doubt it. But if you do, I'm sure I'll be quaking in fear of the awesome revenge plan you'll no doubt devise," said Gemini. He began sniggering. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I could keep a straight face, but I can't. You're just too amusing." With that, he headed for the exit, carrying with him Doctor Drakken.

Shego watched him go, then took stock of her situation. Her plasma fire was having no effect. Obviously the trap had been designed with it in mind. Trying to pull her way free by force presented a problem as well. The seemingly rocky wall in front of her offered the only surface available for pushing off against. Unfortunately, as she had already discovered, the rock was a thin and easily breakable shell over the entrapping goo. If she tried to brace herself against it with a foot, her leg would just push through and she would have three limbs trapped by the goo rather than two. The floor beneath her was too smooth and well-polished to get much traction, and there was nothing else available within range.

There remained the somewhat obvious idea of just slipping her hands out of her gloves. Unfortunately, Shego's arms were buried well past the wrist, hiding the release buttons for her gloves. Further, the goo pushed against her already tight-fitting gloves, exerting a strong pressure. No matter how she tried, Shego couldn't get the slack to even begin wriggling her hands out.

The first thing I need is to get my boots off, thought Shego. It took a bit of maneuvering, but she was eventually able to slip off her footwear without using her hands. This left her toes free to grab things with, and Shego put them to immediate use. A quick check, that nonetheless wasted another minute of her precious time, revealed that Gemini had been successful in disabling the assorted devices she carried with her. No help there.

Shego squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to remember everything that had happened, searching for anything that could help her get out of the deadly trap she was in. First Drakken and I came in. I led us past the security cameras. He wanted to go to the Paleolithic Sky Pavilion, but I thought I spotted a door in this fake stone wall. Then I punched the door and got myself trapped. Then Gemini walked out of the Pavilion and scared the bejeezus out of Drakken. Drakken waved his 'biometric scanner' thing at Gemini, and Gemini attacked him. The scanner went flying, and then… The scanner! It's still out there, thought Shego

She opened her eyes. Many of Drakken's devices served more than one purpose, and Gemini had forgotten to retrieve or disable it. If she could get possession of the scanner, it might provide a way out. But where had it gone? The museum was still dark, but Shego possessed her own light source. It took some effort, but she was able to extend her plasma flames somewhat up the length of her arms, enough to be out of the goo. Sweatdrops from the effort beaded on Shego's brow as she pushed her glow not only out of its usual location but brighter than she normally bothered with.

The effort proved worthwhile when Shego spotted the biometric scanner only twelve feet away. It was twelve feet, but at the moment it might as well have been a mile. She looked around, hoping for something she could use. A few feet away stood a mannequin representing one of the first settlers of North America. The mannequin was in the process of braiding a primitive rope from some sort of twine.

Shego stretched out a leg, trying to grab the rope with her toes. It frustrated her, being just out of reach. She searched for a way to extend herself just a little further and found it in one of her boots. By grabbing the boot with her toes, Shego was able to use its tip to nudge the rope closer in, until she was able to grab the rope with her toes and pull it in all the way. She poked it doubtfully. It didn't look very strong, but at least it wasn't some sort of plastic model. Shego then began the difficult task of tying a lasso using only her toes. She avoided wasting time looking at the bomb's timer, not wanting to know how much time she had left.

Soon, Shego had a loop tied in the rope. She grabbed it with one foot and flung it out towards the scanner. It missed. Shego resisted the urge to waste time cursing. Instead she quickly dragged the rope back in until she could reach the loop. Taking more care this time, she again tossed the loop towards the biometric scanner. The second try was the charm, and it caught. Carefully but speedily, Shego began drawing the scanner back in. There was a worrisome moment or two when it almost slipped free, but finally Shego had the scanner available for use.

Now she just had to figure out what to do with it.

Shego decided she could risk a glance at the timer. It flashed on 2:48. Two minutes and forty-eight second were left. It wasn't a lot of time. Shego frantically began hitting the 'mode' button on the scanner with her toes. The screen cycled to a set of read-outs she didn't recognize, then another, then- Wait! The third read-outs matched up with the controls for the hover car. Shego began entering the code to summon the hover car to her, but it was difficult punching buttons her toes. She botched the job and had to start again. Finally, she entered the command correctly and hit execute.

The timer read 1:23. If this didn't work, there would be no time to try anything else. Shego strained her ears and for a long seconds was met only with a silence that indicated failure. A thought ran through her mind. So I'm dying a failure. Great.

Then the doors at the front of the museum shattered inwards as the hover car crashed through them. It sped towards Shego, and she realized that she hadn't actually thought matters through past this point. The timer said 1:01 which meant there was no time to do this delicately. Hitting a button on the scanner controls caused the hover car to extend its cargo claws on the front. Another caused it to speed up. With a horrible splurch the cargo claws of the car dug into the stone covered shell of the goo trap at top speed. There was a wrench and the hover car tore the entire trap loose from the floor and pushed it through the internal wall into the next room of the museum. Shego was carried along for the ride.

Kicking up with her legs, Shego wrapped them around the hover car's pilot seat. This, at last, gave her the leverage she needed. With a hideous ripping sound, Shego yanked hard enough to tear the sleeves of her costume and allow her arms to pull out of the gloves and jumpsuit and free from the goo. Now hanging from the wildly careening hover car by only her legs, Shego swung herself up into the pilot's seat and took a grip on the controls. There was still a giant stone wall hanging from the cargo hooks and blocking her view to the front, but this was no time to worry about that. There was a bomb about to go off.

Glancing up, Shego saw a skylight in the roof above her head. It was perfect. She angled the hover car straight up, using the goo trap as a battering ram to push through the glass of the sky light and into the open air above the museum. The hover car climbed slowly due to the enormous weight it supported, and she had only managed to get a hundred meters above the museum when there was an explosion below. Gemini hadn't stinted on the bomb. Even at this distance, the concussive shockwave sent the car tumbling like a leaf blowing in the wind. Shego's forehead was slammed against the dashboard. Dazed, she nevertheless retained enough presence of mind to pull on the hover car's steering stick, preventing it from spiraling into a crash.

For the second time that night, Shego took stock of her situation. The motors of the hover car were making unpleasant noises. The weight of the goo trap was more than it was designed to carry. If she hadn't just suffered a blow to the head, Shego might have used her plasma powers to sever the cargo hooks and drop the excess weight. As it was, however, all she could think to do was land as soon as possible.

Below stretched out an expanse of cityscape. Not having taken the time to consciously pick a direction, Shego had been guiding the hover car downtown rather than away from the city since she burst free of the museum. Still, as luck would have it, Shego knew this particular city rather well from the air. Once upon a time, she had spent a lot of time crossing the skies above the city in a multi-colored jet. Those days were long gone, but she still remembered where the park was located. The park… and more importantly, the lake in the center of the park.

This time Shego had taken the time to strap in before the hover car skidded into the water at a shallow angle. The seatbelt saved her from another blow to the head. She severed the straps with a quick burst of plasma and began stroking away at a quick pace, making sure to get well away before the sinking car could drag her down along with it. The stiffness through her body and the throbbing in her head made it take rather longer than it ordinarily would have to make it to shore, but make it she did.

Stumbling up onto the grass beside the lake, Shego almost fainted. She couldn't let herself go yet, though. Someone would be coming along to investigate the crash soon, and it could be trouble to be caught in this condition. She didn't have time to wait around in a jail cell planning an escape just now, especially not in this town. Barefoot and soaking wet, she walked through the park until she found a park bench near the exit. It was here that Shego realized she couldn't go any further without rest. She sat on the bench and tried to relax enough to regain some strength.

The night was chilly, and having wet clothes and hair didn't improve matters any. Shego's teeth began chattering. Without considering the risks, she summoned up some of her plasma fire to warm herself. This was the state she was in ten minutes later, when a voice rang out from behind her.

"So you're back in town, sis. And you brought trouble with you."

Shego turned to see a large man surrounded by a blue glow. "Hego," she said.

Drakken awoke to find the masked face of a ninja inches away from his face, staring down at him. Naturally, he screamed like a little girl. "Eeeeek!"

"Calm yourself," commanded Agent Alpha, sometimes known as Masuyo Ichikawa.

"Calm myself! I'd like to see how calm you'd be, waking up with a masked man leaning over you. It's very disturbing to a person's peace of mind," said Drakken.

"I was merely attempting to find the origin of your unusual skin color," said Masuyo. He stepped back from Drakken and crossed his arms, waiting for the scientist to gather his wits.

"Yes, well that's for me to know and you to… not know," said Drakken. He began patting down his coat, a puzzled expression on his face. "Something's not right here," he said.

"If you are looking for the various devices you keep concealed about your person, I have already found and removed them," said Masuyo.

"You went through my clothing while I was sleeping? I feel so… violated," said Drakken. He shuddered.

"I assure you, I took no pleasure in-" began Masuyo.

"Violated!" interrupted Drakken. He sat up and slid off the table on which he had been resting.

Masuyo wondered if the two aspirin he had taken in preparation for this encounter were going to be enough.

Drakken took a quick look around. He was in a cramped steel-walled room with few features other than the table had had awoken on top of. There were no windows and only one door. Now that his feet were on the floor, he was aware of a faint vibration underfoot. It felt like some distant engine or engines were running, though to what purpose Drakken could only guess. He turned to Masuyo. "Where am I?"

"You are a prisoner of the Worldwide Evil Empire," said Alpha calmly.

"Oh I am, am I? You and your precious leader Gemini will regret the day you incurred the wrath of Doctor Drakken! Hey, are you listening to me?" said Drakken.

Masuyo looked up from checking his watch. "By fortunate timing, you may now present your complaints to Lord Gemini in person. Come with me," he said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" said Drakken, sneering.

With a quick motion of his wrist, Masuyo produced a large knife. To Drakken's eyes, it looked very sharp.

"What I mean to say is, lead the way to Gemini," said Drakken.

Masuyo waved his knife in a directing motion, indicating that Drakken should exit the room first.

"Or I'll walk ahead. Yes, that would be much better," said Drakken, who could be a fast study when sharp bladed objects were involved.

They walked out the door, which led to an undecorated and steel-walled corridor. Masuyo indicated the direction of their travel with more knife gestures.

After a few seconds of walking, Drakken tried to make conversation. "So, have you worked here long?" he said. He was answered by a not-so-gentle poke in the back with the point of the knife. It didn't cut Drakken's coat or his skin, but it felt very uncomfortable nonetheless.

Drakken muttered, "You're not very friendly," under his breath. He otherwise took the hint, though, and didn't speak again until they arrived at their destination.

It was a large wooden door with intricate inlays, looking quite out of place in the cold steel walls of the corridor. Masuyo stepped forward and knocked on it. After a moment, Gemini's voice said, "Come in."

Inside was a tastefully appointed room with shag carpeting, numerous bookshelves and cabinets, a couch, other decorations, and a large wooden desk taking up the center of the room. Behind the desk sat Gemini, who was wearing a reading monocle and studying some papers.

"Ah, Mr. Lipsky. Right on time," said Gemini.

"That's Doctor Drakken to you," said Drakken. He walked up to the desk.

"I haven't been able to find any record of you having a doctorate," said Gemini, a certain trace of smugness apparent in his manner.

"Oh, I see. You think I just made it up. You think I started called myself 'doctor' without anything to back it up as part of some sad ego trip. Well, allow me to inform you that Doctor Drakken is not that pathetic," said Drakken.

"Oh?" said Gemini, who seemed mildly interested.

"It just so happens I have a doctorate in plasma physics from Omaha University Online. That's right, and a copy of my diploma can be printed from the internet in seconds, anywhere in the world, for only a small service charge. What do you think of that?" said Drakken.

"I'm sure you're very proud," said Gemini dryly. "Very well then. Provisionally granting you the title of doctor, Doctor Lipsky, allow me to explain why I've brought you here. You're going to be working for me from now on."

Drakken raised one hand in a 'stop' gesture. "Hold on. I can see where this is going. You want me to finish my invention for you, so that you can use it to conquer the world. Never! Talk to the hand, cause it's not happening," he said. After a pause, he added, "And call me Doctor Drakken!"

Gemini seemed unperturbed by Drakken's defiance. "Oh, you will be working on Project Firebreak for me. But it doesn't have to end there. I've long been a great admirer of yours, Doctor Drakken."

"I'll never- You are?" said Drakken, feeling very confused.

"Yes. You have a great, if unfocused, genius. There's quite a magnificent mind inside that skull of yours. In some ways, I see us as being much alike. We're both men of vision," said Gemini. He smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Why… thank you," said Drakken, flattered. "I've always thought of myself as a man of vision. And I have excellent hearing, too."

Gemini winced slightly. "Quite. Of course, we're only alike in some ways. I've had the occasional setback, but overall I've been quite successful. You on the other hand, have suffered defeat after defeat after defeat. Isn't it time, Drakken, to admit that you just don't have what it takes to conquer the world yourself? A man must know his limitations. If you would only place yourself under my command, you could follow me to success. To victory."

"You- You don't seriously expect me to become your henchman, do you? I can't make that kind of step down in my career. To go from evil conqueror to lackey… It's just not done!" said Drakken.

"Don't think of it as stepping down; think of it as joining a winning team. You'll get a uniform, status, respect… I'll even make you Agent Beta, my second highest ranked agent. I have one now, but you'd be much better." Gemini got to his feet and walked around his desk, emphasizing his points with grand gestures.

He continued. "Come now, Doctor Drakken. I'll force you to work on Project Firebreak no matter what, but things could be so much easier if you cooperated voluntarily. Join me and be a winner. Insist on going it alone and die a pathetic loser. The choice is simple."

I'm not seriously considering this, Drakken thought to himself. Nevertheless, he couldn't stop himself from picturing what it might be like. He imagined the respect and admiration he'd receive for his evil inventions. He imagined the extra work he could get done just having to worry about creating in a lab and not all those niggling little problems with implementation. He could be part of the team that conquered the world. Sure it wouldn't be as sweet as doing it himself, but he wasn't having a lot of success with that. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as Mamma Lipsky always said.

No, I'm not seriously considering this, Drakken thought again. I mean, I can only imagine what Shego would say if I threw in the towel on- Wait a minute, Shego!

Drakken tapped his head. "That's a very interesting offer, Mr. Gemini. Before I answer, though, I was just wondering if I could talk it over with my sidekick, Shego. Did you capture her at the same time as me, or did she get away, or what's the situation?"

Gemini pressed the palms of his hands, both natural and artificial, together. He loudly sucked in a breath. "That might be a bit difficult. I left her trapped next to a rather large bomb, set to go off very soon after I left. I suspected she would go to pieces without you, so I thought I might as well make it literal. Besides, you won't need her to keep you out of trouble now that you have me to tell you what to do."

One minute later

Gemini nudged a foot against Drakken's twitching form, unconscious form. He straightened the collar of his jumpsuit from where someone had been pulling on it, then turned to speak to Agent Alpha. "Looks like we'll be doing things the hard way, then. Probably for the best. These genius types are so high maintenance."

"I will take him to the chamber of cooperation, my lord," said Agent Alpha.

Shego tilted her head back and chugged her drink in one long swallow. Once finished, she slammed her cup against the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Whoa sis, you should slow down a little. That's your third one," said her brother Hego. He was currently in his civilian identity as manager of the first automated Bueno Nacho in Chicago (or 'Go City,' the nickname by which it was known far and wide).

"I've had a bad night. I'll drink what I want to," snapped Shego in response.

"You know what drinking that stuff does to you," Hego said.

Shego straightened in her seat, and green plasma appeared around her free hand. "Not this again," she said.

"Now you know it's true. Diet soda makes you cranky," said Hego.

"I'm always cranky," responded Shego in a nasty tone. She slid out from the booth walked over to the drink dispenser, placing her cup underneath it. "Refill," she commanded the machine. Diet soda began filling the cup.

They were in Hego's Bueno Nacho. The hour was drawing just short of 3 am, and the place was deserted. Shego, still missing both gloves and shoes, was wearing an oversized trenchcoat that Hego had procured for her. That she was lacking any footwear was in point of fact a violation of Bueno Nacho's 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' policy, but Hego had declined to make an issue of it.

As Shego sat back down in the booth, Hego decided to get down to business. "Nat, you promised that if I took you inside and got you something to drink and didn't call the rest of the team, you'd explain what's going on. You didn't want to go to the Tower, so I used my managerial power to get you in here. Now I think you owe me an explanation," he said.

"I see you still talk in recaps, Henry," said Shego scornfully. "And don't call me anything but Shego. Where are Mego and the twins anyway?"

"We split up into teams. They're investigating the explosion out at the museum while I was tracking the crashed air vehicle that came from the direction of the museum. Your vehicle," said Hego.

Shego looked like she was trying to puzzle something out. "Wait, you said you split up into teams, but you're the only one on this mission. So how can one person be a team?" said Shego.

"Super strength is the best power, so I'm a one-man team. We're getting off-topic here. You're supposed to be telling me things," said Hego.

"Fine. Drakken and I got into a dispute with this villain-type named Gemini. We tracked him back to what we thought was his lair at the museum, but it turned out he was laying a trap for us. He kidnapped Drakken, and tried to blow me up with a bomb, but I escaped just in time. There, recap enough for you?" said Shego.

"I knew it," said Hego.

"Knew what?" asked Shego suspiciously.

"I knew that deep down you're not so bad. Fighting with a villain, tracking him down to his lair, avoiding death traps along the way…. You're still-"

"Put a sock in it," interrupted Shego. "I know it sounds bad- I mean, good. Just trust me, I was doing bad things because I'm evil, even if it seems like I'm doing good. I had perfectly good evil reasons for going after that guy." Shego had the unpleasant feeling she had just said something rather silly.

"Whatever you say, Shego. Don't worry, though, Team Go will be there to help you fight this villain and get back your kidnapped friend," said Hego.

Shego considered Hego's proposal. She didn't have to consider long. "Going to have to pass on that offer," she said.

"What! Give me one good reason why not," protested Hego.

"Because getting back Drakken is going to take smarts and sneaking, and you can't manage either. And as superheroes, you guys?" Shego's voice dropped to a stage whisper. "Not making the grade." A traitorous part of her mind added, Which given how dangerous Gemini is means you'd only be good as cannon fodder, and I'm not quite ruthless enough to use my brothers for that. She squashed the errant qualm immediately.

"Team Go is a little rusty since we came out of retirement, it's true, but I don't know if we can let you go off and do this on your own," said Hego.

Shego's face colored in outrage. "Newsflash, it's not your call. I'm not on your team, and I don't report to you. I think it's time for me to get out of here," said Shego. She slid out of the booth, taking her cup of diet soda with her.

"You can't go like this! Do you even have any money to buy a plane ticket out of the city?" said Hego.

Shego turned her back to her brother, but didn't walk away any further. Her credit and bank cards had been fried by Gemini's blast, and she didn't have enough cash to even buy a grande sized taco meal. Not that she would let something like that slow her down. "I'll find a ride," said Shego.

"You mean steal a ride," said Hego harshly.

Shego turned back towards her brother, surprised by his unexpected perceptiveness. She shrugged in response.

"I can't allow that…. I'll take you wherever you need to go in the Go Team jet," said Hego.

Shego rolled her eyes. "I suppose that would be faster," she grudgingly admitted. "But just you. I can't take dealing with the rest of the team right now."

"Then it's settled. On one condition," said Hego.

"Oh, here it comes. What do you want?" said Shego.

"Tell me why you quit Team Go and became a villain," responded her brother.

"I just didn't want to put up with your bossiness," snapped Shego.

Hego gripped the edge of the table in front of him. A blue glow surrounded his hands as the table creaked and groaned under the pressure. "You're not putting me off with that stupid story again! You can call me bossy, but since when was I ever able to make you do something you didn't want to do? This is a talk we're long overdue to have, Nat. You managed to duck out pretty quickly after that business with Aviarius. You know, right after you tried to steal our powers. I forgive you because you're my sister, but you owe me some answers."

Shego looked at her brother for a long moment and saw the tension in his face. She shook her head in apparent exasperation, more for show than anything else, and sat back down in the booth across from Hego. "All right, if it's that important to you, fine. No promises about you liking the answer, though."

The blue glow ceased and Hego released his grip on the table and relaxed in his seat. Marks were left where he fingers had cracked the table.

After taking a deep breath, Shego began to speak. "I hadn't been too happy for a while, spending all my time hanging out with my brothers. Maybe I didn't hate you, exactly, but you get on my nerves, all of you. And guess what; Team Go had pretty much become our lives at that point. We slept most nights in the Tower; sometimes I'd go a week without changing back into my civvies once. So yeah, sick of it.

"That's where my head was. Now the villains we fought, they seemed to be having a lot of fun. Sure we'd stop them in the end, but until then they were living it up. They were doing big things, too. Team Go spent all our time trying to keep things the same. The bad guys, though, they had big plans. Crazy, stupid, hopeless plans, but they all had something they wanted to do and an idea how to do it. I started to- Admire? No, not admire, envy. I started to envy them, partly because they were having a good time, but mostly because they knew what they wanted and they went after it. Then one day, I started to think to myself, 'I could do what these saps do, but I could do it better.'"

Shego took a sip from her diet soda. She had Hego's full attention.

"It was about then that the offer came to train in Japan. I knew that I if was going to make it big, I'd need more skills than I could learn fighting with Team Go. Besides, it made a good excuse to get away from you guys. So I went. I learned a lot about being sneaky and a lot about fighting. After a year, I figured it was time to go out on my own. I sent word to you that I wasn't coming back, and that was it. It was easy. I didn't even have to face you," she said.

A police siren began blaring somewhere a few blocks away. Shego paused, and she and her brother listened to the sound rise and fall until it faded in the distance.

Hego broke the sudden silence. "Something I've been wondering for a while now, sis. Why do you keep going by the name 'Shego', if you hate Team Go so much? Why not just be Natalie Gallant?"

Shego laughed. "Shego. Sheeee-go. She-gooo," she mumbled to herself, deliberately mangling the pronunciation in one way after another. "It's a stupid name. They're all stupid names. Shego, Hego, Mego, Wego... How did we come up with that again?" As she spoke, she traced one of her fingertips over the table.

Her brother rubbed his chin, trying to recall. "I remember that the first time we caught a crook, I shouted 'Go, team, go,' you know, just trying to be encouraging because the twins were so young. Somebody heard me and misunderstood and the next thing you know, the newspapers are calling us Team Go. I don't remember who came up with the names, though. I think we were just young and they sounded interesting and different. I hated being called Henry back then. I thought it was an old man's name."

"I remember," said Shego, still tracing her finger along the table top.

"But that still doesn't- Hey!" said Hego. He had just spotted the message that Shego had burned into the table using the tip of her finger and a touch of plasma flame. It read in clear block letters, 'Natalie was here.'

Shego sneered at him. "You're the one who ripped up the edge of the table with your little temper tantrum. You would have had to replace it anyway, so no complaining."

"I was asking you why you still went by 'Shego' instead of your real name. And why you still wear the Team Go uniform, for that matter. You keep saying how stupid I am for thinking you'd ever come back to the team, and but you're the one still going around in your team name and team uniform. What was I supposed to think?"

Shego shrugged, which was as close as she would come to admitting that her brother might have a point. "For one thing, I had gotten used to being Shego. Remember I was talking about how we were spending all our time as Team Go before I left for Japan? There was hardly anybody left who knew me as Nat. Then the whole time I studied at Yamanuchi, I studied as Shego. That's how I was invited and that's who came. I never told them my real name. Maybe they know it, but it's not because I gave it away. Trust me; you never want to give a ninja any kind of advantage. We got no scruples about going for the low blow."

"And the fact that by protecting your own identity you protected the secret identities of the rest of us was purely a coincidence, right sis?" said Hego.

"When you're smug like that, it really makes me want to punch you, 'bro'. I know how to punch so it hurts bad, too. Learned it in ninja school. Now you want to let me finish?" said Shego.

Hego nodded in response.

"Anyway, you need an interesting name to really make it in the villain business. Something people will remember. I didn't think telling people I was 'Nat Gallant' and running around in a sweatshirt and cargo pants was going to pull it off. Now, I'm a big girl, I can admit that time's proven me wrong on that point. This was a few years ago, though, and I didn't have the big 'Kim Possible' example in front of me. I still can't believe she makes that work," said Shego. She paused to scowl to herself at mentioning Kim's name.

"I always intended to come up with a new name and costume. Being 'Shego' was supposed to be just temporary until I could come up with a really great new villain concept to build my reputation around. Every time I tried, though, I just couldn't come up with anything good, and I kept putting it off, and what reputation I had built up was built up as Shego." As she finished speaking, Shego paused to lower her gaze to the table and rub her forehead.

Suddenly she looked up and asked, "Hego, do you think I'm creative?"

"Well, you, you know, you're not… not uncreative," said Hego carefully.

Shego began speaking more rapidly. "Let me finish up this story. The problems with a new name were only the beginning. There I was, young and ready to take on the world. I had ninja skills, superpowers, and I'd cut you losers lose. Nothing could stop me, and I was ready to go out and take what I wanted from the world. And… and I couldn't do it."

"Because there is still good in you," said Hego triumphantly.

"No, you idiot. Because I couldn't come up with a good plan! Or any plan, for that matter. I started with big dreams. I figured I'd set in motion a plan to take over the world. Three days later, I was still staring at a blank sheet of paper, trying to figure out step one. So I'm thinking, well, maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself, going for the brass ring on my first try.

"Instead I'll seek raw power, right? Something to make me mighty and unstoppable. And it's not like I don't have any leads. At school, I'd heard about this mystical monkey power, and then there were a few things from our hero days that might have fit the bill. It's the same deal, though. Every time I try to sit down and plan for something specific, I just freeze up. No ideas. In the end, the best I could come up with was to go rob banks. Robbing banks! Petty stuff like that wasn't what I went into evil for.

"Eventually I decided I just needed a little seasoning. I'd come up with my own plans after I got a chance to see how it was done from the bad guy side. So I started hiring myself out as a sidekick. I did a lot of jobs and I started to build a rep, but every night I still had to face facts that I wasn't getting any closer to being able to hit it on my own. The plans and schemes just weren't coming. I was even considering giving up.

"Then I got hired by Doctor Drakken. Drakken's got more ideas than anyone I ever met. He's got more creativity in his little finger than I- Well, let's just say that I was impressed. On that side of things, he's everything I always wanted to be. Of course, he's an idiot as much as he's a genius. I used to think he was faking, that it was all some kind of put-on. How could somebody so smart be so dumb about other things? But then I got to kind of like it. He needs me to keep him out of trouble and help make his plans work as much as they do. I don't like losing all the time, but it's like the bad guys I was envying back when I was a kid. I get to have fun every time before the plan falls apart. Being Drakken's sidekick, it's almost like they're my plans too," said Shego.

She bowed her head to look at the table again. "I guess Gemini was right. I do need Drakken. I hate him sometimes, but without him what am I going to do? Go back to being a muscle for hire? Rob banks?" She lapsed back into silence.

It took some time, but Hego finally managed to process everything his sister had told him. He spoke. "Shego, maybe the reason you're not getting any villainous inspiration is because you're just not cut out for-"

Shego's glare-o- death stopped him in mid-sentence. He shrugged. "Sis, I don't know what to say to all this. You kept up your end of the bargain, though, so I'll keep mine. Let's get going."

They both stood and walked to the door. Shego paused before opening it. "Hey Hego, any word on our parents?"

"Nothing," replied Hego.

"Just thought I'd ask."

"Doctor Drakken is busy with an important project. He won't be back for a while."

That was what Shego told the henchmen when she got back to the Caribbean lair. Lying to them was easy, but unfortunately she still had to deal with the truth. If Shego wanted Drakken back, and she had to admit at least to herself that she needed him back, then she'd have to come up with a plan.

A plan. Yes, that was the problem right there. It was pick a new codename and take over the world all over again.

Shego searched for inspiration. She did Yoga. She sang Drakken's favorite karaoke songs. She studied all available information on Gemini and thought about it while standing on her head. She even tried applying her extremely limited engineering talents to working on some of Drakken's machinery, something she had always observed as making him especially creative. The resulting electrical shock left her cranky rather than creative, with the corresponding result that Drakken wouldn't have much of a laboratory to come home to.

A day later and beginning to come up empty even on ideas to get ideas, Shego was glad to be interrupted by a phone call. It was a mark of her desperation that she was glad even after the caller ID showed the caller to be Malcom, Drakken's lawyer, technology broker, and perpetual annoyance to Shego.

"This is Shego, what's up?"

"Ms. Shego. Sorry to bother you, but the matter is quite urgent and Drew isn't returning my messages," said Malcom's voice over the phone line.

"He's busy. Incommunicado. Won't be responding for a while," said Shego, not without a certain pleasure at denying Malcom.

"I see. Well, it's this Joel Kord business. Last time we spoke, I told you it had gone to a class action lawsuit. Now I'm afraid matters have gotten more serious. The IRS has become involved. Apparently news of the case drew their attention and, well, although I've paid Mr. Kord's taxes in full ever since we created the persona, obviously there are going to be no tax records from before we made him up. I'm afraid actors and extra lawyers aren't going to cut it at this point. Do you have any ideas, Ms. Shego?"

Shego's right eye twitched. "No! No, I do not have any ideas. Figure something out. I am idea-less. There are no ideas to be had. Understand?"

"Quite," said Malcom in his usual dry tone.

"What do you do when you need to come up with a new idea, Malcom?" asked Shego, her voiced laced heavily with bitterness.

"I'm a lawyer, Shego. Ninety-nine percent of the time, we don't have to fall back on new ideas. We go for precedent instead," said Malcom.

"Precedent?" asked Shego.

"Yes. I look for a previous case that's on point for the law, similar to whatever situation I'm dealing with, and of course, in my favor. Then I bring that to court. Much easier than trying to convince a judge to break ground on new law," said Malcom.

"Find someone else in a similar situation and see how they solve the problem," Shego whispered to herself. It was so crazy, it just might work. "Thanks Malcom, I think I'm going to use your precedent with precedents as my precedent."

"Good, I suppose. But what about the Kord court case," asked Malcom.

"I'll have Drakken call you about that real soon," promised Shego. Then she hung up.

The more she thought about the idea Malcom had just given to her, the more she liked it. It appealed to her sensibilities as a thief. A good thief never bought or created when she could steal instead, after all.

The video game store clerk winced when he saw a blond-haired teenager push open the glass doors and enter the store.

"Phil my man. How's it hanging?" said Ron to the clerk, as he ambled cheerfully up to the counter.

"I don't have Werewolf Rampage 2, Ron," said Phil.

"Hey, hey, hey! Major injustice here. Why can't I just be stopping by to take a look at what you have in stock and say hello to my favorite video game store clerk?" protested Ron.

"Well, there's the fact that you e-mailed me about Werewolf Rampage 2. And you phoned to ask about it. And you've been hiding outside the store, asking all my customers if I sold them Werewolf Rampage 2, even though I told you I didn't have it," said Phil.

"The official release date did say it went on sale today," said Ron.

"And something went wrong and it didn't make it out on time. It happens, Ron," said Phil.

"Maybe. Or maybe you only have a few, special, secret copies to sell, so you're saving them for your most special customers. Just saying that's a rumor I've heard, not implying anything," said Ron.

"Read my lips, Ron, I do not have the game. Now is there something else I can help you with?" answered Phil, struggling to keep the testiness out of his voice.

"All right, hey, I understand. You don't have it. I'll come back another day," said Ron. He turned and walked back to the door. Before he left, however, he paused to add, "I guess I just don't rank as high on your customer list as I thought."

Phil sighed and buried his face in his hand. For a moment after the door swung shut behind Ron, all was quiet. Then there came a scream from outside, in what sounded like Ron's voice.

Startled, Phil perked up and started to run around the counter to see what was the matter. Rounding the corner, however, he tripped over an unopened box of games and ended up sprawled out on the floor. By the time he got to his feet and made it outside, everything was over.

Phil found two things when he exited the store. The first was an unconscious naked mole rat, lying next to the store window.

The second was a message melted into the pavement of the sidewalk by fiery plasma. It read, 'FIND US IF YOU CAN, KIM POSSIBLE. –SHEGO.'

Ron Stoppable was nowhere to be found.

Author's Notes:

Okay, this was one of the chapters I've been waiting to write ever since I started this fic. This is where I finally lay out my interpretation of what Shego's deal is, why she hangs with Drakken, and what her secret weakness is. I do think it's an interpretation supported by the series. I haven't yet seen every episode, but there's less than 10 I haven't seen. And in no episode, at no time, can I ever find an instance of Shego coming up with an idea or plan of her own. Oh, she's great at criticizing plans. She can even identify if Drakken needs a new plan and when the current plan is FUBAR. But having identified that need, she doesn't then come up with a plan for herself. (At least, not more complicated than 'run away'.)

There's this great scene in 'Two to Tutor' when Junior has completed his training and it's time for his graduation exercise. Shego is supposed to pick a target, and she just starts standing there hemming and hawing, and she can't come up with anything. She's trying so hard, but she can't do it, and it's left up to Junior to come up with a target.

Okay, but what about 'A Sitch in Time'. Doesn't that prove Shego's villainous potential? Well, the thing is that Shego never actually comes up with the plan to use the Tempus Simian to take over the world. Her future self appears in a time loop and gives her the basic outline of the whole plan. All Shego has to do is implement it. Shego never actually thinks the thing up independently, it's always coming from her future self, who in turn got it from herself when she was young Shego. And even in the evil future, Shego isn't showing a heck of a lot of creativity.

That's my take, anyway.

Now, I try not to be one of those authors who begs for reviews, but I'd really like to ask that people reading take the time to comment this time around. I write really long chapters rather than a bunch of little chapters, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. And I really, really want to know what people think of this chapter. This was an important chapter to me. I know there's at least a couple of dozen people reading this fic from the stats, so how about dropping a review if you haven't done so the last couple of chapters? What did you think of the Shego reveals?

Other stuff. I really sweated over Shego's name. I thought about going for the S-names, but that seems a little played, and there's really no reason that her superhero name should be too similar to her normal name. 'Peter Parker' doesn't sound much like 'Spider-man'. So instead I went for a 'sounds like it means something' name. She's from the Gallant family, which sounds like the sort of family name a bunch of superheroes should have. Shego, however, is Natalie 'Nat' Gallant. Nat Gallant. "Not Gallant". Get it? Heh.

Also, the Disney website says that Go City is really Chicago, so I thought I'd run with it. Shego seems like a Chicago girl anyway. There's no "Go Mountain" near Chicago, but I figure a supervillain dropped it there.

Drakken only got one scene this chapter, but I hope it continued to shed a little light on him. Was he giving consideration to Gemini's offer? Well, perhaps it tempted him a little. Hero, villain, mastermind, lackey, Drakken just wants to be a winner. But on his terms.

Only one action sequence this chapter, but I tried to make it a doozy! Hope you enjoyed Shego being really forced to sweat and dig deep to survive.

Not as many jokes this chapter, I know. Had to spend most of the space on Shego exposition.

Did you like the cliffhanger? Next chapter, Shego and Ron as captor and captive. Comedy Gold!

Thanks to Matri, GargoyleSama, Eva91, Jezrianna2.0, and Blackfire 18 for your comments on the previous chapter. 'cl', thanks for the comment you dropped on my opening chapter.

Jez and GargoyleSama, I hope you found the explanation of Shego's motivations to be satisfying. Sometimes those who can't may find some satisfaction in just hanging close to those who can.

Longest chapter yet!