Authors Note: The author of this fic, in no way, meant to imply or guarentees either an appearance by the Teen Titans, or a happy ending for our heroes. I guess you're all just going to have to suffer through and find out for yourselves.

Silence reigned for the third day straight in the Possible household. Kim had been in her room, scarcely eating, and only sleeping after finally crying herself into slumber each night. Her parents had tried to comfort her, reassure her, but without any luck. They too had become very solemn, waiting and hoping for some news. Even the 'tweebs' seemed to have lost the will to rewire, reprogram, or blow up anything.

The Stoppable household was very much the same, though the occasional sob or weep could be heard from time to time.

There had been nothing, no news, no threats, no messages, no sign of Slade, or Ron, for days now. Every time Kim would ever look up at the time on the clock, she would do a quick tally in her mind of the total amount of time Ron had been missing, and the count would bring her to tears each time.

She had tried everything she could think of, calling in every favor ever owed to her, and then some, to try find Ron. The tracking device that Wade had implanted in Ron years ago was being blocked somehow from transmitting a signal. Global Justice, with help from the local police department, had already done a complete sweep of the entire city to no avail. The highway patrol had been alerted to search any vehicles moving out of the city, while Dr. Possible had even used his connections at work to use satellite scanning to look for any unauthorized vehicles flying out of the city. When it was all said and done, a fly couldn't have snuck out of Middleton with Ron without someone noticing.

And all for nothing.

Kim buried her pain and tears in her pillow as she continued to relive her failure in her mind. She should have been with him, should have protected him.

Slade had been right. Ron was in god-knew what kind of trouble, and it was all her fault. It was her fault because she loved him. She had been friends with him and he was being punished for it.

Slade's words echoed in her mind over and over again. How many complete strangers had she saved? People that she had never even met, some of which she might never even see again. People she had never really owed anything, but she still risked life and limb to help them and had succeeded. And now Ron, the one person who meant more to her than anything else in the world….

Kim's inner torment was interrupted by a familiar chime. For a moment, Kim's spirit's soared as she reached for the Kimmunicator. The face on the screen seemed almost as excited as she was.

"Kim, I found him!" Wade exclaimed.

"What? Where! How?" Kim's heart skipped a beat at the announcement.

"His chip. I don't know why, but I'm getting a signal from it. It's com…." The image on the Kimmunicator began to dissolve in a haze of static, soon to be replaced by a familiar masked figure.

"Kim. I have something very precious to you. If you want to see your dear Ron in any sort of functional capacity, come alone. Bring anyone at all, your brothers, Global Justice, even the rodent, and you will once again be responsible for Ronald's suffering." Slade's visage disappeared from the Kimmunicator screen, bringing Wade's face back.

"….im, Kim, can you… what just happened?" Wade finished his voiced concern as though he had never stopped speaking at all.

"It was Slade. Wade, where did you say you found Ron?" Kim asked with growl on her face.

"Well, the signal is actually coming from one of Drakken's old bases, just outside Middleton."

"Didn't GJ already sweep through there?"

"Sure did. One of the first places they checked actually. I don't know about this Kim, this is probably a trap."

"Most definitely. How soon can you get me out there?"

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The base in question had actually been located underneath a large hill alongside the highway. Kim believed she could recall foiling a plan of Drakken's to hold the globe hostage by releasing an army of genetically modified rabbits that would breed at an abnormally high rate and consume entire crops. It wasn't one of his better ideas. The plan had obviously backfired, as many of Drakken's plans had, as the rabbits had turned out to be sterile.

Kim recalled the entrance to this particular hideout located underneath a fake oak tree with a thin branch expanding out five feet from the ground. The branch in question was nothing more than a lever that, once pulled, would cause an entrance way to slide away and reveal itself in the side of the tree.

Kim found herself surprisingly afraid when the entranceway had not been booby trapped. Instead, the hatch contained the same ladder leaning down into the dark. Kim tapped down on the buckle of her battle suit for reassurance, and then, uttering a silent prayer, dropped straight down. She already knew that there was no need for stealth, she was expected.

Sure enough, her entrance brought lights on throughout the entire room. It looked as though much of Drakken's old equipment had been cleared away, affording her plenty of room in case of a fight, she noted mentally.

"I hope we are both far past the juvenile quips and taunts." Slade's voice carried throughout the room. Kim's senses tracked it to atop a series of large metallic pipes that went across the entire top of the room. He stood there perfectly motionless, poised with the composure of a statue.

"You took something that belongs to me." Kim managed to get out through gritted teeth.

"Actually, that credit belongs to my new disciple." Slade gestured to a shadowed corner where a pair of green glowing fists dimly illuminated a familiar form.

Shego leapt out directly in front of Kim, posed for battle. "So princess, any last words?"

Kim almost cracked a smirk, though it failed to penetrate her stone resolve. It was so out of character for Shego to forgo her usual pre-battle taunts, which usually went back and forth between the two for at least another thirty seconds. "Slade must have her spooked good." Kim reached down to her buckle and pressed her fingers hard into it, causing the blue patterns all across her battle suit to glow to life. "Yeah, you're in my way."

Kim screamed with three days worth of pent up rage and guilt as she ran straight toward Shego, who had in turn, charged her as well. The two leapt into the air at each other, trading blows back and forth even as gravity brought them back to the ground. Kim kicked out at Shego, who flipped out of the way, throwing down a barrage of green energy blasts at Kim as she sailed through the air.

Kim somersaulted out of their path before aiming her climbing cable stored around her suits wrists directly at Shego's feet. Kim's aim was dead on, and Shego, unable to properly balance herself with her feet tied together, came landing to the ground with a harsh thud.

Kim wasn't done yet. Even as she activated the impulse within the suit to retract the cable, Kim began to pull at it with all the strength she could muster. Spinning herself around with her feet while her hands retained a firm grip on the cord, Kim spun Shego around and around and around in a fury of rage.

Shego could tell this wasn't going to be pretty. Her instincts brought her to bear as she aimed a blast at Kim's chest. Though the suit kept Kim from suffering any second or third degree burns, the blast was enough to knock her off her feet and cause her to loose her grip. Shego was sent flying through the air, before hitting the side of the wall.

"Princess, that's going to cost you." Shego spit out even as she rubbed her head slightly for any unsightly bumps.

Both fighters immediately leapt to their feet, running head long at each other once again. The two fought as though they were in a carefully choreographed dance number that they had rehearsed over years and years of deadly combat with one another. The two struck out from physical memory, each one already knowing how to react to the others attacks and defenses. But something in Kim struck out harder, the only thing that will give a person more strength than fighting for their own survival… fighting for the survival of a loved one.

Kim blocked a strike from Shego's left arm, then immediately forced the arm down, bending and twisting it in such a manner that left Shego with no way out. For a split second, she stepped back, and in that opportunity, as Shego rose up to regain her composure, Kim kicked out hard and straight into her gut, knocking the wind from Shego's lungs. Shego fired sparse energy bolts in Kim's direction, trying to force her opponent back, but Kim easily leapt over them. She came down and ran straight at Shego, delivering a teeth smashing haymaker than knocked Shego straight to the ground.

Kim wasn't done yet. Even as Shego tried to bring herself to her feet once more, Kim leapt on top of her, tackling her to the ground. With her legs, she pinned Shego's arms to the ground and then punched, and punched again, and again, and again. Kim continued to pummel her helpless opponent until blood began rushing out of Shego's nose and mouth. But there was something inside Kim that didn't care. A cold rage awakened within her, something she had never really even been aware of.

For a moment, Kim prepared for a renewed salvo, only to be stopped by the horror of her own actions. What was she doing? She looked down to see a pitiful look for mercy coming from Shego's horribly bruised face, and something else. Something that she had never seen before from her super powered foe: fear. She had beaten Shego before but this…

"Do it." Slade spoke from overhead.

"What?" Kim asked in shock.

"What?" Shego asked weakly.

"Do it. Finish her." Slade was talking to Kim, not Shego.

"B-but, I thought she was your…"

"She is your enemy Kim; that is all that matters. Time and time again you have fought her, you have won against her, but you have never truly beaten her. You now have the chance to finish her off once and for all. Take it. Kill her." Slade's voice reached a new depth of cruelty in its tone. Both Kim and Shego were horrified at what they were hearing.

"No." Kim spoke, almost in a whisper, even as she looked down at the battered form of her enemy. "I won't become her."

"Then you have no chance against my newest lackey. Allow me to introduce you." At this, Slade pressed down on a remote control in his hand. In response, a pair of trap doors in the floor opened up, allowing rise to a large platform. Strapped into the platform was blonde figure that Kim could scarcely recognize.

"Ron." Kim whispered in terror. Even as she spoke, the metal restraints holding him in place unlocked themselves. The platform itself brought itself to an upright angle, yet he did not move.

"Weapon: Engage" On Slade's command, Ron's eyes opened, a mindless gaze shot out from them at nothing. He did not see Kim, though she was right in front of him.

Kim rushed straight up to him, embracing him tightly, until she realized that he was not moving. In fact, he was totally unaware as to her presence. "Ron, Ron it's me." Kim looked deeply into his eyes, but she saw nothing. Only irises, the deep brown color that she had come to love, but nowhere in them did she see any sign of Ron Stoppable.

"Attack!" Slade ordered.

In that instant, Ron lashed out, his fist striking hard across Kim's face, knocking her back hard to the ground. Kim struggled to throw off the pain, looking up just in time to see Ron leap up into the air, then bring his right foot out to land straight on top of her.

Kim's self-preserving instincts moved her out of the way of the attack. Even as Ron landed beside her, she leapt to her feet, and then reacted just in time to dodge another punch, before leaping away from a roundhouse kick.

"Impressive, don't you think?" Slade commented as he watched the fight with obvious amusement. "You know, I must admit I was very impressed. He resisted far longer than I would have imagined possible. Still, I think I was able to make something out of the young man. The latest in nanotechnology to build up his muscles, and a combination of neural reprogramming and hypnosis to turn him into the perfect living weapon; the one weapon the great Kim Possible could never defeat."

Kim's arms shot up to deflect a high kick, then to her side to block an attack to her heart. Kim could tell that Slade was right, Ron was bigger, his muscles much more powerful than they had ever been naturally before. And his moves were deadly. He was fighting to kill, yet she could only bring herself to defend.

"You'll be pleased to know however than I left you an opening." Slade sneered even as Ron's kick knocked Kim back to the ground. "I've timed his new reflexes. His attacks are exactly a fraction of a second slower than yours."

Kim leapt over a swipe from Ron, and then back flipped from him to give herself room to think. Even as she did, Slade's words echoed like those of a judge handing down a death sentence.

"You can beat him and all you have to do… is stop holding back."