Blood dripped from Kim Possible's nose. Even as she smarted, she dodged another fist, then flipped over her assailant, swiping out and knocking him off his feet even as she landed behind him. Yet he did not flinch. He leapt immediately back to his feet, and then kicked out.

Kim was fighting more than just some enemy. She was fighting a torrent of emotions within her. Fear, not for herself, but for the closest person to her in the entire world. She knew what Slade had meant. What he wanted. Ron was so mindless in his current state that he seemed immune to pain. In order to stop him, she would have to use all her strength. She would have to hurt him… but she just couldn't.

"Frustrating, isn't it." Slade mused as he watched, his voice carrying itself through the entire room like that of a dark god. "Fighting against an opponent who looks just like someone you care about. But make no mistake; your lover is lost to you. I merely have control of his body, and I will use him however I see fit, unless you can stop him."

Kim ducked a roundhouse, then leapt lightly over a follow up swipe. Ron then leapt forward with flying spin kick, but Kim back flipped away from the attack. She pushed Slade's words out of her mind. She didn't believe him for a second. Ron was in there somewhere. She just needed an opening to reach him.

"What do you suppose I should do with him after he's through with you? Perhaps he can retrieve another copy of the data code that you were so anxious to retrieve the other night. Of course, he might be killed in the attempt, but sacrifices must be made."

Kim blocked one kick, then another, then another. However, as she tried to leap past him, Ron reached out and grabbed her arm. With new strength that he had never possessed before in his life, Ron twisted Kim's arm into an Aikido grip, his arms strong as steel, meant to snare her hand behind her back with one arm, while he pulled her head back at a painful angle.

"Or perhaps I'll have him finish your family. If you submit now, I'll even let you watch." Slade sneered at the sight.

"Ron…." Kim struggled for air, her neck feeling like it was being torn right off. "Ron i-it's me. P-please… Ron." Tears mixed with blood over Kim's face. She had one free hand, and she saw an opening with which to use it, but against Ron….

"You know you can beat him. " Slade's voice carried a tone of frustration in it as it rose in volume. "Stop holding back and do it!"

Kim uttered a silent wish for forgiveness, before striking. Tensing her hand in much the same way she had seen Ron do in the forest, she struck out behind her, threatening to tear her arm off in the process, at Ron's throat.

Blood spurted from Ron's mouth as Kim hit true. Even the mindless trance that had held him and made him oblivious to the world around him could not ignore such an attack. Ron's grip on Kim immediately vanished, leaving Kim to try and regain feeling within her other arm. Ron coughed and gasped for air, and tears poured from his eyes as they turned towards Kim, allowing her to see something familiar in them that she had not seen for what seemed like an eternity.

"Kim?" Ron asked weakly, his mindless gaze melting away to reveal a mixture of terror and confusion, as though waking up from a terrible nightmare.

But the nightmare was not over. Even as Kim rushed over to him, Ron's arm moved of its own accord, striking Kim hard across the face. Kim looked at Ron to see her own confusion reflected through his features.

Against his own will, Ron continued the attack, forcing Kim to return to her defensive stance, while Slade watched with renewed interest.

"Well now, how interesting." Slade's amusement revealed itself too clearly in his voice. This was going far better than he had hoped.

Ron was a prisoner in his own body, fighting in the thrall of forces he neither understood nor controlled. He moved in the grip of instincts and reflexes that ignored his own desires and commands, powerless to do anything but watch as he tried to kill the woman of his life.

Kim could see the helpless look in Ron's eyes as they fought. "Ron, you have to fight…" she was cut off as his foot kicked her square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"I think that's kinda the problem KP." Ron responded, even as he leapt out to tackle Kim to the ground. The two rolled around for a second, before Kim finally brought herself on top of Ron, attempting to pin him to the ground.

"That's not what I meant. Fight it, Ron. You're stronger than this." Even as Kim spoke, she could feel herself loosing her hold over him. She had the leverage, but nowhere near the upper body strength that he now had.

"I-I can't." Ron pulled against his own muscles, but they would not obey. On its own, Ron's head knocked forward, head butting Kim straight in the face, drawing yet more blood from her nose. "You have to stop me."

"No." Kim spoke with a mix of terror and determination, even as she backed away from Ron who leapt to his feet. "I won't do it. Don't you dare ask me that." Tears welled up in her eyes at the very thought. She was Kim Possible. She could do anything. She was not going to give up now. She was not going to fail, especially not today, especially not him.

"Kim!" Ron spoke, even as he attempted to drop kick her. Kim easily sidestepped the attack, only to leap at Ron's backside as he landed to the ground, tackling him. It was her turn to use the Aikido discipline, twisting his arms in such a manner as to use his own strength against him, locking his joints in place.

"You listen to me, Ron Stoppable, don't you dare give up on me. Do you hear me? You are going to fight this, and you are going to win." Kim's words were not meant to console or comfort. Ron recognized that tone all to well. That was an order, but one Ron's body seemed determined to ignore. Even as she held him in her grip, his muscles tensed against it. It felt like his arm would sooner rip itself off then heed his own cries to stop.

Ron cried out in pain as his body, ignoring the damage being done to itself, resisted Kim's grip. Kim could only watch in horror as Ron's arm seemed seconds away from tearing itself from its own socket. She tried to force herself to hold on, knowing full well what it meant to let go.

Then came the crack.

Kim wasn't sure what bone it had been, but she released in horror of herself as soon as she heard it. In that instant, Ron shot around with his other arm, nearly knocking Kim's jaw off and sending her stumbling back to the ground.

"KIM!" Ron shouted in warning as he leapt to his feet, charging her with a look of terror on his face. In a split second, a decision was made, though Kim was never conscious of making it. Kim rolled out from underneath Ron's foot as it threatened to crush her head beneath it. Then, snapping to her feet, she came about and hit Ron hard in the face with the mother of all haymakers.

The effect was devastating.

Blood splashed out from Ron's face as he fell to the floor with the look of a prize fighter that had just gotten his face rearranged in the worst, most crushing defeat of his career. Kim gasped, tears pouring from her eyes as she rushed to Ron's side. She tried to wake him, tugging at his frame, while lightly slapping him in the face. Slade's words were a distant whisper as her mind tried to fathom what had just happened to her.

"Excellent. You're finally ready to begin." Slade interrupted Kim's inner turmoil, bringing her dark gaze up to his face.

"What do you think you're talking about?" Kim practically spit the words from her mouth.

"You're ready to begin training, as my apprentice."

Kim's horror and rage were immediately replaced with shock and disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"Oh I'm very serious. I'm a man with a destiny Kim Possible; to take the world, and when I'm done, to hand it over to my apprentice, who will keep it in my place. Time and time again, I've suffered… disappointments in my search. And then, I found you. The great Kim Possible, the so called 'hero who can do anything.' The perfect canidate."

"Take Shego. I'm not interested." Kim's voice was dark and cold.

"Shego is a little… rough, around the edges. With Shego at my side, I might take the world, but with you at my side, I would keep it."

"Go to hell." Kim no longer spoke with any emotion, almost mimicking the metallic feel of Slade's.

"And what else is left for you? Do you honestly believe you could return to your life as a hero knowing what that fate holds for you? You've defeated your worst enemy; you've defeated your best friend. That life holds nothing for you anymore and you already know you were never meant for the life of an ordinary girl. You were meant for far greater things. You were meant for a life of significance, yet you squander it helping meaningless peons who can't even help themselves."

Kim didn't respond. She just glared at Slade.

"Mindless masses, cheering your name, all the while existing for the sole purpose of being helpless before people like us, who were destined to rise above them. Come with me Kim Possible and I will teach you to soar."

At first, there was utter silence. No movement or motion disturbed the tranquility of the hideout. Then, Kim finally spoke in a cruel, quiet tone that threatened to shake the world with an effect far greater than any thunderous roar.

"I'm going to destroy you."

"By all means." Slade sneered as Kim spoke. However, before he could say or do anything else, the world around them seemed to shatter. Both Kim and Slade were surprised to see the entire roof crumble all around them, metal ceiling, pipes, and even dirt and roots from the earth above fell down, littering the room as a large mechanical monstrosity dropped down into the room.

The machine in question was at least twenty feet tall. Upon closer inspection, Kim realized it was a kind of battle suit, though far more powerful and bulkier than her own. Kim could not restrain her surprise as she caught a glimpse of the pilot through the transparent pilot cockpit.

"Slade!" Drakken shouted through speakers located at the top of the robot. "You and I have unfinished business!"