Based on RSAHNP
by Henrik Hammer Hedemann...

The Mad Dog of Middleton: Mystical Fever

It was one of the first times he'd ever hurt his friend. He felt awful for it. Kim was left lying on the floor because he was afraid. He put enough volts into her to knock her out. Just when he decided he would make this up to them, somehow, Wade was unable to save Ron's childhood home from being destroyed. Wade has eyes on most everything, being able to hack into security cameras, but there are blind spots. The bad guys were slipping under the radar. By the time Wade realized he needed to call them when the sensors were tripped, it was too little too late. He knew Ron and Kim were disappointed in him. Wade's been off his game for the entire past week, and he couldn't shake it.

He has just deleted all of Ron's temporary files that he managed to gather. It was revolting, showing Kim that junk they called adult movies. Wade is a child, but he's spent the equivalent of a lifetime's worth of time on the internet alone. He has already seen his fair share of vile things, but he's absorbed enough information to become desensitized to it all. But exposing that to an angel like Kim was like showing an elementary schooler a real life murder. His mother told him that sex is painful and meant solely for the purpose of giving birth, so he never understood the appeal.

While looking into the failed internal affairs investigations, he heard that familiar tune indicating a contact. Team Possible has its own designated callsign. Someone was reaching out to them.

"Team Possible. This is Wade speaking."

The voice was gruff. "You sound so damn young."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"Sorry for calling past bedtime, 'Wade'. Had no one else I could to turn to."

He didn't take offense. He was really young. "I don't sleep." Or can't at this time, anyway. His sleep schedule's like a nurse's that works both days and nights. Wade's become a night owl, though he slept from five to ten in the morning. School wasn't a problem. A new policy states that children aren't allowed to fail the grade anymore. He does take the occasional nap too, throughout the day. "What can we do to help you?"

"Nothing. I'm here to warn you. I ask that you keep what you hear in mind in the coming days."

"This is going on record." Wade's wpm was nothing to scoff at. "May I have your name?"

"Joe."

"Joe..?" Wade wanted it in full.

"Just Joe."

"Well. What do you have for me, Joe?"

He cleared his throat. "Everything you know about Global Justice is wrong. No, that's not accurate, but I need to keep this short. The world sees their squeaky clean record and gives them full trust and confidence. Their stats, their goals, most of it are lies fed to the public to make them feel safe. From what I remember, you kids at Team Possible are even backed by them. But seeing as how you're kids, I don't think you'll be given all the dirty details of what really goes on. Not all of Global Justice is as ethical as they want to admit. The higher ups are merciless. Their peacekeeping is more like a dictatorship."

Wade already knows Global Justice isn't perfect. None of this is new to him. He decides to patronize him, in the case he might die for nothing. "Are you certain of this? We, should have found something by now if that's true." Wade knows what really happened to the Director's brother. He was a terrible man that is responsible for many crimes, but no one is deserving of that kind of fate. Kim has seen the worst in people, but they all deserved life.

"It might be hard to believe but it's the truth." He was grunting like he was in pain. "See the thing is, I don't have any hard proof. And that's the scary part. It's hard to clean up all that blood, but somehow, those guys are efficient at leaving no trace when erasing people."

That's actually wrong Wade knew. As big as Global Justice is, it has holes just as any organization does. It just takes the right person to find them.

"You don't sound too good sir. If you give me a minute I can get your location. Send you some help."

"Don't bother. It's useless, messed up in a pretty bad way. Don't think I'm getting out of this one." He sounded like he already accepted his fate. Wade kept his composure like a true professional, even when the man might be near death.

"I understand. Do you have any family?" Hard to track down a family without a surname. "If you think this is it for you-"

"No. I don't. For the longest time.." He stopped himself, like he had something he wanted to say, but didn't follow through. "It doesn't matter now. Just hard to believe you kids playing hero end up doing more than us idiotic adults." He sounded delusional, and almost like he was fading. "With kids like Kim around to inspire people, the future will be in good hands. I'll bet she inspired you as well. No normal kid would be running pointman like this. Maybe that's why deep down I know you're someone I can count on."

Wade's one of those kids that was changed by Kim. He had nothing in common with a cheerleader, but it's her actions that drove Wade to aspire to be better. "So this rests solely our shoulders, huh?" The kid in him spoke out.

"You and your friends might be one of the only good ones left. I'm sorry to do this, I needed someone out there to know, or the truth will die here with me."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

There was no response. Instead, there was a sound of a crackle.

"Hello? Joe? Joe?"

Somehow, the line got cut.

Wade sat in silence in the dark, surrounded by the glows of his monitors.

These distress calls usually ended like this. More times than he'd like to admit. He didn't like to tell Kim because it makes her feel useless. This time, some man died to reveal unbacked information that Wade already kind of knew.

Wade has long accepted Global Justice supporting Team Possible because it's what he has to work with, like a bad hand in poker. How he would convince Kim to not join them after high school as planned, while keeping her in the dark about why would be troublesome. Wade has turned a blind eye to a lot of things. It's time for him to do what he thinks is right, regardless of his methods. He's watch from the sidelines, maintaining this status quo, when there was so much more he could be doing. Wade was proud of Team Possible and all they have accomplished.

But he couldn't continue on like this. As smart as Wade is perceived, he felt small, being so young. At the end of the day, he's just one of those lowly geeks that belonged in the gutter, taking sips of his cola and growing fat. For all this time he's sunk into the pit of addiction. Not long ago all he did is bring grief to strangers online, using his smarts to terrorize people for fun like a common villain. He knew he could never reach the heights of his companions, and because of his ineptitude and lack of foresight, some real bad things are happening to his friends.

The first thing Wade decided to do is leak the truth about several people abusing their power, such as one Officer Hobble. Good family man at heart. But is still doing wrong by making deals with the people he should be arresting. Wade has looked into him. Even watched him go about his daily life. It will ruin the lives of his family, and that's not a thing Wade felt good about. It won't even fix everything as Hobb's one of the hundreds in Middleton, but it will set a precedent that someone is out there stopping corruption.

However, by leaking this information to the public Wade will be breaching policies of privacy and security. He's broken the law before, but he's always been discreet about it. Kim and Ron are heroes he looked up to. They shouldn't have to share that burden with him. Wade wants them to enjoy their senior year as high school sweethearts. If Wade revealed the truth though, it's a given that Kim will have to face the exposed, ugly truth too. She isn't privy to everything Wade knows.

He remembered Kim's icy glare after he used the battle suit's countermeasure, and the smoke rising from Ron's home. Wade rationalized that he was better off going his own way. It brought him no joy, but feeling good isn't what being a hero is about.

Ron's emotions are all over the map. After that kiss from Bonnie, he actually felt both excited, and angry at himself for not telling her it was wrong. It is just a kiss though, meant to express her thanks. He shouldn't overthink it. Kim was brushing her hair on a chair. It smells really good in her room. Must be a girl thing. Ron was sleeping here tonight. It wasn't his first time. He made a promise with her daddy long ago not to try anything, but he broke that once they started dating. He wasn't about to tell her family what they've gotten up to on some nights. Ron was stretching after doing a short exercise routine. His varsity Mad Dog jacket was left on the floor.

"That's what she said?" Kim asked. She wore plain white pajamas with a pinkish red heart in the center, and very loose pink pants.

"It wouldn't be Bonnie if she didn't shit talk you at least some, KP." In a way, Bonnie was doing that. But Ron felt she was different. "Well, like I said, it's from her perspective. She actually feels bad about all this."

"Really." Kim set it down on her dresser, looking at him with a disbelieving grin.

"And she, maybe kinda wants to make up. If you're able."

"Oh so I was the problem all along! Now there's an interesting take."

"That's the kind of reaction she was probably afraid of. C'mon KP." Ron tried to get her on board. "Don't you want to talk to Bonnie like you did in the good old days?"

"What 'good' old days, exactly? You act as if we were a really closely knit bunch in middle school, when really we were just friends that would talk every few days and that's it. It's not like we were BFF's. All she did was boss us around and try to get us to fit in. Is there something I'm missing?" Ron kept his word and didn't go into complete detail about what Bonnie said about him. Only the stuff about wanting to be on friendly terms again seemed important.

"Bonnie's been in a bad place for awhile now, and still is. I don't think we should be heartless and treat her like she's irredeemable for her past mistakes."

Kim scoffed. "This is attempt number three or four of her trying to convince you she's not a horrible human being that just wants to use you, and it seems to work every time. Have you heard the phrase, fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you? Do you maybe enjoy being played?" Kim was showing some attitude when discussing her, not that he blamed her. The two had history. Bonnie has a tendency of getting what she wants, and enjoyed getting a rise out of people in general, especially with Kim.

"Of course not. We still should give her the chance. I really don't think she'd use a tragedy to her advantage." To be fair, that tragedy was more about his family losing money and feeling need to flee their home. It's not like anyone died. He's bound to find out if Bonnie was being genuine or not, but he hasn't seen her so sad before. And the words she was saying made sense. He just had to wait and see, but, he has faith in Bonnie, even if it's unfounded. Still, playing the fool again was not something he preferred. He's been long tired of being taken as a joke.

Ron did feel called out, and Kim felt bad for it. "I'm not against patching things up with her. But you can be pretty.. naïve, and girls like Bonnie will exploit that." He felt that gullible was the word she would have used if she wasn't being a supportive girlfriend. He wondered if his naivete was why Kim never told Ron about Tara. Maybe Tara's one of those girls Kim didn't want Ron near. No, if that were the case, Kim wouldn't be inviting Tara over to watch soaps. "It's just hard for me to trust her. I don't even hate her, she's more annoying than anything else. Just be careful," Kim cautioned.

Ron thought about what Bonnie had said about Kim. There are two sides to this story. He knows Kim's better obviously. She's a victim to Bonnie's antics, but its never bothered her that much. Kim voices her complaints, then gets over it the next day. But there are rumors about Kim as there are rumors about every girl at school. He knew it was just jealous kids trying to give Kim a bad rep, or even bored no lifers that had nothing else better to do. Still, it's not like Ron's with Kim twenty four hours of the day. If what Bonnie says is true, maybe that just made Kim human, and not some manipulative woman that's keeping things from him.

His girlfriend wasn't wrong to point out Bonnie could be just trying to abuse his trust. If she really does want to make amends, he just needs to check if she really is taking the steps to do just that. He had suspicions that either of them could be manipulating him to distrust the other due to their rivalry. No, Bonnie would know Ron and Kim were tight. Her telling him about Kim's alleged true nature seemed like she was genuinely trying to help him, misguided and or misinformed Bonnie might have been.

As if she wanted to bring up something positive after insulting him for being gullible, Kim said, "Thanks for making dinner. It always leaves me wanting more." She put her hand on her toned stomach. She was strict on her food intake, so there was barely a change even when she was full, but he understood the intent of the gesture. He actually found it more suggestive than anything else.

"Glad I can at least get that right."

"Didn't ask during dinner, but, what do you have in mind about Adrena Lynn's offer?" Kim asked, sitting on her bed, slightly rocking it.

"No clue yet. First thing to do is ask a friend of mine what she knows about the Killigan Gangs."

"So it's not a no, then." Kim was still skeptical of her proposition. "You're really considering taking her up on that."

"This isn't something I should just pass up. You heard her. People that have lost their way can use my help, and you can't reach your hand out to help them when we're using those same hands to beat on their faces. If this works out, I can keep them from going too far, and even act kind of like an informant for you. Besides. I owe her one."

"Who? Adrena Lynn? Again, Ron, you need to be careful with who you trust." Her perspective on it is no different than the one on Bonnie. "And you're talking about the best case scenario. There are so many things that can go wrong."

"You knew the risks when you started this crimefighting Kim. And you still did it anyway."

She sighed. "Who is this acquaintance of yours?"

"Her name's Serena. The girl who's roommates with the one taking care of Rufus. Kind of a bad influence, but she helped me throw up, if that makes sense?" That was one of the only things he could remember of that summer bash. She pat him on the back while he was next to the toilet. It wasn't pretty, but from what he can remember, she walked him through it, fed him, and comforted him.

Ron at times had some serious memory problems, and his being introduced to alcohol didn't help. They say you drink to forget, but in Ron's case he didn't really mean to, it just sort of happened. Serena told him to not be such a boring stick in the mud, and to let loose with liquid courage. Even poured him his first drink urging him to go all out, and apparently on that night he was actually the life of the party, though again Ron couldn't remember most of what happened because he was wasted. They formed some kind of teacher student relationship, in more ways than one.

"Whoa. TMI. How would she know Killigan better than, say, Wade?" Kim asked.

"I did ask Wade what he knew about Killigan, and he says Killigan's criminal empire isn't as big here as he is in other places." Wade can usually only focus on one place at a time, or track specific people and what they're up to, such as Kim's most common enemies. "At one point, Killigan rose to prominence in Florida, the Sunshine State. Enough to make headlines as the Florida Gangbangers for their notoriety. I'm acquainted with someone there who will know all about them. She should know all about the criminal activity. I'll ask what these guys are all about before I make a decision." Good to know what they're about instead of jumping in blind. If they're really the good Samaritans and misunderstood, poverty stricken outcasts Adrena Lynn made them out to be.

"Like it matters. If they're too shady, that gives you all the more reason to join so you can scope them out. And if they're clean, you'll feel more safe going along with Adrena Lynn. In either case I can't talk you out of this." Kim seemed to be distraught her boyfriend would be putting himself at risk like this, and without her to bail him out if things actually go wrong. "It's up to you Ron. You seem to have thought this through so I'll have faith. It's kind of funny but, I already knew what your final decision would be."

He took his place on her bed next to her.

"Promise me you'll be okay." She said.

"I'm always okay. That word defines me. I'm always just.. okay." He joked. As long he's got Kim at his side he's got nothing to fear.

Her body wasn't like his. She was so soft and sweet. He felt her child bearing hips and pulled her close. The two stared into each other's eyes, feeling each other's breath. Only he was privileged enough to see this vulnerable side of her.

She put her chin on his shoulder. Her warmth was soothing. "If you want to, tonight I'm all yours." She ran her hands over her body as she spoke, as if to highlight how insanely sexy she was. "My tits, ass, and pussy." Those naughty words, coming from his angel of a girlfriend, was frankly invigorating.

This fucking girl. For a time Ron could never quit thinking about love and appearances, it was like he could never go flaccid. It's not entirely his fault because he's always surrounded by all these attractive women. Kim was definitely no exception. In fact she set the gold standard. Needless to say, he was hard as a rock.

Kim felt silly. "Did you like my dirty talk? It's what guys are into, right?" She hoped it would please him. It's amusing because he can't even recall the last time she has ever cursed in any kind of fashion. She really was trying her best to appeal to him. "Was it not to your liking?"

"No, you're definitely a natural." He smirked. He played nice guy when really he wanted to just call her out for being a thirsty woman. He didn't want pity sex after having to move in with his girlfriend like some sad freeloader. "I'm not exactly in the mood, after today." At least, that's what he felt he should be saying. A perfect hottie like Kim was any teen's dream girl. He wanted to make her do filthy things even if he knew it was wrong. Make her scream. Make her swear more. Ruin that image of a pristine, flawless Kim forever. He added, "Plus, I don't have any condoms on me." The ones he bought from a corner store were still at his now-messed up family home.

"I do!" She blushed for getting overexcited, like she had found the missing piece to a puzzle. "Well I mean, if we need any. I'm sure I can find some you left lying around." Kim definitely knew where they were, but she was embarrassed of looking too much like a horny schoolgirl that craved sex more than her own boyfriend did.

"Hearing that's a relief. It's so embarrassing having to buy that stuff." Those lapses in his memory would sometimes return in strange ways. Back when they were younger, and even now, Ron's things used to go missing, or he'd misplace them. Kim would find what he lost and return it to him.

Kim has always done so much for him, and just simply going for it would be outright greedy. He suddenly thought back to Bonnie's words and wondered if this was all just Kim's way of making up for the past, and treating him like her convenient sidekick. Kim giving him that lip about being a fool also seemed to make him more aroused, like he wanted to make her look even more foolish when he was pinning her down to the bed, watching her make those shameless faces she'd make from overwhelming sexual pleasure.

Ron felt like a scumbag thinking about that, but his body still felt those primal urges to do unspeakable things. Half of him didn't care he would be taking advantage of his sweet childhood friend, but the other half knew it would be in violation of what a boyfriend should be like. He's no gentlemen, but he still felt the obligation to improve on himself, hence not eating like a slob, and his buy clothes that looked at least halfway decent.

He chose the boring option. "I think we'll have to put this on hold for now." Boring's how he gets points for having at least some dignity.

Kim was less impressed he had restraint and more remorseful for even bringing the subject up. "I'm disgusting for thinking about sexual intercourse at a time like this, aren't I?"

She's so damn hard on herself. "No, Kim, it's my fault, with all this going on, the only thing on my mind is you. I just have a lot on my plate right now. My parents, Bonnie, Adrena Lynn, the Fiske Clan.. You had me pegged last night, sex is what all guys want, and, I'm no exception. But enjoying myself right after being told off by a hysterical mom is just.. well I think we need to reschedule." Kim's spontaneous touching earlier today exemplified how she was catching Ron at bad times. "Okay, say I'm a doctor. I don't mind you just catching me at random so I can treat you on the spot, but booking an appointment beforehand, can really help me prepare."

"I see, that makes sense." Kim rubbed the side of her chin. "Should we try some other time then?" It looked like she wasn't giving up on it.

"For sure." He didn't relent on practicing restraint but he was already regretting turning her down. "Sorry for killing the mood again." He thought about how one of the cheerleaders, a girl named Elizabeth, left her boyfriend because she was unsatisfied, or so the rumor goes.

Elizabeth dated Pete Peterson, the ice hockey captain. Ron knows him because he's behind Kim when taking attendance or any school wide events like photo day. Peterson became depressed after he got dumped, and transferred. A lot of kids come and go, and rarely anyone takes notice. Pete wasn't exactly the nicest guy either, chucking whenever Bonnie or the other jealous girls were mocking Kim. But Ron could still sympathize with how he might have felt. Ron's mind drifted to the prom. If some guy like Eric really existed, and Kim rejected Ron, he thought he'd become a pathetic wreck himself and just leave Middleton High. Plenty of guys are still crushing on Kim. He really needed to stop pushing his luck, and give Kim proper loving. Otherwise..

"Some good all my efforts have done me," Kim lamented. "Monique's right. Boys are way more into it when we play hard to get."

Ron was afraid he's depriving them both of much needed intimacy. "Kim, honestly, I really do love everything about what you've been doing.. You're so beautiful I feel like I'm losing my mind, no, rather you're the only thing on my mind when it should be my family's safety. I'm the disgusting one."

Kim leaned on him and gave him another kiss. He returned with one of his own. It felt more mind numbingly good the more passionate it got. Kim felt him all over, his toned body was so big and strong. She let him run his fingers all over her curves and thighs.

Their lips parted. "We're the same then," Kimberly said with a lovely, reassuring smile.

He went to turn the lights off. The two crawled in bed to spoon, comfortably treating each other like cuddle buddies.

"Sweet dreams. Mwah." Kim pecked him, and started nuzzling her head against his cheek. Ron was seriously starting to doubt what Bonnie had said.

How there could be any maliciousness in his girlfriend was nothing short of impossible.

"BB: Run a systems diagnostic. Search for any kind of obstruction that might explain the influx of water pressure in the east side crew quarters." Lars said to the computer. He was in charge of maintaining their sewer base and is head of the geeky scientists here.

Shego sat across from the man with a goatee. Lars was his name. Man got into the criminal business out of respect for Drakken, somehow. He's not exactly strong or even that maniacal. There's one thing worse than evil though, and that's smarts. He helped with the Diablo project, but as it didn't pan out, Lars is back to the drawing board to come up with their next big plan.

"It's been brought to my attention that you assaulted your own men. What was the dispute?" Lars asked.

Rumor is going around that Shego is all-talk, and still hasn't let go of her past as a hero. Her brothers keep making a mess of their plans, despite Shego insisting they're no threat. So some of the men have grown to distrust her. It was their own fault for being too weak to take on some brats she trained herself. While it is true she did give the order to let them go when they had the twins captured, she was far from soft, having given them some bruises that'll leave a mark. Shego considers half-truths like her being soft even worse than lies. Lies are what started the harassment she received back when she was young.

"They called me soft. I gave them proof of the contrary."

"Your scuffle was over something as trivial as that?"

Shego made it her duty to beat respect into some of the new blood, "You punks probably just think of this as a day job," she had said. Shego put him down in one hit. The other cried out, and Shego knocked his friend out, too. Some of these people have forgotten the true spirit of a criminal. So damn weak, and without ambition. Even worse is Shego is seen as strange for her beliefs. These weaklings are better off just obeying, instead of running their mouths.

"It's important to discipline unruly henchmen." Shego said. Instead of blaming me for their failures, maybe if they could actually fight, our jobs wouldn't keep going awry. Barely any of them are any good against a real opponent.

"It's best to not further lower the morale. Remember a leader is nothing without it's followers."

"And a chain is only as strong as its weakest link," Shego said. "Do you disapprove? I'm not here to be popular. This isn't high school."

"Then stop acting like a child."

She rose from her seat. She jabbed her finger in his chest. "You better watch it. I might not outrank you anymore now that we're equals, but you piss me off, and I'll throw you in the same cage we got the originals in."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Glad to hear. Now, what do we got on our Dementor problem? Told you to look into it."

He adjusted his ultraviolet glasses. "We received a small tip from one of our insiders. Apparently one of the members of the alliance's inner circle was spotted helping move supplies into the Middleton Medical Center. Some man named Myron, apparently kin to Professor Dementor himself."

"Hoh? Better than I thought." If we take him captive, we can extract important intel, then use him as live bait. "When are we making a move on them?"

"I leave that to you to decide." Lars said. "To me this is a pointless endeavor. It's already common knowledge their days have been numbered since the Executives folded."

"What you got some bigger fish to fry? Our enemies have been thinning out since we started forming pacts, sure. That doesn't make protecting our turf pointless. You just going to let them stick around? Disrespect us?"

"One of our problems is our tendency to be confrontational. It's made us predictable. Those pacts mostly benefit other parties because we put ourselves in a bad position at the negotiating table. I respect Doctor Drakken, but his feud with Professor Dementor has done nothing to help us. If I had it my way, we would have let our enemies fight among themselves. Then we would make our move. Because we didn't, we don't have a monopoly on Middleton, so new factions such as the Fiske Clan and the Senior Families keep sprouting."

"You really are a wuss." Shego said. "Sure we've had our losses, but we're learning from those mistakes. Besides, the Senior Family has been a stalwart ally. In fact our pockets have been fuller since they showed up. And the head of the Family's son, Junior, I have a hunch he'll listen to what I have to say." The boy is quite smitten with her. "You should quit worrying. Those guys are on our side, even if they're cowards." The Senior Family criminals spend most of their time hiding from the law and counting their money. A vast difference from Shego and Drakken, who face their enemies head on with grandiose schemes. Although, Senor Senior Senior once shared that same spirit.

"For now." Lars said. "Until Senior sees us a nuisance. Men of that kind are dangerous."

"What? Elderly people?"

Shego could hear clapping and whistling a room away.

"Excuse me." Shego left him to see the commotion.

Shego went down a ramp to find a bunch of redsuits and some civilian-looking syndicate members celebrating and chatting. There's more than redsuits in the Syndicate. In fact there was an assortment of men that fall under the Syndicate umbrella. The motorcycle clubs, the science division, and the business division. Each had their unique purpose.

"What's all this?"

"Ah, Shego! Rookie here says he took care of Aviarius. For good." Sal, one of the bikers here, said. He wore a leather vest and a cap.

"Aviarius is dead?" Shego exclaimed. Killing is still considered quite taboo even for criminals, so it's pretty bold of this rookie to go around spouting crap like that.

"It wasn't easy," Hood said. "But I threw that freak show off his own hideout balcony." The Nest, he called it. "All in the name of the Syndicate, I might add! That should send a message that whether anyone likes it or not, we are taking over and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it." Aviarius used to be a part of the shadow alliance before going independent. Sure he's outlandish and weird, but he's kind of a pioneer for true supervillainy, something that's been lacking throughout the world lately.

A crying shame that birdbrain insisted to keep working alone. He only considers Shego a rival, and nothing more. That power stealing staff of his pretty much solidified his stance against her, though it wouldn't have done him much good now, given the state of Shego's family. Mego's already lost his abilities. Funnily enough, the narcissistic prick continues to fight crime, probably because it's what gets him attention. And her eldest brother was presumed dead since being sent to find out what happened to a disappeared plane, going missing himself.

"There's not a soul in Go City that will turn us away when we come knocking." Sal said. Fear and respect going hand in hand seemed to be Sal's logic. He wasn't wrong.

"Way to go. Really representing the team." Shego said flatly. That is a great part about the world they live in though. Brute force can be used to get to the top. The old saying, no honor among thieves, certainly applied. But a lot of worthy men die. Shego despite her always acting like she's above all the ridiculousness, she somewhat respected the old way, and Aviarius personified it. She felt it was such a waste. It's those types that made life more interesting. "How about trying me next, Hood?"

"Huh? Why? I'm on your side."

"If there's one thing a member of this Syndicate should love, it's a good fight. And if you took out Aviarius, then a fight with you will definitely make my day." Shego wanted to intimidate this rookie before he got any funny ideas.

The room settled down and it got quiet.

Hood adjusted his bracelet, "Please, Shego. I'd never."

"A play like killing a well known villain like Aviarius this early in your career can only mean you want to rise in the ranks. If it's recognition you want, a fight with me is the quickest way to get respect around here. I'll even give you the first shot. Take me down here and you're basically the new number two. Well? How about it rookie?"

Lot of these guys were jockeying for a better place in their organization. The constant defamation she was putting up with was probably coming from some of these jokers. She was sick of these pansies gossiping behind her back like some teenagers from high school.

Frugal Lucre didn't partake in the festivities, being a more reserved man as of late, perhaps to set an example for his men. He said cautiously, "You already put two of your own in medbay earlier. One has a ruptured spleen, and the other has already request a transfer to my division. Your point has already been made. Please. Cut the kid some slack and let them have their fun." This man, like Lars, made the upper ranks in the syndicate as well. A far cry from when he first started out. Lucre's popular among the wage slaves.

"You better not be looking at me like that," Shego warned Lucre.

Hood hung her head in obedience. Wise choice.

Shego stayed for a couple more seconds to see if anyone wanted to pick a fight. One of them was itching to turn on his power stave, but didn't. Shego stormed off. She raised her voice so it could carry over the rushing sewer water below the grates at their feet, "You punks need to remember it's the strongest that are in charge. That's always been the law of the land." She turned back. "So if you're looking to take my position, just say so! I'm open to any and all challenges."

Author's Note: There are no lemons until chapter seven, which features Ron and Kim. The lovemaking ramps up eventually, but the crime aspect will be an equal focus.