In a dark underground cell, a blue-skinned man lay on the floor, sleeping about as peacefully as a prisoner of another evil genius can. Shego, one hand lit with a green glow for the same purpose as a flashlight, walked silently to the edge of the bars. "Dr. D?" she said. No answer. "Dr. D!" Still nothing. She rolled her eyes and shot a green spark at his sleeping body.

His eyes jerked open and he sat bolt upright. "SHEGO!" he shouted. Realizing where he was, he repeated a bit more softly, "Shego! Why did you have to do that? I was in the middle of a very pleasantly evil dream."

Shego raised an eyebrow. "So it was the one about Cocoa Moo again?"

"No! I do not dream about Cocoa Moo!" he shouted, seemingly insulted that she would even bring it up. "At least…not in a long time. Anyway, what on earth are you doing down here? It's the middle of the night!"

"I know what time it is, doofus," she replied seriously. "That's why I'm down here. Slade seems far above the average human in most areas, but I'm pretty sure he still needs some amount of sleep. I need to talk to you."

"Oh," Drakken said slowly, his barely conscious mind beginning to process the situation. He stood up and walked over to where Shego stood. "Is it about the escape plan?"

"It's about Slade's plan," she replied. "He won't tell me a thing about it, beyond destroying the Titans. You've built him a robot army, and he's had you designing a death ray thing, right? Do you have any idea what he's planning to do next?"

The blue-skinned man thought hard. "Hm…Yes, I am working on his death ray. I'm quite proud of it, actually. He keeps nitpicking it, though, like he doesn't appreciate how difficult it is to create something according to his designs. It's almost operational now, but not quite."

"Does he have any specific targets in mind?" Shego demanded.

"Um…well…I don't know. He won't tell me."

"Seriously?" She could not believe this. "You built a death ray and didn't even find out what it's for? Geez, Dr. D, and you wonder why you haven't taken over the world yet."

"Now hold on, Shego," he interrupted. "He may not have told me what it's for, but I know a thing or two about my own inventions. It's powered by a large quantity of xenothium."

"So it can destroy buildings. I know how super strong laser cannons work. Big deal."

"So it is powerful enough to disintegrate entire buildings from as far away as twenty miles, if it has a clear shot! That's over twice as long as the length of Jump City proper. Not to mention what it does to smaller objects and people. Plus, it's easily transportable, so if shooting a laser twenty miles out into the suburbs doesn't quite suit our master's mood…"

"He's not my master," Shego interrupted, glowering at the sound of the word.

"Right," Drakken said, backing off. "Sorry. How silly of me. If Slade doesn't feel like shooting twenty miles out into the suburbs, he can take it somewhere else. Point is, he can vaporize anything he doesn't like just like that. Of course, the cannon is not fully operational yet. The xenothium is still experimental, so we need to be certain that everything is in place before we use it."

"So he's probably planning to take out any major locations that would oppose him in taking over the city," Shego theorized. "City Hall and the police station seem like good choices. I'd say Titans Tower too, but he seems to have too much of a personal vendetta against the Titans to disintegrate them just like that. He wants to make them pay first, especially Robin."

"Not to mention it isn't ready yet," Drakken repeated. "He wants the Titans out before he tries anything else, just in case they decide to ruin things at the last second, as heroes often do. Leaving even one of them at large could jeopardize the whole operation."

Shego revealed a small smirk. "Well, well, well. Looks like somebody turned his brain on today."

Drakken rolled his eyes. "Please, Shego, I am a genius."

"Sure you are," she said in a tone that made it obvious that she was not in agreement. "We can't get out of here while Slade still has both the xenothium death ray and the robot army. That's obvious. I may have a plan, but it could take some time. You need to make sure that that cannon never becomes fully operational. Stall him at all costs."

While he resented taking orders from his sidekick, Dr. D swallowed his pride long enough to ask, "Oh? And what are you going to do while I'm stalling?"

"That depends on the Titans and Kimmie."

"Okay…" Drakken said, clearly not satisfied with her answer. "Then can you tell me anything else about your oh-so-genius plan? I'm in the dark over here."

"Tell you the plan?" Shego scoffed, almost laughing. "Are you serious? You always blab about your schemes to Team Possible. There's no way I can trust you to keep your mouth shut around Slade."

"Please," the blue man pleaded, clasping his fingers together hopefully. "Just give me a hint!"

"Ugh, what are you, five?"

"Shego, I think I deserve to be in on the information," he continued, his brow furrowing. "For all I know, you might be working with Slade after all and there is no plan at all. I don't think you are, of course, but how can you expect me to stall Slade when I have no clue what I'm stalling for?"

Shego thought about his statements. "I'll tell you a little bit about it," she said slowly, picking her words carefully, "but that's it. There's one thing Slade doesn't know, but I do: how teams work, especially teams of heroes. Even if they aren't related, superhero teams are families. Sometimes, they're even closer than that. Slade doesn't get it. That's his blind spot, and the perfect place to hit him from."

"Oh," Drakken said as tried to mentally piece things together. "So you—"

She placed one gloved finger in front of his mouth. "Zip it, Doc. I gave you a hint, and that's all you get. I've only got one plan to bust out of here, and I am not about to risk you ruining it."

"But—"

Suddenly, a red light at the end of the hallway started flashing. An alarm sounded, its grating beep cutting off the mad scientist mid-sentence. "Slade," Shego said. "It's something important. Got to go." Using her green glow to light the way, she charged out of Drakken's sight, leaving him only slightly less confused than he had been earlier that night.

Shego sprinted through numerous secret tunnels until she arrived at the main room of the lair. Slade stood with his back to her, his unblinking eye staring up at the giant monitor. "Apprentice," he said without looking away, "come. You have company."

Honestly curious, Shego stepped up to Slade's side and looked at the screen. One of the dots had moved away from Titans Tower and was traveling quickly through the city. "Looks like one of those kids felt a little crowded," she observed. "Which one?"

Slade pressed two buttons. The screen zoomed in on the dot. Several statistics appeared beside it identifying it as Kim Possible's Titans communicator, currently moving south along Main Street. A voice recording, obviously Starfire's, played, "Starfire calling Kim Possible. Robin has found the clue near the building of Wayne Enterprises. Can you investigate?"

Another recording answered, "No big. On my way." That voice was less identifiable. Shego wanted to believe it was Kim's, but something seemed off about this. It was too easy.

"How did Robin find a clue by Wayne Enterprises if he hasn't left the Tower all night?" Shego wondered aloud. "Are you sure your bug is picking up the right signals? I mean, I think I'm the leading Kim Possible expert in this room, and I seriously doubt that she would go off on her own in the middle of the night when there are, like, five other dots still in the Tower."

Slade did not answer. Instead, he clicked another button twice. The image on the monitor switched to a street view. The camera quickly zoomed in to reveal a redhead in Kim Possible's signature mission clothes speeding along on the R-Cycle. The only lighting came from the odd streetlight, but from what could be seen, this definitely looked like Kim Possible.

"Huh," Shego remarked. "I guess she can still surprise me."

Slade finally turned his head to look at her. "You know where she is headed, and you know your assignment. Remember, you are not to destroy Kim Possible until both she and Robin have been brought to me."

"I got it," she assured him. "Abduction, not assassination. I don't know how you ever talked me into that agreement," she added, knowing that he would never realize what she was doing if he believed it was his idea. This plan was coming together much quicker than Shego had expected, and all because Kimmie had decided to take a little stroll to Wayne Enterprises!

Shego studied the map of Jump City long enough to have a clear picture of how to get to Wayne Enterprises, then swiftly grabbed her new gear and ran out into the night. This was just the opportunity she had been waiting for.

(A/N: But what is Shego's plan? You'll have to wait and see...)