Starfire stood in the same position she had been left in, tied against a thick pillar in Slade's lair, unsure of what to expect next. Her plan to save Shego had backfired horribly. Her powers were gone and controlled by Slade. She knew her friends were near, but had no way to contact them. Slade had some big master plan that she could do nothing about in her present state. To top it all off, despite the obviously abusive situation she was in, Shego had her own master plan, and Starfire was stuck right in the middle of it. While she was relieved that Shego was rebelling against Slade, Starfire was not thrilled about being stripped of her powers and tied to a pillar for any reason, especially when her friends and her city were most likely in grave danger. She wiggled and squirmed, trying to free herself. The cords would not budge. She gritted her teeth and tried to summon every confident thought in her head, but it was no use. Her powers were contained in that green glowing jewel all the way on the other side of the room, accessible only to Slade and, when he permitted her, Shego.

If only I could shoot from my eyes, she thought. It would be easy to hit the jewel and release the power. But I cannot do that. It is impossible. No, no! Starfire, you must keep having the positive thoughts. That is the only way that you will make the escape.

She heard footsteps and instantly froze as the silhouettes of Slade and Dr. Drakken appeared in the doorway. It was the first time the alien princess had seen the mad scientist since the fiasco at the convention center, and it plain that he looked much more haggard than he had then. He also wore a thick apparatus around his neck that Star could only assume was some kind of shock collar. She thought back to Robin's short time as Slade's apprentice and the lengths the villain had gone to ensure his obedience. Yes, a shock collar was right up Slade's alley.

As if she had needed any verification of the true nature of Slade and Drakken's relationship, the one-eyed man suddenly shoved the blue one roughly toward the control panel under the huge monitors on the wall. "Well, Doctor," his deep, sinister voice said, "now that you have finished preparing the weapon—a task that took much too long, I might add—it is time to use it. Conquering the city is within my grasp at long last. Activate it!"

"I uh…I don't know about that," Drakken stammered, remembering Shego's orders to stall at all costs. "This is still very experimental. The fuel itself is somewhat unstable. I really ought to test it a little more first…"

"I've waited long enough," Slade interrupted. "I have a few key buildings to destroy before the Titans can arrive and my patience is wearing thin. Activate the cannon!"

"Um…" The mad scientist nervously ran his fingers over every button on the control panel. "Which button was it again? The red one?"

"Now!"

Feeling his tormentor's gaze upon him, specifically on the obedience collar locked onto his neck, Drakken had to choice but to enter the code necessary to activate the machine. On the rooftop of the building the lair was situated directly under, which was conveniently abandoned, a giant xenothium-powered cannon emerged, rotating the face toward the center of Jump City. A small camera on top of it projected an image on one of the monitors, showing its range.

"You know," Dr. Drakken pointed out, "before we try this thing out, we really should file an environmental impact report. You wouldn't believe how many times I've been nailed for forgetting that. I usually let Shego take care of it these days, but seeing as she's been a little busy, you might want to double check to see if…Aaah!" he exclaimed as he felt the electric shock he knew was coming.

"You will follow my orders," Slade stated. "Set the coordinates to Town Hall, then the police station. Once those two potential resistance sources are obliterated, aim for Titans Tower, but do not fire yet."

Starfire involuntarily gasped. The small noise in the otherwise silent room drew both men's attention.

"Ah," Slade said, taking a few steps toward her. "So you are sad to see your precious Tower go? What a shame." He walked even closer to her until she knew she could have reached out and touched him if her arms were free. "At least it won't be blocking my ocean view when I take over this city. We must always look on the positive side."

"You are a fool if you think that destroying Titan Tower will destroy all the resistance," Starfire fumed. "It is not possible for you to succeed with this plan. You may destroy a few buildings, but that means nothing. You will not have this city, and you will not have this world!"

As she made her last statement, Starfire tried as hard as she could to reach out of her restraints, but failed to make them budge. Slade leaned down to her level. "Tight enough for you?" he taunted before straightening up again. "You're right about some of what you said, actually. I can obliterate a few important structures and still not obtain full control. That is why that is only the beginning of my attack. The rest is where it gets good."

"And what is that?" Starfire demanded.

"You'll see."

"Clorbag!"

"Likewise, I'm sure. Is the cannon fired up yet?" he asked, ignoring his prisoner and returning to his previous positions beside Dr. Drakken.

The doctor pointed to a loading bar on the screen in front of him. "It's still warming up, actually. You know, xenothium takes a lot of power to be effective and I built it to make sure it had the right amount of everything, so…"

"So you altered it to work slower intentionally?" Slade finished for him. "Don't look so shocked. I'm not that much of a fool. I believed your demands for more repairs at first, but by the fifth time, it was clear to me that you were stalling. For what, I'm not quite sure. Maybe you think you'll find a way to escape if you wait long enough. Maybe you just resent how I've been treating you. I've tolerated it up to now, and I can tolerate it no more. I want that cannon firing in thirty seconds."

"But I can't make it go any faster!" Dr. D insisted. "Augh!" He stumbled back as he felt a short shock. "I mean it! This is as fast as it goes." His confidence built up gradually until he was staring Slade directly in the eye. "I created that machine, and I know what it can and cannot do. It cannot move any faster than it is right now, and unless you want to take the whole thing apart and start from scratch, you'll just have to deal with it."

Slade blinked his single eye, startled. He had been made a fool of by Dr. Drakken. The one person he had thought the least of had pulled off one last trick on him. This delay could mean everything. It could prevent him from proceeding until the Titans arrived. Even if they never made it, it could still go on for days depending on how the mad scientist had programmed it. Anything could come up in a few days. And to think that the one ruining all of his plans was Dr. Drakken of all people! The man he had so easily duped and practically enslaved! The shame was almost paralyzing.

"Why you infuriating…" the metallically clothed man began.

"Ah ah ah," Drakken said, his usual evil smirk returning to the corners of his crooked mouth as he quoted Shego. "There's a kid in the room."

That was probably not Dr. D's brightest moment. Slade gave him a backhand slap hard enough to knock him flat on his back. "If you weren't the only one with complete knowledge of this machine, I would end your miserable life right now," he boomed as Drakken slowly returned to his feet. "As it is, I'll just have to move ahead with the rest of the plan. Of course it would have been more effective if you had designed the cannon to work properly, but seeing as you're being uncooperative, it seems I have no choice." He flicked a few switches and pressed a large orange button. Suddenly, another screen flashed on, revealing footage of all four corners of the city. They were all empty and dark, but slowly, thousands of Slade's new robots crept out of the shadows, filling the streets and fully armed. "They'll shoot instantly at the sign of any rebellion," Slade explained, mostly to Starfire. "They're also fairly intimidating. I had hoped to inspire submission with the public destruction of the most powerful buildings in the city first and use them only for enforcement, but one must be flexible when plans go awry. A fine sight, isn't it, my little princess?"

"It is not a fine sight," Starfire retorted. "It is a horrid sight and you will fail. We have stopped the robots you have sent to us before."

"Yes, but these robots are of a much better quality. That's one thing I was actually able to count on this so-called genius for," he added with a glare in Drakken's direction. "As a matter of fact, your friends should be encountering my robots right now. Let's see how they're doing."

A third monitor lit up and revealed a map of every room, corridor, and tunnel of the intricate underground portion of Jump City. Three little red triangles were blinking in one enclosed area, and two in another. "Ah," Slade observed, "right on schedule. They've split up and are now exactly where I planted my robot armies. Perfect. Let's see…there are Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy in that one, and I see," he zoomed in closer to the other room to view the names of the communicators whose signals he was detecting, "Robin and Kim Possible, who I assume is using your communicator, are both in the same room as my apprentice. Well, this really could get interesting. I'd better make certain she does not steal my victory. She hasn't been too cooperative either lately."

"You will have no victory in this city!" Starfire shouted.

Slade shook his head disappointedly. "Even if you were correct, I am talking about a much different victory. You heard me revoke Shego's privilege to destroy Kim Possible personally. Well, I still maintain my privilege to Robin, and I intend on taking full advantage of it."

"And what about the rest of the Titans?" Starfire asked. "Do you mean to destroy us?"

"Naturally."

"Then why have you not destroyed me?"

"You're the bait, my dear. I don't merely want to destroy Robin. I want to break him first. With you here, I know he'll do whatever I say. Originally, the plan had been to break him by way of destroying all of his teammates first one by one. My apprentice failed me in that regard, but this may work even better. Of course, once he is completely broken in every way, then he must be destroyed."

There was a pause as Robin's potential fate sunk into Starfire's mind. "I do not much like being the bait," she said finally, a bit quieter.

"I do not much like uncooperative henchmen, disappointing apprentices, and mouthy prisoners, but we cannot always have everything we want," Slade replied calmly. He pressed two little blue buttons and instantly two new and improved robots marched through the doorway. One took its place two feet in front of Starfire, and the other one foot behind Drakken. "These two will shoot either of you if you make any sudden movements or show any signs of disobedience. That ought to keep you in line. If you'll excuse me, I have a bird to catch."

Once Slade left the room, Starfire stared at the face of her metal guard. It was very well designed. She could identify no major weak spots at first glance. Both her robot and Drakken's were equipped with one laser gun, but she had a feeling that there were other gadgets built in. She often found herself in these sorts of situations, and she never like them. She was a hero and a warrior, not bait on a hook. If only there was a way out of these tight cords.

She tried to fidget a little bit, but not enough to attract her guard's gaze. There had to be something, anything. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. These were Kim's clothes! Kim always carried lots of gadgets and accessories, and Star hadn't thought to check the pockets before borrowing them. She only knew of a few specific items, but she had seen them on the training course earlier, and they had been very effective. Slowly, she shifted her limbs just enough to allow her hand to slide silently into her baggy pants pocket. No sudden movements, she reminded herself. She felt something at the bottom of the pocket. It was…a tube…a small tube…lipstick? The laser lipstick! Starfire realized. Or was it? Kim had regular lipstick too. She gently felt the end of the container with her finger. Hot. Yes, it was the laser lipstick. Starfire looked back up at her guard, thinking quickly. How could she use the weapon without being shot first? Without her powers, it was doubtful that she would do well after such an impact. As an idea began to formulate in her mind, she gripped the lipstick and slowly, silently, gradually, pulled in out of the pocket.

(A/N: I'm baaaack! I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I know where this story is headed, and there really isn't that much to go. Thanks to everyone who's been sticking with me for so long on this one. We're almost there! *shameless plug* If you like my writing style, I just started my second fanfic, which is a crossover of Gravity Falls and Twin Peaks, and it would be pretty cool if some of you took a look at it and reviewed it. Or do whatever you want. That's cool too. :P )