-Authors Note- This chapter was written in a cough syrup induced haze, so please bear with it. I've revised it as best I can, but time presses, and I want to finish this story as soon as possible. As always KP and the gang belong to the Big Mouse, and any reviews, good or bad, are extremely appreciated.

Ron had to get to the mall fast. Luckily, his scooter still had the jet packs Mr. Dr. P had installed the night before. Two minutes, (and many joyful booyahs!), later Ron arrived at Middleton Mall.

Okay Stoppable think. Ron knew he was no match for Shego in a fight. Needing inspiration he pulled his constant companion, Rufus, out of his pocket. "Any ideas little buddy?"

Rufus yawned and stretched, riding on a scooter, even a rocket powered one, always made him fall asleep. Seeing the desperate look on his humans face though, Rufus quickly took stock of the situation. "Uhhm. Sneak! Kim!", the naked mall rat squeaked. Then to illustrate his point, he toward a vent on the side of the building.

"Oh yeah, be like KP. Excellent strategy little buddy."

Ron hated waiting. He was on edge, full of nervous energy. He could only imagine what horrible things Shego was doing to Kim, while he sat around waiting. He had to wait however, because he was lost. It had taken him several tries to finally get into the AC vent, (KP usually gave him a hand during missions). He thought he had made it on the third try, until he found himself falling towards the ground below. He hit hard, and fortunately the vent loomed over a grassy concourse, not a concrete sidewalk. Unfortunately, he had landed right on the Kimmunicator, (Wade was going to be so peeved!). Without Wade to guide him through the AC vent Ron quickly got lost. Afraid to lose more time than he already had, Ron sent Rufus to find the nearest exit to KP. So now he was waiting.

He was softly humming an O'Boyz song to himself when Rufus came back. Mentally composing himself Ron began to follow Rufus. A plan was forming in his head. He'd cowed Shego once before. Of course, at the time he hadn't been quite…himself. Ron was snapped out of his thoughts by Rufus. The pink naked mole rat had come to a stop and turned to Ron with a hushing gesture. Ron noticed he could hear voices coming through a grate in front of him. Inching closer Ron peered through the grate. Below him he could see Shego. Ron listened, hoping for some clue as to what she was up to, and what she had done to Kim.

"…see I'm not like Dr. D. Princess. I don't care about taking over the world. I just want to make some dough, and have some fun. Oh, and hurt you. And I figure the best way to hurt you, is to humiliate you." There was a pause as Shego moved out of Ron's field of vision. "That's what this little puppy is for. Oh, of course I'm still going to physically hurt you", (Ron heard a whoosh, followed by a muffled groan). "Aw man, that felt good. But like I was saying…first, I'm going to humiliate you. Then I'm going to hurt you. And after I'm through I'm going to hand you over to Dr. D. to play with. God only knows what he'll do, probably make you listen to boring stories about his childhood or something."

"I'd like to get my hands on your sidekick too. Speaking of which, where is the loser? Find another 'hottie' to ditch him for already? I'd have thought you'd learnt your lesson after Erik."

Ron scowled, and heard an indignant groan followed by Kim's voice. "I'd never just ditch Ron Shego. And not that's it's any of your business, but Ron and I are dating now, thank you very much. Now leave him out of this, please and thank you."

A loud SLAP reached Ron's ears. He scowled, it was all Rufus could do to keep him from jumping through the grate. He stopped however as Shego started talking again. "Maybe, maybe not Princess. But soon enough we'll know the truth. And so will the idiot. In fact, everyone will know just how you feel about him!"

Oh man, that doesn't sound good, Ron thought. He strained to hear more, but only caught some scuffling noises. Shego had once again walked out of his view. Then he heard a strange noise, it sounded almost like a muted car alarm. "Okay little buddy, it's showtime." Ron's normal grin vanished, replaced by a smirk that was very unpleasant. He opened his mouth and bellowed out a "Booyahahahaha!" At that exact moment, the ventilation shaft he was in gave way under his weight, spilling Ron and Rufus to the foodcourt below.

Shego was happy, very happy. She had broken out of Global Justice with ease. She and Drakken had aleady taken up residence in one of his lairs. She had come to the mall today just to get away from Dr. D. she mused smiling. But her she was, with a physically beaten Kim Possible tied up, lying on the ground before her. Shego smiled and patted one of her many hidden pockets. Physically beaten yes. And if Dr. D's little toy worked right, (and she would know soon, she hit Princess with the beam already it would kick in any minute now), then Possible would soon be mentally and emotionally beaten as well. Yes, life was good.

Her happiness fled however, as soon as she heard "that" laugh coming from the vent. It was replaced by fear. Shego hated the feeling; she wasn't afraid of anyone! Anyone except him. It can't be him though, Shego thought to herself as she turned to the sound of the crash. A figure emerged from the dust, a lanky, big eared shadow. Shego could feel herself shaking. It was him, the sidekick! No, wrong, not the sidekick. Zorpox! When the figure, (still clouded with dust), ordered her to release Kimberly Anne Possible or be fed to sharks, Shego turned towards the Pizza Shack counter Kim had been tied up on to release her.

Oh great, Kim thought, and sighed inwardly. She had been worried when Shego hit her with whatever that little ray gun had been. Luckily it hadn't seemed to do anything, at least Kim didn't feel any different. Now she was beyond worried. Ron had turned into Zorpox again! She knew she had hurt him this morning…but not enough to make him turn evil!

Kim had never known human beings could run such a gamut of emotions, all at one time. But she knew now, she was running them. Worry; Shego and Zorpox were her deadliest foes, there was no telling what either one of them would do to her. Sorrow; because of her Ron had once again turned evil, if only she had watched what she had said this morning at breakfast! Those emotions fought against other emotions. Hope; if Shego and Zorpox fought it out then perhaps she could use the distraction to make her escape! Resentment; why had Ron overreacted the way he had? If he didn't have such major insecurity issues then she wouldn't be in this sitch, and he wouldn't have a future of cackling laughter and wack schemes of world domination. But overpowering all those other emotions was a feeling of curiosity; what was that bumping up against her wrist?

Twisting her neck around, (Shego had tied her with her arms tied together behind her back), to see what was bumping against her wrists, Kim missed Shego turn back towards the shadowy figure of Zorpox. Her mouth fell and a slight gasp escaped her when she discovered what had piqued her curiosity. Rufus was there, chewing threw her binds.

Warning bells were going off in Shego's head as she went to untie the Princess. Something wasn't right, but in her present fright she couldn't quite put her finger on it. But how had the sidekick turned back into Zorpox? As Shego's initial fear at hearing his voice wore off her skeptisicm increased. Besides, even if it is Zorpox, she thought to herself, Princess is mine. Turning back to tell of her adversary Shego missed Kim's small gasp of amazement. What she saw however, produced it's own gasp. Standing before her was the sidekick, not Zorpox. And he was wearing a frilly, baby blue tux.

Everything was going as Ron had hoped. Shego thought he was Zorpox, (admittedly she couldn't see him through all the dust, and the dust was accidental…but still his plan was working!), and she was going to release KP. Booyah! I am one Bon-Diggitty master planner! His grin faltered however, when Shego whirled around to face him, without untying Kim. And it left all together when she began to laugh at him.

"Stop that laughing Shego! And release Kimberly Anne Possible! Need I remind you of a sidekicks place" Ron yelled, doing his best Zorpox voice. Shego kept laughing however. Oh man, this is so not good.

"No can do sidekick. Princess is staying right here with me. Nice suit by the way."

Ron looked down and groaned. Aw man, I'm still wearing the tux. Dad is going to kill me!, passed through his mind, right before he was hit by a bolt of plasma. Then there was only blackness.

-AN- Sorry it took so long to post! Stupid holidays, interefering with my writing! I'm sorry to leave Ron and Kim in such a predicament, but rest assured we'll all see how they manage in short time, the next chapter should be posted by Monday. Expect MMP! Sensei! And more!

Special thanks to everyone who has sent in a review, special thanks to Cpneb for his correspondence.