KP: Secret Shame Saga Prologue Chapter 7: Part Seven: Everything and Anything, a kim possible fanfic

Release Notes:

Heheh. So you may have noticed I started a separate KIGO story. I think it's hilarious that I got, like, 10 reviews within the couple hours of posting it versus 5 reviews within the couple months I've been writing this one. Just goes to show you who makes up the vast majority of the fanbase.

Well, sucko for them… I'm not going to finish that story until I'm done this one. Which may NEVER freakin' happen, the way I keep going on. Damnit! I was supposed to be done three chapters ago! I'm not going to say that there is only one more left… because I've been saying that forever. But I'm HOPING that there will be only one more. And most likely shorter then this one, too.

Plus! Countdown to series finale, anyone? I'm psyched. I just hope it at least meets my expectations. I read rumors that Drakken and Shego may make an appearance in it. I don't know if I trust them, unless the series creators said so (I am always endlessly amused by fan speculations, since no one else seems to notice how retarded they always get).

Anyways. Enjoy this one. Hopefully it doesn't turn you all off by how bizarre it gets. Honestly, though, I had planned it like this since the beginning, so take it or leave it.

You know, in case you give a crap. I know I don't.

The Author

Part Seven: Everything and Anything

The sea passed underneath her like a sparkling curtain as the mid afternoon sun rolled off its swelling surface. Through the porthole, Shego stared right through her own reflection at the ephemeral sight, her head resting against the glass.

Another slight jerk as the hovercraft dipped through an air current. The hired goon who was piloting the rig was alright. Shego knew she could do better. There was no better pilot then herself. But she had elected to remain a passenger on the thousand mile trip for reasons of fatigue. Plus she simply didn't feel like it.

The silver bolt rolled between her fingers, almost forgotten. Whenever Shego did think about the single item she held in her hand, the one that she had been sent to retrieve, the one that an entire platoon of henchmen and synthetic soldiers had been sent to back her up on, the one that she almost got killed over by her own damned robot goons, she grew angry. Very very angry. Shego was too tired to be angry.

A squad of henchmen in red jumpsuits sat quietly around her. Sometimes they would shift about, uncomfortably, but that was the extent of the noise they made. They were afraid. There was no other word for it. After months of working under the short-tempered woman they had come to a careful understanding of her many moods. Typically, the threat of pain was all they had to be concerned about when she was upset. But right at that moment, they had no idea what she was feeling. And as a result, they had no idea what she would do if provoked.

They needn't have bothered. Shego was drained in more ways then one. At that moment, she probably couldn't even incapacitate two thirds of the ten thugs surrounding her. Well, maybe she could. But it would be a chore.

She closed her eyes and let the constant drum of the troop carrier lull her to sleep. She needed sleep, more then anything. Sleep to recharge her power, sleep to recharge her brain. And maybe if she was unconscious she wouldn't have to deal with the rampage of emotions that threatened her sanity. Sanity that had nearly been burned away long ago by a multi-coloured comet.

Yes, unconsciousness sounded great. The best escape she had from the truth of her existence. A walking instrument of destruction. A weapon wielded by chaos. A cosmic scapegoat, forced into a life of continuous conflict. The closest person she had to a friend in a long time was her arch nemesis. How was that for screwed up? Friendship was a luxury Shego was not privileged to have. There were a great many things that she could never have. But she had accepted those facts of life. Accepted what she had been made to be. A villain's tool.

As she drifted away, thoughts of strange silver eyes came unbidden. They seemed to haunt her, but she could not say why.

Sleep came then. Blissful, dreamless, sleep.

The night sky was briefly illuminated with the brilliant flash of lightning, serving to perfectly backlight the sharpened silhouette of parapets and other imposing battlements. The sonic roar echoed across the hard lines of that rocky Caribbean island, further enhancing the ominous overtone of the place. Then back into inky darkness where the only clue that the castle was even there were the pinpricks of light that shone through several dozen barred windows.

There were a great many terrible things that went on within that towering fortress. Things so awful that they were best left unspoken. For lo, this was the lair of the infamous Dr Drakken. A name that was spoken in whispers among the villain community.

Though honestly, they were usually snickering whispers. Like a barely concealed chuckle or even a chortle. Drakken was sort of a "puchline" to the greater criminal society. One of the most consistently foiled megalomaniacs in the business. "Sounds like a Drakken" was a commonly used expression referring to an overly bizarre plot for world domination.

That being said, Drakken was easily one of the most active evil geniuses at large. What he lacked in quality he typically made up for in quantity. Few other villains could boast a number of actual bids for global conquest that rivaled Drakken's, and as a result, few had come as close as many times as he.

But Drakken was never deterred. In that sense, he outshone many of his counterparts. He had a surreal tenacity that denied his buffoonish image. Where most would have given up long ago, Drakken pressed on with renewed aspiration. And all things considered, Drakken was still rather dangerous (if comically eccentric). He was still an evil genius after all.

Which is why more then a few people should have been concerned with his latest project. Deep inside his secret lair, where the halls where dark and cavernous, one cave-like room housed the workplace of the evil genius. There, the madman himself stood wringing his gloved hands and giggling wickedly. Sitting upon his worktable in all its majesty, was Drakken's latest devious doomsday device.

The Reverse Engineering Ray.

Long and sleek, it had a number of high-voltage wires running along its length, protected by rigid conduits. The bulk of the weapon was round and heavy. In fact, it was impossible for any normal person to lift. Drakken figured he would need to build a tripod for the damned thing.

No matter, he thought, and instead turned his attention to the gleaming prize that was set next to the device. The silver adjustment bolt. The missing piece to bring this diabolical puzzle together. Well… one of them.

A nameless henchman had brought it to the lab earlier in the afternoon when their hovercraft came in. Drakken would have taken it and installed it right then and there, but he had been snoring on the floor at that time. The mad scientist kept odd hours. But upon his wakening, and finally noticing its presence, he had immediately snatched up the long-awaited part with glee. He had just finished his happy dance not ten minutes ago. Then he had gone to take a pee.

"And now!" Drakken proclaimed loudly to the empty room. He reached forward and grabbed the fastener. "I will install the silver adjustment bolt into my Reverse Engineering Ray!"

He carefully approached the device. His hand, the bolt pinchered between its fingers, reached towards it. Drakken held his breath. The clock on the wall ticked… twice.

And then he screwed the bolt into a hole on the side.

"There!" A bright grin split his blue face and he stood back to admire his work. "Only one last part is needed to bring my Ray online!" Drakken frowned and looked at the clock on the wall. And of course it hasn't been delivered yet. "Hrrrr… that's what I get for dealing with online auctions!" He spun around and shouted towards the lab entrance. "Shego!"

There was no answer.

"Arrgh! Shego! Someone! Get in here!"

A moment passed and then a nameless henchman in a red jumpsuit scampered through the doorway.

"Sir!" The henchman stood at attention.

"Where is Shego?!" Drakken yelled at the man. It was just like that woman to go and wander off, now that she was finally back from the mission he had sent her on.

"Uh…" The henchman hesitated. "She's sleeping, sir."

"Sleeping?" Drakken's face contorted in disbelief. "I'm on the eve of my greatest achievement and my sidekick is sleeping?!"

The henchman shuffled nervously. "She said that she was too tired to come and kill you when she got in. Maybe she would do it after some shut eye."

Drakken jerked back at that. Kill him? Uh oh… the green, super-powered woman was obviously upset with him over something. What the heck did he do?

"Err... in that case…" Drakken quickly backtracked. "We'd best let her get her beauty sleep. Maybe it will improve her mood."

The henchman relaxed visibly, obviously glad that he wouldn't have to go and wake the slumbering powerhouse. He turned and left at Drakken's dismissive wave. The blue-skinned man wandered back to his doomsday weapon. A narrow slot ran along the top of it where a plastic wafer of high-technology was intended to go: the Quantum Matrix Amplifier. The final piece.

"Ohh…" Drakken shook his clenched fists in frustration. "So close!" He needed that amplifier.

The megalomaniac sighed. World domination would have to wait a couple more hours. He turned his attention, instead, to the act of constructing a portable firing tripod for the R.E.R.

The water was warm and salty. It was the Caribbean after all.

Ebb and flow, the dark waves broke upon the vicious shoreline. Sheer cliffs and sloshing clefts circled the majority of the land mass. Jagged stones split the dark water between their thrusting peaks. A sight that inspired both trepidation and pseudo-sexual metaphors.

There were very few places around the deadly island that were accessible by sea. Some were large enough to be fortified by automated defense measures. Others were booby-trapped with cleverly hidden apparatus. All in all, the isle was virtually impenetrable by conventional means.

Or, at least except for the front door.

In the slightly calmer waters of a darkened cove, a nearly indecipherable churning broke the surface. Out of that bubbling rose a shadowed form, clothed in a clingy wetsuit. The scuba-masked face swiveled one direction and then the other, scanning the immediate shoreline. It was empty.

The figure suddenly lurched, as though something had struck it from behind. The masked head spun around to watch as another scuba diver rise up immediately behind. The second diver pulled the mask from his freckled face.

"Sorry, KP." Ron Stoppable gasped as ran his fingers across the mask window. "My mask got all fogged up."

Kim Possible lifted her own mask to give the blonde teen a shrewd look. "Uh huh. I'm sure you weren't just trying to grope me."

Ron felt his face turning beat red. "No-no-no-no, Kim…I would never…"

Kim silenced him with a finger on his lips. She smiled silkily. "No. I know you wouldn't. Let's just focus, shall we?" She turned and started wading out of the water, shrugging the airtight bag she carried over her shoulder.

Easy for you, Ron thought as he watched his girlfriend from behind. The tight form-fitting scuba outfit left little to the imagination and he found himself staring at the delicious curves of her body, almost indecipherable in the dark but for the glistening highlights of beaded water. Ron shut his eyes tight and shook his head violently, trying to force those thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't think that way about Kim… could he? I guess he was allowed to, now that they were a couple. He had always tried to turn a blind eye to the… development, of his best friend through the years, as hard as it was. But now they had been dating for months, and Ron was noticing that he was slipping more and more. He tried to hide it, but he wondered if it was obvious to her.

Ron looked down at his own scuba-clad body. Slight shoulders, skinny arms, a bit of a ponch. He was hardly the specimen of human conditioning that Kim was. What did she see in him? He couldn't imagine the crime-fighting cheerleader fawning over his 'hot bod'. Sure, they were friends and partners. But they were hardly equals. Ron felt like an alley cat dating a leopardess.

Dripping with seawater, the duo stepped onto the beach and dropped their respective bags on the sand. It had been a long plane ride from Middleton to the Cayman Islands. From there, they had to hitch a ride on a local scuba cruise. It took some fancy talking to convince the captain to sail his vessel so far off course, and to drop them off seemingly in the middle of no where. But the legendary exploits of Kim Possible were well known to the people of the Isles, since she often passed through the area on her way to Drakken's supposedly secret lair. In actual fact, the location of the lair was pretty much common knowledge in the region. Drakken had materials shipped out constantly, part in parcel of running an off-shore base of operations.

Which was why this particular cove had a well-worn trail snaking into the jungle and up to the fortress itself. During the day, any number of supplies could be trucked to the front gate. It made sense that it wasn't mined or booby trapped, though it came under electronic surveillance closer to the base.

Kim, of course, knew all this. She and Ron had been through this song and dance a dozen times before. Ron often wondered why Drakken never upgraded, or at least changed his security. Maybe it was because he thought the remote island was sufficient hindrance in itself. Maybe he welcomed the intrusions of Team Impossible, preferring to face them on his own terms and his own ground. Maybe he was just too cheap.

Kim's arm lifted and she tapped some buttons on the waterproof wrist-bound Kimmunicator. Ron heard it chirp and knew that she was scanning the immediate area for infrared signatures.

Ron quickly unzipped his watertight bag and carefully lifted a specially-constructed hamster ball with its own independent air supply. He popped it open with a hiss and Rufus the naked mole rat popped out with a happy squeal.

"Glad to have you with us on this, buddy." Ron smiled. "We missed you today."

Lightning cracked the sky and Ron heard Rufus yelp in fear only to dive back into the bag. He saw across the beach in the flickering light for a brief instant before it once again plunged into semi-darkness. The dull roar of thunder rolled overhead.

"All clear." Kim spoke. She lowered her wrist and looked back at Ron. He nodded and pulled two flashlights from his water bag. He tossed one to the redhead who caught it easily. She didn't turn it on.

"Wait until we change." She instructed, and then immediately set to removing the scuba suit.

Ron swallowed a particularly large lump in his throat. He turned away and started doing the same. He knew that she was hardly naked under the wetsuit; she was wearing underwear, same as him. But still, there was something inherently erotic about both of them undressing right next to each other. Ron couldn't bring himself to face her. Not like this. With awful self-consciousness, the young man dressed himself in his mission clothes as quickly as he could, glad that the darkness offered some cover of his less-then-perfect body. In record time, he tied his utility belt around his waste. Not realizing how much faster he had finished, he turned back to his partner just as another flash of lightning lit the night.

Ron saw her clad only in bra and panties, halfway in the process of pulling her form-fitting pants up her athletic legs. Her wet red hair hung down in dark rivulets across her shoulders and chest. Her skin was perfect in the light; almost ethereal in how it seemed to glow. Every inch of her was beautiful. The sight lasted less then a second before the lightning passed, but the image was forever etched in detail into Ron's memory.

Slackjawed, he quickly turned away again, blinking as though he had stared at the sun. But like a burning after-image, she was still there, making a mockery of angels. Ron felt as though he was going to have a heart attack.

"Alright," a light clicked on a few moments later. "Let's go."

Ron managed to turn back to Kim, who watched him carefully. She was dressed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah… yeah." He flicked his own flashlight on, avoiding her green eyes. "Good to go."

She gave him an unconvinced look, but didn't press the issue. God she was perfect. How could Ron ever expect to live up to her?

The two teens stashed their wetsuits and scuba gear near the beach. Into the dark jungle they went, shadowing the dirt trail. It was time to focus on the mission.

"Yeah, I'll usually listen to Eminem when I work out," said the red suited henchmen whose name was Billy. "It kinda gets me in a badass ghetto kinda mood, and I swear I can bench, like, thirty pounds more."

"So, fifty pounds then?" The red suited henchman, whose name was Sam, scoffed at his seated companion and took another drag on his cigarette.

"Hey, man! Shut up!" Billy whined.

Lightning snaked across the sky in the distance, illuminating the rocky jungle that stretched down to the coast. From their vantage point at the foot of the massive metal door at the base of the towering fortress, the three men guarding the entrance could see the dirt trail snaking down through the jungle to the cove.

"That was a nice one." The third henchmen, named John leaned against the door, watching the sky.

"Yeah, and I bet it's going to rain soon, too." Sam spat on the ground. "Frigging bullshit."

"I mostly listen to Aerosmith while, like, washing the hovercrafts in the bay." Billy continued. "Cause, you know… that's the kind of think you listen to when you go cruising for chicks."

"I can't believe they put us out here." Sam ignored him, waving his cigarette around as he spoke. "Like it's our fault that biker got through the door. You all saw what he did? That big freakin' bruiser."

"And then I'll play some Barry White while I buff them, cause that's the same kinda TLC you gotta give a lady, you know?"

"He was lucky he caught me by surprise, I'll tell you." Another drag. "If I ever see that biker again, I'll kick his leather ass. Mop the floor with his greasy mullet."

Another burst of light from the sky.

"That one was a lot closer." John spoke.

"But try telling that to the witch!" Sam spat the word. "Nah, she don't give a crap. Puts us on night watch while everyone else gets to relax inside. The dyke's probably in her room painting her nails right now. Bullshit!" He flicked his spent cigarette into the darkness, beyond the edge of light cast by the front gate lamp.

"Sometimes I listen to Sarah McLachlan just before falling asleep on my cot. It gives me nice dreams."

"I swear, next time I see that woman I am going to put her in her place. You just watch. I'll backhand her right in front of everyone. That's what she needs."

Another lightning flash briefly illuminated the island.

"Hm." John stared into the sky.

"What?" Billy looked up at the leaning henchman.

"Up there." John inclined his head. "I thought I saw… a plane or something."

"Phff..." Sam snorted, digging another cigarette out of his jumpsuit pocket. "No one'd fly a plane out here during a thunderstorm. That's bullshit."

"Yeah." Billy piped up. "No one's scheduled to come in tonight. All the machines are grounded."

"Shut up, kid." Sam lit his cancer stick.

"Hm." John mumbled noncommittally and continued watching the sky. None of the three henchmen had heard the telltale pop of a fired grapple, nor did they see the two shadows scaling up the wall to the right of the entrance.

Wind.

Loudly whipping around him as he fell from the sky. In the darkness he couldn't quite see where he was going to land, and the thought was terrifying.

And the terror made him stronger.

A sudden flash and the island was lit beneath him. Close. So very close. He could almost make out individual palm leaves.

Darkness again and his eyes fought to adjust. He could see in the dark, but not between the blinding bursts of lightning. He was blind again.

Now.

His hand grabbed at the cord near his shoulder and pulled viciously. The parachute unfolded behind him. He could hear it. Every fold and crevice snapped tight. He fought the surging panic. Was it opening? Was it opening in time? He was much too close to the ground. He had no time to react.

A terrible jerk pulled him upright as the chute caught some air. He felt his insides lurching at the sudden deceleration.

Fifteen seconds later, he smashed into the trees.

Leaves and branches assaulted him, slapping his face and colliding with his limbs. He felt himself twist and bend at painful angles, though he fought to protect his back from impact by taking solid impacts on his chest. Then he stopped falling and instead swung from side to side, the parachute caught in the jungle canopy. As if a final insult, he clipped a tree trunk as he swung.

A low growl escaped his lips.

Chris Cutter's sliver eyes swiveled about. He could see everything, naturally. Pain always brought the bestial elements forward. He felt the strength rising in his body and the dull aches of the fall were already receding. He wanted to tear at the Kevlar straps that held him hostage. At least he hadn't blacked out. Once he blacked out, there was no telling what would happen.

God, he hated skydiving.

Cutter took a deep, calming breath. He reached up to carefully unclip the harness. Not because he planned on salvaging it, but because the act of unstrapping was more human then tearing it off.

He dropped out of the harness and fell five feet before he casually reached out to grip on to the tree trunk. There he hung, suspended by his fingers and the tiny claws that protruded from them. With his other hand, he fought with the laces on his boots. He pulled them off, one at a time and let them drop to the jungle floor. He had known from the beginning that they would be tossed and were very inexpensive, unlike the parachute and harness he had just trashed. Or the cost of hiring a smuggler plane to drop him off during the oncoming thunderstorm. Cutter sighed. This was turning into a very expensive trip.

Now that his clawed toes were free to grip along with his hands, Cutter skipped along the trunk like a spider. He swung and dropped onto an over-hanging branch and crouched motionless with inhuman balance. He reached behind him to grip at the solid package that had been strapped to the small of his back. Carefully, he removed the package and began unwrapping the many shock-absorbing layers, seeking to make sure the fragile object at its center was undamaged from the fall. The final static-free wrapping was peeled back to show the silicone board in one piece. Cutter breathed a little easier.

He gently re-packaged the item and fit it back along his spine. He figured that he would break just over even if he could deliver this part in once piece. But that was only half of the battle. Other motives drove him to this island this night to risk much with very little gain, at least monetary gain. A dozen times already he had talked himself out of this, only to find himself staring at a small metal stone he kept in his pocket. Then he would take another dozen steps toward the cliff.

Cutter didn't bother taking the shiny lump of metal out of his pocket now. He had gone too far to even consider running. His only way out was to go forward. He had to prove something. To himself more then anyone.

Cutter raised his head and tested the air. He listened. His senses were acute. He understood instantly the direction he needed to go. Around him, the sounds of tropical birds continued, even in the night. He felt at ease out here, as though he belonged. There was the tugging desire to prowl aimlessly. To stake out a territory.

That scared him more then anything.

He moved. A shadow in the dark, visible only in brief instances that the lightning broke the canopy. He was silent and swift across the jungle, crossing tree to tree without ever touching the ground. The birds would grow briefly hushed as he passed, sensing his presence. They knew that he was a predator.

The castle, for there was no other way to describe the sprawling fortress, was like a maze to the unwary. A labyrinth where unknown doom could lurk around every corner. After all, this was the lair of Dr Drakken. Who knew what secret horrors he was cooking up in those darkened halls?

But Kim had been there before.

In truth, most of the fortress went unused. It was simply too big. Most of what was used was storage. Rooms and rooms of storage. Any number of failed or never completed plans for world conquest could be found stacked all around the base of the castle. As Kim and Ron made there way through the first few levels, they found themselves reminiscing about past plots foiled.

"I can't believe he has so much of that shampoo left over." The cheerleader shook her head. "It must have cost a fortune to have it all made, and now it just sits here in these crates."

"Oh!" Ron pointed. "Is that the Vortex Inducer?"

"What's left of it." Kim winced. "Ugh. Is that cloning solution?"

"I'd rather not look." Ron shuddered and gave her a wily smile. "Who knows what pieces of Bonnie might be floating around in there."

"Ick, ick, ick!" Kim lifted her shoulders and shook her hands fervidly. "So gross."

"Maybe we'd find some souvenirs." He gave her a crooked smile.

"Eww!" She smiled disgustedly at the blonde boy and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Stop it!" He grinned and kept walking. He was so funny. He could always maker her laugh at anything. Kim watched him with a pleasant smile. He really was a great guy, and simply adorable. For the briefest moment, she forgot about the mission and wrapped her arm around his and they walked hand in hand, as if on a casual stroll through the park.

"You know, Ron." Her voice echoed in the quiet hallways. "What you did… this morning. The picnic, I mean. That was really nice."

She felt him shrug next to her. "Whateves, KP. Just being a boyfriend, I guess."

"No, Ron." She looked at him. "Not everyone would do something like that for me. It was really sweet. And… I liked it a lot."

Ron gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean? Anyone would do that for you. Heck, they'd do better. You're Kim Possible."

"Don't depreciate it, Ron." Kim gave him a sour look. "Don't you dare."

"Ok, ok!" Ron relented. He sighed under her steady gaze. "I just… wanted to do something… romantic for once. Like, really romantic. Sometimes…" he hesitated, "sometimes I just don't feel like a boyfriend. You know? And I don't… I just don't deserve you, or something."

Kim stopped them and whirled on the hunched young man, who tried to avoid her eyes. "Ron." She spoke forcefully. "I decide who deserves me, alright? No one else. And I am not so damned perfect, you know."

"No." Ron reached up to gently cup her face in his hands, stilling her tongue. "You are. You are perfect. Perfect in every way that matters." She stared into his sad brown eyes, and his expression was enough to break her heart. "And I'm just the buffoon who makes a joke now and again and looses his pants."

"You're my partner…" she began.

"You almost got killed trying to save me today!" Ron cut her off. "And don't you deny it!" She fell silent. Ron pulled back and gave her a serious look. It almost didn't look right on his normally jovial face. "I'm more of a hindrance then anything, Kim. How can you save the world when you spend half the time saving your stupid boyfriend?"

Kim had no argument. She had leapt into danger to save Ron without a moment's forethought and had nearly died because of it if not for the intervention of Shego (of all things); something that had never happened before. Was their relationship clouding her judgment? Were these bashful emotions distracting her from the mission? Did she even care?

Before she could formulate a response, the echoing sound of marching feet played along her perception. Both she and Ron turned to stare down the hallway from which the steadily growing noise was coming. A patrol of henchmen, perhaps?

"Great." She mumbled. "Perfect timing."

"The mission, Kim." She turned back to Ron who locked stern gazes with her. "Don't get distracted from the mission."

"You're a part of that mission, Ron." She responded in kind. "Now come on, we got to keep moving."

Drakken knew she was in the building.

Of course she was. It was so damned typical of the teenaged crime fighter to come barging in at the most inconvenient times.

Drakken stepped back from the massive computer terminal with a scowl. He knew it had been a good idea to install some more security cameras in the basement. Half the time, that was the route the cheerleader took to sneak into the fortress. Sometimes he wondered if having such a large, sprawling base of operations was worth the trouble. Sure, it looked cool and it was great for entertaining guests, but the snaking caves and passageways throughout the rocky island resulted in a huge amount of security breaches.

Maybe more cameras was the answer.

"So… Kim Possible!" Drakken snarled at the frozen image on the screen, a magnified still frame of the two teens after they passed by one of his hidden cameras unnoticed. "You've come to stop me? Fine! I was expecting you!" He reached forward and tapped out a series of specific keystrokes, sending a silent signal down into the depths of the lair. "Lets get this party started!" He brought his fist down on a separate, large, red button.

The base erupted in alarms.

Drakken grabbed the mounted microphone rising out of the console and shouted into it.

"Security breach! All henchmen on high alert! Get me Kim Possible!" He stood straight with satisfaction at how commanding he had sounded.

It took Drakken a few moments to realize that he hadn't pushed the broadcast button. Sheepishly, he repeated the announcement, sounding much less imposing the second time.

Ron and Kim had just whirled around a corner when the alarm sounded. Red lights flashed along the concrete walls and a distorted siren pumped from a hanging speaker grill.

The two came to a skidding halt. They looked at one another.

"Ok…" Ron raised his hands. "I did not step on anything, I swear."

"Doesn't matter." Kim spun around as the sound of approaching henchmen suddenly grew louder and faster. "We've been spotted. We gotta get up to the control room. Drakken's got to be there with whatever he's building."

"I just hope he's still building it." Ron groaned. The two broke into a full on run.

An annoying droning noise.

Cotton balls seemed to clog her mind as she broke the surface. For an instant, she was back in Go City, in her ratty little bed, waking to the sound of her cheap old alarm clock. Time to get to class. Can't be late. Even though she stayed up all night, living her second life, she couldn't give up on this one. It was as close as she had ever been to living normally. She couldn't lose it now.

The droning noise continued, causing her confusion. That wasn't how her alarm clock had sounded.

And then, the annoying droning was interrupted by the annoying voice of Drakken, broadcasted from outside her room and all the pieces fell back into place.

"Ugh... is this thing…Security Breach! Everyone get their heads in the game! I want Kim Possible… here… um, preferably captured! That is all!"

Shego opened her emerald eyed. She was lying, sprawled out across her green and black bed clad only in her underwear. She had barely managed to get her catsuit off before collapsing from exhaustion earlier in the afternoon. She focused on her bedside clock. 11:40 pm. Night had descended.

She rolled over and covered her head with her pillow, trying to muffle the insistent alarm. She wished she could find the desire to give a crap that Kimmie was assaulting the base. But honestly, she didn't care to face the young woman so soon after their uncomfortable parting, earlier that day. But she wasn't about to let her nemesis win so easily. Kim deserved more from her.

The other, unspoken knowledge that lifted Shego from her bed was that she was the only one who could keep Kim alive if Drakken, by some miracle, managed to get the drop on her. Beat her, yes. Embarrass her, sure. Prove that she was the better of the two, absolutely. But Shego could not see her arch nemesis dead. Not the only woman she had ever met that was as much the warrior that she was.

Shego refused to acknowledge the hidden thought. It would never come to that.

Shego stood before her wardrobe. She picked out her uniform numbly. A warrior? Yeah right. She was a hired goon. A villain's tool.

A super-powered monster.

He froze so suddenly, anyone watching might have forgotten that he was even moving to begin with.

The siren split the night. He was very close to the fortress walls. His claws dug deep into the tree bark to the meat itself, holding him solidly in place. Twenty feet up, he hung easily, denying gravity.

Below him and to his left, he heard the three men outside the giant metal doorway. They smelt… familiar.

"Great!" The loudest one sounded as though he was stomping around. "Just friggin' great! Now we got a breach! Bullshit!"

"What'er we gonna do?" The second man almost squeaked. He wasn't moving around nearly as much as the first, though he seemed to be shifting from foot to foot, anxiously. He smelt scared. Cutter licked his lips. "I mean, we gotta go mobilize against the threat, right? Right?"

"We sit right here." The third man spoke calmly. The other two grew silent. "We were told to guard the front door, right? So we stay out here and guard the front door. Nobody's come and given us orders otherwise."

"Yeah." The loud one said. "Fuckin' yeah! We ain't goin' in there to fight God-knows-what. Screw 'em! We're staying out here."

"Well…" The scared one whimpered. "I guess if we're just following orders…"

"Shutup, kid."

Cutter smirked at the bizarre group dynamic. So there was a 'breach' in the base, huh? Could Drakken have spotted him? Did he have instruments that sensitive in the jungle? Somehow, Cutter doubted it. And as he considered the possibilities, he got the sinking feeling that he knew the identities of the other trespassers. He was not looking forward to his third meeting with team Possible.

Even had the siren not been blaring, the three men guarding the doorway probably still wouldn't have heard the barest noise that was made as Cutter leapt onto the sheer granite wall. As it was, they had no idea as the dark man with his silver eyes, glinting in the lamplight, crawled along the vertical surface passing not ten feet above their heads. Cutter, however, heard the loud one clearly as he ducked into a wandering cleft and scattered raindrops began to fall.

"Aww… bullshit!"

Deep down in the fortress, closer to the heart of the mountain, a series of massive geothermal powerplants rumbled relentlessly on. They supplied endless, self-sustained, power to the whole of the island complex and the high-tech, high-drain machines that Drakken used for his apocalyptic schemes. Surprisingly efficient, they rarely broke down nor required major maintenance. Not surprisingly, Drakken had stolen the technology early on in his career, back when he first started retrofitting the fortress from the abandoned military outpost that it once was.

One of the many drains on the powerplants was a specially designed automated assembly line, also close to the heart of the mountain. It had been practically running non-stop since earlier in the afternoon when Drakken had sent a specific execute command through the castle's hardwired network. Not too long ago, it had finally filled its substantial quota and had since lain dormant. Mechanical arms hung motionless, massive vats of bubbling goo had stopped swirling and the rotating catwalk had halted in place.

But then, Drakken had sent down another command through the network. This one was wireless in nature and was directed at one hundred and fifty separately receiving CPUs, each one housed within its own silent, stationary container.

Almost at once, 150 sets of dull white orbs began to glow.

Wade Load took another look at the readings, his eyes narrowing in confusion. His other hand kept on typing on the keyboard, working on something else completely. He finished uploading the ftp files for his latest set of "bait" sites, trying to lure the WEE algorithm into another hit, and spun his chair fully to face the confounding data on another monitor.

"That's… weird." He grimaced. The child genius hated being confounded by anything.

The young man skimmed through the rows of nearly indecipherable information that had been produced from one of the Kimmunicator's deep scans earlier in the day. One had been a reading on one of Drakken's new mutated Synthodrones, which were relatively simple enough to analyze. He had mapped out exactly how they worked and what their weaknesses were in a matter of minutes. The second batch of information, however, had taken longer for the computer to work through. A few hours as opposed to a few minutes. Still not too bad, considering it was breaking down the entire biological structure of the subject into analyzable data. There were fewer then five other sets of machines on the planet that could process raw information faster.

But now, as Wade read the information as easily as the computer screen printed it for him, he found himself shaking his head in increasing annoyance. These readings couldn't be right. The basic foundation of the genetic structure was wrong. Or at least… off kilter.

Wade leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. It was getting late. And he certainly wasn't a medical specialist, for all his genius. He turned and checked on the status of Team Possible through his constant satellite uplink, displayed on its own dedicated monitor. The Kimmunicator's sensors didn't suggest any immediate dangers, but that meant little in this business. The fact that Kim and Ron were inside the very walls of Drakken's lair didn't help dull his concern.

Wade turned back to the bizarre biological scan. He needed another opinion. A series of deft keystrokes and he was hacked into the Middleton Hospital mainframe. It took him a few minutes to find someone he trusted who was still working in the center. He smiled happily as he watched a familiar form through the security feed. A couple more taps of the keyboard and he was placing a call directly to the phone to that office.

He watched the female doctor on his screen reach for the phone. On his computer speakers, he heard the click as the receiver was lifted.

"Hello, Dr Possible here." Came the polite answer.

"Hi Mrs. Possible, it's Wade."

"Oh hello, Wade." He saw her smile in on the screen. "Nice to hear from you."

"Working late, I see."

The doctor's head raised to look at the security camera. She smiled crookedly. "I was just thinking of calling it a night. Why? Was Kimmie worried?"

"Oh no, she's… uh… on a mission."

"Oh, right. James mentioned that on the phone." She frowned. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. She's fine. Kicking butt as per usual."

"Good, good." Wade saw her relax slightly. He wondered how she dealt with that knowledge, day after day. She must be made of iron.

"Actually, I was calling to see if you could help me with something, related to the mission."

"Oh, sure. What do you need?"

"I need a second opinion on some bio-scans I took of a guy today. For some reason, they just don't make sense to me. Like, something's fundamentally wrong with them."

"Alright. You want to fax them…"

"Actually," Wade interrupted her with a smile. "They're already on you screen."

He watched her turn and look at the computer terminal on her desk, where he had already uploaded the data. She smirked up at the security camera.

"Ok, Wade. I'll see what I can make of them."

"Please and thank you. I'll check back in a while."

"Of course. Take care." She hung up the phone.

Wade leaned back from the screen and turned to look at another. He read through the information again.

"Cutter." He mumbled to no one. "What the heck are you?"

Cutter squirmed through the air ducts with liquid ease. Even so, he grumbled and complained at every twist and corner. Once and a while he would come across a vent where he would stare down at the swarming henchmen, hustling around as they searched the base for the intruders. His theory on their identities had been verified several times over as he heard the red-suited men shout and talk amongst themselves. Team Possible was in the building.

"Great." He growled for the tenth time. "Like I don't have enough to worry about."

Moving through the ducts would have been much easier if not for the stiff package on his back. Naturally, he hadn't thought to remove it before climbing into the narrow passageway, and now he couldn't reach it at all.

He paused as he came to a three-way intersection. He was relying heavily on scent and sound at this point, but even then he couldn't be positive which way would lead him to the control room. He sniffed the air carefully and took an educated guess.

He'd better get a hell of a tip for this.

Kim had realized they were being herded a few corridors back.

At every intersection, they heard the approach of Drakken's henchmen, always coming from every direction except one. She had started noticing the hidden cameras soon afterwards, now that she knew to look for them. They were new, but shouldn't have been unexpected. How many times had they broken in through this route? She silently chided herself for being so predictable.

Ron gasped next to her, just barely keeping pace with her athletic stride. She was hardly breathing.

"Come on, Ron!" She grabbed his arm. "We're almost there! I know you can do this!"

"This…" he huffed, "this… is what… I was talking… about." He shook his head. "Just… dead weight…"

Kim ignored him and pulled him along.

Around another bend they entered a series of glass-windowed laboratories. As they continued running through, Kim saw all manner of strange experiments being performed behind those panes of glass. Some had the odd man in a white lab coat, notepad in hand. A few of them turned to watch her pass, a look of confusion and surprise on their faces.

"Just leave me." Ron tried to tug out of her grip. "Stop… stop letting me get in the way of saving the world."

"Shut up, Ron." She tightened her grip and pulled him even harder. He stumbled but kept up. Once past the corridor of windowed labs, she knew they were practically at the control room. "Once we're in we gotta split up. You and Rufus find the machine, whatever it is, and destroy it. I'll try to keep everyone else off you."

"'Kay." Ron gulped and narrowed his eyes in determination. She knew he would snap out of it once he had something useful to do. He would never let her down. "Rufus buddy, we're up!" The naked mole rat popped out of his pocket with a tiny war cry.

Into the massive cavern they burst, only to be halted in place by the maniacal laughter of Drakken himself.

"Ah! Kim Possible! And…um…" he waved his hand dismissively "…the buffoon who makes jokes and looses his pants." She knew without looking that Ron was scowling next to her. Drakken stood atop a raised platform that came right out of the floor itself. Beside him was some sort of typical death-ray-looking device, obviously whatever he had been building with those stolen parts. He smiled viciously at them. "So glad you could come. You're just in time…" he aimed the weapon at them, "for you're doom!"

She heard the henchmen coming up from behind, blocking the exit. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for an advantage. She saw several, but none of which would also save Ron from whatever crazy blast Drakken was cooking up. She refused to see that fact as a weakness in their partnership.

"Alright, Drakken." She switched tactics. "What's this all about?" She suppressed an amused smirk as the megalomaniac took the obvious bait, always eager to rant and rave.

"Ah, yes!" He stood straight and looked down on them. "I'm glad you asked! Feast you're eyes upon my most devious invention yet! The Reverse Engineering Ray! A doomsday weapon that will reverse engineer anything backwards through its own evolution!" He ran a caressing hand across the machine's surface. "I needed many exotic pieces to build this device and despite you're meddling, KimPossible," he spat her name, "you failed to stop me from completing its construction! And unless the world bows before me, I will use it to blow civilization back to the Stone Age!" He raised his arms and roared maniacally.

Kim raised her wrist and the Kimmunicator that she had stealthily pressed a button on a few moments ago. "You get all that, Wade?"

"Yeah." The young genius' voice squawked over the tiny speaker. "Sounds pretty legit. He could definitely make something like that with the parts he stole."

"Any techno advice to shut it down?" Ron leaned over.

"Um… hit it with a hammer?"

Kim smiled, never taking her eyes off Drakken and the machine. "Thanks, Wade."

"Hey!" Drakken shouted. "Pay attention!"

"Oh…" Ron yawned loudly. "Sorry, dude. It's been a long day."

"Indeed." Drakken frowned at the duo. "So don't you move or I'll turn you… into…" Drakken fought a yawn of his own. "Damnit! Now you've got me yawning! Why is that so contagious?"

"You'll never get away with this!" Kim shouted the clichéd response to buy some more time. There had to be an opening somewhere.

"Oh… but I will!" He smiled. "Because the first trial run will be to reverse engineer Kim Possible into a primordial mudskipper!" He laughed again, shaking his fist in the air. But as he did so, another individual casually sauntered into the room. The green and black woman made her way over to the giant control panel and leaned against it nonchalantly, exchanging unimpressed looks with Kim before shrugging her shoulders and focusing on the ranting Drakken. Kim narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She had wondered where that woman was.

"Hey, Dr D!" Shego barked up at the raised platform, arms folded under her breasts. "You need me, or do you got Princess here under control?"

Drakken's laughter ceased abruptly. "Shego! About time you showed up! I had to subdue Kim Possible myself with the R.E.R.!"

"Oh…" Shego raised an amused eyebrow. "So you got that one part you were missing?"

Drakken's expression froze. He slowly turned to look at Team Possible. He gave them a sheepish smile and chuckled nervously.

"Now Ron!" Kim rolled to the side, already preparing to fend of the henchmen at their flank.

"Shego!" Drakken screamed down at her, even as the waiting henchmen barreled into the room. The green thief didn't flinch as she met his furious gaze. "Argh! You ruined my bluff!"

Shego's gave him a cold, cold look. Drakken was the one who flinched.

"That's not all I'm going to ruin, you blue moron." She stepped towards the platform threateningly.

"Ah!" Drakken shrieked and hid behind his invention. "What? What did I do?"

"You sent me out there with twenty of your stupid Sythodrones! And then, halfway through the job they freakin' mutated and freakin' turned on me!"

"What?" Drakken whined. "What are you talking about? They couldn't…" He was cut off as a man in a red jumpsuit went flying into the platform with a painful grunt. Both Shego and Drakken watched the figure slide to the floor, unconscious.

"Now is not the time, Shego!" Drakken cried out. "I need you to take down that teen!"

Shego snarled at him, causing him to cringe yet again. "We're not done with this!" She turned and stormed into the fray. A stumbling henchman got in her way. She sent him skidding across the floor in annoyance. The rest of them quickly stepped out of her path.

Kim was in the process of judo-flipping another of the nameless thugs, adding to the groaning pile around her. She quickly turned and faced her long-time foe upon noticing her approach. As they stared at one another, the henchmen regrouped behind the green woman.

"Hey." Shego greeted simply.

"Hey." Kim responded in kind. "How're you feeling?"

Shego shrugged. "Better. Got a nap in. Had a sandwich. Good to go."

"Yeah?" Kim smirked. "Nice to know you didn't loose any sleep over anything."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Don't start with me, princess. I'm still gonna kick your ass."

"You can try." Kim adjusted her stance.

Shego smiled despite herself. Her hands erupted in glowing green plasma. "I don't try nothin'."

Ron scurried across the room, diving under a nearby workbench. A couple of the thugs clamored after him. Comically enough, they both tried to follow him under the table.

The blonde teen squirmed between the legs, leaving the grumbling pair behind him. Just as he had hoped, they got themselves stuck in place under the heavy bench. Ron popped out the other end.

One more henchmen came running after him. They faced each other across the table. Around the bench the two opponents circled. Ron feinted one way and then the other. The large man across from him smiled grimly, missing several teeth. He looked a little familiar to the young man.

"I gots you know, boy!" The man grunted.

Ron smiled right back. "I think what you 'gots' is a headache."

The thug frowned, confused. Then a piece of heavy hanging equipment dropped unceremoniously on his head. He stood wobbly for a brief moment before collapsing to the floor. Ron smiled up at his little eye in the sky. "Nice one, Rufus!" Crawling along the catwalk above, the tiny pink rodent gave a significant whoop.

Ron dashed around some more equipment, trying to sneak up on Drakken's flank. He heard the tell-tale sounds of plasma exploding. Shego was in the fight.

He leaned around a tall, square-shaped machine. There was the mad scientist, next to the Reverse Engineering Ray. How was he going to get up on that platform? Ron sneaked out along the wall, trying to get close. Drakken kept staring forward, shaking his fists at the brawl in front of him. He tried not to think about Kim. She was better off then he was. He shuffled within eight feet of the platform without notice. Just a little bit more.

Then something clanged above him.

Ron raised his head, thinking that it might be Rufus up to something. What he saw, instead was a steel grate falling from the ceiling.

Ron froze in shock as the heavy object smashed into the floor in front of him, making an enormous racket. On the platform, Drakken jumped in surprise and spun around to face the source of the sudden noise. His eyes locked with Ron's.

"You! What's-his-face!" He pointed at the frozen teen. "What do you think you're doing?" Ron opened his mouth, about to deny the noise as his fault when someone called out from above.

"Special delivery!" Came the shout. Both Drakken and Ron looked up to see a figure dressed in black and grey come swinging out of the hole he had just kicked in the air duct. The man dropped the fifteen feet to the floor and landed easily on top of the steel grate, straightening to brush the dust off his shoulders. Ron's mouth was wide open.

"Cutter?" He asked in pure disbelief.

The dark-haired man turned his silver eyes on Ron with an almost apologetic wince. "Hello again, bud."

"Who the hell are you?" Drakken spat at the newcomer, obviously getting aggravated by everything.

"Me?" Cutter turned back to the blue-skinned man. "I'm here on behalf of scissorkid, whom you recently bought an item from, yes?"

Drakken squealed with surprised delight. "The Quantum Matrix Amplifier! You have it!" He danced around the platform with childlike glee. "Yes-yes-yes!" His dance halted just as suddenly and he whirled back on Cutter. "Give it to me!"

"Um… yeah." Cutter gave Drakken an odd look, reaching behind to pull at a package that was strapped to his back. "I've got it. There's just the small matter of payment that needs to be…"

"You ass!" Ron shouted at the bartering man. "You're just going to sell that maniac what he needs to take over the world?"

Cutter gave him an exasperated look. "Ron, not now. I'm trying to do business here."

"Business?!" Ron roared at the thief. "I'll give you business!" He swung at the dark man. Cutter simply stepped aside, easily dodging the attack.

"Payment?!" Drakken roared at the thief. "I'll give you payment!" He reached into his pocket and removed a strange-looking remote control device. He forcefully pressed a button.

All across the floor in the large room, circular holes popped open with a resounding swish. Strange red light glowed from those openings, serving to dramatically under-light the faceless burgundy and black figures that slowly rose into place. The glowing white orbs of the Synthodrones regarded them all coldly.

Ron stopped swinging at Cutter. His shoulders drooped as he groaned. "Not again…"

Beside him, he heard Cutter sigh.

"I hate when they do this."

Kim flipped sideways, avoiding yet another powerful swipe from Shego's glowing hands. As she became inverted on one hand, she kicked out into the face of a reaching henchman, sending him sprawling backwards. Landing back on her feet, she immediately blocked the green woman's next dizzying series of thrusts and jabs.

Shego was doing much better then Kim had hoped. She was surprised how easily she had recovered from the near exhaustion she had suffered from earlier in the day. But then, Kim had to remind herself that Shego was a little bit more then just human. It didn't help that Kim herself was starting to feel the strain of such a physically demanding day. After all, she was only human.

Shego reversed a jab and grabbed onto Kim's wrist. The cheerleader countered by driving forward and taking both of them to the floor. Grunting and panting, they rolled across the ground. A few more henchmen milled around the grappling foes, waiting for an opportunity but not wanting to get in between the two powerhouses.

"Damnit, girl." Shego snarled. "Get your elbow… out of my… face!"

"Just as soon as you get your…knee out of my armpit!" Kim shouted right back.

And then a pair of arms lifted her into the air.

Kim looked down at Shego, sitting on the ground with a surprised look on her face. She tried to turn around to see her assailant, but the two unyielding hands held her arms tight at her sides. Though she could make an educated guess based on the disgusted look on Shego's face.

"Well… that sucks." She stood herself upright. "Lets hope this batch doesn't go psychotic."

Kim's suspicions were verified as she was turned and carried towards Drakken. Synthodrones. Scattered all over the room. God, she hated Synthodrones.

"I can only guess that since you're still in once piece," Shego walked up to her right, "that Drakken wants to keep you around long enough to zap with that ray of his."

"Shutup, Shego." Kim hissed and looked around for Ron. He had to be ok.

"Phff, don't worry, pumpkin." Shego waved her hand dismissively. "He hasn't even got the thing totally built yet. He still needs…" she trailed off as she realized who was standing off to the side of Drakken's platform, surrounded by more drones. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Kim stared in surprise as well.

Drakken cackled at the dark haired Cutter, who looked at the surrounding drones indifferently. Ron was next to him, not sharing the same look.

"Give me the Amplifier or I will have them tear you apart!" The mad scientist shouted from his perch.

"No." Cutter gave him a distastefully look. "You give me the money, or I'll just break the damned thing."

"You break it and they will destroy you!" Drakken shrieked.

"And you'll still be short the piece you need." Cutter held the package in the air. "The only piece of its kind in existence, I might add."

"Arrgh!" Drakken pulled his hair in frustration.

"Cutter!" Shego spat the name like a curse.

He turned and looked at Shego. Kim noticed him straighten a little. "Oh… um… hello, Sweetpea."

Shego's face twisted in rage. Kim was sure the woman was going to explode… literally. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Cutter winced at her words, but still managed to give her a stiff smile. "Just… ah… delivering a package to the Doctor. That's all. No reason to freak out."

"That's the amplifier you stole from me!"

"Wait!" Drakken's head snapped between the two thieves. "Stole from you? You said that Possible kept you from getting the Amplifier!"

"Nope." Kim spoke up, taking the opportunity to play her foes against each other. "I wasn't even there. This guy; Chris Cutter, he stole it. He beat Shego at her own game."

"He just got there a couple minutes earlier!" Shego defended herself. "He didn't beat me at anything!"

"You lied to me?" Drakken looked wounded. "You didn't tell me about this man?"

"Hey!" She shouted back. "YOU didn't tell me about the Syntho upgrades! So suck it!"

"You didn't tell him?" Cutter gave Shego a considering look. "You covered for me?"

"She was just embarrassed." Ron piped up next to him. "Didn't want to admit she was beat by a loser like you."

"He didn't beat me!" Shego hollered. Kim started to worry that maybe the woman was getting a little too upset.

"Enough!" Drakken screamed. He looked directly at Cutter. "I must have the Amplifier to complete the R.E.R.! What do you want?"

Cutter gave him a stupid look. "Are you serious? I want the money we agreed on! Good lord…" He shook his head. "What is wrong with you people?"

"Fine!" Drakken reached into his coat pocket and angrily pulled out his chequebook. He mumbled to himself as he scribbled on the piece of paper. "It's getting so a villain can't do some honest double-crossing anymore."

"Great." Ron grumbled at the dark man next to him. "Glad to see that the world has a price tag for you." Cutter gave him a blank stare.

"No!" Shego snarled. "I don't buy it! There's more to it then just money!" She took a threatening step forward. "He's got another motive, I know it!" Cutter's silver eyes were unreadable as he met her gaze.

"There!" Drakken tore the piece of paper from the booklet. "Now give me the Amp!" Cutter continued looking at Shego, back stiff as a board. Then he slumped his shoulders with a sigh and with surprising fluidity, he leapt into the air and landed next to Drakken on the platform. Drakken fell back in shock. Kim narrowed her eyes at the unusual man. He could have done that at any time.

"Here." He handed the package to Drakken with one hand and swiped the cheque with the other. "Enjoy." The megalomaniac took a moment to gather his wits, but as soon as he did, he tore at the package with glee. Kim recognized this as the moment of truth. She palmed the small object that she had been carefully retrieving from her utility belt during the conversation.

"At last!" Drakken raised the silicon board in his hands. "The final piece!" Without another moment's hesitation, he spun and slid the object into a thin slot running along the length of the R.E.R. The machine lit up with a low frequency hum. Drakken giggled in delight. "It is complete! The world is mine!"

Kim twisted the small device in her hand. A beam of red light shot out and burnt clean through the unmoving Synthodrone that held her. Almost instantly, the robot began to deflate as oily synthogel poured out from inside. Kim pulled and kicked, diving out of the dieing robot easily. Shego, still snarling at Cutter was caught by surprise. Kim took her from behind and drove her into the floor.

"Possible has escaped!" Drakken shrieked. "Synthodrones attack! Destroy Kim Possible!"

En masse, the liquid-filled constructs came at her with single-minded abandon. Kim raised her laser lipstick in one hand, pulled out a handful of razor bobby pins in the other and leapt to meet them.

Ron was quickly overrun by robots. Lucky enough, they were not after him specifically and pretty much ignored him. Even so, he was being trampled underfoot as they swarmed after Kim. He tried to fight back, but he could not. His mystical monkey power was there, but just out of reach. He couldn't access it. He couldn't become the monkey. He thought about Sensei, imagined his disappointed face at the failure of his student. He thought about Kim, who he was letting down, once more the bumbling sidekick way out of his league.

Then he was being pulled from the mass by powerful hands.

Ron gasped as though he was breaking from the sea. He lay on the ground, beaten and sore. He looked up into the face that had saved him. Glinting silver eyes looked right back.

"You ok?" Cutter asked him.

"Stop it." Ron rolled on his side, away from the thief. "Stop acting like you give a damn."

"Ron." The man sighed. "I do give a…"

"No you don't!" The teen spat. "You practically handed Drakken the world, and for what? Money! You could have stopped him!"

"I hardly handed him the world." Cutter grumbled. "I just sold him a stolen piece of technology. What he does with it is not my business. I'm a thief. I steal stuff. That is my business."

"Business… how can you call that business?"

"It's all I know, Ron." Cutter growled. "It's all I've ever…"

"You disgust me." Ron hunched over his pained belly. "You're a monster."

Cutter flinched as though he had been struck. His expression was cold as he stood up and walked away from the aggrieved young man. "You're welcome." He said flatly.

Ron groaned. And not just because of the pain. He regretted lashing out at the dark man who had saved him. Two times now in one day. Part of it was because he was physically hurt and had no other immediate outlet but to spew venom at whomever was nearest. But the other part was harder to pinpoint. He resented Cutter. A man with obvious skill and strength, someone who could easily use his power to help people, but instead he used it to make money. He wasn't evil. He was just selfish. And here he was, bruised and battered, laying on the floor in his own misery. He wanted to help. He desperately wanted to jump up and save the day, stop the villains and aid his girlfriend... but he couldn't. He didn't have the power. People like Cutter did.

Ron had never felt so powerless.

Unfortunately, Ron didn't see the bravery and strength of character in his actions as he pushed himself to his feet, despite the pain in his body. He couldn't distance himself enough to recognize how adeptly he had been handling himself against such ridiculous odds. To Ron, he was just a bumbling fool, wandering from one embarrassment to the next. He never saw the incredible things he did in between.

His raw devotion to Kim drove the numbness from his limbs and he circled around the platform, trying to find a way up. He saw the slashing beams of laser light, cutting through one or two rubbery drones at a time. Kim was fine. She had come prepared this time around.

But Ron felt a chill creep into his spine as he heard the low hum of the Reverse Engineering Ray start to grow in strength. He looked up to see Drakken swiveling the weapon on its tripod, aiming into the mass of drones.

"I have you now, Kim Possible!" The madman cried out.

Ron's heart leapt into his throat. He couldn't climb up. So he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He threw his shoe at him.

Kim dived to the side as a wild beam of blue energy fired off to her right, striking a pouncing Synthodrone. The robot shuddered in midair and then, before her eyes, transformed into a toaster oven. It dropped to the floor with a simple clank.

She heard Drakken cursing vehemently, demanding to know who had thrown a shoe at him. She didn't have time to consider her luck as she reflexively threw more razor bobby pins while slashing with the laser as if it were a sword. Five more drones dropped and she took the moment of respite to sprint across the room and dive behind the workbench before the mad scientist could get another bead on her.

She was more then slightly surprised when she found two henchmen wedged under the table.

The cheerleader didn't stay there long, as another blast of blue struck the metal workbench itself. A moment later, the two henchmen were being crushed under a massive stone tablet.

Kim hopped and flipped away, trying to dodge the oncoming blasts as Drakken unloaded at her. She bounced off a server tower only to have it shrink into a plug-in calculator. She rolled past a ceramic kiln only to have it revert into a hot plate. She desperately ran along, leaving a trail of very old-school in her wake.

Shego had pulled herself back to her feet a few minutes ago. Stars still swam across her vision though. The cheerleader had drilled her pretty hard.

As she made her way over near the main console, her mind quickly cleared. She had seen the princess fighting with the drones and then retreating from Drakken's stupid ray gun. She didn't understand why he couldn't make a regular old death-ray. Why did he have to spend all the extra time, money and materials to make a super weapon that de-evolved things. It simply didn't make sense.

She shook her head and found focus to her wandering thoughts. Just in time to see Chris Cutter walking towards the door. His expression was upset and he didn't even seem to notice her, so lost in his own idiot thoughts. Shego snarled and leapt at the man.

Cutter reacted a microsecond late and found himself pushed up against the console. He gave her a surprised look.

"You follow me around, steal my stuff and break into the lair." She said in clipped tones. "I don't believe for a second it's for money. Drakken couldn't write a single digit without it bouncing. So what is it?" She leaned into his face, giving him a stare that promised death. "No more fucking around. Tell me… now!"

Cutter met her deadly gaze with his own rocky one. It quickly cracked, however, and he looked downright… scared? Well, he outta be. She was serious. But she jerked back in confusion as Cutter gently raised his hands to lightly apply pressure at her shoulders.

"You're right." He said quietly. "I didn't come here for the money. Well… not mostly, anyway. And… I have been following you. Since we first met in the research facility."

Shego let herself be pushed back by those powerful arms. "I knew it!" She snapped. "Why? Tell me or I'll…"

"Ok, ok. Jeez." He swallowed. "Here it goes… um… I just wanted… or, that is… I was wondering… aw shit..." He ran his hands through his hair roughly. Shego crossed her arms and gave him an impatient frown. What the hell was his deal? Couldn't the man talk anymore? That's all he did was talk and now he was mumbling like an idiot. He looked down at the floor and finally spoke again.

"I wanted… to ask you out, for like, a cup of coffee or something."

Shego's jaw dropped. She stared at him in absolute shock. He carefully glanced back up at her before dropping his gaze to the ground again, nervously.

"Or we could just… I dunno, go catch a movie sometime, if you're into that kinda thing. I'm pretty flexible…" His silver eyes shot up, wide in mortification. "Oh! But not like that! Or… I didn't mean… like that."

The only sound as the two thieves stood facing each other was the constant roaring barrage as Drakken continued to fire wildly at the dodging Kim Possible.

Ron stumbled to the side of the massive computer console, one shoe missing. The R.E.R. was blasting everywhere, following the insane gymnastic routine of Kim across the room. The synthos were still trying to get at her, but more often then not were simply caught in the wake of Drakken's assault. The henchmen had long since retreated from the room to safety. Everything the ray touched reverted into some sort of bizarre old device. He hated to think about what would happen if it struck something living.

Ron needed to take the machine out, or at least give Kim a chance to even the odds. He looked around desperately.

Then, in a moment of clarity, he looked up.

"Rufus!" He shouted. "Rufus! Come on buddy!"

On cue, the naked mole rat came scurrying across the catwalk to look at Ron.

"Drakken!" He pointed at the roaring madman. "Get him!"

Rufus looked at the crazed scientist. He gave Ron an enthusiastic salute and went scurrying across the hanging machinery. Immediately, he set to loosening the light fixture right above Drakken's head.

Shego was frozen in place. He was asking her out. The bouncing idiot was actually asking her out on a date. After all the crap he had put her through, after all the confusion and embarrassment, the frustration and the exhaustion. It was all for this?

"You…" she fumbled, finally. "You stole the amplifier from me…"

"Yeah…" He shrugged sheepishly. "I was… ah, just trying to impress you, I guess. You are, like, the greatest thief around. Hell, you're a freakin' legend in the mercenary circles."

"You got in my way at Hench Co." She said angrily. "You called Kim on me!"

"No, no." Cutter raised his hands. "I did not call the teens, Hench did. I just offered him my services as a merc to… um… counteract you." He rubbed his neck, anxiously. "I was just trying to arrange a coincidental meeting so we could… I dunno… talk, or get to know each other." He rolled his eyes. "I guess I didn't expect you to try and blow me up right away."

"Then why the hell were you at the Bolt Bin, huh?" She very nearly shouted. "Why were you stealing my job there?"

"I told you, I didn't steal anything there!" He pleaded. "That weird kid gave it to me! I was just trying to bump into you casually, outside of work so maybe you wouldn't try to kill me immediately." He frowned at her. "This may come as a shock to you, but I am not very good at this! I honestly have no idea what I'm doing, alright?" He sighed and looked away. "I just don't have any experience with… relationships."

Shego's mind reeled. She was furious. Absolutely furious. She wanted to punch him more then ever before. She wanted to scream at him. But her mouth wouldn't work. She was simply stunned by the unexpected declaration. This was not the first time someone had made a pass at Shego. Many men had propositioned her, seeing her as some sort of exotic wild woman, a bad girl who would give them a steamy one night stand. She had sent them all packing. It wasn't because she wasn't a hot-blooded woman with her own desires. But the idea of a one night stand with that type of person disgusted her. And Shego had been hurt before, hurt in ways most people couldn't begin to grasp. She had long ago learned to shut down, to be ice cold. Back when she had come to understand and accept what she was. A thing like her couldn't have friendships. A thing like her couldn't have any of those things.

Cutter looked at her; shining silver eyes glinted with the constant barrage of blue light from Drakken's ray gun. His expression was one of pure trepidation. He had been cocky and arrogant all the times she had faced him. Seemingly as sure as himself as anyone could be. And more then once she had seen that face twisted into something feral and terrifying, more animal then man. But now he was a nervous wreck, fidgety, scared and hopelessly supplicating. She felt her heart crack under that puppy dog stare, ever so slightly. She looked into those strange silver irises, trying to think of what to do. Hell… what to say to this man. This dark haired man with his sharp jaw and toned, athletic physique that she had carefully ignored before. No… she wasn't seriously considering this… was she?

"Sweetpea?" He said hesitantly. "Are you going to say anyth…"

A loud smash came from the platform as an entire lighting fixture came crashing down onto Drakken who was blasting at the room's entrance. The mad scientist screamed in surprise and pain as he lurched sideways, the Reverse Engineering Ray firing wide as he did so. Shego fell backwards reflexively as the blue beam of energy arced across the distance between her and the raised platform.

It struck Cutter directly.

The dark man screamed in agony as he was enveloped. Shego recoiled in horror as his body twisted and coiled in pain. The noise from his mouth didn't sound human. It warped and rolled through several octaves. His back arched and his shoulders popped. His entire body seemed to lengthen and swell.

She could only watch as he changed before her eyes.

Wade answered the call within the first ring. He hadn't gotten around to calling Dr Possible back, since he had been suddenly busy with the surge in activity at Drakken's lair. Most of his screens were full of data pertaining to the R.E.R. and the logistics behind it. He had been trying to pinpoint something useful for the hard-pressed Team Possible when the caller ID popped up on his screen, followed a few seconds later by the actual ring of the phone through his computer speakers.

Wade tapped quickly on his keyboard, hearing the pickup noise. "Hello, Dr Possible. Sorry I didn't call back. Got a little busy."

"That's fine, Wade." Came the phone-quality voice. "I took a look at that bio-scan of yours, and let me tell you… " the phone hissed as she adjusted her grip on the handle, "it was very interesting. Where do you find these people?"

Wade's eyebrows furrowed. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Well… if these readings are correct. Whoever, or whatever you scanned this from is defiantly not human, though it's pretty close. Kinda odd, though."

"What?" Wade pressed her. "What's odd?"

"The DNA's sequence is fundamentally different from any other sequence I've seen before. Man or animal. Strange, it's almost like it was welded together, almost too perfectly. There is always a generally organic quality to most forms of life, tiny flaws or mutations that make us unique. But this… feels like it was engineered. Built from the ground up by someone for a very specific task."

"A specific task?" Wade's mind reeled. "Like what?"

"I couldn't begin to tell you, hon." Dr. Possible answered. "But I think it's a safe bet that your mystery man was created in a lab. A very advanced lab, I might add. I can't imagine the technology needed to do this kind of work. Nor would I want to. This is someone playing God."

Wades stomach grew cold. Did the Worldwide Evil Empire actually engineer Cutter? Did they have that kind of capability? It was to terrifying to comprehend. "Ok. Thanks, Dr P. That helps a lot."

"Sure, Wade." She hesitated, ever so slightly. "Make sure Kimmie gets home safe, ok?"

"Yes, Mrs Possible." Wade said, awkwardly. "She's… um… always on top of things."

The woman laughed lightly. "She sure is." The line went dead.

Wade immediately set to researching information on genetic engineering and gene splicing in addition to his already workload. This didn't bode well at all. He needed to crack that algorithm and soon. The threat of WEE had just jumped into a new level. His next act was to try and ring up Kim, assuming she wasn't too distracted to answer, so that she could update her on the sitch. She would want to know this.

A few familiar taps of the keyboard and the sat link signal was sent to the Kimmunicator.

Kim raised her wrist at the sound of the familiar chime, even as she rolled across the floor to land behind the doorway into the control room. She threw herself flat against the wall and pressed the 'answer' button as Drakken's blue ray fired passed her.

"Go Wade." She clipped.

"Kim!" The young man exclaimed. "I got some news on that Chris Cutter guy…"

"Great." Kim groaned as another blast fired through the doorway. She heard Drakken shouting in her direction from back in the control room. "Cause he's here."

Wade gave her a shocked look. "What? He's there? Now?"

"Why?" Kim said, sensing the urgency. "What's the news?"

"I just got the results from the bioscan. He's…"

Wade was cut off as a loud crash sounded back in the room, alongside a girlish scream from Drakken. Kim quickly leaned back from around the corner just in time to see the R.E.R. swing wildly to the side as the blue maniac was knocked clean off the platform by a falling light fixture. What kept her from laughing out loud was the sight that followed.

Cutter, standing off to the side with Shego, was struck with the wild blue beam of energy. Kim heard him scream violently and she winced as he was surrounded by blue light.

"What's happening?" Wade cried out from the Kimmunicator's tiny screen.

"It's Cutter." Kim said empathetically. "He got hit by the R.E.R."

"You mean he's being de-evolved?" Wade practically squeaked.

Kim looked down at his pixilated face. His eyes were as wide as they could go. "Why?" She said. "What's wrong?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you, Kim!" Wade spoke emphatically. "The bioscan shows that Cutter was grown in a lab! He's genetically engineered! Created by WEE for some evil purpose!"

Kim's own eyes widened in shock. "He was grown? Good lord... But then… if he didn't evolve from anything? What is he going to reverse into?" She jerked involuntarily as Cutter's scream suddenly changed pitch. Her head spun back to watch in horror as Cutter actually grew in size. His black clothes tore as his limbs lengthened and his chest widened. He dropped to the floor as is legs popped and thickened underneath him, ripping his pants along the length. His scream turned into a roar. A bloodcurdling roar.

Wade's worried voice cut through the Kimmuncator's speakers. "I don't know. A prototype?"

"A prototype of what?" Kim almost screamed into the wrist-bound device.

Pain.

Everywhere.

He was lost. Drowning in it. He couldn't breathe without filling his lungs with it. Every cell screamed at him, twisting themselves into something else; a memory of something that his mind could not recall but his body understood.

He felt the darkness clawing up from below. The pain always gave birth to the darkness. It was blind rage, mindless animal instinct. He fought to keep himself, grabbed at the scraps of sanity that dangled before him like threads of fine silk, but one by one they snapped.

His mind changed with his body. Parts of the brain that carried reason and understanding shrunk and flattened. Any scrap of who he was became buried under raw impulse. The two parts of him met in his mind. One was human: thinking and comprehending, conscientious and merciful. The other was something alien: savage and powerful, lethal and predatory. They met and they fought, battling for control of his mind. But as the battlefield shifted, his brain reverting into something simpler, the savage part gained advantage. It overwhelmed the pieces of human that remained and it spread like darkness across his mind.

The monster became aware again, its senses sharper then ever before. The senses of a true hunter. It took a shuddering first breath.

It smelt prey.

Shego crawled backwards, away from the mutating Cutter. Corded muscles, thick and massive, rolled across his hunching form. She saw his hands, growing as lengths of boney-white sprouted from his fingertips, shaping and sharpening into massive claws longer then her forearms. All along his arms the sharpened bone grew, bursting from his elbows into a wicked scythe-like blade. The process was mirrored down his legs, his feet splaying wide into huge clawed talons. Along his backbone and shoulders, more cutting edges erupted, all the way up his spine to the base of his lengthening neck. His head was being held between his legs, shuddering in pain. The howling roar grew silent.

Shego continued to slowly scuttle backwards, away from the monster. Her face was a mask of sheer horror, jaw slack and eyebrows climbing into her hairline. She jerked to a sudden stop as her back bumped into the swiveling chair that sat before the computer console.

"Cu- Cutter?" She managed to stammer.

The monster shifted. She heard a whistling intake of air as massive lungs took a deep, long breath. Then the air was pushed out again in a low, reverberating growl that she felt in the floor itself. The monster rose, agonizingly slow. Its head swung along its long, muscled neck to look directly at the frozen Shego.

Cutter's face, twisted and lengthened, stared back at her. His mouth and jaw were wider, his nose flattened and opened. His brow was sloped to the point where the bridge jut out, giving the appearance of perpetual glower. And his eyes… his once silver iris were gone. His whole pupil was gone. The entire orb was now a convex mirror in which she could see the reflection of the control room behind her.

Those mirrors stared at her, unmoving. Then, Cutter's lips curled back into what should have been a smile, but instead was a baring of fangs. Rows of long, gleaming knives that parted ever-so-slightly. Shego cringed in fear.

A long, snaking tongue emerged from that maw and licked along his lips.

HOLY CRAP! What the HELL is going ON??!! This whole thing keeps getting more and more eff'd up with each passing chapter!! Why won't it just END already?! I'd tell you that there is only one more left to go… but you wouldn't believe me. Hell, I don't even believe me anymore.