Chapter Seven

Since she had time, Tara ran downstairs to grab something to drink. As she grabbed a can of Blue Bingo Pop from the refrigerator, her mom came in.

"Why are you so excited?" she asked.

"Jenny's got a mission, and I'm helping keep an eye on things!" she replied.

"Well, good! I know you worry about Kimberly and her friends," said Mrs. Matthews. "But what are you doing down here, if they need you?"

"They won't get there for a few more minutes, so I thought I'd grab a soda," she replied, holding it up.

"Better get back to your post, then. I don't want you to miss something critical," said her mom.

Tara rushed past her and back up the stairs to her room. She put down the drink, and grabbed a notebook and pen she had gotten ready, just in case.

"Wade, do you know the place they're going?" she asked.

The map reduced in size, and a new video window opened, revealing the pudgy thirteen year old. "Yeah, Drakken's used it before. Why?"

"If you've got a diagram, I'd like to be able to follow where they are when they get inside," said Tara.

Wade grinned, and tapped on a second keyboard. Tara's printer came to life, and a diagram of the lair appeared, taking several pages to print out. "There ya go! That's good thinking!"

"Great, thanks!" she said. She punched holes in it and put it in the notebook. Then on the divider tab she wrote "Lair Diagrams". Another page suddenly printed that proved to be the map showing their homes and the lair. Putting that in a different section she wrote "Maps" on the tab and sat back, waiting. The final tab was already marked "Notes", and had both blank and ruled paper ready.

She was as ready as she could be.

kpkpkp

The Focus stopped at the foot of the forbidding steep dark gray hill, the lair plainly visible on top. Signs like KEEP OUT! and HAUNTED! stood about, tacked to trees and on posts. Regular houses were nearby, and they could see people going about their own business in the yards.

They got out and checked their equipment. A new addition was a tiny camera attached to an earpiece/mike. This would give both Tara and Wade a constant picture of what happened without his having to hack into security cameras. He would do that anyway, but an independent line was nice.

"Haven't been to this one before," said Jenny, giving it the once-over. "I'm surprised it's this close to us."

"Yeah, well, it's actually like Hego told us once, a long-distance relationship with a villain is a strain on everyone," said Ron.

Jenny looked at him, but didn't say anything. She couldn't, really, since it wasn't his quote. She gave a silent sigh and turned to Kim. "How do we get in?"

"There's a secret exit somewhere at ground level," said the redhead, "It's just a matter of finding it."

"Okay, then, my turn," said Jenny. Her eyes glowed pink for a few seconds, then she moved her arm like she was throwing a baseball. A number of hex bolts flew from her fingers to hit the rock spaced at two-foot intervals. All of them either left a smudge of darker material, or caused a chip to break off, but no door was revealed.

The team moved around to the left, and Jinx let fly with a second set of bolts at a fresh section of wall. Nothing.

"If Shego really wanted us here, she should have left the door open," Ron complained.

"She might not have had time, or Drakken might have closed it again," said Kim.

"Assuming this is on the level," added Jinx. She tossed more hexes, but still no result.

The team moved to yet another new section, but before Jenny could to her thing, the door they were looking for opened, and a large, red-uniformed man came out.

They recognized him as Charlie, one of Drakken's longest-standing henchmen. He ran over to them.

"Don't go in there!" he shouted, clearly afraid, "The boss is on some kinda rampage, and taking it out on everyone!"

They watched as he ran over to a fence-enclosed parking lot, got into a car, and left the area, quickly.

"Ooo-kay... said Kim, a peculiar expression on her face, "Weirder than usual..."

Just then more henchpeople appeared in the door, scrambling all over each other to get away. They ignored Team Possible, and either just ran, or headed for the parking lot.

But the last few were a different story. They stumbled out, and two of them fell to the ground. The backs of their uniforms were burned like Shego's. They lay groaning in pain.

"Wade, we need ambulances, stat!" said Kim, pulling out her Kimmunicator and pointing it at the men.

"Already on it, Kim," said Wade. They could hear typing in the background. A scanning beam struck one of the fallen. "He's burned, but not too badly."

"We're going in," she said, standing.

"Is that really a good idea?" said a new voice. It all startled them for a second, since they had forgotten Tara was now in on things.

"Maybe not," answered Kim, "But if we don't, more people could get hurt."

"Just be careful!" said the blond.

Kim was focused on the mission, but still had to smile. "We will, Tara. I won't tell you not to worry, but don't let it distract you from your job."

"I won't," was the reply, "You are all too important to me."

Kim keyed off the scanning beam, and put away the device. "Let's go!"

kpkpkp

For most of the way in and up, they met no one. Finally they came to a large room that was obviously the henchmen's quarters. They found several lying on their beds, not moving. A few were on the floor.

"Kim," said Wade, after doing a scan, "I think they're dead! No heartbeat or brain activity at all! Drakken really has lost it!"

"Oh, boy..." said Rufus.

"Maybe you'd better get out and wait for backup," Wade added. "I've already called Dr. Director." He looked over at another monitor. "Here's the reply."

Kim thought. "How long before they can get here?"

Wade looked frustrated. "At least an hour and a half. It says there are no agents available due to another operation." He looked at another monitor. "On a brighter note, the ambulances will get there in a few minutes."

Kim nodded and thought some more. "We'd better go on," she said at last. "We need to find Shego, and see how many others need help."

"I wish you wouldn't," said Tara.

"I'm with her," agreed Wade, "This is getting just too weird."

"I wish we wouldn't either," said Ron, "But whatever happens, Jen and KP, I've got your backs."

"And we have yours," nodded Jinx.

"We can handle Drakken, no matter what he's done," said Kim.

Wade sighed, resigned. He knew as well as anyone in the loop that once Kim set her goal, nothing could stop her. "All right. Head for the control room, there's at least one person there, but it's hard to tell; I'm getting interference."

"What about internal security?" asked Kim.

"Shut down. I can't follow you through the security cams, but on the other hand, nobody knows you're there," he replied.

"Thanks, you two, and we will be careful," said Kim, and keyed off.

At home, Tara bit her lip to keep from crying. Her insides seem to have drawn up into a tight knot. But she stayed with the camera views, occasionally checking their position against the diagram. It was her first peek inside a villain s lair, and all this was strange to her, but nothing seemed to be out of place.

She watched as her friends continued to make their way, cautiously, along the way. Down corridors, through doors, and up the occasional staircase. They didn't trust the elevators.

Finally they reached the door to the main control room, and peeked in slowly. Shego lay on her back in the middle of the room, not moving. Her clothes had been scorched in several places, and a puddle of blood was under her. Drakken sat at a bank of monitors on the far side of the room. He was typing, and looking at something. They spotted a pistol of some kind sitting on the desk beside him. Nobody else was visible.

Whatever the results of what Drakken typed were, he seemed to like it, because he grinned and sat back, putting his hands behind his head.

Outside the door, Kim held up three fingers, then curled one down, then a second. With the last one, Team Possible ran into the control room to confront the evil genius.