Chapter Eleven

It had taken several hours at the lair to take care of everything. Tara had asked that her ability be kept secret, so she was credited with giving a warning in time for everyone to make it out safely. The henchmen had not seen what she did, so that was accepted.

As it turned out, nobody had been killed during Drakken's "murderous rant". The henchmen who had been "injured" and "killed" confessed that it was part of an act to lure Team Possible in so they could be eliminated. The ray had only given a mild burn to look good. Fiske provided a chemcial that had put them in a temporary state of suspended animation, which explained the seeming lack of a heartbeat or brain activity.

They didn't know why Jinx had been taken.

Kim, Ron, and Rufus were in Tara's room, along with her mom. Wade and Sensei were on the monitor. It was ten o'clock in the evening before everyone had been brought up to speed on Tara and the Amulet.

Ron was grinning ear to ear. He was very happy to find someone who wasn't evil with access to the Mystical Monkey Power.

Wade was concerned, but liked the challenge of making equipment for a new team member.

Sensei was being enigmatic. All he said was that the choice had been made, and now they must accept reality as it was, and not worry about might-have-beens.

Kim wasn't happy. Oh sure, she was glad that Tara had been able to stop them from being crushed, but she had known the blond ex-cheerleader since middle school, and felt that her personality wasn't suited for what Team Possible did. Their experiences in Japan had brought them closer as friends, but this was a side of Tara she had never seen before.

"Kim, you have to let me in, at least on this one," said Tara, "I will not stand by and lose my best friend."

"But Tara..." started Kim.

"Felix has been on missions. Monique has been on missions. Heck, I even heard Justine Flanner helped once. Why can't I?" Tara interrupted, forcefully. "And I've got an advantage they don't."

Kim had no answer for that. Tara was being far more forceful and assertive than she had ever seen her be before. She understood the depths of her friendship with Jenny; she felt the same for Ron.

"If you don't let me go with you, I'll just follow," said Tara. She looked very determined.

"Tara!" said her mom with a gasp, "I've never seen you act like this!"

"I know, mom, but Jenny... and Kim and Ron, are very important to me. Now I have a way of protecting them, and I will not waste it."

Kim sighed. For once, she had been outgunned. "Okay Tara, you can come with us. We can use your help. After that we'll talk about the future."

The blond grinned. "That's fair, Kim. Thank you for giving me a chance."

"The pieces are set, and the endgame approaches," said Sensei, and nodded. "Good day to you all." The video window closed.

"Ooo-kaaay..." said Wade. "Tara, I'll send you a headset, but I don't have time to make you everything else." He did some typing. "It will take me a while to find them, but I don't believe they went very far."

"We'll go early tomorrow morning, as soon as you let us know," said Kim. "So let's go home and get some sleep."

"Kim don't forget the thingy Jim and Tim made to destroy those chips," said Ron, as they headed down the stairs.

Kim sighed. "It got destroyed at the Smithson's."

After the company left, Mrs. Matthews hugged her daughter. "I'm proud of you, and afraid at the same time. But I will support you."

"Thanks, Mom, I love you," said Tara, and returned the hug.

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The next morning, Jinx followed Shego back to the main floor, which was occupied by Drakken, Monkey Fist, Fukushima, and the two henchmen. Only Fukushima and Fiske were surprised that Jinx was now wearing one of Shego's costumes.

Last night Shego had come in and explained why she had been chipped, and she had to admit that, as a villainous plot, it was pretty good. They were going to take her up to a space station, and make her use her bad luck to affect the world by channeling it through a special lens. Then they would contact the United Nations and demand the world's surrender.

She was still gathering her power, and could feel it was far beyond anything she had ever done before. About the only comparable feeling was that once she had overeaten and was bloated and miserable for hours. But she could handle it because the time was almost right. As soon as they were on the station, she would detonate herself as a jinx bomb. She would direct the bad luck to break seals and cause power failures, and destroy the station and everyone aboard.

The odds in favor of her survival were very slim, especially with the chip in place, but her revenge would be taken, and her family avenged. No one would ever be able to put her in such a situation again. She wished she could have said a goodbye to her parents and brothers, but that wasn't possible. She winced internally at the unintentional pun.

"Ah, there you are," said the evil scientist, finishing off his morning cocoa-moo.

"Yep. Everything ready?" she asked. Glancing up, she noted the ceiling hatch for the hover pod had already been opened.

"Yeah, all the supplies on the list are in the hover pod," said Charlie. Bill nodded his agreement.

"Good," she nodded, then paused for a second. "We're going to be on a tight schedule. Anybody need to take care of any PERSONAL business first?"

There were glances exchanged, but nobody answered.

"Jinx?" Shego turned to her captive.

"No, Shego," was the answer.

Shego noticed the girl's eyes were unusually pink, but figured it was because she had been crying most of the night.

"Okay, then, let's go," said Drakken, and turned to the hatch of the pod.

Kim and Ron stepped out of it. "Not gonna happen, Drakken."

The evil troop stopped in mid-stride. "KIM POSSIBLE!" he exclaimed.

"You are all gonna pay for what you did to Jenny," she said, moving closer with Ron right beside her.

"And monkey dude, we've got unfinished business," said Ron. He caught sight of Fukushima. "We do too."

Jinx stood stunned. They're alive? Amazing! She would have shouted for joy if she had been able to. Then the problem surfaced. The jinx bomb! It was getting harder and harder to contain the energy, and the last thing she wanted was for her family to be affected by it! But without orders, she couldn't speak and give a warning.

Shego took a fighting stance, not bothering to bring Jinx into it. She knew from personal experience the chip slowed down speed, reflexes and accuracy. She also didn't bother to send her off the floor; if the girl got hurt in the fight, so what?

Fiske and Fukushima got into Monkey Kung Fu stances as Ron ran toward them, doing his usual bad impression of monkey noises. Then they engaged in battle.

"This is it, Stoppable," said Fiske, blocking a chop, "You will meet your end in this room."

"Don't think so, dude," said Ron. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the disgraced ninja trying to sneak up behind him while he was talking to Fiske. Without looking he kicked back hard and caught Fukushima in the stomach.

The man fell to his knees, the breath knocked out of him. A second kick hit him in the head, and he fell over backwards sliding a few feet, out cold.

"Now let's see how you do without that guy or your monkey ninjas," said Ron, turning his attention completely to Fiske.

"Bah! It doesn't matter if you have all the Monkey Power or not, I'll still beat you! I am the Monkey Master of prophecy, not you!" Fiske retorted.

Ron rolled his eyes and took the fight to his arch-foe.

Kim and Shego ran toward each other and began a furious exchange of punches and kicks.

Jinx stood in the middle of the room, watching them with half an eye. Most of her attention was turned inside, where she was trying desperately to contain her luck magic. She had stopped gathering it minutes earlier, and now it was clear she had overdone it. She would never last to the space station; she had to discharge it, and NOW!

The hero and the villainess were engaged in a grappling match, but Shego was stronger than Kim and had an advantage. All Kim could do was move around and hope the other couldn't get enough leverage to take control.

Shego flared her left hand, causing Kim to let go with a yell of pain. In that moment of distraction she twisted and flipped the young woman over her head.

Her bad luck, because Kim was sent flying toward Jinx. Shego saw her mistake and started toward them, hoping to prevent Kimmie from freeing the bad luck charm.

Kim took a cheerleading roll and stopped just past her teammate and not-sister. Quickly standing she reached around and grabbed the control chip from Jinx's forehead.

Shego slammed to a halt just a few feet away. "Uh-oh..." she muttered.

Jinx's entire body began glowing pink, but her eyes were almost blinding.

"Get away from me! I've got to discharge!" she yelled.

Kim and Shego stood undecided for a second, and the yell had attracted the attention of Ron and Fiske, who stopped their fight. Drakken was sitting at a monitor console and stood up. The henchmen by his side looked at each other. The ninja lay where he had fallen.

"This way!" yelled Drakken. Fiske and Shego headed in his direction, and they ignored Fukushima.

Tara stepped into the room. She had been hiding just outside the door. She motioned Kim and Ron to her, and they took the hint, running as fast as they could in her direction.

As the sets of heroes and villains converged, the entire room was suddenly enveloped in a very bright pink light, and Jinx screamed.