Chapter 14

Adrena Lynn found Electronique in her study, seated in front of a laptop. She wasn't sure how familiarly she could act with her, but she felt safe enough to test it by bending over her shoulder to look at the screen. She was somewhat surprised to find that Electronique was looking at images of attractive young women dressed in a variety of flattering, often skintight costumes, even though she was now rather confident about which way her tastes ran.

"I didn't really expect to find you surfing for porn."

"It is not porn. I am doing research."

"And just what were you researching that led you to pics of pretty girls in skimpy outfits?"

"Costumes. Although I plan to keep Team Go in their old costumes for a while longer, eventually I intend to rebrand them as my underlings."

"I really hope you're not thinking about dressing them in anything like that. It would be a daring choice, I give you that, but I don't think it's quite them."

"You, my dear, also need a costume. This is not precisely my area." Electronique indicated the screen. "There is apparently something called 'cosplay'. Many of these young women make their own costumes, some of which appear quite appropriate for villains. I was looking for inspiration."

"Well, some of them do look rather inspiring."

"You are talking about the women, aren't you." It wasn't really a question.

"Would you like me to recruit one for a... consultation? Of course, you'd need to turn off my cuffs for that."

"Perhaps later." Electronique closed the lid of the laptop and got up. "It is not a pressing concern. Like I said, for the time being I want it to be perfectly clear to everyone that it is indeed Team Go doing my bidding."

"And what are you going to bid them to do? You haven't really gone all out to parade Team Go to the world." Adrena followed Electronique. She wasn't sure where she was headed, but assumed she was to follow.

"You are not counting one high-profile prison break, I see." Electronique turned to look at her over her shoulder. "I did send you all for a mission, but you saw fit to ruin it when it was barely begun."

Adrena swallowed. She wanted to protest that it hadn't been her fault, but she feared that might have been pushing it.

"Well, I suppose it wasn't entirely your fault, darling. Team Go are not very well suited for subtle work. But you have learned your lesson, have you not?"

"I... I hope so."

Electronique stopped and turned to face Adrena. "Now that you have had some time to think about it, can you tell me what you should have done?"

Electronique's voice was mild, but Adrena felt nervous. She had already had some experience with Electronique's particular brand of the carrot and stick approach. She didn't want to feel the stick again, but the carrot was very enticing.

"I should have followed Shego to find out where she was staying. Then I could have planned my attack at leisure." It was obvious in retrospect, but the opportunity had seemed too good to pass up at the time. It was hard to think things through when you were tired, irritated, and had four morons breathing down your neck.

Electronique smiled and reached out to caress Adrena's cheek. "Very good, my dear. Perhaps I'll keep you around." The gesture felt much nicer than Adrena would have expected.

Electronique turned to walk on. "Now, I have some work to do, and though I suppose you could assist by handing me tools, I think your time would be better spent trying to work on your minion wrangling skills. Why don't you go play with the Go brothers for a while?"

"I'll do just that."

Adrena wasn't thrilled with the prospect, but she was getting a sense of where the limits of their current relationship were. Electronique was still firmly in charge. Well, it wasn't so bad. Adrena knew she didn't always make the best calls, and it wasn't altogether unpleasant to have her welfare in the hands of another, especially if those hands belonged to someone like Electronique.

And she really should drill Team Go into some sort of order if she wanted to finally get her revenge on Kim Possible and Shego. Electronique might do it for her, but much as she was getting reconciled to the notion, that was one thing she'd rather earn for herself. She set off to find her goon squad.

Adrena Lynn stared at Team Go lined up in front of her in the big studio and realized she had absolutely no idea on where to start. She didn't know a thing about commanding a team. She thought she had done pretty well with her minions, but those under her power reacted to her wishes like they were extensions of herself. She had no experience whatsoever in herding goons. She couldn't just go back to Electronique to ask for pointers now; she could imagine her disappointment. She needed to figure this out for herself.

She knew what to do with the members of Team Go, individually. Need something broken? Point Hego at it. Need something broken into? It was Mego's job. Wego were always handy when you needed bodies for something simple. But how would she go about turning them into an effective fighting team? What team tactics they had, they had worked out among themselves over the years, and Adrena knew nothing about them. Communication was an issue. She dearly wished she could just control them and have them know what she wanted them to do.

Perhaps that was the place to start; drilling unquestioning obedience into them. That's what the instructors in military movies did, right? She could worry about maneuvers and things like that later.

"Alright, you useless excuses for henchmen." Was this the right tone? The drill sergeants always seemed mean. "I'm in charge, and you will do what I say, without question and without delay. Is that clear?"

"Uh, what is it that you want us to do?"

"Just because Electronique is too busy to play with you doesn't mean you need to waste our time."

"Your time is mine to waste, if I want to. Or should we go ask Electronique?"

Adrena cringed mentally. She knew it was a mistake to appeal to Electronique. She should be able to make Team Go obey her without hiding behind Electronique's back. But what could she do? She could maybe beat up Mego, if he stayed still, but there was absolutely nothing she could do to Hego. She really needed something to discipline them with. Maybe if she asked Electronique really, really nicely, she would whip something up for her. Maybe a literal whip. She cleared her mind before she got too sidetracked.

"You know how that would go, don't you boys?" For the time being, she didn't really have a choice but to appeal to the source of her authority over Team Go. "So do you have any other inane objections, or shall we get on with it?"

"Fine. You want to play drill sergeant that bad, let's just get it over with."

"The correct answer was 'Yes, Ma'am'. You can do twenty laps around the room for that one." Mego gave her an angry scowl, but turned to obey. "Shrunken down." That got her another scowl, but at least he shrunk himself, which had the benefit that she didn't need to look at him anymore.

"The rest of you will obey like good boys, won't you?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Adrena smirked at the chorused response. Yes, she was clearly onto something.

"You look like you enjoyed yourself, my dear. And they looked like they didn't. Excellent."

"It was pretty satisfying bossing them around, but it'll be a while before I manage to whip them into something useful. Which reminds me, a whip would be nice. I need something to enforce discipline with."

"Much as I appreciate the image of you and whips, I'm afraid you'd just hurt yourself with one, darling. You should leave that to me. Whips do require some practice to use."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

"Perhaps I do. You do have a point, though. It would be unfortunate if one of the boys developed regrettable ambitions when I'm not present to curb them. I will give the matter some thought."

"I appreciate it."

"You'd better." There was a small smile on Electronique's lips that suggested it wasn't a threat and hinted at which brand of appreciation she would prefer.

"What are you doing, anyway? Researching more cosplayer girls?"

"Not exactly, but it's not entirely unrelated to our earlier discussion. I'm cleaning up what little surveillance footage you managed to get."

"Uh, yeah, that..."

"No need to be apprehensive, darling. We have already gone over the matter, and I consider the subject closed. Just do better next time."

"I will."

"I have faith in you. Perhaps it would make you feel better if I told you that you did manage to discover one valuable thing I was not previously aware of."

"Really?" Apart from Kim and Shego's cooperation she couldn't recall learning anything interesting.

"Come take a look."

Electronique beckoned her with a finger, and Adrena rounded the table to peer at the screen of the laptop. She was surprised when Electronique pulled her into her lap, wrapping one possessive arm around her. Well, she wasn't going to complain about that. She felt sparks on her skin where the arm touched her waist, which might have been entirely literal.

Electronique began playback, and Adrena saw a scene taking place in the parking lot of Kim's school. Kim was talking to an African-America girl Adrena remembered seeing with her before. Despite Adrena's best efforts with the directional microphone, their conversation was lost among the sound of the wind. It was almost as though they were whispering, even without any obvious eavesdroppers, few sibilant hisses the only audible part of their voices.

Kim straightened a little, and suddenly her voice came in loud and clear. Adrena wasn't sure if Kim had raised her voice, or if she'd just finally managed to point the microphone correctly at that point. "Oh, thanks again for helping me with the outfit."

Her friend's reply was also audible. "As you say: 'no big'. You know I'm always down for helping my BFF. I just wish you'd have let me design it, too. I was dying to get a crack at it. I have a stack of sketches in my room."

"I know. I'm sorry, Monique, but I just felt like I needed a more experienced designer. Next time I update my look I'll talk to you first."

"You'd better. So, who'd you got to do it? I've been racking my brain for a while now, but I just don't recognize the style. Was it anyone famous?"

"Uh, they have some, uh, notoriety, I guess."

"Talk to me, girl. Fashion is my thing. I'm not just a glorified seamstress." Then the two girls entered the building, and the rest of their conversation was lost.

Electronique placed a finger on Adrena's cheek to turn her to face her. The touch was electric, and Adrena was now sure the villainess was using her power on her. And it was a power, as she'd had an opportunity to learn. The suit made Electronique more powerful and versatile, but she could channel electricity through her body even when not wearing it.

"I believe we have an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, but I'm afraid it will require you to make another road trip to Middleton, darling."

"Please, not again. I've spent most of my time since I got out of jail in a van with those morons."

"Well, since the mission requires some discretion, maybe I won't saddle you with Team Go this time." Electronique's finger caressed Adrena's jawline, the electrifying touch making her jaw quiver. "I can put them to good work here in Go City in the meantime. And you, my dear, get to use your power as you choose. You are clear on what I want you to do?"

"Take control of Kim's pretty friend, and bring her back as a hostage."

"And a costume designer. You do need a costume of your own, my dear."

"Do I leave a note?"

"No, darling. We can contact Kim Possible at our pleasure. It would be best if you managed to not be seen." Electronique didn't say 'this time', but she didn't need to.

"I'll be careful."

"I know you will. Any questions?"

"Have you considered cameras?"

"Pardon?"

"If you want to send a message, nothing beats TV. We're hiding in a TV studio already. Get some cameras and we can let the world know Team Go work for you. Or taunt Kim Possible, or whatever you choose."

"You just miss being on camera, don't you?"

"I do look damn good on a screen."

"I will not contradict you. I'll take the matter under consideration."

"I appreciate that."

"Speaking of appreciation, since you will have another long day tomorrow, what do you say to turning in early?"

The look in Electronique's eyes made Adrena shiver, this time in anticipation. "That sounds good to me." Electronique had been right: this had turned into a mutually pleasurable arrangement.