Chapter 9

Kim drove her car through the forest towards the old Middleton fairground. Her eyes were hard as she scanned the road. She remembered her mother patching her brothers up, the bandages on Jim's wounded hand. She was determined to end this tonight. Adrena Lynn was going down.

"Uh, Kimmie, maybe you should slow down a little? This road has seen better days." Shego sat in the passenger seat, looking a little uneasy.

"I've got this."

"Sure. But if you eased up on the gas a little, maybe we could talk strategy."

"What's to talk about? We go in, we punch her in the face, done."

"If that's your usual approach, it's a wonder you ever managed to stop us."

"Well, she doesn't have a giant doomsday machine with a big red self-destruct button," Kim said, some humor creeping back into her voice.

"I think you're her big red self-destruct button. The second she got involved with you, she just went all crazy."

"Well, I have that effect on some women." Kim gave Shego a quick grin.

"Very funny," Shego said. "You know she'll have your sidekick under control when we get there."

"Him, and Felix, too."

"Felix?"

"He's a friend. I guess he and Ron were playing video games together when Lynn ambushed them." Kim reached over to open the glove compartment and rummaged for a while before retrieving a photo of her, Ron, and Felix. "That's him, in the wheelchair."

"So she's got a cripple. Scary."

"Shego, if you don't respect him, respect his wheelchair. Your boss and Motor Ed stole it once. Her mom's a robotics expert and has tricked it out with all sorts of ferociously cool gear. It's freaky."

"Oh, please don't start using Lynn's catchphrase. I heard it enough in the prison. It's really annoying. Seriously, it is."

"Oh, god, fine, I'll stop if you will." Kim nudged Shego with her shoulder, smiling. "That was a pretty good impression, though. Seriously."

"Kim, focus. We're here to deal with Lynn, and that will conclude our cooperation. Once she's in custody, we'll go our separate ways." Kim was hurt by the rebuff, but tried not to show it.

"Do you think she'll expect you to be with me?" Kim said.

"I was there the last two times. She'd be an idiot not to."

"I think I should still drop you off before I go to confront her. Maybe she'll ease up on the hostages if I appear to be following her rules."

"Fat chance. You'll just be stuck with a three-to-one fight. You're the only one here who plays by the rules. Well, most of the time, anyway. But it's your call."

"Really? I thought this was personal for you."

"She went after your family. All I can do is sent her to jail, anyway, since I can't de-power her."

"What about that device Aviarius had?"

"Somebody here destroyed it, remember?"

"Somebody here let me."

"I did not let you. That blue idiot just distracted me at a critical moment."

"Why do you work for him, anyway?"

"Kimmie, this is neither the time or the place, and it isn't any of your business, anyway."

"Fine." Kim was silent a moment, concentrating on the road weaving its way through the forest. They were nearing the fairground. "I think I'll drop you off at the next bend. Maybe you'll manage to get a drop on her."

"Are you sure? You'll have to fend them all off while I get in position."

"I can handle it."

Kim stopped the car and Shego got off. She really wanted to ask her for a good luck kiss, but Shego didn't seem to be in a mood to comply.

"Right. See you on the other side, Kimmie."

"Knock her dead," Kim said. Then she remembered who she was talking to. "Only not really."

Kim parked the car by the fence, or what was left of it. The place looked very much the same as the last time she'd been here. Kim headed for the roller coaster, since Lynn had shot her video there. She knew that was no guarantee that Lynn would be waiting there. She cautiously made her way past the other amusements, ready for an ambush.

The expected ambush did not materialize and Kim reached the foot of the roller coaster without an incident. Adrena Lynn stood on the track, a couple of dozen feet off the ground, smiling maliciously. Ron laid wrapped in ropes at the base of one of the support pillars, his back turned to her. Kim resisted an urge to rush in to check on him. It was almost certainly a trap. She didn't think the ropes were actually tied, and she figured Ron was turned away to hide the glowing eyes. She still felt a sting in her heart at Ron's plight and her inability to help him right now. She didn't see any sign of Felix. It was worrisome; with the mobility his flying wheelchair gave him, he might well get the drop on her.

"Here I am, Lynn. Let them go."

"You don't really believe I'd let them go. Much like I don't believe you came alone. Where is that freaky girlfriend of yours?"

"She is not my girlfriend! I don't know where she is."

"Well, your boyfriend is right there, and you're not making any effort to help him. I don't think you're a very good girlfriend."

"You're one to talk. I heard you were so eager to chase me you just dropped your poor prison lover. You really must have missed me."

"Oh, look who tries to talk like a grown-up. Enough of this nonsense."

Ron jumped up and the ropes fell from him. He wordlessly charged towards Kim, his orange eyes narrowed in concentration. Kim had rarely seen him this poised. She adopted a defensive stance and waited for him to make the first move. It was a more conservative approach than she usually favored, but she wasn't sure what to expect from him. He had his moments of dumb skill, after all, and he looked to be on tonight.

Ron was on her, unleashing a series of punches and kicks. Kim deflected or evaded most of them, and the few that got through didn't have enough on them to seriously hurt her. She had trouble connecting on her counter strikes. It wasn't just her reluctance to hurt Ron; he made himself a difficult target, crouching low to the ground, but moving much more adroitly than one would expect from the awkward posture, sometimes on all fours. Kim was surprised and impressed; clearly Ron was much more adept with Tai Shing Pek Kwar than he let on. Why couldn't he ever show this level of skill on her missions?

Kim nearly missed it when Felix swooped into the fray, and almost paid dearly for it. She heard his chair at the last moment and ducked low to avoid being brained. The wind from his passage fluttered her hair. She was distracted enough that Ron connected with a solid blow. He had likely aimed for her nose or even her throat, but her last minute dodge meant she took the hit to her brow. It stung and she was dizzy for a moment. She sprang back on instinct to deny Ron follow-up opportunities.

For the next few seconds Kim was busy dodging Ron's punches and kicks, seeking to re-establish her balance. It didn't help that she now had two targets to keep an eye on with Felix hovering nearby, looking for an opening. Three targets, if she counted Adrena Lynn, but she hadn't moved from her position on the roller coaster, looking at the fight with glee. Glancing towards Lynn she finally spotted Shego.

Shego had climbed the roller coaster and was sneaking towards Lynn. She had waited until all the attention was on Kim before she made her move. It was a sensible strategy: if she could put Lynn out of commission, it could very well free Ron and Felix from her control. Kim wanted to see if she'd succeed, but couldn't afford to keep looking, both because she didn't want to give away her position and because she was too busy.

Kim was exchanging blows with Ron when he suddenly disengaged and sped for the foot of the roller coaster. Kim was caught off guard and stood frozen for a couple of seconds. Felix followed Ron's example and steered his wheelchair towards the elevated track. Following his flight, Kim saw that Shego had abandoned stealth and was sprinting towards Lynn who had turned to flee along the tracks. Ron was making his way up the ride, jumping from beam to beam like a monkey. Kim didn't think she could climb the structure that fast.

Of course, she didn't need to. She pulled out her hair dryer grapple gun and aimed at where Lynn was headed. The hook flew through the air true on the course, but Felix intercepted it with one of the robotic claws installed on his wheelchair. Felix gave the wire a yank and Kim let go of the gun rather than be dragged along. It could have been worse: he could have waited until Kim was airborne.

Ron made it onto the track and squared off against Shego. Felix streaked back towards Kim, using both claws to rip chunks off the roller coaster and other crumbling rides, and launching them at Kim. She was kept busy dodging.

Kim didn't see much percentage in remaining where she was. Felix hovered well out of her reach, pelting her with debris; even turned into a goon, he still seemed smart. She couldn't climb the roller coaster without leaving herself wide open. She turned tail and ran, diving inside the first building she saw. She was greeted by a dozen twisted reflections of herself.

Kim took a moment to catch her breath. If Felix followed her in, the circumstances should favor her. Felix's wheelchair's flight capabilities and claw-tipped metal tentacles gave him an edge in mobility and reach out in the open, but in the confines of the building they would be mostly negated. She wondered if Felix realized it, too. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to follow her in. Kim checked the other end of the hall of mirrors for the back entrance. Not that it would make a lot of difference if Felix entered that way. He would still be constrained by the layout.

After a minute Kim began to wonder if Felix was going to follow her in at all. She decided she needed to get back out there, but the problem was that Felix could be lying in wait at the door. But which door? Trying to outguess somebody trying to outguess you got really complicated really fast. She might as well flip a coin to decide which exit to use. Or maybe she could make her own. The place was dilapidated enough that she might be able to break a wall somewhere.

Noise from above her suggested that Felix had chanced upon the same idea. She tried to locate the source of the pounding sound as she prepared to receive him. The wall above the mirrors burst apart accompanied by green blasts, and Shego dove in.

"Didn't get her, huh?" Kim said.

"I couldn't get past your sidekick, and when the fly boy joined in I had to bail. Thanks for leaving me hanging."

"There was nothing I could do from where I was. I was trying to draw Felix in so I could deal with him"

"Well, it didn't work. And when the hell did your buffoon get so good?"

"Ron," Kim said, emphasizing the name, "is better than most people give him credit for, including himself. I've always known he has potential. I'm trying to get him to put in the effort to make good on it, but he just likes slacking off."

"Well, he picked a very inconvenient time to find the motivation. And what was with the moves? I'm pretty sure it must be a martial arts style, but I don't recognize the school at all."

"It's some monkey Kung fu he picked up in Japan. He's been working on it on and off. I've rarely seen him this on, though."

"I guess he just needed some woman to dominate him to reach his potential. Maybe Adrena does something for him you just don't."

"It's called mind control, Shego."

"Goddamn mind control," Shego muttered as she restlessly looked around. "I guess they aren't going to follow us in."

"They probably know the close quarters would favor us."

"I'm not so sure, the way monkey boy was jumping around, he might do better than you here."

"As if."

"I think it's the cameras. She's got at least two cameras set up around the roller coaster. I think the delusional bitch thinks she's going to win and wants it on tape."

"Makes sense. The first time she went after me, she wanted the world to see her take me down. Like you said: delusional."

"You can say 'bitch', Pumpkin."

"And you can try not saying it."

"We need to get back out there. You take Ron, you know him better than me. I'll take the flying wonder, at least I can attack at range."

"We don't need to fight them, we just need to get Lynn."

"I tried that already. It seems we need to go through her minions to get her."

"Shego, we already tried taking them on separately. It's not working. We need to work together."

"Well, aren't we?"

"According to you, we're just both after the same target. That's not enough. Ron and Felix are on the same page, because they are both doing Lynn's will. If we want to match them, we need to get on the same page, too. We must work as a team."

"Teamwork doesn't just happen out of the blue, Kimmie. It takes practice."

"Shego, we've been fighting each other for years, we both know what the other can do and how she thinks. We have great chemistry, you know we do. We proved it against Aviarius." Kim took a step closer to Shego to lay her hand on her arm. She thrilled at the jolt she felt at the touch. It only lasted a second as Shego pulled away.

"Don't go mushy on me, Kimmie. You want us to work together? Fine, we'll work together." She walked up to the door. "Now let's go kick their asses."

Kim and Shego burst through the door, diving forward to avoid an expected attack. Nothing happened. Getting up they saw that Lynn was still standing on the roller coaster, now flanked by her unwilling accomplices.

"Had to powder your noses, ladies? If you're done with your make-out session, can we finally get this over with?"

"She's really stuck on that line of taunts," Kim muttered in Shego's ear.

"She's projecting," Shego said, much louder. "Don't worry, Lynn. You'll be reunited with your prison sweetheart soon enough."

"Up?" Kim said.

"Up."

The women sprinted for the ride and began scaling it even as Ron and Felix moved to engage them. Felix reached them first, obviously. He attempted to pluck them from the structure with the telescopic manipulator claws on his wheelchair. Shego directed a few bolts his way. She couldn't maintain a very high rate of fire one-handed, but the need to dodge the missiles kept Felix busy for a while. Kim waited for her moment and then leaped at Felix, kicking him in the stomach. She pushed against the momentum of the chair to jump back towards the roller coaster and grabbed hold of a beam. Felix swerved away, doubled over.

"You could have put him out of commission, Kimmie," Shego said as she helped her to a more secure position.

"He's my friend, Shego. I don't want to hurt him unnecessarily." She probably could have unseated him and put him out of the fight. He probably would have survived a fall from this height, but she didn't want to risk it. It would almost certainly break some bones.

Ron was on them, fearlessly attacking them even with all of them clinging to the structure. In an environment like this, Ron was the most effective of them. Shego and Kim could generally spare one arm or leg for combat, while Ron was constantly in motion, sometimes hanging by his hands, sometimes his legs, or any combination of them, constantly shifting his attacks. This was the kind of terrain that favored a disciple of Tai Shing Pek Kwar. However, working together they could fend him off and still make progress upwards.

Kim risked a glance up at their target. On the top of the structure Lynn still only watched, now a little frustrated. Her eyes met Kim's and glinted with malice. Instinctively Kim looked at Ron. He lunged at her, heedless of the drop below, arms stretched out to grab her.

Kim wanted to activate her glow. If the power worked as she thought it did, reflecting attacks directed at her, it would send Ron back along his trajectory with almost none of the momentum transferred to her. She would maintain her grip and Ron would gain an opportunity to regain a hold, some self-preservation instinct hopefully still operating regardless of Lynn's directions.

She couldn't do it. Shego was right there next to her. Kim remembered the look of fury on her face when she saw Lynn with the stolen glow. She didn't ever want to see Shego look at her like that. Shego could never be allowed to know Kim had a glow of her own and so she could never use it in public. She tried to hang on with all her might as Ron grabbed her waist.

The impact pushed her body outwards, and her foot slipped. She was hanging from a beam with her hands, supporting both her own weight and Ron's. Her fingers burned under the strain, but for the moment she held on. Ron twisted around, trying to dislodge her.

"Kim! Hang on!" Shego climbed down to be level with Kim. "If I stun him..."

"He'll fall and break his neck! You can't do that."

"I have to do something!"

"Go get Lynn, the route's clear. Without her controlling him, we'll be fine."

Shego looked up, then at Kim's slipping hands. "I'll never make it in time."

"You will. I can hold on." She tried to project confidence as she looked into Shego's eyes. She looked back at her, some unknown emotion in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kim, but I can't risk that." She reached for Ron.

"No!"

Shego's hand flared green and Kim felt Ron's grip relax. Before he could fall Shego shifted her hand to grab him by his collar. Kim's mind was working feverishly, calculating angles and forces and future trajectories. Shego was crouching on an angled beam, one hand behind her gripping another. There was no way Shego could maintain her grip with Ron's weight on her. She had a fraction of a second before sudden impulse of Ron's weight on her would force her to let go of either the beam or Ron.

Kim pulled her legs up and twisted around to place her thighs on Shego's shoulders, letting her calves rest against her sides. For once her mind was too busy for the action to give her flashbacks from Saturday. As Ron's weight pulled Shego forward, Kim hooked her legs under her arms, grateful for the time spent on the rings in gym class.

They came to rest with Ron's dead weight distributed between them, Shego clinging to the supports with her legs and one hand, supported by Kim's legs. Kim was still hanging by her fingers that burned with the effort, now hanging at an angle and her torso twisted, but the strain wasn't any worse than with Ron alone, and at least Shego wasn't working to shake her loose.

"Teamwork, huh?" Shego said.

"I told you we have good chemistry," Kim said.

"Now how do we untangle ourselves?"

"You weren't so anxious about that on Saturday."

"I didn't know you were into three-ways." Kim blushed at the images the comment conjured.

"I can probably shimmy a little closer, ease the angle on you."

"Better get on it, Kimmie. The wheelchair boy is recovering."

"Right."

Kim forced her aching fingers loose and moved her hand a few inches before gripping again. The sharp edge of the metal beam bit into her. She gritted her teeth and moved the other hand. She wanted to take a little break, but there was no time. She repeated the sequence of actions twice more.

Her movements dragged Shego closer to upright, and getting a better leverage on her arm she managed to pull herself rest of the way up. Standing solidly on a beam, she dragged Ron's body up and laid it to rest on the beam, arms and legs hanging over each side. Kim pulled herself up onto the beam she was hanging from.

"Come on, Kimmie. No time for a break," Shego said.

Shego again began to scale the roller coaster. Kim forced herself to follow, but her fingers throbbed with pain and she could barely maintain a grip. She couldn't keep up with Shego, who reached the track before her.

Lynn's choice of position worked against her now. Stranded on the track high above the ground she had very few options for escape. Felix, recovered and hovering near Lynn, offered one, but she didn't seem keen to take it. Perhaps she didn't trust the wheelchair to support both their weight.

Kim clambered onto the track and saw Shego and Lynn faced off against each other. Shego's hands were alight with a green glow, while an orange glow surrounded one of Lynn's hands. That might mean Ron was no longer under her control.

"Give it up, Lynn. You have nowhere to go," Kim said.

"Give up? He can still knock you both off," Lynn said, nodding towards Felix beside her.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Shego said. She lobbed a few bolts at Felix, who dodged them.

Suddenly Felix flew at them, both claws snapping forward, while behind him Lynn turned to run. Felix directed one claw at each woman. Kim thought that was a mistake, and Shego demonstrated why, by slicing through the one reaching for her. Kim dodged under the one aimed at her as she ran past Shego.

"Yank it," Kim said as she passed her.

Shego didn't protest, but did as instructed, grabbing the intact mechanical tentacle and pulling hard. Felix was surprised at the move and his chair lurched forwards and down. Kim was still running straight at him, and before he could recover, she leaped at the wheelchair, grabbed hold of Felix with both protesting hands and pulled, kicking against the chair. She fell back onto the track with Felix in her arms. The wheelchair, suddenly lighter, gained altitude before veering away in an uncontrolled tumble.

Shego ran past Kim as she stumbled back up, hot on the heels of Adrena Lynn fleeing along the track. They had dealt with Felix so fast she hadn't built up much of a lead. Kim was momentarily torn with indecision. Without his wheelchair Felix was no longer a threat, even if conscious, but what if Lynn ordered him to throw himself off the roller coaster? She wanted to go after Lynn, but didn't want to leave Felix unattended. He was still trying to fight her, but ineffectually.

"I'm sorry, Felix," Kim said, as she rolled him on his stomach and restrained his arms behind him. She fished out a zip tie from her pocket and tied his wrists together. She reached for his belt to pull it off and use it to secure him to the track.

"I'm okay, Kim," Felix said. He twisted his head around to look at her. His eyes were blue. "Go get her."

Kim didn't waste any time sprinting after Shego and Lynn, who were a few dozen feet ahead of her. Shego didn't make things easy for Lynn by shooting glowing spheres at the track around her feet that exploded in bursts of green. Lynn moved gingerly, unsure of her footing, which allowed Shego to catch up. Kim was gaining even faster, sprinting down the uneven, dilapidated track without hesitation or fear. Both of Lynn's hand were lit up. Evidently she had decided Felix was no longer of use to her. Kim wasn't sure what use she imagined her power would be against her and Shego, since she couldn't control either of them.

Shego had almost caught up with Lynn when she stopped and spun around. She directed a glowing sphere at Shego, who was too close to dodge the homing orb. Shego screamed and dropped on her knees. She had been headed downwards, and after losing her footing she tumbled down dangerously on the sloping track. Suddenly there was a bright green flash from somewhere around her midsection and shortly afterward she managed to stop her headlong descent.

Lynn hadn't waited to see what would happen, and was running again. Kim reached the still slumped Shego. She jumped over her, her eyes focused on Lynn. The best thing she could do for Shego was to make sure Lynn wouldn't get another shot. Shego grunted something as she passed. She was pretty sure it was: "Get the bitch."

Lynn reached the entry platform for the roller coaster. She made a sharp turn to head away from the ride and threw an orange sphere at Kim in the passing. Kim swatted it away, the mere existence of her glow protecting her. She vaulted the railing separating the ride from the queuing area and tackled Lynn. It was very satisfying to feel her hit the ground hard.

Lynn twisted around onto her back as Kim straddled her.

"No! No, you will not win again." Lynn shot an orb right in Kim's face. She didn't even blink as it bounced harmlessly away.

"How? How are you immune?"

"That's the wrong question." The look of confusion on Adrena Lynn's face almost made her smile. "The right questions is: what will she do next?" Kim punched her in the face.

It wasn't really a very good, safe, or reliable way to render someone unconscious. You could break your fist and do worse to the other person's face. It didn't help Kim's already hurt fingers at all. But damn it felt satisfying after everything Lynn had done.

"Damn, Kimmie, that was cold. I'm impressed."

Kim turned around to see Shego, who had made it off the track. "Shego, how are you?"

"Better than her." Kim turned to look at Lynn, out cold.

She didn't seem so villainous anymore, lying there. She wasn't the extreme teen anymore, but she was obviously younger than Shego. She had turned to fraud to get some easy ratings, but clearly had some real talent and could have had a legitimate career. She was quite pretty, too; very well suited for television. It was a shame she had to be so unhinged.

"It's going to be a headache trying to keep her contained," Shego said.

"I don't know," Kim said. "Her glow doesn't seem to go through walls. As long as she's in a cell she can't do anything. They can probably cover her hands with something when they let her out of it."

Shego gave a little bark of laughter. "That's going to suck for her. She's got it coming."

"Yeah." Kim looked at Shego. "I guess you're leaving."

"We finally got her, Kimmie. Mission over. I'm just going to have to live with her having a stolen Go Team Glow."

"Could we, uh, maybe meet up later?"

"Kim, one time deal, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. But, I mean, I'm pretty sure we have something. So I was thinking..."

"Kimmie, I was trying to be nice about this."

"What?"

"You just won't take a hint, will you? So I'm going to say this in terms you can understand: I'm not interested."

"But..."

"Sure, I didn't mind having you. It was such a rush to have the famous Kim Possible between my legs, looking at me with lust in her eyes. But, in the end, you're just a little schoolgirl. You don't have what it takes to hold my interest."

"No, I don't believe you."

"That's your lookout. But if you show up to our next meeting expecting me to go soft on you, it's going to be our shortest fight ever. Because I am going to beat you six ways to Sunday." Shego turned and walked away.

"You can't mean that!"

"Whatever, Kimmie."

Kim just stared after Shego, her mind numb. Her eyes burned with tears she wasn't going to shed. Shego might have ripped her heart right out of her chest, but she couldn't afford to fall to pieces. The mission wasn't over yet.

Kim restrained Lynn, her body on autopilot. She found and old crate to cover Lynn's hands with, hoping that would be enough to contain her power until a more permanent arrangement could be made.

Working like a robot, and feeling like a zombie, she retrieved her hair dryer grapple and returned to Felix to untie him. Felix said something Kim didn't catch, looking much too cheerful. He pulled out a remote from his pocket and piloted his wheelchair back to him. Kim helped him into it and he gave her a ride back down. Felix then flew to retrieve Ron from his precarious perch with the one working claw.

The sight of her oldest and dearest friend lying on the ground covered in scrapes and bruises finally jolted some life back into her. She carefully shook his shoulder.

"Ron? Ron, are you awake?"

Ron opened his eyes and looked at her. "Oh, God, KP! I'm so sorry."

"What's to be sorry about, Ron?" Kim said, brushing some dirt off his cheek. "It wasn't your fault. It was all Adrena Lynn. I should be sorry for beating you up."

"Oh, man, I fought you. And Shego! That wasn't a dream?"

"No, Ron."

"Oh, wow. Oh, man, I totally kicked ass!"

"Yeah, you did." Kim smiled. "You were pretty impressive."

"Since when does Adrena Lynn have mind control powers? Why didn't I get the memo?" Guiltily Kim realized she had never warned Ron about Lynn being after her, or of her having powers. She had been too busy avoiding him and daydreaming of Shego.

"It's a long story, Ron."

"Maybe you could tell it over some nacos?"

"Yeah. Sure. Nacos sound good."

"Is it a date?" Ron said, hope plain on his face. Kim looked at the edge of the forest where Shego had disappeared.

"Sure, Ron," Kim said as she helped him up. "It's a date."