This just wasn't right. While Kim wasn't a firm believer in the roles laid out in the Big Book of Villainy, there was a right and wrong way of doing things. Drakken simply wasn't behaving in the proper manner.

Okay, faking your own death was brilliant...if a little unorthodox. Using your false death to move to a tropical paradise and live a luxurious life made sense...sort of.. no wait, that made perfect sense. However, when the authorities discovered you, when you found yourself face to face with your nemesis, there were certain, acceptable actions to take.

You could activate the death trap you had carefully prepared...which would explain Shego allowing herself to be discovered. You could immediately attack your foe, indicating that you were caught by surprise. You could attempt to flee or beg to be left to live out the rest of you life in peace. All of these actions would meet the approval of anyone who had studied Senor's book.

You weren't supposed to simply pull out more eggs and throw more bacon and potatoes on the grill.

"This is serious!" Kim snarled at the blue man, who was busy scrambling eggs in a very large bowl. "You're still a wanted fugitive, even if the world's authorities think you're dead!"

"Like I told you a moment ago, I'll answer any questions you have, under one condition," the mad scientist poured the eggs onto the hot grill and started to swirl them with a whisk.

"And that condition is...?"

"That you let me eat!" Drakken rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I just woke up and I'd like my breakfast. I was kind enough to prepare some additional food, in case you and Stoppable would like to join us."

"Whoa, you know my name?" Ron looked partially shocked and partially pleased.

"Of course, your name is Ronald Stoppable! I also know that you're supposed to be a talented cook, so could you at least start making and buttering some toast? I prefer whole wheat and Shego prefers rye."

"So Shego's here?" Kim asked. At least they had accomplished one of their goals.

"Indeed! Now I don't know about you but I like a hot cup of coffee with breakfast. If you step out into the dining area and take a left, you'll find a coffee station. The instructions are printed on the machine and some hazelnut coffee is waiting. While you're out there, if you could set one of the larger tables for four, we should be joining you in a few minutes."

"Why do you think we'll eat anything you offer us?" Kim demanded. She was rather put out that Ron had started to feed bread into a large toaster.

"Uurrgh," Drakken sighed, rubbing his brow and started to point out a few items. "In case you haven't noticed, I've mixed the scrambled eggs into one large mass, the bacon slices are all cooking together, and the hash browns are all mixed together as well. We'll be eating food from a common mass, drinking coffee from a common pot, all off of tableware I've just given you complete control of. If I were to try to poison or drug you, I'll have to do the same to myself!"

"Now, I'd like to be civil about all of this," he turned back to the grill. "Senor has been a very good host and I don't want to damage his resort or his reputation. We only have about forty-five minutes or so and like I said, I'm hungry."

"Forty-five minutes?" Kim asked, growing more confused.

"And counting down!" Drakken snapped. "Senor doesn't want to put his staff or guests in a compromised position. After the medical staff and the guest patients leave, his kitchen and housekeeping staff leave for an hour. That way, Shego and I can get something to eat while the medical facility staff can honestly say that they've never seen international felons in the place. Now, can you please start the coffee and set the table?!"

"Oh, that reminds me," Drakken's voice was much more calm as he pressed a button on his belt. "Shego, our guests have finally arrived."

"You were expecting us?" Kim gasped. "And why does your ph..."

"Can we please discus this over breakfast?" Drakken interrupted her. "Unless you start the coffee, right now, we'll all have to sit around watching breakfast get cold while we wait for it."

Having never been confronted with a supervillain's breakfast invitation before, Kim decided to play along. It only took her a few minutes to find the coffee station and start the brew. She also found the clean tableware, cleaned off a large table and set it for four adults and one mole rat. She had just finished when Drakken and Ron bustled out of the kitchen with breakfast. Kim fetched the full coffee carafe and was about to sit down when...

"Well, it looks like the gang's all here," a familiar, sarcastic voice sounded from a hallway. Kim spun to see her old nemesis, looking very odd in shorts, a tee shirt and sandals. "How long ago did you detect me?"

"Global Justice picked up a plasma signature a little more than two days ago," Ron blurted out, before Kim could signal for him to not answer.

"Hmmm...looks like your shielding is working better than you expected," the green-hued woman congratulated her blue companion. The two villains quickly sat down and served themselves. After a glance at each other, Kim, Ron and Rufus sat down and loaded their plates, as well.

"I believe you were going to ask why my communicator was working earlier," Drakken addressed the team, while they were eating. "The answer is that I've developed a communications shield and installed it over the island. It is much stronger inside the buildings than outside, and I've left the outdoors area on this end of the island completely uncovered. My own communication devices still work, however."

"That's why I was wondering when you had detected me," Shego added. "Five days ago, I flared my plasma inside the working area at the east end. Four days ago, I flared my plasma inside this building. Three days ago, I flared it by the pool at the east end... Drakken was sure I'd be detected. Two days ago, I flared just outside this building."

"You act like you were trying to draw us in," Kim retorted.

"We were," Drakken shrugged. "We needed to separate you from Global Justice's oversight so you would hear us out."

"Why do you think we'll listen to anything you have to say?" Kim demanded.

"Because we are about to hit you with the most horrific weapon known to man," Drakken replied, around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"And what's that?" Ron was clearly nervous, and ready to leap into action.

"The truth," Shego snickered. "We're going to fill your little, narrow minded brains with some really nasty information."

"And what information is that?" Kim demanded. Despite herself, she couldn't help but nibble on a piece of bacon.

"You'll see after breakfast...oh, that reminds me," Drakken pressed a button on his belt again. "Please let Senor know that the special guests have arrived. We'll be at the pool whenever he chooses to greet them."

"Senor is a proper host," Drakken answered the teens' confused looks. "He likes to personally greet all visitors to his island. I've also set up the shield over the pool, so we can have our meeting there."

"Shield? Pool?" Kim was getting more confused by the moment.

"It's gonna be a nice day, Pumpkin," Shego quipped, giving Drakken a chance to finish his meal. "We're in the Mediterranean, so why not catch some rays? As for the shield, it's so Global Justice can't track you. Trust me, Princess, after what you hear today, you're going to want to avoid them. Now, eat up so we can get to work."

The two villains refused to speak further, so Team Possible imitated them and dug into their meals. Once finished, Drakken led them back through the kitchen to a service corridor. After a fairly long walk, they exited a door and found themselves near Senor's pool. Drakken pulled what appeared to be an IPAD out of a pocket and started to manipulate the touchscreen.

"If you want to warn Global Justice that I'm here, I won't stop you," Drakken told her, rather distracted by what he was setting up. "Although your communication devices won't work, I'm sure that organization has the island under some form of surveillance. By the way, what is it, satellite, aircraft or drone?"

"I'd rather not say," Kim told him.

"You're free to keep your secrets," he shrugged. "But if you want them to spot you, you'll have to leave the pool area; go at least one hundred yards in any direction. I have some holographic projectors set up that project a false image sixty feet above the ground. Any observation from above will see an empty pool."

"This leaves us free to have our fun,"" Shego added. "While Senor insists we stay at the visitors quarters, he gives us free run of most of his facilities while we're off the clock. It's a pretty sweet deal."

Kim noticed that Shego had taken off her shorts and shirt, revealing a swimsuit. She didn't know if she should be irritated or appreciative that Ron was making an obvious effort to keep from staring at the older woman.

"What work are you doing?" Kim demanded, trying to exert a little control over the situation. "Trying to corner Europe's gas market, or maybe Southern Europe's electricity market?"

"Ah, I see someone managed to track the shipments and trace the power lines," Drakken showed no irritation. "You could say that I'm trying to become a major player in the energy field."

"To what end? Will you make the world dependent on your energy, then threaten to turn it off if we don't bow to your demands?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Drakken's expression showed honest puzzlement. "I'm hoping to expand the business enough to justify multiple reactors and multiple locations. At that point, I'll be able to drop my prices by making my profits from quantity, rather than margin."

"That doesn't sound very take over the world-ish."

"Why would I want to take over the world, when I can sell goods and services to the world for a fine profit?" Drakken asked her. "Ah! My presentation is ready! Just sit back, relax and learn something."

Above the device, INTERPOL'S logo appeared while a narrator provided the time and date of an interview. After a few seconds, the logo faded to show a distinguished, elderly gentleman.

"Greetings," the man said. "The following is a recorded interview, conducted by INTERPOL. I am Secretary General..."

/

"So why am I supposed to believe all of this?" Kim asked, after two hours of video evidence and discussion with Drakken and Shego. "I mean, a lot of it makes sense but there could be plenty of other explanations."

"Do you really think that I would repeatedly go through the effort of creating a high-tech lair, and consistently forget to put simple grills in the ductwork?" Drakken shook his head.

"And the goal," Ron jumped in. "World domination? I've often wondered, 'What's the point?' If you dominate the world you then have to run it, I don't think anyone could manage that."

"No," Drakken sadly shook his head. "If I had a modicum of common sense all those years ago, I would have simply served my prison time and then become wealthy by selling my inventions."

"So it has all been a lie?" Kim tried to keep her expression neutral, but she knew that she looked distraught.

"Not at all!" Drakken countered. "To the best of my knowledge, the other techno-villains were completely legitimate; Dementor, Fiske, Duff, even Lucre. All of them were honestly trying to perform their schemes."

"In addition, I assure you that while my schemes were directed by Global Justice, I made every effort to execute them. Furthermore, your confrontations with Shego were real."

"I hate to admit it, but I wasn't holding back," Shego interjected, not bothering to sit up from where she was basking in the sunlight. "And you gotta admit; after tangling with me, Dementor's goons and Killigan weren't all that tough, were they?"

"That's true enough," Kim mused, feeling a little better.

"However, I'm sure that you want additional proof," Drakken told her. "Here it is; I suspect that Global Justice has chipped both of you. So I set up remote scanners in this location. While you've been sitting here, they have confirmed that both of you have electronic devices in your lower necks. Stoppable has two."

"Now, you'd be foolish to take me at my word," Drakken held up a hand, forestalling Kim's retort. "And you'd be foolish to let us perform any medical procedures, so I ask you to confirm the presence of the chips independently, with no input from either myself or Global Justice."

"How do we manage that?" Ron asked. "If Global Justice is tracking us, like you claim, they'll know if we go to any medical facility and they'll falsify any results."

"Use these," Drakken told him, producing a pair of what appeared to be pendants. "They look like simple pieces of inexpensive jewelry, but are actually short-duration jammers. They will prevent anyone from tracking you via the chips in your bodies...for forty-eight house after they're activated."

He paused a moment, "I didn't think of making one for the rat...Rufus, isn't it? But I didn't detect a chip in the little guy. Anyway, once you return home, in secret, I'm sure that Kim's mother will be able to arrange for X-rays or ultrasounds. I'd go with the X-rays; X-ray facilities are shielded so you'll be able to remove the pendants without being tracked."

"But how do we get home?" Ron countered. "Global Justice brought us here so they might find the jammers when they give us the ride back. We can't call Wade, since the Kimmunicator is probably compromised."

"That's where I come in, Mr. Stoppable," Senor told his guest.

"All of you were so intent on Mr. Lipsky's presentations that you didn't see me arrive," he addressed everyone's surprised expressions. "And it seemed rude to interrupt. My private jet is cleared for international travel and I will arrange your transportation to your home town. By the way, how did you infiltrate my island? Was it scuba or parachute?"

"Jet packs," Kim answered. "We jumped out of a transport aircraft."

"Excellent!" He smiled "You will be able to use them to return home. My jet is scheduled to pick up a guest patient in the city of Vancouver, so it will already be flying near to your home town. You can simply use these jet packs when you are near. Since my jet will never land, nobody will suspect that it has actually dropped you off."

"Once you confirm the presence of the chips, I suggest you have your parents, brothers and your technical man examined as well." Drakken took up the conversation, addressing Kim. "Once you have them removed, have your technical man examine them. If they prove very similar to Bortel's original moodulators, you will know we're telling the truth."

"Okay, I'll admit that I'll have a major beef with Global Justice if those chips are there, like you claim." Kim nodded. "But that still doesn't prove intent. It still doesn't prove that Dr. Director was going to make me..." She glanced at Ron with a blush.

"That's why I urge you to have your parents and technical man checked." Drakken countered. "Using chips as a means to influence you and Shego would be one thing but if she's preparing to influence those around you as well?" Drakken let the statement hang.

"I trust you enough to try to confirm your claims," Ron muttered. "And I think Kim does, too. But I have a question; what do you get out of this?"

"You were secret and safe," the young man continued, his voice growing firmer as he spoke. "Now, you're going to just let us leave? Our report to Global Justice will be enough to remove certain political barriers. You're still the force behind the Diablo Plot! The world hasn't forgotten! If the word gets out that Dr. Drakken is alive and living on Senor's Island, those political considerations that keep Senor out of serious trouble are going to go away!"

He now looked at Senor, "What are you going to do when a combined fleet from every navy in the Mediterranean shows up and demands that you surrender and turn your guests over, as well? The spinning tops of doom aren't going to be much good against a force like that."

"Perhaps I should go first," Drakken suggested to Senor, after the two men sat silent for a minute. The elderly man nodded, so the blue man continued, "I have two reasons; one practical and the other personal. The personal reason is that I want to get revenge on Dr. Director. I spent years humiliating myself at her whim, while having a vial of poison next to my heart. Nobody in the world is going to question what she did to me, but if I can prove she was trying to manipulate a media darling like Kim Possible? Well, the public outcry might be enough to crush her."

"My practical reason is that all secrets are eventually found out," he shrugged. "At the moment, Senor and I are in a position of relative strength. We've decided that this is the best time to throw our cards on the table."

"Perhaps I am in a better position to explain that last reason," Senor stepped in. "You see, even a reclusive villain such as myself is not completely cut off from the rest of the world. I have a staff of servants to maintain my island, and this staff has what you call turnover. Current staff members wish to relocate for various reasons, or might grow weary of their current employment and wish to seek other opportunities. It does not matter, there is a constant trickle of new people coming onto my island and various law enforcement agencies have tried to use this trickle to infiltrate my lair in the past. I will eventually wind up with an undercover agent and such an agent will eventually report my villainous guests are here."

"There are other ways in which word may have gotten out that Dr. Drakken was on my island," he continued. "But the final word is simple, as Mr. Lipsky here said, all secrets are eventually unearthed. At this moment, much of Europe's natural gas stockpiles have been depleted over the recent winter and a certain politician in the east is flexing his muscles, figuratively speaking, by threatening to turn off some natural gas pipelines which pass through the Crimea. Western Europe finds itself somewhat dependent upon my energy...at the moment."

"In addition, several of the patients at my medical facility represent powerful political or economical interests throughout the world. Some of these patients, having recently undergone treatment, have not yet recovered sufficiently to leave this island. Before you protest, I have no intention of holding anyone as hostages but I will take advantage of the fact that their very presence makes the use of military force a risky option."

"You can say that this is a gamble, young man." The elderly man concluded. "Dr. Drakken and myself find ourselves in a temporary position of relative strength. It is our hope that this position of relative strength will make the various world powers pause just long enough to conduct a complete investigation."

"And that's were I play my final cards," Dr. Drakken now took the stage again. "Kim Possible, I'm going to give you a couple of flash drives, which detail what I have been doing on this island. The first drive is for your mother. It details the medical procedures the doctors on this island have been performing, using the scanning and projected energy technology I've developed."

"Do you really think she'll be interested in anything you built?"

"Actually, yes." Drakken showed no indication that he was insulted. "Your mother is a professional; she will always want what's best for her patients. During my time under Dr. Director's control, I spent hundreds of hours carefully planning the procedure needed to remove the medical device she had implanted in me. I then spent more hours custom building a synthodrone to actually perform the procedure. When I arrived on this island, I made my technology available to a handful of real medical doctors. They were able to perform procedures that bordered on miracles. As these doctors became more familiar with the capabilities and limitations of my technology, they became even more capable."

"Now, I'm working with some of these same doctors in order to customize my technology even more, honing it to what they want," he concluded. "But it's difficult working through third parties. I can't let these doctors actually know that it's me they're cooperating with. If my gamble pays off, I'll be able to come into the open and help doctors worldwide work more efficiently!"

"Suddenly a humanitarian?" Kim's sarcasm was obvious.

"Not at all," he shrugged in return. "I'll make a great deal of money out of it...and there will be no meddling kids and mole rat to stop me." The last a part he added with a grin.

"By helping the rich and influential?" Kim's counter sounded a little weak.

"At first," he admitted. "But cutting edge capabilities and procedures become mainstream very quickly. Experimental procedures twenty years ago are outpatient procedures today. My technology will hurry that progress along, generating wealth for me in the process. I think the world's medical practitioners will find this a more than satisfying bargain."

"The second drive is for your father," he continued, handing her another drive. "This one details the amount of energy I can produce, and in which forms, from my reactors. What I think he'll find particularly interesting is the fact that I can produce a reactor that can fit onto his Keplar Spacecraft and possibly provide the energy he needs too implement his space-folding theories."

"Interstellar travel?" Kim's eyes flew wide.

"Not right away," Drakken smiled and shook his head. "Kim, I've been reading your father's reports and I have to say that he's a brilliant astrophysicist. He has developed theories that I simply cannot fathom. However, he doesn't have a power source sufficient to convert these theories into reality. I believe I can provide that power. It isn't as easy as simply throwing one of my reactors on his spacecraft; it could take decades of experimentation performed by generations of brilliant scientists but I believe that before old age takes my vision, I could see the first spacecraft make a round trip to another solar system."

"But your need to remain under cover complicates things?" Kim now sounded much less combative.

"Now you're seeing the situation clearly," Drakken agreed. "But in addition, this drive has files that detail how I've managed to turn my raw energy into a natural gas substitute. It's actually simple, with enough energy. I've simply distilled sea water, then used hydrolysis to separate the oxygen and hydrogen, then combined the hydrogen with carbon to make something similar to natural gas. Think about that, Kim, vast amounts of clean energy available to the world."

As long as they pay you," Kim added; but again, her voice wasn't angry.

"Of course, we all believe in capitalism," Drakken smiled. "People already pay for energy from oil and coal producers, why shouldn't they pay me, especially if I charge less for each BTU?"

"So you're strengthening your bargaining position by showing some top minds the value of letting you remain free," Ron mused. "That's actually pretty clever."

"That is the choice we wish to present the world's governments," Senor agreed. "Is Dr. Drakken really that bad? Look at the benefit we can gain from allowing him to go about his business and in the meantime, perhaps we should look at why he performed his villainous acts. What? He was coerced with poison in his chest? Perhaps he isn't a villain after all."

"But what do you gain from all of this?" Kim addressed Senor.

"Villainy has grown rather stale," he admitted. "When Shego arrived on my island, nearly two years ago, she offered me a criminal alliance with Drakken, in which we would make a great deal of money. Now, his operations have made me even richer than I was before without actually breaking many laws. Perhaps it is time to become a legitimate businessman. Also, I would like to travel the world in the open."

"Finally, I would also like to live to see an interstellar flight," he admitted. "When I was a boy, cross-country travel involved walking, mules and locomotives. Seeing someone fly to a distant star and return will make clear to me just how much the world has changed since my childhood."

"I've got one last thing to throw into the pot," Shego interrupted. "And this is to give our two heroes a little more motivation."

"And what's that?" Kim's voice was back to challenging when she addressed Shego.

"Just logic," Shego smirked. "I've had a lot of time trying to think about why the 'ol cyclops was planning what she was and I think I've come up with it. You see, the one thing you can say about her is that she really loves efficiency. Most of the silly schemes she had Drakken try to pull off actually accomplished multiple things...testing technology, testing security and training you. Now, take this love of efficiency and mix it with her determination to breed more heroes."

"First, she's gonna look at the limitations," Shego continued, noticing that her audience was looking thoughtful. "She's got two females and seven males that can pass comet powers to the next generation, as well as one male who's genes are ideal for accepting comet powers. One of her problems is that one of the females is related to four of the males while the other female is related to the other three males. Another problem is that she wants to keep her activities secret, so she has to come up with a plausible situation to get a female together with an unrelated male. Finally, if she manages to breed one of the females, that one's out of the agent game for awhile, isn't she?"

"That's why I think she was getting ready to put me together with your old man," Shego speculated. "I bet her thought process went something like this 'Shego's skills and powers aren't doing me any good while she's in prison, so why don't I make use of her uterus?' Nice and efficient, as long as you only look at people as assets."

"So how is this motivation for me?"

"Patience, Pumpkin," Shego admonished. "Now, let's look at you and Ronnie here. I've seen you on the groupie channels; acting all cute and stealing kisses when you don't think anyone's watching."

"You...you think that we're...that we're only together because of the chips?!" Kim looked distraught and Ron didn't look much better.

"Who knows?" Shego held up a hand. "What I'm saying is this, just how much of an extra tweak will it take to get the two of you to get wild..." Here, the woman's grin became predatory, "if you're not already?"

"THAT'S none of your business!" Kim snarled.

"Hey, it's none of HER business either," Shego countered. "But I bet she's thinking of it, so you might want to think of it, as well."

"So what's your point?" Kim demanded.

"Just this, it's public knowledge that the two of you are a couple. Now, it doesn't really matter if the cyclops tweaks the chips or if your own hormones take care of it. Heck, you might even do it all boring and moral and get married first. It doesn't matter, Betts has her super-kid to manipulate and nobody is going to suspect that it was anything more than the two of you letting nature take its course."

"But what about after that?" Now, Shego's voice was much less mocking, more intense. "Betts is gonna want to produce kids with both parents contributing comet alterations. For all Ronnie's monkey mojo, he isn't comet-affected. For you, that means she has to get you together with one of my brothers. To do that, she'll have to first break the two of you up."

"Aren't you getting a little out there with your speculation?" Kim countered.

"Maybe," Shego shrugged. "But it explains why Global Justice put a chip in Ronnie!"

"Look Pumpkin, let's turn off the emotions and be honest. You're a pretty hot little thing and Ronnie's had a thing for you for some time. If you really get amorous, precautions in place or not, do you really think he's gonna say no?"

"If it's that easy, why didn't he take advantage of the situation when we first had the moodulator's on us?" Kim snapped back.

"Let's ask him," Shego shrugged. "What about it, Sidekick? You had the teenage boy's dream, a hot little redhead wanting to get busy! Why did you try to break it off?"

"It...it was so sudden," Ron was blushing furiously, but it was obvious he was trying to be honest and remember the situation. "That day was so weird; first Kim was normal, then she was mad, then she was sad then mad again. Suddenly, she was...all over me."

He glanced at his girlfriend, then back to his feet. "I thought it was some kind of rebound thing. Why would I go from 'just a friend' to 'I want him' so fast? It wasn't right."

"What about now?" Shego pressed, her voice considerably less mocking. "The two of you have been together for a couple of years, the romantic feelings are established. Instead of coming here, what if you would have gone on a mission somewhere else, had to stay overnight and in a private setting, your girlfriend came on to you and wanted to relieve some tension...what would happen?"

Ron looked extremely uncomfortable but he finally answered, "I...I think it would happen."

The blonde dropped his head but his girlfriend grabbed his hand in support.

"That is one thing about you sidekick, you're honest," Shego continued. "This is my point, Princess; Cyclops has to know that the two of you are a pretty tight item. Manipulating the two of you into having a kid won't be all that rough...and it won't raise many suspicions. But what if she wants to breed you with another of the comet-affected? She has to break the two of you up and the best way she can do that is to manipulate both of you. That's why I think she has Ron chipped, as well as you."

"But I'd like you to prove it, for yourself," she continued. "When you get back home, get a hold of Hego, get him away from the tower and explain this whole thing to him. Find out if he or any others in that team have girlfriends...secret or not. Now, if my brothers are chipped you might write that off as Dr. Director wanting some measure of control, in case they get out of hand."

"But if any of those idiots have girlfriends...and if those girlfriends are chipped, then you'll know that whoever is getting chip-happy wants to control relationships as well as people,' Shego concluded.

"Now you know the truth," Senor concluded. "At least from our point of view. You know what we wish to gain from your actions; wealth, safety and a certain amount of adoration. You know what you will gain if our suspicions are correct; control of your own futures. Finally, you know what we wish you to do and what the world stands to gain should you do so. The choice is now yours to make."

"One thing before we make our decision," Kim countered. "I want to know one last thing; what really happened under the Wind River Mountains?"

"I'll trade information," Drakken offered. "I'll tell you what happened at my lair, and you tell me what happened to Dr. Director after the meltdown."

"Deal!" Kim nodded.

"There really isn't all that much to report," Drakken shrugged. "My extensive preparations for removing Dr. Director's device payed off better than I suspected. Thirty-six hours after the procedure, it became obvious I would recover faster than I had hoped. While recovering, I pondered how a medical doctor could make use of the technology I had used to extract the device."

"That's when I came in," Shego interrupted. "I realized that we could do better than making trinkets for Henchco...for a fraction of what they were really worth. We had the capability of working with medical professionals, producing energy and setting up a manufacturing facility. I gathered up the last of the cash that Drakken had saved an used it to visit this island."

"She outlined how Drakken's technology could be converted to not only wealth, but political influence," Senior took up the tale. "The Big Book of Villainy says that 'the sophisticated criminal finds ways to make the politically powerful unwilling to confront him'. To this end, I financed the effort to smuggle the equipment from Dr. Drakken's lair and set up operations here."

"But we couldn't move the active reactor," Drakken continued. "Once assembled, some of the components couldn't easily be disassembled to smuggling-friendly sizes. I was thinking of filling in the lair and leaving it but Shego came up with the idea of activating some contingencies I had in place...in case the procedure didn't work."

"It made everyone think that Drakken was dead," Shego looked very pleased with herself. "I went to Henchco and made a scene demanding a job, just to make it more convincing." She tilted her head, "Did the 'ol Cyclops find out about that?"

"Yes," Kim told her. "And it confirmed to Global Justice that Drakken was dead."

"Sweet!"

"After that, there's not much you probably don't already know," Drakken took up the tale again. "With Senior's wealth and my synthodrones, we were able to get everything up and running very quickly. With Senior's connections, we were able to find initial customers and with solid quality control, we were able to expand our customer base."

"Now, did Dr. Director even break out in a sweat when I made my accusations from beyond the grave?"

"I really don't know," Kim admitted. "I'm not a member and I doubt if Dr. Director would let just anyone know. The only thing I know is that there were multiple reviews of her practices and that they found some questionable activities...but nothing to warrant removing her from her post. Some reviews are still in progress."

"Then it really is up to you," Drakken told her. "My accusations won't be enough to seriously harm Dr. Director, but your reports, with the physical evidence inside your own bodies could easily prove enough to topple her from power. It is up to you to decide if she should be free to continue her plans."

/

"Do you think they'll go through with it?" Shego asked Drakken, as the two watched Senor's private jet, carrying Team Possible, fly off into the distance.

"I'm sure they'll do what we asked," he responded, draping one arm over her shoulders. It was a gesture he had made more often as time had gone by and Shego saw no reason to make him stop.

"They'll make all the checks, find out we told them the truth, and try to hold Director responsible for her actions," he concluded.

"Do you think it'll do any good?" Shego now rested her head on his shoulder...also a gesture that had become more common as time had gone by.

"I hope so," he sighed. "It might not bring her down, so to speak, but at the very least, the U.N. will put her on a very short leash."

"I'll keep watching the news," she said. "Like you said, the Princess is a media darling and if Cyclops manages to beat any official investigation, Kimmie just might take it to the press."

In the meantime, there's work to do," Drakken reluctantly moved his arm. "An eye surgeon from Belgium has come up with an innovative use of my intersecting energy beams...as long as I can drop the power. I also need you to check how well the synthodrones cleaned the precipitates out of the second evaporation tank."

"You seem to be taking the chance that Dr. Director doesn't get canned pretty well," Shego commented. "Aren't you concerned that she's gonna come after you?"

"Of course I'm concerned," he countered. "But I'm beyond caring. If she comes, she comes. If she doesn't, we'll have wealth and security here."

"But what about fame?" Shego asked. "Don't you want the world to know that you've crushed Dr. Director? Don't you want the world to know it's your genius that's providing the clean energy. Don't you want the world to know that you're powering the first interstellar spacecraft?"

"Fame is useless," Drakken grumbled, his voice bitter. "Let the world worship its heroes, I'll take the world's money. Speaking of which, I'll also need to run initial tests on the textile mill we've constructed.

"I never understood that," Shego confessed. "I mean, I know that the synthrodrones should be able to produce cloth even cheaper than a third-world sweatshop, but why bother? Where's the major profits?"

"The one thing I'm willing to do for the world," Drakken now sounded more upbeat. "If one of the diagrams I put on the flash drive for Kim's mother reaches the public, we'll be deluged with orders for our product."

"What product is that?"

"Comfortable, modest hospital gowns, of course."

-finis-

A/N:

That, dear reader, is my story. While I know I left it very open-ended I thought it a good point to end, with the reader left to wonder just what sort of consequences Dr. Director could be facing.

Again, my fondest thanks to Joe Stoppinghem, for his constant and helpful Beta work.

Best wishes to all...

daccu65

PS. Since originally posting this story, I have written a 2 chapter sequel, The Hearing. Please enjoy.