"Kim Possible; Episode 57.5; Apology, Apology"
After Drakken, Shego, and Joy's escape, Kim and Ron try to find out what they can of their possible new foe. At the lair, Drakken learns some interesting things about Joy…and gets a few benefits off it. But when Shego gets mad at Drakken, and Kim at Ron, the two must find out what it is that ticks the women off. *A little Shego/Drakken, Kim/Ron romance; leading up to it*
I particularly like this 'episode'. I think that's because there's a lot of small important details in this chapter that make it good. But, frankly, I like all my chapters.
Kim turned on her Kimmunicator.
"Wade? What have you got?"
"Alright. So, I researched every identification and information I could on Joy Shock, and thankfully, I got a few results."
"Throw it to me, Wade." Kim replied. Ron and Rufus hovered over the Kimmunicator, listening in as well.
"Surprisingly, Joy Shock has almost no records. Other than Middleton High records as a student, I found nothing else to claim her existence…no identification, no drivers license, medical or employee records, birth certificate, and not even a single mark of criminal records. The only thing I found out is that she's claimed to be an orphan since only a few years ago, when her parents died in an accident. Strange enough, I'm pretty sure this accident was the same event that gave Joy her powers."
Kim ignored the interesting information about Joy's power placement. "Wait a second—back up, there Wade…if she has no criminal records, then is she our new villain, or what?"
"It's confirmed Joy did work for Dr. Drakken, but not immorally. Just as a servant to him, to get money. The only way we can be sure if she becomes associated with Drakken's plans, is to wait."
"But what about her being a student at our school? Drakken's lair is pretty far from Middleton—why go to school here? And why around the time she started working for Drakken?"
Ron caught on. "Yeah! She must be working with Drakken's schemes. Why else go to Middleton, thousands of miles away from Drakken's lair…? The reason had to have been Kim."
"I thought you guys would ask that." Wade commented, before sipping his soda. "As I researched Joy's school records, I found out that Joy had applied to Middleton High months ago, in advance before the school year. Only months later did she sign up to work for Drakken! Surely she signed up for the money—I hear the pay is quite good, Drakken's giving. Joy is an orphan, and hasn't lived with anyone in years. Without doubt she needed the money, food, and place to stay."
"But the distance…!" Kim tried.
"I've calculated something about Joy's power, which might shock you." he said. "Not only is Joy able to control it, but she's able to create and take almost any form of electrical energy!"
"Which means…what?" Ron asked, not following.
"Which means Joy can travel to extraordinary lengths in small periods of time, in form of something similar to a lightning bolt!"
Kim and Ron gave stunned expressions.
Wade continued. "For the time it takes a jet to travel from Middleton to Drakken's lair, Joy can travel more than half than that; she can travel at the speed of light!"
Kim didn't know what to say.
"Well, it will sure be interesting if we ever find Joy at Middleton High again!" Ron commented.
"Like I said, the only thing we can do is wait. Joy still might just be Drakken's maid, and even still go to Middleton! But, on my guess, Drakken would want to use that to his advantage; he would want to use Joy as a spy on you two." Wade suggested.
Kim sighed. "So, just to be clear, for now all we can say is that Joy's appearance in Middleton High and employment with Drakken is just a coincidence?" she asked.
"More like irony, but yeah…it's just a coincidence." Wade replied.
"Alright…thanks, Wade." And Kim turned off her Kimmunicator.
Early morning came, and Dr. Drakken awoke from his long slumber. After escaping from Kim Possible, the three recruited to another one of Drakken's secret lairs to hide. When they found the time was right to return to Drakken's original and unfortunately known lair, they returned.
This was just last night.
When they had returned, it was very late, about 10:00. Drakken and Shego were about to retire to bed, still on their guard. When Drakken insisted Joy to retire as well to a better room he was to upgrade her to, she insisted to stay up a bit and do some…enlightenment…before bed. Whatever that meant, Drakken thought. By then Shego had already gone up to her room, with much of a cold attitude, the Drakken noticed.
And now, it was almost the afternoon, the next day.
And as Drakken entered the main room of the lair where he last left Joy, he was utterly surprised to see her up and about, continuing to clean the lair.
He was also astounded to actually see the lair for the first time in a long time; it was sparkling clean…more than it had ever been.
All of Shego's graffiti had been removed, every inch of wall, floor, and ceiling were literally sparkling, and no little tiny microscopic piece of trash was left in the room. It was as if each inch of the room was polished, buffed, and sparkled until everything was shiny enough to blind someone.
Even Drakken's weapons and equipment that lay in the lair were glistening in the low light the lair provided.
Joy greeted her boss with a cheerful smile.
"OH! Good morning, Doctor Drakken! Did you sleep well?" she asked.
Drakken pulled the collar of his blue striped nighties. "Er..um…yes…. Joy…did you do all this…?" he asked.
Joy didn't seem to understand what he meant at first, that is until she saw him looking at his reflection through one of his death rays.
"Oh, you mean the cleaning? Why, yes! It took a few hours, but I'm glad I got this room done before you and Shego woke up!"
Drakken raised his eyebrows, his eyes slightly widening.
"You stayed up all night cleaning this part of the lair?!?! You never went to bed?"
Joy laughed. "Oh, no! See, I don't sleep….I charge."
Dr. Drakken raised his eyebrow. "You…charge?"
Joy nodded. "My energy is quite full, so I don't need to re-charge in a few days…or weeks. It depends on how much I use my power or how hard I work."
Drakken showed confusion. "Do you mean to tell me…that you charge…like a battery?"
Joy contemplated the thought. "Yeah…yeah I guess you could think of it as something like that. But, let me warn you in advance; charging isn't something simple like sleeping. Even though it's only a couple times a month when I do it, charging is pretty dangerous if anyone is near me. Not only do I become electrified with thousands of watts of electricity within nearly every heartbeat, but my personality can become lethal. If I'm ever disturbed during charging, if the electricity passing through me won't kill you, I will. So if I were you, I'd keep away from me that day…but don't worry!" Joy perked up from her serious warning. "I'll let you know what days I charge!" she gave the doctor a big, hefty smile.
"I don't seem to understand…what do you mean by, "If the electricity passing through me won't kill you, I will."?"
Joy exhaled. "It's like this—with all that electricity running through me, think of it as jolts of highly compressed energy…innate, contaminated energy, that strangely puts my emotions into a fit of rage. The energy seems to alter my emotions and my conscience—before I'm done putting all that electricity into me, I need to calm my body to be sure I'm able to control my power. That brings up another very important aspect when I charge—if a certain amount of electricity charges into me—an amount more than I can handle, it's possible I can die from it. So…the amount of watts of energy that charges into me during every second is crucial."
Before Drakken could say any more, Shego walked in, dressed in her green pajamas. Joy noticed the expression on Dr. Drakken's face when she walked in—it was hard to miss, nor was it hard to ignore.
For Dr. Drakken, it was rare to see Shego dressed in anything else than her polished hair, makeup, and jumpsuit. He'd seen Shego a little more casual prior to, but still, it was rare. And frankly, it made him a little uncomfortable…she was Shego, after all. Things were sometimes a little awkward, between 'boss' and 'sidekick'…because, of course, it wasn't just the titles. They did have a bit more of a companionship, really.
But, of course, Joy didn't understand this.
Shego's face lit from tired to quite astonished when she saw the lair's room.
"Wow…maybe we should keep the kid around longer…she did much of an improvement to the place." she commented.
Joy answered with a smile. Then, adding gleefully, "I'll work on the rest of the lair today; hopefully I can finish all of them the next few days, if not today. I especially have to fix that giant hole in the wall!" suddenly focusing all her attention on how dreadful the thought was, she went to travel that particular area of the lair, but Drakken stopped her.
"Oh, uh…Joy—are you hungry? I mean…aren't you going to eat breakfast or something?"
Joy turned around swiftly, facing Drakken with a blank expression of her face, slightly confused.
After a few seconds of staring at each other, Drakken's face fell. "Let me guess…you don't eat either? Except for…oh, I don't know…battery acid or something?!"
Joy looked at Drakken for a few more seconds blankly, taking his guess in. Then, cheerfully, she nodded her head in understanding and approval. "Now you're getting it!" she said, before walking off to polish another room pristine.
Shego gave Drakken a look. "Battery acid?!?!"
Drakken sighed. "I'll fill you in during breakfast…." he said, before walking off into the kitchen.
As Shego listened to Dr. D, as he explained everything Joy just told him moments before she walked in the room, her expression ranged from confusion, to boredom, to annoyance, to rage in the moments of time. Drakken got everything else, except for the rage part, which he thought he detected from her.
Of course, not wanting to lose his head, he didn't comment.
Drakken cleared his throat, before sipping a cup of coffee.
"She seems…um…useful, doesn't she? I mean…we really could use her on the team." he mumbled, almost afraid Shego would take it the wrong way…which, to none of Drakken's surprise, she somewhat did.
"Our…team?" she asked, a little harshly.
"Yeah…you know…instead of it being just the two of us, it could be us three. Joy really seems to know what she's doing with mechanics, so I could use her help when working on my latest inventions. And with all that power, I'm sure she could be a great help to you when fighting Kim Po—"
"Uh-uh…I don't think so." the former Team Go member interrupted.
"But Shego…she really could be a great help!" he argued.
"Look…if she wants to clean the lair, fine by me. If she wants to help you with your stupid little projects, go ahead and let her….I honestly don't care. But when it comes to fighting Kimmie, that's my job. I won't let some teenage sparky girl steal the credit for harming our arch foe. That was our deal—you come up with the evil plans, I get our enemy out of your way…I steal. Do whatever you want, Dr. D…but I'm not loosening my end of the bargain."
And with that, Shego walked off, leaving Dr. Drakken in complete and utter confusion.
Joy hummed a joyful tune while taking a small break from her cleaning. So far, within only four hours, Joy was able to clean Drakken and Shego's room, Drakken's lab, a recreational room where Shego normally spent her hours reading magazines and such, and some of the henchmen's rooms at the lower level.
Entering the kitchen, Joy was curious to see what lay inside. She was, indeed, a magnificent cook. After all, she was going to clean the room anyway.
The kitchen was small, with a funky blue-purple color scheme at its decoration with hints of brown and stone grey. Several cabinets surrounded three fourths of the room, over several counters as well. In the middle of the room were a small counter island and a sink lay on the back wall. A microwave replaced one of the cabinets on the right wall, and a few counters to the right of the sink lay a toaster. As the room extended to the right a bit, after the set of surfaces and appliances and such, were another whole row of counters. In the middle of that row lay a simple white stove/oven, as did on its left end stand a white fridge.
"Hmm-mm...." Joy hummed, as she opened the refrigerator. The only thought on her mind was to see if she could possibly make Dr. Drakken, or even Shego something good to eat out of her utter knack of kindness.
Although, when she opened the fridge, it was a whole other story.
Joy almost gagged when she opened the door. Inside, were un-fresh (to Joy's point of view) cold cuts, vegetables and bread, a few bottles of soda pop, milk, a jug of water, a carton of OJ, some bottles of already-made Coco-Moo, a bottle or two of salad dressing, and a Tupperware full of some sort of leftover lasagna.
Opening the cabinets, Joy found nothing better—a few things of canned soup and canned veggies.
No spices.
No basic baking ingredients.
Nothing.
Joy, appalled by her employers' diet and with no lack of thoughtfulness, she knew she had to do something about it.
Dr. Drakken was in his sparkling clean laboratory, welding some death-ray of his. He was working intensely, completely concentrated, when Joy slowly approached him.
"Um…Doctor Drakken…?" she asked.
He didn't seem to hear her.
"Er…Doctor Deeee?!" Joy inched a little closer, and lightly tapped him on the back of his shoulder.
Instantaneously, the mad scientist jumped up in surprise to see his…maid…for now…standing there.
"OH! Er…Joy. What are you doing in here? Did you need something?"
Joy opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Dr. Drakken stopped her.
"Oh, wait! Actually, Joy, I've been meaning to ask you…" He directed her attention to his death-ray. "I can't seem to get this going. I've tried everything, really."
Drakken went on and on to Joy about what he's done to the machine, and Joy listened, intently…interested…not the least bit bored…which is something Shego would not have done, thought Drakken.
When the doctor finished, Joy simply looked at him with a blank expression, as if once again taking in everything he just told her, then took a breath and said, "You need to connect the impulse wire to the fiber active cord, and you should be good to go."
(A/N: Let's just pretend I'm educated in electronics and machinery. Seriously, I have no idea if those randomly picked, smart-sounding words even have any place in a modern dictionary.)
Drakken raised his eyebrow.
Without explaining, Joy simply leaned over Dr. Drakken. It was a little awkward for him, at that moment, due to the fact that this was the closest he's ever been to his impressive employee. Literally, her face was although turned to the side, nearly three inches from Drakken's face. Without thinking anything of it, Joy dug her bare hand into a panel containing several wires and such to the machine, did something Drakken did not see within a second, and pulled away.
She exhaled. "Try it now." she said.
Without further delay, Dr. Drakken fired up his machine. It rumbled a smooth, sweet sound to his ears.
"Joy! You're a genius! And coming from someone like me…well…" Drakken gloated with pride. As soon as he said it, he regretted it, because he just knew it would just be replied with a sarcastic and unsupportive remark, which he was usually used to Shego giving him. But, no remark was given. In fact, Joy seemed more than anything pleased with the compliment.
"Thanks, Dr. D!" she said, smiling and radiant. A second later, her eyes widened in horror. "Do you mind if I call you that…'Dr.D'…?" her smile faded and her expression turned guilty within a split-second.
Drakken raised his eyebrow, puzzled. "Huh? Oh, yeah…no, Dr. D's fine."
After looking at each other for a few moments, not knowing what to say, Dr. Drakken remembered that Joy came to him in the first place.
"Oh, Joy…I'm so sorry! Did you want something earlier?"
Joy perked up. "Oh! That's right! Um…" Joy looked to the floor innocently, while twisting her toe back and forth on the floor. In result, her work clothes swayed a bit. Dr. Drakken straightened his posture.
"Well…I was in the kitchen, going to clean, and well…I couldn't help but curiously open the fridge and some of the cabinets to see what you had…"
Dr. Drakken smiled, slightly amused. "Ha-ha, oh, Joy…its okay if you wanted something to eat. Take whatever you like."
Joy looked at Dr. Drakken, taken aback by what he assumed. "Huh…? Oh! No…I told you I don't eat. It's just…"
"It's just what?"
"Well…I couldn't help but notice you don't really have much to eat in the house, and I was concerned for your and Shego's diets."
Drakken raised an eyebrow. "Uh…our diets…? No offense, Joy, but you needn't worry about Shego's or my health…at least I don't think so…" Drakken contemplated the last time he…or Shego…went to the doctor's…or checked the scale. He reminded himself to possibly check his weight later out of curiosity…he didn't have to worry about Shego. Though he didn't want to have to think of her in that way, Dr. Drakken knew Shego had a great body, and took care of it. Him on the other hand…
"Oh, no no no! I'm not commenting on your health or anything, Doctor Drakken! Well, I was just wondering…would you mind if you let me cook for you and Shego, and possibly the henchmen sometime? I mean, it's one of my hidden talents…" Joy smirked to herself, "…to cook magnificent meals. If you want, I could even cook for you, Shego, and everyone else as an extra part of my job."
Drakken raised his eyebrow, yet again.
"Trust me, I'm an excellent chef. I can get any food allergies or diet restrictions from anyone, and you don't have to pay me extra…I can use my paycheck for the groceries, and that'll be all I need."
Drakken liked this end of the bargain. Still, he did have one question.
"But…why do you want to go beyond lengths for all of us, Joy? I mean…the henchmen…and Shego…they just do what I pay them to do, if even that. But you, Joy…not to complain, but you do way more than you have to, not to mention it looks like you enjoy your work….I'm curious as to why."
Joy smiled, very sweetly. "I do enjoy my labor. Trust me; with all this energy I have, it's no hassle to do extra work. And I enjoy going beyond the standards. I like to work."
Drakken stared at Joy, still a little baffled at how devoted his employee really was.
"I like to work for you."
At that moment, Dr. Drakken knew he had a loyal worker. If he needed Joy for anything, including evil, he was almost convinced she would do it, no matter what the consequences. He could see pure and utter loyalty in her bright hazel eyes.
And then he compared that to Shego, mentally.
"Well…do I have your permission?" Joy asked.
Dr. Drakken sighed. "Well…er…Joy, if you say you're that great of a cook, then I don't have a problem with you serving meals. Although, I'd go get Shego's permission first. I think she'd like to know about this."
Only for a split second did Joy sense the warning in her master's voice. "Okay," she said, in the most cheerful voice she could. And then, she went off to find Shego.
Joy had to walk to almost the whole other side of the lair, where Shego's room was. Drakken's room was at one end of the lair, Shego's the other, and the whole bottom floor below theirs belonged to the henchmen. Drakken had given Joy a room almost in the center of the lair, on Drakken and Shego's level, however she hadn't even it a glance. Although, she thought, she would soon have to get it ready for her "charging".
When Joy arrived to Shego's door, in which she recognized the first time she saw it (due to the unmistakable green door) while giving herself a self-tour of the lair to clean, it was not only closed, but it was locked. The light at the bottom of the doorway, however, indicated Shego was in there…doing what, she didn't know.
Just then Joy wondered what Shego really did in her spare time, out of curiosity. Did she practice her fighting? Did she pamper herself (considering Joy did already see her file her nails more than once)? Did she read? Did she do other mysterious things Joy would not have guessed?
Did she do the same things Joy did?
Shaking the thought away, Joy knocked on Shego's door. A small shuffling noise was made from the inside, and then simultaneously the door opened, a very weary and angry Shego in its frame.
Because Joy was just a tad shorter than Shego was, the green and black villain dropped her eyes to Joy, mentally throwing daggers in her direction.
Of course, Joy didn't know of Shego's annoyance this morning with Dr. D, so she simply thought Shego was tired, cranky, or just not in the mood or something.
"What do you want?" she asked, coldly.
"Hi, Shego!" Joy replied merrily. "I was just talking to Doctor Dee, and he agreed to me cooking meals for now on. He told me to make sure it was okay with you first, before I confirmed anything and went grocery shopping."
Shego sighed with annoyance and walked back into her room. She signaled Joy to follow.
"Alright—first of all kid, cut the crap with all the cheerful talking. It's not possible for someone to be that happy about anything so dull. Second of all, I seriously hope you're a good chef if you're going to be cooking all our meals for now on."
"Oh, I am!" Joy seemed to ignore Shego's first comment. She sighed again.
"Ugh…alright…its fine with me. But I have some basic standards for my diet. I'll make you a list of what I do and don't eat."
Joy nodded with a dramatically serious face, unintentionally. She had a feeling Shego would have some standards.
After Shego tended a few minutes to writing down a list of her dietary needs, and giving it to Joy, Miss Shock happily exited the sidekick's room, and Shego, with a cold stare and annoyed attitude, closed and locked her door again.
The rest of the day, Joy went to the lower level of the lair and went around, jotting down any other dietary needs the henchmen had, and letting them know of her intentions. With luck, she was able to record a few basic allergies. Some of the henchmen, but hardly any of them, cared for what Joy cooked.
No wonder most of them aren't in shape, she thought.
During the process, she became quite friendly with the men. Apparently they have heard of the girl's presence, but they never really were formally introduced to her.
A certain duo Joy found to be quick friends with were a more bigger (yet muscular-lacking) henchman with a low voice named George, who happened to say the word "bub" a lot, and a more lanky henchman with a higher voice named Lenny.
Early the next day, after confirming Dr. Drakken's permission, Joy set out to the supermarket.
Considering the lair was on a secluded, private island in the middle of the Carribean, it took quite a while for Joy to get to a mainland. She thought of using her powers to just flash there in a nick of time, but she was saving her energy for when she cooked, and finished her cleaning later on. Really, Joy had a policy to only use her power when absolutely necessary. Although, when she got permission to use Drakken's hover car to fly to the mainland, she thought to herself a fear.
I have a feeling that as a mad scientist, Dr. Drakken would want to use me as one of his sidekicks or something, like an extra 'Shego'. I fear he'd want me to use my powers during his evil shemes…
Joy shook the thought away, reminding herself that she now worked for Dr. Drakken, and if he wanted her to do something, she would do it.
She was utterly loyal to Dr. Drakken now, and there was no turning back…she had grown…attached…to the doctor.
After almost two hours of flying, Joy settled to the mainland—Venezuela. Drakken had told her the nearest mainland was Cuba, and that's where they had normally traveled for food and such, but Joy, hearing quite recently of what a great culture Venezuela offered, instead traveled there.
Joy didn't know much Spanish, except for only a few words like "Hola" and "Por favor" and "Amigo", which, she thought, was though pathetic for a someone her age who would normally know how to hold a full conversation in a different language, was unimportant. Joy was grocery shopping, not making friends.
Thankfully, when Joy 'parked' the hover car in a secluded area, and set it in its security mode, she ended up landing right near a market. The unknown city was bustling with civilians, tourists, street performers, and held many food and flower, and jewelry stands and stores.
If only Shego were here with me, Joy thought. I have a feeling she couldn't resist to steal something pricy from all these stores. Joy smiled at the humorous thought.
Though Joy was not yet paid by Drakken, she still had some leftover money from previous jobs and…er…experiences…she did before moving in the lair and becoming a student at Middleton. It was a few hundred dollars, not much, but it was enough to get what was needed.
Going to several fruit and vegetable stands, butchers, spice stores and delicatessens, bakeries and such, Joy bought a variety of fresh foods. From pepper to paprika, and cardamom to Cajun spices, fresh breads, cheeses, a variety of fruits like apples, oranges, peaches, plums, pears, cherries, and more exotic ones like açai, coconut, starfruit, pomegranate, and dragonfruit, and vegetables like broccoli, sugar snap peas, celery, string beans, potatoes, tomatoes (even though its supposedly considered a fruit), artichokes, asparagus, and beets, different types of meats like turkey, pork, chicken and beef, and also of course some basic baking ingredients. Flour, eggs, sugar, and such, had also made their way to the list.
With slight difficulty with the language around her, Joy successfully carried the bags and baskets of food to the hover car, and flew home.
She reminded herself to return to Middleton soon, to catch up on her Spanish class.
After a few hours Joy had last left Dr. Drakken, the blue mad scientist had taken a break from his work. He was testing the death-ray Joy had helped him on, and boy was he excited for his next plan. He was assembling up something so evil…so criminally complicated, that his confidence had risen to an extremely high point. But, of course, it was still only a plan.
Walking to the lair's main room, Dr. Drakken figured he would find Joy. Shego, he thought, is probably in her room doing whatever, undisturbed. Joy seems to be the more…welcoming one…
As he thought this, Dr. Drakken's nose perked up to the smell of something so…enticing…and sweet…coming from the kitchen. He figured Joy must have been back from shopping, and was cooking something up now. And he was right.
When Dr. Drakken walked into the kitchen, though guessed right, was more than surprised to see Joy in an apron, wearing oven mitts, and taking out a batch of cookies from the oven. Their smell was so unbelievably alluring.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Drakken! Would you like a cookie?" She held the hot tray out to him.
"Oh wait!" she took the tray back. "They're very hot! How about after they cool down a bit, I'll make you a plate of cookies and a nice cold glass of coco-moo!" she smiled.
Dr. Drakken, the inner-child that he was, brightened at the sight, thought, and smell of the cookies. "OOooooOOO! Okay! What kind of cookie is it?"
"They're snickerdoodles. It's my own recipe—award winning, might I add." Miss Shock smiled as she gloated with such pride.
Drakken could only smile with delight. Joy shushed him out of the kitchen. "Go out into the dining room, and I'll be out in a minute with your snack, Dr. D." He ran out, more skipping than running.
After placing the cookie rack down atop the oven, Joy swiftly took out a plate, put four snickerdoodles on it—carefully so they would not break—and placed the plate down of the counter island. Getting out a tall glass from the cabinet, placing it next to the plate, and then getting out milk and a packet of instant coco-moo, Joy made some fresh coco-moo for Dr. Drakken, poured it in the glass, and took the milk and cookies to him all in less than two minutes.
As soon as she placed the two down in front of her boss, who sat at the side of the long wood dining room table, he instantly popped a cookie into his mouth.
After a few moments of testing the flavor, Dr. Drakken looked as if he had just fallen in love. His emotions were a mixture of happiness, and tenderness, and decadence.
"Mmmmmmmmm….oh...OH…its…it's like HEAVEN!"
Once again, Joy smiled at her success.
"This is better than GRANNY CROCKETT!"
Joy's smile widened.
Patting Drakken's shoulder, she said, "Alright, well, enjoy your snack. Help yourself to any more, though I advise you not to eat too many more, since it's bad for your health. I'm going to go see if Shego wants any."
Before Drakken could spare Joy the effort, she had already left the room.
"Shego, would you like a snickerdoodle?"
Joy didn't notice the light had gone out of Shego's room, distracted by the soft glow of lights surrounding her in the hallway.
She didn't realize that Shego was taking a nap.
"Shego…?" Joy decided to knock one last time, before leaving.
She shouldn't have done that.
"What?!" Shego hissed through her teeth, a little disheveled from bed-head hair and in her nightdress, and her currently firing hands inches above Joy's head.
"Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you, Shego! I was just wondering if you would like a cookie!"
"Arrgg!" Shego growled. "No, I do not want your combination of sugar, carbs, and lard. How can you honestly eat that crap?"
Joy opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say.
"But its fat free…" Joy mumbled to herself, unhappy she couldn't please Shego.
"Uggghh!" Shego groaned. "Just….never disturb me again!"
And with that, Shego shut the door in Joy's face, Joy raised her eyebrow, shrugged, and began to eat the cookies and milk herself as she walked back to Drakken.
"Didn't take them, did she?" Drakken asked, as he heard Joy come in through the doorway.
"Insulted the unhealthiness of them and slammed the door in my face." she replied.
Drakken nodded, knowingly. "That's what I figured. Don't worry, Joy…you'll get used to her."
Joy said nothing, not wanting to say anything bad about Shego.
Dr. D had finished his cookies, and was now drinking the rest of his coco-moo while reading The Villainster.
"I…I just want to please her. I want her to except me, you know?" Joy commented, slumping down into a chair next to Dr. Drakken.
"I say the best way to do that is just leave her be." He replied, not looking up from his reading.
Joy nod, understanding.
In the corner of the room, across from the dining table, a lamp was flickering its light. Joy, noticing it, simply pointed to the light, and a shock of electricity hit the lamp; the light stopped flickering.
Dr. Drakken, noticing this, smiled. "You have a great ability, Joy." He said.
With a saddened expression, Miss Shock tried to smile and nodded.
"And I know Shego notices it too."
Joy's smile faded, as she waited for Drakken to continue.
"But, Shego likes doing things on her own, her own way."
Joy nodded again, seeming to understand.
"She likes doing her own work, which includes fighting Kim Possible, stealing, and a lot of other things." Drakken paused. "Just…leave her be, and hopefully in time you'll earn her respect."
Joy smiled. "Thanks." She said, before going back to the kitchen.
-
The rest of the evening, Joy made a few extra batches of cookies and served the henchmen at the lower level, who highly appreciated the snack. Though it was well past dinner, and Joy had missed her cue to cook, she enjoyed seeing the men enjoy her first creation. She stuck around with them while they ate, chatting with them and becoming more acquainted. Within time, Joy felt quite at ease, and felt quite at home, more than ever.
Kim Possible lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Dozens of thoughts raced through her head.
Who really is this Joy? Is she really that powerful? Is she going to become evil and join Drakken and Shego? What if she fights against me? Will I be strong, smart, or fast enough to fight her? Will Drakken finally win? Is this his big step towards taking over the world? Will I be able to stop him? Will I pass my geography test this Tuesday? Why isn't Ron here yet?!
Kim looked over to her alarm clock, and realized it was 7:15. Ron was already fifteen minutes late, and she hoped he wouldn't take any longer. Kim had to get to the Middleton mall before it closes, so she could pick out some new clothes with her newly acquired babysitting money.
Just then, the doorbell rang. With one swift motion, Kim got up from her bed, sprinted downstairs, opened the door, and greeted Ron.
"Let's go." she said, before pulling him outside, and closing the door behind her.
On Ron's scooter, it took the teen heroes about a half an hour to reach Middleton Mall. Lucky for them, they still had some time to buy.
Kim looked outside the store of Club Banana. Something inside spotted her eye.
"Ooh! That's a pretty shirt!" Kim rushed to the rack, pulling off a lime green tank top.
"Uh-humm…Kim? You like…have that shirt…as a matter of fact you're wearing it."
Kim made a face. "Well, excuse me, Ron, if the things I like can be quite similar." Kim huffed, and went to purchase the tank top.
"That'll be thirty five dollars, miss." said the cashier. Kim handed him the bills.
"THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS?!?!?!" Ron flipped out. "That's outrageous! You could get the same top at Smarty Mart for—"
"Zip it, Ron." Kim said, as she took her receipt, grabbed the bag, and walked out of Club Banana.
"Humph…" Ron followed.
Kim and Ron were out of the mall soon enough. Their ride home, however, was more intense than the day had gone so far.
"I wonder if Drakken is planning anything…" Kim said.
"Eh, I'm sure he'll conjure up something eventually." Ron replied.
"It's just…with Joy on their side, I don't know if we'll be able to win this one, Ron!"
"I'm sure we will, K.P. We always do."
"No, Ron! You don't understand! Joy is more powerful than any of us thought! She can travel at the speed of light, she knows how to assemble weapons, she can control electricity—she's too much of a threat, Ron!"
"Then we'll just have to put a little more 'oomph' in our threat, too." Ron argued. He looked to Kim in a strange way. She wasn't acting like herself.
"I'm afraid we can't win this time, Ron. If Drakken comes up with enough of a good plan, and with Shego and Joy, it's hopeless…"
"Need I remind you that you're KIM POSSIBLE? You can do anything, remember?!"
"I'm stressful as it is, Ron. Don't push that on to me right now…I can't handle it. I'm too beat."
By this time they had reached Kim's house.
Dr. Drakken and Shego sat on opposite ends of the dining room table, late at night. The room was dark, except for the very faint lighting on the walls around them, and a small ceiling lamp suspending over them. A decorative flowering centerpiece lay in the middle of the table. The table was set for three.
"Mmmm…smell that, Shego?" Drakken asked.
"I smell somethin'…" she replied, coldly.
Just then, Joy walked in through the kitchen door, carrying a metal tray. Atop it was placed a large, smoldering chicken, baked within several spices and a sweet, tasty sauce. Around the chicken were a border of boiled asparagus and sliced potatoes. Dr. Drakken smiled at the beautiful sight.
"Ahhh…it looks delicious, Joy." he commented.
Joy smiled. "Why, of course it does." She said, no sarcasm intended.
Joy sat down at the end of the table, quite close to Drakken and Shego.
Drakken dug in first, helping himself to quite a large portion of food. Joy eyed him, as if to give a remark.
Joy took a normal portion, bigger than what Shego took but a lot smaller than did Drakken.
"I thwaght you iddint eapf." Drakken tried to say while chewing. Joy raised her eyebrow, questioningly.
Dr. Drakken swallowed. "I said, I thought you didn't eat."
"Oh, no I don't have to, but it's not like I can't eat."
"Ah."
The rest of dinner was silent. The only thing that was anything close to conversation were the expressions thrown across the table. Shego, for one, gave Joy cold, hard stares, and gave Dr. Drakken a look of accusation. Joy looked to Drakken with content, and to Shego worry. Dr. Drakken just looked confused the whole time.
"I'm going off to bed." Shego stated, getting up from her chair and about to leave.
"Oh, but Shego—you didn't finish your dinner!" Joy commented.
Shego looked to Joy with a look as if to say, 'do-you-really-think-I-care?', and said, "Not hungry..."
Dr. Drakken and Joy exchanged glances before they continued to finished their food, and Shego walked off.
Joy smiled to herself.
"What…?" Drakken asked, noticing Joy's amusement.
"Oh….nothing"
A few moments later, Joy began to snicker, but tried to hide it from Drakken.
"What, what's so funny?!" Dr. Drakken accused Joy of laughing at him for something.
"It's…it's nothing…I'm sorry…it's just nothing."
No matter how much she thought 'Dr. Drakken and Shego would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?', she just couldn't bring herself to tell it to Dr. D.
Finishing her food in silence, Joy got up, and went to clean her and Shego's dishes. She then waited for Drakken to finish, telling him to take his time, and it wasn't as if she was tired or impatient or anything.
When Drakken handed Joy his plate he said, "You're not going to tell me what was so funny, will you?"
Joy smiled. "Maybe someday…" she said; glad to know Dr. Drakken didn't catch onto the double-meaning.
"K.P., look. I know your stressed out about this whole, Drakken and Shego with Joy thing, and…well…you just can't be negative about it. We'll get through with this, I know we will." Ron said. He led Kim to her door.
"Yeah, well, I can't help but think otherwise." she snapped.
"And…even if we DO fail…then…who cares if Drakken ends up ruling the world, huh? I'm sure him controlling the world won't be the end of the world…" Ron mumbled, as Kim opened her door and was just about inside. He was getting tired of Kim being Johnny Raincloud…that was usually his job.
"What….? Are you joking, Ron?!" Kim shouted. Ron shuddered for saying that. Trying to cover his words up without success, Kim just grew more and more angry.
As Drakken walked through the hallway to his bedroom, he caught Shego roaming. He became confused, considering Shego had said she'd gone off to bed which was at the other end of the lair.
The strange thing was, he didn't think Shego had heard him behind her. And, as Dr. Drakken curiously watch Shego slowly walk down the hallway almost in a haze, underneath the soft glow the wall lamps had given off, he became almost in a trance seeing her body blend and nearly become a part of the soft glow of light. Then, she spun around.
"Shego…" he started.
She began to walk away.
"Shego, I have to ask—is she really all that bad? She's trying hard, Shego…very hard to impress you."
Shego spun around to face Dr. Drakken. "Oh, so she's trying to impress me now, is she?!"
Dr. Drakken closed his eyes in composed defeat.
"What, is she trying to make me like her now, so…so she can gain our trust and later on she can betray us?" Shego really spit at the word 'betray', almost as if to try and pass on a separate meaning to the term.
"Sh…Shego…" he whispered her name. "What on Earth are you talking about…?" Drakken's face was filled with complete and utter confusion. He had honestly no idea what was going on in Shego's head. And as much as he would like to find out, he didn't want to be pulverized by his sidekick.
Shego let out a heavy, rough exhale, as if she was trying to hold back her anger…or even more. "Just…forget it." And she stormed off.
"Shego, I…"
"I SAID JUST FORGET IT!" she screamed, igniting her hands.
As Shego hauled two green fireballs at Drakken before storming away again…this time for good…, in which he thankfully dodged, and Kim Possible slammed her front door in Ron's face back at Middleton, Drakken and Ron both made a face, and said at the same time,
"Ugh…women."
The next day, after some difficult sleeping, Dr. Drakken, Shego, and Joy continued their daily routines. Drakken continued to work on some of his doomsday inventions, and thought much about the little testy conversation he had with Shego yesterday.
'What has gotten into her?', he thought. 'There must be something she's not telling me…or Joy.'
Shego did her normal routine as well—reading magazines and books, filing her nails, and keeping inside her room. Joy, of course the busiest, cooked, cleaned, and above all left Shego alone.
But, late at night around 8:00, Dr. Drakken lay in his bed, simply thinking.
What did Shego mean about Joy betraying us? I honestly thought Joy was such a loyal girl! Or…or maybe she's just a little too loyal, and…no! No…Joy isn't planning anything…she can't be. It's Shego that's playing games here. She's the one who's hiding something. And god dammit, I'd like to find out what!
With that, Dr. Drakkengot up from his circular bed, and walked out of his room, in his dark blue pajamas, and went to go find Shego. He checked her room, and realizing she wasn't there, Dr. Drakken had searched the main room, kitchen, dining room, the lab, and even the lower level where the henchmen were, and still couldn't find her.
"Ugh…where is she…?"
Just then, when Dr. Drakken had decided to give up and go back to bed, he ended up finding Joy in the hallway of his bedroom, and the hallway Shego had stormed from. She was looking into a room cautiously, almost like a spy, which heightened Dr. Drakken's suspicions about Shego's warning.
"Joy…! What are you doing?!" he whispered.
Snapping her head to his direction, she signaled for him to come to her.
When he approached her, he again whispered, "Joy—what…?"
"Shh!" she warned. Then, stepping aside, Joy motioned for him to look through the door crack she herself had been looking through.
Inside a large recreational room used sometimes for demonstrations, trapping Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, and working on machines, stood Shego. She was wearing her thin green nightdress, and her back was faced towards the door. Dr. Drakken was surprised to see her there, but was also confused.
"I was passing through the hallway when I saw the door was open just a crack." she said.
With a pause, she let Drakken watch Shego for an extra minute. Then, when he turned back to Joy, he realized she had been looking at him for a long time.
They locked eye connection, and Joy's eyes seemed to be filled with something similar to…sentiment…or affection.
"I thought I heard her crying before…" she whispered to him.
Dr. Drakken looked into Joy's eyes.
'Shego…crying?!?!' he thought. 'What would someone like Shego be crying about?! She never seemed like the type…'
Drakken stopped thinking when Joy put a hand on his shoulder.
"Look…I know Shego has some…issues with me. What they are, exactly, I don't know. But what I do know is that if there's anyone in this lair, let alone in this world, that Shego would want to talk to, it's you."
Dr. D contemplated for a moment, taking everything in.
'It's all just going so fast…what is going on…? It can't be possible that Shego feels anything more for me than friendship, if even so.'
Joy opened the door a little more, and began to push Dr. Drakken's body within the room.
"Happy endings aren't always just for the good guys, Dr. D." she said with a soft smile.
Not knowing what Joy meant by this, Dr. Drakken had already been shoved into the room where Shego stood. Hearing him enter, Shego simply turned her head to the side, trying to look to the back of her.
"What?" she said in a low, weak voice.
"Shego…we need to talk." Drakken answered.
"Talk about what?"
"You know what we need to talk about."
By this time Drakken had approached Shego from behind, closely facing her back, and they were almost touching. When she turned around to face him, she had to step back a few inches, for it was just too intimate of a moment for them as it was.
"Why do you have a problem with Joy? Are you afraid she will betray us?"
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. Oh, but I'm just sure she'll have a good time pleasing everyone around here."
"Alright, Shego, I've had enough. What is this really all about, huh?" Drakken snapped.
Shego did nothing, but look Dr. Drakken in the eyes. Since he was growing impatient, he shouted;
"Dammit, Shego! I'm your boss, and I have a right to know what's going on!"
"Oh, that's right. You're my boss, just like you're Joy's boss. All you are is a boss to us. All during those three years of attempting global domination and fighting Kimmie, all we did together, I was just a sidekick to you, weren't I…? I was just a henchwoman…an employee….and you were my boss."
Dr. Drakken was appalled…and felt a little awkward…as to where Shego was taking this. Even Shego herself seemed surprised as to what she had just said. Drakken took it a little calmer.
"Alright, Shego…as your…friend…I have a right to know what's really bothering you." Dr. Drakken was very cautious using the word 'friend' to describe his relationship with Shego. The term 'boss' was always a safer side to go for them to use, but it was indeed apparent they were more than just 'boss' and 'employee'.
"What did you mean by betrayal before? Do you think Joy is going to betray you?" he asked.
A few moments of silence passed between them, as Drakken attempted to decode Shego's feelings.
"Do you think I'm going to betray you?"
With those words, Shego bit her lip and looked away. Drakken knew he had hit the problem.
"Shego…what? Do you think I'm going to betray you by…replacing you with Joy or something?"
"It wouldn't be the first time."
Drakken sighed. He didn't want to have to talk about this. Yes, he'd once replaced Shego before, and it was all in bad history. Frankly, Drakken was surprised Shego had been upset about it at all.
"Look…Shego…I'm not going to say "I would never do that to you" or, "When have I ever betrayed you, Shego?", because I know we have a bit of a dreadful past during the years we've worked…" he paused. "…the years we've spent together."
Shego looked up to meet his eyes. He could most certainly tell she'd been doing something to make her appearances seem a bit more tousled than usual.
"But frankly Shego, of all the lunatics and villains and goddamn people I've worked with, were never as good a partner as you are."
Though Shego was going to snap a comment to Dr. Drakken, she stopped herself. There was something…kind in his words that made it sound better than it would have said by anyone else.
"Joy has potential, yes, and I think she would be useful to our evil schemes." he continued. "But I would never…ever…let her come between us."
By the time Dr. Drakken had decided to then leave Shego be, and to think about what he said, Joy was gone. How much she stayed to listen to he didn't know, but all he thought about was his moment just earned with Shego; it had been the most sentimental moment they've ever experienced with each other. Or, at least, that's what Drakken thought.
The conversation played over and over again in his mind when he left Shego in the room…walked back to his room…when he got into bed…and when he fell asleep.
"Do you think I'm going to betray you? Shego…what? Do you think I'm going to betray you by…replacing you with Joy or something?"
"It wouldn't be the first time."
"Look…Shego…I'm not going to say "I would never do that to you" or, "When have I ever betrayed you, Shego?", because I know we have a bit of a dreadful past during the years we've worked…the years we've spent together. But frankly Shego, of all the lunatics and villains and goddamn people I've worked with, were never as good a partner as you are. Joy has potential, yes, and I think she would be useful to our evil schemes. But I would never…ever…let her come between us."
The only difference from the actual reality and Dr. Drakken's dream was that that simple, sentimental moment ended the way each other had desired for it to end, where Drakken had not just walked away.
In her room for the first time, Joy sat on her bed, smiling to herself.
'This is surely going to be interesting living with these two…' she thought.
A moment after Kim had slammed the door in Ron's face, he had just opened it again, and let himself in.
"Kim?!" he called. "Kim, where are you?"
Ron thought he heard someone move from behind the stairs, and so there he moved, only to find his best friend, K.P., sitting in the corner of the room. When she saw him approach her, Kim just got up and tried to walk away. Ron, however, caught her by the shoulder.
"Kim, what's going on? Why all of a sudden are you giving up?"
"I'm not giving up anything, Ron." she snapped.
"Well you sure had me fooled." He snapped right back.
Kim did everything she could to keep herself from looking at Ron. But when she finally did, she couldn't help but start to tear up.
"Oh, hey, c'mon, K.P….it's alright." Ron held his friend in his arms, her tears staining his Smarty Mart sweater. He didn't care.
"Look, there's obviously something else on your mind than Drakken winning this time. So…why don't you just let it out?"
Kim sniffled. "But it is about Drakken winning. I mean, it's been just so hard as it is to fight Drakken and especially Shego. How much longer can we keep it up, Ron? I mean, sure…I get it all the time. I'm Kim Possible…I can do anything! You don't know what that feels like, Ron! All that pressure and expectation! I'm just so stressed of having all this responsibility on my back all the time! With all the villains, grades, drama…I can't take it all at once! With Drakken more of a threat than ever, everything now just seems so unbalanced, and I can feel it…I just feel…..defeated!"
Ron hugged her more tightly. "I think what you need is a break from all this. We don't even know if Joy's going to help Drakken. I mean, Wade told us she didn't even know Drakken and Shego were villains until she met you. So, what I think we should do is just…wait and see what happens next. Don't worry about the future; K.P….the present is all that matters. And at the present, I'm here with you, and you're here with me, and in my eyes the world can be destroyed in any way Drakken likes…….as long as I'm with you."
Kim's eyes widened with tears as she looked into her best friend's eyes. Ron had always been there for Kim, but never had he said something so…loving. It was very un-like him.
"Oh, Ron…"
And with that, Kim Possible embraced her best friend, Ron Stoppable. And they stood there, for however long they didn't know.
Because all that matters is that they were with each other, and for all they knew, the world was theirs.
-End of episode-
Preview of next episode:
Joy falls in love.
Joy decides to have a special "gathering" with Drakken and Shego's families, considering it's a holiday.
The tension heats up between the romances….OH BABY (LOL no jk.)