"Aww man! I can't believe it! Doesn't Drakken have a clock where he is or something? It's nine in the morning. Nine! And I'm not getting my breakfast because he stole that doohickey!"
"Ron, quit complaining! I'm sure that we'll be able to make it back in time for some nacos for lunch or something." Kim shifted her backpack, making sure that it would stay put during the freefall down to Drakken's island. "It's just a quick mission to stop another Drakken and Shego plot. No big."
"Tell that to my stomach," Ron grumbled. Rufus chimed in with a "Hyunk, yeah!"
Sighing, Kim tried to compromise. "If you two can hold on until after this mission, I'll buy you the meal."
"Grande size?" Ron's smile returned and Rufus's head poked out of the pocket where he practically lived.
"Grande sized," Kim confirmed. The news was met much too enthusiastically by the blonde and his pet, who proceeded to dance around like they had just won the lottery.
"Oh…" Kim turned her attention to the pilot, "thanks for the lift, André."
"For you, Miss Possible, I would do anything, yes? For I still feel I owe you for saving my family's airplane business," the man dressed in the high-tech flying outfit said through his mask.
"Oh, the sitch wasn't so bad. It was just a gang of ace fighter pilots that were hogging the air. Just a bit of mediating took care of it." Kim waved it off as usual.
"Yeah, mediating with kung-fu at five-thousand feet is pretty average for us." And Ron put it back into focus.
"Here is the drop!" André pulled on a lever next to his seat.
"Goodbye!" Kim yelled before beginning the freefall, the floor dropping out beneath herself and Ron.
"GAAAHH!" Ron screamed as he took note of the fact that there was no longer anything solid under his feet.
Reveling in the thrill of falling, Kim let it last a bit longer for herself by pulling Ron's cord, which he had somehow managed to tie himself up with, before pulling her own. They carefully made their way to the island fortress, the inner pathways long ago memorized due to the frequency of their visitations. It didn't take much time or effort to get to the main room, the security measures still the same as always, where they found their blue-skinned arch-foe sitting and waiting.
"Okay Drakken, it's time to give up! Give back the Ionic Polarizer and this won't have to get ugly." Kim gave her usual greeting to her arch-foe, Doctor Drakken. Deciding not to wait for the random surprise, she launched right into her witty banter. "Where's Shego? Did she finally decide to ditch you?"
Drakken sat in the chair in front of his viewscreen and control console for a few moments, twirling the long, delicate device in his hands before tossing it toward Kim. Stunned, Kim barely managed to catch it before it fell to the ground.
"Take it. I never really wanted it in the first place. And never you mind about Shego…she took some vacation time." Drakken spoke calmly, his eyes keeping themselves focused on the two. "So then…what will you do now? Arrest me, I'm guessing?"
Kim slipped the piece of machinery into her backpack before responding. "Well…yeah," she said, blinking in slight disbelief, "you did steal this." This was a first; her enemies actually giving up! Maybe they could actually make it back for lunch…
"So even though I've lost what I wanted, you're still going to put me through the humiliation of being arrested, tried, and convicted by a jury of my 'peers'?" Drakken spat out the last word, his disdain making itself perfectly clear. "Parade me about, showing off how well you two do your perfect little routine of saving the world?"
"You're a villain; it's our duty to make sure you don't do it again," Kim responded, her arms crossed almost in an annoyed fashion.
"Yeah, and besides, you made us miss breakfast!" Ron huffed besides Kim.
"It's pathetic the way the world is," Drakken sighed a little as he spoke. "No matter what happens, someone is always the winner and someone is always the loser." At that, something clicked in Ron's head. Knowing what to do know with this ever-awkweirder confrontation, Ron walked forward a little to talk to Drakken a bit more face-to-face.
"Okay, I've heard of this sorta thing. It's called a 'mid-life crisis'. My dad told me about 'em. I understand, everything seems a bit-"
"No! No you do not understand!" Drakken jumped up from his chair and stalked toward the two of them, unnerving them slightly. Since when did Drakken actually try to face them down? "Do you know what it's like to be a failure all your life, little miss perfect? Huh? Do you know what it's like to be laughed at every single minute of your miserable existence? Have you ever realized…that no matter WHAT you do…no matter how hard you try…you will ALWAYS be a FAILURE?!" Drakken was now standing in front of his taken-aback arch-foe and her sidekick, his fists clenched tightly at his sides while his eyes stayed trained on Kim as he gave his last rant.
"Of course not!" Drakken sneered, his face twisting in a way that was unfamiliar to the two that he had fought so long. "You have always been successful in EVERYTHING you've tried, whether it's schoolwork, destroying my dreams, or…or finding someone to love and be loved by." The two of them caught the slight waver in his voice as it stuck on the last part of the sentence and noticed a slight glimmer in Drakken's eyes, their understanding of what he was saying sinking in as his tone turned suddenly weary. "I've tried harder than either of you can possibly imagine to win. But everything I've tried has failed. I can't even beat you snobby little teenagers. I haven't had a date for longer than I can remember. And all of my inventions, my life's work, have ended up as the punchline for one-shot jokes in the scientific community." His eye twitched a little as he spat out, "I'm sure Daddy Possible gets a lot of laughs with his." Drakken calmed down slightly and turned to his console, Kim and Ron being at a loss for what to do. As he typed, Ron stole a glance at Kim, who gave a helpless shrug in response.
"I've grown tired of this worthless dance of try and fail." Drakken's fingers flashed across the board. "I just don't care anymore." He gave a few more flicks of his fingers and let his index finger rest on an unlabeled key. "This has gotten pointless for all involved. Evil never seems to win, not as long as you two nuisances are around."
"Which is why…" Drakken's smile grew vicious, seeming to mock their confusion, as his voice dropped to a rough angry snarl and he pushed the button on his keypad "…I've decided it's time for me to go. And I'm taking you two with me."
That was when the alarm started going, blaring from what seemed to be every corner of the cavernous lair. Ron and Kim covered their ears and winced while a smug-looking Drakken sat back down in his chair, his hands clasping together in front of him as he watched his foes' reactions. The crimson light that flooded the area intermittently caught the eyes of the teens, but provided none of the information that they wanted.
Their ears continued to be assaulted by the siren, the noise almost loud enough to cover the slamming of the metal doors to the main room of the lair. They were still confused, looking around for a clue as to what was happening, when they froze, the monotone female voice of the lair's computer telling them all they needed to know.
"SELF-DESTRUCT ACTIVATED. THREE MINUTES TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
Wade was typing furiously at his keyboard, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration as he tried to reconnect with the Kimmunicator.
"This doesn't make sense," he said aloud to no one, his habit developed from years of isolation in his room showing itself once again. "The Kimmunicator wouldn't just lose the signal like that. Even if it were destroyed, it should still give me something to work with. Maybe I should try hacking Drakken's mainframe…"
The boy genius's fingers flew over the keys faster than Drakken's had on his minutes before, trying to gain access to the security system in Drakken's lair. "And…got it!" Before he could celebrate his victory over the outdated system, he noticed the red alert flashing in the corner of the screen. Curious, Wade clicked on it while he reached for his ever-present source of caffeine. He gulped down a couple of mouthfuls before the computers in Drakken's lair processed the request and gave the info Wade wanted. Wade's eyes scanned the report, their casual gaze quickly shifting to a worried stare and then to an alert, almost scared gawk, his mind having stumbled over the new piece of information presented to him like a marathon runner stumbling over a hurdle, and his soda dropping to the ground with an audible splash.
A few precious seconds passed as Wade's mind recovered from the discovery. Wade went back to work, typing furiously at the keyboard in hopes of doing something. A bit more panicked working of Drakken's system told Wade all he needed to know. Not that he was going to listen to it.
"Come on…there has to be a way…there just HAS to be! He couldn't have made it completely independent and irreversible, could he?" Wade's monologue continued for a good thirty seconds as he looked in every nook and cranny of programming to find an error somewhere that he could exploit. But at every spot he looked, in every place where he had successfully cracked Drakken's programming before, it was either too heavily guarded to crack in less than three minutes or completely blocked off.
"No…nonoNO! Kim! Ron! It can't end like this! It just can't!" Wade's eyes started to water as he tried to find something, ANYTHING to slow the impending doom that was quickly descending upon his friends.
"Wade! Can you hear me? It's Kim! Wade, please, hack the system or something!" Kim had been trying for several seconds to raise her friend on the Kimmunicator to no avail. Drakken looked on, an entertained sneer plastered on his face as he watched Kim try to contact their tech guru.
"There's no use in trying, Miss Possible," Drakken said. He pushed a button on the console, turning off the sirens that alerted the entire facility to the dangerous situation. "When I activated the self-destruct, I also activated a special coating around my lair." The smile that had been on his face moments before had returned. "It only works when an electrical impulse is used on it. I've basically made my wonderful little abode into a Faraday cage. I would go into all of the boring details, but that would just provide you with a distraction…and I want to watch you squirm. Bottom line is that no electronic signals can get in or out. Well…" Drakken's smile widened to show his teeth, the white of his enamel glinting brightly in the harsh light of the warning signal "…except for the security cameras and any basic information on the lair mainframe. I wanted to make ALL of the members of Team Possible suffer."
Drakken turned his eyes—and with it the eyes of his foes—to the metal doors that had slammed shut forty seconds before. "And those doors? Eight inches of reinforced steel. Your fancy gear wouldn't even make a hole before we all go 'kablooey'."
Drakken began to giggle madly, the noise echoing throughout the large space and snapping his teenaged opponents out of their stupor. While Kim desperately looked for an exit, running from door to door, vent to vent, Rufus aiding her in the search, Ron turned his attention to the gloating supervillain.
"Drakken…stop this." Ron walked toward Drakken, his arms outstretched and his expression set in a calm mold, his eyes searching Drakken's for a sign of something, anything, logical and sane. "This isn't you. What happened to the guy that we spent our Christmas with during our Sophomore year? What happened to the guy-"
"TWO MINUTES TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"-that watched Snowman Hank like a religion every holiday season? Where did the guy that was trying to prove himself to the world go? Huh?" Ron stood in front of the blue man, his gaze softening with sympathy and his arm moving to rest on the shoulder of his evil foe. "It's not too late. You can still make a difference. And I'm sure that there's someone out there for you. What's the point in throwing your life away like this? I'm sure you can turn it all around…"
Ron smiled in understanding at his foe. A smile that was quickly wiped away by the unforgiving scowl of the man and his hand being brushed off of the broad shoulder like a worthless crumb.
"Your happy-go-lucky principles, whatever your name is, are completely pointless. I've tried over 20 years to get my life to go the way I wanted. 20 years! Almost half of my life! And that's not including the time before I…what's the phrase…'turned evil'?"
Drakken stared down the blonde teen, who stepped away almost fearfully, and chuckled. "Ah yes. I can see some of myself in you. Bumbling, idealistic, seeing the best in everything and everyone you meet…tell me…" Drakken took a step toward Ron, who took another step back, "…do you think that your life would have been different if you didn't have Kimberly here to babysit you?" Drakken kept walking toward Ron who kept walking backwards until Ron's back ran into the jagged wall of the lair.
"Well…I guess maybe…yeah…I mean, she IS my best friend…" Ron muttered, his gaze moving to the floor, away from the madman's piercing glare.
"'You guess maybe'? Is that all you have to say?" Drakken snorted in derision, lowering himself down to look Ron straight in the eyes. "You and I both know what would have happened if Miss Possible had never existed. You…" Drakken lowered himself even more and moved closer until the two of them were nose-to-nose, preventing Ron from looking anywhere but at him. "…would be me twenty-four years younger."
Drakken straightened up, now assured that he had Ron's attention, and continued. "Can you imagine the grinding alone that you feel every time Kim is gone off to some sort of sale at some overpriced clothing store eating at you day in and day out? Can you? And tell me, can you imagine feeling that way for forty years?" Drakken turned to walk back to his chair, his arms behind his back, and Ron finally took a breath, having been holding it since being cornered by the madman.
"ONE MINUTE TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"You know…" Drakken said quietly, "I had always thought that the world would pay me back. Karma and all that stuff? But-" Drakken sat back down in his high-backed metal chair, "-I found the world to be much less fair than that. All the bullies that mocked me? CEOs at large corporations. The girls that shunned me? Married millionaire supermodels. My friends left me and became famous scientists with awards and big salaries. Nothing in this world is fair."
Drakken pushed another button on his console. A second later, a tray lifted up from a small hole that had opened in the shining chrome surface that glinted in the emergency lights that carried two cups and a carton of-
"Cocoa moo?" Drakken poured himself a glass of the dairy beverage and smiled a goofy smile as he licked the resulting moustache from his mouth. Stirred from the shock of his usually immature arch-foe speaking so candidly and in a more sophisticated tone than usual by the predictable silliness, Ron sprinted for the console next to the insane man and began to do his thing.
"Ah…the random button pushing? Looking for your buffoonery to save you? Sorry to ruin your winning streak, but I made sure to lock out any and all attempts to try to stop it. We're all going to go the way of Snowman Hank, and I'm not talking about the delightful holiday harmony that he always sang about." Drakken smirked as Ron became more and more despaired when the console did nothing but pull up random food items and played different music at each press of a button.
"THIRTY SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
Ron's hands were practically flying over the buttons, now pressing several simultaneously as if hoping there was some sort of special command to get the countdown to stop. Chuckling a little, Drakken watched as a few seconds later the daughter of his former college friend came sprinting back into the room, panting, with the naked mole rat in tow.
"Ron-"
"TWENTY SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"-please tell me that you can use your Ron factor to get us out of this? The place is sealed tighter than my diary."
"KP, I'm sorry! Nothing's working!" Ron couldn't hide the panic in his voice as each button did nothing that could help them. Rufus peeled back a panel and began to root around inside, pulling wires apart and shoving them back together in a seemingly random manner.
"Ron?" Kim's voice sounded hollow, disbelief tingeing her speech. "This isn't happening, right?"
"Oh, don't worry, Miss Possible," Drakken began.
"FIFTEEN SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"We're going to at least go out with a bang! Hahaha!" Drakken took another big gulp of his glass, his blue face that appeared purple in the light once again forming a chocolaty milk moustache on his upper lip.
"KP…" Ron stopped pushing the buttons, his shoulders slumping while his body turned to his best friend. Kim gasped slightly, a tear escaping her eyes as she saw his own filled with the salty liquid. "KP…I…"
"TEN SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"…I don't think we'll make it out of here."
Kim dropped to her knees, the finality of what was going to happen hitting home when it came out of the mouth of her best friend. She silently cried, her hands cradling her face, trying to come to terms with something she though would never happen, when she was brought out of her thoughts by comforting arms around her shoulder.
"KP…"
"FIVE SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"I love you." Ron held Kim closer to his chest, her sobbing lessening as she wrapped her arms around him.
"FOUR SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"Oh, here it comes!" Drakken cried gleefully, some of his chocolate milk spilling out of the glass.
"THREE SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"I…" Kim nuzzled her face into Ron's shirt, wetting the black material with her tears.
"TWO SECONDS TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"I love you, too, Ron." They hugged each other closer, fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle, for some reason smiling even in the face of imminent death.
"ONE SECOND TO LAIR DESTRUCT."
"And…!"
"NOOOO!" Wade screamed his lungs until they were devoid of air as he saw the island lair that Drakken was so fond of explode into a massive cloud of toxic fumes and fiery debris. His hands gripped the sides of the screen, the knuckles turning a sickly shade of white as his eyes began to shed the tears that had been forming since he first saw the warning of the self-destruct.
He stared at the screen, his eyes unblinking, draining and refilling with tears, his mind having gone completely blank for the first time in his short life. His friends…the three that believed in him, helped him with all of his fears, showed him that there was more to life than his room and virtual reality…were gone.
"Kim…Ron…Rufus…noooo…" Wade gasped heavily, his arms falling to his sides as the wreckage that had held his friends continued to burn and smoke. "I…what will I do now? What will everyone do? How…" Wade finally fell back into his seat, his strength and will sapped from him, as he mourned the passing of the finest people that he had ever met.
Author's Notes:
Thanks to MaceEcam for throwing this plot bunny at me. It's always SO wonderful to be assaulted by another one. –large sarcasm flag being waved behind Neo- I must admit, though, that I like it: a competent Drakken, dead Kim and Ron, terrible angst, a different twist on K/R…yup, I'm kinda glad Mace tossed this bunny at me. Hehe…and he thought he was getting revenge for those I tossed at him.
For Drakken, I was going for a 'tired of trying' approach. Tired of failing, weary of defeat, and worn out from the lack of success (did I just say the same thing three times?), he finally decides ta end it all…and take his foes with him. Share the misery? Most certainly. For Drakken is all about the revenge, and this takes care of everyone. Mr. Dr. Possible (his daughter's dead!), Professor Dementor (killed someone he couldn't…bwahaha), his foes (obvious)…and now Shego has a shot at world domination. I think it's a win-win for all things evil…well, except those that found Team Possible to be good arch-foe material.
Once again thanks ta kwebs for being my beta. …what? I had ta pay him back for subjecting him to all my Drakkim somehow and I doubt I'll write a K/R story anytime soon. Well, other than this.