Chapter 4: Deepen Mystery

"...Ooo."

"Hmm?"

"My...head hurts..."

"The pain killers are just wearing off," a woman's voice said softly.

"...Why did I need pain killers?"

The woman's voice answered the question by saying, "Well...because of what happened a few hours ago. I admit, you're lucky to be alive."

"Oh...really?"

"Yep, not many people live through what you went through."

"...Who are you?"

"Well, if you would open those eyes, you would know," the feminine voice replied.

At hearing the request, Shego's eyes popped open and she could not see anything, but a blur while she laid on a hospital bed. But as her vision cleared, she caught the sight of movement beside the bed, which caused her to turn her head to the movement. Sitting in a chair, beside the bed, was a woman with long brown hair and she was preoccupied with looking at a magazine that was laying in her lap. For a moment, Shego could only see a vivid image of her face, but her vision finally became clear enough to tell exactly who the woman was. It surprised her and amazed her at once to know the woman was still alive, even after she and her entourage figured the woman was dead. Her screams in the sewer made them think that and it made Shego curious as to how she was not being digested in those vile creatures stomachs, but was instead sitting in a chair beside her and was looking at a magazine.

"Amber," Shego questioned weakly.

"Hmm," was all she replied softly while she closed the inquire and looked up at Shego.

"How is it..."

"That I'm still alive," Amber interrupted and said before she flashed Shego a smile.

"Yes."

"Funny you should ask," the resurrected woman replied while she laid the magazine on the night stand beside the bed, "Apparently those creatures are too stupid to realize that their combined weight could cause a sewer floor to collapse. I need to have a talk with the Septic engineer after this is over."

"Oh...seems you're as lucky to be alive," Shego said while she felt happy about the fact.

"Well, Jacob and me both are still alive because of faulty engineering. Jack...was crushed under the floor's rubble along with those 'Chimeras.' We nearly met the same fate, but we managed to find a way out of that cursed sewer. Lucky an air calvary unit was retreating our way and we flagged them down. We only got here moments before you three did," Amber stated before she left the chair and started out of the room.

Shego watched the woman leave her side and before she could leave the room, Shego had to ask, "Where you going?"

"I'm...gonna go check on Hope and the kid."

"Their still alive too!?"

"Well, sure. Though the kid was in very bad shape when he arrived in the infirmary. The docs said he was poisoned by something and they had nothing to counteract it, but since I saw he had planned for everything. I checked his bags and found what I guess was an antidote. Guess it was because he started to improve after the docs injected him with it," Amber explained before she slipped through the door and disappeared down a hall.

Not an hour after Amber left, Shego got tired of laying in the bed. It was her place in the world to lead and not even a hospital bed was going to stop her from doing that. Before she could even crawl out of the bed, a female nurse came into the room and looked surprised at Shego wanting to leave the room. However, the nurse did not voice her protest the moment Shego flashed her a scowl and the nurse went about helping Shego to her feet. It was mere moments later that Shego walked out of the room, still wearing her hospital gown and dragging her IV stand behind her. The nurse that helped her, only stood at the doorway and watched Shego walk down the hall. After a moment, Shego snatched the IV from her wrist and tossed the clear tube back at the bleeping machine before she continued with her walk down the hall.

Her walk was only stopped by the nurse saying, "Your Highness, Major Thompson said to give you these when you got ready to leave the room."

At hearing the words, Shego turned and saw the nurse holding up a metal suit along with a pair of gloves, with one being green and the other black, being held in her other hand. Shego could only smile at knowing the gloves and returned to the nurse to claim the fashion items. Moments later, she left the room again dressed in her new clothes and she headed toward a double door, which she took as the exit for the infirmary. Along her walk, the gloves felt strange to her, as if they were heavier than they should have been. She grew curious about the possibly of why and she tried to humor herself by trying to make her hands glow. To her surprise, her hand lit up and bathed the hall in a green glow.

What in the world, was all Shego could think while she stopped walking and brought the glowing hands before her face.

Her amazement turned into pure joy because of seeing her hands glowing green again and she had to find Amber to thank her. Though, this time she hoped she did not overload the new gloves like the ones Jes gave her. While she unlit her hands from the fear of overworking the gloves, she started back to her walk to the double doors. The moment she came through the doors, she had entered into a long tunnel cramped packed with military vehicles and equipment, along with soldiers running about. Before she could even question to herself as to where she was, all the soldiers running about, spotted her and Roman saluted her before they went back to whatever they were doing. While she watched the activity from afar, an individual walked into view before her and stopped when she noticed Shego looking at her.

"Good to see you already up and moving about," Amber replied happily before she looked back at the commtion around them.

"What's going on and where are we," Shego questioned in a scream because of the noise the soldiers were making.

Amber, however, waved Shego to her and once she was with her, Amber said, "We're where the kid wanted to bring Hope and you. New Alcazar, the prison for the most dangerous enemies of state. I understand why now. This facility was built underground to keep it secret, which means we're as safe as we'll ever be. It seems alot of the military were coming to this place too. Not all of them, but alot made it here. Right now, I'm having them gear up in case we have to fight it out here."

"Your in charge!? By whose order," Shego questioned because only she could ok such a order.

Amber only smiled at her reaction before she explained, "Don't worry, your Highness. I'm only in charge because I'm the highest ranking officer here. After what the kid said about maltreatment going on here. I began to question the truth. So, after I got you three situated, I investigated the colonel in charge here. I learned not just highly dangerous crimals were being kept here, but ordinary people who wouldn't show you any loyalty. Those innocent people were being subjected to the same...treatments as everyone else. By the laws you outlined yourself, that colonel was in violation and I administered the proper justice to him."

"Which is?"

"He is right now receiving the exact same...treatments that he had the innocence subjected to," Amber stated before she flashed Shego a smile. "And right now, I feel like taking a nap. I been up since I woke in that sewer and I need to crash for awhile."

A thought struck in Shego's mind while the woman started to leave her, which caused her to ask, "How did you know about these gloves," while she held up her gloved hands for Amber to see.

"Well, I...umm..." Amber stammered out before she took off running down the tunnel and disappeared among the military vehicles.

The display left Shego dumbfounded and she showed such by her hands still being held in the air. Finally she shook her head at the strange reaction of Amber and she started walking down the tunnel the way Amber went while she let her arms fall to her sides. If she was to stay there awhile, she might as well become familiar with the area. There was nothing for her to see in the tunnel, except all the activity of the soldiers running about, but that soon became boring to her and she found another double door on one of the sides of the tunnel. The moment she came through the door, she saw she was in an office style part of the prison. She had not gone far into the office when she heard voices talking to one another.

When she heard one of the voices say, "I so nearly goofed up early. I about messed up the entire plan," she realized the voices were coming from the other side of a door she was standing beside.

"You really didn't need to do that. It's kinda unlike you to make mistakes," Shego heard another voice say while she eased up to the door and pressed her ear to it.

"Yeah, I know. It would have been a disaster if the truth was found out now."

"Well, just stay calm and it never be known, which be the best for us."

"Isn't it odd how you're giving me advice and I'm older than you?"

"It sure is."

Finally Shego could not fight the urge to swing the door open and see into the conversation. But right as she laid her hand on the doorknob, it twisted in her hand and the door swung open. To her surprise, a soldier, dressed from head to toe in a metal suit, walked out of the room and right into her. She staggered away from the soldier, who stopped his course and cocked his head to one side, as if he was surprised to see her standing there. For a moment, Shego stared at the soldier's glittering red eyes until she looked down both ways of the hall she was standing in.

"May I help you with something, your Highness," the soldier questioned before he saluted her Roman style.

Shego was taken back at the situtation she was in, eavesdropping on a conversation in which she was caught in the act of doing. She at first thought about just replying that she was fine and head on her merry way. But her curiosity got the better of her and she peeked past the soldier to see into the room behind him.

"Umm...yes. Who were you talking to," Shego questioned back while she could not see anyone in the room.

"To myself, your Highness," the soldier replied while he peeked over his shoulder and looked in the room himself.

"Umm hmm," Shego stated while she shoved her way past the soldier and she walked into the room.

All she could see was a old desk in the room, but nothing else. Her ears had not deceived her, she heard two different voices. But now the question she was asking was where did the second individual disappear to because there was only one way in and out of the room. She was about to ask the soldier such a question, but she felt it was better to leave before things got complicated, which she did and she past the soldier without saying a word.

While she continued down the hall, she heard the soldier say to her backside, "Have a good day, your Highness."

Right as she turned the corner in the hall, she peeked back at the soldier and saw he seemed to be talking to himself again while he looked into the room she just had ventured into. She shrugged her shoulders at the weirdness and she headed on her merry way down the hall. She had nothing else planned for that day and traveled up every hall she felt like walking down while she tried to put the odd occurance from before, behind her. All the halls seemed the same to her and she wondered if she had gotten lost. She figured she had and she tried to regain her bearings, but even with her best, she would end up in another hall that would led her to another one. She did not even want to begin to fathom how massive the complex was. Finally before she began to panic and scream for help, she came to a hall that had a double door at the end of it. It was a encouraging sign to her and she looked back at the endless maze of halls while she walked to the doors.

The moment she went through the doors, she heard the sound of heavy rock music being played off in the distance. This made Shego curious and she hoped she had finally found someone who would help her back to the infirmary. She wanted to see how Hope was doing and in order for her to do that, she had to get through the maze of halls first. The moment Shego did not hear the music anymore, she made her way through the small room she came into, after going through the double doors, and she came into another hall that opened up in a room that resembled a martial arts dojo. After she made it into the dojo, she saw no one, but she saw a radio laying in a corner of the room, which started to play some heavy music again as if Shego caused it to turn on.

But as she was about to give up the search because of not seeing anyone, a figure with long brown hair came flipping out of a shadow across the room from her and kicked a wooden dummy in the head as she went by it. Before her feet even touched the ground, she managed to kick the wooden statue again. Shego watched her for a moment and realized it was Amber. She wanted to say something to the woman, but her martial arts training amazed Shego because she never knew the woman even knew one. While she stood afar and watched the woman, she saw the woman would change up styles to the point that Shego lost track of which style Amber was performing while she seemed to be dancing along with the music being played. Finally Shego got urge to visit Hope again and she started to clap for Amber right as she was starting to preform a Zipota form of martial arts. While she landed on her feet, after kicking the wooden dummy, Amber spun around and looked at Shego walking to her.

After breathing heavy for a moment, Amber inquired, "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough, and now that I got your attention. Would you help me get back to the infirmary? I want to see how Hope is doing," Shego replied before she stopped clapping.

Amber only dropped her head to her chest before she said, "Man...I wished you hadn't seen that."

"Why?"

"Because, your Highness, there is alot of things about me that I don't want anyone to know," Amber answered while she rose her head and looked Shego right in the eyes.

"You don't have to be ashamed about knowing a few martial arts, which I might add, you seem to be well trained in those forms I saw you performing."

"You don't know half of it. Besides...I'm weird," Amber replied right as she flipped a five bladed shuriken in her hand and flung it with ease at the radio, causing the heavy music to stop.

"I think that radio wouldn't have hurt you," Shego joked after seeing the display.

"That's how I end all of my training."

"Oh...so how many radios have you went through," Shego stated before Amber pointed past her, which caused Shego look at whatever she was cueing her to.

Shego could only smile at the pile of radios laying in a corner as Amber said, "As you can see, alot."

"Sure is. Well anyways, will you take me to the infirmary now?"

"Don't have to. Hope got up right after you did and went to walking the halls too," Amber explained before she yawned.

"I still like to see how she's doing. Now I have to walk those cursed halls to find her," Shego replied before she started to leave the room.

"You don't have to do that either, I know where she is."

Her words caused Shego to stop and say, "Well, lead me to her."

"Sure," was all Amber stated before she walked by Shego and waved her to follow her the moment she was past Shego.

Right as they were about to leave the dojo, Shego said, "I think you need to have a talk with a soldier here. I ran into him earlier and he was talking to himself, I guess, because there was not one else around beside him and me."

"Hmm...that must have been Jacob. He always had that problem and I told him before to stop that. I'll speak with him when we get to where Hope is because I had him to look after her."

"You had a nut to watch over Hope," Shego snapped with disbelief.

"Relax, your Highness. He's just strange. Weird like I am," Amber explained while she stopped walking and looked at Shego before she started walking again.

After she shook her head at Amber actually being somewhat weird, Shego went back to following the woman out of the dojo. Amber led her back the way she came in and right into the maze of dreaded halls. It amazed Shego that the woman before her seemed to know where she was going because like her, the woman had only been there for a short time. Though Shego still felt that they were lost because of them walking down one hall, only to walk down another. Before Shego began to panic over feeling they were actually lost, Amber led her around a corner and they came to a large metal door, which Amber swung open and went into the room. The moment Shego entered the room, she saw she came into a room full of monitors,which hung over control panel like desks while prison guards looked up at the monitors.

Right as Shego caught sight of Amber walking down a walkway between two rolls of the monitors and desks, Amber explained, "This is the security room for the prison," before she disappeared out of Shego's view.

A thought came to Shego while she watched the guards at work. It was ironic for her to be walking freely around a prison while her former self would have been in one of the prison cells and the guards before her would have been watching for her to escape, if they were lucky to see her escape. After she let out a soft laugh at the thought, she started walking the way Amber went and before long, she saw the woman standing beside desk, that was in the very back of the room, with a soldier standing beside her. Shego smiled at seeing Hope sitting behind the desk and was talking to Amber, who, after taking a step to one side, revealed that Jes was sitting beside Hope. It amazed Shego that he was also up and she became curious as to how any of them were even out of a hospital bed.

The moment Shego was to the desk, Jes said, "I been wondering something."

"About Doa," Amber questioned while she peeked back at Shego standing close to her.

"Nope, about us. How is that the three of us are up and about," Jes questioned.

"Well, kid, the docs injected you three with nanos the very second you came into the infirmary."

"They did what," Shego outbursted, which caused Amber to giggle.

"Not to worry, your Highness. The nanos will short out and pass out of your systems once all the damage is repaired," Amber explained while she held her hands up to Shego.

At hearing the explanation, Jes cleared his throat and said, "Well that explains alot. So, Amber, you want to know what I learned."

"Learned," Shego questioned while a confused look etched across her face.

Without paying Shego any attention, Amber nodded to Jes before she explained, "After Jes came to and was able to get back onto his feet, I asked him to look at something for me because he seemed to be a know it all. While I was investgating the colonel, I found a prison video that had baffled everyone at this prison. I have watched the video several times and never could understand it," while Shego walked around the desk and saw that Jes and Hope were watching the video Amber was talking about.

She could not see anything strange about the jail cell the video was showing, except half of the cell was in complete darkness. However, after a moment of her viewing the video, she saw a hand appear in the lit part of the cell, but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared back in the shroud. Before she could ask what was so mysterious about what she was watching, Jes turned the volume up for the video and a strange language started to play. The speaker of the language was speaking so rapidly that Shego could not pick out a single syllable.

"What he is saying is the mystery around here. I even got the best translators here to listen to that man, but none of them could tell me what he was saying," Amber explained after Shego narrowed her eyes at the screen.

The moment Amber stopped speaking, Jes busted out with laughter and asked, "How much were those people being paid?"

"Quiet alot I'm guessing," Amber replied while she started to look upset over Jes continuing to laugh.

Finally he stopped laughing and said, "Well, I should have gotten all that money."

"Oh, really? Why," Amber questioned before she pulled a chair up to the desk and sat down.

"Well, I not only have a good idea as to what the language is, I know exactly what he is saying. Doa taught me that language."

"Doa," Shego questioned while she looked away from the screen and stared at Jes. "That means..."

"The one in this video was Doa before he became the Doa we all know and...love," Jes interupted and explained, which caused Amber to jump to her feet and pile in with the rest to look at the video.

"So what is that language," Hope questioned while looked up at Amber pressing against her.

"It's not which language, but which ones," Jes explained, which caused everyone to look dumbfounded at him. "Ok, I'll try to explain this. Doa somehow was able to speak in every known language at the same time. He could say something to me, but with every word, and sometimes even the syllables of a word, and he would switch languages, to the point that eventually I wouldn't understand him."

"But you can understand what he's saying in the video," Shego questioned while she started to have a thought in her mind.

"Oh, sure. I just have to study the pattern he's speaking," Jes stated before he went quiet and went to listening to the voice of the shrouded man in the video.

After a moment, Jes said, "I...will make...their blood...flow like rivers. None...will be...safe. They all...will die...by my...hands. I...seek revenge...and I will...find it," before he said, "Sorry, guys. He's switching languages to fast. I can't understand him now."

Even though the ladies were happy that Jes could interpret the strange language, they felt a chill up their spines at hearing the demonic message the shrouded man was preaching. Shego, however, narrowed her eyes at the video and wondered about the man in the darkness being able to even know other languages. She knew of only one person who was able to speak in other langauges and her thought before caused her to question the possibly.

"Jes, I wonder. Is Doa who I always thought he was," Shego finally asked while she hoped there was a yes to her question.

However, Jes said nothing for a moment, but he finally said, "Doa told me you would eventually ask me something like that. He wanted me to tell you, he's not who you thought he was, but someone else. The person you thought he was did die...that night."

At hearing his answer, Shego wanted to deny he was speaking the truth, but somewhere deep in her soul, she knew it was the truth. She had tried for all these years to believe he was still alive and would show up when she least expected it. The same exact way he did it to the real Shego, but twenty years went by since that night and he never showed. Many things have changed since that day, mostly to herself. After the first few years, she stopped looking for him and decided to wait him out while she went on ruling the world. She never grieved over him because she felt he was still alive. But after her mind processed the actual truth, Shego felt a tear stream down her cheek and she ran away from the group, heading right out of the room.

"Did I say something wrong," Jes questioned after everyone heard the metal doors slam shut.

"Maybe you did, but anyways. I'm heading to my room to crash for awhile. And Jacob, stop talking to yourself, ok," Amber stated while she left the group and started to leave the room herself.

After she was out of sight, Jes looked up at the soldier still standing by them before he asked the soldier, "Jacob?"

The soldier only let out a chuckle before he said, "I'm...Jacob McClee."

"Oh, well ok. Just no one ever told us who you were," Jes replied before he went back to watching the video.

After a moment, Jacob cleared his throat and said, "So you know alot about that Doa? How did he go from the one in the video to the one everyone knows now?"

"Well...it was about a month after he escaped here when that happened..." Jes stated before he trailed off and gathered his thoughts on the tell he was told long ago.

Right as Amber came out of the room, she heard a sound as if someone was crying. The moment she came to the T intersect in the hall, she caught the sight of someone beside her, who was sitting on the floor and was making the sounds she heard. Before she could say a word, the grieving person turned from her and only showed Amber her back side.

At seeing the display, Amber let out a sigh and said, "We been around one another long enough that you don't have hide what's wrong, your Highness."

"Jes' leave me alone."

"Sorry, your Highness, but I can't. Ever since I became your guardian at the palace, I was ordered to look after your well being, which means even when its one of these cases," Amber stated while she walked around Shego and knelt before the depressed woman.

For a moment, Shego said nothing, but she finally snapped, "Jes told me what I finally wanted to hear and there's nothing you could do to help with that!"

"Oh...about someone being dead. He must have really been something for you to curl up in a hall and cry your eyes out."

Amber's words caused Shego look up at her with hatred and for her to scream out, "You don't know a damn thing about him!"

Her outburst only caused Amber to smile at her before she said sadly, "Your right, your Highness. I don't know a damn thing about him, but I know how you're feeling. You're not the only one who lost a love one."

"It couldn't been as bad as mine."

"Oh, really? To have someone you loved with all your heart, rip away from you and you could do nothing about," Amber replied back while still showing Shego a smile.

For a moment Shego had no snappy come back and she finally asked, "What happen?"

"...She died," was all Amber replied while her smiled disappeared.

"Oh...wait, she!? Does that mean you're a..."

"Yes, it does. Now let's stop talking about it so I can get you out of the floor and you to your room so you can rest," Amber interrupted and said before she stood up and held a hand out for Shego.

Shego could only smile at how uncomfortable Amber looked and she took the woman's hand while she asked, "Your not ashamed of that fact, are you?"

"I said there is things about me I don't anyone to know about. But no, I'm not ashamed."

After Amber help her to her feet, Shego had to keep herself from laughing at how nervous Amber seemed to be, which caused a thought to pop in Shego's head and for her to ask, "That doesn't have anything to do with these gloves," while she held them up for Amber to see.

Amber blushed at the question before she stammered out, "I...I don't know. I...I had the kid to explain the shorted out ones to me and I had an engineer look them over. He was able to make a pair for me and I wanted you to have them."

After hearing the explanation, Shego busted out with laughter and patted Amber on the shoulder while she said, "Sorry, Amber. I'm not that way, but thank you for the gift."

"I figured that was the case..."

"Yep, now would you show me to my room," Shego replied while she started down the hall and waved Amber to follow her, which caused Amber to smile for a moment and she started down the hall with Shego.

"How in the world did he get in Siberia," Jacob stated with astonishment.

"He didn't know himself, but that was the place where it began for him," Jes replied while he thought over the rest of the story, which the two individuals with him seemed eager to hear.

Next: Freezing With Hatred