I do not own Kip Possible, Disney does, and I also don't own Gungrave: Overdose, Red Entertainment does. This fanfic is non-profit fun and will be removed from the net the moment someone of status decides to bitch at me.
Death, and After That…
Chapter 4: The Devil in the Details
Kim and Ron stared at the macabre message for well over a minute before either was willing to breach the smothering quiet that had settled within the bunker. Cautiously Kim took off her glove and reached towards the letters seared into the wall, placing her finger against the edge of the "D".
"It's gone cold. Whoever did this must have left well-over ten minutes ago." Ron looked up at her as though she were a simpleton.
"Whoever? It SAYS who did it right there!" He pointed. "Honestly, KP where would you ever be without me?" He asked shaking his head.
"Ron, listen. Why would someone kill all these people and then sign their NAME to it?" He shrugged.
"I dunno, pride?" Kim grit her teeth.
After all the stupid horror movies he's seen, he thinks something dumb like that?
"Ron, don't you think it's possible that someone else did this and their just trying to frame Drakken?" She exclaimed. "Doesn't that make any sense at all?" Ron scratched his head and thought about it for a moment.
"Nah, I got nuthin." Kim slapped her forehead and pulled out her kimmunicator, quickly pressed the call button. Wade appeared on screen a second later.
"Hey, Kim. Find anything?" Kim pointed the screen down so that it was facing Dementor's remains.
"Yeah, I found Dementor." She could hear Wade gasp. She looked back in the screen concerned.
"Wade, I need you to scan all these burn marks and tell me what caused them, and then I need you to see if anything else like this happened in the last few months.
"I'm on it, Kim!" Not a moment later the familiar green light of the scanner beam spread across the room before stopping.
"Scanning complete, just give me a second while I input this data into the system."
"Take your time, Wade." The screen went blank for a second before Wade showed up once again.
"Okay, well I know what this wasn't… This was not any kind of flame-thrower or bomb. There is no trace of any accelerants or shrapnel in the area. Not only that, but the heat required to burst that blast door must have been much hotter than anything I've ever seen in terms of personal weapons." A disturbing thought then occurred to Kim that she was almost afraid to ask; one person she could think of never needed a flame-thrower or bombs to melt metal. With Shego's powers she could have easily done such a thing. However, Kim simply couldn't imagine the green woman ever killing anyone. It just wasn't something Kim believed the thief was capable of. Either way, she felt it was her duty to bring it up.
"What about, Shego? She has that weird green fire power and that doesn't leave any physical trace." Wade shook his head.
"It's also nowhere near hot enough. She may have been able to get through those doors given enough time, but not as quickly as we saw on the recording." Kim hated to admit it, but she felt relieved to hear that.
"I'll look into it though. I guess I should contact the authorities and arrange a ride for you and Ron back to Middleton."
"Please and thank you. You're the best Wade"
"I know I am. See yah." He cut the transmission. The two found that exiting the darkened lair was much easier than first entering it. Now they both knew what to expect and consciously made a habit of avoiding looking down at the corpses. It made things a great deal easier. To get their mind off the stench of burned flesh that polluted the dark hallways, the two heroes tried to figure out who the assailant might be.
"Monkey Fist?" Ron asked automatically. Kim shook her head.
"No monkey calling card that I can see and I can't imagine him avoiding the urge to add one." Ron frowned and thought again.
"DNAmy? I bet she could make a monster with crazy fire-breath." Kim shook her head again. She was about to say that no cuddle-buddy would do such a thing but stopped before she had a chance to embarrassed herself.
"She… um, just wouldn't do that. Besides I saw a woman's figure in the image, and Amy would never kill anyone." Ron smiled humorlessly.
"Yeah, she would just fuse your vice principal with your best friend…" Rufus stuck his head out and gave his opinion of that horrible experience.
"Yuck".
Kim smiled and then something occurred to her. "Hey, I got an idea, what about the Killer Bebes?"
Ron scratched his head," I thought we scrapped um all." Kim shrugged.
"Well, I can see them killing people, and they fit the build."
Ron thought about it. "Its as good a possibility as I can think of although I can't see why they'd blame anyone else, they tended to be pretty direct."
Kim shrugged. Drakken's rogue robots were not known for their deception, but if some survived, then she could imagine them having enough time to work on that aspect of them. Also, they would probably see other villains like Dementor as competition for their "perfect" rule. Kim was about to call Wade to ask him to look into it, but she was surprised when she received a call from him first.
"Wade? What's the stitch?"
"Hey, Kim! Guess what, I just got a report that a mysterious woman in black is attacking the Cromwell Research Institute as we speak!" Wade excitedly exclaimed, "It's only two and a half miles away from where you are. You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That whoever killed Dementor had a second stop scheduled?"
"Exactly! I'm already arranging a ride for you. Mr. Xiang from that oilrig incident is coming towards you via a helicopter. He should be there in ten minutes."
"Thanks, Wade. I'll contact you when we get there." Wade cleared his throat and looked like he had something else on his mind.
"Wade?"
"It's just… please be careful Kim. We don't know what this woman is packing."
Kim smiled reassuringly. "I will, and Wade, thanks for your concern." She cut the connection and looked up at Ron. "Ron, you get all that?" He nodded and gave her a thumbs up.
"Were gonna deal with Torchy, right? No problemo, KP. I bet she's not so tough."
Kim looked off into the cloudless distance and saw an approaching black speck that she figured must be Mr. Xiang.
I certainly hope so…
(The Cromwell Research Institute)
The woman known as Mayhem slowly made her way through the Cromwell Institutes main research lab dispatching any and all resistance she came across with a grim finality. If one didn't include all of the simulator missions she trained in before hand, then this was technically her first real assignment working for the Doctor. Her instructions were simple; after dealing with the man in the helmet, she was to make her way of foot to the Institute and steal one of their new and untested power converters. Mayhem fulfilled these instructions without question as she searched the lab from room to room.
Two military personnel jumped out from behind a toppled table they were using to conceal themselves and began to pelt her with dozens of rounds from their assault rifles. She didn't bother wasting the energy required to evade their shots and paid the bullets little mind as they ricochet harmlessly off her defense field. About a month ago when the Doctor deployed her on her first training mission, Mayhem was still unaware of what her capabilities were and as a result made several of what she considered rookie level mistakes. For example, she was completely unaware that her barrier field had a threshold so she was caught completely by surprise when it was breached and she was pelted all over by a gale of bullets. She panicked and jumped behind cover until her field was ready to come back online again. The bruises those bullets left behind was the first pain that she had felt since her regenesis. In a way she liked the sensation it brought, as fleeting as it was. It made her feel as though she were still alive. The two soldiers who stood before her now were less then capable of even getting through her barrier, and even if they did she doubted that that caliber of round would leave any more then a scratch upon her skin.
The two soldiers were backed against the far wall when they realized there was no more room to retreat. It was then that Mayhem chose to strike. She rushed forward faster then either men could register and delivered a stone shattering punch to both of their throats crushing their windpipes effortlessly and watching them fall to there knees as there faces turned blue from asphyxiation. As with most living things, they inevitably surrendered to the cold grip of death.
Not like me…
Mayhem didn't feel a thing when she killed the two men. Who cared if they were dead now? She was too, after all. Death just didn't mean the same thing to her that it used too. However, that evil little voice in the back of her thoughts never stopped pestering her. It would say things like; "You never used to do things like this" or "How much longer do you intend to kill people for that man?" and lastly, "Why do you even listen to him?" It was that repetitive last question that caused her the most grief.
Mayhem was unable to recall much of anything regarding her past life. According to the Doctor, it was due to necrosis of her brain tissue after death. Of the few random things that she could actually recall, they were usually out of order or fuzzy and distorted leaving her more confused than she already was. All she knew for sure is that she was once alive and now she was not. It only made sense to her that she should listen to the man who claimed to have known her and brought her back from the grave.
Two more soldiers burst out in front of her but this time, Mayhem was in no mood to waste anymore time and quickly sent a twin waves of black flame in their direction. In little less then a second their bodies almost completely vaporized under the extreme heat produced by the dangerous woman's hands. They didn't even manage to fire a single shot. Mayhem felt their ashes fall around her as she pushed past where the men once stood. At times like this, she wondered where she got such power, and on top of that she wondered what kind of person she used to be. The farthest back she could clearly remember however was her regenesis back into the land of the living.
(Flashback: Three Months Ago)
When Mayhem first came to awareness, she was lying naked on top of a steel table. In the beginning she was unable to so much as open her eyes. Her lids felt heavy and stiff from disuse, and her whole body felt cold and numb. Slowly and after a great deal of concentration she managed to open her eyes to the light. As blinding as that light was she neither blinked nor flinched, as it didn't hurt at all. She began to feel an uncomfortable prickling sensation make its way down her body, and slowly managed to ease her self up into a sitting position. Her motions were stiff and stilted and her body didn't seem to respond in synch with her commands. She crooked her head down to assess her strange and unfamiliar body.
Her skin was a dark olive green with a thick jagged crack-like scar circling her midsection. Her limbs were long and she was apparently fit as the muscles were noticeably pronounced. When she lifted her right hand to trace the scar, she saw that her nails were at least two-inch long, jet-black claws. She reached up and felt her face and hair. She wasn't able to tell much from her face aside from the fact that she had one, but regarding her hair, it seemed relatively short, except for the bangs, which were bone-white and longer on her right side.
She lowered her hand in front of her face and took in its shape, trying to reorient herself with her unfamiliar frame. She made a fist and could actually hear her stiff muscles strain and tighten in ways they had not in who-knew-how-long. It was then that she decided to look around the room and immediately saw that she had been watched the entire time.
The man who stood in front of her was of average height, wearing a dark-gray uniform, with tight black rubber gloves. His face was a curious light-blue color with his black hair tied back in a short ponytail and a curved scar angling beneath his right eye. Something about the man was very familiar. The blue man looked her over with an expression of wide-eyed excitement and quickly ran up to her and grabbed her left hand up in his kneeling at her side. The fact that her nudity should have made them both uncomfortable never occurred to either of them.
"IT WORKED!" he shouted proudly. "I truly AM a genius." He laughed for a minute then began to look her over to see if anything was amiss. He must have been someone she knew but for the life of her, she could not recall whom. Her mind was a blank. It was around then that she realized something else that she found equally vexing.
What is…who am I?
Her thoughts were as slow and sluggish as her body, but she did her best to go back into her memory and search for the answers she sought. She managed a memory of standing with four other boys who she seemed to know. They were all hanging out in what appeared to be a ramshackle wooden tree house. She looked out the window and saw a ball of iridescent light come rushing down to meet them. She also remembered arguing with the blue man who stood next to her over some kind of robot bug. Most of all she saw her self, ducking punches aimed to harm her, but she wasn't able to recall the face of her assailant aside from a blur of red. The last memory she managed was of a towering evil standing over her with malevolent intent. It was a memory that inspired a choking fear deep inside her psyche. She looked over at the blue man and decided do the simple thing and just ask.
"You… who are… y-you…" Her voice was horse and had a strange rasp to it that came from deep within her throat." The man looked up as though startled.
"Who am I? Don't you recognize me?" She shook her head honestly. The blue man stood up and rather than answer any of her questions he instead rubbed his chin as if in deep thought. After a moment his eyes lit up and he turned away from her.
"I see! She was left in cold storage for over a month before I managed to finish getting the materials I needed to repair her body. Of course she would suffer from some degree of necrosis. Her brain must be making quite a struggle to repair all of its cell damage and recover her lost memories…" Normally being ignored like that would have made her angry, but currently she was simply too out of sorts to take offence (even though he was speaking of her as though she were an object). After obviously reaffirming his own genius, he turned and faced her in all seriousness.
"Do you know your name?" She shook her head since it was currently easier than speaking.
"What about what happened to you, do you remember that?" Again her response was negative. He frowned and turned away from her again while mumbling to himself. She wasn't sure if he realized she could hear him or if he even cared.
"I suppose this actually works to my advantage! Maybe this will make the unknown factors involved in my plan easier to control. Either way I must work quickly." He turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and one on his chest in a failing attempt to seem personable.
"My name is Dr. Drakken. I am an… old friend of yours who you've worked with for several years. I am also a GENIUS inventor by the way." The woman nodded, having little else to say on the matter.
"And… me?"
Your name is She- wait…" He frowned and shook his head. "That's not your name. That name belonged to a living breathing human woman, not some altered and reanimated corpse…" Hearing that made her frown as well.
"Corpse? …I'm- I'm not a corpse…" Of that she was sure.
A corpse is something dead. I'm not dead, I can move around and everything, I can even think. However, even in her mind the words sounded uncomforting and hollow. The Doctor shook his head and sighed.
"Try to feel for your heartbeat." She complied and raised her right hand, placing it over her chest. Three minutes went by and she felt nothing but ice-cold flesh. She pulled her hand away quickly to relieve herself of the sensation. After a moment she realized another equally alarming aspect of herself. Ever since she had woken up, she had yet to taken a single breath. That was one of the reasons why her speech sounded so stilted. One needed to take in air to speak, and that was a function her body seemed to no longer require.
"Do you understand now? I've brought you back from the dead, but you aren't what most would consider alive. You will need a new name for your new existence as the old one has fallen into disuse…" He thought on it and smiled. She didn't like how cold the expression appeared.
"Mayhem. That will suit you nicely considering that that is your new purpose."
"M- Mayhem?" She certainly didn't like the sound of it but for now she lacked the energy to voice a complaint.
"That's right, Mayhem. It has a… pleasant ring to it, don't you agree?" He crossed his arms, and for the first time she noticed how small his hands were.
"Well, Mayhem, are you ready to help me rule this world?"
(Flashback: End)
So lost in her reverie, Mayhem failed to notice a soldier sneak in from behind her and launch a rocket-propelled grenade straight into her right shoulder. She barely had time to form a thought before the explosion sent her through the wall and back outside into the Arizona desert. The sharp pain in her shoulder alerted her into looking over and assessing the damage the explosion caused. She saw that her right shoulder was a ruined mess and her now-severed arm had landed on the ground in front of her twitching sporadically, On a much lesser note, the hood of her cape had been knocked down. The Doctor's orders were very specific on the subject of not allowing anyone to see her face until the "unveiling". Ignoring her arm for now, she shot to her feet and closed the gap between herself and her soon-to-be-dead assailant (after all, he probably saw her face and she simply couldn't allow that). His last sight was of the heel her right boot delivering a kick that imbedded his face five inches deep within the concrete wall of the hallway.
Dammit, that hurts…She thought as she covered the open wound of her shoulder with her right hand to see to it that as little blood as possible escaped. Blood was her Achilles Heel after all. It was currently beyond Mayhem's notice that she had yet to pull her hood back over her head.
The dead woman walked over to where her right arm landed among the dirt and gravel. She quickly released her shoulder and wasted no time picking up her stray limb and aligning it against the ruined stump that the appendage used to connect to. Upon initial contact steam began to rise from the wound as her cells rapidly knit the torn flesh back together into one. She was partly surprised that it actually worked, despite the Doctor's instructions as to what to do should this scenario occur. After a minute the repair process was complete and slowly feeling returned to the reattached limb. Mayhem flexed her fingers experimentally until she was satisfied.
There, all better. Now to get back to getting that power converter…
Mayhem was about to step back into the building and renew her mission when the sound of an approaching helicopter distracted her. A figure fell from the sky and landed soundlessly and gracefully before her. Mayhem automatically took on a fighting stance when her eyes met the red hair, but she quickly stopped when she realized what exactly she was doing. It was as if her body remembered the girl when her mind did not. A moment later a blond boy also fell from the sky but he landed flat on his face rather then like the girl and Mayhem paid him little mind. She then noticed the young redheaded teen was looking at her with wide-eyed surprise and shock.
"Shego?"
Chapter 4: End