A/N Thanks to Eddy13 for beta checking, and catching an error in my last chapter; he's always on top of things.
Chapter 14-Checkmate
(Friday Morning)
Zorpox woke slowly, blinking as he sat up in bed. A smile slowly spread across his face as he realized-today was the day that he would finally be rid of Shego; and from that point, his plans would go unopposed. He had laid the groundwork, focusing her entirely upon him and his actions, causing her to lose sight of the bigger picture. She was so concerned with figuring out what he was doing, trying to keep Drakken's confidence, that she'd never realized that the only real impediment to his plan was her. And once she was gone...
Everything else would follow.
The villain got out of the bed, stretching slightly, trying to figure out the best way to approach his actions for the day. He had to be careful, make sure that Shego didn't see it coming until it was too late for her to do anything about it. It was time to remove the queen, allowing him to move about the board unopposed. Then, and only then, would he really begin to make headway on his true plan.
X X X X
Shego blinked her blurry eyes, looking at the computer screen in front of her, finally shaking her head. She'd spend the entire night researching Selenium, trying to find any and every use for it that she could, hoping that she'd be able to figure out the villain's big plan. Instead, she was left with zilch. There were just no other practical applications for the semi-conductor; she had absolutely no clue what he planned to do.
The villainess leaned back in her chair, groaning, rubbing at her eyes. This had not only been a waste of her time, but it also left her sleep deprived for the day a head. She had two choices-lots of coffee and try and tough it out, or take a quick nap, and hope Zorpox didn't do anything important while she was sleeping.
Finally deciding on a mix of the two, the female villain decided to catch a couple of hours of sleep, then dose up on coffee.
X X X X X X X X
Kim sat up in bed, blinking slowly. As she slid off the bed and started her morning routine, she thought about the day. She was going to be pretty busy with school, plus she planned to visit Drakken after school; she still couldn't help but feel that there was something she was missing, but wasn't sure what. As she worked out, watching Rufus mimic many of her movements, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Ron would be back next week, and she couldn't wait. The teen couldn't believe how much she missed her best friend; she knew that she did lots of stuff with him, but she didn't realize quite how much, until he was gone. Her eyes widened as she realized...
Tonight was Ron night.
Stopping her actions completely, Kim groaned and flopped back on her bed. She'd completely forgotten. Of course, it's not like this night would be any different than the rest this week, she had just sort of woke up already looking forward to doing something with him tonight. Sighing, she just laid there, then felt a small movement beside her; soon Rufus was sitting on her stomach, looking at her in concern.
She smiled for the mole rat, reaching up to pat his little head. "I'm okay, just started thinking about tonight." He cocked his head at her. "It's Ron night, you know." Suddenly understanding, he nodded his head at her, then hopped back down to the bed, laying flat and watching her. Kim finally sat up then stood, and motioned out towards the hall way.
"Why don't you see what food my mom has in the kitchen for you, while I get ready. I'll be down in a few minutes." He nodded, hesitating slightly, before bounding off.
X X X X
Kim came down the stair a few minutes later, having gotten herself ready for the day, gathering all her schoolwork in her book bag. She brought her backpack down with her, and made her way into the kitchen, spotting her mom plating pancakes. The teen smoothly took her breakfast from her mom, giving her a 'thank you' then sat to eat. They made small talk for a few minutes until Kim's brothers came down, her father just a few steps behind them. The family ate their breakfast together, and since it had been a few days since they had eaten together, they each talked about what they had done the last few days.
Finally finished with the meal, Kim's parents went upstairs to finish getting ready, while her tween brothers started off for school. The red headed teen gave one last quick check to make sure she had everything she need for the day, then set out as well. Once out the front door, she realized that it was a very nice morning, and a perfect day to walk to school. She quickly met up with Monique, and the two talked about different things on their way to school.
After about fifteen minutes, the teens reached Middleton High School, and entered, separating to visit their lockers and collect their different school books, dropping others stuff off that they would need. Kim went into her first class of the morning, ready for working, for once, her thoughts not centered on her absent best friend.
X X X X X X X X
Zorpox walked into the main lab, looking around, finally spotting Drakken working on a satellite. He walked over, calling out to the villain. "Drakken, where's Shego?"
The blue villain yelped in surprise, jerking his head up from inside the metal shell, banging his head. Wincing and mumbling, he finally turned and looked at Zorpox. "Could you please quit sneaking up on me?"
Surprised at his reaction, Zorpox raised an eyebrow. "Lets try this again." He walked out of the room as Drakken watched, the blue villain waiting for him to come back in. He frowned as he waited for a minute, then two, the other villain never reappearing.
"What are we watching for?"
Drakken gave a girlish yelp, spinning in place as he realized that Zorpox had come in the other entrance, and was standing just behind him. "H-How long have you been there?"
The other villain's eyes gleamed. "Long enough." The caped villain looked down at his clawed gloves, rolling the fingers on his left hand, then placing the clawed tips against the metal hull of the satellite nearby. He scraped the tips along the metal, a long grinding, shrieking sound echoing in the lab. As Zorpox raised the glove, the shiny tips poised in front of his face, he smirked, looking at Drakken just past the pointed claws.
"I could have killed you, easily, a hundred times over in just the past few minutes, Drakken." His clawed fingertips shined in the light as he brought them forward, brandishing them in front of the villain. "You're too easily distracted, you miss the obvious, that's why you always fail." He stalked towards the villain, as Drakken backed away fearfully, the near insanity in the other man's eyes making him flinch. "You should never let anyone surprise you, be it lackey, villain, or Kim Possible. They should fear you, be terrified of you, cringe at the mere mention of your name." He placed his right palm on Drakken's chest, driving him against the wall, the caped villain's left hand raising, his pointed claws leveled at the other villain's face. "Just like you fear me."
The mad doctor gurgled in a mix of terror and pain, his body locked as rigid as a mouse being stalked by a predator. Drakken closed his eyes, clenching them tightly, fearfully.
Zorpox chuckled. Drakken finally peeked one eye cautiously, then opened them, realizing that the caped villain had relaxed his pose, and was laughing at him. Drakken felt a certain amount of anger at that, his mind flashing back to his days in college, his 'posse,' how they had mocked him, teased him, tormented him. Letting his own rage take him for a moment, he grabbed Zorpox by the collar, spinning and slamming him against the wall. "You think this is funny? You're laughing at me?"
The caped villain narrowed his eyes. "Laughing? I pity you. You're not a villain, you're just a nerdy little boy who got bullied one too many times. You think you can play with the big dogs, Drakken? Sharpen your teeth, bare your claws, be someone worthy of respect, of fear." Zorpox shoved the villain away, watching him stagger backwards.
Drakken watched the other villain, seething, and waited as Zorpox slowly ran his hands down his chest, smoothing his outfit. He finally smiled. "Very good, Drakken, better than I was expecting."
"E-Expecting?"
"Yes." The caped villain moved forward, walking around Drakken slowly, watching as the blue villain followed his movements. "I knew there was a villain in there somewhere, a leader, someone dangerous. All I had to do was push, and the rest was up to you. You stepped up very nicely. Remember that feeling, don't forget that you're a villain, you're the villain."
Drakken blinked, twice, thinking, realizing that the teen had been trying to get him angry, get him focused, make him actually act like a villain. As soon as the realization occurred, his anger dimmed.
"Remember, you're not a henchman, a lackey, a sidekick. Your job is to lead, not let me, or Shego, or anyone else tell you what to do. You can work with others, but you're the one in charge."
"Now, back to my first question: have you seen Shego this morning?"
Drakken, still a little confused, shook his head. "No, and she's usually up pretty early, too."
The caped villain shook his head. "No matter. I wanted to talk to you about her, anyway." He motioned the mad doctor closer so he could speak confidentially. "I've been watching her, lately, and she's not looking so good." Drakken gave him a blank stare. "She's been irritable-well, more than usual-plus she's been acting sort of strange. Energetic one moment, almost giddy, then her mood seems to swing a different way."
"Aren't women like that?"
Zorpox chuckled in surprise. "Maybe, but Shego's generally pretty stable. Like I said, though, she's been acting a little weird. You need to keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't crack and go crazy."
Drakken was concerned. "You think she could be getting stressed out?"
The caped villain shrugged back. "Who knows? She obviously doesn't like me, so I'm probably not making things any better. Just keep an eye on her." He looked around, his gaze going up to one of the cameras. "Work on that satellite there for a while." He motioned over at one of the satellites to the side, finally lowering his face from the camera. "And be ready for any crazy outbursts."
The other villain nodded back, walking over to the satellite Zorpox had indicated, getting ready to work on it.
X X X X
As her alarm blared, Shego sat up groggily, her mouth dry as cotton, her eyes gritty as she blinked them. Three hours of sleep, and she had to somehow use that to figure out what Zorpox was planning, figure out how to prevent that caped villain from taking over from Drakken. She stood up slowly, staggering a little, before getting her feet under her. She walked over to her door, shoulders hunched, then pressed the panel on the side, hearing the door slide open.
"Morning, Shego."
The villainess shrieked, her clawed hands, glowing, slashing forward in a vicious arc. She only just barely managed to curb her reaction, the pointed tips of her gloves stopping inches from Zorpox's face. "A little tense, are we, my dear?"
Grinding her teeth, she glared at him. "I'm not tired. I mean, I'm not tense!"
"Tweaked then?"
Shego blinked, shaking her head, trying to get her muddled thoughts in order. The lack of sleep was really getting to her, dulling her reactions to Zorpox's ploys. "No." She snarled, pushing past him, stalking her way down the hall.
The caped villain called to her retreating back, "I left a batch of coffee for you."
Shego decided to forgo the coffee as she heard Zorpox start chuckling, quietly at first, before his laugh got louder and louder, ringing through the halls.
X X X X X X X X
Kim sat in her class, listening patiently as Barking lectured about different elements and reactions during her Chemistry class. Monique, in class today unlike the previous week, met her eyes across their lab station, giving a quiet, exasperated sigh. "As I'm sure many of your remember from last Thursday's 'incident' even simple elements and compounds can react violently under certain circumstances." Kim itched her arms in remembrance.
"The first row of elements in the periodic table can be unstable-hydrogen, for example, explodes fairly easily. Sometimes, though, you get reactions that you would never expect. I'm sure many of you in here would use water to extinguish a fire. Hopefully, though, you all remember that we have special chemical based fire extinguishers here." He smiled at the front, lifting a small bit of sodium, then held it poised over a small pan of water. "This is why." Barkin dropped the element, and it sparked with a yellow flame, to the teacher's amusement. After a few seconds, his gruff demeanor returned. "All right, people, you've got work to do."
Monqiue motioned across the table to Kim, and the teen leaned over, then started working on their experiment. The two students worked in tandem for almost the entire period, focused on getting their work done, learning as much as they could in case their substitute should decide to spring a pop quiz on them. Finally as they neared the end of the hour, Kim sat back, looking at what they had done.
"Well, we've tested the chemicals, gotten their reactions down, including the color that they burn, and how reactive they are. Anything else you can think of to do?" Her friend shook her head. The red headed teen raised her hand, and Barkin made his way over. She passed their papers to him. "Here you go, Mr Barkin."
Almost grumbling to himself, he took them, looking them over. "Everything looks to be here, Possible, Stop-" He blinked for a second. "Monique." He hesitated, then motioned with his hand. "You can put your lab equipment up."
Sharing a glance, the two teens nodded, grabbing their stuff off the table, then took them back into the supply room. Once inside, and out of Barkin's earshot, Kim looked at her friend. "Did he just...?"
Her dark haired friend nodded back. "Yeah, I heard it too. He forgot Ron was gone."
Kim looked at her. "Yeah, I'd almost forgotten too, while we were working. But, something seemed a little odd."
The other teen frowned slightly. "Yeah, I caught it too. He almost seemed...sad?"
"Barkin?" Kim chuckled. "He was probably just disappointed that he didn't get to chew Ron out for doing something." She finished putting the last of their lab stuff up, then stopped, looking at the shelves. "Look at this, the label is getting kinda faded. And this one is ripped almost in half." She pulled a few of the them off the shelves, studying them, then sighed.
"Poor Ron, he was lucky he didn't get something even worse when he was grabbing stuff." She set it all back, then turned to her friend. "We need to talk with Barkin about getting this stuff relabeled, so we don't have a repeat incident."
She walked out to talk with the teacher, her friend right behind her with a few of the containers.
X X X X
Shego practically vibrated in her chair, looking at the six empty cans sitting on the table in front of her, her head darting around, side to side, as she looked around, carefully. The dark haired woman jerked her head around again as she heard a noise, then tried to relax, realizing it was nothing.
The villainess was sitting in the middle of the cafeteria, the six empty energy drinks attesting to how buzzed she now was. She stood up, hopping from foot to foot, before reining in her energy. She mumble to herself. "Okay, Shego, keep it together. That caffeine should keep me going, now I need to see what I can find out about Zorpox."
She took a couple slow breaths, soon calming down. Finally getting past the energy rush, she quickly left the cafeteria, and made her way back to her room. Once inside, she went over to the computer terminal in her room, booting it up. She had managed to get a connection set up to the different cameras in the lair, and had set them to record Zorpox's movements. She quickly called up the footage of the last few hours, from the time that she had last seen him.
The villainess didn't trust the camera in his room, so she instead focused on the other cameras, watching his door until he eventually left in the morning, just a few hours ago. She followed him with the camera, watching as he made his way to Drakken's lab, then in. She was unable to get any sound out of the footage, but she was able to watch what was going on. The dark haired woman frowned to herself as she watched Drakken back away from the other villain, hesitantly, fearfully. She actually smirked to herself when she saw the blue villain slam Zorpox against the wall. It seemed the two of them had been having some sort of argument.
As the rest of the footage played, she wondered what the fight was about, but dismissed her curiosity. She could always ask Drakken, and see what had been going on. Regardless, by the end they seemed to be on much more friendly terms, so she didn't think the fight was that important. She watched as the caped villain looked at the camera, making some comment about working on one of the satellites, then turned and left.
She followed his next actions, realizing that he seemed to just be walking around, killing time. Finally, the villain made his way into the smaller, secondary lab. As the villainess tried to call up the video of inside, she realized that it was garbled, the cameras disabled. Growling low to herself, she knew that she was now going to have to go and check on him, and see what he was doing. She stalked out of her room, down the halls, her hands glowing faintly.
X X X X
It was time. Zorpox grinned widely to himself, looking over his invention, knowing that all the pieces were in place. He had spent the last few hours going over this plan, working through the details as he prowled around the lair, ensuring all the details as best he could. He had finally found himself back in his lab, ready to spring his trap on Shego. Now it all rested on how the villainess reacted...and he was pretty sure that she was going to give a memorable performance.
He started to mumbling to himself, quietly, waiting. He had used the different cameras throughout Drakken's lair to watch Shego, and she had reacted even better than he could have hoped. The villainess had spent the entire night awake, trying to figure out what he had purchased the Selenium for; not that she was likely to realize the caped villain's plan.
Zorpox smiled to himself widely, waiting, waiting until he was sure that everything was in place. Perfectly aligned, his plan must be implemented down to the smallest key feature, or else everything could come crashing down on his head. Lightly playing his hand over the key switch, he nodded to himself, knowing that nearly everything was ready for the big reveal. He played his hand over the invention sitting on his table; it was simply a long metal rod, a battery and a few other parts hooked together, a single button serving as the 'on' switch. It needed no 'off' switch. He hit the button, watching as everything was set into motion.
At the press of the button, a loud, sharp crack was heard, and he watched as a giant spark zapped out, just past his shoulder
The caped villain commented to himself, "Hmm, need to increase the power..."
A yelp from behind caused him to turn his head around, spotting Shego directly behind him. The villainess was leaned to one side, the wall behind her blackened and scorched. She turned her head to look at the wall, then faced Zorpox again, her eyes narrowed. She let her clawed hands glow as she practically rushed at him, grabbed his collar, then practically threw him across the room. The caped villain managed to get his feet under him, staggering backwards. Shego came at him again, slamming him up against the wall.
"Shego, do you have a problem?" Despite being pinned up against the wall, Zorpox acted like he was in complete control. Maybe he was.
"You threatened to kill me. Repeatedly. And now you've got some invention that shoots a spark just as I come in the room, nearly hitting me. You could have killed me-but that was your plan, wasn't it? Well I've had enough of you and your threats..." He actually chuckled at her words. She slapped him across the face. "This is serious!" Her own face was full of rage.
Still laughing, he could do nothing but shake his head. "Sorry, it's just so funny. You think that I'm trying to kill you..." He burst into another laughing fit. "...ahem, sorry." He regained his composure. "My dear, why would I kill you? You may be the queen, but I play a bigger game-besides, the queen maybe the most powerful piece, but she is far from the most important. A queen is nothing more than a glorified pawn. Important, powerful, maybe, but the real piece of consequence-the king." He mused for a second. "You know, I think I lied to you, earlier-right now, there's only one other king on the board, and as soon as I'm rid of him, I won't have to follow orders anymore."
Her eyes settle on the attitudinator headband on his head, and she connected the dots, dropping Zorpox in surprise. She stepped back, thinking the last events through-she thought that he had been trying to make her lose her temper and attack the villain in anger-instead, his plan had been to divert her attention. She'd been so focus on keeping herself in line, she hadn't even considered what he was doing-Ron, and Zorpox by extension, was a master at being the distraction.
Shego thought back to the video she had seen, with Zorpox having her boss work on a specific satellite-that was probably rigged. Her eyes widened in panic-that meant he was going to try and kill Drakken. She spun in place and began running toward the main lab, but not before Zorpox's parting shot filled her with fear. "I hope you won't be shocked by your boss's condition..." His mocking laughter followed her long after she'd left him behind.
X X X X
Shego ran though the lair at full speed, her heart in her throat. She told herself that she was only concerned with her reputation, that all she cared about was keeping her boss safe, but a small part of her knew it was more than that. As much as she hated to admit it, Drakken was right-they were like an evil family. She may not get along with him all the time, but she never really wanted him dead. She turned a corner, keeping up the pace, hoping she wouldn't be too late.
The villainess finally burst through the lab doors, to see Drakken just beginning to lean over the satellite she had seen. His hands just started to reach in, when she shoved him out of the way with nary a warning. Her hands began glowing, and she fired into the machine repeatedly, turning it into a glowing cinder. Breathing rapidly, she spoke without turning. "It was a setup-he, Zorpox, that little weasel wanted to kill you Dr D. Oh, but no, I'm better than he is, faster-I'll never let him have his way." She turned, to see Drakken looking at her with a look of shock. She admitted she was a little shocked by her behavior, as well. Then he showed up.
Zorpox walked up behind Drakken, and he had the nerve to be smirking. Shego growled, and her hands glowed of their own accord. She almost had a nervous twitch, she was bouncing from one foot to the other, full of energy, almost hyperactive. She did it, she stopped him, she was so much better. No, no, no, no, she had him now she...she paused, and finally seemed to come to grips with what had just happened.
She run into Drakken's lab, knocked the doctor away, fried one of his satellites, and began babbling something about stopping Zorpox. Then she had acted like a kid in a candy store. Her eyes widened in shock, even more so when she saw the villain mouth something to her.
Checkmate.
Oh, no...no, no, no. He'd done it. She had made a fool of herself, destroyed any credibility she may have still had with Drakken. He'd been looking at her funny the last couple of days-throw in her latest crazy freakout, and she'd be lucky if she didn't get fired. Freaking your boss out is not a good way to get points with him. She hung her head down, defeated.
Drakken moved toward her, uncertain. What was going on? "Shego? Are...are you alright?" He reached a hand out toward her, then lightly touched her arm. He couldn't have gotten a more violent reaction if he'd jabbed her with a cattle prod.
"Don't touch me!" She shrieked at him, slapping his hands away. "I'm fine. Fine except for your stupid ideas, and that...that...sidekick!" She couldn't think of any other insult, which shamed her even more. She was always in more control than this, she never just let herself fly off the handle, but now she couldn't help herself. Zorpox had been pushing her buttons for the last few days, and now she'd just snapped.
"I'm sick of this, all this, and sick of you, Drakken! It wouldn't matter if you had hundreds of villains like Zorpox ready to do your bidding. You're nothing but a half-wit, no success, blundering idiot! I've been working with you for over two years, and you can't ask anything but 'Are you alright?' Of course I'm not alright-I've wasted the last two years with a buffoon who couldn't find his way out of a paper bag!"
"I could stand that, I really could, if you were an evil villain. But let's face it, Dr Drakken, you even fail there. Sure, you do some petty thieving, and occasion weapons deals, but the most evil thing that I've ever seen you do was send one of the henchmen to bed without their supper-like he was some disobedient five year old. And lets not forget Drew Lipsky-what kinda villain name is that!"
Finally, her fury spent, she looked at Drakken with sad eyes. "I, I'm sorry, I..." She turned and ran off, she couldn't stand to stay and face him.
X X X X X X X X
The final period bell finally rang, and Kim gave a sigh of relieve, slipping out of her last class of the day. She pulled out a small notepad that she kept in her backpack, looking over her schedule, and smirked to herself. She actually didn't have any homework, or anything due this weekend, so she had an opportunity to work on some other things-like her cooking.
She thought back a couple of days, to the last time she had worked with Monique, and started thinking about the other cooking skills the wanted to work on. As Kim placed her stuff in her locked, she pulled out her Kimmunicator, reaching to turn it on, then noticed that her friend was standing just down the hall. Pocketing her device, the teen took a few hurried steps towards her friend, fast enough to catch up, but not too quickly to get her in trouble with Barkin. "Hey, Monique!"
Her friend turned, cringing slightly, then took a breath and waited for Kim. "All right, girl, what do you need?"
Kim smiled. "Guess what? I've got a free weekend!"
"Swell." Monique narrowed her eyes, then shook her head. "Okay, Kim, I guess we can do some more work on your...project...tomorrow, but I'm going to have to beg off on Sunday." Seeing Kim's glare, she shook her head. "No, not just because I'm terrified of you, I have to go in to Club Banana for some work." She leaned in to whisper. "We're getting some new stuff in, should be ready to show it on Wednesday. I might be able to give you a little look before hand."
The red head's eyes lit up, and she grinned, grabbing Monique's arm. "Really? The latest style?"
"Yeah, but listen, girl, burn my house down, and I won't talk to you for a month-and you can forget about the clothes."
Kim gave her puppydog pout. "Aww, I'll be vewwy careful." The teen smirked, the motioned with her hand. "Listen, I've got to go, still have cheer leading practice. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Her friend nodded, and Kim said her goodbye, quickly turning and heading towards the gym, and her practice.
X X X X X X X X
It was nearly twenty minutes after her freakout that Shego heard a knocking at her door. She had spent those last few minutes composing herself...okay, that wasn't entirely accurate. She'd spent the last twenty minutes destroying everything in her room that was replaceable-and a few things that weren't. She'd been so caught up in her anger, she was only just starting to realize that the knocking had been going on for almost fifteen minutes. She opened the door to see Drakken standing there.
She opened her mouth, but he stopped her. "Let me speak first." She nodded, mutely, and watched as he gathered what little courage he had and sat next to her on the bed. "I know that you've always thought that I was a little too...nice...to be a villain, but that's part of the reason that I hired you in the first place Shego. I just plan things, you're here to help me put it together and make it happen."
"I think, though, that part of my job is to reign in your destructive qualities, and that's something I haven't been doing for a long time. It doesn't help that you fight Kim Possible so often and always lo-come out with a draw. I think that you're sort of stuck in a rut, and that you're just always used to fighting everyone, especially Kim-and since she's not around, you've focused on Zorpox."
Shego disagreed, she knew, just knew that Zorpox was much more dangerous than any of them realized, and that she was the only one in a position to stop him-at least, she had been in a position; now she was nearly as untrustworthy as any henchman. She grimaced, thinking about her boss's words. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
He waved his hands around. "I think you need to get out of the lair, get away from all the villainy and the thievery and all the things that you do here. I think you need to take a break, Shego, and go on a vacation."
"A vacation?" Shego didn't seem as thrilled as he thought she would be.
"Well, you are overdue for one..."
Shego eyed him. "Several, actually."
Drakken rubbed his hands together. "Um...yes, well you've never complained before."
"If I thought it would help, I would have."
Inspiration struck. "Shego...well, I just think that the anger you've been showing at Zorpox should have been directed at me. You haven't been on a vacation, so you're taking out all that anger on him, instead of me. You're burnt out-a week away would be good for you. Heck, take ten days, I think I can manage."
Shego was surprised. She'd been expecting maybe three days-that's usually all the time he gave her. A full week-a week and a half-she could finally get the entire spa treatment that Midas wanted to give her, but she never had time for. She'd be able to relax for hours, nothing to do, and not worry that she was wasting a full day doing nothing.
She was still hesitant to leave Drakken alone with Zorpox-okay, she down right dreaded the prospect, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to do any good here. Besides, there was an easy way to prevent the villain from pulling a double cross. "Okay, I'll go...but if you have any problems with Zorpox, let me know-don't hesitate to call. I don't trust him, and if things go bad, I'd rather loose vacation and deal with him, than come out of my vacation with him ruling the world alone."
Drakken nodded, but knew that wouldn't be a problem. What could Zorpox do to him? Nothing, as long as that attitudinator band stayed on his head. But always better safe than sorry. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, I'll expect you back here at the beginning of the week, two weeks from now."
"Yes, Dr D." She watched the other villain stand up; he gave her a small, hesitant smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. He may have been completely clueless about almost everything, but occasionally, he could do something really nice and thoughtful. The blue scientist backed up, first one step, then two, towards the door, not paying attention. He turned, intending to head out the door, taking a step, but didn't realize that he had backed up a bit too far.
His first step thumped him against Shego's dresser, his momentum tipping him forward until he laid across the dresser. He moved his arms as he tried to get his balance, instead knocking half the items off the top. He turned, giving her a sheepish grin, and she glared back at him. She considered helping him pick stuff up, but smiled to herself as she realized the blue villain was still afraid of making her mad. He quickly gathered everything up, tossing it on the dresser, giving her one last look, then dashing out the door.
As Shego watched him leave, she chuckled to herself, then started thinking about her vacation. The things she could do-with all that time. She stood, then went over to her closet, pulled it open, and started gathering her clothes. She concentrated on getting her swim wear and other casual clothes, then grabbed a small bag that she kept handy, full of other amenities that she would need. She packed everything into a couple of suitcases, then made her way out of the room locking it behind her.
In the confusion after Drakken's exit, she never noticed that the hairbrush was missing off her dresser.
X X X X
In a small laboratory, hidden away from the central areas of the lair, a blue figure chuckled to himself. He studied the small hairbrush in his hands, running his gloved fingertips over the bristles, a smile covering his face. He held the hairbrush over a table, shaking it lightly, watching as a few small, black hairs fell off the brush, settling down in front of him. He picked up a single strand of the hair, lifting it to his eyes, then smiled evilly.
X X X X
Nearly an hour after Shego had left on her vacation, Zorpox made his way back into his main lab, looking over the different supplies and inventions that he had. He sat down, looking over the devices sitting around him trying to decide what he needed to work on next. With Shego out of the picture, and Drakken otherwise occupied, he knew that this was his best opportunity to ensure all the technical aspects of his plan were ready to go.
He check over the different inventions he had created for his plan, inspecting each one carefully. His hands passed over the two devices he was creating using the Selenium, and he smiled, knowing that these unique items were key to his plan-and they were being designed to ensure that not even Wade would be able to combat them.
Finally through with his inspection, he went about working on another device that he would need for his overarching plot. As the villain settled in to work, he worked quietly and consistently for the next few hours, never considering that others might have their own plans in the works.
X X X X X X X X
As Kim made her way home after cheer practice, she frowned to herself. Villains were supposed to be easy to predict, relatively dumb when it came to making plans, straightforward. She was still having a hard time getting her mind wrapped around what had been happening the last couple of days. First one villain attacks another, then another, and somehow at the heart of this, Drakken was planning something as well.
The teen reached her home, going inside, passing her brothers working a rocket in the kitchen. She made her way upstairs, quickly getting changed then pulling out her Kimmunicator as she went back down. "Wade?" The genius appeared.
Kim looked at her tech friend. "Something about this is still bugging me, even with Drakken's connection to the Seniors. Why would he steal money like that from them? He usually just sends Shego in to steal whatever supplies he needs." The teen turned, finally focusing on her brothers, the two tweebs hefting a long rocket between them. She frowned.
"Are you two still launching rockets?"
The twins looked at each other, then at Kim. "We've been working on this rocket for almost three weeks..."
"...And we still haven't got the rocket set up right..."
"...We have to make sure that everything is correct with the rocket..."
"...and the fuel..."
"...and the weather..."
"...or else this rocket could crash or just go completely off course."
Tim just shook his head. "Come on, Kim, it's not like you can just launch a rocket in a day, you have to plan everything out."
As her brother spoke, Kim's eyes lost focus for a second, as a number of memories sprang forth. She felt her eyes widen, and then she turned back down, looking at Wade on screen. "Wade! Wade, that's it that's what's been bugging me." She looked over at her twins brothers, and the two boys looked back, startled by her outburst. "The rockets. The tweebs watched a show the other day, about rocket systems."
The genius nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I saw it too-I loved the shots of those older rockets-"
"No, Wade, you're missing the point." She dipped her head for a second, gathering her thoughts. "The show mentioned that it could take years for someone like NASA to create a single satellite and launch it. I know that my dad had been working on the Hephestus project for almost three years, and it's related to space probes."
She paused, thinking. "I also talked with Barkin at school, about getting some chemical containers relabeled, and he said that they've had those containers for years, sitting-they had to order in bulk, because it takes them months to get the supplies. Okay, talking Dementor, or any of the villains, how long would it take to make enough satellites to make an orbital laser system?"
Wade's eyes widened as it finally clicked. "Of course! Factoring in getting the parts, building the satelllites, rocket boosters, computer systems, the chemicals, fuels, launch control..." He trailed off, tallying a number of different things together. "Whoa! We're looking at around at least seven or eight months, if everything just fell into place. Could be a year or more if they had to wait on parts or things failed on them. Kim," he looked up at her. "There's no way that Dementor or any of the other could have all of this created and we don't know about it-looking at his actions of the last couple of years don't show any signs of activity like this."
He leaned forward, checking some other things. "Same for the other villains. Although..." He did some more typing. "Drakken! He's gotten some electronics and things-I didn't think that they were important, because they can be used for almost anything-but he also got some chemicals that you can use for rocket launches. And Dementor!"
A small list appeared on her screen. "Dementor, when he was attacked-he lost a lot of supplies, some of which can be used for making rockets. You're right, it's not Dementor or the Seniors we're after, it's Drakken! Now that stolen money makes more sense-he needed a huge amount of funds to be able to buy all of his supplies."
Kim was on her feet in an instant. "Wade, get me a ride set up-I think it's time we talked to Drakken and figure out what's going on."
X X X X
Drakken came back into his lab, after spending over an hour working on part of his plan. After working on his other project, the blue doctor had decided to get some more work done on the satellites; a few minutes after he started, he realized there was a small problem with the satellite he was working on-there had been some electrical fault when he'd been testing some resistors, and now he was having to check the wiring over section by section. It was tedious work, but essential-if a single satellite would fail, in could cause a large gap of earth that would be untargetable.
He was getting ready to totally gut the satellite in front of him, when he heard a light ringing buzzer sound from behind him. He turned, and realized that it was a special sensor that he had made to alert him if there was an sort of airborne object coming within range of his castle. He had upgraded it to recognize very small objects; so while there had been a number of false positives caused by birds, he hoped that it would eventually recognize if Kim was coming near. He checked his monitors, and realized that it had worked-she was coming.
With a small, evil smirk, he pushed a button on his wall, causing the satellites to retract into the floor and be hidden from view. Yes, now it was time to put on the greatest act of his villainous career. He quickly went over the same desk he had been working at the last time she arrived, and sat in place, his super-weapon-in-a-bottle sitting right in the middle. He picked it up and began fiddling with it, smirking to himself. It wasn't just a cover for him to use; he actually did like to build miniature things like this.
The device in the glass bottle was actually a recreation of his Doomsday Decimator...a nearly perfect replication, even down to the fact that it actually fired a burst of polarized, concentrated light. It wasn't nearly as powerful as the real one, of course, but he was pretty sure he could use it to set something on fire, or maybe burn a hole in the wall. He was waiting until it was completely build inside the bottle before he tried it out. He was almost done, then hooked up the last, nearly microscopic power conduit. There, it was finished!
And not a moment too soon. A slight thunking and rattling from above, and a red headed teen dropped from the grate above him, nearly landing in his lap. He yelped like a scared schoolgirl, jumping to his feet, nearly knocking the super weapon and bottle off the table. He managed to snatch it up at the last possible second. Kim glared at him, carefully preparing herself to attack.
Drakken just snorted. "You again? Don't you have anything better to do?"
Shaking off a sense of Deja vu, Kim narrowed her eyes. "You lied to me, Drakken, I think that gives me enough reason to be here." She stalked toward him, and he backed up fearfully, wondering how a teenage girl could seem to tower over him so much. "I had a talk with the Seniors-they are planning something, but it'll be a week or so until they're ready to go. I found it pretty interesting, though, when they told me how you paid them a visit just a couple of days ago. You forgot to mention that."
The villain backed up until his back hit the wall, and he realized he was cut off. She smirked. "Now...hold on, Kimberly," he put his hands up defensively. "I-I don't want any trouble, I told you, I'm on vacation, I'm not doing anything." He winced fearfully and begged her. "No Kung Fu Wedgies!"
She cracked her knuckles, grinning gleefully. "Start talking, or you're gonna be singing soprano."
"No..." He shook his head. "She...she'll do even worse, I can't say anything." He closed his eyes and bit his lip. "Just make it quick."
Kim, however, had paused at this new information. "She? Shego? This is her plan...not yours?"
"I know!" he moaned. "I'm such a failure, she said she wouldn't work for me anymore unless I gave her a chance to try to take over the world on her own. It's blackmail I tell you! She's just a side kick, a lackey!" He paused, eyes wide, looking at Kim fearfully. "Don't tell Shego I called her that."
The teen just smirked. "Keep talking, or I will."
"Alright, alright. She, she made me do all the work, even made me take the credit, so that you would think that it was me instead of her, she said that you would be less likely to view me as a threat." The villain huffed, crossing his arms.
Kim rolled her eyes as her arch-foe continued. "She made me do everything, so that I would take the fall, and she could continue with her plan. Shego says she's smarter than you, and she's out to prove it. She's been doing all of these different things, with Dementor, Killigan and the rest, in order to keep you from knowing what was going on."
The teen waited until she was sure that Drakken was finished. Finally, she frowned at him. "So where is she now?"
He shook his head, and waved his arms. "I don't know, she wouldn't tell me. Said now it was her chance to shine, without me holding her back. I don't know where she went."
Kim moved forward, looking at Drakken carefully, her body seeming to tower over him as she looked for any sign that he was lying. The villain did his best to hold his pose, but cringed under her direct stare. The red head nodded. "Fine, then, I guess I'll have to find her myself. Don't worry Drakken, I'll have your 'lackey' back before you know it when I foil her plan." Her eyes set with determination as she turned and left.
X X X X
As Kim left the villain's lair, she quickly whipped out her Kimmunicator, looking at her tech friend. "Did you get all of that, Wade?"
He nodded at her. "Yeah, I've already begun a search to see if we can find anything on Shego-might take a couple of days, though. If Drakken isn't lying about how sneaky this plan is, it could be days before we get a hit, even then."
Kim winced. "That's not good, Wade, she might be ready to attack by then."
The kid took a drink of his slurpster. "Actually, I doubt it-remember how long it will take to get this all done? Even as sneaky as everything is, something should have triggered my computers-so far, nothing. I don't think she has all of the pieces yet, so we should have a little time."
"Good." She smiled slightly. "Maybe Ron will be back by then. Regardless, this is starting to make his head spin."
X X X X X X X X
Zorpox felt like his head was spinning. He blinked a couple of times and closed his eyes, then reached down to turn his invention off. The flashing lights had not been part of the design; it was almost mesmerizing in its intensity. He decided to scrap it-he was not making any progress this way; he was having no luck getting things working correctly.
He pulled the device apart, piece by piece, checking things over to see if he could find what exactly was going wrong. As he pulled the last major part off, he realized that the design itself, while somewhat inefficient, should have worked. Finally he tracked the problem down to the small diamond he was using a focusing crystal. A quick check of the jewel revealed that it had a small, almost infinitesimal flaw-but that little defect had caused his entire invention to fail.
The villain let a brief, rare burst of anger forth, sweeping his hand across the table, flinging the machine into the wall where it shattered. It wouldn't work-not in the time that he had left. With just a few short days until his plan reached certain key stages, he couldn't devote the time he needed to this project to learn all of its specifications. Even going over some of Drakken's old super weapons had not yielded the results he wanted.
Zorpox was, first and foremost, a genius at reverse engineering technology. That was how he had managed to turn Drakken's Sonic Annihilator into a doomsday weapon, or mimic Wade's holo tech. At the same time, he could even create his own devious superweapons; however his best skills seemed to lean towards weapons that dealt with weather or other natural states. What he was working on now was outside his skill set-he could finish it, given enough time, but now time was the one thing he was short of.
He sat back and mused for a second, thinking about Electronique. He had, in a manner of speaking, gone to her for advice, using her unique talents to create the special attitudinator helmet. A grin slowly spread across his face as he realized-he could use other's talents to help him with this project, as well. In fact, that should put him ahead of schedule. Deciding to put this project off until a much later time, the villain quickly grabbed the electronics he was using, scooping them off into a small container, that he then dropped into something he had swiped from Drakken's lab.
The incinerator destroyed all traces of Zorpox's work, leaving him free to devote himself to his next task.
X X X X
Drakken laughed evilly to himself. Things were actually going to plan! Kim was completely clueless about what was going on, he'd managed to distract her with talk about Shego, and now he would be left in peace while he worked on his plan. With Shego out on vacation, it would take Kim a while to figure out where she was, and after what Drakken had told her, the red head wouldn't believe anything Shego said-so the villainess would be unable to blab the plan to her if caught.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, his plan with Zorpox was working perfectly.
X X X X
Zorpox mumbled to himself, looking over the supplies he had spread on his desk. He planned to use the equipment to get some of the last pieces of his plan in place; at the same time, he also planned to make a short detour, and check on Shego. He knew that she would be arriving at her vacation spot sometime the next morning. She had chosen to actually take a commercial flight, instead of a hovercar, so while it would be more comfortable for the villainess, it would also take longer. The caped villain planned to use a hovercraft to follow her the next day, and still arrive at nearly the same time.
The caped villain planned to watch Shego for a while, and ensure that she wasn't going to try and work against him, or do something else that could disrupt his plan. After confirming that, Zorpox planned to get some other work done in the vacation spot. A certain company was holding a business convention and meeting nearby, and he wanted to be sure that he could 'attend.'
X X X X X X X X
When Kim got home after her visit to Drakken's lair, it was getting pretty late. Since she knew that she would basically have the entire weekend free, she decided to just turn in for the evening, figuring she could work on anything she needed to over the next couple of days. She was also feeling a little better about the villain sitch, since she now knew that Shego was the one involved with everything; and with Wade working on finding her, the teen knew it wouldn't be long before she was able to thwart Shego's plan.
As she laid back in her bed, her eyes slowly closing, she couldn't shake the feeling that dark things were coming in the days ahead.
A/N Many of the pieces are starting to fall into place, although this story is far from over. With her last outburst, Shego is temporarily out of the picture; at least, as a direct threat to Zorpox.