A Lair of Twists

Drakken tapped his pen against the scribbled on papers. Trying desperately to understand how to make armor light weight enough and yet impervious at the same time. He'd taken a break from working on the ring, having run into a wall on to why the repairs kept faulting, and instead was looking at an offered military contract. He had yet to accept it, but the numbers it offered were far too much to completely turn down. He sighed and turned to the far wall of the lair towards the basin, where he'd seen Shego out of the corner of his eyes.

"Shego- Clark?!" Drakken yelled as he saw the worker looking at the wall, "What are you doing in here?"

"Amusing me," snorted Shego. Drakken jumped as he glared at her normal spot in her chair, "He's been over there like ten minutes... one even went in the hatch.

As if on cue the hatch to the water basin opened and Mitchell slid out in scuba gear. Hector, who'd been mopping, glaring down at the other worker.

"What is the purpose of this," glared Drakken.

"There's a drop port in the basin that leads behind this wall," Clark added as he touched the solid wall.

"Yeah, boss, and its angled enough that there's at least a food ten feet behind here," Mitchell hit the wall.

A voice came from the other side of Drakken, making him cringe at the unprecedented voice so close.

"There's nothing in the manual," spoke Lucius as he flipped through the lair manual pages.

Drakken glared at Shego who held an amused smirk on her face as she flipped another page of her magazine. He was about to order the workers out of his lab when what they were saying finally sunk in. He looked over towards the flat wall, which suddenly seemed odd to him. The bottom of the lair was a rounded building, except that wall... it was the only wall besides the part against the cliff. Drakken stood up and went over to where Clark was practically laying on the ground.

"Oh yeah, there's a draft," came Clark. Drakken stepped over him to the other edge of the wall.

"The original layout shows it should be rounded," Lucius approached them and held up the blueprint, "What do you think it is?"

"Well if it's a water basin port, perhaps its simply an entry point," Drakken explained. Imagining an elaborate old fashioned lair defense system, "Probably dangerous and lethal- Shego."

He watched her eyes roll as she tossed down her magazine and approached them.

"So we're doing this now," she scoffed, "I'm no longer amused."

"Shego, where's your spirit... Imagine the history behind this wall," grinned Drakken. His mind spinning with images.

"Might be a Cask of Amontillado situation," mused Shego. Drakken's brow raised, "People buried in a wall."

"My sister's house had that," chimed in Mitchell. He sighed, "There were so many."

Drakken and Shego glanced at each other in slight disturbance before Drakken spoke again.

"Moving on from that... let's find some tools-"

Drakken was cut off by the wall sliding open. He looked around at the confused group around him. Clark moving away from it swiftly.

"How-" Shego stopped talking, "Hector."

Drakken looked to see the maintenance worker's hand on a push button a few feet from the large computer, his hand pulling from behind it. Drakken glared.

"That could have turned the power off, you don't know that," snapped Drakken.

"It's labeled basin, sir," Hector gestured before swiftly going back to mopping.

"I told you to get dumb henchmen, but nooo... you wanted mildly intelligent," whispered Shego.

Drakken huffed before assessing what was in front of them. The opened was a large round tunnel, which seemed to angle out of view like a massive water slide. Adding to this was the eerie aquatic glow that moved like water was below. Though the accounts of the port in the basin made sense for this, the reflection of light was a strange anomaly considering the basin was dark.

"Shego?" Drakken turned to ask, only to see her give a gentle nudge to Mitchell.

Mitchell yelped as he slid down the curved circle and then vanished from sight. The other workers looked shocked, having missed the nudge completely. Shego moved closer to Drakken who couldn't fight the devious smile edging across his face.

"Should have taken out Clark," he whispered as she leaned towards him.

"No way, guys calls me Mrs. Boss... give him a raise," she snickered in a whisper back to him. There was a pause, "They signed the contracts, right?"

"Oh yes," Drakken reassured her. She nodded in acceptance of this news as there was a splash.

"Mitchell, you alive?" called Lucius. Gripping the wall tightly.

A loud bang came from behind them and they all swung around to see Hector had opened the hatch. Drakken staggered slightly only to be yanked back away from the edge by Shego with ease.

"He's not in here," called out Hector. Drakken glared at him.

"He is dangerously close to be fired," hissed Drakken, but his words to Shego were cut off by splashing and Mitchell's voice echoing towards them.

"Its a really long slide- Kinda fun- but what looks like giant blades are welded shut... probably safety," Mitchell yelled, "There's a really nice window you can see some of the cliff from and the water... really pretty demise image."

"Thank you for your picturesque information... now get back up here!" yelled Drakken. He rolled his eyes as he heard splashing and saw a shadow before more splashing occurred.

"It's too steep!" yelled Mitchell.

"Clark," stated Shego, "Go get a rope or something."

"Yes, boss," saluted the worker before sprinting off.

Shego smirked smugly. It was wiped away by Lucius.

"Boss, Shego... there's a door over here," said Lucius who indicated to the wall set against the cliff.

Lucius moved slightly but still clung to the edge, his eyes darting at Shego. Clearly, someone had witnessed Mitchell's 'assistance' after-all. Drakken leaned to look passed Lucius bulky frame, Shego's hand slamming against his chest to prevent him from leaning too far to the edge. Beyond that he could see a metal platform that he supposed was a step and then a partially slid open old door. It didn't look metal like most of the doors in the lair, but old and wooden and most likely rotted. Drakken watched as Lucius moved away from them to grab the discarded manual.

I really do have to read that thing.

"Nothing in the blueprints," said Lucius where Hector was also helping him look.

"It shows stairs right there," corrected Hector, moving aside as Clark came running with a cable wench, "How heavy do you think Mitchell is?"

"It's all I could find," panted Clark, "Unless you can do better."

"Before the trash talking begins," Drakken sighed and waved his hand towards the door, "Someone open that."

"Open what?" whispered Clark.

"A mysterious door too an old stairway on a rickety platform," whispered Hector.

Drakken crossed his arms as his staff began to argue about who was going to do it. He was about to yell at them when Flower shot passed his view and yanked the door away from the opening instead of just sliding it over. He glanced at Shego who was shaking her head slowly.

"Your patience astounds me," she snorted, "I was looking forward to watching them slide one by one down the basin.

Drakken turned to the men who had stopped bickering and paused to orders he was about to give as they all stared at him with wide eyes. Drakken looked at Flower and then back at the men. It suddenly dawned on him, to his knowledge none of them had yet seen Flower.

"Boss, is that-" Drakken cut Lucius off.

"A welcome side effect of a mishap. Flower, say hello," Drakken sighed. Flower bloomed wide and almost made a waving motion.

"Stop showing off... oh," Shego cringed as Flower let go of what it was still holding.

The wooden door went bouncing down the metal drop with a loud clatter.

"Mitchell, look-" Lucius call was cut off by a yell and splash.

"I'm still down here!" came Mitchell's yell and then softly in an echo, "Where the hell did a door come from?"

"Alright, whose going," asked Drakken, choosing to ignore the moment, "No volunteers."

"Uhg, this is all so drawn out," Shego groaned and then jumped effortlessly onto the platform, "I'll look myself."

"Shego, wait," Drakken grumbled. He glared at the men who had resumed arguing over the cable, "Why do I even bother?"

Shego waved away dirt and cobwebs with a grunt of disgust. The space was dark and dusty, only lit by her hand. Old torches and wires stuck out, as if there had been an attempt to modernize lights in the hallway. She nearly tripped over dislodged stones from the wall and focused her light closer to her feet. The stairs were not steep, but larger, each one was two steps to the next. It felt like she was going deeper into the cliff, and only slightly upwards. The silence was deafening, almost as if entering a cave. There was no more breeze or air circulation from below, and the only sound was her breathing and heart beating.

"Shego."

She screamed. Every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire with embarrassment and anger as Drakken's voice took her by surprise. She held up a glowing hand ready to fire a blast at him but regained herself as she saw his apologetic face. She let out a haughty groan and turned away from him to move up the steps quicker.

"Why would you do that- how long have you been behind me?" she snapped, "We could have fallen down the stairs."

"It wasn't like I intended to scare you," argued Drakken as he moved at the same pace behind her, "I thought you knew I was here."

"You didn't scare me- If I knew you were there, wouldn't you think I would have said something," she side stepped a rat skeleton, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Sounded scared to me," he muttered.

Shego spun around to glare at him, but Drakken was too focused on the bypassed rat skeleton to stop walking. Only resulting in him smacking right into her. She managed to catch her footing before Drakken's arms shot out to top a fall that wasn't happening. Shego raised a brow at him from where his arm had shot out and the other had moved around her waist.

"I thought you were going to fall," stated Drakken. His arms not moving.

Shego tilted her head and gestured with her chin to where his arm remained around her. He looked slightly sheepish.

"Might... still fall?" he smirked.

"Are you flirting with some very suspicious implications... in a nasty stairwell with dead rats?" asked Shego. She placed her hand on her other hip and let the light dim slightly.

Drakken's smirk fell and he pulled his hands away, his surroundings coming back.

"Perhaps another time," he chuckled nervously.

"Thought so," she snickered before turning back to walking up the stairs.

"Does this ever end," groaned Drakken, "We're walking more deep then we are upwards."

"No, really?" her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I hadn't noticed."

It fell silent and she sighed. The silence slowly becoming unbearable again... her brow raised wondering why Drakken wasn't talking or whining. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure he hadn't fallen or left. Her brow raised as she saw him watching her, or rather her stride. Her face grew warm and her voice went louder than normal.

"Is there something about a dirty stairwell I should know about?" she asked.

He looked up quickly. The wide eyes and tint to his face confirming he had in fact been staring at her rear.

"No," he sputtered, "M-Maybe I look more than you know."

Shego slowed her pace to gauge his reaction.

"I had just been thinking- Didn't know- You know what, we should keep walking," his expression spun between emotions from embarrassment to panic, and settled on his best casual expression, "Maybe light one of the torches... I'll walk ahead."

Shego grabbed one and did as he asked, fighting the smug expression wanting to spread across her face. She leaned against the wall so he could pass her and only then did she let the smugness show. Drakken was clearly uncomfortable at getting caught staring at her, and unlike on the patio when she'd been sunbathing, he had no exit strategy. She cleared her throat and then made a dramatic scoff.

"Well this is unfair... your coats too long for me to watch your-" Drakken cut her off.

"I was not staring at your fanny!" he snapped.

Shego let out a mixture of a snort and a laugh.

"Fanny?" she asked before shaking her head, "Good for you, but I'm trying too."

The contorting of Drakken's expression made her very statement worth it. His flustered expression didn't look away from her until his head smacked into something above them... they'd reached the end. His expression and the unplanned interruption as he yelped made her burst into laughter. Using the wall to brace herself from falling back as she clutched her stomach in mild hysterics.

"Why does your endless teasing of my faults amuse you so much?" snapped Drakken as he rubbed his head.

"Who said I was teasing?" she tried to calm her laugh, "Looks like we reached the end."

"Looks like you got over the dead rats," smirked Drakken as he looked at her hand.

Shego looked at the petrified rat where her hand rested and jumped away with a vocalization of disgust as Drakken snickered.

"Just open the hatch," Shego scoffed as she crossed her arms.

Drakken pushed on what appeared to be slate stone to no avail. Shego rolled her eyes and moved beside him in the very narrow space. Both their hands pushed on the slate and she could feel it shift. Drakken moved closer to her to attempt to move it with more momentum. She hesitated to do the same as she found the new closeness very welcoming. She rolled her eyes as she pushed the slate.

Great. Now his little stairwell fetish is getting to me.

It took exactly two more solid pushes and Shego uncomfortably pressed into a wall, to finally get the slate far enough to get out. She pushed Drakken away from her and moved out of the stairwell before him. If only to get some air, and calm the heat in her face. She shook it off by the time Drakken joined her and she lit her hand again to illuminate where they were. It looked like an old basement, stone and dirt and wracks filled with bottles.

"We're in a wine cellar," Drakken narrated as he picked up a bottle, "A very old one... some of these from from decades ago if not more."

Shego snatched one of the bottles and smirked.

"Hey if we ever need funds. I think Senior might cry for some of these," snorted Shego as she put the bottle Drakken took back, "So a wine cellar... all that for-"

"Shego, more stairs," Drakken chimed in from a few feet away.

She looked at old stone steps that looked to have had plenty of tread in their time. Drakken was already halfway up them before she made the way over. The hatch above seemed to open much easier as he only needed one hand. Faint light fell across them and Shego could see a dark large ceiling above. Drakken hurried up the stairs at an almost panicked pace, which made Shego on guard as she followed after him.

It turned out it wasn't panic... it was excitement.

They were in a home... a very large and old home. Dust caked what must have been a grand kitchen at one point. Old pots and pans hung from a broken wrack over a massive marbled island... or what she thought might be as she brushed dust off of it. The faint light came from warping windows where curtains still hung. Shego looked around in confusion as she walked around the island. Bright sunlight cut the darkness in half as Drakken attempted to open a curtain, only for it to fall down.

"Such grace," snorted Shego. She moved towards and old swinging door, "Where are we?"

"I'm going to assume an old home above the lair... some of the colors are similar... white... teals... grays... blues," Drakken followed behind her, "This is just more dated."

"You mean better," stated Shego as she looked up at a gran painted ceiling, cracks and chips barely took away from intricate golden leaf design and an old chandelier.

"I rather like our lair," muttered Drakken defensively. Shego waved her hand dismissively.

"Yes. I like it too... but this is... very different," her excitement faded as she saw a giant mural on a wall, "Great, another Medusa image. I've had enough of those thanks."

Shego could now see the intricate golden weaving's of the ceiling had all woven into the direction of the entrance way they'd walked towards. They weren't simple swirls, but as she looked at the wall, it was clear they were supposed to be serpents. All weaving into a tiled mural of a breathtaking gorgon that looked to be holding a globe of some kind. She looked at Drakken to see if he agreed about her statement from the bracelet incident, but he was on the opposite end of the room.

She tore her eyes away from the mural to walk towards him where he'd found his way over to one of the many paintings she'd been too distracted to look at. There were portraits in gold frames, and elaborate carvings. Some hand painted, some large olden photographs. Drakken said nothing as he reached him.

"Bet people would kill for some of these paintings," she mused.

"Perhaps some even did," said Drakken flatly.

Shego raised a brow at him. His brow was furrowed and his expression was otherwise unreadable. Shego followed his gaze to the very large picture he was fixated on. It was large and wide with dozens of people on it. A very old photo judging by the attire and the sepia toned to it. At first glance it might have looked like a large party or gathering but it wasn't. Shego's smile faded completely and she stepped back. The picture, old, dusty, and partially obscured in parts... triggered something in Shego's memory... the first time she had met Dr. Botox... in the office of their alias Dr. Taxley.

The Company.

*Evil Cackles*