Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible
Claimer: I do own any OC's in this fic
Okay, last chapter was good, but not as good as I hoped it would be. I understand that I'm not putting that much information into these chapters, but I have a good reason. I try to get as much text as I can fit into seven or eight pages on Microsoft Word. Also, many things do happen in these chapters than many of you may realize, you just have to read deeper. Or maybe I'm just making all this up in my own head and confusing myself. Oh well, no matter. This one will be longer than the others, a lot longer.
" " speech
' ' thought
( ) author's notes
***** scene change
The Assassin
Chapter 10
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Nate walked down a seemingly endless hallway, with a high ceiling, and plain walls. He was aware of being watched, and was prepared for what happened next. Panels on the walls, which spanned to the ceiling, opened and out shot two iron doors. He put his arms out to the side and caught these slabs of metal before they could crush him. As he watched, wall panels opened all the down the corridor, and doors began closing.
He brought his arms in close to his sides, and then thrust them outward, forcing the doors back into the walls. The gears inside the walls squealed under the strain until they finally snapped. Holding his hand up to his face, Nate saw that it had changed again. The other had too. Both were green, scaly, and had only three fingers. The scales were stretched over rippling muscle tissue, and each finger ended in a long, curved claw.
"Why do they insist on such menial traps?" he asked himself.
Reaching behind his back he brought out the pike again. He pointed it at the doors ahead, and slowly a ball of green lightening formed at its tip. The green ball exploded outward, and a massive wave, covering the entire corridor, side to sided, top to bottom, and destroyed every door that stood in his way, but dissipated before it reached the last few.
A feeling entered his mind, and he wondered what it meant. The whole facility gave a sudden lurch, and that was all he needed to figure out the feeling. Flashes in his mind told him that this place was lifting off. The ground bulged up, as the massive sphere was raised. He saw the sand and dust mingle with the snow that was falling on the city below.
His feet so swiftly that they barely touched the floor, giving the illusion that he was flying. Upon reaching another door, he didn't even slow down. He just raised his hand and slashed through it, instantly creating a door for himself. He did this to every door that followed, until he reached the final door. Why is this the final door, I don't know, they had to end somewhere. Reaching up, he placed his hand against the door, but was stopped by some unseen force. Smiling maliciously, he pressed against the force, till it shattered. Shards of it fell to the floor.
"Polarized glass," he stooped down and picked up one of the shards. "Repels whatever touches it. Too bad that doesn't include gods."
The door was now unprotected, and he decided to do something different for a change. He jammed one of his claws deep into the thick metal, right where the two doors met. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a small marble, or at least a facsimile of a marble. It was about half an inch in diameter, and was metal, not glass like a normal marble. Gently he placed it in the hole, and stood back. The marble exploded, destroying the doors.
He walked through the doors, and into a massive circular room. This room was empty, save for the lab equipment. Looking at it, he determined that it was for cloning and robotic construction. He had never seen such a complete and advanced laboratory. Even GJ didn't have this kind of machinery; mainly because it was still unethical to clone humans, they had nothing against robots though.
"Dammit, wrong door," he said to himself looking around.
"Affirmative."
"Wrong."
"Door."
Out from the shadows stepped three robots. They were obviously modeled after Shego, with the body curvatures almost identical to hers. The only difference would be that they had blonde hair instead of black, and minus the pale skin.
"Fembots?" he asked as more of a joke.
"Incorrect," said the first.
"We are," the second.
"Bebe," all three in unison.
"Oh."
The robots began to vibrate, leaving slight after images of themselves. They vibrated for about five seconds before launching themselves at him. Nimbly, he stepped aside, sticking the pike out, and tripped one. It fell forward, skidding across the floor.
"Anomalous."
"Energy."
"Signature."
"Detected."
"Attempting to."
"Process."
Nate stood giving them skeptical look, they were really creeping him out with that one word thing. He had done his research, he knew that these were just an upgrade from the ones Dr. Possible had destroyed with an ultrahigh frequency. But since then Drakken had most swapped the wireless command system, and, instead, placed it inside of the robot.
"Process this," he said moving forward with speed that even the Bebe's did not possess and cut one of them to pieces.
"Energy."
"Signature."
"Increasing."
"Overload."
"Overload."
They continued to repeat 'overload' over and over for the next thirty seconds or so, until, finally, their heads exploded. He looked down at the destroyed robots, wondering if he really needed to destroy that first one. Shrugging he turned and left the room through a door at the opposite end. The camera in the corner of the room turned, watching him.
"Well, that was hardly worth my time," he said swinging the pike with complete abandon for what was in front of it.
There were no doors in this hallway, probably because they didn't think anyone would get past the Bebe's. It was much easier to just accept death, but some people seemed to cling to the fragile life that they lived. As if it was so much better than the sweet bliss of oblivion. Nothing could compare with the freedom you had there; nothing you did affected people, unless you wanted it to, and they were really just manifestations created by your own mind.
The next door in front of him seemed to radiate that it would be a direct line to Drakken. But, then again, every corridor in this place led to him, so there was no point in judging a door by its scent, so to speak. All be it, the scent was vaguely familiar, like he had once known the person to whom it belonged. Opening the door, he saw what was making such a familiar scent; about three dozen (36) Kim Possibles.
'That explains the cloning equipment,' he thought not wanting to make any sudden sounds to alert them, since they seemed to be asleep.
Looking around he saw that there was a security camera in each corner. He smiled and clacked the pike against the floor. Some of the Kim-clones stirred a bit but didn't wake up.
"I'm an assassin, Drakken, not a gentleman," he said loud enough for the camera's mike to pick it up.
He clacked the pike again, louder, and also jamming it straight through of the clone's legs. She screamed, which woke up the rest of them. The scream didn't last long, as he pulled out the pike and sliced her head off. The clones stopped and looked at their fallen 'sister'. Turning to him, their eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into an insidious smile. He held his hand out, palm up, and flipped the fingers towards him (Morpheus style people).
They all leapt at him, punching and kicking wherever they could, the only problem, he was fast enough to block every assault. He whipped the pike up and rested it over his shoulders, one arm hooked over from the front, the other from the back. The Kim-clones jumped on him again, completely enveloping him. This is what he had planned. Spinning rapidly, he threw off most of them, the ones who weren't lucky enough to be thrown off, were sliced to pieces by the spinning blade of the pike.
The Kim-clones kicked out and flipped to their feet, assembly in two columns. Intending to rush and get him in the middle, as they ran they would attempt to grab his pike. They charged forward, getting him the middle, and easily taking the weapon, a little too easily.
"You shouldn't have done that," he said waving a finger at her.
The clone's body began to vibrate in a motion that would put the Bebe's to shame. She continued to vibrate, screaming as small bolts of green electricity rushed from the pole and up her wrists. A few seconds later, she exploded in a fountain of entrails, and other bodily pieces. The pike shot through the air and back to his hand.
"See?" he said with a smile that made them all take a step back.
"Kim-clones, stand down," said Drakken's voice over a loudspeaker.
"But Master, we can get him," one of them protested.
"Master?" Nate inquired raising an eyebrow. 'So, they are mindless slaves.'
"No, now stand aside."
"Yes, Master," they all said and stood in ranks against the walls.
"Ladies," Nate said tipping an imaginary hat. "I really would love to stay and play, but there are things to attend to."
On of them lost its temper and jumped at him from her place. He kicked her in the chest, and foced her to the ground. Placing the pike over her heart, he began to slowly press down.
"I guess an example must be made," he said ramming the pike through her ribcage, and into the heart of the clone.
None of the other clones watched him kill her, they all kept their eyes forward, like well trained soulders. But that's besides the point now, as the door at the other end of the room opened. In walked a small poodle, foaming at the mouth, and red glint in its eyes. Nate walked up to it and placed the very tip of the pike against its forehead. A small shock and the dog was vaporized.
"I never like dogs," he said with a final mocking smirk at the Kim-clones. S he stepped through the door he pulled out another marble, this one slightly larger, and tossed it behind him.
The door closed, just as the explosion engulfed the screaming clones, and he was finally in the room he wanted. A huge, circular room, with a large holo-projector in the center, on the main floor. He stood on a platform that surrounded the main floor, in front of him was large staircase that went down. Across the room, and up another staircase, was the main control panel for the entire ship. Sitting in the chair in front of it was Drakken.
On the lower floor, against the wall, were Ron and Tara; Kim, being completely out of energy, was on the floor, unconscious. Even though she was unconscious, he could tell she had seen what he did to the clones, and could feel the hate radiating from her very core. Standing over her, as a guard, was Shego, her eyes closed and head bowed slightly.
'So, these are the conditions you work under,' he said to her telepathically.
'Yeah,' she answered not making any movements. 'Just so you know, there are also some clones of me.'
'I thought there was a no cloning clause in your contract.'
'He drugged me and took some of my hair,' she sighed mentally.
'Oh well, what's done is done.'
"Ah, so, you've finally arrived," Drakken said getting Nate's attention.
"Well I would have been here sooner if you hadn't decided to set a few traps. It makes no sense to delay the inevitable," he replied shrugging.
"It doesn't matter," Drakken said turning back to his console. He pressed a button and the door behind Nate opened. "Send in the clones."
In walked clones of, not Kim, but Shego. Nate stood and watched as the 12 proxies stood around him in a circle. They all seemed to be slightly different from his sister. Some had the same hair, but a slightly different face, and others had straight hair with the same face, and one had a braid.
"How do you control so many at once?" he asked looking at each of them.
"It's very simple really," Drakken said lapsing into that stage he goes into when someone compliments his work. "You see, I placed a nano-tick inside their necks, at the base of the brain stem. It gives me complete control without making them seem like androids."
"Why have a human body if it's going to act like a robot?"
"Exactly."
"That's all I needed to know," he said smiling before he vanished.
In a few seconds several things hit the floor, but not a drop of blood was spilled. 'So what was it that fell to the floor?' you might ask, and I would answer, 'Hair'. That's right, hair. By the time Nate had reappeared, all the clones' hair was cut, and there was a small, red mark on the back of their necks. All of them shook their heads as if to shake something out of their now shortly cropped hair. Their eyes all opened and they looked at him, and then at each other. One of them opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't. The others tried, none could talk.
'I see, no back talk from these clones,' he thought.
All the Shego-clones turned to glare at Drakken, who was now furiously typing something on his console. As they ran across the room to get to him he held his hand over one final button. They all stopped when he said:
"One more step and I'll detonate the explosives inside of your bodies, this time I didn't leave anything to chance," he said with a sneer.
While Drakken was occupied, Nate walked down the steps retracting the sword. At the bottom of the stairs he turned to walk over to stand by the original Shego. He looked down at the unconscious Kim, watching her chest rise and fall with her beathing. Then he turned to Shego.
"Let them out," he said gesturing to Ron and Tara.
"Right," she nodded.
"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" Tara asked. "You gave me a fake sword, and shoved me into the brig."
"All to keep you out of harm's way," he replied while easily ripping the shackles from the wall. "If I hadn't done what I had done, then you would be dead."
"Oh," she said.
"Then I guess I should thank you," Ron said while Shego unlocked his shackles.
"No thanks necessary, I only kill those deserving of death," Nate replied picking up Kim's unconscious body, and handing her to Shego.
"Why are you giving her to me?" she asked.
"Because I need to use this," he said pulling out the pike. This was said because the others were giving them strange looks, expecting him to answer her, but mentally he sent her a message. 'You know why I gave her to you.'
'You're not to tell anyone about that,' she hissed back at him.
'About what, that you fantasize about having Kim all to yourself,' his laughter rang in her mind.
'Just shut up, okay?'
'Sure thing, our little secret.'
The five of them made their way to the staircase, but Nate stopped them when he heard small explosions. Turning around he saw all the Shego clones, some of them farther up the other stairs then others, and all were on the ground. There was not a mark on their bodies, meaning that the bombs were small enough to not explode their bodies, but just large enough to kill them. He silently said a prayer for them.
"Now for you," Drakken said walking down the stairs, kicking clones out of the way. "I have a proposition for you, assassin."
"What?" he asked holding the pike at ready.
"Work for me, and I'll let the rest go."
There was a long moment when everyone held their breaths. The only ones breathing were Kim and Drakken. Nate, wanting to put up a good front, let his eyes close as if in thought. He let the pike slip from its position in front of him, and held it at his side. His head raised to look at Drakken, and he let his eyes open in a slow, dramatic way.
"No thanks," he said turning to tell the others to leave while he cleaned up.
"Oh well, too bad," Drakken said opening a small panel on the armor, and pressed a button.
The floor beneath them abruptly opened, dropping them all through the bottom of the ship. Below them Nate could see a desert, but they hadn't traveled long enough to over the Sahara, so it had to Saudi Arabia. It couldn't be anything else. When he looked out across the desert, he could see night fast approaching, and with it, a coming storm.
Pointing the pike down, he forced them all to slow down. The feeling of being drained was beginning to enter his mind. And by the time they had touched down softly, he had to lean on the pike. He looked down at his watch, and saw that it had taken longer than he thought to get to the ground. Standing up straight he walked a little ways and stopped. He placed the blade to the ground and slowly traced a circle on the dunes that surrounded them. The line glowed with green light that spread like a wall up into the sky. Once that was done he walked back to the group, which were now sitting on the ground.
Ron was sitting on one side of the center with Tara, while Shego was sitting on the other side, cross-legged, with Kim's laying next to her. The girl was still unconscious, and Nate didn't think she would wake up soon. He sat down and pulled the bag, which, miraculously, was still around his shoulder, off and opened it up. From it he pulled a small cylinder, that was about nine inches tall, and five inches in diameter. He placed it in the center of the dunes, and opened a door in the side. Into it he tossed a couple of fuel stones, about the size and shape of a piece of charcoal.
Instantly heat began to emanate from the top of it, and everyone scooted closer to the heat, as it was fast getting cold. Snow was beginning to fall towards them, stopping at the shield, which also kept the heat in. While the others sat close to the heater, Nate sat away from it, a slight pain in his back. If anything happened, he wanted be as far from the rest as possible. The pain was getting worse, and he had a feeling his wings were about to rip through his skin.
'Not here, not now,' he thought forcing the feathered expanses to wait. There was definitely not enough room inside the shield for his wings to fit. They were both at least 75 feet wide, and trying to fit them inside an area only 20 feet in diameter would not be pretty.
"Shego," Ron said, "why did you help us?"
"Because my contract with Drakken ended yesterday, and Nate asked for my help," she answered plainly.
"So it was all an act?"
She nodded.
"What's was that thing you put inside her neck?" Tara asked rubbing her finger on the small bump on Kim's neck.
"A nano-tick that would keep her unconscious, unfortunately it took effect too late to be of any use."
"Why don't you just turn it off?" Nate asked.
"Because I like her better this way, quiet," she retorted.
'You'd like her anyway,' Nate thought to himself.
The shield around them cracked and fizzled with the sounds of snow and sleet hitting it, and the sound was actually quite soothing. Nate reached into his bag and pulled out a GPS, checking their position. It was just as he thought, they were close to Sahid's home. Well, home was really more of an understatement, it was more of an abandoned, and restored fortress.
Sahid Ahkmed, a rich sheik, was an old friend of Nate and Shego's father. He was not an assassin, he was more like the person you went to for information and materials. Once he had been one of the world's foremost assassins, till he hit a big job, and was set for life. He had his fortress, which cost him roundabouts of 18 billion dollars, and he had his harem, at a count of 5 wives so far. Polygamy is still legal in the Middle East, mind you.
'We should probably get there as soon as possible,' he thought then looked at the others who were fast falling asleep. Ron and Tara were already leaning against each other, their eyes closed, and Shego was lying back, but he knew she was still half-awake. 'Maybe in the morning,' he corrected himself and concentrated on keeping the shield, which he had converted into a dome.
"Nate?" he heard Shego say though she hadn't moved.
"What?"
"Are we where I think we are?"
"Yeah, Sahid's fortress is about 20 miles to the west."
"I swear, if he asks me to join his harem, I'm going to kill him," she jokes.
"Well, you say that every time, but you haven't done it yet," he laughed a little.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"No, at the moment I can barely keep the shield up and hold off a transformation."
"Then why don't you sleep?" she asked walking over to him.
"Because if I do then I'll lose my focus," he answered shifting around. "Then the shield will drop, and I won't be able to stop the transformation."
"Oh, so we should get going now," she walked over to the cylinder and turned it off. Then she went and put it in his bag, and picked up the bag.
He stood, using the pike as a support, feeling increasingly weaker. Walking over to Ron and Tara he shook them awake and told them they were leaving. They looked up at him, confused and sleepy, but still agreed. Shego slung the bag over her shoulder and went to pick up Kim. When she did the girl stirred a little, then moved on her own to lay against Shego's chest.
*****
As they walked the dome followed them, keeping them safe from the weather outside it. It had been almost an hour since they started walking and Shego had checked the GPS, they had only walked five miles. Ron and Tara were getting cold, Kim was huddling closer to Shego, and Nate's back, where his shoulder blades were, was bleeding, a the tips of black feathers were appearing.
"I'll do it," Nate said stopping the others stopping as well.
"Do what?" they asked.
"Take us there, it will involved a little bit of power," he said raising the pike above his head, "but it should do."
Pointing the blade at the ground the sand began to move, swirling around and around. The spiral grew larger and larger, till it encompassed the entire area within the dome. The sand began to move up the dome, circling up the walls to meet in the center. When the sand faded and the spiral disappeared, they were standing in front of a large, double door.
The door was in a wall, reaching up to almost five stories high, and stretched 200 feet to either side. There were no windows, just solid rock three feet thick. At the corners they could see, through the snow, the large guard towers.
Shego, taking one look at Nate, who was fading fast, reached out and knocked on the door. It opened slowly and silently, just inside was a young girl, maybe only 10 years old, wearing a white shirt that had to be at least three sizes to big. They walked in and Shego said to the girl.
"Tena, where is your father?" she asked hefting Kim up again.
"I'll go get him," the girl said after closing the door.
Nate leaned heavily on his weapon, and was beginning to feel unconsciousness close in. Shego, seeing this, turned to Ron and Tara. They understood her look and supported Nate's arms with the shoulders. Another girl, this one looked exactly like the first, except she wore a black shirt.
"Daddy's coming, better get Nate to a room," she said looking from Nate to Shego, to see if she agreed.
"No, take him to the courtyard," she said shifting Kim's weight again.
"Right, follow me," the girl said and led Ron and Tara away.
This left Shego with Kim to wait for Sahid. He was sure taking his sweet time, but, then again, she thought, we did arrive a little late at night. She spied a small bench next to the door and placed Kim down onto it, gently, and sat down next to her, placing Kim's head on her lap.
*****
Ron and Tara were practically dragging the nearly unconscious Nate to the courtyard. They were following the little girl, who told them her name was Nena, Tena's twin. She told them that they had to hurry, seeing how he was rapidly losing control of his wings. Well, she didn't actually know they were wings, but she did see that his shoulder blades were beginning to rip through his back.
"Come on, it's right through here," she said pushing open another door.
Before them was a huge, square, courtyard, surrounded on all sides by the walls of the fortress. In the very center of the courtyard, a large bonfire was burning. Above them they could see that this place also had a shield, keeping out the hazardous weather. Nate broke away from them and ran about twenty feet before falling to the ground. Nena hid behind Ron and Tara.
His shoulder blades had forced their way through the skin and now stood straight out from his back. The strange part is that there was no more blood. Large, black feathers erupted from his back stretching farther and farther out from him. Bones then began building themselves, piece by piece, bit by bit; directly behind the bone, was flesh, and behind that was skin and feathers. The wings built themselves up from scratch, becoming huge, bigger than even he remembered, reaching a length of almost 150 feet each. They both fit easily in the courtyard, which gave Nate an idea.
His body began to lengthen, from the base of his spine a long green tail whipped out. His neck lengthened and his face bulged into a long, dragon's snout. From either side of his nostrils two tendrils grew. His skin turned green and scaly. His hair began to change as well, the longer hairs turned into green feathers, the shorter ones became spikes that raked backward.
By the time he was done transforming there was a 500 foot long serpentine dragon laying in front of them. His body was as nine feet thick and covered in green scales that rippled with the muscles beneath them. Four short legs had replaced his arms and legs, and two large plumes of black feathers were where his ears used to be. The tendrils of either side of his nose were as thick as Tara's thigh (I would have said waist, but she's thin, and I would have said chest, but didn't want to sound perverted). His tail whipped around to rest in a circle around the bonfire; about twenty feet from the end of the tail it split into two tails. All along his spine was a line of sharp, blade-like feathers. On the very top of his forehead, the pike blade was sticking out.
'Ah, much better,' he thought though the others could hear him. He can't speak in his true form, so he has to use telepathy.
A second later Shego, carrying Kim, came in with Sahid. He was wearing a robe of some kind, with a gold trim and no sleeves. Shego had brought Kim just because she didn't feel like leaving her there. Tena was with them, clinging to her father's leg.
"What happened?" she asked getting everyone's attention.
No one answered her, all of them being speechless, except for Nena.
"He just started changing, it was freaky," she said shaking a little.
"A son of Kukulkan, I thought they were all extinct," Sahid said stepping forward to get a better look.
'Son?' Nate said raising his head up, up, up, and looked down at Sahid. 'I am Kukulkan, mortal.'
"How do you know what he is?" she asked stepping up next to him.
"I've been studying dragons for years, and I've even collected a few of the smaller breeds," he explained. "But it's quite impossible for him to even be able to control the power of this god without some sort of focal point."
'M pike is the focal point of these powers, and Nate has taken good care of it,' the dragon said bringing its head back down to ground level.
"But, where is my brother?" Shego asked.
'Inside, resting,' Kukulkan said placing his hand over his chest. 'Sometimes, if he expends to much power at one time, it could overpower him and drain his body's energy.'
"Okay," she said looking down at a cat that had suddenly appeared. It was actually a little larger than a cat, and spotted. 'An ocelot, what's one of those doing here.'
"What a cute kitty," Tara said moving to pick it up.
'I am not a cat,' the voice came from no where, but everyone had figured it was the ocelot.
Then it went over to Kukulkan and began to rub itself against one of the tendrils. There was then a sound like a deep rumbling coming from deep in his long throat, as if he were purring. The jungle cat continued its rubbing back and forth until the dragon's eyes opened as it watched it.
'Sashna,' he said looking down at it.
The ocelot started to change, it grew taller, and stood on its hind legs. The front paws turned into small, delicate hands, the legs didn't change, just became larger. It had turned into a young woman, around Nate's age, and she was (for lack of a better word) beautiful. Picture someone like Felicia from Darkstalkers, except more human-like. From the top of her head, cat ears sprouted from under her black hair, and her tail wormed its way through a hole in the back of the dress that had covered her during the change. A gold belt surrounded her waist, clinging tight to her slim hips. Hanging from the belt was a gold sword.
"Yes?" she asked simply.
'Why are you here?'
"I came as soon as I felt you change," she said ignoring the others completely, who were pretty much just staring at her. She turned around to talk to Shego, "So, you're his sister, I've been wanting to meet you for so long."
"Who are you?" Shego asked.
"I'm the guardian of Kukulkan's temple," she said doing a small bow.
"So, your not a goddess?" Ron said.
"It's hard to explain, I'm not something like what Nate is, half human, half god, but I carry the sword of a priestess, whose spirit now inhabits my body."
"I see," he said.
"Lost?"
"Yup."
"It's best not to think about it," she said.
The dragon behind her slowly began to shrink, till it was Nate again, with smaller, more manageable wings. The tail was still there, as were the feathers and spikes on his head. The plumes on his ears shrank and disappeared. His hands returned to normal, but his feet were still green with three, clawed toes. His clothes were back, having been absorbed into his body rather than be torn apart. He stood up and looked around. The pike blade and handle were attached to his belt.
"I thought you were resting." Shego said.
"I still am, not enough strength to go back to being completely normal," he replied.
"You must be hungry," Sahid said.
"Now that you mention it, yes, how about you?" he asked Sashna.
"Yeah," she said happily.
TBC
There, chapter is done, I'm sorry it took so long, I had the whole thing done on a disk, which suddenly decided not to work, so I had to retype the whole thing. I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I enjoyed writing it. If anyone has any comments or ideas for me to take into consideration, bring them on. If nobody likes the edition of Sashna, well tough, it's my story. Anyway, next chapter will continue where this one left off, then move forward to the final confrontation with Drakken. Chapter after that will be the last one, more like an epilogue. I'm also working on a prequel to this story. Don't forget to review.
Claimer: I do own any OC's in this fic
Okay, last chapter was good, but not as good as I hoped it would be. I understand that I'm not putting that much information into these chapters, but I have a good reason. I try to get as much text as I can fit into seven or eight pages on Microsoft Word. Also, many things do happen in these chapters than many of you may realize, you just have to read deeper. Or maybe I'm just making all this up in my own head and confusing myself. Oh well, no matter. This one will be longer than the others, a lot longer.
" " speech
' ' thought
( ) author's notes
***** scene change
The Assassin
Chapter 10
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Nate walked down a seemingly endless hallway, with a high ceiling, and plain walls. He was aware of being watched, and was prepared for what happened next. Panels on the walls, which spanned to the ceiling, opened and out shot two iron doors. He put his arms out to the side and caught these slabs of metal before they could crush him. As he watched, wall panels opened all the down the corridor, and doors began closing.
He brought his arms in close to his sides, and then thrust them outward, forcing the doors back into the walls. The gears inside the walls squealed under the strain until they finally snapped. Holding his hand up to his face, Nate saw that it had changed again. The other had too. Both were green, scaly, and had only three fingers. The scales were stretched over rippling muscle tissue, and each finger ended in a long, curved claw.
"Why do they insist on such menial traps?" he asked himself.
Reaching behind his back he brought out the pike again. He pointed it at the doors ahead, and slowly a ball of green lightening formed at its tip. The green ball exploded outward, and a massive wave, covering the entire corridor, side to sided, top to bottom, and destroyed every door that stood in his way, but dissipated before it reached the last few.
A feeling entered his mind, and he wondered what it meant. The whole facility gave a sudden lurch, and that was all he needed to figure out the feeling. Flashes in his mind told him that this place was lifting off. The ground bulged up, as the massive sphere was raised. He saw the sand and dust mingle with the snow that was falling on the city below.
His feet so swiftly that they barely touched the floor, giving the illusion that he was flying. Upon reaching another door, he didn't even slow down. He just raised his hand and slashed through it, instantly creating a door for himself. He did this to every door that followed, until he reached the final door. Why is this the final door, I don't know, they had to end somewhere. Reaching up, he placed his hand against the door, but was stopped by some unseen force. Smiling maliciously, he pressed against the force, till it shattered. Shards of it fell to the floor.
"Polarized glass," he stooped down and picked up one of the shards. "Repels whatever touches it. Too bad that doesn't include gods."
The door was now unprotected, and he decided to do something different for a change. He jammed one of his claws deep into the thick metal, right where the two doors met. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a small marble, or at least a facsimile of a marble. It was about half an inch in diameter, and was metal, not glass like a normal marble. Gently he placed it in the hole, and stood back. The marble exploded, destroying the doors.
He walked through the doors, and into a massive circular room. This room was empty, save for the lab equipment. Looking at it, he determined that it was for cloning and robotic construction. He had never seen such a complete and advanced laboratory. Even GJ didn't have this kind of machinery; mainly because it was still unethical to clone humans, they had nothing against robots though.
"Dammit, wrong door," he said to himself looking around.
"Affirmative."
"Wrong."
"Door."
Out from the shadows stepped three robots. They were obviously modeled after Shego, with the body curvatures almost identical to hers. The only difference would be that they had blonde hair instead of black, and minus the pale skin.
"Fembots?" he asked as more of a joke.
"Incorrect," said the first.
"We are," the second.
"Bebe," all three in unison.
"Oh."
The robots began to vibrate, leaving slight after images of themselves. They vibrated for about five seconds before launching themselves at him. Nimbly, he stepped aside, sticking the pike out, and tripped one. It fell forward, skidding across the floor.
"Anomalous."
"Energy."
"Signature."
"Detected."
"Attempting to."
"Process."
Nate stood giving them skeptical look, they were really creeping him out with that one word thing. He had done his research, he knew that these were just an upgrade from the ones Dr. Possible had destroyed with an ultrahigh frequency. But since then Drakken had most swapped the wireless command system, and, instead, placed it inside of the robot.
"Process this," he said moving forward with speed that even the Bebe's did not possess and cut one of them to pieces.
"Energy."
"Signature."
"Increasing."
"Overload."
"Overload."
They continued to repeat 'overload' over and over for the next thirty seconds or so, until, finally, their heads exploded. He looked down at the destroyed robots, wondering if he really needed to destroy that first one. Shrugging he turned and left the room through a door at the opposite end. The camera in the corner of the room turned, watching him.
"Well, that was hardly worth my time," he said swinging the pike with complete abandon for what was in front of it.
There were no doors in this hallway, probably because they didn't think anyone would get past the Bebe's. It was much easier to just accept death, but some people seemed to cling to the fragile life that they lived. As if it was so much better than the sweet bliss of oblivion. Nothing could compare with the freedom you had there; nothing you did affected people, unless you wanted it to, and they were really just manifestations created by your own mind.
The next door in front of him seemed to radiate that it would be a direct line to Drakken. But, then again, every corridor in this place led to him, so there was no point in judging a door by its scent, so to speak. All be it, the scent was vaguely familiar, like he had once known the person to whom it belonged. Opening the door, he saw what was making such a familiar scent; about three dozen (36) Kim Possibles.
'That explains the cloning equipment,' he thought not wanting to make any sudden sounds to alert them, since they seemed to be asleep.
Looking around he saw that there was a security camera in each corner. He smiled and clacked the pike against the floor. Some of the Kim-clones stirred a bit but didn't wake up.
"I'm an assassin, Drakken, not a gentleman," he said loud enough for the camera's mike to pick it up.
He clacked the pike again, louder, and also jamming it straight through of the clone's legs. She screamed, which woke up the rest of them. The scream didn't last long, as he pulled out the pike and sliced her head off. The clones stopped and looked at their fallen 'sister'. Turning to him, their eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into an insidious smile. He held his hand out, palm up, and flipped the fingers towards him (Morpheus style people).
They all leapt at him, punching and kicking wherever they could, the only problem, he was fast enough to block every assault. He whipped the pike up and rested it over his shoulders, one arm hooked over from the front, the other from the back. The Kim-clones jumped on him again, completely enveloping him. This is what he had planned. Spinning rapidly, he threw off most of them, the ones who weren't lucky enough to be thrown off, were sliced to pieces by the spinning blade of the pike.
The Kim-clones kicked out and flipped to their feet, assembly in two columns. Intending to rush and get him in the middle, as they ran they would attempt to grab his pike. They charged forward, getting him the middle, and easily taking the weapon, a little too easily.
"You shouldn't have done that," he said waving a finger at her.
The clone's body began to vibrate in a motion that would put the Bebe's to shame. She continued to vibrate, screaming as small bolts of green electricity rushed from the pole and up her wrists. A few seconds later, she exploded in a fountain of entrails, and other bodily pieces. The pike shot through the air and back to his hand.
"See?" he said with a smile that made them all take a step back.
"Kim-clones, stand down," said Drakken's voice over a loudspeaker.
"But Master, we can get him," one of them protested.
"Master?" Nate inquired raising an eyebrow. 'So, they are mindless slaves.'
"No, now stand aside."
"Yes, Master," they all said and stood in ranks against the walls.
"Ladies," Nate said tipping an imaginary hat. "I really would love to stay and play, but there are things to attend to."
On of them lost its temper and jumped at him from her place. He kicked her in the chest, and foced her to the ground. Placing the pike over her heart, he began to slowly press down.
"I guess an example must be made," he said ramming the pike through her ribcage, and into the heart of the clone.
None of the other clones watched him kill her, they all kept their eyes forward, like well trained soulders. But that's besides the point now, as the door at the other end of the room opened. In walked a small poodle, foaming at the mouth, and red glint in its eyes. Nate walked up to it and placed the very tip of the pike against its forehead. A small shock and the dog was vaporized.
"I never like dogs," he said with a final mocking smirk at the Kim-clones. S he stepped through the door he pulled out another marble, this one slightly larger, and tossed it behind him.
The door closed, just as the explosion engulfed the screaming clones, and he was finally in the room he wanted. A huge, circular room, with a large holo-projector in the center, on the main floor. He stood on a platform that surrounded the main floor, in front of him was large staircase that went down. Across the room, and up another staircase, was the main control panel for the entire ship. Sitting in the chair in front of it was Drakken.
On the lower floor, against the wall, were Ron and Tara; Kim, being completely out of energy, was on the floor, unconscious. Even though she was unconscious, he could tell she had seen what he did to the clones, and could feel the hate radiating from her very core. Standing over her, as a guard, was Shego, her eyes closed and head bowed slightly.
'So, these are the conditions you work under,' he said to her telepathically.
'Yeah,' she answered not making any movements. 'Just so you know, there are also some clones of me.'
'I thought there was a no cloning clause in your contract.'
'He drugged me and took some of my hair,' she sighed mentally.
'Oh well, what's done is done.'
"Ah, so, you've finally arrived," Drakken said getting Nate's attention.
"Well I would have been here sooner if you hadn't decided to set a few traps. It makes no sense to delay the inevitable," he replied shrugging.
"It doesn't matter," Drakken said turning back to his console. He pressed a button and the door behind Nate opened. "Send in the clones."
In walked clones of, not Kim, but Shego. Nate stood and watched as the 12 proxies stood around him in a circle. They all seemed to be slightly different from his sister. Some had the same hair, but a slightly different face, and others had straight hair with the same face, and one had a braid.
"How do you control so many at once?" he asked looking at each of them.
"It's very simple really," Drakken said lapsing into that stage he goes into when someone compliments his work. "You see, I placed a nano-tick inside their necks, at the base of the brain stem. It gives me complete control without making them seem like androids."
"Why have a human body if it's going to act like a robot?"
"Exactly."
"That's all I needed to know," he said smiling before he vanished.
In a few seconds several things hit the floor, but not a drop of blood was spilled. 'So what was it that fell to the floor?' you might ask, and I would answer, 'Hair'. That's right, hair. By the time Nate had reappeared, all the clones' hair was cut, and there was a small, red mark on the back of their necks. All of them shook their heads as if to shake something out of their now shortly cropped hair. Their eyes all opened and they looked at him, and then at each other. One of them opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't. The others tried, none could talk.
'I see, no back talk from these clones,' he thought.
All the Shego-clones turned to glare at Drakken, who was now furiously typing something on his console. As they ran across the room to get to him he held his hand over one final button. They all stopped when he said:
"One more step and I'll detonate the explosives inside of your bodies, this time I didn't leave anything to chance," he said with a sneer.
While Drakken was occupied, Nate walked down the steps retracting the sword. At the bottom of the stairs he turned to walk over to stand by the original Shego. He looked down at the unconscious Kim, watching her chest rise and fall with her beathing. Then he turned to Shego.
"Let them out," he said gesturing to Ron and Tara.
"Right," she nodded.
"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" Tara asked. "You gave me a fake sword, and shoved me into the brig."
"All to keep you out of harm's way," he replied while easily ripping the shackles from the wall. "If I hadn't done what I had done, then you would be dead."
"Oh," she said.
"Then I guess I should thank you," Ron said while Shego unlocked his shackles.
"No thanks necessary, I only kill those deserving of death," Nate replied picking up Kim's unconscious body, and handing her to Shego.
"Why are you giving her to me?" she asked.
"Because I need to use this," he said pulling out the pike. This was said because the others were giving them strange looks, expecting him to answer her, but mentally he sent her a message. 'You know why I gave her to you.'
'You're not to tell anyone about that,' she hissed back at him.
'About what, that you fantasize about having Kim all to yourself,' his laughter rang in her mind.
'Just shut up, okay?'
'Sure thing, our little secret.'
The five of them made their way to the staircase, but Nate stopped them when he heard small explosions. Turning around he saw all the Shego clones, some of them farther up the other stairs then others, and all were on the ground. There was not a mark on their bodies, meaning that the bombs were small enough to not explode their bodies, but just large enough to kill them. He silently said a prayer for them.
"Now for you," Drakken said walking down the stairs, kicking clones out of the way. "I have a proposition for you, assassin."
"What?" he asked holding the pike at ready.
"Work for me, and I'll let the rest go."
There was a long moment when everyone held their breaths. The only ones breathing were Kim and Drakken. Nate, wanting to put up a good front, let his eyes close as if in thought. He let the pike slip from its position in front of him, and held it at his side. His head raised to look at Drakken, and he let his eyes open in a slow, dramatic way.
"No thanks," he said turning to tell the others to leave while he cleaned up.
"Oh well, too bad," Drakken said opening a small panel on the armor, and pressed a button.
The floor beneath them abruptly opened, dropping them all through the bottom of the ship. Below them Nate could see a desert, but they hadn't traveled long enough to over the Sahara, so it had to Saudi Arabia. It couldn't be anything else. When he looked out across the desert, he could see night fast approaching, and with it, a coming storm.
Pointing the pike down, he forced them all to slow down. The feeling of being drained was beginning to enter his mind. And by the time they had touched down softly, he had to lean on the pike. He looked down at his watch, and saw that it had taken longer than he thought to get to the ground. Standing up straight he walked a little ways and stopped. He placed the blade to the ground and slowly traced a circle on the dunes that surrounded them. The line glowed with green light that spread like a wall up into the sky. Once that was done he walked back to the group, which were now sitting on the ground.
Ron was sitting on one side of the center with Tara, while Shego was sitting on the other side, cross-legged, with Kim's laying next to her. The girl was still unconscious, and Nate didn't think she would wake up soon. He sat down and pulled the bag, which, miraculously, was still around his shoulder, off and opened it up. From it he pulled a small cylinder, that was about nine inches tall, and five inches in diameter. He placed it in the center of the dunes, and opened a door in the side. Into it he tossed a couple of fuel stones, about the size and shape of a piece of charcoal.
Instantly heat began to emanate from the top of it, and everyone scooted closer to the heat, as it was fast getting cold. Snow was beginning to fall towards them, stopping at the shield, which also kept the heat in. While the others sat close to the heater, Nate sat away from it, a slight pain in his back. If anything happened, he wanted be as far from the rest as possible. The pain was getting worse, and he had a feeling his wings were about to rip through his skin.
'Not here, not now,' he thought forcing the feathered expanses to wait. There was definitely not enough room inside the shield for his wings to fit. They were both at least 75 feet wide, and trying to fit them inside an area only 20 feet in diameter would not be pretty.
"Shego," Ron said, "why did you help us?"
"Because my contract with Drakken ended yesterday, and Nate asked for my help," she answered plainly.
"So it was all an act?"
She nodded.
"What's was that thing you put inside her neck?" Tara asked rubbing her finger on the small bump on Kim's neck.
"A nano-tick that would keep her unconscious, unfortunately it took effect too late to be of any use."
"Why don't you just turn it off?" Nate asked.
"Because I like her better this way, quiet," she retorted.
'You'd like her anyway,' Nate thought to himself.
The shield around them cracked and fizzled with the sounds of snow and sleet hitting it, and the sound was actually quite soothing. Nate reached into his bag and pulled out a GPS, checking their position. It was just as he thought, they were close to Sahid's home. Well, home was really more of an understatement, it was more of an abandoned, and restored fortress.
Sahid Ahkmed, a rich sheik, was an old friend of Nate and Shego's father. He was not an assassin, he was more like the person you went to for information and materials. Once he had been one of the world's foremost assassins, till he hit a big job, and was set for life. He had his fortress, which cost him roundabouts of 18 billion dollars, and he had his harem, at a count of 5 wives so far. Polygamy is still legal in the Middle East, mind you.
'We should probably get there as soon as possible,' he thought then looked at the others who were fast falling asleep. Ron and Tara were already leaning against each other, their eyes closed, and Shego was lying back, but he knew she was still half-awake. 'Maybe in the morning,' he corrected himself and concentrated on keeping the shield, which he had converted into a dome.
"Nate?" he heard Shego say though she hadn't moved.
"What?"
"Are we where I think we are?"
"Yeah, Sahid's fortress is about 20 miles to the west."
"I swear, if he asks me to join his harem, I'm going to kill him," she jokes.
"Well, you say that every time, but you haven't done it yet," he laughed a little.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"No, at the moment I can barely keep the shield up and hold off a transformation."
"Then why don't you sleep?" she asked walking over to him.
"Because if I do then I'll lose my focus," he answered shifting around. "Then the shield will drop, and I won't be able to stop the transformation."
"Oh, so we should get going now," she walked over to the cylinder and turned it off. Then she went and put it in his bag, and picked up the bag.
He stood, using the pike as a support, feeling increasingly weaker. Walking over to Ron and Tara he shook them awake and told them they were leaving. They looked up at him, confused and sleepy, but still agreed. Shego slung the bag over her shoulder and went to pick up Kim. When she did the girl stirred a little, then moved on her own to lay against Shego's chest.
*****
As they walked the dome followed them, keeping them safe from the weather outside it. It had been almost an hour since they started walking and Shego had checked the GPS, they had only walked five miles. Ron and Tara were getting cold, Kim was huddling closer to Shego, and Nate's back, where his shoulder blades were, was bleeding, a the tips of black feathers were appearing.
"I'll do it," Nate said stopping the others stopping as well.
"Do what?" they asked.
"Take us there, it will involved a little bit of power," he said raising the pike above his head, "but it should do."
Pointing the blade at the ground the sand began to move, swirling around and around. The spiral grew larger and larger, till it encompassed the entire area within the dome. The sand began to move up the dome, circling up the walls to meet in the center. When the sand faded and the spiral disappeared, they were standing in front of a large, double door.
The door was in a wall, reaching up to almost five stories high, and stretched 200 feet to either side. There were no windows, just solid rock three feet thick. At the corners they could see, through the snow, the large guard towers.
Shego, taking one look at Nate, who was fading fast, reached out and knocked on the door. It opened slowly and silently, just inside was a young girl, maybe only 10 years old, wearing a white shirt that had to be at least three sizes to big. They walked in and Shego said to the girl.
"Tena, where is your father?" she asked hefting Kim up again.
"I'll go get him," the girl said after closing the door.
Nate leaned heavily on his weapon, and was beginning to feel unconsciousness close in. Shego, seeing this, turned to Ron and Tara. They understood her look and supported Nate's arms with the shoulders. Another girl, this one looked exactly like the first, except she wore a black shirt.
"Daddy's coming, better get Nate to a room," she said looking from Nate to Shego, to see if she agreed.
"No, take him to the courtyard," she said shifting Kim's weight again.
"Right, follow me," the girl said and led Ron and Tara away.
This left Shego with Kim to wait for Sahid. He was sure taking his sweet time, but, then again, she thought, we did arrive a little late at night. She spied a small bench next to the door and placed Kim down onto it, gently, and sat down next to her, placing Kim's head on her lap.
*****
Ron and Tara were practically dragging the nearly unconscious Nate to the courtyard. They were following the little girl, who told them her name was Nena, Tena's twin. She told them that they had to hurry, seeing how he was rapidly losing control of his wings. Well, she didn't actually know they were wings, but she did see that his shoulder blades were beginning to rip through his back.
"Come on, it's right through here," she said pushing open another door.
Before them was a huge, square, courtyard, surrounded on all sides by the walls of the fortress. In the very center of the courtyard, a large bonfire was burning. Above them they could see that this place also had a shield, keeping out the hazardous weather. Nate broke away from them and ran about twenty feet before falling to the ground. Nena hid behind Ron and Tara.
His shoulder blades had forced their way through the skin and now stood straight out from his back. The strange part is that there was no more blood. Large, black feathers erupted from his back stretching farther and farther out from him. Bones then began building themselves, piece by piece, bit by bit; directly behind the bone, was flesh, and behind that was skin and feathers. The wings built themselves up from scratch, becoming huge, bigger than even he remembered, reaching a length of almost 150 feet each. They both fit easily in the courtyard, which gave Nate an idea.
His body began to lengthen, from the base of his spine a long green tail whipped out. His neck lengthened and his face bulged into a long, dragon's snout. From either side of his nostrils two tendrils grew. His skin turned green and scaly. His hair began to change as well, the longer hairs turned into green feathers, the shorter ones became spikes that raked backward.
By the time he was done transforming there was a 500 foot long serpentine dragon laying in front of them. His body was as nine feet thick and covered in green scales that rippled with the muscles beneath them. Four short legs had replaced his arms and legs, and two large plumes of black feathers were where his ears used to be. The tendrils of either side of his nose were as thick as Tara's thigh (I would have said waist, but she's thin, and I would have said chest, but didn't want to sound perverted). His tail whipped around to rest in a circle around the bonfire; about twenty feet from the end of the tail it split into two tails. All along his spine was a line of sharp, blade-like feathers. On the very top of his forehead, the pike blade was sticking out.
'Ah, much better,' he thought though the others could hear him. He can't speak in his true form, so he has to use telepathy.
A second later Shego, carrying Kim, came in with Sahid. He was wearing a robe of some kind, with a gold trim and no sleeves. Shego had brought Kim just because she didn't feel like leaving her there. Tena was with them, clinging to her father's leg.
"What happened?" she asked getting everyone's attention.
No one answered her, all of them being speechless, except for Nena.
"He just started changing, it was freaky," she said shaking a little.
"A son of Kukulkan, I thought they were all extinct," Sahid said stepping forward to get a better look.
'Son?' Nate said raising his head up, up, up, and looked down at Sahid. 'I am Kukulkan, mortal.'
"How do you know what he is?" she asked stepping up next to him.
"I've been studying dragons for years, and I've even collected a few of the smaller breeds," he explained. "But it's quite impossible for him to even be able to control the power of this god without some sort of focal point."
'M pike is the focal point of these powers, and Nate has taken good care of it,' the dragon said bringing its head back down to ground level.
"But, where is my brother?" Shego asked.
'Inside, resting,' Kukulkan said placing his hand over his chest. 'Sometimes, if he expends to much power at one time, it could overpower him and drain his body's energy.'
"Okay," she said looking down at a cat that had suddenly appeared. It was actually a little larger than a cat, and spotted. 'An ocelot, what's one of those doing here.'
"What a cute kitty," Tara said moving to pick it up.
'I am not a cat,' the voice came from no where, but everyone had figured it was the ocelot.
Then it went over to Kukulkan and began to rub itself against one of the tendrils. There was then a sound like a deep rumbling coming from deep in his long throat, as if he were purring. The jungle cat continued its rubbing back and forth until the dragon's eyes opened as it watched it.
'Sashna,' he said looking down at it.
The ocelot started to change, it grew taller, and stood on its hind legs. The front paws turned into small, delicate hands, the legs didn't change, just became larger. It had turned into a young woman, around Nate's age, and she was (for lack of a better word) beautiful. Picture someone like Felicia from Darkstalkers, except more human-like. From the top of her head, cat ears sprouted from under her black hair, and her tail wormed its way through a hole in the back of the dress that had covered her during the change. A gold belt surrounded her waist, clinging tight to her slim hips. Hanging from the belt was a gold sword.
"Yes?" she asked simply.
'Why are you here?'
"I came as soon as I felt you change," she said ignoring the others completely, who were pretty much just staring at her. She turned around to talk to Shego, "So, you're his sister, I've been wanting to meet you for so long."
"Who are you?" Shego asked.
"I'm the guardian of Kukulkan's temple," she said doing a small bow.
"So, your not a goddess?" Ron said.
"It's hard to explain, I'm not something like what Nate is, half human, half god, but I carry the sword of a priestess, whose spirit now inhabits my body."
"I see," he said.
"Lost?"
"Yup."
"It's best not to think about it," she said.
The dragon behind her slowly began to shrink, till it was Nate again, with smaller, more manageable wings. The tail was still there, as were the feathers and spikes on his head. The plumes on his ears shrank and disappeared. His hands returned to normal, but his feet were still green with three, clawed toes. His clothes were back, having been absorbed into his body rather than be torn apart. He stood up and looked around. The pike blade and handle were attached to his belt.
"I thought you were resting." Shego said.
"I still am, not enough strength to go back to being completely normal," he replied.
"You must be hungry," Sahid said.
"Now that you mention it, yes, how about you?" he asked Sashna.
"Yeah," she said happily.
TBC
There, chapter is done, I'm sorry it took so long, I had the whole thing done on a disk, which suddenly decided not to work, so I had to retype the whole thing. I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I enjoyed writing it. If anyone has any comments or ideas for me to take into consideration, bring them on. If nobody likes the edition of Sashna, well tough, it's my story. Anyway, next chapter will continue where this one left off, then move forward to the final confrontation with Drakken. Chapter after that will be the last one, more like an epilogue. I'm also working on a prequel to this story. Don't forget to review.
