Disclaimer - Kim Possible, Back to the Future, Waterworld. . . I own none
of it! But hey, I'm sure whoever does is making enough money already! Me,
I'm making zilch out of these stories - I only do this because I love it!
(And it makes me happy that so many of you love it too).
Okay, sorry about the delay. Coursework troubles. Now, though I'm officially on my break, so let the good times roll, with the long-awaited Chapter 10! Where we left off, Shego had just been cornered by the repulsive 'Hammerheads', a gang of thugs led by Brick Flagg in the year 2018 (in which, incidentally, most of the world is now covered in water). Her mission is to defeat them all before they turn on the 2018 Dr Drakken and destroy him. However, a brief chat with the 2018 DNAmy has just shaken up Shego's confidence that a good future is heading her way. Quite the opposite could be the case, but exactly how remains a mystery.
Okay, here we go!
***
At that, I yelped and sprang to my feet. "Hey, you're gonna regret ever threatening me, pal!"
"You think so?" He laughed. They all did. Cruel, mocking laughter that cut deep. Nothing I couldn't handle though. Future doomed or future doomed not, my present had enough troubles of its own right now, and I had no choice but to defend it. Bracing myself, I flexed my digits and activated my gloves' green rays.
A couple of the Hammerheads, the one named Ned included, jolted backward in shock. Brick though didn't blink an eye.
"What the hell are those things supposed to do?" he asked, raising his weapon and directing it toward me.
"These claws here, they could cut through you like tin foil! And these green rays, well. . . you don't wanna think what they could do. . ."
"Take a hike, freak!" And he took aim and fired. Not the prettiest ammunition you'll ever see either - it came at me in a horrible burst of bullet and flame. As always, though, I was quick enough to make a leap and dodge the blow well before impact, skidding away in time to leave a singed and smoking hole in the building wall. Flames remained, flickering wildly from the deeply blemished wood and grass. Diners screamed and fled, in their masses, shrieking like a swarm of scalded cats, as the flames gained more and more ground and suddenly the whole of 2015 Bueno Nacho was alight.
I would've scrambled out and made my bid for freedom too, but the Hammerheads wouldn't let me. They were still up for the chase.
"Didn't you say you'd make us regret ever threatening you?" Brick Flagg called, taking another shot, and missing, only creating a second source of flame and fire in the process. "Well, come on! Make us regret it! Show us what those rays can do that's so unthinkable!"
Already the heat and smoke were growing intense. My eyes were stinging and my lungs ached like crazy, as I darted behind the counter for some cover. Not particularly effective cover, come to that. One blow and the entire counter was little more than cinders. This time, though, hindered by the thickening smoke, I didn't quite get away clean. My left foot got a mild taste of flame. Yelping, I leapt up toward the gang of thugs, who were backing away, as though they too were finally unable to take the effects of their own weapon usage. I had to get out. Ordinarily, I could knock down anyone who stood in path (with the exceptions of Kim Possible, and, more recently relevant, Ron Stoppable, of course), but not when there were four of them armed with weapons as destructive as this. But, if I shrank away, I wouldn't last much longer in the midst of the burning building - that was certain. I decided, wisely, to take a chance and make a break for it.
Leaping forth with all the agility I could muster, I evaded their synchronised blows, hurled a handful of destructive green plasma straight at them, and, as they jolted backward to avoid it, shot straight through and into the clear and clean-aired world outside. I was coughing and wheezing badly, but nothing could jar my focus now.
I continued to run. Right now, it was the best I could do. I couldn't stand around and fight them physically unless they were disarmed. How I was gonna manage that was still beyond me. Already panic was widespread in the people outside, as the fire continued to spread, and spread bad. Things weren't helped by the appearance of the Hammerheads, slightly blackened and still well-armed, turning their rapacious appetite on the rest of the aquatic town. Or, more specifically, me, still as good a target as ever. I ran on, the continuing onslaught of fire and bullet coming up fast behind. More and more screaming all around as more and more buildings went up in flames and people ran screaming from them. Now it was evacuation time. People were leaping, hurling themselves into the water for cover. Some swam, some took up boats, others just stood there, frozen with awe, as half of their aquatic civilisation became consumed in an ever- growing blaze.
"These guys," I muttered to myself. "They have no sense of. . .proportion!"
Foot still aching, lungs still in pain, I skidded behind the cover of another building, much further up ahead, as Brick advanced forward, trailed by his three sidekicks, their weapons poised and at the ready. Presumably for the first sight of me. Come on, I thought. There must be a limit to how much ammunition those things can store.
"Geez, how many places in this whole damn town can that girl have to hide?" Brick growled. "You think she took to the water, like everyone else?"
"Hey boss!" called that spotted thug, Ned. "You know, I'm thinking, why are we even bothering with that girl anyhow?"
"Hey, never ask questions on a rampage, Ned! Just do it!"
"Yeah, but, how important can that girl really be? I mean, wasn't it that fish mutation thing we came for? You know - Gill? I mean, we're half way through destroying this town already and we haven't even issued an ultimatum yet!"
Peering round, I saw Brick freeze. Then slap his hand against his forehead. "Rats! I knew I'd forgotten something! Okay, forget the girl! Let's just flush out that fish, get that kid, barbecue up some fish steaks and get out of here with the map to dry land! Let's do it!"
They all cheered, then turned and began heading back the way they'd come. I could have breathed a sigh of relief, if I wasn't smart enough to know that things were far from over. Looking ahead, I saw a man not too far from the New Middleton entrance. Staggering helplessly around the edge of the pier, fist clenched and held high in the air, screaming at the top of his voice at a speeding boat zooming off far in the distance to safety. Oh yeah, I knew this man. I knew who he was only too well.
"HEY, YOU THIEVING MORON!!!! COME BACK HERE WITH MY BOAT THIS INSTANT!!! HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPECT ME TO GET OFF THIS FUTILE ISLAND?"
Oh boy. A situation like this and 2018 Dr Drakken was out of transport. That couldn't be good. Not least the fact that his irate screaming was attracting the attention of others. The rather unwelcome attention of others at that.
"Hey," I shivered as I heard Brick say, "if it isn't that old blue scientist freak! What's his name again? Dr. . ."
"Dr Drakken, boss," retorted Ned. "Yeah, that's the guy. The one who still owes you for wrecking your water-hopper in that collision. . ."
"Yeah, I've been after him for a long, long time. . .you have any idea how much it would've cost to have that thing repaired? That's when I had to dump that baby in the ocean and start using DNAmy's useless aquatic mules! Guys, put that mutation on hold for just a few moments, and let's just get him! We can't let an opportunity like this go by!"
So, this was the point where the 2018 Drakken got involved. Man, he hadn't told me that those Hammerheads had guns like that. . .maybe he'd thought just a little too highly of me. Still, I couldn't let him down. The sooner I could KO this gang, get back to the year 2003 and get out of this dump, the better.
Looking up, I noticed, for the first time, a couple of little kids zooming amongst the general panic of town on these. . .rather peculiar boards. Kinda like skateboards, only without the wheels. Instead of wheels, they just hovered there, in mid-air. Hoverboards. A pretty snappy invention. Maybe this future wasn't quite so backward after all. Thinking fast, I formulated a plan with the quickest brain cell to hand in my membrane. Right now, physical fighting would be no good if they were still armed with those destructive weapons. The best I could do for the time being was to create a distraction, much like those high school kids always did with me back in the suddenly somewhat good old days. If I could lure those thugs away from this place on something fast and easy, like one of those boards, and over the vast stretch of water, I'd probably stand a better chance of outrunning them until their ammo ran out.
"Hey there, kid," I said, leaping over, shoving the little guy off and seizing hold of his amazing board. "I need to borrow your 'hoverboard' here!"
"Hey!" he cried, as I leapt on it. "That's mine! You stole it!"
Stealing from little kids is a little low even for me, but hey, I'm sure you'll agree that the ends justified the means! I leapt on it and got straight to action. It really wasn't that hard to get the hang off. It just hovered there, above the ground, and you just had to swerve your feet in the direction you wanted to go and it too you there - up, down, back, forth, south-west, north-west - everything was up to you and your nifty feet.
"Hey, guys!" I called, zooming in on Brick's gang as they approached the unwitting 2018 Drakken. "Aren't you forgetting about me?"
With that, I fired another helping of green destructive ray only inches from them, burning a small hole in the wooden platform. They spun round and growled, pointing back up in my direction and screaming profanity. Diversion: successful.
"Hey, get that smart-mouthed girl! She thinks she can mess with us and get away with it?" Brick growled, and then on they came.
"Give it up, you'll never bring me down!" I jeered, then turned and headed back toward the open water, once again with the Hammerheads hot in pursuit. More blasts of fire and bullet, but, in the absence of floods of people, grass buildings and wooden towers, those things were much easier to evade. Until of course, I ran into my first snag.
For a few brief moments, there I was, soaring gracefully above the water like a supple eagle, the cool breeze blowing sweetly against me as I flew, onward, encircling now and then to avoid their blows. Then, without warning, the board suddenly flipped. It jolted, jerked and struggled, losing speed fast and emitting strange tinny sounds that were frankly not encouraging. Suddenly, it wouldn't obey commands, no matter how frantically I swerved my feet - it wouldn't go left, wouldn't go right, wouldn't go upward. The only direction it would go was down. Deep down. One last brave, malfunctioning struggle and it finally gave up completely, floating motionless on the surface of the waves. And I was stuck there, struggling desperately to keep a balance on the unreliable thing, surrounded by water at every angle.
"What the hell is going on?" I cried, in fury. "I thought these things were supposed to hover!"
"Hey, you idiot!" Ned shouted over in my direction. "Don't you know anything about hoverboards? Those things don't work on water, only on a solid surface! Unless you have additional power, of course!"
Gazing up sheepishly, I saw, to my horror, each one of the Hammerheads reach into their leather jackets and pull out a small, square-looking device with a button on top. One press of that button from each one, and they unfolded, immensely, into a completely different style of hoverboard. Bigger, better, faster, sturdier. . .
"Say hello to the Hoverboard 4003!" called Brick, hurling his down and leaping upon it. "Gentlemen, alter your weapon structure now!"
A press of a button, on those weapons this time, and they completely changed their appearance, merging from a high-tech sort of gun into a rather crude (but nonetheless intimidating) sort of club. Enough to do some serious damage with.
"Okay, let's go!" roared Brick, as his three companions leapt upon their high-tech hoverboards and all four came straight at me, waving their clubs menacingly as their boards zoomed along at lightning speed. The best I could do was just stand there and poise my claws and rays as best I could - maybe if I was quick and ready I could cut through those bulky clubs before they made impact with my skull.
They were close now, barely a few inches away, clubs poised, my own defences activated, ready for the final showdown. . .when suddenly something reached out, grabbed me by the leg and dragged me down under the water.
Beneath the waves, deprived of clear vision and oxygen, it was difficult to focus, but only a couple of seconds later I saw a crash of bubbles and froth up ahead, and the writhing of the bewildered Hammerheads as they fought their way to the surface. Exactly what I was trying to do. I couldn't see what pulled me under, but it was holding me down fast. I kicked and turned and tried to claw at whatever it was in a desperate attempt just to get it to let go. My lungs had been tortured too much already today without any need for this. But nothing worked. The creature was far too quick and sleek about the waves to take any damage, turning and dragging me along with it, back in the direction of the damaged New Middleton. No matter how much I kicked and struggled and fought back with all the energy I had left, it clung on tight, finally swerving round and pulling me back up to the surface just when I felt as though my lungs could take no more.
Air! Air! Beautiful air! I'd just about had enough of all three other elements today. Water - goes without saying - fire - ditto - earth, for not even having the guts to stand strong and be around in the year 2018. But air. . .I was ready to embrace it. Sweet, merciful air. . .never would I take it for granted again.
"I think you're a good enough distance from them now," said a strange voice that made me jump. Spinning round, I saw, for the first time, my captor, his webbed green hands still wrapped tight around my left foot, which still hadn't fully recovered from the burn. Still, that wasn't what bothered me. What bothered me was that he was a green, slime-oozing, scaly creature with gills sticking out from his throat and that his disgusting webbed mitts were in contact with my skin!
"HEY! Get the hell of me!" I cried, this time kicking with enough strength and force to pull my limb to freedom. "Ewww, gross, what is that stuff on your hands!"
"You know, you could at least be a little more grateful," he replied, resentfully. "I just saved you from being pulverised by those Hammerhead jerks! And that stuff on my hands is just a side-effect of being mutated a long time ago!"
"Really? By any chance, is your name Gill?"
"Yeah, that's me alright. But keep it down, won't you? I'm pretty well known around here, that's why I like to keep a low profile! I hate normal people! You know, the non-mutated sort! I hate them so much!"
"Then why did you just help me?"
"Because I hate that Brick Flagg and those Hammerheads even more than I hate most regular normal people! All they ever do is come on after me with those sickening weapons, trying to seek me out and destroy me, taking down everything else that lies in their path! All because they think I'll get to dry land before them. . .shows how much they know about this place - only an idiot would believe in dry land! Anything to get back at them. . .besides which, you're not entirely non-mutated are you? What's with those claws? And those strange green ray things I saw you shooting from your hands earlier? You're telling me you just acquired those naturally?"
I decided to keep on good terms with him, at least while I was still in need of his help, so I just shut up and didn't say any more as he dragged me back around the outskirts of the New Middleton, and allowed me to climb discreetly back onto a wooden platform to safety.
"Here, don't forget your hoverboard!" he called, suddenly producing it from beneath the water and tossing it into my hands.
"Thanks," I replied, wondering what I was supposed to do with it now.
"Yeah, that's okay, just don't tell anyone you saw me, okay?"
He began to swim away, but I called after him. "Hey, Gill! What makes you so sure there isn't any dry land out there?"
"Because I haven't seen it. And I've swam further then most men have dreamed." He sighed and waved, before turning. "Well, good luck, girl! I've gotta get out of here before someone sees me!"
"Bye then," I sighed, as, in a single splash, the gross, slime-oozing creature was gone, and I was left alone, dripping wet and shivering, the unpleasant smell of smoke lingering the air around. Now not even the air seemed so kosher. Looking ahead at the burnt remains of half of New Middleton, panic was still rather widespread, but at least the blaze had now disappeared. People were standing around with hoses and buckets, breathing a sigh of relief as their efforts finally paid off, and erupting in a series of cheers.
Sighing, I staggered to me feet, to hear the unnerving sound of police sirens heading this way. I flinched, but of course it ended up having nothing to do with me. Water-law enforcement was on its way, heading across in a great fleet of boats, right toward where the Hammerheads were still splashing about with their hoverboards.
"Geez, it's the cops!" I heard Brick proclaim. "Come on, guys, let's get out of here!"
And they leapt on their Hoverboard 4003s and sped away, the police fleets still in pursuit. Looking over in another direction, I noticed the 2018 Dr Drakken still standing there, kicking the platform furiously over his stolen transport, totally unaware of how close he had just come to certain death. Or maybe so, in a way. It was his 2003 self who'd sent me out on this mission, wasn't it? Time sure was a confusing thing. But, confusing or not, I'd completed my mission. I'd been successful. Now all I had to do was hang around and wait for 2003 Drakken to swoop down in the 626 and head home.
Only, there was still something, at the very back of my mind, that still bothered me. And it wasn't too hard to figure out what it was.
"Hey, there!" I jumped as this strange middle-aged guy came sneaking up from behind. "I see you're still slightly shocked by what just happened. Well, don't panic, because everything's gonna be okay. They got the blaze out before it really spread, and, as yet, the death toll looks like it'll be staying at zero! Life can return to normal round here before you know it! In a way, all this reminds us of just how lucky we really are round here - let's just take time to spare a thought for those who are less fortunate than us residents of New Middleton!" He held out a collection jar and rattled the coins within. "How about donating a couple of hundred bucks toward the more deprived aquatic communities round here?"
"Round where?" I asked.
"Well, you can't see them directly from where we're standing, but, come on, you know they're out there! You know, like Lowerton? The most depressing, crime-ridden place in the whole known aquatic region one can live? Where folks always end up living when things hit rock bottom for them? You have any idea what it's like to live there? Having to always sleep with one eye open? Having no bars, no restaurants, no public libraries, barely even enough material to build a house out of? Having to eat scraps straight out of other communities' garbage, which they always come and dump in your living space? Some people say that since these people are about as valuable as garbage, they deserve to live in it, but not me! Me and my charity are here to make a stand against that kind of attitude and help these communities get back on their feet once and for all! I mean, we're sick of getting these constant pleas for help from never-ending messages in bottles that keep coming our way - they're so poor, it's their only means of communication! And some of the stuff they write is so heartbreaking, it's high time that someone paid attention to these guys! I mean here, we give out sample letters for publicity. Take a read of this!"
I sighed and took it. A scrap of grimy paper with thin, dark letters inked desperately upon it. One good glance at those letters was enough to make my eyes widen beyond belief, and my heart skip almost fifty beats.
"Yeah, I know, it's horrific what the writer of that cry for help has obviously had to go through, isn't it?"
"Yeah. . .it's horrific alright." I could barely stand up straight just looking at it. "Listen. . . I'm sorry, I gotta go!"
"But. . ."
"Don't worry, I'm gonna help these people. Or, at least, one of them! Just in a different way!" I pushed past him and ran, still clutching that letter hard. When on my own, I read it again, but nothing had changed. That desperate, screaming handwriting still glared back up at me viciously, until finally I could take it no more and had to stuff it down into my pocket for the sake of my consciousness. Trembling, I punched it downward with my fist and grit my teeth.
"Right," I said to myself. "It's time to show that DNAmy who's future has been ruined! It's time to fix the future!"
_
"Hi there, and welcome to Monique's Retrospective Gift store!" the cheery thirtysomething woman at the counter greeted me as I entered her store. "What can I do for you, friend?"
"You can help me out with righting a few pretty nasty wrongs!" I replied. "I'm looking for a book? You got 'em?"
"Oh yeah. Particularly now that the library's gone, this is like the only place left in the whole of New Middleton to get hold of antique books! You've come to right place, friend, so what can I do for you?"
"Yeah. . .I'm looking for a book here. You got anything at all in the field of sporting statistics?"
"Oh cool, another sport's fan! What are *you* into? Football, soccer, tennis, ice hockey. . . ?"
"Hey, I don't really care about the particular sport! All I care about is the time it focuses on! I'm looking for a particular era here! Anything from the time zone of, I don't know, around 2007?"
"Whoa - the innocent ages, huh? Well, sadly books from that era are have been a little hard to get hold of after the great flooding and all, but, like I told you, you've come to the right place and I still mean it! It just so happens that we do have a single sporting statistics book from that era focussing on a very special sport." She leaned over and seized a dusty but mint-looking book. "An entire decade of sporting statistics for the GWA - 2000-2010!"
"That's the Global Wrestling Association, right?"
"Yeah, you bet! Only the greatest sport known to humankind!"
"I know I said I wasn't too bothered about the particular sport, but. . . I don't know. . .haven't you got anything a bit more upmarket than pro- wrestling?"
"Upmarket? Hey, didn't you ever live that decade? Didn't you ever enjoy a single pro-wrestling match in your life? I remember those wonderful days so well. . .Pain King ruled!"
"Whatever. I guess that beggars can't be choosers. And this book will tell me exactly which wrestler won which match over the decade in question?"
"You bet!"
"Then I'll take it!"
"Great! Regular retail price for an item like that would be fifty dollars twenty cents, but I'll let you have it for forty nine dollars twenty two cents."
"Didn't you hear me? I said, I'll take it!" And with that I bolted out the store and ran.
-
"I can't lose!" I was telling myself, as I stood, back around the secluded wooden platform, flicking through my latest booty. "It's all right here, in black and white! When we get back to 2003, we'll see who's in for a rich and plentiful future and who ain't!"
And then came a familiar voice. "Hey, Shego, over here!" I spun round and saw Dr Drakken standing there (2003), grinning his usual megalomanic grin as he strode his way over. "I see that all went to plan! Those irritating Hammerheads are well out of the region, while I see my future self still altogether in one piece, poised to carry out his next bid for global domination!"
"Hey, Doc, you know you lied to me, didn't you? You said those guys where out to get you because they considered you dangerous competition. Turns out all you did was bust up their leader's water-hopper - it was this mutation Gill they were after!"
"Yes, well, I'm sure within time those thugs will come to know and fear the name of the formidable Dr Drakken!"
I shook my head. "You know what? It's never gonna happen, is it? You know it'll never happen because you're already seeing it happen right before your eyes! This is your future, Drakken! Like it or lump it, it's already been set, and unless you do something about it, you're gonna spend your entire life struggling around at the bottom of the food chain, always another fifty miles from ever reaching the top! Me, since coming to this dismal place, I've had a breakthrough!" I held up the GWA statistics book high. "I'm gonna do something about it! It's high time we took the future into our own hands and cashed in big! See this book right here? It represents the key to a better future at long last!"
"How could a mere book represent anything?"
"It's a sporting statistics book! It tells me exactly who's gonna win each wrestling match for the next seven years of our time. All I've got to do is go back, bet on what it tells me to bet on and, before you know it, I'll be the richest living creature in existence! Why should I have to worry about what happens to me in the future then? I'll be set for life!"
Drakken's eyes widened with horror. "Shego, throw that thing into the water right now!"
"What? Hey, no way! This is my one and only chance to make it big in the future, and I'm not gonna just toss it away like yesterday's trash!"
"Just do it, Shego! I didn't spend years fiddling around with that 626 and building a time machine out of it just to win at petty gambling. I built it to take over the world!"
"And, I'm all for that! What's wrong with making a few extra bucks on the side?"
"Shego, I know exactly how I'm gonna exploit the time continuum for world domination! The diabolical schemes must always be my department! Anything you could do would only be an interference on my plan! Remember, I'm the evil genius here! You try taking these things into your own hands, and you'll only end up completely throwing them off course!"
I sighed. "Listen, Drakken, I'm worried about my future here. Your future, thanks to me, may I add, may now be all well and safe, but as for me. . .well, I'm not so sure."
"Well, why not? Leave everything up to me and just do all the fighting when I tell you, and what could go wrong? Hear me now, Shego, this timeline in the year 2018 will no longer exist the second we leave. It'll no longer come be! For you see, the second I exploit the space time continuum to for my own advantage, we'll create an alternate timeline, in which I rule the world, and so the next time 2018 rolls around, this town will effectively be. . .NEW DRAKKEN-VILLE!"
"Really? Then why did you even bring me here in the first place to save your future butt if the future you would have been okay anyway?"
"Because I'm not taking any risks here, Shego! What if something had gone wrong? Besides which, no matter which timeline or dimension it may be, it's a point of principle - no one interferes with Dr Drakken and gets away with it! Now give that book to me and I won't even toss it in the river. I'll ensure it has a nice, dignified disposal, in a garbage can!"
Sighing, I grudgingly handed over the GWA statistics book, and allowed him to dump it into the nearest trash can.
"Fine, now let's get back to the 626! I parked it just behind that building over there, so let's go and get on with my big plan!"
"Okay, but I'm keeping this hoverboard here as a souvenir - it's actually a pretty cool device!" Low, I know, having stolen a little kid's toy and now keeping it, but hey, you heard what Dr Drakken said. As soon as we got out of this time zone this whole scenario probably wouldn't even exist. Which made me feel strangely sad, in a way, and confused. I'd just be relieved to get out.
And then, as I took one last glance around, I suddenly had a horrible fright. Standing there, not too far off, staring, was DNAmy. Poised upon the saddle of a strange, aquatic-looking mule, staring at us with an expression that could only be described as blank. For a few moments I was frozen there, wondering - had she heard it all? That couldn't be good. We couldn't let anyone know about the 626. We exchanged blank stares for a few moments more. I thought, alternative timeline, and then pushed off to catch up with Dr Drakken, as he encircled the 626. Then he suddenly froze, as though something had taken him too by shock.
"Oh please, don't tell me I left the car door open!"
"What?"
"Commodore Puddles! He's gone!"
"Really?" I glanced down over to the back seat. Yep, he was telling the truth. The 626 door was wide open and the back of the car was clean as a whistle. "Yeh, what d'ya know? He's disappeared!"
"He could be anywhere around this whole damned aquatic community; anywhere at all!"
"Oh well. I hope he'll be very happy round here! Let's just go!"
"Hold it, Shego! We have to look for him first! We can't just leave him here!"
"Why not?" I protested. "He's a savage, snarling, vicious little monster! I think most of your goons will be happy to see the back of him!"
"That savage, snarling, vicious little monster is my dog, and vital to my experimental research! Do you have any idea how long it took me to locate the most depraved, evil and sinister dog I could find before I acquired him? I'm not going to subject myself to that again! No! We're not going anywhere until that dog is safely found and back in the back seat of that flying time machine! Now, come on, let's go!"
Grudgingly, and still wet, singed and exhausted, I summed up the energy just to pick myself up and trail back out after him into the open aquatic suburbia. We should have known better. Well, *I* should have known better, it doesn't surprise me with Dr Drakken. We should never have left the 626 unattended like that, even for second. We should have guessed what was going to happen. But, I guess, I still wasn't thinking straight. I was still too caught up in fears about my own future up ahead. Regardless of whether or not this current timeline would ever occur or not, I knew, deep inside, that it's mere existence at all, no matter how brief, was worrying enough. I only had to pull out that letter from a resident of Lowerton in my pocket and glance down at that lettering once again to know that it was justified.
I didn't show Dr Drakken that letter. I kept it to myself. I knew that if I did he'd remind me, vocally, the last thing I wanted to hear, even though I knew it for sure myself. That that handwriting, with its desperate spindly lettering, was my own.
***
Okay, end of Chapter 10. Sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoyed it none the less. Don't forget to review! I'll bring you Chapter Eleven as soon as I can!
Here's a sneak preview to get your literate taste buds rolling:
After a brief delay, Drakken and Shego have now made their way safely back to the year 2003. Only, something is definitely up with the present on their return - in fact most of Middleton is now lying in ruins and total anarchy now rules!
Okay, sorry about the delay. Coursework troubles. Now, though I'm officially on my break, so let the good times roll, with the long-awaited Chapter 10! Where we left off, Shego had just been cornered by the repulsive 'Hammerheads', a gang of thugs led by Brick Flagg in the year 2018 (in which, incidentally, most of the world is now covered in water). Her mission is to defeat them all before they turn on the 2018 Dr Drakken and destroy him. However, a brief chat with the 2018 DNAmy has just shaken up Shego's confidence that a good future is heading her way. Quite the opposite could be the case, but exactly how remains a mystery.
Okay, here we go!
***
At that, I yelped and sprang to my feet. "Hey, you're gonna regret ever threatening me, pal!"
"You think so?" He laughed. They all did. Cruel, mocking laughter that cut deep. Nothing I couldn't handle though. Future doomed or future doomed not, my present had enough troubles of its own right now, and I had no choice but to defend it. Bracing myself, I flexed my digits and activated my gloves' green rays.
A couple of the Hammerheads, the one named Ned included, jolted backward in shock. Brick though didn't blink an eye.
"What the hell are those things supposed to do?" he asked, raising his weapon and directing it toward me.
"These claws here, they could cut through you like tin foil! And these green rays, well. . . you don't wanna think what they could do. . ."
"Take a hike, freak!" And he took aim and fired. Not the prettiest ammunition you'll ever see either - it came at me in a horrible burst of bullet and flame. As always, though, I was quick enough to make a leap and dodge the blow well before impact, skidding away in time to leave a singed and smoking hole in the building wall. Flames remained, flickering wildly from the deeply blemished wood and grass. Diners screamed and fled, in their masses, shrieking like a swarm of scalded cats, as the flames gained more and more ground and suddenly the whole of 2015 Bueno Nacho was alight.
I would've scrambled out and made my bid for freedom too, but the Hammerheads wouldn't let me. They were still up for the chase.
"Didn't you say you'd make us regret ever threatening you?" Brick Flagg called, taking another shot, and missing, only creating a second source of flame and fire in the process. "Well, come on! Make us regret it! Show us what those rays can do that's so unthinkable!"
Already the heat and smoke were growing intense. My eyes were stinging and my lungs ached like crazy, as I darted behind the counter for some cover. Not particularly effective cover, come to that. One blow and the entire counter was little more than cinders. This time, though, hindered by the thickening smoke, I didn't quite get away clean. My left foot got a mild taste of flame. Yelping, I leapt up toward the gang of thugs, who were backing away, as though they too were finally unable to take the effects of their own weapon usage. I had to get out. Ordinarily, I could knock down anyone who stood in path (with the exceptions of Kim Possible, and, more recently relevant, Ron Stoppable, of course), but not when there were four of them armed with weapons as destructive as this. But, if I shrank away, I wouldn't last much longer in the midst of the burning building - that was certain. I decided, wisely, to take a chance and make a break for it.
Leaping forth with all the agility I could muster, I evaded their synchronised blows, hurled a handful of destructive green plasma straight at them, and, as they jolted backward to avoid it, shot straight through and into the clear and clean-aired world outside. I was coughing and wheezing badly, but nothing could jar my focus now.
I continued to run. Right now, it was the best I could do. I couldn't stand around and fight them physically unless they were disarmed. How I was gonna manage that was still beyond me. Already panic was widespread in the people outside, as the fire continued to spread, and spread bad. Things weren't helped by the appearance of the Hammerheads, slightly blackened and still well-armed, turning their rapacious appetite on the rest of the aquatic town. Or, more specifically, me, still as good a target as ever. I ran on, the continuing onslaught of fire and bullet coming up fast behind. More and more screaming all around as more and more buildings went up in flames and people ran screaming from them. Now it was evacuation time. People were leaping, hurling themselves into the water for cover. Some swam, some took up boats, others just stood there, frozen with awe, as half of their aquatic civilisation became consumed in an ever- growing blaze.
"These guys," I muttered to myself. "They have no sense of. . .proportion!"
Foot still aching, lungs still in pain, I skidded behind the cover of another building, much further up ahead, as Brick advanced forward, trailed by his three sidekicks, their weapons poised and at the ready. Presumably for the first sight of me. Come on, I thought. There must be a limit to how much ammunition those things can store.
"Geez, how many places in this whole damn town can that girl have to hide?" Brick growled. "You think she took to the water, like everyone else?"
"Hey boss!" called that spotted thug, Ned. "You know, I'm thinking, why are we even bothering with that girl anyhow?"
"Hey, never ask questions on a rampage, Ned! Just do it!"
"Yeah, but, how important can that girl really be? I mean, wasn't it that fish mutation thing we came for? You know - Gill? I mean, we're half way through destroying this town already and we haven't even issued an ultimatum yet!"
Peering round, I saw Brick freeze. Then slap his hand against his forehead. "Rats! I knew I'd forgotten something! Okay, forget the girl! Let's just flush out that fish, get that kid, barbecue up some fish steaks and get out of here with the map to dry land! Let's do it!"
They all cheered, then turned and began heading back the way they'd come. I could have breathed a sigh of relief, if I wasn't smart enough to know that things were far from over. Looking ahead, I saw a man not too far from the New Middleton entrance. Staggering helplessly around the edge of the pier, fist clenched and held high in the air, screaming at the top of his voice at a speeding boat zooming off far in the distance to safety. Oh yeah, I knew this man. I knew who he was only too well.
"HEY, YOU THIEVING MORON!!!! COME BACK HERE WITH MY BOAT THIS INSTANT!!! HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPECT ME TO GET OFF THIS FUTILE ISLAND?"
Oh boy. A situation like this and 2018 Dr Drakken was out of transport. That couldn't be good. Not least the fact that his irate screaming was attracting the attention of others. The rather unwelcome attention of others at that.
"Hey," I shivered as I heard Brick say, "if it isn't that old blue scientist freak! What's his name again? Dr. . ."
"Dr Drakken, boss," retorted Ned. "Yeah, that's the guy. The one who still owes you for wrecking your water-hopper in that collision. . ."
"Yeah, I've been after him for a long, long time. . .you have any idea how much it would've cost to have that thing repaired? That's when I had to dump that baby in the ocean and start using DNAmy's useless aquatic mules! Guys, put that mutation on hold for just a few moments, and let's just get him! We can't let an opportunity like this go by!"
So, this was the point where the 2018 Drakken got involved. Man, he hadn't told me that those Hammerheads had guns like that. . .maybe he'd thought just a little too highly of me. Still, I couldn't let him down. The sooner I could KO this gang, get back to the year 2003 and get out of this dump, the better.
Looking up, I noticed, for the first time, a couple of little kids zooming amongst the general panic of town on these. . .rather peculiar boards. Kinda like skateboards, only without the wheels. Instead of wheels, they just hovered there, in mid-air. Hoverboards. A pretty snappy invention. Maybe this future wasn't quite so backward after all. Thinking fast, I formulated a plan with the quickest brain cell to hand in my membrane. Right now, physical fighting would be no good if they were still armed with those destructive weapons. The best I could do for the time being was to create a distraction, much like those high school kids always did with me back in the suddenly somewhat good old days. If I could lure those thugs away from this place on something fast and easy, like one of those boards, and over the vast stretch of water, I'd probably stand a better chance of outrunning them until their ammo ran out.
"Hey there, kid," I said, leaping over, shoving the little guy off and seizing hold of his amazing board. "I need to borrow your 'hoverboard' here!"
"Hey!" he cried, as I leapt on it. "That's mine! You stole it!"
Stealing from little kids is a little low even for me, but hey, I'm sure you'll agree that the ends justified the means! I leapt on it and got straight to action. It really wasn't that hard to get the hang off. It just hovered there, above the ground, and you just had to swerve your feet in the direction you wanted to go and it too you there - up, down, back, forth, south-west, north-west - everything was up to you and your nifty feet.
"Hey, guys!" I called, zooming in on Brick's gang as they approached the unwitting 2018 Drakken. "Aren't you forgetting about me?"
With that, I fired another helping of green destructive ray only inches from them, burning a small hole in the wooden platform. They spun round and growled, pointing back up in my direction and screaming profanity. Diversion: successful.
"Hey, get that smart-mouthed girl! She thinks she can mess with us and get away with it?" Brick growled, and then on they came.
"Give it up, you'll never bring me down!" I jeered, then turned and headed back toward the open water, once again with the Hammerheads hot in pursuit. More blasts of fire and bullet, but, in the absence of floods of people, grass buildings and wooden towers, those things were much easier to evade. Until of course, I ran into my first snag.
For a few brief moments, there I was, soaring gracefully above the water like a supple eagle, the cool breeze blowing sweetly against me as I flew, onward, encircling now and then to avoid their blows. Then, without warning, the board suddenly flipped. It jolted, jerked and struggled, losing speed fast and emitting strange tinny sounds that were frankly not encouraging. Suddenly, it wouldn't obey commands, no matter how frantically I swerved my feet - it wouldn't go left, wouldn't go right, wouldn't go upward. The only direction it would go was down. Deep down. One last brave, malfunctioning struggle and it finally gave up completely, floating motionless on the surface of the waves. And I was stuck there, struggling desperately to keep a balance on the unreliable thing, surrounded by water at every angle.
"What the hell is going on?" I cried, in fury. "I thought these things were supposed to hover!"
"Hey, you idiot!" Ned shouted over in my direction. "Don't you know anything about hoverboards? Those things don't work on water, only on a solid surface! Unless you have additional power, of course!"
Gazing up sheepishly, I saw, to my horror, each one of the Hammerheads reach into their leather jackets and pull out a small, square-looking device with a button on top. One press of that button from each one, and they unfolded, immensely, into a completely different style of hoverboard. Bigger, better, faster, sturdier. . .
"Say hello to the Hoverboard 4003!" called Brick, hurling his down and leaping upon it. "Gentlemen, alter your weapon structure now!"
A press of a button, on those weapons this time, and they completely changed their appearance, merging from a high-tech sort of gun into a rather crude (but nonetheless intimidating) sort of club. Enough to do some serious damage with.
"Okay, let's go!" roared Brick, as his three companions leapt upon their high-tech hoverboards and all four came straight at me, waving their clubs menacingly as their boards zoomed along at lightning speed. The best I could do was just stand there and poise my claws and rays as best I could - maybe if I was quick and ready I could cut through those bulky clubs before they made impact with my skull.
They were close now, barely a few inches away, clubs poised, my own defences activated, ready for the final showdown. . .when suddenly something reached out, grabbed me by the leg and dragged me down under the water.
Beneath the waves, deprived of clear vision and oxygen, it was difficult to focus, but only a couple of seconds later I saw a crash of bubbles and froth up ahead, and the writhing of the bewildered Hammerheads as they fought their way to the surface. Exactly what I was trying to do. I couldn't see what pulled me under, but it was holding me down fast. I kicked and turned and tried to claw at whatever it was in a desperate attempt just to get it to let go. My lungs had been tortured too much already today without any need for this. But nothing worked. The creature was far too quick and sleek about the waves to take any damage, turning and dragging me along with it, back in the direction of the damaged New Middleton. No matter how much I kicked and struggled and fought back with all the energy I had left, it clung on tight, finally swerving round and pulling me back up to the surface just when I felt as though my lungs could take no more.
Air! Air! Beautiful air! I'd just about had enough of all three other elements today. Water - goes without saying - fire - ditto - earth, for not even having the guts to stand strong and be around in the year 2018. But air. . .I was ready to embrace it. Sweet, merciful air. . .never would I take it for granted again.
"I think you're a good enough distance from them now," said a strange voice that made me jump. Spinning round, I saw, for the first time, my captor, his webbed green hands still wrapped tight around my left foot, which still hadn't fully recovered from the burn. Still, that wasn't what bothered me. What bothered me was that he was a green, slime-oozing, scaly creature with gills sticking out from his throat and that his disgusting webbed mitts were in contact with my skin!
"HEY! Get the hell of me!" I cried, this time kicking with enough strength and force to pull my limb to freedom. "Ewww, gross, what is that stuff on your hands!"
"You know, you could at least be a little more grateful," he replied, resentfully. "I just saved you from being pulverised by those Hammerhead jerks! And that stuff on my hands is just a side-effect of being mutated a long time ago!"
"Really? By any chance, is your name Gill?"
"Yeah, that's me alright. But keep it down, won't you? I'm pretty well known around here, that's why I like to keep a low profile! I hate normal people! You know, the non-mutated sort! I hate them so much!"
"Then why did you just help me?"
"Because I hate that Brick Flagg and those Hammerheads even more than I hate most regular normal people! All they ever do is come on after me with those sickening weapons, trying to seek me out and destroy me, taking down everything else that lies in their path! All because they think I'll get to dry land before them. . .shows how much they know about this place - only an idiot would believe in dry land! Anything to get back at them. . .besides which, you're not entirely non-mutated are you? What's with those claws? And those strange green ray things I saw you shooting from your hands earlier? You're telling me you just acquired those naturally?"
I decided to keep on good terms with him, at least while I was still in need of his help, so I just shut up and didn't say any more as he dragged me back around the outskirts of the New Middleton, and allowed me to climb discreetly back onto a wooden platform to safety.
"Here, don't forget your hoverboard!" he called, suddenly producing it from beneath the water and tossing it into my hands.
"Thanks," I replied, wondering what I was supposed to do with it now.
"Yeah, that's okay, just don't tell anyone you saw me, okay?"
He began to swim away, but I called after him. "Hey, Gill! What makes you so sure there isn't any dry land out there?"
"Because I haven't seen it. And I've swam further then most men have dreamed." He sighed and waved, before turning. "Well, good luck, girl! I've gotta get out of here before someone sees me!"
"Bye then," I sighed, as, in a single splash, the gross, slime-oozing creature was gone, and I was left alone, dripping wet and shivering, the unpleasant smell of smoke lingering the air around. Now not even the air seemed so kosher. Looking ahead at the burnt remains of half of New Middleton, panic was still rather widespread, but at least the blaze had now disappeared. People were standing around with hoses and buckets, breathing a sigh of relief as their efforts finally paid off, and erupting in a series of cheers.
Sighing, I staggered to me feet, to hear the unnerving sound of police sirens heading this way. I flinched, but of course it ended up having nothing to do with me. Water-law enforcement was on its way, heading across in a great fleet of boats, right toward where the Hammerheads were still splashing about with their hoverboards.
"Geez, it's the cops!" I heard Brick proclaim. "Come on, guys, let's get out of here!"
And they leapt on their Hoverboard 4003s and sped away, the police fleets still in pursuit. Looking over in another direction, I noticed the 2018 Dr Drakken still standing there, kicking the platform furiously over his stolen transport, totally unaware of how close he had just come to certain death. Or maybe so, in a way. It was his 2003 self who'd sent me out on this mission, wasn't it? Time sure was a confusing thing. But, confusing or not, I'd completed my mission. I'd been successful. Now all I had to do was hang around and wait for 2003 Drakken to swoop down in the 626 and head home.
Only, there was still something, at the very back of my mind, that still bothered me. And it wasn't too hard to figure out what it was.
"Hey, there!" I jumped as this strange middle-aged guy came sneaking up from behind. "I see you're still slightly shocked by what just happened. Well, don't panic, because everything's gonna be okay. They got the blaze out before it really spread, and, as yet, the death toll looks like it'll be staying at zero! Life can return to normal round here before you know it! In a way, all this reminds us of just how lucky we really are round here - let's just take time to spare a thought for those who are less fortunate than us residents of New Middleton!" He held out a collection jar and rattled the coins within. "How about donating a couple of hundred bucks toward the more deprived aquatic communities round here?"
"Round where?" I asked.
"Well, you can't see them directly from where we're standing, but, come on, you know they're out there! You know, like Lowerton? The most depressing, crime-ridden place in the whole known aquatic region one can live? Where folks always end up living when things hit rock bottom for them? You have any idea what it's like to live there? Having to always sleep with one eye open? Having no bars, no restaurants, no public libraries, barely even enough material to build a house out of? Having to eat scraps straight out of other communities' garbage, which they always come and dump in your living space? Some people say that since these people are about as valuable as garbage, they deserve to live in it, but not me! Me and my charity are here to make a stand against that kind of attitude and help these communities get back on their feet once and for all! I mean, we're sick of getting these constant pleas for help from never-ending messages in bottles that keep coming our way - they're so poor, it's their only means of communication! And some of the stuff they write is so heartbreaking, it's high time that someone paid attention to these guys! I mean here, we give out sample letters for publicity. Take a read of this!"
I sighed and took it. A scrap of grimy paper with thin, dark letters inked desperately upon it. One good glance at those letters was enough to make my eyes widen beyond belief, and my heart skip almost fifty beats.
"Yeah, I know, it's horrific what the writer of that cry for help has obviously had to go through, isn't it?"
"Yeah. . .it's horrific alright." I could barely stand up straight just looking at it. "Listen. . . I'm sorry, I gotta go!"
"But. . ."
"Don't worry, I'm gonna help these people. Or, at least, one of them! Just in a different way!" I pushed past him and ran, still clutching that letter hard. When on my own, I read it again, but nothing had changed. That desperate, screaming handwriting still glared back up at me viciously, until finally I could take it no more and had to stuff it down into my pocket for the sake of my consciousness. Trembling, I punched it downward with my fist and grit my teeth.
"Right," I said to myself. "It's time to show that DNAmy who's future has been ruined! It's time to fix the future!"
_
"Hi there, and welcome to Monique's Retrospective Gift store!" the cheery thirtysomething woman at the counter greeted me as I entered her store. "What can I do for you, friend?"
"You can help me out with righting a few pretty nasty wrongs!" I replied. "I'm looking for a book? You got 'em?"
"Oh yeah. Particularly now that the library's gone, this is like the only place left in the whole of New Middleton to get hold of antique books! You've come to right place, friend, so what can I do for you?"
"Yeah. . .I'm looking for a book here. You got anything at all in the field of sporting statistics?"
"Oh cool, another sport's fan! What are *you* into? Football, soccer, tennis, ice hockey. . . ?"
"Hey, I don't really care about the particular sport! All I care about is the time it focuses on! I'm looking for a particular era here! Anything from the time zone of, I don't know, around 2007?"
"Whoa - the innocent ages, huh? Well, sadly books from that era are have been a little hard to get hold of after the great flooding and all, but, like I told you, you've come to the right place and I still mean it! It just so happens that we do have a single sporting statistics book from that era focussing on a very special sport." She leaned over and seized a dusty but mint-looking book. "An entire decade of sporting statistics for the GWA - 2000-2010!"
"That's the Global Wrestling Association, right?"
"Yeah, you bet! Only the greatest sport known to humankind!"
"I know I said I wasn't too bothered about the particular sport, but. . . I don't know. . .haven't you got anything a bit more upmarket than pro- wrestling?"
"Upmarket? Hey, didn't you ever live that decade? Didn't you ever enjoy a single pro-wrestling match in your life? I remember those wonderful days so well. . .Pain King ruled!"
"Whatever. I guess that beggars can't be choosers. And this book will tell me exactly which wrestler won which match over the decade in question?"
"You bet!"
"Then I'll take it!"
"Great! Regular retail price for an item like that would be fifty dollars twenty cents, but I'll let you have it for forty nine dollars twenty two cents."
"Didn't you hear me? I said, I'll take it!" And with that I bolted out the store and ran.
-
"I can't lose!" I was telling myself, as I stood, back around the secluded wooden platform, flicking through my latest booty. "It's all right here, in black and white! When we get back to 2003, we'll see who's in for a rich and plentiful future and who ain't!"
And then came a familiar voice. "Hey, Shego, over here!" I spun round and saw Dr Drakken standing there (2003), grinning his usual megalomanic grin as he strode his way over. "I see that all went to plan! Those irritating Hammerheads are well out of the region, while I see my future self still altogether in one piece, poised to carry out his next bid for global domination!"
"Hey, Doc, you know you lied to me, didn't you? You said those guys where out to get you because they considered you dangerous competition. Turns out all you did was bust up their leader's water-hopper - it was this mutation Gill they were after!"
"Yes, well, I'm sure within time those thugs will come to know and fear the name of the formidable Dr Drakken!"
I shook my head. "You know what? It's never gonna happen, is it? You know it'll never happen because you're already seeing it happen right before your eyes! This is your future, Drakken! Like it or lump it, it's already been set, and unless you do something about it, you're gonna spend your entire life struggling around at the bottom of the food chain, always another fifty miles from ever reaching the top! Me, since coming to this dismal place, I've had a breakthrough!" I held up the GWA statistics book high. "I'm gonna do something about it! It's high time we took the future into our own hands and cashed in big! See this book right here? It represents the key to a better future at long last!"
"How could a mere book represent anything?"
"It's a sporting statistics book! It tells me exactly who's gonna win each wrestling match for the next seven years of our time. All I've got to do is go back, bet on what it tells me to bet on and, before you know it, I'll be the richest living creature in existence! Why should I have to worry about what happens to me in the future then? I'll be set for life!"
Drakken's eyes widened with horror. "Shego, throw that thing into the water right now!"
"What? Hey, no way! This is my one and only chance to make it big in the future, and I'm not gonna just toss it away like yesterday's trash!"
"Just do it, Shego! I didn't spend years fiddling around with that 626 and building a time machine out of it just to win at petty gambling. I built it to take over the world!"
"And, I'm all for that! What's wrong with making a few extra bucks on the side?"
"Shego, I know exactly how I'm gonna exploit the time continuum for world domination! The diabolical schemes must always be my department! Anything you could do would only be an interference on my plan! Remember, I'm the evil genius here! You try taking these things into your own hands, and you'll only end up completely throwing them off course!"
I sighed. "Listen, Drakken, I'm worried about my future here. Your future, thanks to me, may I add, may now be all well and safe, but as for me. . .well, I'm not so sure."
"Well, why not? Leave everything up to me and just do all the fighting when I tell you, and what could go wrong? Hear me now, Shego, this timeline in the year 2018 will no longer exist the second we leave. It'll no longer come be! For you see, the second I exploit the space time continuum to for my own advantage, we'll create an alternate timeline, in which I rule the world, and so the next time 2018 rolls around, this town will effectively be. . .NEW DRAKKEN-VILLE!"
"Really? Then why did you even bring me here in the first place to save your future butt if the future you would have been okay anyway?"
"Because I'm not taking any risks here, Shego! What if something had gone wrong? Besides which, no matter which timeline or dimension it may be, it's a point of principle - no one interferes with Dr Drakken and gets away with it! Now give that book to me and I won't even toss it in the river. I'll ensure it has a nice, dignified disposal, in a garbage can!"
Sighing, I grudgingly handed over the GWA statistics book, and allowed him to dump it into the nearest trash can.
"Fine, now let's get back to the 626! I parked it just behind that building over there, so let's go and get on with my big plan!"
"Okay, but I'm keeping this hoverboard here as a souvenir - it's actually a pretty cool device!" Low, I know, having stolen a little kid's toy and now keeping it, but hey, you heard what Dr Drakken said. As soon as we got out of this time zone this whole scenario probably wouldn't even exist. Which made me feel strangely sad, in a way, and confused. I'd just be relieved to get out.
And then, as I took one last glance around, I suddenly had a horrible fright. Standing there, not too far off, staring, was DNAmy. Poised upon the saddle of a strange, aquatic-looking mule, staring at us with an expression that could only be described as blank. For a few moments I was frozen there, wondering - had she heard it all? That couldn't be good. We couldn't let anyone know about the 626. We exchanged blank stares for a few moments more. I thought, alternative timeline, and then pushed off to catch up with Dr Drakken, as he encircled the 626. Then he suddenly froze, as though something had taken him too by shock.
"Oh please, don't tell me I left the car door open!"
"What?"
"Commodore Puddles! He's gone!"
"Really?" I glanced down over to the back seat. Yep, he was telling the truth. The 626 door was wide open and the back of the car was clean as a whistle. "Yeh, what d'ya know? He's disappeared!"
"He could be anywhere around this whole damned aquatic community; anywhere at all!"
"Oh well. I hope he'll be very happy round here! Let's just go!"
"Hold it, Shego! We have to look for him first! We can't just leave him here!"
"Why not?" I protested. "He's a savage, snarling, vicious little monster! I think most of your goons will be happy to see the back of him!"
"That savage, snarling, vicious little monster is my dog, and vital to my experimental research! Do you have any idea how long it took me to locate the most depraved, evil and sinister dog I could find before I acquired him? I'm not going to subject myself to that again! No! We're not going anywhere until that dog is safely found and back in the back seat of that flying time machine! Now, come on, let's go!"
Grudgingly, and still wet, singed and exhausted, I summed up the energy just to pick myself up and trail back out after him into the open aquatic suburbia. We should have known better. Well, *I* should have known better, it doesn't surprise me with Dr Drakken. We should never have left the 626 unattended like that, even for second. We should have guessed what was going to happen. But, I guess, I still wasn't thinking straight. I was still too caught up in fears about my own future up ahead. Regardless of whether or not this current timeline would ever occur or not, I knew, deep inside, that it's mere existence at all, no matter how brief, was worrying enough. I only had to pull out that letter from a resident of Lowerton in my pocket and glance down at that lettering once again to know that it was justified.
I didn't show Dr Drakken that letter. I kept it to myself. I knew that if I did he'd remind me, vocally, the last thing I wanted to hear, even though I knew it for sure myself. That that handwriting, with its desperate spindly lettering, was my own.
***
Okay, end of Chapter 10. Sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoyed it none the less. Don't forget to review! I'll bring you Chapter Eleven as soon as I can!
Here's a sneak preview to get your literate taste buds rolling:
After a brief delay, Drakken and Shego have now made their way safely back to the year 2003. Only, something is definitely up with the present on their return - in fact most of Middleton is now lying in ruins and total anarchy now rules!