"Of Friends and Foes"
Chapter 9:The Confrontation Part 2
Lord Monkeyfist led Kim to a large room. The walls reached high into the sky. Walkways protruded from the wall about five feet above the floor. There, many types of weapons decorated the walls. There were swords, spears, shields and other bladed weapons, but no projectile weapons. At the far side of the room, in a chair upon a dais, sat Duke. He was listening to someone in front of him. The voice sounded familiar to Kim. "My Massster iss pleassed that the new Lord of the Blood Royals hass been freed. He wishess that you keep the contract we had with the Duchesss," the person hissed. Kim gripped her throat when she recognized the hissing voice.
Duke looked bored, "I am glad your master is pleased with my release. Give him my thanks Greaper, for if it had not been for your Nega-matter bomb, this," he pulled out a black, broken jewel that was hanging around his neck, "Would have never become a Black Heart Pendant." Duke laughed a little, "The Ruby Heart Pendant kept me trapped inside that bleeding heart's body, but now the roles have been reversed. Be that as it may, I am not the fool Duchess was. I do not fear your master as she did. So you may go tell him that I refuse, and that I do not want to see any of his spies in my domain again. Have you got that clear, Greaper?"
Greaper shrank back from Duke, "Yesss, it iss clear. I will go tell my Massster your reply."
"Good," said Duke, "Here, let me help you on your way." A dagger suddenly appeared in his hand, and just as quickly it was flying toward Greaper. It struck and Greaper let out a soul-shaking howl. In a cloud of smoke he disappeared, leaving only a scorch mark on the floor.
"So I guess I was right, you are T. And as impossible as it sounds, you are also a vampire," said Kim as she stepped out onto the floor.
Duke stood up and stepped down off the dais. "You are half right. Yes indeed I am a vampire, but not just any vampire. I am the Lord of the Blood Royals, which is to say that I rule all vampires everywhere in existence. But I am not that weakling T. He required the Ruby Heart Pendant and a serum he developed to suppress me. I am sure you heard the story how I got out of my prison." Kim walked to the center of the floor; Duke stood just at the foot of the dais.
"You talk like you and he are two different people," spoke Kim.
"We are," replied Duke. "He kept me locked away deep inside, using my power for his own purpose, and yet he always let those two freaks out."
"What freaks are you talking about? The only one I see is you," said Kim.
Duke began circling Kim, keeping the distance between them the same. "You don't remember them then? I did block your memory of the contact, but you seem to have recovered some of it. No matter, let's get on with the matter at hand."
Duke jumped back up onto the dais and sat down in the chair. "I take it you've seen the mark on your neck?" he said.
Kim nodded, "Yes, but I don't think it worked. I still have a reflection."
"A reflection," laughed Duke, "My dear I bit you to give you vampiric strength, not to turn you. Not yet at least, besides, I still have my reflection. You will still have yours when you are fully turned. Only a very low level of vampire does not cast a reflection. The vampires in your stories are all low level ones. High level ones such as myself, and soon to be yourself, do not have such weaknesses." Kim listened as Duke explained about the vampire hierarchy. "But we'll worry about all that later," he said. "As I said, I gave you vampiric strength. You should be feeling it, but we need to test it to see if you can use it properly. There have been some that can't use it well and they end up getting themselves killed." Duke snapped his fingers and the floor started opening below Kim's feet. Kim leaped back from the hole, a platform rose up from below with a doppelganger of Kim on it. "Now, you have fought one of these before," explained Duke, "And you did not fair too well against it. This one is unique. I designed the doppelgangers with some of my DNA to make them stronger than normal humans. This one has all that and Shego's DNA as well, making it stronger than the normal doppelganger. If you can utilize your newfound strength, you should have no problem whatsoever defeating it."
When Duke finished talking, the doppelganger attacked Kim. It had seemed as if time slowed down as Kim saw the attack coming. The doppelganger was slow moving to her and she countered the attack and threw the doppelganger around behind her. It all took a matter of seconds in actuality, and when Kim threw the doppelganger, it slammed into the wall far behind her with a sickening thud. Kim looked around in horror at what she did, and that she could sense the heart beat of the doppelganger slow down. Duke clapped his hands, and the platform went below. Moments later it came back up with two more doppelgangers, one of Kim and one of Ron. They walked past Kim to the other doppelganger and dragged it back to the platform. The platform lowered, but the two stayed behind. When the platform returned once again, the doppelgangers turned and faced Kim. Duke snapped his fingers and they leapt at Kim. Kim was still in shock at what she had done to the other doppelganger so instinct took over. Just as before, time slowed down for Kim. She found herself in a roundhouse just as the doppelgangers closed in. The doppelgangers flew back and landed on the platform, their heads twisted backwards. Kim dropped to her knees, not believing what she had done. Duke clapped his hands and the platform lowered and the floor closed back. Duke stood up and walked down off the dais clapping. "Congratulations, you took to it like a duck to water, and you killed your boyfriend to boot," he laughed.
The anger Kim felt earlier began to return. Kim stood up and looked Duke in the face. "What was the purpose of having me do that?" Kim said angrily.
Duke smiled, "To break your connection to your past. My killing Ron and your killing him helps to make you forget him."
Kim clenched her fists, "I will never forget Ron," she said, and threw a punch at Duke which was dodged. "I will never join you!" another punch, "And I will never be your queen either!"
Duke caught Kim's fist this time. "That's it, use your anger. It makes you stronger." He released Kim and she began a barrage of punches and kicks. Duke dodged each one as he continued speaking. "You have lost everything you ever cared about. Ron is gone, your family, your friends. I even had your town razed. There is nothing left to go back to. And when a person has nothing else left to lose, that person becomes very dangerous." Duke retreated from Kim and leapt upon the walkway on the wall. He pulled a spear off the wall and threw it into the floor in front of Kim. "You will be my queen, my dear Kim. If you don't want to, then you must defeat me," he said. Kim pulled the spear out of the floor, and Duke pulled another off the wall.
Duke stepped off the walkway. Twirling the spear, he circled around Kim. "Come, give me fight worthy of the new Lady of the Blood Royals." Kim swung the spear at Duke who in turn blocked with his own. Kim attacked several more times at different angles, Duke blocking each one until he attacked and broke Kim's spear. Kim tossed aside the broken spear. Duke threw his at the wall so that it stuck in it and caused a dagger to fall onto the walkway. Kim charged at Duke again, she threw a punch at him and this time it connected. Duke just stood there, Kim continued hitting him repeatedly. Duke wasn't even fazed. He stood there taking every hit. Kim stopped hitting him, she looked up at him and he laughed. "I truly have nothing to worry about with you. You have proved to me that I am superior, but you are not a full vampire yet so you still tire easily. Once you are, your strength will increase even more, but you will not surpass my own."
"I wish you would stop saying that," growled Kim. She tried to kick him, but he grabbed her leg and swung her around. He let her go and she hit the wall above the walkway. Some of the blades cut her arms and back as she fell to the ground. Her vision was blurry as Duke jumped up onto the walkway. She saw something flash in front of her and she reached out and grabbed it. Duke picked her up off the floor and held her face close to his.
"It is over now my dear, your blood smells sweet and as I drink you shall become my queen." Duke opened his mouth, his fangs extended, and as he was about to bite he screamed out in pain.
He dropped Kim and reached for his shoulder, trying to get something out of it. "No, not that," he said, staggering back. "Where did you get that?" He miss stepped and fell to the floor below.
Kim shook her head to clear it, "I will never forgive you for what you have done!" She picked up the dagger that was lying on the floor and jumped down. Duke managed to get to his feet. He held his head, shaking it back and forth as if he was in pain. Kim ran full force at Duke in a fiery rage with the dagger poised outward. Just as she was about to connect, she was stopped when he caught the dagger. Kim tried to push it, but Duke grabbed her hand trying to make her let go.
"You shouldn't do that in anger. That was the mistake I made," he said. "Let me do it instead," and he pulled the dagger out of Kim's hands. Kim looked at Duke and saw sorrow in his eyes, she then realized what happened. Duke thrust the dagger into his gut. He dropped to his knees and smiled, "You had no idea what this was when you got it. I hid it from you, this is a sacred blade and it is effective against us." Kim watched in silence, she knew that this was T talking now.
"You fool. You would sacrifice yourself to stop me?" said Duke.
"Yes," said T, "It is what makes me strong."
The dagger began to glow, the light spread out over him. Kim covered her eyes as the light became too bright to look at. A vibration like soundless thunder shook the floor and the light disappeared. Kim uncovered her eyes and saw T as she knew him lying on the floor. The dagger was laying broken in two in front of him. She didn't see as much blood as she expected to. She walked over to him and knelt down. Out of the back side of his shoulder Kim saw the red shard she had stuck in him. She had expected him to let her go, but she hadn't expected it to draw out T. The shard fell out of his shoulder. Kim checked his stomach where he had impaled himself. There was blood on his shirt, but through the slit in it she could see the wound slowly healing. "I expected to be dead by now." Kim jumped at the sound of his voice.
"What happened?" asked Kim.
"Don't really know myself," he said as he tried to sit up. "Listen, not all he said was true."
"I know that," said Kim. T placed his finger on her lips, telling her to stop talking.
"Not all he said was true, but he believed it to be. The Ruby Heart Pendant kept him locked in my heart, but he could influence me so I had to steel myself against him. When the tables turned, I could influence him. Since I was stronger I could make him do something without him knowing it." A groan came from the other side of the room. Kim and T looked over in the direction from which it came. A man with long blonde hair in a gray outfit sat up, it was Duke.
T cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Well, just call me Dr. Jekyll. It looks like that dagger ripped the Hyde out of me." T grabbed Kim's hand and placed the shard in it. "Go sit in the chair and press the top button. That will take you down, when you get there go out the door to your left. Use this and follow your heart, it will lead you to what you seek.' Kim did as he said, when she pressed the button the whole dais began to lower. Just before she was below the floor line, she saw T stand up. He held his hand out and a thin wire shot out from his sleeve, wrapped around a sword and drew it back in. The last thing she heard before the top closed was T speaking. "You're too dangerous to be left free."
When the dais stopped moving Kim stood up and looked around. The platform that brought up the doppelgangers was in front of her. Behind that were three capsules, inside them were the doppelgangers she had fought upstairs. Kim turned away from them and headed out the door to the left. The hallway was a maze as the ones she had been through before were. She opened her hand and looked at the shard, "Follow your heart?" The shard glowed and a feeling of serenity came over Kim. From the back of her mind she heard a voice call out to her, tell her where to go. She looked at the shard in her hand glowing brightly, she decided to follow the voice. She ran through the winding corridors. She soon noticed that some of the doors were marked. It was a laboratory she was running to. She stopped at a door marked Project DG, she pressed her hand to the plate at the side of the door and it opened. Inside many capsules were embedded in the walls. Kim looked in one marked SMN, inside it was something that looked like a cross between a man and a monkey. Many of the capsules had the same marking as the one she looked in. Further in was another corridor with just a few capsules. Some were marked SRS and some were marked SKP. One alone was marked SKS, Kim looked inside to find it empty. She looked in one of the SRS capsules and saw Ron inside it. Quickly she checked the ones marked SKP and found one with her inside it. "This must be where they created the doppelgangers," Kim said to herself.
An object between two of the SRS capsules caught Kim's eye. She ran her hand over it and a door opened up in front of her. The room was dark except for a cylinder that ran from roof to floor. Inside the cylinder, suspended in a liquid was a body. Kim recognized who it was right away. Even though a mask covered half his face, she had seen the boxers several times. "Ron!" Kim yelled out. Ron opened his eyes and looked at Kim. "Ron, it really is you. The real you this time," said Kim.
"Kim Possible!" came a surprised voice from the doorway.
Kim turned around, "Dr. Drakken."
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm here to get Ron," she warned him.
"But, but how did you find this place?" Drakken asked shakily.
"That doesn't matter," Kim said. "Do you know how to get Ron out of this thing?" Drakken nodded his head. "Then do it," said Kim. Dr. Drakken moved over to a console by the door and pressed a few buttons. The liquid in the cylinder drained out leaving Ron on the bottom. The glass rose into the ceiling. Kim ran to him, pulled the tubes out of his arms, pulled off the mask and hugged him tightly.
Ron returned the hug lightly, "It's good to see you too KP, but do you mind if I get some clothes on. It's kind of chilly in here." Kim laughed and let him go.
Ron's mission clothes were found in a cabinet nearby and the two left the room, Drakken had run after he released Ron. Kim helped Ron walk, as he was still weak from being in suspension. The two teens stepped out into the hallway and were met by T.
"Follow me," he said. He led them down to another area where he opened a door to a stairwell. Kim and Ron noticed as they followed T that he was badly injured. "Don't worry about it," T said.
Kim and Ron looked at each other, "We didn't say anything," they said in unison.
"I could tell what you were thinking. Don't worry about it I'll be OK, just keep walking, we're running out of time."
"Where are we going?" asked Kim.
"Holding cell, then we are getting off this ship," he answered. They walked down the stairs to the holding cell. T opened a door and leaned against the wall. "Go on in and get them,' he said. Kim started to say something, but T held up his hand. "I'm not going to lock you in, I just figured you wanted to be the one to get your family. If you don't trust me I'll go, if you do hurry."
"Go on Kim," said Ron, "I'll stay here." Kim entered the room, it was small and another door was on the other side. The door was electronically locked like the lab door. Kim placed her hand on the plate to the side and the door opened.
"Kim!" cried out two voices. Jim and Tim ran out the door. "You should have seen the fight after you left, it was awesome," they said together.
"Oh Kimmie are you okay?"
"I'm fine Mom," Kim said. "What did Jim and Tim mean by the fight after I left?" she asked.
"We saw everything you did on a closed circuit television," Mr. Possible answered.
"We need to go people, the clock's a-tickin'," T hollered in the door.
The Possible Family exited into the hallway, "What's the hurry?" asked Kim.
"I'm about to tell everyone now," T said. He pulled up his left sleeve revealing a very technical looking gauntlet. He held down a button and spoke into it. "Attention crew, the Bloodwind is set to self-destruct in thirty minutes. Repeat, the Bloodwind is set to self-destruct in thirty minutes. Please go to the nearest escape vessel, this is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. If you want to live to see tomorrow, get out of here now!" T held his hand out toward the end of the hallway. "This way please," he said and started walking. Moments later he stopped and turned to a blank wall. He stuck his hand on the wall and felt for a seam. He found one and pulled his hand back and punched a hole through the wall at the seam, then a second one lower down the wall.
"Cool!" said Jim and Tim.
"Our exit is on the other side of this wall," said T, "Kim, if you would pull on that side I'll pull on this one. Trust me. You can do it, no problem." T grabbed the wall where he punched holes in it. Kim followed suit. "Now pull," said T. Kim pulled at the wall and slowly it peeled back. Behind the wall was a hanger with a small craft inside it. "There should be enough space inside it. This was Duke's personal craft, get in and buckle up." Everyone got onboard and found a seat. T stumbled up the ramp and dropped into the pilot's seat. He turned on the ship's computer and quickly typed on the keyboard. "Our take off is going to be rough, as in an emergency drop out of the bottom of the ship. I've set the autopilot to take you home. As for me, I've reached my limit." T's head dropped down, before anybody could say anything the floor dropped out. It seemed like they were falling forever before they cleared the ship and the autopilot kicked in.
Mrs. Possible checked on T, "He's asleep," she said and sat back in her seat. Kim looked out the window and saw other vessels leaving the Bloodwind, and after the thirty minutes were up, it was engulfed in a series of explosions