Chapter 8
The next morning Drakken woke up early and stepped down into his lab. He smiled when he saw Kim and Ron still in shackles.
"You, know, I was thinking last night, I ought to give this death ray a test run before I send it up into space," said Drakken.
He stepped up to the death ray which was sitting in the rocket's open launch bay, and aimed the ray right at Kim Possible's head.
"So long, Kim Possible", said Drakken as he pulled the trigger, and the ray hummed and filled with energy.
"I love you Kim!", shouted Ron. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next. A few moments passed, and nothing happened.
"What's wrong with this thing?", shouted Drakken as he shut it down and opened the maintenance panel. An empty space showed a component was obviously missing.
Kim looked up at Ron. His eyes were still closed. She remembered kissing him at the prom, and during the few dates they'd had since then. When his eyes opened, she saw tears.
"KP you're alright!", shouted Ron with a big smile.
"I love you too, Ron", said Kim, wishing she could hold him close.
"How touching", said Shego as she walked down the stairs into the lab, "I always thought you'd fall for the dufus. Great taste in men you have there Kimmie…" Shego laughed.
Kim retaliated, "You shouldn't be talking about taste in men, Shego, when your idea of a hot guy is Drakken, of all people. Talk about yuck. And believe me, it's obvious."
Shego lit up her hand and punched Kim in the face.
"You know nothing about my taste in men, Possible", said Shego with an angry face, and she punched Kim in the stomach.
Kim coughed and said, "Whatever."
Drakken was able to hear their conversation from across the room. He looked at his reflection in the metal plating of the death ray. He didn't think it possible for a moment that Kim's comment about Shego liking him could be right. He'd learned long ago that no woman would ever be attracted to him. In college, after years of rejection and constant heartache, he built a robot girl, to take to a dance. His friends laughed at him. Then after an experiment went wrong and he ended up with light blue skin, he became even more of an outcast. With a scar down his cheek, sunken eyes with dark circles under them, and light-blue skin, he looked sinister. His appearance sometimes even frightened people. After many years he learned to accept his fate. He learned to ignore his heart, and focus on his work. He didn't bother flirting with women, because he knew he would be rejected.
For years he lived that way, until the day he had met DNAmy, one year ago. She had to be the most ugly, obese, troll of a woman on the planet. But she was sweet. She called Drakken hunny-bunny and sugar-booger. She even said he was "cute". She was really ugly, but she was the only woman to ever show any interest in Drakken. He let his heart open up to her, as they worked together on another one of his failed schemes. When she risked her life to save him, he couldn't hold in his feelings any longer. He told her he loved her. Then she rejected him, saying she loved Monkey Fist! Monkey Fist of all people! A man whose ultimate goal in life is to become a monkey! She had just flirted with Drakken, because she flirted with everyone. She didn't love him. He had been rejected by the ugliest woman he had ever met. It was the lowest point in his life. At that point he realized no woman would ever love him. So the idea that Shego, who was as beautiful as a supermodel, could ever be attracted to him was preposterous. He dismissed the notion immediately, as soon as he heard Kim suggest it. He had learned to live with rejection and didn't want to get up his hopes and have his heart broken to pieces again. Plus, she was a very useful sidekick. He did not want her to freak out and leave. If she ever left he would miss her terribly. In a way, she was his only friend.
As he examined the death ray carefully, he finally realized what was missing- the diamond needed to focus or expand the beam. He'd have to steal a large diamond to get the death ray to work.
"Shego! This death ray is missing a part!", he shouted, "We need a large diamond. The larger the better, for a wide range beam."
"Large diamond, huh?", she said, "I think I know where we could get one."
She walked over to a computer and pulled up the website of the Louvre museum in Paris France. They were having a three month long exhibit of the largest gems of the world. She clicked on a picture and it showed a close-up of the world's largest diamond.
"Pack your bags, Shego. We're going to Paris", said Drakken with a grin.
