"Another day, another dollar, right Pego?" Drakken cheerfully asked the stuffed penguin in his shirt pocket as he closed up the flower shop for the night. "I do so love the satisfaction of an honest day's work!" He locked the door and pulled down the window shades, unaware of the figure in the shadows following his every move.
"Come, Pego, let me show you my latest scheme," Drakken said, sitting down behind the counter. He set the stuffed bird down in front of him. "Sales of our ceramic flower pots have been lackluster at best. I have a plan that will have them flying off the shelves! Are you ready for this? Celebrity flower pots!"
Drakken reach under the counter and pulled out a pot with a man's face on it. He held it out for Pego to admire. "It's ingenious, isn't it? We put his face on every pot and make a fortune!" He paused. "It will too work!" Another pause. "I've had it with your sass! You'll eat those words when these flower pots take the country by storm!"
"Somehow I doubt that," Shego said, stepping out of the shadows.
Drakken jumped. "Shego!" He gasped. "How did you get in here?"
"The back door wasn't locked in any serious way," Shego replied. She picked up the flower pot. "Sorry, Dr. Drakken, but I have to agree with Pego on this one. Hitler flower pots are a bad idea."
"Hitler flower pots are a great idea!" Drakken said. "The key is name recognition! Everybody on the planet's heard of Hitler! Plus the release date will coincide with his birthday, which just happens to occur in the spring, which is gardening season! It's genius!"
"Uh-huh," Shego smirked. "What marketing juggernaut do you have planned for winter, a line of little flower-sized fur coats?"
"I see you haven't changed a bit," Drakken huffed. "What are you doing here?"
"Glad you asked. Dr. Drakken…"
"Drew. I'm Drew now. As in Drew's House of Flowers."
"No you're not!" Shego snapped. "You are Dr. Drakken, evil genius, and I'm your partner! You're the brains and I'm the brawn! Together we try to take over the world on a weekly, sometimes daily basis!"
"We did, once," Drakken said. "But that was a long time ago."
"It was last month!" Shego snapped. "Listen to me. We were brainwashed! You, me, and a whole bunch of other super villains! It happened at Paradise Valley!"
"Really?" Drakken said, raising an eyebrow. "Do go on."
"The owner, Lord Adderly, is behind it," Shego said. "I don't know how and I don't know why, but I'm guessing he wants to take over the world and is getting rid of the competition!"
"Indeed. So what do you plan to do?"
"I was thinking an all-out assault on Paradise Valley! We can round up all of the other brainwashed super villains. Once we de-program them they'll be itching to destroy the place! There won't be a single cabana left standing once we're through with it! But first we have to destroy those stress buddies!"
"The stress buddies?" Drakken echoed nervously.
"They're what keeps you stuck behind this counter instead of building death rays in a lab! Once they're gone nothing can stop us!" Shego reached for Pego, but Drakken snatched him up. "Give him to me." She said evenly. "Trust me, it's for your own good."
"You can't have Pego!" Drakken cried. "He's my best friend!"
"Sorry, Dr. D., but Pego has a date with the paper shredder."
"No!" Drakken yelled. He made a break for the back door but Shego quickly cut him off. He turned and ran towards the front but once again Shego got ahead of him and blocked the door. In desperation he ran back to the counter and snatched up the flower pot, holding it above his head.
"Stay back!" He cried. "I'm not afraid to use this!"
"This is pointless, Dr. Drakken," Shego said, irritation creeping into her voice. "I will get that stupid penguin! So why don't you hand it over now while I'm still in a good mood!"
Suddenly the front door vibrated with the sound of sharp banging noises. "Mr. Lipsky? It's the police," a husky voice cried from the other side. "The silent alarm was triggered. Are you all right?"
Shego stared at Drakken in shock. "I'm sorry, Shego," Drakken said sadly. "But it's for your own good."
The door burst open and two uniformed officers spilled into the room. "FREEZE OR WE'LL SHOOT!" The husky-voiced copcried, but Shego had already made it to the back door, blasted it open, and disappeared into the night.
> > > > > >
Though it was well past midnight, Paradise Valley was lit up like Christmas. Shego stared at the building from her vantage point in the tree, using her night vision goggles to study the movements of the security cameras. She grabbed the trunk for support, right in a sticky spot that was oozing sap. Shego mentally cursed and wiped her hand on her outfit. She hated using trees for cover, but it was the only spot on the grounds not bathed in bright moonlight.
Shego had come to Paradise Valley straight from the flower shop; thanks to Drakken, time was of the essence. He had probably told the cops everything, which meant she could forget about approaching any of the other super villains for help or even go back to her apartment. In fact, because of Drakken she had to go ahead with her plan that very night, and take out Lord Adderley before he could be warned.
Even though she knew Drakken wasn't himself, a part of Shego still couldn't believe he'd called the cops on her. Drakken had attempted mind control many times, but he'd never achieved the level of success she had witnessed earlier that night. It was so…thorough, like it had infected his very soul. Even if she found a way to destroy the stress buddies, would it make a difference? Would Drakken return to normal, or was he too far gone to save?
A large cloud floated across the moon, plunging the grounds around the resort into darkness. Shego quickly snapped out of her thoughts; this was the opportunity she had been waiting for. She climbed down the tree and sprinted across the lawn in a zigzagging motion to avoid the gaze of the security cameras. In no time at all she had reached the main building, scaled the wall and climbed onto the roof. Recalling from memory the layout of Paradise Valley, she casually walked over to a nearby skylight and peered into the room below. It was dark and inviting; she opened the window and soundlessly dropped into Sunny Daye's office.
Shego shined a small flashlight around the room; Sunny's office was small and tidy, with nothing that suggested it was anything other than a legitimate place of business. Shego, however, was positive Sunny was involved in Lord Adderley's master plan (whatever that was). She made her way over to the filing cabinet, broke the lock on the drawer marked A-D and retrieved Drakken's folder.
Shego's eyes widened; Drakken's file read like a hospital patient's. The first document was a biography; Drakken's life was carefully broken down and listed chronologically in one-paragraph bites, from his early years to his life as a super villain. Each of his take-over-the-world plots were thoroughly documented, including their eventual failure at the hands of Kim Possible. But it was the final sentence that caught Shego's interest:
Guest is classic example of a megalomaniacal egomaniac with delusions of grandeur, typical of your average super villain. Recommended treatment 4739GD.
Directly below that was Lord Adderley's signature.
Shego flipped through the next document; it was a record of Drakken's stay at Paradise Valley:
DAY ONE
Guest145 is loud and irritable. Summoned housekeeping to his room three times to clean bathroom, claiming that "They" were sending mutant germs to make him sick and therefore vulnerable to attack. 145 refused to elaborate as to who "They" were.
DAY FOUR
Guest145 refuses to eat anything with flour in it, claiming that's what "They" wanted. Treatment will continue at same levels for now, but add daily facial and massage.
DAY SEVEN
Guest145 is much more relaxed, but still prone to dramatic outbursts. He threw a fit at breakfast because there was pulp in his orange juice, which nearly undid a week's worth of treatment. 145 was calmed and convinced to take a nap. Increase treatment to Level 4.
DAY ELEVEN
Guest145 is showing wonderful progress. Villain tendencies are almost extinguished. Increase treatment to Level 5.
DAY FOURTEEN
Guest145 has checked out. Paid tab in full, including mini bar. Housekeeping reports nothing missing from his room. Treatment appears to be a success.
The third and final document was labeled "Post-Treatment Report." It contained several accounts of Drakken's activities following his stay at Paradise Valley. Shego skimmed them, with one entry catching her eye:
FIELD LOG #4
145's Primary Employee (PE) quit following loud altercation. PE was the one factor that could possibly trigger 145 relapse; her resignation indicates treatment was a complete success. Expect PE to visit Paradise Valley. Description of PE has been passed to staff; when she arrives management is to be notified immediately.
Shego's pulse raced. She quickly broke the lock on the drawer marked Q-T; sure enough, there was her file. She didn't even look at it, opting instead to destroy the filing cabinet in a fit of rage. Her angry thirst for destruction having been satisfied, she calmed down and collected herself. Things were much worse that she thought; Paradise Valley had been two steps ahead of her the entire time, and if she was going to catch up every move she made from now on had to be cool and calculated. She quickly searched the rest of Sunny's office; finding nothing of interest, she left through the door and headed down the hall to Lord Adderley's office.
As she grabbed the door to his office, she instinctively stopped and listened for voices; much to her surprise, she heard not one, but two, and they sounded very familiar…
"Kim Possible!" Shego cried, slamming the door open.
Kim and Ron jumped in surprise. "Shego!" Kim gasped. "What are you doing here!"
"Same as you, I'll bet," Shego replied. "Lord Adderley is using this resort to brainwash people and I'm here to put a stop to it!"
"But…the diner…how did you…"Ron sputtered.
"I was brainwashed, I'm over it," Shego snapped. "I actually have you guys to thank for that, but never mind that now. Let's just skip our usual routine and work together to stop this guy, after which we can go back to being mortal enemies. Deal?"
Kim and Ron exchanged glances. "Deal," Kim said warily. "What do you know about the brainwashing?"
"Not much. Lord Adderley lures his victims to his resort, works his mojo, and sends them home with a complimentary stuffed animal, a 'stress buddy.' The buddies have a computer chip in them that somehow keeps the victim brainwashed. So far his victims have all been super villains, but I don't think he'll stop there."
"You're right," Kim frowned. "A lot of kids at school have stayed here, and they've been acting strangely ever since."
"Yeah!" Ron said. "Bonnie has turned into the nicest person ever! At first it was cool, but now it's kinda creepy."
"What about Lord Adderley?" Kim asked. "What do you know about him?"
"Nothing," Shego sighed. "Unless you count the portrait in the main hallway, I've never even seen him. The resort is run by a one-woman glee club named Sunny Dayes. She's definitely involved."
"Ya think!" Ron rolled his eyes. "Can't you tell us anything that's oh, I dunno…useful!"
Kim's communicator beeped. She grabbed it. "Go Wade," she said.
"I ran a background check on Lord Adderley and Sunny Dayes like you asked," Wade said.
"Good old Wade! Nice to know we have somebody we can count on," Ron said. "What have you got, buddy?"
"Not a lot," Wade said. "I can't find anything on Lord Adderley, except that he's rich. There's hardly anything on Sunny Dayes, either. The weird thing is, I can't find any record of her at all prior to 1979."
"That's it?" Kim asked.
"Sorry," Wade shrugged.
"Wow, he's good," Shego drawled. "I wish I had a whiz kid working for me."
"At least Wade is trying!" Kim snapped. "If anyone knows anything about how they're brainwashing people it's you, but so far you haven't given us anything to work with!"
"My memory is spotty, okay?" Shego snapped. "The last thing I remember was going through Lord Adderley's desk and…" Shego stopped mid-sentence.
"And…what?" Kim prompted.
Shego walked around the desk. "I found something in the middle drawer." She opened it and felt around; suddenly her face lit up. "I've got it!" she cried, pulling out a small remote control. She clicked a large red button; instantly a secret door in the fireplace slid open.
"A bit clichéd, but whatever works," Kim remarked.
The three of them entered the fireplace and walked down a long winding staircase. It took nearly five minutes to get to the bottom. What they saw was shocking; a huge computer lab, with video surveillance monitors plastered across every wall.
"Whoa," Ron whistled. "NASA has nothing on this."
"These cameras cover every square inch of Paradise Valley," Kim said. She plugged the communicator into the master computer. "Wade, can you hack it?"
"Of course," Wade said, his fingers flying over his keyboard. "But it's triple encrypted. It's going to take some time…"
"Or we could just do this," Shego said, blasting the computer with her glowing green hands. Suddenly the shrill sound of an alarm tore through the air, summoning an army of muscular Paradise Valley employees; pouring into the room, they quickly surrounded the trio.
"Nice going, Shego!" Kim snapped as she delivered a kick to a henchman's washboard stomach.
"You could use the exercise," Shego shot back as she took out a henchman with a one-two punch. "You've been looking pretty hippy lately."
"Well if anyone knows about having big hips…" Kim said as she sent a goon flying into the wall with a roundhouse kick.
"Girls, can we save the insults for another time!" Ron yelped as he ducked and dodged punches. "Like when we're not about to be pummeled!"
The fighting continued without further comment. With Shego and Kim working together, all of the henchmen were defeated in half the time. Shego waded through the sea unconscious bodies scattered across the floor and over to the computer; with a few more blasts from her hands, the alarm let out a final strangled cry and fell silent.
"Is mindless destruction your answer to everything?" Kim asked as she surveyed the mangled, smoldering remains of the computer.
"It gets the job done," Shego snapped. "Okay, so we've destroyed Lord's Adderely's operation and taken out his muscle. All that's left is Sunny and the big man himself."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," a voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Welcome back to Paradise Valley. But I'm afraid that this time, you won't enjoy your stay!"
"That voice," Shego gasped. "I heard that voice right before…"
Suddenly the three of them were bathed in a blinding yellow light.
TBC…