Episode 2: "And then, I shall take over Cleveland" -part 2-

Mrs. Stoppable was at the kitchen table reading the newspaper when her daughter

stormed in the house with quite a tantrum.

"Lizzy, dear, what's the matter?"

"I went out on a mission."

"And... it didn't come out well?"

"No mom, the mission came out fine."

Mrs. Stoppable patted her disapointed daughter on the back and asked with a

concerning tone, "Then what's the problem?"

"The mission was pulling down Mrs. Carter's cat from a tree!"

"I don't see anything wrong with that..."

"Mom!"

The frustrated Stoppable yanked the band which was substaning her ponytail,

letting her hair fall. Excluding the blonde hai and blue eyes she got from her

father, she looked almost exactly like her mother.

"I mean, you used to save the world in your missions! Beat up bad guys and do

important things! You know, hero stuff! I've been doing my hero work for a week

now and the biggest mission I got so far is rescuing a CAT!"

Mrs. Stoppable led her sulking daughter to the living room sofa, and told her to

sit next to herself.

"You listen to me, young lady. Fighting villans or foiling doomsday operations

don't make you more heroic or important. It's what there is here (as she pointed

Liz's heart) that really counts."

"I know, mom... It's just that, I want to use some of the moves you taught me,

or at least do something that involves a crime..."

"Maybe what you need is a sidekick BF."

Mr. Stoppable, coming out of nowhere, chirped in a joking tone, shaking bags of

take-out Bueno Nachos chow.

"Hey, is that dorky looking kid... um... Brew available?"

"Drew, dad. And no, Drew isn't going to be a dorky sidekick, and he is NOT my BF.

I'll do fine alone, thank you."

Mr. S gave a shrug and tossed a bag to his girl.

Liz was just about to 'soothe the soul' with her favorite chimeritos when a familiar

chime ringed from her pocket. She pulled her Kimmunicater ver.2.05 "Lizourcer"

(from Resourcer) and answered it.

"Hey, Mr. Lode. What's up?"

"Sorry to bother your dinner, Liz, but something came up again."

Liz twitched her nose while taking a big bite out of her Grande size chimerito.

"Don't tell me I have to rescue another pet from a tree..."

"Oh, no. This one is about your literature teacher."

"Huh? Mr. Barkin!"

Wade nodded as he sent Liz a photo of Barkin's place; or at least what was left

of it: a pile of wood, bricks and shattered glass.

"Apparently, his house suddenly collapsed due to an earthquake."

"A earthquake? What earthquake?" Liz replied in a puzzled look.

"That's what I want to say too. Somehow, a level 3 quake accured right under

Barkin's place. Only on Barkin's place. Neighbors didn't feel a thing, untill the

place came crashing down."

Mrs. Stoppable squeezed into the kimmunicater's screen.

"Hey, Kim! Long time no see!"

"The formalities can wait, Wade. What is this about Barkin's place going down

from a earthquake? I didn't feel a thing, and you just mentioned his neighbors

couldn't sense anything neither. How do you know it really was a earthquake?"

Wade answered by sending another photo, this one showing the underground

state of Barkin's place: totally rumbled up and cracked here and there.

"No other way to explain it with something like this for evidence."

Mr. Stoppable squeezed into the kimmunicater's screen too, therefore totally

filling up Wade's moniter with three faces.

"Hiya Ron."

"Um, so, like Barkin is OK, right?"

Wade gave Ron a assuring nod.

"He was under state of shock, and had a few cuts and bruises, but he was OK

when the ambulence came to pick him up."

Liz was getting inpatient.

"What am I supposed to do, then? Should I go check Mr. B's place for clues or

something?"

Wade gave a smug smile.

"Liz, you seem to forgot two things: your living in the 21st Century, and I'm a

computer wiz. I already did all the research here. What I need you to do is

check up this place."

Wade's face was replaced with a map of Middelton. A specific point was

bleeping on it.

"When Barkin's place came down, abnormally strong amounts of energy was

emmited from this place. I want you to check this place up, for..."

"... bad guys!"

"Um, yeah, something like that."

The over-excited teen jumped up, ditching her chimerito, and dashed out of

the house leaving a trail of "I'll be back before 10!".

Sort of baffled with the sudden event, all Mr. Stoppable could do was pick up

the chimerito his daughter dropped and ask his wife if he can have it.

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"Yes! My Doomsday Weapon WORKS!"

Drew was looking at the satilite picture that showed Barkin's, and only Barkin's

place literally trashed due to his new Seismic Sonic Wave Emmiter.

He pin-pointed enough seismic energy to wreck the place while leaving the

rest totally peaceful. With this device...

"I shall now attack the core facilities of the world, and will not seize my chaos

untill I reign as supreme master of Cleveland! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Long, ackward silence.

Drew slaps his face.

"I said 'Cleveland' instead of 'the world' again! Uhrg!"

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"Um, Mr. Lode? Are you sure this is the 'source of evil earthquake' place?"

"Yeah, pretty damn sure. Why?"

"I'm standing right in front of my best friend's front yard."

Liz was quite dumbfound. She expected the place where the kimmunicater

indicated to be a place... more 'evil secret lair'ish. Some high-tech lab on

a rock mountain or something like that, not Drew's house. Definetly not Drew's

house.

"Um, Liz? Can you check the place out...?"

"Hey, Mr. Lode, breaking into a bastion of evil is one thing... I'm not breaking in

to my friend's house!"

"Hey, chill Liz. I'm just sending you info based on solid data. Besides, if that

place really is your friend's place, there is a possibility that he is in danger,

you know."

That was all the persudading Liz needed. The moment Wade said "there is a

possibility that he is in danger", she kicked down the Lipsky residence's door

down faster than greased lightning.

"Drew! Answer me! Are you OK!"

Just then, Liz remembered a crutial fact.

Karaoke Night.

Drew wasn't here, he was with his parents on a outing.

He was safe. That was when she realized what she has just done: bashed

Drew's front door. Man, she was going to hear a fit from Drew's mom when

she knows this...

A beepbeepbebeep brought Liz back to the real world.

"Liz, the place is emmiting huge amounts of energy again! And at the same time,

almost half of the military bases in America is getting the shakes Barkin had!"

There was only one thing she could do now: Find out where this 'earthquake'

is coming from, find out who's making them in her friend's house, and beat

the living hell out of him.

Unfortunatly, she couldn't find anything abnormal enough that can make a

earthquake, nor anyone else but herself in the Lipsky residence to...

"Whoa!"

A strong surge that rumbled the whole house struck Liz, slamming her to the

floor. It came from...

"...the basement!"

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"Ha! Refuse my offer to end things the easy way, huh? Well, let's see how smug

the President of the United States of AMERICA CAN BE, when I disarm him of all his

MILITARY POWERS! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Drew was already preparing a second wave of earthquakes to disable all the other

military bases all over the globe. Soon, the world would be deprived of any physical

force to counter his attacks.

"Soon, everything will be complete, and there is NOWHERE in the world that can stop

me!"

-Blam!-

Just then, a explosion was heard, followed by the large clack when Drew's metal door

which connected his secret underground lair and his house's basement fell to the floor.

"Nowhere? Ha, Now Here!"

Obviously, someone has just infiltrated his evil bastion. The problem was, that Drew had

took off his glasses to look more 'evil', and therefore couldn't quite make out who his

intruder was. It didn't matter, though. Conflict with a super hero was essentinal to a

super villian. He was ready.

"Now here! Oh, you crack me up, with your lame jokes AND your pitiful efforts, do-gooder!"

Drew pressed the button of his remote control, which commanded his weapon to emmit the

monsterous waves that will obliterate the military bases of the globe.

"You are too LATE! Soon, everyone shall tremble over the wrath of DR. WOLFEN! My

Seismic Sonic Wave Emmiter will bring fear and chaos, and the UN will have no choice

but to place me as ruler of... CLEVELAND!"

Long, ackward silence.

Drew, now AKA Dr. Wolfen, slaps his face.

"I said Cleveland, didn't I?"

Liz nods.

"I meant to say the world."

Liz nods again, saying "I sort of figured that out myself."

Liz dashed, shot her grappling drier to the ceiling, and brought herself up to the highwalk

Wolfen was standing on. Startled by this sudden move, Wolfen took a step back.

"Um... you wouldn't be in the school debate team, by any chance...?"

"Cheer squad."

"Damn it..."

Liz pounces on Wolfen, pinning him down.

"Now, give me that weird remote, and tell me what you are doing in my friend's hou... DREW!"

"NONONO! WOLFEN, WOLFEN! Why won't people appretiate second identities these...

how do you know my name?"

Liz whacks Wolfen on the head, plunges her hands into Wolfen's pocket, finds the glasses she

was looking for, and shoves it on her 'friend'.

"... Hey, Liz!"

"Yeah, smart guy. What the hell are you doing!"

"What the hell are you doing, Liz!"

It was then Drew's machine made a abnormal grunt, shaking the whole place. Liz and Drew rolled

off the highwalk due to this. On the fall, the remote of the Seismic Sonic Wave Emmiter... shattered.

"Aak, no!"

"What, Drew!"

"The controls, they malfuctioned!"

"Which means...?"

Drew looked at Liz with a real, pitiful puppy-like nervous look.

"I'm no longer able to control my weapon..."

A monsterous rumble shaked the whole place, and Drew's machine seemed it wasn't all that happy.

Before anyone could do anything, an earthquake assaulted the Lipsky residence. The place came

crashing down, and the last thing Elizabeth Possible Stoppable remember seeing was the ceiling

coming down right on top of her.

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Liz opened her eyes moments later, feeling a serious headache.

"Ugh... where..."

That was when she realized that Drew was on top of her, unconscious. On top of him, there was

a great pile of rubble and rocks.

"Drew... Drew! Wake, up! Wake up, DREW! DREW!"

"Oh... Mom I don't wanna go to school today... I wanna stay home with you and bake cookies..."

Because her left arm was stuck under the rocks (which didn't seem broken, for she could still feel

them and didn't hurt that much), and her right arm was stuck under Drew's body, she eventually

used the only part she was available to use at the moment: her head. She butted Drew. At the

third blow, Drew finally woke up.

"Augh... Oh man... Huh? What the...!"

"Your toy went balistic."

Liz filled in the sitch to the rather puzzled Drew.

"Hey, you OK Liz?"

"Yeah, except from the fact that you're on top of me and squeezing me to death."

Drew went all red. Liz, who was calm and cool till just now, went red too.

"I, I... I, I didn't mean to, I mean, I saw the ceiling coming down on you, so I, I tried to protect you, and..."

"Whoa, whoa boy. I didn't mean it like that... you plunged in to save me?"

Long, ackward silence.

"I didn't say Cleveland instead of the world again, did I?"

Then there was weak laughter from the two. Apparently, that was all they could do, for they were

literally trapped and uncapable of doing anything else. A faint light glistering through the cracks

of the derbis was all they had left.

"Drew. What about you? You must have like 10 elepahnts worth of rocks on you back."

"Ah, no big. This suit I invented is made for this kind of punishment. Pretty cool, eh?"

"Yeah. Pretty cool."

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"...so, what's with the bad guy thing, anyway?"

"I... don't know. It's just that, it was my childhood dream. I... wanted to take over...

"Cleveland/Cleveland"

"Jinx, you own me a soda Drew!"

Drew sighed.

"I mean, what is it with me and Cleveland? I never even been to the place..."

The two laughed.

"But, I mean, what are you going to do after world domination?"

"I don't know..."

"I mean, do you want it for the money? Or the power?"

Drew lingered, thinking for a while.

"... To be frank, I don't know why, LS. I'm not interested in political power or that junk.

And, I'm not that crazy about taking over the world's economy, neither. Besides, I

suck at Sim City; I wouldn't last a day after domination anyway..."

Liz giggles, and butts her friend on the head playfuly.

"Thats my POINT, rocket boy. I mean, you are smart, but you aren't world take-over

evil guy material. You're too sweet for that."
"Really...?"

"Totally. Come on, I knew you since Pre-K, Drew. From all the people in the world,

I would know best."

There is another long silence. Feeling ackward at just staring at Drew and his cracked

glasses, Liz starts another conversation.

"Why whack Barkin, by the way?"

"Oh... that? He gave me an F on my essay."

"Really?"

"Yeah! And do you know why? 'To sophisticated language and topic material for my age'.

Hah! He thought I cheated and asked someone else to do it for me."

"Ooh... Bad call."

"Seriously."

"... But still, it wasn't enough to attempt to kill him, you know."

Drew looked at Liz with a startled gaze.

"No way! I didn't try to kill him... I just tried to spook up the old guy, that's all..."

"But you could have, with or without your intentions. If you keep up your villian stuff,

a lot of more people might get hurt, or really get killed by it, you know."

Drew sort of sulked at this remark.

"Yeah, your right... Uh, what happened to Barkin anyway...?"
"Oh, he is fine. Just a few bruises and cuts, but he can get them everyday with his rugby

playing anyway" chirped Liz.

Drew suddenly became depresed.

"What's the matter, Drew?"

"You know, with my childhood objectives out of the picture now... I don't know what I'm

supposed to do anymore."

"You know..." Liz said, lingering a bit.

"What?"

"... I do have a space open for a dorky sidekick..."

"A 'dorky sidekick'? You gotta be kidding me!"

The both giggled their heads off.

"Hey, Liz."

"Huh?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

This time, Drew butted his head on Liz's.

"For pulling me out of a mess."

"We are still in one, you know."

Liz butted back.

"And, thanks in return."

"For what? The covering for the falling ceiling? I told you, LS, no big. The suit I

have on can take the pressure..."

Liz kissed Drew on the lips lightly to shut him up.

"No, stupid. For giving me my first mission that envolved thwarting a world domination

operation. Beats saving Mrs. Carter's cat from a tree anyday."

Apparently, Drew wasn't on Earth to reply: he was red all over and floating somewhere

near Jupiter.

'... And for my first kiss that envolved you.'

-Crack! Blam! Crackle!-

Liz squinted her eyelids as the rocks that were blocking her view of the sky suddenly blew up,

allowing beams of light from a searchlight to attack her eyes.

First, she couldn't make out the two people looking down from the newly made hole, but as the

searchlight went off with a "I found them!" from a familiar voice, she new who came to their

rescue.

Drew came back from space, and was feebly looking behind him.

"Bean curd. For life."

That was all Mrs. Lipsky said, as she blew away the final piece of ceiling that was pinning Drew

and me down with her green, blazing hand. Drew just gulped in reply.

"Heyheyhey! Get off of my Lizzywizzy before I send you into a black hole, Mr.!"

Mr. Stoppable wasn't helping.

Mrs. Stoppable was just smiling at her daughter, and Mr. Lipsky was trying his best to keep

his wife from beating their son for blowing the house down.

The sitch, was over.

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The next day, Drew and Liz went to see Mr. Barkin at the hospital.

"Hey, Mr. B. You OK? Heard that your place just... crashed all of a sudden."

Barkin looked dubiously at Drew.

"...Yes, Lipsky. What are you here for, to nag?"

"Nah, I thought you would like some flowers beside your bed..."

"Not interested."

"...and some Pixie Muffins, but if you're not INTERESTED"

Drew jingled the pack of Pixie Muffins playfuly over Barkin's head.

Barkin, sort of blushing, took the pack and the flowers Drew handed to him without a word.

"Anyway, I guess we'll see you at Monday at school, Mr. B?"

"Oh, you can count on it, Lipsky."

Drew smiled and exited the room. Liz gave her own goodbyes and followed Drew.

After the two was gone, Barkin carefully opened the Muffin pack, and found a little

note inside.

-Get well soon! And I'm very sorry.-

"Nurse! Do a food poisoning on this muffin, ASAP!"