A/N: Set during Clean Slate
Back to Basics
Drakken had finally found a power source for his Tubtonic laser—the most concentrated power source known to man. He let out a deep sigh of frustration that vibrated his lips. He shouldn't have been surprised Possible and Stoppable had snatched the nanotronium from his grasp. Literally.
Drakken flipped through TV channels idly, stretching out his legs on the couch where Shego's warmth had diminished. He wasn't exactly certain at what time she had declared she was going to bed, but hours must have passed.
His brow furrowed in thought. He couldn't remember a time when Shego had left in the middle of a movie before. He knew she wasn't exactly in good spirits after their defeat. And the fact the hover car, newly repaired, had almost been destroyed again... Shego had managed to grab the gears in time to straighten them out before they'd landed in a nearby park. He glanced at where she had been sitting. Her mood had been off before their defeat. And it wasn't in the...dealing with the issue from weeks ago, way. She seemed more...uninterested.
He'd thought getting some of their henchmen back and getting her several pairs of her gloves would have lifted her spirits. But she'd barely smiled as she'd taken the gloves and had ignored the henchmen all together. Drakken had almost yelled in anger about that, but he'd bit his tongue. He'd wanted to give her a speech about how the funds he'd managed to track down could have been used for other resources instead of gloves...but he hadn't.
Drakken's thoughts drifted to the now mostly depleted funds he'd scrounged up from a forgotten savings account that had accrued a lot of interest in its neglect of nearly fifteen years. He'd only thought about it when he'd been digging through his closet to hang his new lab coats up and had come across an old box that had been moved from lair to lair over the years. It had regrettably contained a lot of memories from college and his early villain years. It hadn't given him a boost in the slightest and he'd almost chucked it until he'd found an old checkbook.
He'd honestly forgotten he'd had those funds set aside. His eyes narrowed at the TV screen. Drew Lipsky had those funds set aside for a childish future dream. There had been a brief time in his early villain years that he'd still fed into those funds with the odd job taken under another mad scientist or crime boss needing someone to run errands who looked like a typical college kid. His mind shifted from the acquired funds to looking at his hands as he lay on the couch, studying their blue tint in the dim television light.
He recalled the unstable explosion that had triggered the tint. He supposed it was karma that he'd taken those chemicals blindly when alarm bells had rung at the lab he'd stolen them from, aided only by another young villain clad in an outfit worse than his in their escape. He was supposed to bring the chemicals to the person who'd hired him... But instead the brief camaraderie with the other villain had made him bold.
Arrogant.
He smirked and nodded sleepily. He'd rushed right into trying to make something of his own...and it literally blew up in his face. It did push him to continue, to prove to himself that he was competent, and to mock the ones who laughed at his genius.
The pep talk he was giving himself to inspire motivation fell silent. He needed something new...something stable. He went big too fast. He needed something small and detailed. His greatest plan had only happened because Shego had essentially grounded him and made him think with bare essentials. He needed to go back to the basics...but he needed an idea first.
He let out a deep sigh and let his eyes fall to the dancing on the television. A commercial break advertising for the military played across the screen. He watched the figures all march in place...a force to be reckoned with...and an army of unstoppable— He nearly fell off the couch as she scrambled for a pen.
Shego looked through her phone in frustration, the morning already proving to be as agitating as the previous weeks had been. Since her and Drakken's brief talk, her nightmares had dwindled but instead she found herself analyzing everything she'd done since leaving Team Go. It was her own fault really; she'd been the one to ask if villainy was simply a distraction from other issues. She'd taken psychology. She had aced it, even. But analyzing your own actions never really came into thought unless you tried.
That morning she'd planned on swiping a new phone and then activating it, but instead, she'd stopped herself and traveled to Dean's to get her old one. She should have knocked instead of breaking into his apartment. Because the conversation that had transpired had been far more awkward than just knocking would have resulted in. Dean had met someone... Which was very nice... Shego's showing up while said woman was in the shower and Dean wasn't wearing clothes...had caused her to run into a door before running to the elevator.
She tapped her phone. It was clearly uncharged and she would have to fix that sooner rather than later. She looked at her chipped nails, her gloves in the pouch on her leg. She'd thought of wearing normal clothes, but it was proving more and more hazardous to be in casual wear. Her mind ran back to her analysis of villainy again.
Am I going to wear this for the rest of my life...?
She let out an audible growl and a few people near her scattered. It made her feel a little better that she didn't feel guilty about it. She walked down a dark alleyway and past a few unmarked doors before knocking on one in a coded repetition. A sour-looking woman in a nightdress opened the door.
"What do you— Oh Shego, it's you. Come in," sneered the woman as she let the door open.
Shego walked into a very exquisite nail salon where people were being pampered around her. The woman in the nightdress went behind a tall black counter and tossed the misleading garb aside, revealing black and red attire that matched the glowing sign behind her—Harpy Talon Salon, in glowing red. It was one of the nicer places for villainesses apart from a few nice ones in Greece.
"Haven't seen you for a while," said the woman. "Your nails are atrocious."
"Maybe it's because of the customer service," snorted Shego. "Usual."
Shego barely paid attention as she pulled out the latest Villains Weekly that she'd grabbed before heading out that morning. Why it had been laying in the hallway was beyond her care, but she'd grabbed it. She kicked off her boots and zoned out of the conversations around her as she flipped through it. She needed to submerse herself back into steady villainy. The casual clothing, the actually paying for things... It had to be the reason she'd said what she had that night to Drakken. She was becoming too relaxed. When she returned to the lair, it would be villainy as normal. Drakken would be in the lab, and this weird intrusive thought she'd created would be gone.
She cringed at the latest trends as she looked at the style section.
"Uhg, who's bringing back capes," she groaned.
Drakken crossed his arms as Shego drove the hover car. He was still frustrated that his idea written down on the magazine had been illegible. A part of him wondered if Shego has spilt something on it, but he knew otherwise. He should know better than to plot and scheme while half asleep. He slumped back against the seat and thought of the pieces of the MRM machine all over the Middleton Hospital floor.
He was blaming Stoppable for it. He nodded. He'd at least tried to fix it before it blew up. He glanced at Shego as if waiting for a lecture but she was...grinning. Her eyes were darting over the city below them as they flew back to the lair, her brows narrowed and a mixture between malice and glee plastered across her face where earlier had been agitation and annoyance. Drakken's brow narrowed as he looked at her.
How can she be in good spirits... I still don't remember my plan?
"Why are you so chipper... Without the MRM machine I'm no closer to remembering my fool—"
Shego cut in quickly.
"Eh! No. Remember what we talked about... Calling it fool-proof only means it's going to fail." She gave him a stern look before her grin returned. "Besides. What's the rush? Kimmy's out of our way for once. We can go on a full-on crime spree and all we have to worry about is police... If we stick around Middleton, we're golden. The cops around here are so used to not doing their job, it will be cake! Oh! We should get a cake... There's this ridiculously expensive bakery. I say we steal the best one they have..."
Drakken raised his brow in confusion. Shego was ranting off a list of criminal activities that seemed almost juvenile rather than that of a villain... He could appreciate the basics of villainy... His thoughts stopped for a second.
Basics.
Drakken had been going through basics...step by step. A vague memory of marching soldiers flashed through him and the reminder that his storage room of junk as Shego put it...had come to mind in his late night scribbling. He yanked out his cards and began writing down what he could recall. He had to reuse some as he'd forgotten his blank ones back at the lair.
"So, a few banks and— Hey! Are you listening?" snapped Shego. Drakken waved her off.
"Yes. Yes. Banks. Cake. I heard you," grumbled Drakken. "I'm trying to remember my plan for world domination. You go ahead and plan your fun."
He didn't look up as he heard Shego scoff.
"Fine. I'll go on a crime shopping spree on my own then," he heard her mutter. "Are you just going to sit in the hover car?"
Drakken looked up.
"No Shego. I need my cards. I'm going back to the lair and working... Since when do you need me in the hover car? Kim Possible isn't exactly a threat right now," Drakken muttered.
He looked up to see Shego's expression shift as if in deep thought before her frown from earlier returned.
"Whatever," she scoffed. Her face turned into a scowl as she sharply turned the hover car.
Drakken considered asking about her current mood shifting, but he had far too much already swimming in his mind. He needed to remember his plan. Worrying about Shego's continued mood swings could wait.
Shego casually relaxed in the hover car eating a gourmet cupcake and admiring her haul of cash from several stores and banks. If anything, this would at least replenish their funds so they could get back on track. She'd forgotten how overly fixated Drakken could get with his own work and the Tubtonic laser had been an irritating reminder. While she didn't doubt his capabilities, at least with outsourced materials if something went wrong there was normally an easier means to put an end to it. Stopping his self-made projects was much harder...
Her content mood shifted slightly.
Put an end to it?
She sat up and looked at the bag of money before tossing her wrapper in the hover car's garbage compartment. She sat in silence as she thought about her apparent perspective. Since when did she want to make stopping Drakken's plans easy? The point was to make it complicated and hard so no one could stop them...right?
She'd been annoyed he'd not joined her in a crime spree, instead working on a plan back at the lair. She'd momentarily feared it had been because she wanted to spend time with him despite her own stomping of those feelings she'd had. Now, like earlier, she was wondering if she was trying to subconsciously prevent him from planning.
Her head began to pound.
"Uhg, the sooner we get the funds...the sooner I am taking a vacation," grumbled Shego as she started up the hover car. "I'm not trying to distract him from a plan...no. I just don't want him wasting more time on a horrible half-baked plan while we don't have Kim Possible in our way."
Shego nodded as she headed back towards the lair. She paused and another frown fell on her face.
"Great! Now he has me rambling to myself! When did this start?" she was about to answer but bit her lip and growled.
I definitely need a vacation.
Drakken nearly tripped on the money Shego had left laying on the floor. Her attitude was starting to wear on him. She'd mocked what little she knew of his plan and frankly...it was less upsetting than it was infuriating. She seemed more focused on petty or rather felony theft than world domination. She seemed to be forgetting that if he controlled the world...they wouldn't need the funds. His ire may have also been due to him already having added to said funds earlier. It wasn't exactly a necessity at the moment.
He nearly slipped down the stairs where a form of algae was growing. He paused. Perhaps using some of the newly acquired funds Shego had gained to have the floors professionally cleaned wouldn't be a bad idea. He slowed his walk down to the storage room and kicked aside a few stray boxes that had been carelessly left around during his earlier digging. He'd found quite a few things he'd been looking for from other projects including a large box of seeds from something he barely remembered.
"I have more than enough of my shampoo to make it concentrated—ah there it is," grinned Drakken.
He shoved a box of junk aside to find a few boxes of his mind control shampoo buried beneath it. He grumbled at the memory of yet another failed plan. This time he was going to be smart about it. No more mind control plans involving peons, and no bodies. He would gain the troops. Then the government. Then he would have no one standing in his way.
He let out an evil laugh that turned into a yelp as a bunch of boxes collapsed near him. A few boxes of broken items and unusable parts scattered across the floor.
"Okay, Shego may be right about the hoarding thing," sighed Drakken.
Drakken wrote out his cards in excitement. The formula was ready; his plans with the copious amounts of laxatives wouldn't be a problem. All he had to do was gain access before the train took off to the troops. A few bored and newly-returned henchmen would be able to do that with ease. His smile faded for a second. Shego still seemed irritated and reluctant about this plan.
Perhaps she had invested in the laser more than I thought...
He shook his head. Once he had people under his control, they could still finish the laser. He finished card forty-three just as the door slammed open. He was about to yell at Shego that with all the door slamming she was bound to break one...when a blast of green took out his trash can. He frowned.
"Have a bad shopping spree?" grumbled Drakken. He looked towards the trash can. "That was a new one—"
Drakken jumped as Shego slammed her hands on the table and got close to him.
"How old do I look?" she snapped. Drakken blinked.
"Ohm...excuse me?" sputtered Drakken. "What kind of a question is that... Your genetics—"
"Seriously. I know I look younger than I am...but how old do I actually look?" Her brow was furrowed and her frown deep.
"Well when you wear that expression...it highlights some wrinkles—AHH!" Drakken yelled as his cards burst into flame. "Shego! I just wrote those!"
"So...what. I look old now?" snapped Shego. She crossed her arms and sat on his desk.
"I didn't say you look old—"
"Dying your hair doesn't make you look less old, just so you know," grumbled Shego. Drakken glared.
"I am going to assume you are having a bad day and are simply deflecting," stated Drakken. Shego glared at him but shrugged. He pursed his lips. "I would say elaborate but—"
"Uhg, Stoppable implied I looked much older than them when I was trying to scam Possible," sighed Shego. "She's still got butterflies for brains but Stoppable seems to be a little more brazen than normal."
"I have to re-write these cards—"
"I mean, I know I like the sun and all, but do you think it's actually aging me?" continued Shego as she used a letter opener to look at herself. "Maybe I should try that stuff Junior uses. He doesn't have any lines."
"He's also in his early twenties," muttered Drakken. Shego shot daggers at him and he sighed. "You look perfectly fine. They are teenagers after all. Anyone over twenty-five is ancient."
Shego stared at him and then smirked.
"So what are you? A relic?" She snorted. Drakken snatched more cards and began writing. "I still can't believe you're making lists. I'm all for getting more organized, but why not start with the hoarding collection first."
"Done," grinned Drakken. He gestured to the still-smoking trash can. "Took care of that while I waited for my things for card forty-three to arrive."
Drakken looked up smugly to see Shego pulling at her eyes and looking at the letter opener again. He glared and snatched the thing from her. Something about Shego suddenly worrying about her looks made him uncomfortable. He would have focused more on his anger at the teen hero's side-kick for making her suddenly concerned about this...but since he had to rewrite the cards he was not in the mood to carefully choose words that seemed platonic and simple about her appearance without also making her annoyed further.
"You're very attractive and no matter what, you will never look your age. Lie in the sun all you want," he sighed and quickly began writing. "After my fool-proof plan is completed I will tinker with the rejuvenation machine to reverse it so you can make the brat look like an ancient dinosaur to mock."
Drakken tried to remember what he had written as he began re-numbering cards. He was halfway through a card when he realized Shego hadn't gotten up from his desk. He looked up at her and froze. She was staring at him with a confused look on her face.
"Now what?" whined Drakken.
"How long did you think world domination would take?" Her shoulders slumped. "A decade...several?"
Drakken blinked at her and he tried to think of a limit he'd set at one point.
"I ohm...never really paid much attention to that... Only the process," shrugged Drakken. He started writing again.
"So. Hypothetically...if this fails... Is there an expiration date on it?" asked Shego. She tilted her head with a curious look.
Drakken shrugged. Something in her expression made him feel there was a right or wrong answer. He thought of all her petty thefts, the items she'd gotten for the laser, how she'd been nagging him...clearly wanting confirmation that he wasn't about to give up if this failed...which it wasn't. It was fool-proof.
"Well as I am about to succeed. The answer is obviously no expiration date," smirked Drakken confidently. "Besides. Evil doesn't expire like milk... Oh yes...we need milk."
Drakken quickly wrote that down. Shego didn't leave as he added a few more things to the list.
"Did you need anything from the store? I'm sending Davis," sighed Drakken. "I need more note cards too."
He looked at her expecting her to add something to the list. Instead she was looking at the cards with narrowed eyes.
"Shego?" asked Drakken. He looked at the cards and rolled his eyes. "Mock all you want, but I'm not overlooking anything this time."
Shego nodded and got off the desk before giving him an annoyed smirk.
"Yeah, well. Keep calling it fool-proof and it's going to smack you right in the face," sighed Shego. She grabbed a few of his cards. "I have a few notes to make myself."
"Shego, I need— Erg. Fine!" he snapped as she walked off. He looked at his cards. "Now what was I supposed to do with the bypassing of the cooling system again..."
Shego watched as Drakken pouted on the railroad tracks. She tossed away the card on which she'd written, 'Pick Drakken up after smacked by failure.' She hadn't thought he'd literally be smacked by a wall. She cringed as she saw a small trickle of blood come out of his nose before he began trying to stand up. Shego sighed and stood, offering her hand. He glared at it before taking it and letting her pull him to his feet. He crossed his arms and began angrily stalking up the side of the hill towards where she had parked the helicopter to watch.
"So...fool-proof—"
"I don't want to hear it," snapped Drakken as he climbed the steep incline. "You ditched me to fight Kim Possible on my own."
"I mean, you did a good job. I saw it before you...well, hit the tunnel wall," smirked Shego. "Oh come on, stop pouting. I mean are you really surprised? You know how I feel about mind control, Doc."
Shego scoffed. She'd let it go for the most part, but she'd be lying if the whole thing hadn't made her uneasy.
She walked right into Drakken who'd stopped in front of her. She nearly lost her footing but recovered. Drakken had frozen in front of her and she looked around to see if he had noticed authorities coming and she hadn't.
"What...did you hear something?" asked Shego. She looked around before wondering if he was just having side effects from a concussion. "Looks like we're on brain damage alert...again."
He spun around to look at her. Shego raised a brow as he had a terrified expression on his face...or rather, apologetic and terrified. Shego's eyes shot open as he grabbed her shoulders, his face very close to hers. A wash of emotions ran through her stomach before her brain caught up and she glared and took a step back.
"Whoa! A little close there Drakken," she snapped. Drakken gave a confused look before letting go of her quickly. "You okay there?"
"Uh." He looked at the distance between them before shaking his head. "My apologies, Shego. I, ohm...hadn't considered recent events and personal feelings regarding this...ohm, plan."
Shego wasn't sure how she felt about his sudden apology, so she shrugged.
"Eh. Mad scientist and mind control are kind of a package deal. So long as I'm never your test subject again, I'll get over it. Don't start changing your plans because of me." She walked past him, uncomfortable with her own words as she did so. "There's always next time."
Drakken hadn't followed her. "Shego...you don't think I—"
"Drakken. It's fine... Let's get back to the lair and start working on your next plan," sighed Shego. She looked over her shoulder to see a hurt expression on his face. "What?"
He sighed and shook his head before walking in pace with her again.
"Nothing. Let's get out of here before the soldiers track us down," said Drakken as he climbed into the helicopter ahead of her.
Shego looked at Drakken's expression as he leaned back in his seat and seemed to rub his temples. There was something off about it and she wondered what he'd actually meant to say before she cut him off. She bit her lip and then sighed, shaking her head and assuming it was some half-annoyed comment he'd had the presence of mind to let go. She climbed into the helicopter and started it up, sparing a glance at him before putting it into gear.
"Do we need to stop at the doctor's, Doc?" smirked Shego, trying to lighten his mood.
"No. I just want to get back to the lair and drown my sorrows in cocoa moo, thank you," he sighed dramatically.
"Fair enough," shrugged Shego. She waited. "Davis never went to the store."
She snorted as Drakken let out a loud whine.
"Shego," she barely heard him mutter. She smirked.
"I'll run to the store and grab some milk."
Whatever Happened to the Lair I wonder... -
