Kim Potential…
Summary: A desperate Dr. Drakken has sensibly reviewed his Files of Past Plots to find the most effective weapon yet used on KP and improve it with unexpected results. Ron and company find they have a new partner.
Disclaimer: No infringement intended.
Part XXII…
A somewhat nervous Drakken in suit…Tugging at collar with finger…
Damn this orange makeup…He looked for something or place to wipe…
"So…Drew…" lean back in chair… "How have you been?...Anything troubling you personally you'd like to get out of the way?..."
"Oh, fine…Mrs K…" nod… "Things are very good…Schemes going exceptionally well…No issues just now with me…"
"I saw your mother last Friday…She was doing well but said you'd been on sabbatical this year?..." somewhat grim adjustment of eyeglasses…
Sabbatical?...Shego, in elegant green suit, light green hat, blinked, repressing urge to chuckle…Eyeing Mrs Kenderson, a large, sixtyish woman with large dyed red hair in beaded suit.
"You did say I could speak freely in front of your wife…?"
Oh, God…Shego, reeling a bit…That's…
Me…?
"Oh, yes. Sheila's fully aware of my past, Mrs. K…I've told you we've worked together a very long time…And thanks, as always for not mentioning the, uh…more troubling side of my career to Mom…"
And gee…No one's called me "Sheila" since Mom and Dad bit the big multicolored one…
"That's fine…I deal with government agents all the time…Same issues as to keeping their covers…But, I think I can guess what 'sabbatical' means in your sort of career path…"
"Well…" he looked at Shego awkwardly…
"I think we came here to discuss Kimberly…" she cut in, hastily…
"We're getting to that, sweetheart…I just want to be sure any issues that might impact on the situation are being considered… So are you're sure there are no personal issues, Drew?...After all, fatherhood, marriage…All in one week?...Those are big life events…"
"And I've won a major triumph over my greatest foe at last…Big career breakthrough…" he noted… "I suppose I do have a little anxiety…And prison was a little difficult to bear…"
"Perfectly normal, sweetheart…And you, Sheila?..." Shego blinking… "This must a little overwhelming for you?...New husband, instant teenaged daughter with, as Drew tells me, serious issues toward you?...Tell me, you've worked for Drew as his chief of operations and acquisitions for years?..."
Hmmn…
Why, Drew?...You gave me a title talking to her about me?...And not a shabby one…
"…Was there a long term relationship between you?...Or are you uncomfortable answering that?..."
"Ummn…Our relationship was…Long term…But, kinda…Complicated?..."
"And when did it turn romantic?...I do assume it did turn romantic from what Drew tells me and you didn't marry simply for the sake of the child?..."
"Well…" Shego paused… Quick glance at Drakken…Ummn…
"As far as I'm concerned…" cough…Uh… "Well…"
Drakken looking a hair…Bluer…
"I've loved him since the first day when he interviewed me…" sigh…Nervous glance…"Though I kept everything professional until the last couple of years when we sorta…Moved toward each other…And now…Of course…"
Quick beam Drakkenward…Ok, you, you can be smug now…Smile…
"Well, that's good…I don't need to ask Drew since he's spoken of his regard and affection for his Ms. Go for years…"
He did…?
"But I am concerned that your relationship only reached its current state after the 'birth' of your cloned teenaged daughter…" stern look… "That's not always the best foundation for a lasting relationship…"
"Well…That uh…Speeded things…" Shego nodded, nervous… "But I'm sure we'd've eventually gotten together…"
"It was fated…All according to Kismet…" Drew agreed, eagerly…
Kismet being a supercomputer I built seven years ago who did once predict Shego and I, if we didn't get killed or kill each other, would one day be "an item…"
"All right…And would you say you two have and are finding yourselves compatible?...Easy with each other?..."
"Oh…Yes…Very easy…" both, nodding…
"Well now I know you're lying…" frown… "You've been married how long, Drew?"
Uh…Well…
"And you're already 'easy with each other'…Uh-huh…"
"Well…" Shego, urgently…Glance to Drew… "We've worked together a long time…"
"Sweetie…" Mrs. K eyed her, frowning look… "I don't care how long you've worked together, marriage is not the same thing and no one, unless he and she are dead and stiff, are 'easy with each other' in the first few couple of years of a marriage…"
"We do understand each other…"Shego insisted… "Right, honey?..."
"What?..." Drakken asked…
"I said we understand each other, idiot…Uh…"
"Shego…"
"Well, you bicker like an old married couple…That's a good sign…"
We do, do we?...repressed grin on Shego's part…Always have…
"But this kid…Kimberly…Her whole purpose was to help you in your work, is that right, Drew?..."
"It…Was…A big part of it…" he admitted, sheepishly…
"But we love Kimberly…" Shego added, hastily…Nervously… "That's why we're here…"
"Obviously…" Mrs, Kenderson nodded…
Obviously…Shego beamed to Drew…
"But she was 'engineered' for your work, wasn't she?...An inclination to her original's darker nature…An ingrained devotion to her 'father', namely you, Drew?..."
"Uh…Yeeesss…"
"I could bring up the ethical issues here but seeing as that's not likely to be a major concern in your case, at least legally…"
"Drew and I are concerned about the ethics here…" Shego insisted… "I mean as they affect our girl personally…We just don't accept Society's views on all things…"
"Nice evasion…But I heard from Drew you had a degree in Child Development so you must know there's no way this sort of thing can help but have an effect on the child…"
"She's a very loving girl…Not just to me, she loves our whole extended family of henchthugs and…"
"Does she love you, Sheila?..." Mrs K. cut in… "Does she consider you her mother?...Drew, you've told me specifically there were issuses here…"
"Well, naturally…I'm sort of a rival…For Drew's affections…I get that…We get that…" Shego noted… "And she doesn't have that ingrained devotion to me, except in that she knows Drew wants her to obey me…And I was her original's regular battle foe…But I think, over the last few days…The first I mean…Of her life…She's come to bond with me quite a bit…Far more than her original's mother…I think Drew can back me up here…"
"Oh, definitely.."
"Drew, you mentioned an Electra complex at work first time we talked on this?...Do you agree with your wife?...Have you seen bonding?..."
"Oh, certainly…They've become very close…I think Kimberly does see She…Sheila…As her mother…Though she prefers to call her her Evil Stepmother…"
"Apt…Battling the conflicting emotions and drives…"
"She likes to call me EStepM actually…I take it as affectionate…" Shego, smiling…
"And yet she has a powerful motivation to get you out of the picture…Perhaps several powerful motivations…"
"Doesn't any daughter?..." Shego, shrugging with wan smile…
"In her case, this could be very dangerous…If she's growing to love you in some way as a mother, coupled with the natural desire for maternal affection…And yet has an inclination to violence and a strong jealousy of her father…Drew…I don't think you two spent much time thinking out the consequences of what you were doing here…"
Shego, anxious look to Drew… "It's true we leapt before we looked, but Mrs. Kenderson…We love Kimberly…We just want to see her happy…"
"So…You would say your motivations have changed?…" shrewd look of appraisal…Renewed leaning back…
"Well?..." she eyed them…
"I…Suppose…" Drew began…
"And Kimberly…Nice name, by the way…Is important to you both…Her happiness as well as her physical survival…?"
"Yes!..." Both, unison…
"I have to tell you then…Both are likely to be in extreme jeopardy…" sigh… "Can't you two see the inevitable strain you've built in here?...She loves and needs a mother she's set up mentally to want kill…Sheila?...You claim to be a Child Development Specialist?...What do you see happening here?...What's your prognosis?..."
"I…"
"Either, inevitably…She will kill you and blame herself forever…Or…"
"No…" Shego stood up…"
"What other option have you left her?...What can she do, faced with this?..." Mrs. K, coolly staring…
"She…?" Drakken stared…
"She won't…I won't let her…" Shego shook her head… "She has distractions, a very nice boyfriend…And she's busy helping Drew conquer the world…"
"It may postpone the inevitable…" Mrs. K nodded…
"I won't let her…" Shego insisted… "I'll…" she looked nervously at Drew…
"She…What…?"
"I'm sorry for you both…I like you, Drew…" Mrs. K smiled faintly at him… "I truly do, despite hating the path you chose, in spite of my efforts to help you…I am glad you kept something good in you…Enough to love Sheila here and your daughter…But there's a price to pay…And now…"
"I won't let it come to that…" Shego rose…. "Thanks for your help…Drew?..."
"But…" he rose, awkwardly…
"I'm so sorry for you both…" Mrs. K repeated… "But no one can help you and that poor girl but you yourselves…And it's probably too late for that…"
"We'll take care of her…Thank you…" Sheila nodded… "Drew?..."
Oh…God…She sees it too…
But I won't let it happen…I won't let it…
I'll…Lose…First…
Drakken lair…
Henchthugs looking a bit nonplused and some rather disturbed at the sight…
"So whatdaya think, Pop…? Dark, Melancholy, and Evil enough…?" Potential posed in her Goth outfit, hands raised in melancholic gesture, black nails shown…
"Wonderful, dear…Wonderfully Evil and…" Drakken struggled…Staring at the vision before him…
"Goth…" Shego hissed…
"Barbarians who took Rome?" he hissed back…
"Just…Say…Goth…"
"…And Goth…" he nodded to Potential's beaming face.
"Knew you'd appreciate, Dad…" hug…
"You should get some dinner, Kim…" Shego urged… "Walter?..." she turned to the henchthug… "Help Kim get some of that roast Drew made? You know you can't stay too long, sweetie…We don't want to arouse suspicions..."
Mmmphf…Shrug… "The Stiffibles would never think lil' Kimmy was lyin' about being out all night world-savin'…"
"Even so, honey…" Drakken urged… "Best not to take chances, you know…."
"Ok…" she shrugged…Following Walter to the kitchens…
I hate that look…What is she wearing?...Drakken hissed to Shego as Potential went through the great hall doors… "And did you see what she'd done to her nails?..."
"Let her be…"
"Does it have something to do with what Mrs. K was talking about?...I didn't quite get all of it but…"
"It's about being 16 going on 17…Let it go, Drew…Least of our worries…"
"So, is that the Kimcicle…?" Potential pointed to the tank as she and Walter passed the first of the sealed metal cylinders in which the two remaining frozen specimens were frozenly entombed…Careful look…
"Next one over…" Walter pointed…