DISCLAIMER: Nothing belongs to me if you've seen it on TV. Soundtrack for this chapter: Brilliant by Ultravox; The Xenon Codex by Hawkwind; Valta by Alamaailman Vasarat.
"Sayonara, Dr. D, " Shego breezily announced, heading for the exit. "See ya in a week. Try not to get arrested or blown up or disintegrated while I'm gone, ok?"
"Have fun," Drakken muttered, grabbing a book off the cluttered desk, pretending to be deeply engrossed in its arcane mysteries. He hated to see her leave, but he hated letting her see him tear up even more. He couldn't even read the words on the pages. It was so lonely in the lair when she wasn't around. "Send me a postcard or something."
"If I remember. Let me know how the phone book comes out. It'll be easier to read if you turn it right side up."
He set down the book and watched her confidently stride out the door, posture picture-perfect, feeling a rare, well-deserved pride in his work. No one knows she's not a human being, he thought. She doesn't know it herself. She was much more successful than the Bebes had been, but he hadn't really worried about their looks. He had spent a lot of time on the Synthetic Humanoid Electronic Girl Operative's appearance. Researched the female anatomy from head to toe, defying the embarrassment and discomfort that research brought him, determined to finally get something right.
And he had.
She was beautiful. Far more attractive than that wretched spawn of Jim and Anne Possible. Their creation would wither and die with time, if Shego didn't destroy her – the only portion of her original programming she still obeyed without question, though certainly on her own terms. He remembered very, very clearly the day he ordered her to attack Kim Possible, only to be told "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for me." The Girl Operative's own memory of that moment was faulty, corrupted with elements of the Fearless Ferret episodes he had foolishly allowed her to watch in her pre-sentient state, not realizing she was still learning to process reality. That blunder had given Shego a fantasy past: a sci-fi origin, a former heroic career, super-powered nemeses, even a band of brothers that she hated with a passion. None of it real.
But her statement had been real enough. It had cut him to the heart.
That didn't matter. His creation would last the centuries. Her body was incredibly resilient to damage, and if it was destroyed, somehow, he could construct another. Her mind was irreplaceable, so he had seen to its protection; the underground vault that contained the positronic brain was impervious to anything short of the end of the world. When James Possible's daughter was long-forgotten dust, his would be just as young and beautiful as ever, a living testament to the immortal genius of Dr. Drakken –
His – what?
"Invention," he told the empty room. "My invention." He got up, wandered toward the kitchen, came back with an ice cream sandwich and grabbed the TV remote. Channels and programs fluttered by in parade: The Biggest Bruiser, Septuagenarian Mom, Postmodern Family, C.S.I: Central City, C.S.I: Innsmouth, C.S.I: Diaspar. The next click held his attention. "Whoa!" There was awe in his voice. "Is this Invasion of the Energy Vampires? Missed that one at the theatre…still in the hoosegow!"
"This is not a scene from Invasion of the Energy Vampires," announced Gregg Greatman, anchorman at KXKVI-TV. With a grumble, Drakken went for the remote; before he could push the button, Greatman continued: "This is… All Too Real."
"Ooo!" Fascinated, the blue man leaned forward. On the screen, waves of unknown force voraciously drew power from overhead lines, whirring dynamos and giant transformers, all of it focused on a brilliantly glowing shape standing in the centre of the sizzling maelstrom. No details were visible in the glare, but something about its outline filled Drakken with a troubling familiarity. It was at least eight feet tall and even as he watched, it continued to grow.
Greatman's voice droned over the images. "This was the scene yesterday at the Navarez Electro powerplant in Brazil, the largest of its kind in the world. KXKVI has obtained this exclusive footage of the mysterious attack, which blacked out most of South America for nearly two hours." The incandescent form suddenly shot into the sky on a tail of flame. "No clues to the perpetuator's identity as yet," finished Greatman from behind his desk.
The camera cut to former weather girl Summer Gale, now a news anchor. The barely concealed rivalry between Gale and Greatman had boosted ratings quite a bit, but Gale's presentation here lacked any of the usual snarky remarks or cutting comments; perhaps she found this news too important to treat lightly. "Meanwhile, a missile attack on New Jersey, masterminded by the escaped supercriminals Phobos and Deimos, was thwarted yesterday by heroine Kim Possible and her super-powered fiancé Ron Stoppable, at almost the same time the Navarez Electro plant was being ravaged. Coincidence?" The camera zoomed in dramatically. "I think not."
Drakken nodded his agreement. "Smells like a red herring to me," he said, just before the entrance to the lair exploded.
Kim recognized the glowing silhouette onscreen immediately. "That's Dementor," she cried out, sitting bolt upright in the hospital bed.
Ron objected. "It's ten feet tall."
"That's Dementor." She was up, ready to go, despite the IVs in her arms. "Where's the Kimmunicator? He's old-school; Wade can probably track him –"
"KP, you can't. You're not ready. Retro-metabolism might have rebuilt you after the fall, but you were out in the desert sun for –"
"I'm fine. The gift can't stop dehydration, but it makes recovery a breeze." Ron tried to guide her back to the bed; she shook him off, startled. "But you know that. This isn't about my condition. It's about Dementor."
"He shot –" The young man trailed off, unable to form the words, and tried again. "I thought I'd lost you the last time we went after him." He gestured at the television, where the catastrophic scene had just given way to Gregg Greatman's face. "If that was him, he's become something terrible. Electricity is still one of your weaknesses, and it looked like he was full of it."
She yanked the IV needles out; tiny flashes of blue instantly healed the pinprick wounds. "He's full of it, all right." She recalled his cruel face, his vicious laugh as the bullets tore through her body, and her features hardened. "I owe him one."
"Don't do this, Kim. Please. Let me handle it. You're not ready," he repeated, perhaps a bit too desperately.
"Yes I am!"
"No. You aren't. You've been doing some crazy things. With, like, trains and stuff. I'm afraid you'll –"
"Try something stupid?" she snapped.
"KP." So much concern on his face. "I love you. I'm just afraid – you're going to – to-" He turned away, tears on his face, still unable to form that lethal word.
Those tears broke her. For the moment, Dementor was forgotten. "Oh, Ron – no. No, I'm – I'm done with that. Believe me. Please believe me. It's just – ever since I realized what having this – gift – meant, all I could do was think of death. Think about watching everything and everyone I know slip away, and me powerless to stop it. And I know I've been short with you. I'm sorry. I - I appreciate what you tried to do. Bring me out of it." Despite the fights, she thought, and realized again how much he cared. " I was falling from the Bomarc and everything came clear."
"Maybe you could clear it up for me, then."
"I was falling, and I thought about all the times I've fallen before…" She swallowed hard. "And I knew nothing was different. Especially for us. We've always dared death, ever since the first mission. That's how we beat it. By living. By daring to keep on living."
"I don't understand…"
"We don't have to. That's the important part. We don't have to understand, we just have to live. Despite the shadows."
"Kim, this is all happening… a bit fast…"
"I've got to make things right with Mom, too. I've been blaming her for this. This gift. I – I have to tell her I'm sorry. And you too. I'm sorry, Ron. I've been looking at this all wrong. At everything all wrong." Impetuously she kissed him. "Did that help?"
He looked a bit dazed. "I didn't quite get it. Let's try it again."
The giant figure stalked through the huge hole in the wall, dragged Drakken from the debris, held him high in the air. "I just thought I vould DROP IN on mein OLD FRIENDS und ve could talk about ze OLD TIMES," Dementor roared. "Like ze time you vatched Shego THROW ME FROM THE ZEPPELIN und didn't lift a little PINKY to STOP HER." He shook the blue man, hard. "Are you remembering?" Another vicious shaking. "Because I assure you I AM!"
No wonder the luminous form on the newscast had seemed so familiar. "Uh – can't we let bygones be bygones? You know, forgive and forget and all that –"
The giant flung him against the wall, crossed the room with anomalous speed, glared down at him as a man regards a particularly loathsome insect. "Vhere ist Shego, Drakken? I vant to THANK her for throwing ze Matter-Energy Integrator out vith me. Through studying its construction, I haff created zis integration suit, vhich not only can convert MATTER to ENERGY, but ENERGY TO MATTER AS VELL."
"So now you feed on energy. Just like in Invasion of the Energy Vampires."
"Ach, did you see zat too? Such a letdown. I haff seen cartoons zat vere better. So vhere ist your concubine? Vhere ist Shego?"
Drakken's expression darkened. "She isn't my concubine. And you'll never lay a finger on her if I can help it."
"Ah, but you CAN'T help it. You can't do ANYTHINK to stop me." The huge man held up an electronic disc; a holographic diagram of the lair appeared in the air before them. "Since you vill not tell me about Shego," he sneered, "perhaps you vill show me around your lair. I am particularly intrigued by zis secret shaft right here, vhich descends below ze range of my scanners." His eyes narrowed. "Vhat are you HIDING down there, Drakken?"
The blue man swallowed, hard. "N-n-nothing. Much. Nothing much."
"Zhen ve shall go LOOK at nothing much," said Dementor, shoving his captive toward the secret door. "I'm sure it vill be verrry interesting."
