Chapter Two
Dr. Amy "DNAmy" Hall sat in her living room in the quaint cottage she called home. She had eluded Global Justice and returned home to find all her living cuddle buddies gone.
She hadn't made any new ones since her equipment had been taken as well. She was angry, and thinking about revenge. Normally such thoughts didn't occur to her, but she had some favorites among her last batch, and was missing them. Problem was, she didn't know where they had been taken. Well, in any case she knew they would be safe and cared for, wherever they were, so recovering them was less important.
What had her attention now was the DNA she had gotten from that Jinx girl who had joined with that meanie Possible. It was quite fascinating, and she had learned some very interesting things.
She had isolated the gene sequences of the girl's hair, skin, and eyes, and saw how they fit with normal human characteristics. She could now create a living cuddle buddy with any colors she wanted! No more relying on what the animals already had in them!
What she found troubling was that she could NOT find the gene sequence for her bad luck powers. Everything had been accounted for except that. Either it was bad luck, or her powers were magical and resided elsewhere. She wasn't so sure magic existed, but Monty had assured her it did. Oh, well, she had what she wanted, anyway.
New equipment would be arriving in the next few days, and soon she could start new experiments. In the meantime, that Dr. Drakken had contacted her, and asked her to be part of the revenge scheme against that meanie Possible and her team. She wasn't interested in world conquest, but the thought of unlimited money and resources for research, AND to do it openly, did appeal to her very strongly.
Her one condition was that Jinx would be turned over to her when everything was said and done, which Drakken agreed to readily. She had a certain fate all picked out for the girl...
A video window suddenly opened on her desktop, showing the view from the camera by the front door. It was triggered when someone rang the bell.
She smiled widely. A young man with a serious expression stood there, wearing a Middleton Delivery Service uniform, and carrying one of those electronic clipboards. Her new equipment was here!
Skipping along, she all but ran to the door, throwing it open right in his face.
"Hi, cutie!" she said, startling the boy.
"Uh... Doctor Amy Hall?" he asked, checking the readout.
"That's me! Got my new equipment? I'm really looking forward to getting back to work," she said, excitedly. She held out her hand, a pan of cookies in it. "Cookie? Made them myself!"
"...Thanks," he said, taking one with a sour expression. Will Du had been briefed on Amy, and it had been emphasized that if offered a cookie he should take it to get into her good graces. It would make the operation go down so much easier.
kpkpkp
The lair boomed with the sound of the front doorbell, catching the attention of everyone inside. It had been three months since the Geissmanite crystal had been left in the hands of the lens maker. That individual had been suitably cowed into making sure no mistakes were made. And been suitably compensated to stay quiet.
Shego looked to the heavens and threw up her hands. "WHY do we have a doorbell again?"
Drakken turned on a monitor. "So we'll know when we have a delivery." He grinned. "Let's go get it."
Outside was a Parcel Service deliverywoman with a fairly large package. She made notes on her clipboard as she waited for an answer. The large steel door opened, and she looked up to find a tall, blue-skinned man standing there.
"Delivery for a... Dr. Drakken?" she read.
"That's me," he replied.
"Sign here, please," she said, and handed him the clipboard.
As he wrote, a large henchman came out and took the package back in.
He handed back the clipboard, and smiled, evilly. "Here's a tip for you..."
She smiled back, and held out a hand.
"Don't make any plans past this coming August," he said, and laughed as he slammed the door.
The deliverywoman scowled as she dropped her hand and turned back to her truck. Mad scientists were all the same. Spend millions to take over the world, but not a few bucks to help a poor working girl.
Drakken ripped open the parcel like a kid on Christmas morning. Inside was a lens in a metal frame. The lens itself was about twelve inches across and an inch thick. The frame had tabs with holes for screws that would be used to mount the lens in place.
"Ahh... wonderful!" he said.
"So this is the famous lens," said Shego. "How much does it amplify?"
Drakken picked up a couple of sheets of paper from the package. "Let's see..." He looked them over. "According to the shape and some tests, it amplifies twenty-two thousand, eight hundred fifteen times the original energy level." He paused, thinking. "Mmmm... a bit lower than I hoped, but still in the general range I was shooting for. It will do."
He looked at his sidekick. "Care to test it?"
"sure, Dr. D! I was hoping you'd say that," was the reply.
kpkpkp
Two hours later, the lens had been mounted on a steel frame, and a target set up across the large room. Besides Shego and Drakken, all the henchmen were on hand.
"All right, Shego. The lens is very dense and tough, but we don't want to risk breaking it, or ruining the optical finish. No concussive force, and no plasma. Just send your lowest-level energy through," he said.
"Yeah, yeah, I figured that out already," said Shego. She powered up her hands.
"I'm serious! That lens cost a bundle, and is irreplaceable!" said Drakken.
Shego rolled her eyes. "I get it! Now siddown!" She sent a low-level concussion wave at her boss, which pushed him back and into a recliner. He glared at her, and she smirked in response.
Reducing the green glow to one finger, Shego sent a beam of energy the diameter of a pencil at the lens. From the other side emerged a beam the diameter of the lens itself. It hit the target and melted it, boring a hole into the wall of the lair.
What was left of the target tipped over and set a chair on fire. It also broke apart and scattered burning debris over that part of the room.
"Men! Put out that fire!" yelled Drakken, standing up.
The henchmen ran for fire extinguishers and set to work saving the lair.
Shego just stood, shocked. The energy she had sent was at the lowest level she had ever used. As the henchmen carried off the ruined furniture, Shego went over to the hole in the wall. Drakken followed her. As she stooped slightly, looking out at the sky and feeling the breeze coming back in, she tried to get her head around what had just happened.
"Now do you understand?" he asked, gently.
Shego nodded in reply. She stood up and looked at the innocent-seeming lens, then at her boss.
"I could--" she started, but Drakken interrupted.
"I m well aware of what you could do using the lens. That's why you're the backup plan," he said.
"Yeah... okay..." she said, turning and heading toward her room.
He watched her go, then headed for the lab. The next item of business was to collect the supplies needed to take to the space station...
kpkpkp
Wade Load scowled at the data he was studying. A weather satellite had reported an anomalistic burst of energy at ground level. It had traveled across the ocean and dissipated without harm. But what was it? Where had it come from?
He ran the information through an analysis program and studied the results. Ah, the burst had a spectral signature that matched Shego's energy. She and Drakken must be in that area. Okay, that explained who, but not where and why. Scrolling down the readout, he found that the minimum energy had to have been... whoa! That was near the upper limit of what Shego could generate! What had she been doing? Discharging excess? Practice?
The burst had not been picked up on any satellite camera; it had been too brief and not repeated. There was no way of finding which of the islands it had come from, or even if it came from an island.
He sat back and took a drink of his Mega Slurpster. There was nothing else to learn unless it was repeated. He decided to pass it on to GJ, and get back to improving Team Possible equipment.