Chapter 9 - The Best-Laid Evil Plans
A black limousine traversed through the dark, decaying and dead forests while a thunderstorm raged on the outside. The hard sheets of rain pelted against the windows of the vehicle. In the back of the long car, there stood a man in his mid 40s, wearing a black three-piece suit and a red tie. His hands were sweating profusely at the rumble of thunderclaps, unsure of his destination of his business. Unlike his blue-skinned counterpart, he was much more light-skinned and a shrewd businessman, if somewhat of a corruptly-unethical shrewd businessman.
"How far are we to headquarters?" Ubel Drakken asked his chauffeur.
The chauffeur replied, "Not far from here, sir. The CEO is expecting you."
Drakken gulped upon facing his boss. "Maybe there's a chance to turn back."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Drakken. But your presence is needed. That is exactly what he said to me."
Ubel sighed, "I don't know how to explain this to him. Being defeated over and over again by that red-haired teenaged girl is not going to look good for my portfolio!"
"That is your problem that you need to bring up to him, not mine!" the chauffeur chuckled.
"Just hush and keep driving!" Ubel growled.
The limousine came upon its final destination, a set of three 14-story black towers nestled alongside each other in the mountains in Colorado, about 600 miles away from Middleton. This was the headquarters of Deviotix, an evil corporation in the ever-competitive supervillainy supply marketing. In addition, their other ventures included burglary, scams of all kinds, counter fitting money, kidnapping, corporate espionage, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, tax evasion, among other areas. To make themselves seem legitimate on Wall Street, they branded themselves as an oil company.
A lightning bolt illuminated the sky, giving it its brief imposing shadow on Drakken.
"Are you scared, sir?" the chauffeur questioned.
"No...uhhmm...no! It's just this thunderstorm!" Ubel stuttered.
The chauffeur then looked down at his pants and added, "That's not what I see, sir!"
Drakken looked down and indeed urinated himself in his pants.
"Great...and I just bought this suit!" he complained.
They came to the heavy-security metallic steel gate with a security booth right next to it, guarded by four Deviotix bodyguards armed with laser guns. A sign said "RESTRICTED: NO UNAUTHROZED PERSONELL ALLOWED" on the gate.
The chauffeur drove up to the strong muscular Deviotix security guard that was in the booth.
He rolled down his window.
The guard came up to the car and asked, opening his hand, "Identification and registration of the vehicle, please!" The four bodyguards, meanwhile, prepped their weapons in case any type of crap went down.
The chauffeur got into the glove and got out his drivers' license, as well as Ubel's license as well, and the limousine's registration number.
The guard growled and said, "Ah, yes, now I remember. The CEO is expecting Mr. Drakken for a meeting. He better have something good to present before him, for he has not been...happy...as of late."
Drakken, in the back, whimpered as the guard came up to him.
"You'd better give the boss a good plan...Drakken..." he sneered.
"I will! I will!" Drakken blabbered.
The guard barked to the soldiers to open the gate. The soldiers did so, allowing the limousine to pass on thru.
The vehicle continued down the traverse winding road before coming upon a large courtyard surrounding one of the towers.
"We're finally here!" the chauffeur said.
"Good. The sooner I can present my latest ingenious plan to the Deviotix CEO, the better the company's outlook will be!" Ubel said while picking up a briefcase with his latest evil scheme.
The chauffeur opened the door to the vehicle, allowing Ubel to step out with briefcase in hand.
The CEO's butler, wearing the standard Deviotix uniform, a black suit with a purple tie, opened the glass double doors of the main entrance. On the pocket of the jacket is the logo of Deviotix, a letter D with arrows pointed in all 4 directions, symbolizing their goal of world dominance. He held out an umbrella with the same symbol over Drakken's head.
"The board of directors, including the CEO, is expecting you, Drakken." the butler muttered.
"Are they at the usual place?" Drakken questioned nervously.
"Yes...the fourteenth floor! First door to your left!" the butler replied while pointing to the elevator that Drakken must take to reach the top.
"T...t...thank you, sir!" Drakken stuttered before heading into the elevator.
Counting down the floors, the squeaking of the businessman's voice could be heard...
Eleven...twelve...thirteen...
The elevator bell dinged at the fourteenth floor.
Okay, Ubel...just take a deep breath...smile...and don't make him mad!
He turned to the first door to the left. On the door, it said. "DEVIOTIX CEO AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS" in big bold red letters.
Here goes nothing!
Ubel turned the knob and opened it.
He stood in a large room with an elongated U-shaped wooden table that seated six individual members of the board that guided Deviotix's vile goals of villainy, all cloaked underneath the darkness of shadow. The room was very dimly lit and the only things that were visible were their shadows towering over Ubel and their glowing yellow eyes.
The seventh member of the council, the mysterious Deviotix CEO known only to subordinates as Mr. Tofoles, sat on a throne. Like the others, he too was enclosed completely in shadow with only his red demonic eyes staring at the scared subordinate.
A bolt of lightning illuminated the shadow of the throne but not Mr. Tofoles himself.
He replied to Ubel in a low growling voice, "Mr. Drakken...you're late!"
"I do apologize, O Great One..." Drakken said, bowing to him. "The weather isn't the kindest out there tonight!"
"I do not have time...for your pitiful excuses..." Mr. Tofoles sneered with low growls separating his works. "We need to...get to...business!"
"Please..." he continued in a low hiss, "...take a seat!" Tofoles pointed to a chair that was six feet to the right of Drakken. Drakken obeyed and sat in the chair.
Drakken complied and sat down in the chair.
"To begin,...the board and I...need to discuss your...recent failings!" Tofoles growled.
"But...but I tried to succeed in my evil schemes..." Drakken babbled, trying to explain what had happened to him as of late.
A lightning bolt flash highlighted the throne that Tofoles sat in and his red eyes narrowed at Drakken.
"Deviotix does not...tolerate failure...from its subordinates! They have to...provide a profit...for the company...and be successful." Tofoles explained. "For 10 years...you have provided...for the villainous community...very well...with your...inventions. Even though they've...ended up being...destroyed at the hands...of the heroes!"
He continued on as another flash of lightning illuminated the window, "For the successful inventions...you made...we wanted you to...join the board. All you had...to do...was to perform...an evil successful scheme yourself. And yet...you can't pull...one off!"
"There's a simple explanation to all of my unsuccessful schemes!" Drakken said. "A fifteen-year old girl, her buffonish friend, and a naked mole rat are the ones to blame!"
"Silence!" Mr. Tofoles yelled while standing up from his throne a small outline of fire surrounded his body before it died down. A bolt of lightning outside the window reflected his anger. "You do know...what happens...when I get angry!"
"And being defeated...by a mere...15-year old girl...is not going to look good." he continued in a calmer mood "For both your bottom line...and ours!"
"She's no mere 15-year old girl, Master Tofoles! She's like a she-demon, destroying my inventions as she goes!" Drakken exclaimed. "But not this time! No! I have just created an invention that is not only guaranteed to bring a massive profit to Devoitix, but it's also completely teenaged-girl-proof!"
Drakken opened his briefcase and unfurled the blueprints of his latest invention.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Deviotix board I give you the 'Nature-Destroying Machine of Doom!'"
The machine that Drakken was speaking of was a very complex gray doomsday vehicular machine. On the top of the vehicle was three lasers that have the ability to cut through solid rock. On the bottom were fifteen incineration cannons that can spew fire up to 10,000 degress Fahrenheit. And in the middle of it was a water cannon that can suck up an entire lake, similar to what the blue-skinned Drakken did with the Weather Machine against the Great Lakes. It was roughly around the size of three football fields with a crew of 4 pilots, plus around 40 other henchmen to oversee the ship.
After explaining the specs of this machine, Ubel then added what he planned to do with this sheer monstrosity of a Doomsday device. "I am going to use it against...the National Parks!"
The other members of the board, excluding Mr. Tofoles, gasped in horror.
"Destroying the National Parks? Is he mad?" one member asked.
"They are to be national treasures! Can you imagine no Grand Canyon or no Yosemite?" a second added.
"The EPA will be on our asses!" a third concluded, panicking.
"SILENCE!" Mr. Tofoles barked, fire surrounding him while lightning flashes behind the window.
The fire immediately died down as he returned to his calm state, "Anyways...Mr. Drakken...continue!"
With much-summoned courage, Ubel continued his pitch,"So with Deviotix's help and funding, we can utilize the machine's potential to cause massive destruction! And...that's not all! There's potentially untapped oil, mining, and energy to be had! Deviotix can make billions off this scheme and fourth quarter potential will be off the charts! They will more than offset whatever fines we may pay to the government!"
"Hmmm..." Mr. Tofoles said before an aura of red and black surrounded both him and Drakken. Mr. Tofoles mastered the art and ability to read people's minds and to forsee the future.
This aura quickly disappeared as it once came.
Mr. Tofoles then added, "I see potential...with this scheme...of yours, Mr. Drakken! It should provide...for us...with a profit! Your machine has been tested before against small forests near your lair."
He then cautioned, "However...you seem to lack...one vital material...for your machine! It has not...been invented yet!"
"Exactly, that's why I need your help! To find where this undiscovered material is before some other villain from another corporation does! Stealing my ideas, the lot of those Luciferex losers!" Drakken sneered.
Mr. Tofoles chuckled and said, "Mr. Drakken...did you listen? It's not where...the material is...but when! This material...will be invented...in the year 2017."
"2017?! That's far away, isn't it!" Ubel exclaimed.
"Not exactly!" Tofoles said, "There is a secret lab...150 miles to the...southwest of this city...called Dallas! They are...experimenting with a...time machine...as we speak!"
"So you want me to break into that lab and take control of the machine?" Drakken asked.
"That is the...whole point, Mr. Drakken. You plan to transport...into the future...to obtain this material." Tofoles explained what was on Ubel's mind.
"That was the purpose of this visit, yes. But how can I break into the lab? My henchmen do not have the tools or firepower to overtake it." Drakken explained his dilemma in his evil plan.
"Deviotix will be...more than happy...to fund your mission, Mr. Drakken." Tofoles said, now fully on board with Ubel's plan, "We will also...send you the contacts...of two allies...that will help you!"
Tofoles snapped his fingers. One of his assistants gave Drakken two calling cards as a flash of lightning penetrated the window.
"I believe...this should be...more than enough...firepower to pull off...the mission." Tofoles said in reply about the allies that Drakken was going to team up with.
"But what about the she-demon, the cheerleader?" Drakken questioned on the one potential cause that can screw up his plans. "She would surely catch wind of Deviotix's plan!"
"With these two...allies at your side...she will be of...no threat to you!" Tofoles replied.
This gave Drakken the assurance he needed.
"If you succeed...in this plan...of yours,...you will earn...a seat...on the board!" Tofoles explained the consequences of Drakken's plan. "But if you fail...I will get my army...of lawyers...at you...again!"
"Not the army of lawyers! Please not them! Anyone but them!" Drakken exclaimed, pleading,
"Then do not...fail me...this time...Mr. Drakken! Now...go! And carry...the will...of Deviotix!" Tofoles said, pointing to the door.
Drakken bowed again to the CEO, grabbed his plans, and fled out the door.
"Sire..." one of the board members hissed, "...what about this...cheerleader...Drakken was speaking of?"
Tofoles growled while another bolt of lightning lit up against the window.
"We need...to keep...a close eye...on her! She could...bring us down.
"Can we strike against her now?" the member asked.
"No...we wait!" Tofoles growled while tenting his fingers as a lightning bolt lit up the sky.