Chapter 29
Drew Lipski aka Dr. Drakken was never a lucky man. From the very beginning till now he had to put an ungodly amount of effort into everything he did to even achieve a semblance of normality.
Well if you can call spending the better part of the last two decades trying to take over the world ,, normality"
Yet here he was positively impressing the lady he possibly, might have feelings for with his newfound powers only to sense a rather hostile presence.
Yes, sense.
You see, he never realized WHAT exactly his formula did to him. Firstly he thought that it merely altered his DNA to be able to produce plant-like organisms out of his own biomass via alternation of his cell's structural construction.
Easy, primary-school level stuff.
Yet that was not the case. He could not just create plans on his own body, while at random at first, he managed to control it later.
He could command plant life around him at will now! He noticed that when he managed to make his orchid kill the mosquito that absolutely irritating the living hell out of him one day…
From that day onwards his life changed.
He discovered that for some reason nature began to bend to his will, albeit bending would be calling it wrong. More like fulfilling his requests. He could not order a plant to die yet he could order it to move or grow at an unnatural pace.
While not having a mind of its own nature was a being, a something so immeasurable that Drakken did not even delude himself to being to comprehend its complexity. To nature, he might be as well as a brainless bug, even less.
Compared to that he wasn't even a speck of dust on the road.
A truly humbling experience. Which may have served as something akin to a warning from nature if he ever reverted to his old way…
Keeping it secret from GJ was a fairly easy task. They were aware of his plant powers so they really did not bother to investigate further into the matter.
Rookie mistake if he would be the one to judge. With his freedom he managed to hone his abilities and tie them neatly with his revolutionary food program he was working on.
With the final touch, he willed the trees to create glowing leaves.
Ok, that was a bit of his whim but nature was really pleased with his promise of creating and keeping a forest here…
"Ok, Drew I have to admit I'm sold…" Betty said slowly looking around at the almost fantasy-like setup. "You really DO know how to make the environment romantic."
"Well I wanted to make his night perfect so-" He paused in mid-sentence with mighty frown appearing on his face." Something coming!"
He has never felt anything like that! The…the thing that was approaching was unlike anything he has ever sensed!
Every living being had some sort of signature that nature could relay to him. Human, animal, insect, by now he knew every one of those. But what was approaching was unlike any of those.
It felt…twisted, or more like tainted by something so repulsive that it felt like acid on his brain.
BADUMP!
Yes, acid not only to the brain but also to the eyes, his sense of fear, and also the bladder that desperately wanted to empty itself right now at the sight of WHAT just landed in front of his eyes.
He thought that the nickname Night Terror was a load of hot air but when he stood before it in the dim light he could really see what will be haunting him in his nightmares to come if he lived through the next 5 minutes.
"Dr. Drakken…" The creature croaked inhumanely staring at him with those empty red glowing eyes.
"Hiiiii" Drakken let a little hiss of fear taking a step back.
"You committed numerous crimes against the world…" It took a step forward.
"Don't come any closer!" Betty stepped forward." I'm a director of GJ and that man is under our protection! He's been pardoned for his past misdeeds as a reward for his contributions during the invasion! I don't know under what wrapped sense of justice you're operating but you're trying to kill an honest and innocent man!"
Drew felt a warm feeling blossoming in his chest…that was instantly killed when the creature burst out laughing.
A cold, dark, and disgustingly animalistic laughter.
"Honest and innocent? Your infatuation with this degenerate shows how our justice is being corrupted by such weak-willed fools as yourself." Night Terror pointed its clawed finger at Betty. "Criminals have been allowed to run rampant for years, with true innocents being victims of our flawed system! Wrapped sense of justice!? NO! My justice is absolute! My justice is unrelenting! There is no forgiveness! There is only punishment!"
Years of CQC training honed Betty's instincts to the absolute peaks of what humans could achieve yet even she wasn't ready for the onslaught the creature brought.
With the speed she could barely follow the black abomination jumped at her with its claves spread wide.
She managed to sweep the coming hand to the side and aimed a punch to the throat but the creature was unbelievably agile. Like flowing water it let her punch pass through right next to its next and with inhumane speed Night Terror drove its knee into Betty's stomach.
The closest feeling she could use at the comparison of how it felt was as if a cannonball hot her stomach.
The head of GJ fell to the ground with the delicious food she ate earlier coming back to her throat and then out of her mouth adding salt to her already a humiliating defeat.
"Betty!" Drakken yelled.
"I would worry more about yourself Drakken…" Night Terror said darkly slowly moving towards him, enjoying the absolute dread on his face" You have been a failure your whole life causing only misery and pain around you, it's time for this pathetic story to be over!"
With a monstrous roar Night Terror leap at him intent of taking his head.
Drew rose his arms in protection but it was a futile notion. Terror's claws could cut the skin and bones as easily at a hot knife the butter.
CLANG!
If the situation wasn't so serious one would laugh at the almost comical look of shock on the creature's face when its claws got stuck.
"My story is far from over," Drakken whispered. Not a second later a massive root came out of nowhere and hit the Night Terror in the side sending it flying. The creature managed to get out of the shock, doing a backflip in mid-air landing on the nearest tree trunk.
Drakken willed the leaves to glow brighter to get better vision, while at the same time ripping off his sleeves.
"I see" Night Terror uttered seeing the tree bark that covered his forearms.
"You asshole ruined the most important evening of my life…" Drakken growled with anger overcoming the fear. He did not know if the pure repulsiveness oozing from the creature did not inflate his emotion but right now as he wanted to beat this abomination for humiliating Betty and being an affront to the very existence as well. " I will beat your ass from here back to Jersey!"
Night Terror had to withheld laugh. This pathetic, failure of a proper human being just declared that that would beat her?
In one swift move, it lunged again wary of the oncoming roots. Yet who could expect a whole tree suddenly growing in her path?
Using its inhuman reflexes Terror dug its claws into the tree trunk changing the trajectory of its flight to deliver a devastating kick to Drakken's head. Yet somehow the blue man predicted it and a wall of wines was all she hit.
Drakken summoned roots from underground to move him and Betty away from the enraged killer while constantly summing new roots and wines to slow the attacker down.
Raising both arms up he willed ALL surrounding nature to come to his aid in an absolute onslaught. Night Terror was assaulted from all sides having to focus solely on the defenses just to survive.
The plant-life seemed to be under his total control. No matter how many of them were cut or crushed dozens more came to replace them instantly. It was like fighting the whole forest which wasn't far from the truth.
If not for the suit she would be dead by now.
The realization was like a bucket of ice-cold water poured on her head.
Every second she was being hit by branches, vines, and roots desperately trying to not be crushed to death by bigger ones.
Drakken…DRAKKEN! Of all people in the world was driving her back. She managed to get a glimpse of his face almost gasping in shock.
Gone was the fear or the general idiocy the man radiated. Right now his face was set in absolute concentration with determination she had never seen him have.
"It's time to leave Kim" Legion spoke materializing next to her.
" I can take him out!" She growled just for the sake of defiance.
"Obviously, yet I feel GJ agents approaching, if you stay they will take you and all you want to achieve will be gone." He urged." Sometimes to win a war you need to lose the battle."
Kim Possible hated losing. She hated losing more than anything else.
Losing to Drakken in a fight?
Come hell and high water she will gut the man for this humiliation.
"You won this time Drakken, but the hunt is not over." Night Terror hissed and with one last growl began retreating.
With heart-bearing million miles per hour, Drakken looked at the monstrosity retreating from the clearing. He was sweating like a pig with his bladder threatening to cause the next biblical flooding.
As soon as nature told him that the creature left the forest he let the air he was holding and fell to his knees.
"Oh, God…" He whimpered shivering violently. That was the single scariest experience in his life. He knew that he will be waking with a scream for the next few years!
Not to mention that his head by now was probably snow-white from the stress! Swallowing the bile in his throat he looked at Betty who was staring at him with mouth agape.
"Are you ok?" He rasped feeling his throat was dry as a dessert.
"More or less." Betty replied nursing her sore stomach." You?"
"I will live, just freaked out of my mind."
"Don't worry after we're done with the agents and ordering a manhunt to catch that creature we're finishing our evening at my place." She offered him a weak smile.
"Wha..?"
"You earned it."
"Ehhh?"
"I have to say you impressed me."
"Are you…"
"Yes do I have to spell it out?"
"N-no…" He wanted to say more but well you don't look a gifted horse in the mouth…
…..
Elsewhere
"GRAAAAAA!" A crate was thrown against the shattering into million pieces." GRAAAAAA!"
Kimberly Ann Possible just lost to Dr. Drakken.
Absolute, unrestrained, unrelenting, and bottomless fury would not even describe how she felt right now. That cockroach of a man just forced HER to retreat with her tail in between the legs.
She crashed few more crates in some abandoned dirty warehouse panting like a madwoman. She was fairly sure that she was foaming from her mouth.
"Easy there Kimberly, the loss is a natural part of life." Legion chuckled.
"Not to me! I am a woman who can do anything!" She spat venomously with eyes wide." Loss is for common people but not me!"
"Oh? Then what was that? Tactical retreat?" He laughed when she swiped her claw through him. "I'm dead already remember? Now as you continue to be in denial how about you go back home, take a long shower that I will witness, and then think over what you did wrong?"
"What I did wrong!?"
"You underestimated him even despite seeing the man growing a whole forest out of the ground." Legion spoke nonchalantly." You charged in blindly and assumed that you will win somehow on his territory, foolish action if you ask me."
"Well, no one was asking!" She roared but she felt a painful stung of truth in his words.
"Everyone you know is moving on in their lives and growing. But it seems that you're the only one who stopped at high school. Wake up Kimmy graduation was a long time ago." He delivered the final blow that made her gasp.
She felt like someone slapped her harshly.
Deep down inside she was aware of that. Ron, Shego, Felix, her brothers even Bonnie who through charity planned to get to the city council, to get even more tools to help people. It seemed that everyone had a plan on how to lead their lives living her as a straggler.
From the time of team possible nothing has really changed for Kim. Yes, she worked for GJ now but it was just momentum from the times of her high school. Nothing new happed in her life.
She did not grow as a person, not even a bit. Hell in some area's she even regressed!
"You put yourself above everyone else, thinking that you are perfect…the thing about perfection is that it makes you lazy, apathetic." Legion dragged on." You had no motivation to change and improve thinking that you're at your best because of that or that. Truly pathetic display of narcissism."
"That is not t-"
"true? What new skill you recently mastered? A new form of combat? New language? What did you do with the massive amount of time you have right now? Have you even sent one request to be enrolled at any university?" He pressed.
" I was busy!" She shoots back lamely." Hello, end of the world fallout?"
"Excuses. Tell me what do you think Ron was doing every morning in his garden? Meditating, training, improving on his skills. Even when he literally changed the course of the massive alien battleship and saved the whole city from total annihilation? He trains to hone his skills to perfection. That little poor, gullible Ron that was holding your skirt all the time in Highschool." Legion had a mighty frown on his face right now. "You think Drakken could just do what he did by sitting on his ass? He has outgrown you, without the suit, he would rip you to shreds."
Kim was broken at this point feeling tears gather in her eyes. She fell on her knees feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. Every word Legion said was true. She fell victim to her own comfort zone, content in her delusions of grandeur.
"What am I supposed to do now?" She begged, looking at the mutilated man." How can I catch up with everyone!"
"Ohh, my dear…" He knelt at her side and cupped her chin." Worry not I will make sure that you will not only catch up but surpass all of them, have faith in me."
Right now his glowing orange eyes were the most beautiful thing Kim has ever seen. Only a very small part of her mind was screaming at her that it wasn't right but she silenced it.
After all, she was a girl that could do anything.
…..
Ron's home.
"Ahh every where's good but it's best at home!" Ron dropped his bags." Rufus! Was the house protected!"
"Ayyyyy, home safe! Food low!" The molerat replied saluting proudly.
"Awww here's a whole load of best Cuban cheese we could find!" He hugged his friend then letting him eat into a coma.
"Yeah yeah, that also means back to work on Monday." Shego stretched. " Wonder what happened during our absence."
"Come on it's been only two weeks, the world would really have it for us if something major would happen during that time." Ron waved her concerns off. "I mean really we fought off the ALIEN invasion that should count for at least 2 months of relative peace.
"The fact that we don't even consider this an event that should give us a life-time of peace is sad." Shego chuckled.
"Ehhh we would die of boredom." Ron shook his head.
DING DONG!
"Steel Legs, Wade, and Deweebs right on time!" Ron exclaimed going to the doors and letting his friends in.
"Kayyy I will go take a bath while you neds congregate." Shego playfully rolled her eyes.
"YES MA'AM!" Felix and Possible twins saluted.
"So guys how's the factory going on?" Ron asked taking the offering of the godly nachos with only slightly trembling hands.
"Well, money man your best guy Felix managed to organize all the necessary supplies for the products and sign necessary contracts. Zita's parents were essential with this sine they are lawyers so they hammered the fine details so we weren't screwed up." He told him.
"We also managed to set the first fully automated assembly line," Tim told him.
"Plus we have plans for three more." Jim added." But right now that the limit we have since electricity consumption is quite large so we're given only that much. The powerplants aren't fully fixed yet so that's that."
"But we're working on the independent power source for ourselves," Felix spoke grinning. " If we manage to pull that stunt we will be fully independent."
"Well, I also will try to improve the programming to reduce the energy consumption, although the automatic defense drones are taking a bit of power too since the area is…let's say less safe," Wade spoke.
"Come on your drones can't handle few baddies from Lowerton?"
"He did not mean baddies from Lowerton, dude." Felix uttered." We have a new creep in Lowerton" He pulled out his phone and showed him the article. With a very low-quality picture of a rather sinister-looking thing.
Skin dark as a night, with spikes protruding from various places on its body. But the most distinguishing thing was the two glowing red eyes.
"Ok, that looks reaaaaaaly scary." Ron felt a shiver go down his spine.
"News named it,,Night Terror" up until now it has killed 60 people.
"What?" Ron gawked.
"But the most interesting part is that it only targets criminals." Tim continued.
"Crime rate dropped by 30% in Lowerton since NT appeared," Jim added.
"But let's say that every time NT leaves a…mess." Wade gagged. I managed to catch in on the street cam and it wasn't pretty.
"How much?" Ron didn't really know why he asked.
"Have you seen what happens to meat when it goes to the mixer?"
"Ewwwww….so it's some kind of vigilante?"
"Technically yes, he or she only kills criminals so yes but the way it does is quite disturbing. " Felix told him." I know that some of them deserved this but it seems that NT likes to see them suffer before it kills."
"Maybe it's personal?" Tim deducted." Some vendetta against local thugs? Kim should know more, she was assigned to watch over the case."
"How is she? We hadn't spoken in a while?" Ron asked. Radio silence from Kim worried him a bit,
" Like a walking dead. She hunts for NT during the night and works during the day, so we barely see her." Tim said with a slight tint of worry." Mom and Dad tried to talk to her but she snapped that every minute she wastes it's another life gone"
"Yeah and in this state if she meets NT and slips…" Jim looked at him with a silent request." For now, Nt does not kill non-criminals but you know…"
" I will talk to her guys don't worry. On Monday I'll ask at the GJ to add me and Sheila to the case."
He gave the thumbs up.
"So how about some D&D session to raise our spirits!?"
"YEAHHHH!" They shouted in unison.
"BE QUIET I'M TRYING TO RELAX!" Sheila's angry voice sounded from above.
"SORRY!"
….
A/N
*Nervously looking around*
Hey, all of you. It's been really a while. I won't lie the year has been incredibly difficult for me due to the obvious reason with 19 in it. Work stuff has been crazy with all the adjustments, closures and so on so I had to work like crazy to pay bills.
Anyway, I hope that the chapter was to your liking because the next one is going to be big!
Treat it as my Christmas&New year gift to your all! I wish you calm and peaceful Christmas and that year 2021 will be better for all of us than the year 2020.
Keep healthy and safe!
...
Toss the coin to the writer on my and KO-FI, link on my profile page!