Where are Kim and Ron you ask? Dealing with other villains. This takes place in the really long time span before Clean Slate. Drakken and Shego were MIA for what was only a few episodes but time duration wise... was kind of a few months... this was the stuff happening during that time.
A/N: I'm sorry about that cliffhanger... but...
False Faces
Drakken dove as metal razor claws swiped over his head. His mind was racing as he yelped and dove under the table to avoid another strike. Hermes's eyes were still glowing red, an emotionless expression on his face. Drakken's thoughts focused on his experience with the gauntlets...not that he was keen to relive that in any way. Drakken couldn't understand why Hermes was in a zombie-like state... He was fairly certain his own eyes hadn't done that for hours after putting them on.
Which I can only speculate...
Possible and Stoppable had been present and he had been focused on the task at hand rather than emotions... Perhaps it needed a distraction.
"Hermes! Calm down!" yelled Drakken. He stood up across the table.
Hermes seemed to pause, and the hand froze in midair. Drakken let out a deep sigh of relief, but Hermes's eyes still glowed. Drakken smiled and was about to continue talking in hopes of further distraction...but in a split second the hand lunged. Drakken only managed to step back enough that instead of his throat, it grabbed his coat collar.
"Okay, maybe calm down wasn't the right— Eee!" Drakken yelped as he was yanked across the table.
Drakken would have panicked more if not for the sounds of items hitting the ground from off the table. The actual danger of the moment fell flat as he watched the laser wobble. When it finally stopped wobbling, Drakken mentally thanked Shego for fixing the leg that morning before panic set back in. Drakken felt the leather around his neck tighten as he was lifted into the air. There was no movement but the gauntlet kept twitching under his chin as if waiting for something.
Drakken looked at the other gauntlet lying on the floor, still spinning. Hermes's head turned as well to watch it spin and the gauntlet dropped him. Drakken stumbled to the ground as he saw Hermes's gauntlet-clad hand outstretched towards its other half on the ground. It clicked in his mind suddenly that it must need the other for balance.
Or more chaos...
Drakken had a dizzying amount of scenarios play out in his head as the seconds passed. The other gauntlet might balance out... Or it might want him dead too... Two was worse than one. As Hermes's metal clad hand touched the other, the stone glowed from black to red and Drakken panicked. In one swift motion, Drakken had a lot of regrets. Tackling Hermes into his laser was the main one as the heavy laser came crashing down on top of them. The next-strongest being...he should have probably secured the laser to the stand better.
Shego hoped the room she was pushing Dean into was his bedroom. He seemed more focused on her lips than directing them anywhere in particular. Not that she minded. His hand slid up her back as she pushed him against the door. There was a strange swirl of unease in her stomach as the knob turned and they entered a dark room.
It's after nine...
She growled into the kiss at her own lack of focus. When the door closed she pushed Dean against it and kissed him harder, trying to turn her thoughts. She tried to focus on the moment, and not the pulling in her stomach and chest as his fingers dug into the denim on her hips. She pushed her lips harder against his and heard his head hit the door. His hands let go of her and he let out a hiss of pain. Shego opened her eyes and took a step back. Dean was rubbing the back of his head where she'd clearly smacked him into a knob holding a jacket behind his door.
"Are you okay?" cringed Shego.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he laughed. "Wasn't expecting that much aggression— I mean it happens."
Shego felt her face grow warm and was glad for the darkness of the room. That was, until she turned to survey the room and tripped over something. She reached out for a wall but grabbed the curtains instead. Dean's hands grabbed her waist before she could actually fall but she still yanked the curtain askew. She looked at the trunk at the foot of his bed that she had tripped on, the glowing blue lights of the signs outside his apartment letting her actually see around her. She'd in fact directed them to his bedroom, the plush bed in front of her confirming that.
"Are you okay?" asked Dean. She could hear the amusement in his voice about how well things were going no doubt.
She stood up quickly and nearly smacked him in the face with her hair.
I should have just gone home...
She shook her head and nodded at him. She looked towards the bed for a second, her stomach knotting in nerves as she did so...before pulling him back into the kiss they'd been in the middle of. She kept her thoughts focused on the sensations versus whatever else was trying to break through. If she focused on the touch of his fingers touching the skin between her jeans and top, it stopped her from focusing on what time it was.
I should call—
She dug her nails into Dean's shoulder as the back of her legs touched the edge of his bed. He fell with her as they continued their frenzied kissing. She was desperately trying to not list things and reasons in her head of why she should leave. They were warring with why she shouldn't leave... Why she needed to do this to gain some control over her emotions. Over her actions...over herself. There was a very strange thought fluttering in her head that this had less to do with Drakken than she thought it did. She fixated on that. Locked in on it. It was helping her push away the thought of Drakken sitting at the lair waiting for her like she had a curfew of sorts.
Dean's lips parted from hers and she looked at him. His eyes looked at her with pure hunger. It was a flashback to the car again at the club, the alcohol draining from her bloodstream as she'd attempted to do the very thing she was doing now. Except this time, she knew him... It did little to stop the swirl of nerves in her gut. She focused on his expression, the dim blue light from beyond the curtain creating an eerie cast around his dark eyes and messed dark hair, the gel style loosened by his fingers and a complete mess. There was no glare from the glasses he'd lost somewhere between the living room and her shoving him into a door.
Something suddenly began turning in her head as he gave her a cocked-eyed, lust-filled smile.
"You're beautiful, Shego."
The words came out of Dean's mouth, but it wasn't the voice she heard in her ears. It was Drakken's. The dim blue light had suddenly made something abundantly clear to her. She became terrifyingly aware of what Ed had been talking about at New Year's. Shego shot up and smacked her head against Dean as the panic rushed to her core.
"Is everything okay?" asked Dean. "Did I say something—"
"No!" she yelled. She shook her head. "Uh...no."
Her chest was pounding as she looked at Dean. She felt suddenly stupid as she looked at him. While he had similar attributes to Drakken, he didn't look like him. It was just the light and her mind messing with her. Making more and more excuses...
Like I always do...
A parade of a similar situation marched through her head that she chose to ignore. She looked at the confused expression on Dean's face before she changed tactics in how to gain her mental control back. She held up her hand and then quickly and wordlessly, moved on the bed to push the curtain closed. Dean was saying something but she followed his voice in the darkness. His words, which she wasn't listening to, stopped as she shoved him against the bed. She made her mind only focus on the sensations of his hands on her shoulders. Not her moment of panic.
He doesn't look like him... You're going crazy... he's in your head more than you thought.
She could feel how focused he was as she straddled his waist. His hands slipped under her blouse to run up her spine. Her fingers found their way through his hair in the darkness as the kiss became more sensual. There was less hunger now. Her mind focused on her fingers in his dark hair... That hunger in his eyes... To a game of spin the bottle and how her lips hungered for Drakken's as she'd forgotten the game around them.
She pulled her lips from Dean's quickly, trying to shake away the feeling. It left when his lips found her neck and began biting her flesh gently. She pulled away for a second only to lightly ignite her hands. She saw his eyes go wide and she had the sudden realization she'd never done that in front of him before. His confused and alarmed expression made it even clearer her mind was playing tricks on her. It had to be. She quickly extinguished her hand.
"Sorry—"
"That was terrifying and really amazing," she heard him shakily breathe. He cleared his throat, "Ohm... Maybe a warning—"
"Got it," she cut in as she pulled the moment back, her lips covering his again.
Her mind focused on the sensations for far longer this time. Long enough to have gotten his button-up shirt off and for her blouse to be undone. That was until the muffled sounds of the band still playing on the street corner came through his window, now playing ballroom music. It was an upbeat waltz, and Dean's breath on her neck made the dim blue-lit image of his face come back again. She couldn't stop seeing it no matter how much she told herself or flared her hand green to look at him. Because while she could let the comparison to Drakken go as just a trick of the mind, her thoughts had fallen back to the ball. Drakken in the makeup, his scar hidden, their reflection on the mirrors as they danced... There was no denying it.
Shego let out a growl of frustration and pulled herself off of Dean's lap. When the lamp flicked on Shego didn't even bother trying to look embarrassed or make excuses. She was angry. Not at Dean but at her own obliviousness...and the fact that trying to use Dean to get her emotions in check would now only make them further out of control. She didn't look at Dean but pulled her legs up to her chest and glared at his clean white carpeted floor from the edge of his bed. She massaged her temples and debated over saying anything or just sprinting.
"Dr. Drakken," sighed Dean. Shego's eyes shot open as she looked at him.
"Excuse me?" she asked suddenly. She calmed down, assuming he meant about the caper she'd told him was planned that night. "I mean...yes. It's later and—"
"You love him," cut in Dean. Shego was about to argue when he snorted. "When I first met you...you said you loved him...and New Year's blatantly spelled out that you didn't mean like I love him."
Shego stared at Dean, awestruck. Her mind fell back to the memory of Drakken's voice on the radio and Dean's saying he loved Drakken's music...and her own words after. She scoffed and was about to counter this with her own frustrations, but then her brow shot up.
"New Year's?" asked Shego. Dean had been gone most of New Year's.
"Never seen someone so enamored with spinning their partner round and round during a do-si-do," shrugged Dean. He gave a soft smile. "I kind of...just hoped I was seeing things..."
He trailed off and looked at the window.
"Is that why you had to close the curtain...because it was blue in here?" asked Dean.
Shego, who'd been lost in her own recollections of New Year's answered without thinking.
"You kind of looked like him... It made me uncomfortable," she muttered, then heard what she'd said and back-pedaled. "I mean..."
"You think I kinda look like Dr. Drakken?" He looked confused and before Shego could say anything else, Dean grinned. "That made this rejection so much better."
For a split second Shego thought Dean was being sarcastic until she remembered who Dean was and laughed. It did little to make her feel less of her internal struggle, but it made the awkward situation lessen. Until Dean spoke again.
"So are you just waiting for he and that blonde woman...Carmella, right? To break up, or..." Dean trailed off.
"Why can't all guys take rejection this easy," smirked Shego. She shook her head. "I was honestly going to simply use you to try to get him out of my head... That did not work."
Dean looked confused and Shego felt that anger building in her.
"Listen, despite all this," Shego indicated to the room and themselves. "There is and never will be anything between Drakken and me... That being said..."
"You have to kill me now," joked Dean, but she saw a brief panic flash over his eyes. It made Shego smile.
"Not today... But if you breathe a word of this...I will," glared Shego. Dean bit his lips and looked at his feet.
"Can I tell people why you broke up with me if I don't use your name?" asked Dean. "Specifically some of the other fans?"
Shego blinked for a second and there was a deep unease in her stomach and in her nerves. Another alarming realization was hitting her twice in one night. Dean had managed to curb or forgo talking about Drakken the majority of the time they had gone out... And she had forgotten that Dean was in fact...a Drakken fanboy in a really nice apartment with a government job and a nice car... She slowly slid off the bed.
"I have to go now," she muttered under her breath. "I...I need to get back to the lair...and...ohm...have to stop at the Villain's Inn...and I'm gonna go."
She gave Dean a nervous smile as he looked at her with confusion. She bumped into the dresser as she left. When she cleared the doorway she quickened her getaway and grabbed her purse quickly as she sprinted towards the door. She nearly forgot her shoes and hadn't tied her blouse till she got to the elevator. As the reflective metal slid closed she let out a sigh of relief.
"How blind can I possibly be?"
She shook her head.
"I need to get back to the lair," she muttered under her breath. "Villain's Inn. Lair. Never talking about this again."
Drakken pulled the tissue from his still sore nose and was relieved that the bleeding had stopped. His eyes fell on the still-overturned laser and the blood spot he'd not cleaned up, then to the source of the hiss of pain coming from across the table. Hermes, no longer red-eyed due to the hit from the laser most likely, was watching his hand twitch as it was secured in the vice he'd been using to hold the gauntlets prior. That decision had resulted in the second nosebleed and the bruise on Hermes's face from attempting to assist in wrestling it into place.
"Why does it sting when it moves?" grumbled Hermes.
"Could be the poison... Might be the pins in the finger tips... I didn't exactly examine or even try to think about them after I got them off," said Drakken. He looked at the laser. "Tried not to."
"I'm sorry did you say poison?" Hermes's eyes shot open.
"Well...whatever that thing does to get in your head," sighed Drakken. "Shego will be back soon and she'll rip it off."
"Rip it off?" yelled Hermes. The hand thrashed even more.
"I meant use her powers to...okay I meant rip it off... I know it hurt because I passed out," cringed Drakken. "Might have been that thing though—"
"I should have stayed in Tibet," scoffed Hermes. "I'd rather avoid government slags and eat beetles than be here right now."
"Be lucky it didn't get to the second one," said Drakken. He gestured to the one across the table. "That one gets in your head... The one you have just—"
The gauntlet twitched and grasped into a fist.
"OW!" screamed Hermes, the spikes of the gauntlet digging into his palm.
Drakken practically threw a screwdriver at Hermes to force it into his hand, the fingers no longer reaching the palm for its attack. Drakken stared at it and then to his own hands. He didn't remember it doing that. The rage had seemed more outwards while the left hand taunted him.
"I think it's more active because that one's not balancing it out," said Drakken as he poked the other gauntlet with pliers.
Hermes stared at it and then at Drakken like he was insane.
"I'm not putting it on," he glared. Drakken rolled his eyes.
"I wasn't suggesting that!" grumbled Drakken. "I was simply saying...I don't know what that does on its own."
Drakken focused on the one in front of him more closely. There were no thoughts racing in his head that were not his own, and in fact...it felt...harmless. To him anyway. That strange fear that had been in him felt almost gone. His hands still shook slightly as he picked it up to look at it. He peered inside and wondered if it was docile and manageable now. If he could rip it apart for his laser...
"What are you doing?" asked Hermes as Drakken tilted the gauntlet around. "Are you looking for a release button or—"
"Since you're wearing the other one, perhaps this one is docile enough that I can extract the stone," said Drakken as he stood up. "Perhaps the power or curse is now conflicted enough it's not a danger."
"Why am I not surprised? That's what you're thinking," came Hermes's voice.
Drakken barely acknowledged it as he walked towards his laser and placed the gauntlet down as he began pulling it up. He looked towards Hermes about to ask for help before his eyes focused on the thrashing hand in a vice and Hermes looking at scattered tools. Drakken was about to inform him that tools don't help but instead focused on his laser. It took some effort but he finally got the laser back on the stand and grumbled under his breath as the leg he was sure Shego had fixed, became crooked again. He picked the gauntlet back up.
"Maybe there is a way to stretch the metal or at least loosen the pins... If I can get a blow torch inside..." Drakken began rambling to himself.
"Drakken..." came Hermes's voice.
"You're right, that might be too much to hope for," grumbled Drakken as he paced his laser. "You said this seemed to be shaped around the stone. The pins have to have a weak point... Inside most likely—"
"Drakken!" He heard what sounded like a fist hit the table.
"I'm just brainstorming. Obviously I'm not about to put my hand in the thing," responded Drakken. "Perhaps making an extension arm... I think I have an old Bebe arm in storage—"
"Drew!" Hermes yelled.
Drakken's eyes narrowed and he turned around to snap at Hermes for using his real name. However, it became apparent that Hermes hadn't been trying to argue amid his ramblings, but was trying to make him aware of another problem. The gauntlet on Hermes's hand had used the screwdriver that was supposed to prevent its hurting him to somehow wiggle out of the vice it had been held into. It had yet to drop the screwdriver. Drakken saw the balled fist holding the screwdriver swing towards his face. Drakken's hand automatically thrust forward and grabbed onto the wrist part of the gauntlet, suspending the blunt object a few inches from his face. Hermes's free hand was attempting to yank his arm back into control.
"You could have told me the thing was loose!" snapped Drakken. The screwdriver flew and nearly hit him. "You need to calm down."
"I am calm," snapped Hermes. "And I was trying to tell you I needed help, but you were rambling about your stupid laser."
"No, you just said my name. I thought you were just interrupting me—"
"A normal person would have looked!" snapped Hermes. "Or you know...not been rambling about what good fortune they were having because someone trying to help them is paying the price for them!"
"I was trying to use an opportunity," retorted Drakken. He thought quickly as Hermes's anger was growing and the hand became harder to restrain even with his help. "If I can get the stone out it might help calm that one down or stop them."
Hermes's expression was unreadable before his eyes narrowed. Clearly he didn't buy it.
"No, you were being your usual selfish self," scoffed Hermes. "Guess some people never grow up."
Drakken was about to argue back, but his grip was slipping and he dropped the other gauntlet in his hand to try to restrain Hermes's wrist. They both fell silent as they moved back towards the vice. Drakken looked around for something to strap it down with this time. The gauntlet became calm and Drakken's body tensed as if knowing something was shifting. Despite this, when Hermes's arm yanked back and his elbow collided with Drakken's jaw, he was clearly caught off guard. Drakken lost his footing slightly, seeing stars as his jaw twinged in throbs of instant pain. Hermes was still attempting to wrangle his uncontrolled hand back into the vice, when it changed tactics. The left gauntlet lay at the floor below Hermes and the other gauntlet seemed to have noticed. It dove for it. So did Drakken.
Shego let the breeze of flying on her hoverboard distract her. Probably too much. Her mind was falling back on the evening, despite her own attempts to forget it. She wasn't even fixated now on how blind she'd been to seeing the similarities between Dean and Drakken...or even that she'd completely forgotten the fact Dean was a Drakken fanboy. She wondered subconsciously if that had been the reason she'd continued to enjoy his company and ignored those things... Then her mind shifted.
The dates weren't bad...
She had enjoyed going to dinners, and being romanced without it being over the top. Shego sighed as she shifted her legs to turn direction towards the Villain's Inn. She crossed her arms in thought. Her thoughts fell back to her date with Steve Barkin. It had been the first real date she'd had. No false pretense of trying to distract, no ulterior motives to rob... Just a nice date. She replayed the evening and her motives of the night.
You had ulterior motives...
Shego growled under her breath in frustration. She had in fact, still had ulterior motives. She'd been using Dean to try to kill her own emotions about Drakken. She thought back over her own history...and concluded it might have even been more than that. Shego didn't date, she never had time... And even going dancing, she'd only ever done so to rob the people...trick someone into a nice room and then plasma blast them out the door before they could step foot in it themselves.
Her nails dug into her arms as her mind pushed further. If she really wanted to get over her emotions or have just a simple hook-up...she could. They were only a call away... But she never did... Something about that seemed desperate, though she knew it wasn't. She shook her head before her thoughts could go deeper down the rabbit hole of some form of self-discovery she was having.
You wouldn't have gained any control by being weak...
She scoffed at herself and uncrossed her arms to shift balance as the Villain's Inn came into sight. She just wanted to pay for the gloves and get back to the lair. She'd stay at the inn but it really wasn't in the budget and she didn't want to show up in the morning and have Drakken make assumptions about where her evening had gone.
"Uhg! Who cares, he probably wouldn't even notice or care," she told herself.
It's not like he ever said anything when you'd go out dancing or with Junior and came back the next day... Never asked where you were... Assumed whatever he assumed...while you crashed in Junior's jet or stole a key to a hotel room...
She shook her head. She focused on anger again... Associating anger with Drakken was easier than whatever depressive state her mind was craving.
"Maybe a girls' night out isn't such a bad idea," sighed Shego as she landed the hover board and jumped off.
Shego navigated towards the now-busy entrance and shifted uncomfortably at not being in anything but casual wear. She detoured from the bar entrance and instead to the false front end on the ground level of the Villain's Inn. It looked more akin to a horror movie setting, but that was only to scare off travelers actually wanting a room versus a hideout or temporary residence between lairs and villain career shifts. Shego raised a brow at the hostess; it was the same bartender from that morning. Her name tag read Sam, which Shego knew was just a borrowed one.
"Who's Sam?" asked Shego as she leaned on the desk.
The blonde jumped and then smiled.
"Shego! Hi...oh this," she looked at her own tag. "I don't know, I found it back there with like a dozen names... Thought it seemed fun... Did you need a room?"
"No," sighed Shego. "Do you know if Devious Shark is around? Thought I'd drop off payment for the gloves."
Her smile grew and Shego had a flashback to the woman in front of her and Gina's description of her briefly on New Year's... Devious Shark was probably the blonde's current stepping stone mark to villainy.
"He is. He should be in his room," said the woman...Maisy? Shego wanted to go with Maisy. "Second floor, room next to the broken light on the right... I can show—"
"No need. I know where it is," responded Shego as she headed up the stairs.
"I'll call his room to let him know. I believe he has people over," called Maisy.
Shego ignored her and continued up the steps. She was simply dropping off money and leaving; she could care less. The dark hallways of the inn seemed even darker than her last stay. She could hear music on the floors above, and sounds of dangerous, probably stolen items, behind doors...along with other noises that made her recall how much she'd hated staying there. She reached the end of the second floor hall where the broken light hung upside down on the wall. She knocked on the door and wondered why no one had fixed that light in the years she knew it to be broken.
She reached into her purse and pulled out the gloves, supposing she should try them on before she paid for them. She tugged them on and was surprised to find they fit rather snugly for knockoffs. They were a little tight, but a few blasts and action would warm them and reshape the leather fine enough. The claws lacked the normal shine she liked, but it was better than nothing. She listened as she heard other doors opening, probably wondering who was knocking at someone's door so late.
Gossips.
Shego practically scoffed aloud to look at who was brown-nosing when the door in front of her opened. A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and pulled her attention from her surroundings.
"Hello, Shego."
Panic surged through her. Devious Shark wasn't the person standing at the door.
Drakken's head was killing him and his hand ached...and he wondered if tightening the vice on Hermes's hand would bring any satisfaction. He glared down at his own hand, now clad in the same metal as Hermes's. At some point in the wrestling match for the gauntlet and avoiding being slapped by metal...his hand had come too close and whatever curse lived in those things...just like with Hermes...had latched on.
"This is your fault!" snapped Drakken. Hermes's hand sprung to life against its holdings.
"My fault! How's it my fault," bellowed Hermes. "This whole thing is only your fault!"
Drakken glared.
It is your fault, idiot. Stop blaming others!
Drakken glared at his hand, unsure if it was the cause or if those were his actual thoughts.
Ignoring everyone unless it's to blame... Never changes.
Drakken knew that was the gauntlet...it had to be.
"Okay, we need to remain calm and wait for Shego to get here at nine—"
"It's nearly eleven," snapped Hermes.
Drakken looked at the time. Hermes was right.
"She said she'd be back..." Drakken trailed off. His brow furrowed and his annoyance was only interrupted by more thrashing from next to him. "Can you please calm down before it breaks out again?"
Hermes glared at him but took slow breaths.
Barking orders like you know what you're doing... Can't blame Shego for staying out...
Drakken glared in confusion. Then he paused. He looked at Hermes's calmed hand in the vice. Drakken let his mind stay focused on this, on anything except the fact that Shego wasn't back... Or that he was, because of the situation, more angry than upset at her not keeping her word.
She's probably spending the night with Dean...
Drakken glared and felt his shoulders tense at the thought. As if on cue, Hermes's hand began to thrash again.
"Okay, this calming isn't working!" snapped Hermes. "Any other suggestions, genius!"
Drakken glared at him.
If you were so smart, you would have found something else other than these deathtraps to tinker with!
Drakken's anger fell and he looked at the gauntlets. They were a pair...they worked together... Yin and yang in a way, balancing each other out. Even when not on the same person. Drakken took a calming breath and watched Hermes's hand remain unmoving, then at his own.
"It's mirroring us... My anger is setting your gauntlet off," sighed Drakken. He quickly looked at Hermes. "But still stay calm just in case."
"Oh great! How nice! Of course I get stuck with this because of you," grumbled Hermes. "Meanwhile you're just hanging out with yours!"
Your only good luck comes at costs to others... Selfish.
Drakken's own thoughts began battling in his head in defense to the intrusive ones.
This was an accident... That's not true!
It waged on for a few seconds of insults and his head hurting. Now that he was aware of what was going on, it seemed to be feeding more into his concerns and insecurities... Either that or Hermes was stewing. Drakken glared at him.
"Stop it! Stop...stop thinking!" yelled Drakken. Hermes's hand thrashed again as if attempting to rip his whole arm off with it.
"Did you just tell me to stop thinking! You stop being angry!" snapped Hermes. "Ow! What is it trying to do!"
"No... no," Drakken took a calming breath. "While yours and its actions feed off your anger...mine feeds off emotions and thoughts...yours to be precise... Just...just think about something else other than how much you detest me."
Hermes looked between the gauntlets and then fell silent.
"I'm going to call Shego," sighed Drakken as he pulled out his phone. He hesitated. "Maybe I should give her some time... Maybe she's just running late."
"What was she doing?" asked Hermes. "Shopping? Mission? Caper—"
"Date," said Drakken calmly.
Shego wouldn't knowingly break plans... No.
Drakken felt a wave of annoyance come across him, but he couldn't decide if it was his own or... He looked at Hermes as the man gave out an annoyed groan. They weren't his feelings.
"A date? No, she's not coming back unless you call her," said Hermes. "And as much as I am happy she's probably having a great night...I don't want to sit here staring at you all evening with my hand in a vice."
Drakken bit his lip and then dialed Shego's number and waited, hoping she'd pick up despite her warning earlier. It rang and then fell to voicemail. He was about to put the phone down when more thoughts swarmed in his head.
Keep calling! You need to call!
Drakken glanced at Hermes who seemed not to be looking at him but at some tools. It wasn't his thoughts in Drakken's head then. He put the phone down and was about to speak when the phone rang. Drakken practically knocked it off the table in his haste to answer it, Shego's name printed across the screen. He clicked the call button.
"Hi, Shego! I know you said not to call you but—" Drakken's rant was cut off.
"Hi Dr. Drakken." It was Dean. "It's not Shego."
"Clearly... Is Shego there? I need to talk to her." Drakken felt the venom in his voice, unwarranted, but it was there. Hermes had twitched.
"No she's not," sighed Dean. "She must have forgotten her phone on the chair when she left. I only noticed it when the light went off."
"She's not... When did she leave?" asked Drakken. He looked at the clock again.
"A while ago," said Dean. "She should be heading home...though she did mention she had to stop at the inn... Maybe she stayed there then."
"The inn? What inn?" Drakken knew which one, but he was feeling agitated and uneasy.
"The Villain's Inn. Something about paying Devious Shark for gloves," said Dean. "Maybe you could call there?"
Drakken barely spoke as he ended the call and began scrolling on his phone for the Villain's Inn. He didn't have the number but he also didn't want to call Shego's phone back and talk to her boyfriend about her whereabouts.
She didn't stay there... But might stay at the inn?
Drakken wondered if there had been a fallout as she'd left her phone there in her exit. He ignored the jovial feeling in his gut and tried to smack it away internally. He looked at Hermes.
"Do you happen to know the number to the Villain's Inn?" asked Drakken. Hermes raised a brow but began digging his phone from his pocket.
"Date didn't go well then," asked Hermes. "Why the inn and not just head back here?"
"Apparently not," Drakken tried to fight the smirk on his face with a throat clear. "It seems she bought some gloves from Devious Shark or something."
"Devious Shark," snorted Hermes. He rolled his eyes. "What's sad is it's his villain name and not a gimmick for his act."
Hermes continued to scroll and Drakken raised a brow.
"Act? Is he a performer?" asked Drakken. He knew there were entertainment circuits for villain parties...if you couldn't get something better. "Music?"
"No. Comedy. He's not very good...well, you would know. You and Shego both saw him at the retreat," shrugged Hermes, "before those creepy hench-dolls busted in... He didn't have the shark thing then."
Drakken furrowed his brows in thought, trying to pull it from his memory. He remembered the bad jokes and the black fog...and being punched by one of Dr. Botox's strange mutilated henchmen... And an image of the young man who'd been telling the jokes and trying to grab Shego before she blasted him as more of those things swarmed. Drakken's blood ran cold and his eyes shot open.
"Devious Shark was the comedian at the retreat," whispered Drakken. There were a series of things racing through his head at lightning speed but the main thing was blind panic. "Devious Shark works for Dr. Botox..."
Shego backed away into the wall. Her chest was pounding and a familiar gripping fear threaded through her. The doors that had opened revealed the room's occupants not to be curious patrons, but the unsettling henchmen of Dr. Botox who stood in the doorway, now fitted with a golden eyepatch courtesy of Drakken's toothpick shooter from the retreat. That wasn't what made her blood run cold...nor the fact that Devious Shark stood a few feet away from her in a different door completely... No...not even the trap she was aware she'd clearly run into. It was the voice from the person beside Dr. Botox that made her heart pump painfully against her chest.
"D-Dollmaker."
I am A little Sorry for this one...