Mutations and Aliens Part 2

Shego looked at the coordinates blinking on the screen in measured intervals with the signal the ship was tracking. Her thoughts had drifted off of it for some time, her adrenaline levels rising and falling, making it hard to keep her mind focused as she kept biting back all the concerns she was having. She glanced ahead through the window at the endless starry sky ahead of her. She swallowed hard. She'd not had a second thought tracking down Possible, joining Stoppable and James Possible, tossing herself into space by commandeering a ship, and...she felt there should be some sort of self-preservation screaming at her for all of it. There wasn't.

Not even the fact she was traveling with Stoppable in an experimental rocket ship to face an alien that had been too strong to defeat other than tricking her...blindly. There could be more of them. It could be an entire fleet for all she knew. Those machines were large and there had been many... How big was the mothership? She shook her head and focused again. She kept watching the time tick by as she felt like they barely moved because of the vast space around them.

"Shego—" Stoppable spoke.

"I said no talking," she snapped at him. "It's distracting and I need to drive."

"...It's on autopilot you know... You can let go of the controls," said Stoppable. Shego's grip tightened. "I mean if you want... Probably a good idea to hold onto them in case of some space wind or something."

Shego glared over at him. She knew he wasn't as stupid as most thought he was; at least not dumb enough to think there was space wind. Was there space wind? She thought for a moment before shaking her head and loosening her grip. The sudden release of tension made her realize her hands had locked up from how much pressure she had been gripping the controls with. She looked onscreen for the distance and time to their destination again and let out a small sigh. Next to her, Stoppable cleared his throat awkwardly.

"What?" asked Shego. She stayed focused on the view ahead of them.

"You don't think anything bad has happened to Kim, do you? I mean I know Kim said that—" Shego cut him off.

"I'm sure Princess is fine... They're both fine," muttered Shego. This was not the conversation she wanted to have.

"I'm sure you're right. I mean...Kim can do anything... Save the world, get into hundreds of colleges, make a bad situation good, still make time for things... I'm sure she is fine with alien abduction. Yeah." Stoppable was giving himself a pep talk.

Shego swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes.

Drakken couldn't do everything... He couldn't take over the world, let alone save it... He dropped out of college, made bad situations worse, had clearly angered an alien bent on war and destruction... Shego found her own internal conversation not helpful to her focus in the slightest. Her leg shook slightly as she tried to mentally give herself her own pep talk.

Stoppable spoke.

"I'm sure Drakken's fine."

Shego glanced at him as he focused ahead of them at the stars. Shego raised a brow, not certain if she hadn't just imagined him saying it. Stoppable looked at her and then glanced at her leg before letting out a deep sigh and looking ahead.

"Pfft, yeah, I'm sure," muttered Shego. "It's nice to have a break from his annoying chatter for once... He's probably annoying them to death."

Shego hated the words she said because it was a reality that Drakken might in fact annoy his captives.

He's fine. He's always fine. Stoppable is just driving you crazy.

A beeping emitted from the dash and Shego felt a sudden wash of paranoia that something was wrong.

"Why is it beeping?" snapped Shego. "Don't tell me we're out of fuel or something."

Shego was following the lights and symbols and looking at the dashboard. Their journey still had them nowhere near the alien ship's signal. There were a series of things racing in her head before she got that worry under control. She looked at a number of dots on the screen between their location and the signal and raised a brow.

"Uh...Shego?" spoke Stoppable. Shego looked up and quickly hit the handbrake to stop the ship, or rather drift it.

Ahead of them were large floating boulders or...asteroids. Floating. Seemingly harmless as they drifted in their own gravitational field ahead of them. In the darkness and lights of the ship, there was no telling how thick the debris ran. Looking on the monitor simply showed a mile or so, but it was only a rough estimate Shego was sure. She began moving the onscreen map around, looking for a break. It was miles before the barrier would let up and she was certain time wouldn't exactly be gained by a detour.

Shego's grip tightened on the gears and she glared ahead as she watched one asteroid bump another in the distance and a small chunk drift its way out of whatever pull they had. Small. Insignificant piece of space rock... Shego shook her head before her mind began dwelling on something that couldn't interrupt her focus; she was already struggling enough.

"We either go through or go around," muttered Shego., "Who knows how much time we'll lose...but there's no telling how dense this field is... We could try going upwards but again, this could go on for miles—"

"Can you fly through it?" asked Stoppable. Shego raised a brow. "If it's a matter of time...we should try."

"Yeah, well one wrong move and our rescue mission takes a pretty dark turn," sneered Shego.

Shego glared at Stoppable but he looked unfazed, perhaps because he was looking at the screen. She didn't know if he was simply thinking or trying to, as she had, figure out the time difference in taking a new course versus the importance of haste. She was pretty sure it wasn't the last one, but what did she know? The kid once almost took over the world in a weekend.

"Mr. Dr. P. helped design this ship like his fanfiction... It should have some sort of defense system then, right?" asked Stoppable. Shego blinked at him.

"Are you suggesting blasting our way through?" Shego felt a smirk slowly spread across her lips.

Stoppable hit a button and Shego watched a glowing color appear at the front of the ship. Shego raised a brow.

"You think you got this, Stoppable?" asked Shego as she grabbed her gears.

"Years of video games and fiction have prepared me for this moment," grinned Stoppable. "Let's do it."

"Test fire?" Shego suggested. Stoppable hit a button and with a streak of light there was a slight opening in front of them as rubble floated around them. "Nice shot."

"Booyah!" grinned Stoppable. "All right, let's go save our compadres!"

"I thought she was your girlfriend?" Shego rolled her eyes at his excitement.

"Our inamoratos...?" asked Stoppable. Shego rolled her eyes. "It's Italian, right?"

"Closer...but no," sighed Shego.

"Okay fine. Let's go save our other halves," Stoppable shrugged. Shego's head snapped towards him.

"First off—"

"AH! Space rubble!" Yelled Stoppable as he sent another blast. "Fly!"

"Why did you blast that...we were talking!" snapped Shego as she steered out of the way. "You know what? No more talking until we get there!"

Drakken winced at the pain in his neck. He found it unnecessary for the strange technology of the Lorwardians to restrain them by the neck just to transfer them to another floating platform. Though he had only himself to blame... He had tried to sneak away the moment the metal was slightly loose on his ankles. He hadn't hopped too far unfortunately. His neck was already starting to become sore from the petals he didn't need to add more problems to his day...days? How long had they been up there? Hours at the least.

"Didn't get very far did you?" sighed Possible. "You could have not tried to resist."

"Well you could have tried to resist a little as a distraction," snapped Drakken. He heard Warmonga sigh.

"Gah, do Earthlings ever stop bantering?" groaned Warhok. "Their incessant chatter is taking all the enjoyment out of our conquering."

"They are like squiblars. All noise, but not as pleasant," smiled Warmonga in affection to Warhok.

"What are squiblars?" asked Drakken, attempting yet again to start a conversation to barter with. "Other strong and powerful planetary invaders such as yourselves?"

"They are hairless small beings," said Warhok, "Much smaller but not much unlike yourselves in certain aspects."

Drakken grinned.

"Minus one thing," continued Warhok. "Unlike your species, they have a high intelligence level."

Drakken glared.

"Hey!" snapped Possible. "Our planet is filled with brilliant scientists, doctors, scholars... Just because you haven't met any of them doesn't give you a right to judge our planet like that."

Warmonga gestured to Drakken.

"We have met your intelligence," she said calmly. Drakken smiled. "Not very impressed."

Drakken suddenly didn't care about bartering for his life. He'd much rather say a few choice words...which wasn't in his best interest. Though he did grumble a few as Warmonga and Warhok discussed their imprisonment and plans. Possible seemed unfazed and this further pushed his buttons.

"Unlike before there will be no trickery or battle-mates to get in our way," said Warmonga with narrowed eyes. "Once it is time...we will commence with the fun."

In the many ways Drakken had thought about his end, being abducted by aliens with his archenemies and executed publicly as Earth was taken over...was surprisingly...something he had actually thought about before. Normally it ended with Shego busting in to rescue him before it actually happened. His eyes narrowed as he thought about Warmonga's words and the memory of Shego staring at him as he was pulled away.

She didn't do anything...

He didn't like that thought. He was certain it had been a shock to her. It wasn't often one witnessed an abduction. His thoughts ticked back to earlier when the vat of chemicals had fallen on him. Shego had simply stared, rolled her eyes afterwards...had seemed...indifferent to what had transpired before she'd started poking fun and laughing at the yellow petals on his neck. He shook those thoughts away as just despair trying to creep in because of his current predicament. He had been so lost in thought he hadn't been aware his captors had left until he noticed his movement and the lasers sealing the chamber behind them. He realized it was simply he and Possible now in an isolated chamber with a giant device locked on them.

"Good," said Possible. Drakken looked at her narrowed eyes in confusion before he glared back.

"Good? What about being held prisoner aboard an alien spacecraft is good?" he retorted.

"It's good because they're not paying attention to us," she rambled. "It's good because they think we're trapped here."

Possible's devious smirk made Drakken's eyes peered around them and then he raised a brow at her. What was she seeing that he wasn't?

"Aren't we?" he asked.

"Not for long," smiled Possible. Her eyes began darting around them.

It took Drakken less than a second to understand she didn't actually have a plan and was just assuming they had a way out of the situation. Drakken let out an agitated sigh and shook his head. He wondered at what point in her life Possible might actually realize some situations weren't escaped so easily.

Well probably this one.

He found that accurate, but saying it aloud caused a swell of panic in his chest before he chose to vent his frustrations instead of letting the fear take over.

"Erg. I find your youthful optimism irritating," he growled and looked away at the metal wall.

His head was hurting, his emotions high, and his neck was beginning to throb dully down his spine. It was like the nerves in his back were rubbing up the ridges of his spine. And unless Possible had an actual idea, he'd rather spend his last few hours reflecting in silent brooding.

"Would you—" Possible stopped talking and he hoped she'd gotten the hint. "What is that?"

Drakken glared at her in confusion.

"What is what?" he glanced around them.

"On your neck." Her expression looked disturbed and confused.

Drakken's eyes shot open and panic surged through his being that he couldn't fight. It was one thing to be executed... Quite another to have some sort of alien creature possibly nest in him. It was the only thought he had as he moved frantically to shake something off that he couldn't see.

"On my neck!" Drakken moved his shoulders. "Is it a bug? Get it off! Get it off!"

His eyes caught sight of a teal-colored vine curving around into his view. He imagined the horrible creature it belonged to only to see a pink flower bloom delicately and move almost as if it was looking at him. Drakken's mind went blank as he tried to understand what he was seeing. His thoughts ran back to his petals and he tried to process what might be coursing through him. Was he mutating...still?

"Oh! This again," he hissed. The thought of being some sort of flower when he died was further annoyance as the yellow petals appeared again. "This is not helping!"

The vine grew almost cheerfully, the sliding feeling in his spine making him realize it wasn't just nerve pain. The pink flower tilted into his view. He felt anger swirling amid embarrassment as he tried to look away from it.

"Beat it!" he snapped.

He wanted to pretend the last few days had never happened. The flower and petals were making that very difficult to do. He watched the pink petals and vine wilt. His spine tingled yet again as it retracted somewhere inside of him. He would be disturbed or afraid if there weren't more pressing issues at the moment.

Not like I'll be around much longer...

He hated his thoughts but it was the only thing that seemed logical...plants and location beside the point. He felt the tug again and a cold strange feeling before noticing the flower and vine had drifted away from him. Until Possible spoke.

"Spanking!" She sounded delighted and it did nothing to un-sour his mood.

"Uhg, teen slang," he grumbled. This was not the conversation he wanted to have before his demise.

"Drakken!" huffed Possible. "Your flower."

Drakken felt rage fizzle through him at the fact he wasn't even allowed to wallow in peace... He was stuck with Possible...and now she was calling the abomination growing on him his flower. He snarled towards her.

"Just because it grew on me, doesn't make it my flower! It's not like I can say," Drakken's rant turned to a mocking tone, "Flower! Attack Kim Possible and—"

The vines wrapped around her at lightning speed and he watched them constrict as she was yanked off the platform and into the air. Drakken blinked before his eyes shot open in understanding.

They listen to me?

"Oh..." His words were cut off as a whirring sound began and the laser device soared to life.

The next few minutes were a blur of emotion and action that he would never be able to recall if someone asked him. The shock of possibly defeating his foe by accident...to being fired at as the young woman ran around causing the laser cannon thing to keep blasting...his arms and legs being freed because of her skillful actions...to being tossed into a corner, was a lot to take in. He grinned in accomplishment as he ordered the flower to destroy the canon...and he let out a low chuckle when the vine retreated down his spine.

"I should have gone green years ago." He heard a snicker next to him. "What?"

"Nothing," smirked Possible as she stood up and offered her hand. "Come on. We don't have much time before they figure out we just blew their evening plans."

"Might be day plans," shrugged Drakken. He stood on his own and ignored the hand extended to him. He looked at the seal to their prison. "All right...lasers."

"No big," smirked Possible as she moved quickly to kick off the platform they'd been on to hit a button on the wall.

The lasers vanished and the door opened. Drakken glared.

"Who puts the open button where there are people being held captive? Amateurs," glared Drakken as he began walking out the door. Possible pulled him back and he scowled. "Excuse you?"

"Do you want to walk right back into captivity?" glared Possible. Drakken grumbled but fell back slightly as Possible peered around the wall ahead of him. "Okay...looks clear."

Drakken walked past her, his mind now intent on finding a way off the alien ship. He had no idea how large it was, or if or where there might be smaller crafts to be stolen to return to Earth. He wondered where the nearest computer might be? If he would be able to understand it? He grumbled as yellow got in his way and he yanked out the petals in annoyance as he continued in his thoughts.

The idea of finding a way off the ship took a complete backseat as he yanked the petals off of his neck yet again. He felt along his neck trying to find their source. He had tried looking earlier but he knew he'd have to feel without his gloves. While the spots were sore, there was no actual pain. His spine no longer held any either and he wondered where the coils of the vines came from. So many questions raced through his head now that he was no longer restrained. His mind fell back to Shego's potted plant joke and he felt uneasy at this.

What if—

"Drakken!" yelled Possible. Before he could respond, lights began flaring past him.

"Gah!" Drakken dove as lasers nearly hit him. "Why didn't you tell me there were lasers!"

Possible raised a brow.

"Ohm...because I just saw them like you did," she said as they hid behind a beam. "Okay...guess there's a security system. Probably why they leave the open button for captives...to mock them."

"You know, that's not a bad idea," whispered Drakken under his breath.

"Can you not get evil ideas from our alien captors?" scoffed Possible. "It's so—"

A blast soared from above them. The winding noise and light made Drakken react without much thought and he yelled as he grabbed Possible and moved the few feet away from the new attack. A small circular device zipped above them, glowing red showing what he assumed was another attack warming up. Drakken cringed, but with a small tingle in his back the object was smashed into a wall. Drakken blinked as his vine retreated back down his neck. His hand grabbed at it, as if trying to see where exactly it was coming from, letting go of Possible's shoulders to do so. She stepped away from him to look at the item now in a heap on the ground, kneeling next to it. "So. Probes and lasers—"

"Don't say probes on an alien spacecraft," breathed Drakken. He didn't even want that put into thought.

"Huh," sighed Possible as she stood up with something in her hand. "Grappling hook attachment. May need this."

Echoing sounds rang through the hall and Drakken exchanged a look with Possible before they sprinted together in the opposite direction, ignoring the sounds of lasers going off behind them in hopes of avoiding a possible angry Lorwardian. Drakken focused back on finding a way off the ship instead of his new plant-like growths. Escape craft would need to be along an outer wall, which meant being next to windows at least gave them a starting place. He hoped anyway. There was no telling how the ships docks functioned or even how big the ship was. They barely rounded a corner when another probe came into view. Drakken grumbled.

"Why can't they just have henchmen," he whined, "or guards...or something tangible— Ahh!"

He ducked as the probe fired above them. He watched Possible kick the thing like a soccer ball, its laser streaking over his head and hitting something behind them. They both spun to see a large item hit the ground, most likely another security machine. A large tube rolled between him and Possible. It was narrow in shape with one wider end. Drakken glanced at where it came from but there was only metallic carnage blocking a doorway. He noted that the windows behind Possible showed stars and darkness before his eyes fell back to the tube.

"What is that?" asked Possible as Drakken tilted his head to look at it. Her brow furrowed. "It looks like some weird...artillery gun, right?"

"Fancy alien bazooka?" suggested Drakken as he went to pick it up.

"Don't touch it." Possible waved his hand away from it.

"In what universe do I listen to you?" glared Drakken, but Possible grabbed the device first. "Oh, now that's just rude."

"Honestly Drakken, with your luck? You'd probably detonate it," smirked Possible. "It's pretty light."

"You know, I am getting real sick of all this negativity... I'd say as of late but it's been going on a while now," muttered Drakken. "Something's gotta go my way from time to time!"

"Yes, well let's hope us escaping is it this time," shrugged Possible. A sound emitted from the device in her hands. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh— Don't throw it at me!" yelled Drakken as Possible made to toss it, but he instinctively reached for it.

"I wasn't," she snapped and threw it away from his hands.

A yellow light shot out of the object as it spun on the ground. A gaping melted hole through a wall into another room was the result. The beam had narrowly avoided the wall of windows into space. Drakken didn't want to fathom being sucked through a vortex-like hole to his death, especially not when he was just starting to gain a sliver of hope at actually escaping. Drakken slowly looked at Possible who was staring wide eyed at the hole.

He leaned over to her and whispered, "You did that," before standing back up. Possible glared at him.

"We should probably leave," she muttered. Drakken began walking. "I meant down that...fine, whatever."

Possible sighed and Drakken heard her behind him as they began walking through the vast tunnels of the Lorwardian ship. He glanced out windows every now and then, looking at the stars as a reminder that they were nowhere near out of danger yet. His eyes ghosted over a twinkling light in the distance through one window. As he cleared it, he couldn't help but wonder if that brighter light was home...or something else.

Lasers and Flowers This Way Please ==