Bonding and Villainy
Shego looked down the hallway and at the door to guest room Carmella was staying in. After a few brief hours of sleep, she'd decided that the only way to get answers without Carmella butting in was to isolate Drakken. She looked at his door, her hand raised to knock, but she glanced at the other door. Something wasn't setting right about Drakken's little game of charades earlier. He'd looked like he'd been trying to talk. Perhaps it had been her sleep-deprived mind, but she needed answers. She weighed the odds. Normally his door was locked but she gave it a shot. She raised a brow as it opened, but she slipped in, her eyes fixed for another second at the guest bedroom door.
"Dr. D.?" whispered Shego as she walked through the dark blindly. Her hands ignited. "Dr. D.?"
There was no response, but she could see the figure in the middle of the bed. She sighed and carefully stepped through his room, raising her brow at the mess of his entire wardrobe all around. She stopped and looked at it. Drakken may be a mess with papers and ideas, but his private stuff was normally put together. She tried to imagine why, but the only thought was he had ransacked it looking for outfits. Shego felt a wave of nausea hit her at the idea of him trying to dress to impress the other doctor. She got to the edge of his bed and held up a glowing hand. Drakken was deep asleep it looked like. She raised a brow.
"Drakken? Hey, wake up," said Shego. He didn't move, but she saw him sniff slightly. "Are you kidding me? Hey...wake up."
Shego glared at him. She shook the bed, but it only caused his head to flop. Shego thought for a moment. It was odd for him to sleep so soundly. The man was up nearly every three hours because he couldn't sleep long.
She felt a rush of panic suddenly, and she jumped onto the bed and began aggressively shaking him awake. His eyes opened slightly and she glared at him as he groaned. She dropped his shirt collar and waited for him to respond as his head fell back to his pillow.
"Geesh, are you awake yet? I thought you'd lapsed into a coma or something," scoffed Shego. Drakken stared at her but didn't respond. "What? Say something."
"Uh..." Drakken's eyes seemed foggy and his mouth kept moving. "Carmella."
"...You should know I am refraining from punching you right now," scoffed Shego. She waited for him to jump up and react to her being in his room, but his eyes started to close again. "Drakken? Hey...what is wrong with you? Wake up."
Shego stared at him as he drifted back to sleep. Something was off. She jumped off the bed, practically walking on him, but nothing.
There is a mind-manipulating nutcase next door.
Shego thought for a moment. The wall of candies flew back to her mind. The woman was a mad scientist, wasn't she? Her thoughts ran back to what Drakken had said about Carmella: she was known for testing her little treats on people. Shego yanked open his door and stormed to the guest room. The door was locked. She furiously pounded on it.
"Carmella!" snapped Shego, and there was a scuffle before the door slowly opened.
"Shego?" asked Carmella. She didn't seem shocked, more...uncertain as she looked at Shego's hands.
"What did you do to Drakken?" snapped Shego. Her hands flickered, and as Carmella's eyes shot open Shego saw the nerves. "Did you give him one of your little nutcase candies?"
"Why would you think that?" Shego knew by Carmella's features that she had.
"If I slapped you awake, wouldn't you be a little more shocked than to fall back to sleep?" said Shego. She had the urge to blast the woman in front of her into the wall of the guest room.
"Sleep..." Carmella sighed and gave a slight chuckle. "Oh, poor dear said he had trouble sleeping, so I gave him some sleeping medication I normally take. That's all... It's not like a side-effect of some candy I've tricked him into eating, if that's what your worried about."
"Oh," said Shego. She looked at her hands and let them slowly relax. She couldn't tell if Carmella was being honest or not by her suddenly relaxed shoulders. "Sleeping medication... How'd you get him to take that?"
"I...slipped it in his tea," Carmella. She made a shushing motion. "Promise not tell him."
"Uh...sure," said Shego. She glared. So much for talking to Drakken that night.
"You know, we're both up," said Carmella, her voice back to its cheerful tone. "Why don't you and I chit-chat?"
"Pass," said Shego. She spun on her slipper and headed back to her room. A hand grabbed her arm, and her hands flared.
"Sorry. Sorry," said Carmella, taking a slight hop backwards, obviously following Shego. "I was just thinking. I feel like you're not exactly fond of me, and perhaps if we spent some time together...villainess to villainess...you may not want to use your fun little powers on me."
"I doubt that," muttered Shego, but she weighed the odds. She wasn't sure how long Carmella might be around and she smirked.
Knowing her weaknesses wouldn't hurt.
"What did you have in mind?" said Shego as she crossed her arms.
Shego jumped out of the hover car as they pulled up to some sort of facility in the middle of the city, Carmella right beside her. The conversation on the way there had been mostly one sided. Meaning Carmella had talked and Shego had simply listened for anything that may be of use, but the history of plants was not something she might ever find useful.
They snuck into the facility with ease at first. Carmella seemed familiar with the layout and Shego assumed it was because she'd been planning the scheme for some time.
"If we can get down to the third corridor we should have access to the vault," said Carmella. "The security features are a little over the top."
"You know this place pretty well," said Shego as she shot a blast towards a camera and it fizzled out.
"Well, this used to be my facility, so I'd better," said Carmella. Shego saw her eyes narrow.
"Well experimenting on people illegally would do that," said Shego with a smirk. Carmella's expression didn't change. "Too soon?"
"It's not that simple," said Carmella. They made their way to the stairwell.
"That's what every mad scientist says," said Shego. She froze as Carmella poured something on the door handle and it melted. "That's not candy."
"Oh it is...was... No one should eat it though," said Carmella, holding up what looked like a wax candy bottle. "It only does that to metal though... No idea why yet."
"But...people eat it?" asked Shego as they snuck down another hall. She shook her head in warning when Carmella was going to respond; there were actual people there.
Shego motioned for Carmella to go left and she right. Shego doubted the woman would be much for fighting, but if anything, a good distraction would help her. She could see the vault. Titanium...perhaps steel. She'd have to overpower the mechanism if anything. Perhaps Carmella's little liquid trick could help. She momentarily kicked herself for not grabbing the decoder, though it did usually take a few minutes to work. She snuck behind the guard and grabbed his gun before moving her arm around his neck for a quick sleeper hold.
"Ma'am, release him and put the gun down," said the other guard, pulling out his gun.
"He's just going to take a little nap," said Shego with a smirk. She saw Carmella behind the other guard. "So are you."
"What...?" the guard was hit hard in the head with a pole and dropped.
"Where did you get that?" asked Shego as she released the man she held.
"Found it behind the desk," said Carmella indicating where she'd been hiding. "I think it's for the secondary door lock...which they didn't lock, so lucky us!"
"I thought you had something to just knock him out...like a powder or something... Pixie Stick Sleepy," said Shego with a shrug, yet she smirked at the man lying on the floor. "But violence works too."
"It's a lot harder than that," said Carmella. "So far the only things I've made that cause someone to sleep is my Mind Liquor and my Twisted Taffy...and that's just a side-effect."
"Twisted Taffy?" asked Shego as they looked at the vault door.
"Causes temporary madness," said Carmella. "Only lasts a few minutes though. Wouldn't want someone acting on basic violent instinct for too long. Great distraction though."
"Do you just sit down and make up a bunch of names and then try to make them into something?" asked Shego as she flared up her hands.
"...Yes," said Carmella. Shego smirked and rolled her eyes. "Your powers..."
"No," said Shego. Carmella nodded.
"Not there yet, got it," said Carmella as the vault door started to slowly melt.
"This is going to take a while... Got anymore of that liquid of yours?" asked Shego. Carmella pulled out the vial. "Pour it above the keypad."
"You know, this is kind of fun," grinned Carmella. She frowned. "Cleopatra always wanted to have henchmen do this stuff."
"What did you expect," said Shego with an eye-roll. "I've only met her twice, and I could tell you that. She doesn't like to 'get her hands dirty.'"
"You do a very good Cleopatra impression," giggled Carmella. Shego cringed but smiled.
"What other impressions you got there Shego?" came a voice from behind them. They spun around to see Kim standing there. "Jailbird must be your best one."
"Kim Possible," said Carmella. She jumped up with Shego.
"This is new," said Kim with a raised brow.
"You know, it's nice to see that Drakken and Shego are branching out," said Ron confidently. "Freaky...but it's nice to see variety."
"What are you two doing here... Come to steal formulas for whatever you're... Where's Drakken?" asked Kim, looking around.
"Sleeping," said Shego and Carmella at the same time.
"We're bonding," said Carmella with a sing-song voice.
"Lightly..." said Shego looking at Kim, who raised a brow. Shego shook her head. "Long story."
"Why don't you tell us about it in a letter from prison?" said Kim. Shego shot another heavy blast at the safe, busting through the center part.
"Tell me you brought more than just that goo?" asked Shego. Carmella grinned. "All right Kimmy, let's do this."
"Ron," said Kim, indicating to Carmella. "You take care of Dr. Sweets."
"On it, KP!" said Ron as he sprinted to where Carmella worked on the lock.
"We got the flower!" sang Carmella, holding the jar of purple liquid. "This is going to strengthen the potency of my Memory Sweets, without causing such horrid side effects... You know it was the only way I ever got caught in the first place. Unable to act without keywords, and always deliriously jovial."
"You take your own stuff there, Doc?" smirked Shego as Carmella practically danced holding the jar.
"Of course, only way to build up an immunity and properly test it," smiled Carmella. She grinned at Shego. "Thank you by the way."
"Drakken apparently needs whatever this is just as much as you," said Shego. "Anything to move on with whatever plan he's on now. I'm still curious how this whole team up even started. I mean, Drakken tends to wallow over things that others just ignore. What happened after I left on that ruse for the...whatever he made up?"
"I have a question," said Carmella. Shego raised a brow. "Then I'll answer yours. Hector, was he working for you when he was working for me?"
"God no. Drakken canned him after that party we threw," said Shego. She rolled her eyes. "We found out who actually cleaned."
"What about the ball?" asked Carmella with a raised brow. She looked at the flower again.
"You know about that?" asked Shego. She wanted to ask how much she knew, but kept that to herself.
No one's getting that necklace but me.
"No, actually we were only joking about possibly hiring him back... Then I accidentally broke him out when we were...indisposed... Not even sure who hired him back, we just went with it when we got back... Come to think of it...did we even hire him or did he just show up? Eh, he's gone now again."
"There may have been a misunderstanding," muttered Carmella. Shego raised a brow and she grinned at her. "On my part, that's what we talked about...when we decided to work together!"
"Right, so what is the plan?" asked Shego. Carmella stared at her with shifting eyes. "You don't know either?"
"...I... No, I don't," said Carmella. She looked relieved. "Glad neither of us know."
"Hmm, oh and nice shot with that taser gun... Is that Drakken's?" asked Shego, indicating to the one Carmella had in her bag of tricks.
"Yes..." said Carmella. She looked out the side of the hover car. "I got it from him before tea today."
Shego was enjoying the silence on the ride back to the lair. Internally she was at war with herself. On the one hand, she couldn't place why, but she really wanted to drop Carmella into a field somewhere. There was something about her she just didn't trust, or maybe it was her sudden presence in the lair that bothered her. She was used to it being just her, Drakken, and the various henchmen around. At least the henchmen never overstepped their bounds... Mostly because they feared her on some level.
Territorial much.
She hated her inner monologue sometimes. Perhaps she was being overly territorial of her home. She blinked to herself.
Home? When did I start calling it that?
Apparently now, she decided. Had she called it home before? She couldn't remember. It was silly to call it that, they went through lairs like Dementor went through underwear, so how could it be home? She looked at Carmella.
Yeah, back on that.
Yes, so perhaps she was annoyed by the woman's sudden intrusion on her turf, but on the other hand...
She is useful with those little sweets of hers.
The idea of sending some of the less nasty ones to her brothers did amuse her. She looked at the woman next to her and groaned as Carmella was singing a mantra under her breath to the weird flower and its purple liquid.
"So, what's so amazing about that flower?" asked Shego.
"It's not just the flower," grinned Carmella. She turned in her seat dramatically to face Shego as she drove. "It's the principle. Sure, I could find a way to cultivate it, and I will. But this was part of my project that those misogynistic tools stole from me."
"...Okay, elaborate," said Shego with a raised brow.
"My original mind control serum that I used in my candies was a joint project, which I did all the work on... All the hours...all the meticulous procedures... And it worked. I was able to make temporary mind-altering formulas. Of course, my so-called colleagues went behind my back and tried to patent it. When I argued it to our superiors, they laughed at me... Because, in their words, they doubted someone like me had the ability to create such an elaborate concoction... Nothing new mind you... These are the same people who found it appropriate to pick me up instead of shake my hand because of my stature. But it was a top facility," Carmella vented quickly and excitedly, apparently glad Shego had finally taken an interest.
"So...the original mind control test?" asked Shego.
"Vengeance...little bit of fun," smirked Carmella. She shrugged. "So I put all their kids under mind control for a few days... Did they expect me to take being betrayed quietly...am I quiet to you?"
"So, villainy," smirked Shego. Carmella nodded. "Tasted the sweet delight of it?"
"The idea of finally being able to do my own work with no restrictions and no one stopping me from testing them...yes," said Carmella. She frowned. "Unfortunately."
"It's not easy being a villainess, yeah I know," said Shego. Carmella raised a brow. "What, you think just because I can blast a man through walls that I don't hit metaphorical walls myself? Yeah, don't be shocked. Also, plenty of leeches, I'm sure you've noticed. Your former partner probably dated a few. I worked for a fair share of them before working for Drakken."
"Easier?" asked Carmella. Shego snorted out a laugh.
"Hell no, that man gives me a migraine on a daily basis and over-complicates everything! Or, my favorite, forgets to think things through at all. Don't get me wrong, some of his plans are pretty solid, but Possible normally saunters in and bursts our bubble. No, it is not easier, it's way harder," said Shego. She sighed. "But...pay's good, he's driven if anything, he's not a leech, great benefits, and there's plenty of wonderful mock windows."
"You're his side-kick?" asked Carmella. Shego cringed.
"Yeah, sure, contract-wise...that's the title," said Shego with a shrug. Her hands tightened on the controls and she glanced at Carmella.
She'd better not think because she's 'dating' or whatever with Drakken, she has more say than I do.
"Is it morning already?" asked Carmella as they came over the mountains to see the sunrise. She looked uneasy.
"Well, yeah," said Shego. She looked at the time. "Dr. D. should be up already... How long does that sleeping medication last, actually?"
"Another thirty minutes or so," said Carmella. Shego noticed she looked uneasy before looking at the flower, and then at Shego. "Do you think you could swing by my lair and pick something up for me? That way I can get this serum started."
"...Why don't you?" Shego looked at Carmella. Her leg was shaking and she was clutching the plant. Shego rolled her eyes. "Fine."
"I'll call my henchmen with the details, I really appreciate it," said Carmella jumping out of the hover car and sprinting into the lair.
"Sure, whatever," said Shego. She stared after the doctor. Something still didn't seem right. Shego smirked. A stop by the prison might shine some light on why she felt that way.
Carmella sprinted down the hall just in time to see a disoriented Drakken sneaking out of his room. He glared at her, but the tea still had enough hold on him that he couldn't directly turn from her. Drakken internally yelled at himself for not willing himself to reach Shego's door faster. He slowly moved towards it, his legs not yet hurting, but not compliant with his actual needs yet. He needed to get Shego's help before Carmella forced that horrible concoction down his throat again or tried to trick Shego into it.
"Sh-Shego?" said Drakken, as he leaned against the door. Carmella walked over to him with an uneasy smile. "Not this time, Dr. Sweets."
"Shego's headed to my lair," said Carmella. She held up the plant and grinned. "We went and got the final ingredient."
"You better not have..." He felt the pain again and glared at Carmella. "Your little poison tea."
"No. No," said Carmella, slowly stepping towards him. "So, bit of a teeny-weeny misunderstanding. Listen, just one more dose of tea, and I'll be able to give you the new stuff. Then we can talk."
"...You're madder than me, you know... Seriously," said Drakken. He cringed as his stomach twisted.
"When this wears off, it won't hurt," said Carmella, holding her flower.
"Unless it's permanent," glared Drakken. "That was your plan, wasn't it. A permanent...automatic version."
"This one won't be," said Carmella. Drakken's legs gave out and he slid to the ground. He glared as Carmella crouched down beside him. "Just trust me."
"Not like I really can go anywhere, is there," cringed Drakken as his body felt painfully numb.
Onwards →