A/N: Welcome all to my newest update! Since I've focused so much time on 'Hybrid', I felt it was necessary to give some of my other stories some love, and luckily, the release of the new 'Gravity Falls' book (which I am the proud owner of) gave me enough of an inspiration boost to get the chapter out. Hopefully, you can expect an update for 'Possible Pirates' in the future. Also, as a shout out to CajunBear who has concerns regarding a certain detail, don't worry, I'll address it in a future chapter, and you might be surprised with how I deal with it. In the meantime, everyone, enjoy this new chapter! Oh, and wish me luck in the Fannies!
I.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. Through a combination of his Mystical Monkey Powers and natural running abilities, Ron had himself and Kim back in the Sloth in the blink of eye before flooring the gas as a dome of light completely engulfed Monkey Fist's manor before spreading out beyond.
The Sloth sped as fast as it could over the landscape, its engines practically overheating as it raced to keep ahead of the pursuing burst of light which was engulfing everything in its path.
"Move, Ron! Move!" Kim cried as she looked back to see the ever-growing dome still chasing them.
Rufus, meanwhile, was screeching his agreement with Kim into Ron's ear from the boy's shoulder, egging him to go faster.
"I am flooring it!" Ron yelled back to the rodent as he shoved the throttle as far it would go, feeling like he just got the weirdest sense of Déjà vu while doing so.
Despite Ron's best efforts, however, the wave of light was catching up to the Sloth at a remarkable rate and it looked like the small car would be inevitably swallowed up by it. But just when it looked like the blast was about to overtake the Sloth, it stopped short of its exhaust flame, leaving the Sloth to fly another 100 feet before Ron hit the brakes.
Getting out of the car, Kim and Ron looked back at the sight. The large dome of white light seemed to linger for a lifetime but it was really only for a fraction of a second before it dissipated.
"Whew" Ron said with relief as he rested against the Sloth "That wasn't as bad as we thought it could've been".
"I'm not sure about that" Kim said before tentatively approaching the flash's stopping point, Ron following close behind.
Upon reaching the edge of the line where the blast had halted, they were in for a shock as their jaws fell open and their eyes widened in disbelief.
For there, in the exact area the wave of light had washed over to the point where it stopped, was a large hole three hundred yards wide and fifty feet deep. It almost looked like a giant bowl had been neatly dug into the earth.
"Okay" Ron said slowly "So maybe it was even worse than we thought it could've been".
Without wasting a second, Kim activated the Kimmunicator.
"Wade, Drakken had a trap waiting for us. We escaped the blast, but it did quite a number on the landscape. Can you get a scan of this?"
A beam of light shot from the Kimmunicator and swept a spot of the carved out ground as Wade's fingers danced over his keyboard.
"Whoa," the child genius said in shock "This doesn't make any sense".
"Did you find out what kind explosive device Drakken used?" Kim asked.
"No" Wade shook his head "I couldn't find a single residual energy signature I recognize. And that's not all I couldn't find".
"What do you mean?" Kim asked with a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.
"I mean there's absolutely nothing left" Wade continued "No airborne particles, no dispersed and scattered debris, no shifted soil. Nothing. It's like as if all the molecules were wiped from existence".
"That's not possible" Kim shook her head in confusion. "I mean its basic science. Matter can not be destroyed. Right?"
"Apparently it can" Wade admitted.
"You mean I went through a month of Barkin drilling that concept into my head for nothing?!" Ron complained.
"Oy" Kim shook her head in bewilderment "This sitch just keeps getting weirder. Now Drakken apparently has technology that can defy the laws of physics!"
At that moment, Kim's eyes widened as she realized something.
"What is it, KP?" Ron asked.
"I saw Shego in the window just before the blast" she explained "There's no way she and Drakken could've gotten out before the explosion. Could they?"
"I doubt anything could've survived this, Kim" Wade commented "You're lucky you guys managed to get away from it".
"Um, I don't think Drakken is into the whole 'taking you with me' thing" Ron commented.
"Ron's right" Kim said "Somehow, Drakken managed to get out of there seconds before the blast. I'm betting he deliberately left a trail from his hovercar leading to here so we would walk right into a trap!"
"Unfortunately, that means that we're right back where we started" Wade said reluctantly.
"Then we'll just have to start over" Kim declared "Wade, go back to see if you can find where Drakken is really hiding. And while you're at it, do a search for any breakthroughs in molecular research. That might give us a clue".
"On it, Kim" Wade said before the Kimmunicator winked out.
With a sigh, Kim trudged back to the Sloth "Come on, Ron. Let's go home for now and hope that Wade finds something."
"Don't worry, KP" Ron said optimistically "We'll get to the bottom of this sooner or later".
"Thank, Ron. Oh, and by the way" Kim said before grabbing a hold of Ron and pulling him into a long, passionate kiss, leaving a goofy-looking smile on his face when she was done "That was for your quick thinking in saving our lives" she finished with a warm smile.
"Remind me to do that more often" Ron replied as he wobbled in place.
"You might get your chance" Kim said with determination "I get the feeling that whatever Drakken is planning, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg".
II.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Drakken was cheering loudly and pumping his fists as he and Shego walked into the main hall of their lair "My trap worked perfectly, Shego!" Reaching into his coat, Drakken pulled out the remote device he had made earlier and looked over it with mad delight. "Not only did the Molecular Grenade successfully reduce Monkey Fist's manor to atoms, but thanks to the Handheld Portal Generator, we were able to escape seconds before the blast with Kim Possible being none the wiser!"
"Uh, I wouldn't celebrate too much, Dr. D" Shego commented "I doubt your gizmo was enough to get rid of Kimmie and her boy. Those two have a stubborn refusal to bite it no matter what they come across".
"The objective wasn't just to try and eliminate Kim Possible and her 'partner', Shego" Drakken explained smugly "It was also to cover my tracks. With Monkey Fist's manor gone, there's no clue that I found the Atlantis book there".
"And since we didn't trigger the blast until we saw Possible and Naco Boy," Shego added "They'll only believe that it was an attempt on their lives instead of a cover up. Wow" she said impressed "You're actually planning this out carefully, Dr. D".
"You act surprised, Shego" Drakken said halfheartedly "Did you honestly believe that the preparation that went into my Diablo scheme was merely a fluke?"
"Trust me, Doc" Shego said with an outstretched hand "You do not want me to answer that. Okay, so what's next in this 'Master Plan' of yours?"
Drakken's solemn look turned giddy as a wide, evil grin appeared on his face. "Now that we have successfully tested the Handheld Portal Generator, we now have the ability to go anywhere on Earth! And yes, Shego, that includes the ten items or less line with 11 items!"
"Alright," Shego said curiously "So what exactly do you plan to do with it?"
Drakken just smirked. 'Two words, Shego: Shopping. Spree."
III.
"Still digging on whatever Drakken used to nearly vaporize you guys," Wade said through the Kimmunicator "but so far, my energy recognition software hasn't found a match".
"What about that molecular research, uh, search?" Kim asked as she and Ron were in class at GCU.
"Unfortunately, it's lead me nowhere" Wade shook his head "No scientist in the country has made any breakthroughs that can result in the destruction of actual matter".
Kim sighed. "Well, have you at least found out where he's gone to grounds?"
"No dice there either, Kim" the tech guru shrugged "I checked all of Drakken's usual lairs, but he's not in any of them. Even the timeshare lair. I hate to say it, but Drakken actually has me stumped on this one".
"Wow, that's a sentence we don't hear very often" Ron said to Rufus who nodded.
"Well, we can't give up" Kim said while pondering "If none of Drakken's old haunts are occupied, there it sounds like Blue Boy has found a new hide away. Wade, how long will it take to find any word of someone buying a new property recently or if there's any hidden energy signals around the globe?"
"If I skip Lunch?" Wade asked "About an hour".
"Then skip snack break and make it half an hour" Kim said before the Kimmunicator feed ended, to which she sighed and placed her arms on her desk and held her head in her hands. "I can't believe that Drakken has actually learned from his mistakes after all this time. How could getting hold of some decent tech for once give him a major competence boost?"
"Maybe that's all Drakken really needed from the start" Ron offered "Maybe all his other plans were too bizarre to work and that's why they failed. Perhaps what Drakken needed to become a serious threat all along was just the proper gear".
"Right" Kim said flatly "That was Drakken's problem all along. His vision was too broad. Not because he's a numbskull".
"And yet, he's leaving us with more unanswered questions than Barkin" Ron countered.
Kim was forced to concede Ron had a point. Drakken was running rings around them and so far, they still didn't know what his game was. Perhaps she gave Drakken too little credit. She certainly did that the night of the Diablo attack. Funny, you'd think she had learned her lesson back then when Drakken proved how cunning and clever he could be. Still, since his plans following that night were not in the same league, she felt that perhaps Drakken had been running low on ideas after Warmonga released him.
Clearly that was a mistake. Whatever Drakken was doing now, it was obvious that he was tapping into the same reserves of intelligence he used during the night of the Junior Prom.
And that brought another memory to Kim's mind: her being tied up to a cactus, having just realized that the boy she had been dating was in fact a synthodrone Drakken created to distract her from his plans. The revelation that Drakken had played her like that had left her broken, helpless, depressed, weak, and powerless. If not for Ron's encouragement and confession, Drakken would no doubt be ruling the world at this moment.
The memory of being duped by Drakken burned into her mind as her face became determined, her brows scrunching. No way was she going to let Drakken play her like that again. She refused to be reduced to a weak little girl again. No. Competent or incompetent, Kim was going to stop Drakken like she always did.
Kim was so deep in her vow to not allow history to repeat itself that she didn't know someone was speaking to her.
"Ms. Possible? Ms. Possible!"
"Huh?" Kim asked in surprise as she came out of her thoughts.
"I said would you mind telling us what the three forms of matter are?" Professor Mono Tone, the class professor said in a dull tone.
"Oh! Uh, the three forms of matter are solid, liquid, and gas" Kim said professionally.
"Precisely" Professor Tone said in an even tone "Matter can shift through these three forms by melting, solidifying, and evaporating. The law of mass conservation tells us that whatever form it takes, it will maintain the same quantity. While its space can be rearranged, matter cannot be created or destroyed".
"Heh" Ron whispered to Kim with a chuckle as Professor Tone went on, "Guess he didn't get the memo".
However, Kim didn't hear him as she was already back to her deep thinking.
IV.
Class soon let out and Kim and Ron were walking around campus, Kim was still thinking deeply.
"Man, I'm looking forward to getting to the on-campus coffeehouse" Ron was saying "The food is a definite improvement over the high school's mystery meat".
"Uh huh" Rufus said from Ron's shoulder, looking forward to the potato chips there.
Kim didn't answer, her thoughts still on the current mission.
"Kim? Yoo-Hoo!" Ron said as he waved a hand in front of Kim's face "KP, are you in there?"
"Huh?" Kim said as she snapped out of it "Oh! Sorry, Ron. I was just thinking about something unimportant".
"Uh huh" Ron said in disbelief "That might work on somebody who hasn't known you since you were four. Come on, you were thinking about the Drakken situation, weren't you?"
"You know me too well, Ron" Kim admitted "It's just the thought of Drakken outwitting us like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I mean, one moment, he's even lower than Frugal Lucre on the threat level scale. The next, he's running rings around us with technology we've never even seen before! Do you know how humiliating that is?"
Ron shrugged. "Hey, I warned you that Drakken might bounce back after that tearing down we gave him, but you didn't believe me. Guess he's not such a minor threat, after all, huh?"
Kim shook her head "Ron, everything Drakken has achieved so far has been because of these crazy new tricks he apparently has now. I don't know where he's gotten this stuff, but any villain could get ahead with these gimmicks. Now, I admit that Drakken has been getting lucky so far, but his new technology can't last him forever. We're going to find out where Drakken is getting this stuff and what he's planning to do with it and then shut him down like we usually do. That's all there is to it".
Ron looked Kim skeptically. "Are you sure that's all there is to it?"
Kim sighed. Ron really did know her too well and could tell there was more going on with her than she was letting on. Still, how could she tell him what was really eating away at her?
Suddenly, she was saved from having to make an excuse when the Kimmunicator rung out its patented beep.
"Whew. Saved by the bell" Kim mentally sighed with relief before looking up to Ron "Sorry, Ron, we'll have to finish this conversation later" she said before eagerly answering the watch and bringing up Wade's image "Wade, have you found where Drakken's hold up yet?"
"No" Wade shook his head "I'm still looking. It's strange. I've never had this kind of trouble locating Drakken or any other villain before".
Furrowing her brow with a grumble, Kim replied "Well, keep at it, they couldn't just vanish into thin air!"
"Actually, there's another reason why I called" Wade said uneasily.
Wade's tone of voice gave Kim a feeling she wouldn't like what he had to say. Knowing she was going to regret asking, she reluctantly sighed "What is it now?"
"Well," Wade said slowly "I've been getting dozen reports of disappearing tech all around the world!"
"Uh oh" Rufus squeaked.
Kim felt the bottom of her stomach fall out and a large pit form in its center as she fully absorbed what she just heard. Stiffly, she replied "Is it Drakken's shapeshifting synthodrone again?"
"That's just it" Wade said in disbelief "There's no sign of anyone committing those robberies. No sign of forced entry. No triggered alarms. No footage on camera. No guards being knocked out. Nothing! We're talking about the crime spree of the century here!"
"Well, on the bright side, the century is still young so there might be worse" Ron said optimistically, Rufus nodding while squeaking "True".
Kim, on the other hand, directed her attention to situation at hand. "Wade, beam the coordinates of all those robberies to the Sloth's on-board computer" she instructed the genius "Ron and I will be heading out in five minutes".
"On it" Wade gave a thumbs-up before signing out.
No sooner did the feed cut did Kim hightail it to her dorm for her mission gear, Ron right on her heels.
"KP, just for the record, we're not done with that discussion we were having before Wade called!" Ron called out as he raced after his girlfriend, Rufus hanging onto his shoulder.
"Fine" Kim replied back halfheartedly, most of her attention on this new development and how a certain blue villain was most likely involved "What in the world are you up to now, Drakken?" she muttered to herself as she ran.
V.
At Drakken's lair, the blue villain was laughing like a madman as he inspected all the technological components he had just swiped.
"Oh what a haul, Shego!" he cried in excitement as he examined hydraulics, microchips, and wires "Thanks to the HPG, I was able to gather all the components necessary to begin the next stage of my plan!"
"I'm happy for you, Dr. D" Shego said as she looked around the lair, now full to bursting with tons of Atlantean tech that Drakken had been building "But aren't you worried about Princess finding us? I mean, we aren't exactly hiding in a place she's unfamiliar with. I'm surprised that the nerdlinger hasn't tracked us to here yet".
"I'm way ahead of you on that, Shego" Drakken said enthusiastically as he pulled the Atlantean journal, now with him at all times, out of his coat "According to this little gold mine of knowledge, Atlantis had developed a cloaking technology that was able to shield the entire city from the outside world!"
"So," Shego said as she caught on to what Drakken was implying "You're saying that…"
"We're so undetectable that Kim Possible's techie won't know we're here even if he presses his nose to the peephole!" Drakken finished with a hearty laugh.
"Okay, I don't know what's more disturbing" Shego said with a slackjaw "The fact that you keep thinking three steps ahead of Kimmie and her posse, or the fact that it keeps turning me on".
"If you think this was clever, Shego, you haven't seen anything yet!" Drakken cried excitedly as his vine scooped up a handful of the components from the pile. "I now have just what I need to finish the latest Atlantean device I was constructing!"
Grabbing a hold of a tarp covering something large, Drakken pulled it off, revealing what looked like a giant cylinder with an antenna on it.
"What in the world is that?" Shego asked in surprise as Drakken fitted the components into place on the machine, a free vine holding the journal as a guide.
"Just watch" Drakken said after finishing. He then twisted a few knobs and dials on the machine before pushing a lever to the left.
Shego didn't notice anything happening. The machine seemed to be standing still…and growing shorter?!
Looking down, Shego realized that she, along with everything else in the lair besides Drakken and the machine, were floating ten feet off the ground!
"Get me down from here, Dr. D!" the green villainess cried.
With a smirk, Drakken complied, pushed the lever all the way to the right. Shego felt herself return to the ground and sighed with relief…until she realized that her body felt like it was lugging three tons of lead bricks!
"Gravity-control machine" Drakken said as he put the lever back into stationary, allowing Shego to move freely again "Able to amplify or diminish the gravity of anyplace I choose".
"I get that you're a big fan of Show rather than Tell, Dr. D" Shego gasped for breath "But warn me in the future when you're about to demonstrate something that can affect me!"
"Duly noted" Drakken said before turning back to the machine "Just imagine what can be done with this little marvel, Shego! Of course, it still needs a little more time before it's charged up enough to affect things on a global scale!"
"You know; I'm still having a hard time accepting the fact that all of this came out of one little book you found" Shego said as she looked over the treasure trove of Atlantis technology again "Who knew a journal could contain such destructive knowledge?"
"Like I said, you haven't seen anything yet, Shego!" Drakken replied as he opened the Atlantis journal and stopped when he came to a certain page. "Soon, I'll be ready to unlock the most powerful secret of the Atlanteans!"
"Uh, which is what?" Shego felt the need to ask.
"Just wait and see Shego" Drakken said mysteriously "In the meantime, just now that within a few weeks' time, this whole world will belong to Dr. Drakken! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
TBC…
A/N: Before anyone asks, Drakken's use of the Atlantean matter disintegrator is only a one-time thing. Just something to add to Kim and Ron's confusion about his new knowledge. The big question I bet that's on everyone's minds is what is Drakken's big plan? Well, you'll have to keep watching to find out. Just hope and pray that what our favorite blue scientist has in store won't be any worse than Bill Cypher's master plan. XD!