Heroic Failure - Chapter 6

But still the cat made no motion to move, merely lapping its paws at its own leisure.

"Mr. Whiskers..."

Kate looked down and sniffed back a tear.

"C'mon, little kitty," a voice said.

Kate looked towards the voice and her eyes lit up.

Hovering off the ground, defying gravity, was a man. A man who was covered in a golden light.

"C'mon, kitty," he said. "I think this little girl would like to see you."

Reaching for the cat, the man gently picked it up and slowly lowered to the ground before Kate.

"Thanks, mister," Kate said. "Are... are you a super hero."

Orvil smiled. "Oh, I'm afraid not."

"Oh, that's not good," said Hego. "I'll go to the Go Tower and get Mego and the Wegos. Sis..."

"I'm not on the team, remember? I'll keep him busy until you get back with the others."

Hego looked Shego dead in the eyes. "Can you hold out that long?"

"Count on it."

"Good luck." And then Hego was gone, heading for the lab's exit.

Waiting a few minutes until her brother was out of earshot, Shego turned to Drakken. "Dr. D?"

Drakken kept his back to Shego. "What?"

"If my brothers fight Orvil, he'll kill them."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because they've never faced anything like him. I told you already, Go City doesn't play by the rest of the world's rules. You heard Orvil. He's a killer. He'll fight to kill; my brothers will just fight to send him off to jail."

"And what makes you think you'll do any better?"

Shego tightened her right hand, her clawed fingers flexing. "Because I don't play by Go City's rules, either. I'll kill Orvil before I let him hurt my brothers. But there's no guarantee. He could easily kill me with his newfound powers. That's why I need your help."

Drakken said nothing.

"C'mon, you're a genius, I'm sure you could rig the Go Cannon to take back Orvil's abilities or something, right?"

Drakken turned, a small glint in his eyes. "You think I'm a genius?"

"Well, duh," Shego replied. "Why would you think otherwise? Listen, just find a way to make the Go Cannon take away his powers while I hold him off. I'd rather not become a killer today of all days, so please don't let me down."

Shego turned and began heading for the lab's entrance when she stopped. Raising her clawed hand, she quickly cut loose a lock of her hair and tossed it to Drakken, who caught it.

"Just in case I don't make it, knock yourself out with cloning," Shego said, a sliver of her wit surfacing. "Lord knows at least I won't be around to see it if it goes wrong."

And then Shego was gone, leaving Drakken alone to speak his mind. "Always with the insults, even now..."

"Please, mister, give him back!"

Orvil smiled as Kate jumped in desperation to get the cat he held high over his head. "You want this little furball? Really? Truly? Desperately?"

Kate nodded her head.

"Fine. Catch."

With nary a thought otherwise, Orvil hurled the cat out into the middle of the road. Orvil wasn't surprised to see the cat land on its feet, keeping the legend alive, but he knew the cat couldn't dodge rush hour traffic that easily. He smiled as Kate cried.

However, Orvil's desires were not to be fulfilled. Bobbing and weaving through the traffic was a lone figure. Quickly it scooped up the cat and rolled out of the road and before Kate.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Shego said as she handed the cat to Kate.

"Thank you," Kate said.

Shego stood. "Now run."

Kate did so, running into her parent's apartment, her cat held tightly.

"Why are you here?" Orvil asked. "Do you have any idea how little of a chance you have of beating me now?"

"Slim to none," Shego said, not batting an eye. "Let's rumble."

Orvil smiled. "If that is your dying desire..."

The flicker of colored power engulfed Orvil's body. Shego couldn't let him make the first move. Quickly she spun around, her foot lashing across Orvil's face. The scientist lost his balance and stumbled with the blow, catching himself at the last second on the side of a building.

"You certainly are a lively little spitfire, I'll give you that," Orvil said as he wiped blood from his mouth. "It's a shame I couldn't find the color for invulnerability."

"That does seem to be a recurring theme today," Shego said as she dove for Orvil, her clawed gloves ready. Shego gasped, however, when her claws dug into nothing but the brick wall of the building. "What?"

"Super speed," Orvil said, standing behind her, his body glowing white. "You can't touch me unless I want you to."

"We'll see about that!" Shego turned fast, once more catching Orvil across the face. "You may move fast, but your instincts and reaction time are another thing."

"Quick thinker." Orvil continued to smile. He glowed red and quickly split into three individual Orvils. The powers of the Wegos. "Now the real fun begins."

Shego braced herself. Quickly, she leapt over the incoming energy blasts, her own power being hurled at her. She somersaulted and flipped as best she could, keeping herself one step ahead of Orvil. And then one blast struck her. Shego gasped in pain as she fell to the road.

Orvil grinned, his form returning to one once more. "And now for my next trick..."

Orvil glowed violet and disappeared. Shego knew he had shrunk down in size, leaving her open to a surprise attack the moment he came back to normal size. Kicking up to her feet, Shego quickly scanned the roadway for the tiny Orvil.

"You're looking in all the wrong places."

Shego's eyes went wide. That voice, tiny as it was, had come from her ear.

"There are so many ways I could kill you right now that it isn't funny," Orvil cackled. "Well, maybe a little humorous. A few well placed blasts from your own powers could fry you good... perhaps I could just grow back to my normal size and split your skull wide open like a watermelon, hmm?"

Shego sighed as she stood. She placed the palm of her right hand against the ear she had heard Orvil coming from. "Or... I just use my powers to blow my head off, taking you with me."

Orvil didn't answer back immediately. "... You wouldn't."

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?"

"I could grow back to normal size before you could fire--"

"And I guarantee that at the very moment I feel any sort of pain or discomfort I'll fire, still incinerating you."

"Too true... I'll leave if you'll move your hand. Then we can continue."

Shego moved her palm out only a half-inch. Plenty of room for Orvil to leave out her ear, but still giving her enough time to fire if he made any sudden moves.

Shego had little to worry about, as Orvil appeared before her, back to his original size.

"I'm impressed," Orvil said. "You were willing to give your own life to take me down. No rage, no despair, just a calm willingness to finish the job."

"How would you even know that?"

"The color brown, Miss Go," Orvil answered. "It gives me empathic abilities. I can sense every emotion you and every other pathetic creature in my vision feel."

"That's a sad little power." Shego threw another punch, only for Orvil to catch her fist, his hand glowing blue.

"You know, I always did wonder how much super strength could mess up a frail human body..." With one quick motion, Orvil snapped a bone in Shego's left arm. "Seems satisfactory enough."

Shego screamed in pain and stumbled back, her arm hanging limp. A red haze of pain clouded her eyes, but she could still see Orvil. The madman struck the road with his glowing hand. Shego could feel the ground beneath her feet buckle... and then she fell into the sewers, concrete raining down beside her.

Drakken sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes staring with great intent at the Go Cannon.

"There's no way," he sobbed. "There's no way to rig this bloody weapon to drain his powers..."

Drakken slumped forward, his forehead leaning against the cold metal surface of the Go Cannon.

"I can't make it take away Orvil's power..." Drakken sobbed. "And if I can't do that, he'll kill Shego or she'll kill him..."

Drakken sobbed for a minute more. And then he looked up from the floor.

"I'll fail, but the burden will be mine..."

Shego stood up from the sludge of the sewer and the concrete debris. She knew she didn't have long before Orvil would come barreling down after her and Shego knew she couldn't put up much of a fight with a useless broken arm. Shego quickly tore off her right sleeve, struggling to tie it into a sling. She put it around her head and slowly positioned her shattered arm in place.

I can't keep this up much longer... Shego mused. What's taking Dr. D so long?

Shego kept her powers dormant and slipped into the darkness.

I'll have to take him by surprise; it's the only way.

Orvil held back a smile as he floated down into the sewers, hovering just high enough to keep his feet clean. "No need to ruin these shoes, after all. Now, now, Shego... no need to hide. Come out and fight."

"Who says I'm hiding?"

Orvil's eyes went wide as an open palm pressed against the back of his head.

"I don't care how fast you are," Shego said, energy encompassing her one good hand. "At this range I'll blow your head off before you get a chance to move."

"Oh, you got me. Fire away, sweetheart."

... Drakken...

Shego bit her lip, closed her eyes and fired an energy blast.

But when she opened her eyes, all Shego could see was Orvil looking at her with a horrid smile, a translucent energy of black surrounding his form. "Oh, right... I didn't tell you that my final power was force fields. I could have used this power to survive while you killed yourself earlier... but if I'd allowed you blow your pretty little head off, I'd not have the chance to see the look of horror on your face. You had one golden opportunity to defeat me and I trumped it anyway."

Shego's eyes went wide and she backed away, a memory she didn't want returning. A memory that Orvil so eerily reflected, from the force field to his mannerisms.

"That's interesting," Orvil said, a quizzical look overcoming him, tilting his head slightly. "I sense much fear in you all of a sudden. Is it the force field? Is it the mere notion that you stand before an unstoppable villain? Or a little bit of both?" Orvil looked down, becoming depressed. "Such a shame. I never expected such a pathetic problem in my idol."

Orvil's comment awoke Shego from the fear, leaving her to vaguely forget her memory of the then-evil Ron she had worked for. The then-evil Ron who had little need for sidekicks. The then-evil Ron who had put the fear of God in her. "Idol?"

"Are you ready for a rant, my dear?" Orvil replied.

Shego let loose with the sarcasm. "I've grown used to them."

"All right then," Orvil continued. "From the moment I was born in Go City, I couldn't stand it. There was no place for me here. None. But I stuck it out. Why I don't know, but I did. It ate at me day after day, but I suffered it with pride. And then... something odd happened. I noticed the absence of our city's resident heroes. Team Go was gone. But unlike the rest of this city's placated citizens, I looked beyond Go City in my quest for answers. And then I found out that the only reason Team Go split up was because you, Shego, left it and Go City to become evil. You spit in the face of a life of mediocrity and took control. And in that instance, you inspired me."

"What?"

"Because of you I realized my true calling. I would take control of my life and this world, just as you had. You escaped Go City and its pathetic nature and so would I. And all that has led me to this. Because of your inspiring actions, I have become a god. But now... I see you tremble. You are broken, your time done. And you know what's even worse? To see my inspiration return to this city and back to being a hero."

"I'm not a hero."

"Shego, Shego... if you're not a hero, why are you standing before me... a villain... and trying to stop me? Why did you come here to stop Professor Dementor?"

Shego was ready with an answer. "Bribes."

"Ah, but I'm an empath. I feel it in you. You may have come here on a bribe, but there is a conflict. You love and loathe playing both the hero and playing the villain."

"You say you were inspired by me," Shego continued. "But you don't know the first thing about me."

Orvil licked his lips as he smiled. "I know you are going to die."

"I'm not a big fan of dying. In fact, I hate the notion of it. But you know what I hate more than that? I hate being afraid. And I hate myself for it."

Shego stood and powered up her right hand.

"I think I'll take it out on you, Orvil."

With nary a thought, Shego spun behind Orvil and delivered a kick directly to the back of his right knee. Orvil's eyes went wide as the sound of bones breaking echoed in the sewer tunnels. But Shego wasn't done. Quickly she caught the other knee, leaving Orvil to writhe in pain.

"No super strength and I managed to break two of your limbs in less then five seconds," Shego said to the downed Orvil. "Didn't even give you time to use a force field."

"I don't know... what I should be more angry about..." Orvil hissed as he floated up from the sewer sludge, surrounded by the color yellow. "The fact that you just shattered my knees or that you just ruined this lab coat of mine in this slime. I paid through the nose to purchase it. I guess... I guess the coat comes first. Since I can fly, legs are of little use in the long run. And once I finish you, I'll discover the color for a healing factor. Now... back to me killing you..."

Orvil's body came alive with every color he had possession of and he slowly hovered at his prey.

Shego braced herself for the continuing battle.. when Orvil was struck by an emerald light and vanished, leaving behind nothing but a simple scream.

"What?" Shego shook her head in confusion and looked up, only to see the Go Cannon at the edge of the ceiling's hole. "Drakken?"

Shego quickly leaped up out of the sewer and to the surface to find Drakken at the Go Cannon's controls.

"I failed," he said absently. "I couldn't convert the Go Cannon to take away powers. But I couldn't let you kill or be killed. So... I managed to draw enough power out of the comet. And with that power I gave the Go Cannon enough energy to kill Orvil. I killed him. I failed. Go ahead, rip me apart verbally, Shego. Like you always do."

Shego didn't know what to say. "Dr. D?"

"Do it!"

Shego was silent.

Drakken was not. "Go ahead! Berate me! Insult me! I failed, so let me have it again and again and again!"

"I'm... I'm sorry..."

"I don't care." Drakken got up from the Go Cannon and walked away. "I just don't care anymore."

Shego watched as her employer walked away. Shego could feel it building within her; all the rage that she felt boiling. And in the corner of her eye she saw the Go Cannon. The one blasted reason all that had happened had happened.

Shego focused all that pain, all that rage and all that disgust into one blast and destroyed the Go Cannon, Go Comet and all.

Above Shego the sky of Go City darkened as rain began to fall. But Shego ignored it, refusing to believe anything could wash away the pain this day had caused.