Kim Possible

Untouchable

Previously...

Throughout the day, all of the students were giving Kim a wide berth. "Class dismissed." Professor Credible said. "Ms. Possible, could I talk to you a moment?"Kim gulped. "Yes sir." she said, stepping up to his desk once the rest of the class had filtered out.

Due to recent experiences, I'm going to give you another chance at your paper." he said, handing back the essay with a circled red 'F' at the top. Kim was in shock. An 'F'?! "And next time, if you require an extension... ask. Please don't break into my office to hand in a late paper. That may have been acceptable in Middleton High, but this is Diverse City."

Kim swallowed hard. "Can I ask you something, sir?"

"Can you?" he asked.

"May I...?" she rephrased.

"Yes, you may."

"Why didn't you use your att... I mean, cerebral manipulator for good?" she asked.

"I'm a scientist, Ms. Possible. I'm interested in discovery. Not money. You're no doubt wondering about my dealings with Henchco?" he asked with a cold smile. "I assure you, I offer them none of my research for any price. Now remember... two days. And I expect a much better paper considering your first hand knowledge."

Kim nodded, rolling her paper up in her fist. It was the first time she had ever failed an actual assignment. Maybe she didn't really know what Ron went through after his first attitudinator experience. He did seem to get worse after each one though. She couldn't imagine what could happen if he kept going through such traumatic experiences.

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"Dude, I don't think there's anything that could keep her from saving the world. So good job. You won. Can I go now?" Ron asked nicely.

"You don't understand. Age. Time. That will stop her. But not while she's with me. I can freeze her. Thaw her when the world needs saved again." Walter explained, wringing his hands together.

"Wait, what? You want KP to be your own personal world saving super hero?" Ron asked. Suddenly, it dawned on him. "Walt! You've become a supervillain?! Except that you want KP to keep saving the world... how does that work, exactly?"

"Silence!" Walter shouted, pointing a finger.

"Dude, not polite to point."

"When Kim Possible arrives, she will be frozen until the world needs her again. You, Ron Stoppable will be... discarded." Walter grinned.

Ron was beginning to worry. "Walt, buddy... I mean, dude. Can't we talk about this?"

Walter stopped walking away and turned to Ron. "I have seen everything that you and Kim have done up until your graduation. I want to know what happened next."

Ron looked away. "Uh, yeah... I really can't tell you that."

"Look, Ron... I've been patient for the last year. I've been searching for you and Kim all over the planet. I've even made stuff up to quench my curiosity with fan fiction! I want to know!" Walter shouted.

"Can't tell you, sorry!" Ron said, turning his face away and clamping his lips shut.

Walter's face was turning red again. "Well then, maybe Kim will if your life is at stake."

"Not gonna happen, dude."

"We'll see..."

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"Sensei?" Ron asked, bolting upright as a translucent figure in a floating lotus position appeared.

"Mmm..." Sensei replied with a nod.

"Dude! You'd never guess what this night has been like for me!" Ron shouted. "First, Monkey Fist shows up, telling me about three guys that are going to teach me about my monkey powers. Then I got to meet Toshimiru, and we kicked some Yono tail together and now I'm just waiting for the next two guys. You haven't happened to see the next guy, have you?"

Sensei sat there, hovering.

"Wait, are you the next guy?"

Sensei nodded, and Ron sat down again into a lotus position on the couch. "Y'know, Kim's yoga stretches have sure made this easier." Ron said, staring up at Sensei. "So what have you got for me?"

"Follow me, Ron Stoppable." the elderly ninja stated, seemingly without emotion.

"What?" Ron asked, looking down at his criss crossed legs. "You know how hard it is to sit like this?" Ron struggled to stand, but when he did, he noticed a translucent glow to his own hands. He spun around to find his body still sitting in the lotus position on the couch. "I'm a ghost!"

Sensei put a hand on his shoulder. "You have opened your mind, Stoppable-san."

"And what, my ghost fell out?!" Ron asked in a panic. "Am I dead? Oh, Kim is gonna kill me!"

Sensei seemed as patient as he had when Ron first met him. "Come with me, Stoppable-san. There are things that you must see."

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Kim poked a finger at his chest, hard enough to leave a bruise. "You stepping in the way when I can handle things is what got you killed in the first place, Ron!" she shouted. "If it had been me, you could've... could've..."

"I could've what, Kim?" Ron asked, suddenly cold. She had slipped. He had somehow sacrificed himself for her and she hadn't been able to save him. But how could he change that? How could he allow Kim to be killed if he had the chance to save her?"

"Tell him, Kim. He needs to know." Hannah said.

Kim looked at her with her left eye. "The world's at peace. How can I sacrifice that for my own self interest?!"

Hannah's wrist watch beeped. "It's time to go, Ron." she said, opening the portal. "Don't worry, we can handle Chimera. There'll always be a Stoppable watching Kim's back." she said with a wink.

Ron back away from Kim towards the portal. "If I can do something, KP, I will!" he shouted over the wind that accompanied the portal.

Kim reached out to him with a hand. "It's been nice to see you again, Ron."

"Good luck, Kim." Ron replied, stepping back. He tumbled through the portal again, thinking back over the night. He had learned that his monkey powers had always been used to protect, even if it meant lethally. He thought back to the moments when he had tried to summon them in an attempt to directly attack, and they had never come. He had learned that he would need them, if not to protect Kim, but to protect all the innocent of the world, just as Kim did.

He had also learned that Kim needed him. As a partner, as an equal. And he had learned that he didn't... couldn't... always protect her. Even with his mystical monkey power.

Ron hit the floor with a thud. It was dark and he reached out to find where he was. There was no portal that he could tell. "Ron? What's wrong?"

It was Kim's voice. The Kim he knew. He stood up, discovering he was now in his boxers. He felt the bed and crawled up behind Kim. His cheeks were wet, yet he was grinning like a fool. "I'm just glad you're here, KP."

"Must have been quite a dream to wind you up on the floor." Kim responded with a yawn as she tucked his hand up against her chest. "Well, get some sleep. We've got finals this week." she said, snuggling into his warmth.

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Kim hid her annoyance at the Professor. Was this how Ron had felt dealing with Mr. Barkin throughout High School? "No big, Professor Credible. Just a big mix up." she smiled. In truth, if not for Wade and his attention to detail and computer skills, Kim could have been in big trouble. Her reputation had been severely tarnished last semester during her and Ron's rampage across America. Fortunately, Wade had been able to expose Camille with the museum's security cameras.

"I'm sure." Professor Credible answered as Kim took her seat. A few more students filed in behind her and the Professor immediately began his lecture. "Today, I'll be speaking about grief. What causes it, and how people deal with it. From the 'I can't afford this jacket' grief, to the loss of a loved one." he said, pacing back and forth at the front of the class. "You will be expected to turn in a paper on an example in your own life about an event that cause grief, how it affected you, and how you dealt with it, so pay attention."

Kim almost choked. "This should be a piece of cake." she whispered to herself.

"You have something to add, Ms. Possible?" Professor Credible asked. "Or do you assume that because you save the world that you know better than anyone else in this class about grief?"

Kim blushed. "I... no..."

"Tell me, who in this class has lost a loved one?" Professor Credible asked, putting up his own hand and noting most other students doing the same. "How about suffered from a debilitating illness, or taken care of someone who has?" he asked, still holding up his own hand.

"Does being mind switched or threatened with turning into a void of nothingness count?" Kim asked, suddenly feeling very small.

"Ah, humor." Professor Credible said with a straight face. "Take note everyone. Humor is one of only a few common ways that we as humans use to handle grief."

Kim couldn't help but sink even lower into her chair.

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"Duff?" Kim asked. She had expected to find Bonnie and Junior in a meeting, not the rogue golfer.

"Aye lassie!" he shouted, jumping off of the beanie chair he had been sitting on and reached for his golf clubs. "And ya won't be stoppin' me from gettin' some super hyper pollinator serum, eitha!"

"Isn't that Drakken's?" Ron asked.

Big Daddy snapped his fingers and a large bald man in a black suit stepped from the shadows, cracking his knuckles. Kim looked from Duff, to Big Daddy's bodyguard, and smiled. "While normally I'd enjoy dealing with this myself, I've got a psych paper to do, so I'm in a hurry. Ron?"

"Right here, KP." Ron said, stepped forward. "Ready Rufus?" The mole rat gave a nod before settling into a ninja-like defensive stance.

Duff Killigan blinked. "Are ye daft, lassie?" he asked, confused. "Ye expect the wee lad to combat us both?"

"Whau!" Ron shouted, attacking.

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Feeling a tiny pinprick at the base of her neck before a stabbing pain shot through her spine. She saw Junior fly over head as she fell to her knees, a strong hand now placed on her right shoulder, pushing her down. Kim looked down at her hands, but they wouldn't do as they were told. She called out, but the music was too loud and there were too many people dancing around her.

Kim fell forward as the hand left her shoulder and she could see Ron running towards her, more panic on his face than she had ever seen before. In a desperate attempt to identify her attacker, she turned before paralysis set in. There was a tall man pushing his way through the crowd, holding some kind of pointy weapon and wearing a long trench coat.

Suddenly, Ron's face blocked her view. "Kim, what happened?!" Kim could tell he was shouting but his voice came as a whisper to her. Even as he picked her up in his arms, she could barely feel him. A blue aura surrounded them both and a brisk wind was the last thing she felt as Ron bolted from the night club, running as a literal blur all the way to the nearest hospital.

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Ron Stoppable sat next to Kim Possible, who laid in a hospital bed. He was looking at his still faintly glowing hands and he could hardly breath. He also couldn't look at Kim. He had seen her helpless before, yes. When Warhok held her unconscious up as a trophy. But there had been enemies there. An instant and immediate solution to protecting Kim had identified itself. Here, there was nothing. Her attacker had escaped, unknown. Had stabbed something into her back and ran away. Even Drakken had never tried anything so cowardly.

Ron watched the sunbeam that came in through Kim's window cross the bed and the floor before disappearing again.

"So it was all a dream." Ron said to himself. "You never mentioned this, Hana. Kim wasn't supposed to die. Not here. Not like this." he gingerly reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a sleeping Rufus. "Watch over her, buddy." he said, setting him at Kim's feet. "Someone's gonna pay..."

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Within the Hazy Inferno, Kim Possible woke up. The building seemed deserted and police tape cordoned off the main entrance. She looked around for Ron... for anyone, but she was alone. Feeling the back of her neck, Kim noticed the small puncture wound that had knocked her unconscious. "Ow..." she complained, slowly climbing to her feet.

"Is anyone here?!" she shouted. There was no answer. "You'd think someone would have at least taken me to the hospital before putting up the police tape... weird." she said to herself. Kim walked outside and the sun was only beginning to rise. She shielded her eyes, looking for her car, but it was no longer where she had parked it. "Wade?" she asked, pushing the call button on her wrist Kimmunicator. "Hmm... no signal." She looked in the direction of her and Ron's apartment, getting ready for a jog before a department store window full of active televisions. All with her face on it.

"The world mourns today, the loss of one of our greatest heroes, Kimberly Anne Possible." the reported stated.

"What?" Kim asked, shocked.

"It has been reported that the teen hero was murdered at the Hazy Inferno Night Club in Diverse City yesterday by an unknown assailant. Neither her family nor friends have made any comment at this time but we will be sure to bring you any more details on this breaking news as it becomes available." the reporter said before continuing on to another story.

"I'm... dead?" Kim asked.