Summary: Ron becomes enmeshed in a Lovecraftian nightmare as he draws the attention of a mysterious woman. Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! (KP/HP Lovecraft XO)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: None directly; Kim/Ron friendship, Ron/Other... sort of.
Genre: Crossover fusion with the mythos of HP Lovecraft, most notably the stories "The Shadow over Innsmouth," "The Call of Cthulhu," and "Dagon" and to a lesser extent, "In the Mountains of Madness."
Spoilers: None as such; passing reference to events in various episodes, including "Crush" and "Rufus vs. Commodore Puddles," but none in great depth. I'm also keeping the timing fluid at this point, so whether this should be considered pre- or post- "So The Drama," remains open. Definitely sometime after mid season two, in any case.
Notes: In order to keep the rating down, I'm not going to explain some things beyond what the characters know or learn - and since they won't know entirely what they're dealing with, some elements will likely remain mysterious. As a consequence, if you're familiar with the above mentioned works, you'll likely be able to draw more parallels and grok some elements more than you would if you're unfamiliar with Lovecraft's stories - heck, just the note about which stories are involved is enough to tell some readers that this story will include the Deep Ones, for example, but I'm going to make it so you don't have to be familiar with Lovecraft's work to enjoy it (hopefully). Also, remember that I have about a dozen works in progress in a half dozen fandoms/genres, and my writing time is limited - just a warning, I'm not going to be updating this (or any other of my stories) daily.
Enjoy, and please R&R!
Ron Stoppable stared down at his textbook, the Latin words swirling and dancing before his eyes. "Did we cover this?" he wondered aloud, completely confused by the contents of the chapter.
Annoyed, he rolled over onto his back and watched the ocean lap at the beach, the surf glimmering with a multitude of reflected colors as the setting sun painted the sky with an infinity of hues. Ron drank in the beauty of the scenery, enjoying the way the reflections of the firelight emanating from the remains of Professor Dementor's burning lair highlighted the eddies of foam as the tide swirled over the pale sand.
Sighing in wonder at the sight, he let the wind randomly flip the pages of his textbook as he relaxed on the beach. Ron had a test tomorrow - which was why he actually bothered to bring the book along on a mission - but he still couldn't quite muster the minimal enthusiasm needed to study.
K.P. was back at the remains of the demolished lair, coordinating with the local government's men (whichever government it was... he didn't remember if Wade or K.P. had even bothered to mention where they were, and he didn't really care in either case - it wasn't like they had passports to keep track of) in the disposition of the villain's captured henchmen, and Ron frowned slightly at the memory. Kim's instructions had been pointed as she sent him away to study. "She should stop and smell the roses once in a while," he grinned, dismissing his momentary sense of unease as he watched the sun and surf, soaking in the sense of solitude and tranquility that flourished on the isolated coastline despite the burning lair atop the nearby cliff.
"What are you doing?" a voice asked curiously.
Flinching, Ron abandoned his meditation and whirled back to his book. "Studying for the Latin test, just like you told me to do, K.P." Ron quickly responded, desperately flipping through the pages of the book in search of the current chapter. Before he could find the right spot however, he realized something and his hands fell still on the book. "Wait, you're not Kim..."
"Who ever said I was?" the voice sounded amused.
Ron turned his head to face the visitor, and abruptly leaped to his feet, his heart rate skyrocketing. "Ack! Shego!"
"Who?"
Blinking, Ron slouched out of the sloppy defensive stance he'd adopted as he hurried to explain, "Sorry, it must be the way the light was reflecting off the water. Your skin looked sort of greeeeen..." Ron trailed off as he was struck by another realization. The woman standing waist deep in the water nearby was completely naked.
Ron's eyes widened, and he spun around again to face the remains of Dementor's lair, his cheeks burning nearly as brightly as the rubble. "Ack!" he repeated. Despite the gentle splashes she made as she moved through the water on her way to the shore, Ron kept his gaze firmly locked on the wreckage of the tower he'd so recently helped destroy. "Um," Ron began, but found himself unable to articulate anything at all.
A gentle chuckle from behind him caught his attention, but he kept his gaze firmly averted from the naked woman. "It must be a fascinating place indeed to hold your attention so raptly," she commented. Ron's face burned, but he kept his eyes solidly on the lair's wreckage. "What was that place?" she asked, and Ron was able to follow her movements with his ears as she approached him, the sound of her voice and her feet on the wet sand clear in his ears despite the thudding of his heart and the rushing of the blood through his veins that flooded his senses.
"Standard villainous lair - but kind of low rent. He didn't even have a piranha-filled moat," Ron answered nervously. "Professor Dementor was doing some experiments, and K.P. made sure..." he trailed off as he could feel her standing very close behind him.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as his body sense felt the heat of her presence. The knowledge that she was naked while being in such proximity made his voice rise abruptly in pitch as he asked, "What are you doing?"
Ron could hear the amusement in her voice as she explained, "Something about you reminds me of someone I once knew, a long, long time ago."
"Y - Yeah?" Ron gulped, his skin tingling as he felt how close she was to him. He kept his eyes averted, but it was taking all his willpower not to move.
"Mmm," she breathed, and Ron could feel the warmth of her breath on the back of his neck as his nape tensed in reaction. "So you blew up this... 'lair'?" she asked.
"K.P. did the hard part," Ron whispered, fighting the dueling urges to look back at the woman and to run away. "She fought Dementor and his goons, all I had to do was hit the self destruct bu..."
A cool finger abruptly touched the back of his left forearm, tracing the edges of a burn mark, and Ron had to fight the impulse to yank his arm away, despite how gentle her touch was. "You are too modest, so like my old... friend. You didn't get this injury by pushing a button."
"I..." Ron trailed off as her finger continued to tease at the periphery of the burn. "It was one of the henchmen's shock sticks. There were guards," Ron gulped, then added as he tried to divert his attention away from the naked woman standing just beyond his visual range, "Dementor's not like Drakken; he's a villain, but he's not..."
"You mentioned 'experiments'... What sort of experiments was this 'villain' doing?" the breathy whisper trailed across his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
"Some kind of power source," Ron gulped, his back stiffening as she rolled up his right sleeve to reveal a darkening bruise. "I..." he stammered, as her fingers explored the freshly revealed injury. "I... didn't understand what Wade was talking about when he called K.P. to tell us about it before we left school to come here..."
"Would this power source be why the ocean has warmed so much in this area?"
"Maybe," Ron breathed, confused and more than a little distracted by the situation. "I don't know... Shouldn't you go put some clothes on?" he finally demanded, his voice cracking.
Ignoring his outburst, the woman simply continued running her fingers over him, tracing the length of his arms and exploring the minor wounds she encountered. "It seems you have done my job for me, brave hero," she breathed. "The high priest tasked me with finding what was causing the temperature change, and to take steps... but you appear to have already done so most convincingly."
"Priest?" Ron asked, his mind seizing on the point. "But... but... you're naked!"
She ignored this outburst as well, and Ron shuddered as he felt a fingernail roughly trace a deep scratch near his elbow, breaking the thin scab that had formed on the fresh wound. The wound released a thin trickle of blood that she painted in a slow tracery down to his wrist with one finger.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, her hands were drawn away from him. Ron drew a shuddering breath in commingled relief and disappointment.
A strange, moist slurp from behind him, partially obscured by the sound of the rising tide, riveted his attention. "Did she just lick my blood from her finger?" Ron wondered, his eyes widening in shock. "Nah, that can't be right."
"The brave hero has earned a reward," she told him, "especially a hero with the blood of Mother Hydra herself running through his veins - however dilutely."
"Hydra?" Ron asked curiously.
Rather than answering, she gripped him by his upper arms and spun him in place. Ron's eyes widened as he abruptly found himself facing the naked woman, and despite his best intentions, he couldn't look away. She was beautiful, and she looked a great deal like Kim. Although it was clear she was older than his best human friend, time had been kind, and her body was filled out in wonderful ways that caused Ron's mind to grind to a shuddering halt, leaving his eyes wide and his jaw dropped.
With a strange smile on her face, she leaned towards him, the flickering light of Dementor's burning lair reflecting from the glistening seawater bedewing her limbs and shining from her eyes. As Ron's own eyes widened further, her hands rose up his arms splayed across the sides of his neck. With inescapable force she drew his face over to meet her own, and before Ron's frozen brain could fathom her intent, she was kissing him.
"Whurgle," Ron exhaled in surprise as she increased the pressure, holding him tightly against her as she kissed him thoroughly. Ron's eyes widened as he tried to pull away, but she was stronger than he, and that strength combined with his fear of touching her naked body prevented him from gaining sufficient leverage to escape. He was helpless in her embrace, and she seemed to enjoy the way he struggled in a futile attempt to escape her.
The texture of the skin of her fingers seemed to change in some undefinable way, coarsening against the soft skin of his neck. Her grip tightened, and his lips began to sting as the pressure she exerted increased. Before he could panic at the change in the situation, Ron felt a sudden tension grip his mind, as though his spirit and soul were being compressed along with his physical self.
His struggles slowly tapered off as the pressure on his mind continued to mount, piercing into his being like a dagger. It quickly became too much to bear, and he lost consciousness.
When she finally released him, Ron slumped to lie in a crumpled heap on the damp sand at her feet. He was unconscious, and utterly overwhelmed.
Ron?
Ron?
"RON!"
"No! Don't kiss me! And put some clothes on!" Ron shouted as he jerked his upper body off the sand. "Uh..." Ron blinked as he desperately looked around, but there was no sign of the strange woman.
Kim Possible raised one eyebrow as she watched his sleepy confusion with a mix of irritation and annoyance, and though she'd never admit to it even under torture, amusement. "Never, ever tell me about that dream."
"What?" Ron asked as he unsteadily climbed to his feet.
"Never mind," Kim smirked, her amusement growing along with her irritation. "But, geez, Ron, how could you fall asleep at a time like this? You were supposed to be studying for the Latin test."
"I was," Ron blinked in confusion. "What happened?" he asked himself, before continuing aloud, "I..." he trailed off as he looked around, "Wait... Where'd she go?"
Kim rolled her eyes. "Enough about the dream already. We've wasted enough time, and we've still got to cross the Atlantic to get home. Where's your book?"
It was hard to see in the dim ambient light that was all that was left in the aftermath of sunset and the faint glow of the dying embers in the remnants of Dementor's tower, but it was still bright enough to see that Ron's textbook had disappeared. As he watched, the incoming tide lapped around his booted feet, before the swirling water receded and smoothed the sand into a smooth and featureless expanse. "I don't see it... maybe she took it with her."
"Enough about your dream girl. And I repeat... never ever tell me the rest of it. The tide must have taken your book. How could you be so careless, Ron? Now you can't even study on the flight back!"
Dazed and confused, Ron awkwardly scrubbed his face with his hands, dislodging some of the drying sand that had become encrusted to it. "I don't understand..." he mumbled, "She was here, and then she wasn't..."
Irked, Kim grabbed him by one arm and began dragging him towards the burning lair. "Come on, lover boy. The police are going to give us a ride to the airport. I'll bet Mr. Barkin gives you another detention to go along with the extra homework. Be sure to say 'hi' to Vinnie and Big Mike for me."
Ron stumbled along in her wake, confused and uncertain, and nursing a major headache.