OK folks… here it is! This occurs just a few weeks after my other story "The Kimpossible Situation". Really no need to read it before this, as this is pretty much standalone, but there may be a few references to the other story.

Disclimer: What can I say that y'all haven't already heard? But if I need to say it again… I don't own these characters! OK?

Ron's Reality

Ron held on to Monique as if she was the last person on Earth, and tears were flowing from his eyes as a string of incoherent blubbering came from his mouth. All Monique could do was gently stroke his back and say soothing words to try and calm Ron down. She looked around the room of what looked to be a cafeteria at one time, but almost everything in the room had been literally destroyed.

Monique hadn't even bothered to ask Ron what was wrong yet, since she had already received a quick de-briefing by Dr. Betty Director as to what had happened. She needed to come to GJ and console Ron, and hopefully bring the young boy back from his devastating sorrow. This was going to be a monumental task, as Ron had just lost the most important person in his life.

After about 15 minutes of Ron pouring his sorrows out onto Monique's shoulder, he was finally able to make words. "She's dead Mon… Kim's… dead." He pulled away from her a bit and looked into the girls deep chocolate brown eyes. He saw caring there and…Love? Almost for an instant, it was as if Ron thought everything was going to be all right. It was as if Kim had never left him, and that his life hadn't been turned upside down, and inside out. It was a strange feeling.

Ron leaned forward, and his eyes began to close just as his lips brushed Monique's, and then before the kiss could become more, both individuals pulled back, each of them blushing.

"I'm sorry…" They both said at the same time.

Both young people were sitting on the cold hard floor, and Monique stood. She offered a hand to Ron to help him stand, which he gratefully accepted. The two then sat down at a table that Ron would have sworn wasn't there a few moments ago, but he never thought anymore of it when they sat down.

Sitting across from each other, Monique took Ron's hands in her own, and she asked him a question. "Tell me what happened Ron. Please? I know it might be hard… but I need to know. Plus… it might help you to… move on."

The young blond boy took a deep shuddering breath, and let it out slowly. Monique could tell he was starting to calm down a bit, and for that she was glad.

"I don't know what good that will help Monique." Ron said as his eyes continued to well with tears. This loss was almost too much for him to bear. His best friend since kindergarten, his soul mate, his life partner… Kim… was gone. How could telling Monique what happened help him?

"Please Ron…" Monique said as she gave his hands a squeeze. "Dr. Director told me just the basics to get me to come here. I… I want to know… everything. Please?" With another heavy sigh, Ron gently pulled his hands from Monique's, and folded them in front of him on the table.

"Well… I guess it all started when Kim and I were asked by Betty Director to stop by GJ and have a talk. She had a proposal for me. Not Kim… just me…"

…x x x x…

Both Kim and Ron sat in Dr. Betty Director's office in two lush chairs, opposite the head of GJ. She looked across her large mahogany desk, and began. "Ronald… Kim? Do you remember a Mr. Nevious?"

"I think so, " Kim started, "Wasn't he one of the scientists who was developing that VR system that pulled Ron into the Everlot game?"

"Yes, that's right Kim. Well… he works for us now. He's developed a new system that we would like to test, but we don't have any available agents who are willing to do so. Mr. Nevious also said that it might be easier for a person to be immersed into the system if they have done so before."

"So you called us." Kim said. "We would be glad to…"

"We only need one of you though." Betty said, interrupting Kim. "Only one Immersion Cap is finished, and the other isn't quite ready."

"OK…" Kim continued. "I would be glad to help in any…"

"We would like Ronald to do it." Betty said, once again, gently interrupting Kim.

At hearing his name, Ron looked up. He wasn't much interested in the conversation going on, so had had been idly studying his finger nails, pondering the best way to take care of a slight hang nail.

"Me?" He said surprised.

"I… don't understand, Dr. Director. I…" Kim was… slightly flustered, to say the least.

"Do you have any video game experience, Kimberly?" Betty asked, and Kim shook her head side to side. "And you weren't in the video game like Ron was, were you? With Ron's combined experience of being in the prototype VR Mr. Nevious had built, and his extensive knowledge of how Video Games work, we believe that Ronald here is the perfect candidate for our test."

Kim deflated a bit, and looked at Ron with a bit of worry. "Well Ron? What do you think?"

"Well…" He started, "It was kinda cool being inside Everlot…"

"Good. It's settled then." Dr. Director said. "Ronald? Can you be here tomorrow at 0800??"

"That's… 8 o'clock in the morning, right?"

"Yes, Ronald. It is." Betty Director said smiling.

…x x x x…

The next morning a few minutes before 8 o'clock, Ron arrived at GJ by way of ride of Kim in the Sloth. To say he was completely awake… well, let's say he at least wasn't sound asleep anymore.

"Ron!" Kim said, shaking his shoulder. "We're here. You better get going or your going to be late."

Ron opened his eyes. "Huh? Oh yeah, right. Sorry Kim. I was just resting my eyes there."

"Riiight." Kim said with a smile.

"Guess I'll give you call when I'm done, and you can pick me up?" He said

"Call me, beep me… you know the drill." The two teens leaned in towards each other, and kissed one last time before they separated, and Ron exited the car. He stood in the same spot for a bit, waving to the receding taillights. He then glanced at his watch, and rushed into the building, where a GJ agent was sitting at a rather large reception desk.

"Mr. Stoppable?" Ron nodded. "Dr. Director is waiting for you. Let me show you where she is."

The young agent led Ron down the main hall, and quickly he got lost in the maze of doorways and halls that the agent led him through. "Here we are." The agent finally said, and placed his palm on the reader, and looked into a retinal scan device. A pleasant 'Ding' sounded, telling him the door was open. He walked through, and Ron's curiosity got the better of him. He had to place his hand on the palm reader, and look into the retinal scan. He was greeted with an obnoxious sound, telling him that the system didn't recognize him. A hand then grabbed his arm, and he was tugged through the still open door.

When Ron stepped inside the room, his jaw almost hit the floor. There in the middle of the room was what looked like a reclining chair, but over it was an array of electronic equipment that he couldn't even hope to understand. He did recognize the Immersion Cap that was placed on him before when he was sucked into the Everlot game, as it was hanging over the top of the chair, near the headrest. He also saw numerous workstations, with GJ Scientists sitting in front of Lap Top computers, that were all connected to a mainframe of some sort.

"Ronald…" Dr., Director said as she stepped out from behind one of the many worktables. She extended her hand, which Ron took and the two cordially shook hands.

"What would you like me to do?" He asked.

"Just sit down here, and we'll do all the work. I'm going to place this Immersion Cap on you, and you may feel a bit disoriented when we first turn the system on. You will only be able to look around, and not interact with anything, but you should be able to see an outdoor landscape. You can walk around and look at different things, but that's about it. We want you to describe to us what you see and hear. We are trying to make the landscape as real as possible, and that's where your video game experience is invaluable. Tell us what looks real, and what doesn't. We will make adjustments to the system according to what you describe.

"See," Betty continued, "The entire system was designed on normal computer screens, and you're the first person to be immersed into it. We just want to make things as real as possible. Do you understand?"

"I… think so. You just want me to describe what I see, and that's it?"

"Yup."

Ron then sat down on the recliner, and Dr. Director placed the Immersion Cap on his head. She walked over to a lap top computer that was connected to a larger system, which was in turn connected to the Immersion Cap. She typed a few characters, and then hovered her finger over the enter button. "You Ready Ron?"

"Hit it." Was his short response.

As soon as Betty pressed 'Enter', Ron gasped a little, and then he saw a pixilated version of what looked to be Lake Middleton. After a few seconds, the pixilation smoothed out, and everything looked like a normal outdoor scene.

"What do you see Ron?" Betty asked.

"Well, I see Lake Middleton, and I seem to be standing next to the boat dock. I can hear boats running, but I don't see them." A few of the GJ scientists in attendance made some adjustments on their lap top computers. "There they are. That's so cool. They just kind of… popped into existence."

"How does everything else look?" Betty asked.

"Well… the trees look a little off. I'm walking up to one, and it's like the leaves are… blurry." Another scientist made a few adjustments. "There ya go. Perfect! Wow! They look so real now."

"Touch one." Betty said.

"I thought you said I couldn't interact?"

"We just want to see if you can feel any kind of texture."

Ron reached up and touched a leaf, rubbing it between his fingers. "It feels like a leaf!" He said excitedly. "This is SO much better than the Everlot game. I can almost believe I'm actually at Lake Middleton."

"What about your sense of smell Ron? Can you smell anything?" Betty asked.

"Now that you mention it… Yeah, I do." He paused for a moment. "Ewww… That stinks!"

"What is it Ron? What do you smell?"

"It's the out house near the docks. Man! They need to service that thing." The GJ scientists chuckled a bit, as they had planned that, and they were pleased with the result.

"Does anything else seem to be missing Ronald?" Betty asked one last time.

"No. It all seems so… tranquil. I can even see a few bees hovering over a flowery bush. Sure I can't stay here for a while?"

Betty laughed. "No Ron… I think we've got everything dialed in. Now, to take the cap off, you need to first close your eyes and hold your breath. You need to remove yourself from the scene you've been looking at. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Ron took a breath and held it as he closed his eyes. After only a few seconds, Betty said he could remove the cap, which he did. He looked up and saw Dr. Director standing over him.

"You may feel a bit unsteady Ron, so I just want you to lay there for a little while, OK? How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. Maybe a bit light headed, but it seems to be going away." He sat up and looked around the room.

"Do you feel at all dizzy?"

"Nope… I feel as fit as a chimp." Betty gave Ron a confused look, but just chalked it up to Ron just being Ron. "So is that all you needed me for?"

"Pretty much." Dr. Director said, and Ron swung his legs over the edge of the chair, and stood. He swayed a little, but then quickly recovered before Betty could say anything. "You can call Kim from here to come and pick you up." She then handed him a cordless phone.

"Oh Ron?" Betty said turning around, "Have Kim come inside. I have a few other things I wanted to go over with the two of you."

"Sure." Ron said as he dialed Kim's number and asked her to come over to GJ.

…x x x x…

When Kim arrived, Ron was waiting in the main cafeteria with a glass of soda. She walked up and sat down at the table across from him. "Hey Ron." She said as a greeting.

"Hey Kim. Betty said she would be here in a couple of minutes." He took a swig of his drink. "This soda seems a little flat. I'll have to tell the guys in the kitchen that their CO2 canister must be getting low."

"What are you two doing here?" An obnoxious voice said, that could only belong to one other GJ agent that both Kim and Ron knew… One William I. Du.

"Betty wants to meet with us." Kim replied, trying to be nice.

Will gave a small grunt, and then proceeded to pull his side arm out from its holster. He laid the small gun on the table, sat down, and ejected the magazine. He then proceeded to closely inspect the weapon, and started to work with the slide.

"What are you doing will?" Kim asked. "I thought your weapon was supposed to stay holstered while inside any GJ facility.

"Any loaded weapon. I took out the magazine." He raised that particular item and in front of him. "See? This is called a magazine. It holds all the bullets. Without this in the weapon, it cannot fire." He dropped the magazine onto the table with a clang.

"Now if you will excuse me, I really need to work on this. The darned thing has been jamming on me at the firing range, and I would like to know what's wrong."

"Shouldn't you be doing that in the range workshop?" Ron asked.

"I wanted to get something to eat first, and I thought I could do two things at once. Now if you will excuse me…" Will then went back to inspecting the small pistol.

Kim, however, wasn't finished with Will. "I hope you checked the chamber. Statistics show that the majority of misfires occurred during cleaning when the owner forgot to clear the chamber."

Will gave a small growl. "Don't you think I did that? I mean, really… I am a trained…" BANG!

The sounds of a ricocheting bullet whizzed in the near empty cafeteria, making the one cook in the back duck, along with both Kim and Ron. Will just sat there with a surprised look on his face, still holding the weapon in front of him. This was the first time he ever had a misfire.

"Is everyone OK?" Ron asked looking around the room. The cook back by the grill raised his spatula to show he was fine. Will seemed to be OK, but still in a bit of shock as to what happened. Ron then looked at Kim, who still had a surprised look on her face. "Kim? Are you alright?"

She looked down at her chest, and then Ron saw what she was looking at. A small red spot was on her chest, just to the left of her sternum. She looked at Ron, who yelled out in shock.

"Kim! You've been hit!" He immediately went to Kim's side, and caught her as she started to slump forward. "No Kim… No! Medic! I need a medic!"

Will stood and walked around the table to help Ron, who immediately pushed the GJ agent back away from his girlfriend. "Don't you think you've done enough Will? Kim's been shot, and all because… because of your… carelessness! Stay away from her!"

"I'm trained in numerous emergency medicine techniques Mr. Stoppable. I can help." Will started to step towards Kim again, and Ron moved himself between Will and his girlfriend, who was now trying to speak.

"If you lay one finger on her…" Ron started to say.

"You'll what…" Will growled, and tried to move around Ron.

"Then… I don't know what I'll do. Just stay away from her!"

By now the cook had arrived at the scene, and he quickly spoke. "I pressed the emergency call button back in the kitchen. We should have medical personnel here in less than a minute.

"Ron…" Kim was able to force out, and both Ron and Will turned towards her. Immediately Ron was kneeling at her side.

"It's OK Kim… It's going to be… OK." Ron's voice trembled with emotion. He saw a frothy red substance come out of the corner of Kim's mouth, and he took a napkin from the table and wiped it off. "Doctors are coming. You're going to be f… fine."

Will put a hand on Kim's shoulder, and Ron shot up into the agent's face. "I said don't touch her." He growled, and took hold of Will's hand to remove it from Kim's shoulder. Will then did something that he really shouldn't have. He raised a fist to Ron.

Faster than anyone could see, Ron's fist came up from his side, and caught Will right on the side of his chin. The force of the punch spun him completely around. Will's eyes rolled up into his head, and he slumped to the floor, out cold. Ron didn't even watch as the highly trained agent fell from one punch.

Then he was back at Kim's side. "Ron…" She again tried to speak.

"Shhh… shhh… Save your strength Kim. The doctors will be here soon."

"I… (cough)… just wanted… to say… one last time (cough)… that I love you."

Strong hands lifted Ron away from Kim, and he tried to struggle but couldn't. The doctors had arrived, and they had also brought with them extra security, as they didn't know what the situation was.

Two medics moved Kim from her chair to the floor so they could work on her better, and a third went to see why Agent Will du was unconscious. All Ron could do was watch as the medics hooked up numerous pads, so they could get a reading on what was happening. One was leaning over her with a stethoscope pushed under her shirt, listening.

When the heart monitor was turned on, there was a slow beep… beep… beep, but the pauses between beeps was getting longer, and longer. Beep……… beep……………beep………………beep…………………………..beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee….

The medic that had the stethoscope looked up into Ron's worried face. "She bled out internally. She… she's… gone."

"No…" Was all Ron said, and he relaxed visibly. The Security agents let him go, and Ron slumped onto a chair. "No…" He said again.

Ron then raised his head and hands, and screamed out in both anger and anguish. "Nooooooooooo!"

His hands came down onto the table top with clenched fists, and the legs buckled under the force of the hit, slamming onto the floor. He stood, and grabbed the chair he was sitting on, and hurled it across the cafeteria, and embedded the legs into the wall. He then leaned over, and grabbed the circular table and also flung it across the room into another wall, making it splinter into a thousand pieces.

Agents tried to subdue Ron, but he would have nothing of it. He was mad with both grief and anger, which was a dangerous combination. Ron didn't hit any of the agents, but he did push them away.

When the agents realized they couldn't contain him, they all just stepped back, and let the young man work out his frustrations and anger on objects that could easily be replaced.

After about 15 minutes of completely destroying the cafeteria, Ron was finally spent, and he sat down hard in the middle of the room. He somberly watched as the medics pulled a sheet over Kim's body. He also heard the medic that had worked on Will Du say that GJ's top agent had a broken jaw and a severe concussion.

Ron then curled up into a ball on the floor, and proceeded to cry uncontrollably.

…x x x x…

"It wasn't long after that, that you walked in Monique." Ron said after finishing his story. "With Kim gone… I… just don't know what to do anymore."

Monique looked at Ron with compassion that Ron didn't quite understand. Monique was a good friend, but it was a bit confusing as to why Dr. Director had asked her to come here to help pull him out of his sorrow.

But he didn't think about it too long. Ron stood and walked around the small table, taking Monique into another hug that he wanted to last forever. She did feel good, and the contact with someone he knew did help.

As he held onto his friend, Ron sniffed her hair. "Huh…" He thought to himself. "Monique must use the same shampoo as Kim."

To be continued…

No Author Notes, but I would like to hear what y'all think of it so far…