"If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way."
-- Mark Twain
Everyone Learns Sometimes Too
I.
Kim's eyes opened slightly as she felt the world around her finally stop spinning. Looking through the narrowed slits she could see the place she was currently occupying appeared to be nothing more then a dark room with the classic dripping water and rust smell. A true villain's basement if there had ever been one.
"Just my luck." Kim sighed as she tried to sit up. Immediately she felt pain throughout her body with her left arm being the most vocal about its condition. Gingerly moving the limb around, she brought it into view wincing the entire time. Already she could see the limb was starting to swell and a very noticeable lump indicated that it had more then likely been broken.
As her vision faded slightly she let her head slump forward again wishing to once more slip into an unconscious state. She knew she was in bad shape and that she should avoid sleeping at all cost but she couldn't help it. Slowly and surely her eyes closed once more.
II.
Kim winced as the set of two wrinkly hands gently probed her leg looking for any damage. Smiling bravely she looked back up into the gentle blue eyes that were staring intently at the limb in question. "Is it going to be ok?"
The older man looked back up at her a smile on his face as he let her leg fall back down. "It's nothing a little bit of rest won't cure. You just used it a little too much recently though I'm a bit worried how you managed to do it. Didn't you follow the training schedule I gave you?"
Kim looked down as the man who was currently her teacher stared intently at her. Shaking her head slightly she whispered out her simple response. "No sir."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because I want to become stronger." Kim looked up with determination into the old man's eyes as she said this hoping off the chair in order to make her point clear. She immediately regretted this as her weight settled back on the limb in question. Wincing she tried to cover up the pain anyway but she was sure she made a poor show of the attempt.
"And you think over working your leg by kicking a sand bag for hours straight will do that? You're only eight Kimberly you should be more careful." She looked down at this as a wrinkled hand came out and gently rubbed the top of her head ruffling her red hair in the process.
"But if I don't work through the pain I won't be stronger."
"Says who?" Kim blushed again as she started to rub her feet into the ground. When pain shot up through her leg once more she quickly halted this nervous habit.
"Everyone."
"Then everyone is wrong." Kim nodded slightly but stopped when the hand that had been on top of her head moved to her chin titling her face up enough to view her teacher's face once more. "Kim the body uses pain to tell us when we are doing something harmful to it. Pain is not something we should ignore or encourage. Now some martial artist will train themselves despite the pain but all their doing in the end is damaging their body that much more. You understand?"
"Yes."
"Good now just follow what I set out and you'll be fine. You're still growing after all and need to take care of your body." Kim nodded as she looked back to the floor. She noted when her teacher's voice changed to a more upbeat one looking back at him as he continued on. "Now would you like to learn how to take care of yourself if you do hurt yourself?"
"Like my Mommy does?"
"Sure why not." Kim nodded excitedly as her teacher turned around motioning for her to follow him.
III.
Kim's eyes opened once more as the memory of her earlier training in life. Smiling slightly she lifted herself up once again looking at the arm which still pained her a lot. "Guess it's a good thing I listened to the old man a few times. Now to take care of this and save the day."
Moving slowly she inched her way over to the nearby wall before settling her weight against it and letting her breathing settle once more. Reaching behind her with her one good hand she felt the pain shoot across her body once more but ignored it. Opening up her pack from behind she pulled out the emergency first aide kit she always carried with her before settling once more against the wall as she rummaged through the kit before she found the temporary sling Wade had fixed up. In a matter of moments she had her busted arm secured.
"Well now that's done I can go save the day." Kim settled back replaying in her mind the horrifying fall as she watched Ron's shocked brown eyes stare back at her and the sickening yank as her trusty grapple hairdryer broke. If not for that little tool though she was sure she wouldn't be here now. Problem was that right now Ron was still with that crazy woman. Worry made her chest tighten as she wondered what was going on with Ron at the moment.
IV.
Kim reached over snatching the white and red water bottle sitting by the bench taking a quick drink of the cool and refreshing water it contained. Setting the bottle back down she continued to wipe the sweat from her face as she turned back to the old man who was currently sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor with a straw hat covering up his graying hair. The ridiculous looking hat was bent over slightly casting a dark shadow over the man's face but even from here Kim could hear the slight chanting coming from him. Shrugging her shoulders she moved towards him as she threw the towel to the side.
"Have you finished jogging Kimberly?" The old man continued to sit in his position not looking up even as he asked this question. Kim nodded slightly despite this fact a smile on her face while doing so. "I see then we'll start on your next round of training after you catch your breath."
"How's Ron?" Kim's question was meant to appear as if she had no real concern but despite it she knew her concern for her best friend was clear in both her voice and her question. At nine years old she still worried about the often clumsy but good hearted boy, and the fact that he was just starting today on trying to learn martial arts had her very worried.
"He is currently out jogging at the moment." Kim smiled at this happy to see Ron was doing about the same thing she was. "He has been an interesting student."
Kim nodded at this knowing Ron's unusual behavior would warrant that statement and smiled hoping he was doing well. As she moved over to the side to grab a practice staff leaning against the wall she turned to the now standing old man who was gently twirling a similar staff in his hand. "So he's doing well?"
"If you mean that he hasn't managed to kill himself yes he's doing alright." Kim blinked at this as she turned towards her teacher a frown on her face. "Let's see he almost skewered himself when he knocked over a display of knives, a rack of spears, tripped over a bench next to a display of swords, and he even managed to get knocked out by the punching bag over there. Yes he has been one interesting student."
Kim winced at this as she gave her teacher an apologetic look. "Ron can be clumsy at times." She shrugged it off a smile on her face as she moved towards the old man ready to spar. "He'll get better with time."
"That might be true Kimberly but it won't be at this dojo." Kim stopped in her tracks looking up into the serious face before her. Opening her mouth to protest she was stopped when he raised a hand in her direction. "I'm not saying the boy doesn't have potential but he lacks motivation and focus. That's why he failed to do any of the simple instructions I gave to him and why he almost killed himself. Granted most people don't almost knock a few hundred pounds of armor on top of themselves when they lack focus but that's what makes him so interesting."
"But I'm sure with a little bit of time he'd improve on that. I mean it takes time to get good at this stuff after all."
To her disappointment the old man just shook his head instead. "A student who does not wish to learn will not learn. One day Ronald may gain that motivation but for now the young man just wants to have fun. Not everyone wants to learn martial arts like you after all Kimberly." The old man's gentle smile failed to take the bite away from the words.
"But I was hoping you'd train him anyway so that we finally have this in common. I really want Ron to be a part of this too teacher."
The old man just sighed as he took off his hat and waved it in front of his face. Kim watched as the old man looked in her direction for a moment before smiling. "I'm sorry there is nothing I can do about this. Any further attempts to train him will only result in his either getting hurt or him wasting his time."
"I guess." Kim looked down depressed by this turn of events before feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Kimberly you and Ronald don't have to do everything together to be best friends. Sometimes it's good to have differences after all." He smiled in her direction as he stepped back a bit holding the staff at ready. "Besides you need to learn these skills to keep that boy out of trouble. From what I've seen so far that's going to be a full time job and you are just the right girl for it."
Kim smiled at this before lifting her staff up at the ready. "I suppose keeping Ron out of trouble is a full time job." As she approached the old man she made a silent promise in her heart to never fail Ron in that duty either.
V.
Kim smiled slightly at the memory and her solemn promise to always look after Ron. It had most certainly turned out to be a full time job not that she regretted it in the least. 'He's my bestest friend after all.'
She limped over to the nearby stairs nursing both her sore back and her sore legs both of which were complaining greatly at this. As she neared the stairwell she could hear a few voices drifting down. As they got nearer she could clearly hear one loud voice over the rest. "Shego says to take her back alive but she didn't say how...Hey man she's old enough to keep coming in and messing up our days..."
Kim quickly duck to the side of the stairwell entrance not wanting to confront the usual henchmen that she found in these sorts of lairs. The voice of her old teacher came to mind as she stood pressed against the side of the wall listening at they got closer. 'Remember Kimberly when victory can be achieved by use of stealth over brawns always go with stealth. After all kicking in people's teeth gets tiring after a while and sometimes those people have lawyers.'
Kim smiled at that glad that her teacher had taken the time not only to teach her how to fight but all the other skills that went hand in hand with what she did. She had numerous memories of the old man, wearing a tattered red hat, showing her how to climb mountains or make her way through old buildings and the like. She often wandered how he had known it would come in handy but in the end she figured that her current life came about because of the training in the end anyway. Part of the reason she did the whole teen hero bit was to use those skills she had learned. Otherwise Mom and Dad would have wasted all that money they had spent on her lessons.
A smile on her face she looked up towards the ceiling noting the very same ledge she had fallen off of earlier. Gripping her belt with her one good hand she gently removed the object careful not to disturb anything else as she did. She remember with a slight smirk the time Ron had nagged Wade into building him a belt like hers and had ended up cutting his pants off with a laser. A slight blush came to Kim's face when she remembered that the boxers that day had suffered a similar fate.
Shaking her head clear of that mental image, as pleasant as it was for her, she looked back up to the ledge her belt in hand as she heard the voices continue to approach. Pointing the buckle at a point just below the ledge she pressed a hidden button located on it and watched as the object, that had previously been a functioning belt, shoot off towards that point stretching as it went before embedding silently into the wall. With a good tug Kim pressed another button and slowly began to ascend just in time to avoid the approaching henchmen. 'Note to self tell Wade he rocks yet again.'
Within a matter of a minute she had managed to scale the wall and could now hear a very different voice. "Come on you're just the sidekick you can't actually be considering going up against me." Kim frowned as she placed her feet securely against the wall her one good hand still wrapped around the belt. She could hear the clear scorn in the voice of the speaker and easily identified that person as Shego.
"You're going to pay for what you did to KP!" Kim smiled at this statement coming from Ron and not only because it meant he was safe.
'Well Possible, time to make your entrance.' With this thought she kicked off the wall spun around in the air and landed easily on the ledge. This of course brought all sorts of complaints from her battered body but it had its desired effect as both parties turned to look at her in shock. 'Now how do I beat down a fresh and healthy Shego with one busted arm and a body that just begging to quit.'
VI.
"That it back!" Kim's leg lashed out at her old teacher as her voice ranged out at the same time. Sweat dripped from her brows, obscuring her vision slightly, as she finished kicking empty air and prepared herself for her next attack as she attempted to land a blow on her elusive target.
"At thirteen I'm surprise you have so much trouble controlling your rage Kimberly." Kim only felt her anger rise at this dismissive statement as she continued to try to attack the old man, who was currently wearing a ridiculously big cowboy hat, as he weaved back and forth.
"Take back what you said about Ron!" Kim's face was flushed red at this point and her chest heaved with the exertion she was putting herself through but despite this she continued to attack trying to land a blow on her target.
"What about how he would make a nice addition to the ovens or that he's a poor excuse for a human being? I'm just saying what everyone else knows is true. The boy is useless and you only keep him around in order to have a nice puppy to look at." Kim's face now matched her hair as her anger hit an even new level at this. No one, even her teacher for years, said this about her friend and got away with it with all their teeth intact.
Moving forward again she rushed the old man her feet and hands lashing out in poorly coordinated series of attacks. Not caring in the least she just continued to attack until she flung a poorly placed fist at her former teacher's head. The old man seemed to decide this was the moment to finally counter attack as he slid along the arm knocking it to the side. Taken off balance by this counter attack Kim was unable to defend against it as the old man easily hooked her extended leg with his own and delivered a well placed attack to her head. Kim spun in the air before feeling the air whoosh out of her lungs as her back hit the ground.
"You..." She was unable to finish her statement as the next follow up was a vicious axe kick right into her chest. She felt the last of her breath leave her as her chest seized up in pain. Gasping she looked up at the now frowning old man as he stepped back slightly.
"If I wished to kill you right now I could do so with ease." Kim tried to say something at this but it only came out as a gasp. To her distaste the old man simply sat down next to her crossing his legs and watching as she struggled to breath. "Don't worry I held back so nothing is broken even though it would serve you right. What were you thinking Kimberly? Did I not teach you all these years to fight better than this?"
Kim stared up at him as he watched her struggle to breath and struggled to finally say something. It took her a few minutes to finally be able to say something but despite this the old man waited patiently. "You...called Ron a...loser and...holocaust joke...bastard..."
Kim's gasped reply seemed to only bring a sigh from the old man. "So you lose your cool and focus in a fight because of words? How does getting yourself beaten up serve to teach me a lesson? As I've always said keep your calm in a fight and don't let your emotions control you especially over something as trivial as words."
Kim grimaced as she finally managed to sit up staring hatefully at the old man. Her face still burned with anger remembering what he had said about Ron. "Take it back."
"Or else what? You have been beaten and yet you still make demands from me. You disappoint me Kimberly." Standing back up the old man dusted off his pants staring down calmly at her. "Remember this Kimberly those who can't defend themselves are at the mercy of others. Just like today when you failed to defend your friend from a few insults he'll never hear you may in the future fail to defend him from something worse. The loser is forced to live with what the winner decides. Remember that."
Kim ignored this as she stood up her chest still burning in pain but her eyes boring right into the old man's blue eyes. "Take what you said back."
"You still fail to understand this basic lesson. You still let yourself be controlled by anger I see." Sighing, the old man took off his hat and tossed it to the side running his hand through his gray hair before looking back at Kim. "Ronald is a fine young man who has been a good friend to you for most of your life. He is loyal, he is kind, he values others, and despite his negative traits is a good person to know. What I say or what others say will never change this. I won't take what I said back because it is untrue to begin with."
Kim blinked at this surprised to see a sudden reversal. Before she could reply though the old man held up his hand once more signaling she should wait. "Further more as for the holocaust statements that sent you into such a rage I'll just leave you with this. I knew a man back in my military days who was sent to one of those camps. That man lost everything that was dear to him there and no man should ever make light of that. That same man though refused to let that experience destroy him and instead swore upon the memory of the ones he loved to never let it happen again. The thing you should take from those comments of mine is that lesson in life Kimberly. If you don't want anyone to do to Ronald what those bastards did to that man then make sure you're always strong enough to defend him. If not then you allow evil to do what it wants. Remember that."
Kim blinked at this before stepping back a step. "So this was all a test to see if I could control my anger?"
"One in which you failed? Pretty much." Kim blinked and felt her anger rise once more at this flippant reply.
"Damn you old man for playing with people's emotions!" With that she turned around and walked out.
VII.
It had taken Kim a few years to come to an understanding of what her old teacher was really trying to do. He had picked on purpose the one topic he knew would set her off and used it to test to see if Kim could learn to control her anger. Even though she had failed that one time she had on some level learned her lesson and ever since had a better grip on her rage. She smiled slightly knowing her current opponent didn't have that amount of control.
"KP you're safe..."
Ron's statement was cut off as Shego walked forward her hands lighting up bright green even as the room began to stink from the usual smell of burnt rotten eggs that always seemed to plague Shego. It was usually a faint scent but whenever she was really angry it only became worse and was yet another reason Kim found she couldn't stand to be around the woman. Of course Ron claimed he couldn't smell anything.
"So Princess I see the fall didn't break you. Believe it or not I'm actually happy." Kim resisted the urge to shudder as Shego fixed her with a cat like grin as the woman flexed her claws. "This way now I can have the honor."
"Seems to me Shego, that if I was in your position I'd be a little afraid right now, after all you've yet to beat me. Seems like the record favors me doesn't it." Kim made sure to smirk in the woman's direction and was happy to see that both the scent and the green flames only grew stronger.
"Careful Princess or I'll wipe that smirk right off your face."
"You sure Drakken going to let his loyal pet do that Shego? Where is your master right now?" Kim smirked for real this time as she saw the rage cross the woman's face.
"I'm no one's pet Princess!" Shego's voice rose to a thunderous roar at this as the woman was literally washed over with flame for a few seconds before it died down to two raging columns.
"Could have fooled me."
"Oh that's it!" Kim shifted her stance immediately as she saw Shego charge right at her. As expected the woman was all pure rage and desire to attack with no skill at all. Just the way she wanted her.
As Kim got ready to attack she almost blinked in surprise as she saw Shego attack her in much the same way as she did her teacher all those years ago with one wildly placed punch that had no hope of hitting. Shrugging off the shock Kim spun forward her arm knocking Shego's attacking limb to the side disorienting the woman much the same way Kim had been those years ago. Despite the seriousness of the sitch Kim couldn't help but smile, as her foot caught Shego's leg, as she finished her spin much the same way as Kim's teacher had. As she finished her movement Kim's one good hand shot forward striking Shego in the face with a resounding blow much harsher then had been used against Kim. After all she was in a fight for her life not trying to teach Shego a lesson.
Kim wasted no time as she finished this attack to launch the last finishing move against Shego as she lay on the ground momentarily shocked by the fall and the blow to the face. With a vicious downwards axe kick she let her boot finish the fight with a sickening crack as she felt Shego's ribs give way. There was no way the woman would get back up again any time soon.
As Kim looked down at the now helpless villainess it struck her how easy it would be to finish this once and for all.
VIII.
Kim looked right into the blue eyes staring at her from across the room. The voice of her old teacher finally broke the silent moment that had surrounded the room for what seemed an eternity. "Are you sure?"
Kim nodded as she finally broke eye contact and instead stared at the old face with his short gray hair no longer covered by the baseball cap he was wearing before. "I can't continue to learn here."
"Is it because of my methods?" Kim nodded at this. "You still refuse to consider the necessity to kill?"
"I feel that killing is wrong no matter what." Kim refused to allow any emotion to enter her voice as she continued to watch her teacher. The man had taught her a lot and for that she was grateful. That was all.
"The words of a child."
"Perhaps."
Kim watched as the old man continued to study her before nodding his head. "I see you have least gained some maturity even if it is only temporary. I'm disappointed you refuse to see reason on this though."
"Because I refuse to accept that I may need to kill depending on the sitch?"
"Yes because you refuse to accept that simple fact. If a person approaches you with the intent to kill you then responding back with anything but lethal force is foolish. Mark my words a foe humiliated will come back and they will come back smarter. You may beat them ninety nine out of a hundred times but they only need one time to finally put an end to you. Consider this Kimberly." Kim frowned as she nodded standing back up.
"I won't kill."
"Even to protect the ones you love?"
"I will protect the ones I love without killing." With this Kim turned to leave.
"I pray that your chosen path will not bring you suffering Kimberly. Until we meet again." Kim did not look back as she left the dojo. She paused only once as her teacher gave her one last parting statement.
IX.
Kim turned away from the wounded villainess intent to keep her promise. It was the last one she had ever given the old man. She had to remember to visit the old guy after this despite their stormy farewell. A few years more of growing up had taught her that everything he had done had been to prepare her for just such a sitch as she had faced.
"KP, are you alright!" Kim looked up tiredly as she saw a familiar blond young man run her way.
"Ron am I glad to see you." Kim smiled as her best friend stopped short of her looking at her with a critical eye.
"You're hurt!"
"So not the drama Ron I'm just a little beat up."
"A little beat up! Kim you look like you..."
"Fell off a cliff?" Kim smiled as she started forward towards the entrance. "It's no big Ron nothing that a few days of rest won't fix. Now let's get out of her and let Global Justice clean up the mess."
As she moved forward the last statement her teacher ever gave her came to mind.
'Remember this Kimberly in the end you are just a girl. As a girl you will never be able to achieve the status as the greatest martial artist in the world. If you desire to become the greatest as you have stated in the past then you must give up that part of your identity. Give up the desire to live a normal life and forever devote yourself to the art and improve always. Remember this one last piece of advice though I give you if you remember nothing else. Never stop being a girl and eventually a woman. I have seen first hand the life of a legendary martial artist and it is not a pleasant one. You may be the greatest in the world but in the end you will die alone. If you follow any advice I give you it is this. Go out and have babies, make a family, and die a happy death. Don't devote yourself to the art of killing or you may soon find that which you sought to protect is forever lost to you.'
Kim reached out to Ron as he walked by hooking his arm with her one good one and she leaned in against him. To his dying day Ron always assumed it was because she was too tired to continue to walk by herself.
X.
Sensei, he had forgotten his original name by now and just referred to himself as everyone else did, smiled as he saw his old friend. Not his best friend mind you, but his best friend was dead as were a lot of his friends. You took what you could get in the end. "Ah it's good to see you my old friend..." Sensei paused as he realized to his horror he had forgotten the name of the old man who was currently extending his hand in greeting. Brushing past the mistake he simply reached out and shook the man's hand before turning towards the bar before them. "Drinks are on me tonight!"
"You seem to be in a good mood." Smiling the other man sat down motioning for Sensei to take a sit across from him. "So how are things?"
"Ah as the tree reaches towards the sun so do I." His friend just blinked at that but as usual Sensei continued on. "Anyway how is your former student doing?"
"Kimberly? She's doing good last I checked. Still a little hot headed but doing alright." The other man laughed lightly as he adjusted the red baseball cap on his head as he leaned back in his seat. "Of course it helps that the villains aren't like the ones that used to run around. Good thing too because my Grandson has been known to mess around with that lot too."
Sensei nodded at this a smile on his face. "Yes but like the grass so too will the villain community once again grow too high if there is no one to cut them down."
"Um...sure. Anyway how's your special student doing?"
Sensei blinked at this before leaning in. "I admit Yori has trouble with her haikus at times but I would not describe her as special." Sensei could feel his blood boil as any proud parents would at the insult just sent his way.
"What? No I don't mean Yori. I mean your special student."
Sensei blinked as he leaned back and frown on his face. "You mean Yumi? Well just like the snail who eventually reaches the wall just like the rest of the animals he too makes progress if at a slower place."
"No I mean your other student you know the chosen one."
"Who?"
"The chosen one you know wielder of the Lotus blade."
"Um..."
"Ron Stoppable?"
"Never heard of him."
Sensei watched as his friend sighed and reached into his pocket before producing a photo of a vaguely familiar young man. "Does this ring any bells?"
"Sort of."
"So I take it that you've been ignoring his training."
"Ah but like the mighty oak you need only plant the seed first." Sensei studied the photo closely trying to figure out who it was. This focus only lasted a moment before a pretty waitress walked by her hips swaying suggestively in her short skirt. "Ah yes a flower needs someone to appreciate their beauty if it is to call itself a flower."
"Huh?" Sensei ignored this in his pursuit of a higher calling. After all if no one is there to watch a hip sway does it really sway?
The End
A/N: Yep this is the guess the author fic I wrote and with the contest over I'm just posting this on my account. If you don't mind drop a review so I can figure out how people reacted to it. First attempt with a fic of this type.
Anyway in other news I've begun work on three fics at the moment. One is a sequel to a popular fusion I wrote that no one thought was going to have anything else released about it, the other is a Christmas contest entry, and the third is the real shocker. To ruin the fun, something I find amuses me, I'll just come out and say it. Surforst is going to write a fic that takes a look at the Kigo relationship through Kim's eyes. Yep a Kigo fic. Well it be Pro-Kigo? Anti-Kigo? Well the only clue you have is the type of fics and statements I've made before. There you go best of luck figuring that out. Anyway back to work.
As always leave a review and have a fun night.
Disclaimer: I don't own KP.