AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, everyone, here we are again. Time for the newest chapter in my Kim Possible series. For those of you who see that this story is a little shorter than some of my other works, please bear in mind that like I said in the introduction, this is being written primarily like a Kim Possible mini-ep. (along the lines of "Rufus in Show", "Sick Day", simple stories like that). For those of you for whom this is your first time reading one of my KP stories...well, what have you been doing here all this time?
I kid, I kid. Seriously though, if this is your first time reading one of my KP fics, you might want to read the earlier stories in my series, just to get yourself up to speed. The list is as follows.
"Decisions, Decisions"
"The More Things Change..."
"Bonnie Double"
"Home(s) Away from Home"
"Monkey Power, American Dragon"
"Far from the Tree"
"The Possible Substitution Squad"
Well, that's that. I'm sure you've had enough of me blathering on, so on with the show. Enjoy...
Kim Possible
Swimming in Circles
By Aaron
"Well, that was hardly worth changing into our mission clothes for," Kim commented as she flew her car home with Ron in the passenger side and Maximillion literally skating through the clouds beside them. "I can't believe those idiot Knights of Rodeghan actually tried to go after Prince Wally again."
"Yeah, you know, I've gotta be honest. I completely forgot about those guys," Ron added dryly, with Rufus perched on his shoulder, nodding in agreement. "I mean, if most of the bad guys we run into on missions don't show up again on at least a bi-weekly basis, they just go…*whht!*…right outta my head, you know?"
Kim could only respond with an amused half-smile in Ron's direction, part of her conceding his point. But just then, the Kimmunicator signal beeped in, getting her attention as Wade's face appeared on the car screen.
"Hey Wade," Kim answered ordinarily enough, but she found herself raising a suspicious eyebrow as she noticed the screen starting to grow fuzzy. "Uh, Wade..? Is everything okay? I'm starting to lose you."
"Just making sure you guys are alright. I n…ticed some mass…electr…magne…inter…rence where you guys…flying through and…," was all Kim could hear from Wade before the transmission cut out and the screen faded into static.
"Wade? Wade?" Kim called gently rapping on the screen with her knuckle to no effect. "Okay, weirdar's starting to go off a little bit. What could've cut us off like that? We're literally flying over the middle of nowhere."
"Want to check it out?" Ron asked, with Rufus looking over at Kim with a pair of curious blinks.
"Might as well. We're already dressed for it." Kim replied with a shrug, turning the wheel and steering the car to descend.
It only took a few moments for the car to land in a clearing next to a nearby lake. The area looked peaceful enough. But as Kim and Ron got out to look around, Ron suddenly felt a shiver of dread shoot down his spine.
"Okay…I didn't like that. Because the only time I've ever had this feelings was…when…," Ron started thinking out loud until he and Rufus saw a large sign only a few yards down along the waterline, standing before a row of cabins. And instantly, his voice turned to a whining shudder.
"K-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-m…?"
"What? What's wro…? Oh, no…" Kim's reply turned to an exasperated groan as she looked in the direction of Ron's gaze and instantly, she realized why he had tried to stifle his panic. Because right then and there, she knew where they had unknowingly landed…looking at the large wooden sign which held those most infamous of words…
CAMP…WANNAWEEP.
"Ron? Baby, are you okay?" Kim asked as she put her hand on Ron's shoulder, while Ron only stood rooted to the spot, his bottom jaw trembling and Rufus could only hide his eyes and look away.
"I'm…I'm okay," Ron stammered, trying to calm himself as the reality dawned on him that he should be past this turmoil already. "It's alright…I'm calm…I'm cool…I can handle this…"
"Oh…come here," Kim breathed as she took Ron's face in her hands and moved in to start caressing his lips with gentle kisses, realizing that as hard as Ron was trying, he was going to need a little emotional support to deal with this one.
It still took a few seconds for Kim's efforts to take effect, however. But eventually, Ron found himself forgetting where they were and melting into the moment to start softly kissing her back as he reached out to put his hands on her hips. Kim would add a few more delicate kisses as a little added insurance, but as their lips finally parted and she looked into Ron's eyes with a tender smile, she was inwardly relieved that he did indeed seem much calmer.
"There…feel better?" she whispered onto his lips, still pressing herself close to him and holding his face in her hands.
"Hmmmmm…," Ron mused before answering, rolling his eyes thoughtfully, before looking back at Kim with a playful half-smile. "If I said 'no'…do you think you have a few more of those to toss my way?"
"Oh…I might have one or two tucked away somewhere," Kim answered with an amused lilt as she lightly draped her arms around Ron's neck and her lips moved in closer, "Just in case."
Ron's arms instinctively folded around Kim's waist as they met in a soft, deep kiss which felt like it was going to go on forever. Slowly, Ron could feel his initial anxiety fading further into the back of his mind. In fact, it seemed like the whole world was on the verge of slipping away. The only thing that mattered right then and there was the moment and how it was making them both feel. But just microseconds before that moment could be reached…
"WHAT…DO-YOU-THINK-YOU'RE-DOING?" an all-too familiar teasing voice shattered the silence of the wilderness and Kim and Ron were snapped out of their kiss to see Max walking up the path just behind Kim's car. "I fly through one measly cloud bank and all of a sudden, *POOF!*, you guys just disappear! You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you two were trying to ditch me!"
"Oh, if only wishing made it so…," Kim grumbled through her teeth as she tightly clutched Ron's jacket in frustration, having been enjoying her soothing moment for him just as much as he was.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Max chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. "Seriously though, what's up? I mean, of all the places to take a break why pick…?"
Suddenly, Max's words were stopped dead in their tracks, followed by complete silence. But when Kim and Ron turned in Max's direction, what they saw next only made them all the more curious…and worried, too. For Max was standing, rooted to the spot, the look on his face actually appearing to be one of shock as his jaw hung open.
"Uh…dude?" Ron called over cautiously…completely unsure what to think as Max's head slowly creaked around to face them.
"I know that tree," Max whispered with dread, pointing into the foliage.
"Uh, Max?" Kim replied, "That tree looks like every other tree in this area. And there are maybe…what, a few hundred THOUSAND of them?"
"I never forget a face!" Max protested, storming over to the tree he saw and looking it over thoroughly. "Uh, does anybody happen to know exactly where this place…?"
Again, Max's words were cut off as his gaze shifted towards the cabins and caught sight of the sign before them. At first, the look on his face almost seemed to be one of complete disbelief, even as he zipped over to the sign in a blink and lifted his sunglasses to read it over slowly, letter by letter.
"G…!" was all that came out of his mouth as every muscle he had suddenly went taut for a split second. But before Kim and Ron could ask what was going on, he had dashed back toward them at top speed.
"Uh…excuse me. I think I…must have…something…CRAZY…in my eyes…," he stammered between nervous chuckling as he rubbed his eyes furiously. "Would one of you…mind terribly…reading that…sign to me…please?"
"Uh, Camp-Wannaweep?" Kim answered slowly, now growing even more concerned with Max's behavior. After all, his was becoming increasingly irrational, even for him.
"That's…what I thought," Max replied almost in submission.
Just then, Max's entire body tensed as his eyes flashed white, clearly visible even through his sunglasses. At that second, to Kim, Ron and Rufus' combined shock, the Camp Wannaweep sign took off like a rocket, bursting through the air in a high arc before smashing into the roof of one of the cabins behind it. The next thing anyone knew, Max was tromping around, breaking down into a wild and almost incomprehensible rant.
"… … … …poison…itching…! … … … …squirrels…! … … … …arrows…! … … … …MASCOT…!" were just the few words Kim could make out from Max's crazed tirade. However, those words were more than enough for her to finally figure out just where this insane display of temper had manifested itself from.
"Uh, MAX?" she shouted over, breaking him out of his wild haze. "Am I to assume that you've been here some time before?"
It took Max a few seconds to find the presence of mind to answer, appearing to be almost on the verge of hyperventilating. But as his head slowly turned back to Kim and Ron, even through his sunglasses, his look of fury was clearly apparent.
"I had…a bad…experience," he growled through his teeth, causing Kim to tilt her head aside towards Ron.
"He's one of you," she whispered, as Ron simply nodded wide-eyed, neither one of them taking their gaze off of him as Max stomped forward.
"How?" Max seethed, regarding the simple wooden cabins with complete disdain. "How, in the name of everything that is good and decent on this earth, could this…CURSE…still be standing? If anyone had any sense at all, they would have paved over this whole monstrosity ages ago!"
"You know, actually, that's not a bad idea. I mean, I could picture a nice casino over where Band Camp is and…," Ron started to agree straightforwardly enough, only to be cut short by a light elbow in the ribs from Kim.
"Look, we're just here to check out some weird signal interference," Kim stated plainly. "It probably isn't even anything. You don't have to hang around if you don't want to."
"No, it's cool. I'm…I'm okay," Max responded simply, trying to calm down as he, Kim and Ron began walking, although Kim was far less convinced of his well-being. Especially when a rustle in the brush was heard not a few seconds later.
"What was that?" Max shouted in alarm as he whipped his staff in the direction of the foliage. "BACK TO THE PIT, CREATURE OF EVIL!"
Before Kim and Ron could react, Max's staff unleashed a burst of magical energy which exploded into the tree line. Fortunately, his attack did nothing but scare up a few birds into the sky, as well as a small, chubby rabbit, which promptly hopped away.
"THAT'S IT! I was willing to be a good sport about this! But I do NOT have enough patience for TWO guys with camp issues!" Kim shouted at Max as she pointed her finger towards Ron. "At least I know I can kiss HIM and make it better! But there is NO way I am kissing YOU! So at this point, I don't care where you are while we're looking around here! But you are NOT going to be around us! GOT IT?"
"Fine," Max hissed in a huff, going his separate way as Kim went back to rejoin Ron.
"So…where do we want to start?" Ron asked simply, even as he and Rufus tossed an uncertain gaze Max's way.
"Guess we might as well start at Telecommunications Camp," Kim answered with a shrug.
With that, the two were off, leaving Max to fume inside the camp. Just then, a gentle twittering sound caught his attention as he looked up to see a mother bird up in a nest, caring for her newly hatched young.
"I'm watching you!" he called out with a wild-eyed glare, pointing an accusing finger up towards the nest and backing away with a low, throaty growl.
Little did Max know that as he was watching the wildlife, something else was watching him. At that moment, a scaly, clawed hand, reached up and pulled aside a bit of shrubbery, indicating that…something…had been drawn to the commotion Max had caused and had come to investigate. Tossing a glance over towards Max, it seemed to dismiss him outright, opting instead to focus on Kim and Ron, still walking along the lakeshore, just as Kim reached out to gently take Ron's hand. But once it caught sight of the two, its red eyes narrowed into angry slits before it released the brush and allowed it to spring back into place.
Before long, Kim and Ron were slowly making their way down the wooded path to Telecommunications Camp. Initially, Kim was more than a little relieved to not have to worry about Max tagging along. Having never seen him in that state of mind before, she would have had absolutely no idea what to do with him if he had another freak-out like he did back by the lake. But it wasn't long before she was quickly reminded that she still was not without someone she needed to look after.
"Whatwasthat?" Ron exclaimed under his breath as he huddled up beside Kim, with Rufus whimpering on his shoulder. "Kim, did you hear something in the bushes back there?"
"Uh, no," Kim answered dryly before switching to a babying tone of voice. "But don't worry. If those 'evil giant squirrels' come back, they'll have to get through me, first, okay?"
"Kim…," Ron responded with a slight whine at what he felt was a definite low blow.
"Oh, come on," Kim argued lightheartedly, tilting her head to kiss Ron's cheek. "You've got to admit, you ARE asking for this at least a little bit. Seriously, though, I really didn't hear anything."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" a voice suddenly came echoing from the wilderness. Kim couldn't place the voice, but it didn't sound like Max. And it actually sounded like it was coming from further along the trail.
"Okay, definitely heard that, though," Kim noted. "Come on. Looks like this might be a bigger sitch than we thought."
As Kim and a nervous Ron ran down the path to investigate, a scaly, clawed hand again parted away some brush to observe them. Only this time, the eyes of whatever was watching them were green instead of red. But they still narrowed into the same stern expression before disappearing back into the green.
Back at camp, Max found himself walking through the rows of cabins and being exposed to memories that he wasn't particularly fond of remembering. He could still hear the taunts and mocking laughter of the other campers in the back of his mind like ghosts floating around him. And no matter what he tried to do, he couldn't manage to shut them out.
Just then, he happened to look up and found himself standing in front of Cabin 13. An infamous number for an infamous structure, whose horrors Max remembered all to well. Just then, a flash of memory popped into his head.
... ... ... ...
"Awww, look at that. Bo likes you," Max's overly peppy camp counselor chimed happily from inside the cabin, completely oblivious to the effect it was having on a 10-year-old Max, being wrapped in the coils of the camp mascot, "Bo, the Boa Constrictor".
"Help…" was all Max could rasp, completely helpless as the breath was being squeezed out of him. "…Ribs…cracking…"
... ... ... ...
Just having that memory floating through his brain was enough to make Max shudder in disgust and horror. But just then, a rustle in the brush caught his attention. Instantly, Max flashed his cane in the direction of the sound, only to see a tiny squirrel hop out with an acorn it had found during its natural foraging.
Suddenly, another image popped into Max's head. An image of squirrels from his camp days. But these were not squirrels like the one that was standing before him. These were giant, red, eyed drooling beasts with fangs and claws. Just the thought of it was enough to make Max shake his head violently to banish the sight back into the darkest depths of his memory.
"Huh. You know, I remember you guys as being bigger," he noted simply at the innocent woodland creature before flashing a suspicious frown. "Don't think that means I trust you, though."
With that, Max walked off, leaving the little squirrel to merely respond with a pair of wide-eyed blinks. But it soon lost all interest in the strange person who was just standing in front of it and promptly went to nibbling on its acorn.
Further down the path, Kim and Ron were still in pursuit of the cry they had just heard a few moments ago. At that moment, Kim was starting to take this situation just a little more seriously. At first, this was merely a case of curiosity more than anything else. But now, what had barely qualified as a mission had now suddenly turned into something more. Especially when she and Ron hurdled the corner to find a young man huddled at the base of a tree, trembling and whimpering.
"Hey! What happened?" Kim called out as she and Ron made their way over to the boy's shuddering form. "Are you alright?"
"Never better…," a familiar voice replied as the stranger's body instantly stopped shaking. Suddenly, to Kim and Ron's amazement, the figure sprang up, and they recognized his face all-too-soon.
"…Too bad I can't say the same for you."
"Gil?" Kim blurted out in surprise.
"Oooo, close…," Gil replied, right before his body suddenly swelled in size, ripping through his tank top and shorts. His skin became replaced with scales, his nails with claws. Floppy gills grew out of the base of his neck and his ears became like fins. And within seconds, the once, seemingly normal human young man stood before them menacingly, in the mutated form of…
"GILL?" Kim and Ron exclaimed in unison.
"There, see? NOW you're getting it." Gill answered sarcastically before belching out a ball of slime that hit Kim squarely in the chest, knocking her into a nearby tree and trapping her from her shoulders to her waist in a cocoon of muck.
"KP!" Ron shouted. But just as he was about to leap forward to attack, a giant, scaly form, looking almost like a snake's tail burst from the bushes behind him and wrapped around his waist, yanking him back and slamming him into a tree on the other side of the path. Before Ron could figure out what was going on, Gill struck, trapping both Ron and Rufus in the same gooey prison as Kim.
"Excssssellent," a cold voice hissed as a new player emerged from the bushes, tall and lanky and covered from head to toe in a hooded robe. "You have done well. Now…back to the ssssssanctum with them."
Instantly, Ron was already starting to fire up his Mystical Monkey Power so he could break free. But just then, his glance turned to Kim, who signaled him with a cautionary shake of her head. She had no doubt that Ron could use his power to escape and possibly defeat both Gill and this mysterious newcomer. But that wouldn't get them any closer to finding out what was going on. Following her lead, Ron instantly halted his power up and remained silent as they both allowed Gill to drag them off, following the tall stranger down the path.
Making his way from the camp, Max found himself treading along a familiar path. Looking around, seeing the gnarled, crooked trees, dead stumps and nothing but darkness beyond, an uncomfortable feeling began to well up inside him. But it wasn't until he knelt and ran his fingers along the cold dirt path that another image instantly flashed inside his head...
He could see himself, 10 years old and miserable, sniffling and holding back tears as he actually tried to run away from camp in the dead of night. Being so young, he had no way of knowing any better. All he could think about as he trudged along that dark and lonely path was if he could just get to a main road, he might find someone kind enough to give him a ride back to his group home.
Suddenly, he could hear something rustling and snapping through the brush. With only the full moon to penetrate the thick foliage, young Max had no idea what was out there. All he knew was that he was terrified beyond measure. He couldn't even bring himself to get his legs to work, even as this terrible sound could be heard from the darkness. Not quite a hiss, exactly. It was more like a long, rasping growl…and it seemed to be coming from all around him.
Just then, Max whirled his head around and this fearsome shadow burst from the bushes. Towering over him, thin and tall, Max couldn't make out what it was. All he could remember seeing was a pair of piercing green eyes, cold and wicked. A split second later, the shadowy form lunged towards him with lightning speed. And suddenly, everything exploded in a flash of light.
The next thing young Max knew, he was waking up in the Camp Infirmary. His teary-eyed counselor was hugging him as he opened his eyes, asking him if he was alright. No one ever found out what happened or what had attacked him. All anyone knew was that he'd been found lying on the path unconscious, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on him. The Camp nurse would keep him in the Infirmary for five more days to observe him and make sure that everything was alright. But Max would see those evil green eyes in his nightmares for years after that night…
Just as the image dissipated, Max looked down at himself. His right hand was trembling, his breath had become shuddering and ragged and his left hand was clutching his cane so tightly that he was almost like he was going to snap it in two. Closing his free hand into a hard fist, Max tried desperately to center himself as he punched the ground hard, shut his eyes tight and did everything he could to banish that terrifying image into the back of his mind, where he hoped never to see it again.
Still encased in Gill's slime, Kim, Ron and Rufus had found themselves hauled away to the Wannaweep Science Camp. Kim definitely had questions to ask, but she was trying to get as much information as she could from silent observation first. Unfortunately, most of what she saw only created more questions than she already had. Gill was standing silently a few yards away, keeping watch over Kim and Ron while the tall, robed stranger was using the crude laboratory resources of the camp for something. Kim couldn't quite make out what it was. All she knew was it involved the stranger occasionally sliding over to Gill, who promptly belched up a ball of slime into a metal sphere which the stranger took back over to a lab table. At that point, Kim knew that she had reached the limit of what she was going to find out just by watching. It was time to do some talking.
"So Gill, when are you going to introduce us to your new play date?" she called over, getting his attention. "And while you're at it, why don't you tell us how you escaped from Dr. Lirkin's lab?"
"Hah! I never escaped. He LET me out," Gill answered with a cocky smirk as he held out his arm. Suddenly, it shrank and changed to a normal human shape, much to Kim and Ron's amazement.
"Like it? It's a new trick I learned after the two of you dumped me back into that lab," Gill explained before his arm morphed back into its mutated form. "It took me a while to learn how to change at will. But now I can change into this form and back anytime I want."
"That poindexter had no clue. He actually thought he'd cured me again," Gill continued with an amused chuckle. "So when I told him I was thinking about looking at colleges to enroll in, he didn't ask any questions. By the time he realized I wasn't going to be coming back, I would've been long gone."
"My original plan was to go after you first, Squeeb. After all, you and I still have a score to settle," Gill went on, glaring in Ron's face, who responded with a defiant frown. "But first, I decided to come back here. You know, kind of going back to the beginning, reminisce a little bit…"
"…And this is where I found HIM."
With that, the tall stranger placed his latest metal sphere on the table before pulling away his robe and tossing it aside. And Kim and Ron could only remain in wide-eyed shock at the sight that greeted them. It was like…a giant snake with arms, clawed and scaly. Where it used to have legs, there was only a long tail. The same tail which had attacked Ron earlier in the woods. And its head…was that of a giant cobra!
"Kim Possible…Squeeb…," Gill announced with a hint of menace, "Meet my new boss."
"Okay, that is just SO many levels of NOT RIGHT!" Ron could only shriek in panic as Rufus whimpered frightfully.
"Typical youthful ingnorancsssssssssse," the snake creature hissed. "You simply have no concsssssssept of my work. But then…how COULD you?"
"Who…WHAT...are you?" was all Kim could find herself asking, still at a loss for what to think.
"In my former life, I wassss known as Dr. Colby King, a bio-engineer of some note in my field," the creature replied. "But now, you may sssssimply addressssss me asssssss King Cobra."
"Uh-oh…Ron, he's already talking in villain banter, here," Kim noted, tossing a worried look in Ron's direction.
"Yyyyeah, that's pretty much Clue One that this isn't gonna be good," Ron agreed, with both him and Rufus shaking their heads with concerned expressions of their own.
"At one time, I wasssssss a volunteer counssssssselor here at the Wannaweep Sssssssciencsssse Camp," the being known as King Cobra explained. "Having the opportunity to tutor young mindssssss interessssssted in the ssssssciencsssssessssss wasssss very appealing to me. But at the ssssssame time, I wasssss able to use the ressssourcssssessss of thisssss camp to continue my own sssssscientific resssssearch."
"I wasssssss working on a theory of creating an immunity to sssssnake venom in the human body, ussssing their genetic material assss a bassssisssss for an inoculation." King Cobra continued, thinking back over several years. "But one night, asssssss I wasssss working on a tesssssssst ssssssserum that I felt wasssss very promissssing, I accsssssidentally dropped the beaker I wasssss holding. While I wassss cleaning it up, I happened to prick my finger on one of the shardssssss of the broken vial and sssssssome of the ssssserum entered my blodsssssssstream."
"It wasssss dayssssss before I realized anything wasssss happening. But by then, it wasssss too late," King Cobra added. "Before I could even think, the incomplete sssssserum caussssssed my body to change. My blood began to grow cold, my sssssssskin grew sssssscalesssssss. My legsssssssss…well, you get the idea."
"I wassss driven half-mad by the transssssssformation. I could barely procsssssessss what wassss happening to me or what I wasssss doing. I…fled into the woodssssssss," King Cobra went on. "All I remember after that isssss…a child…and thisssss…brilliant…flash of light. The nexssssst thing I knew, I wasssss crawling into a small cave, wounded and in shock, where I losssssst concsioussssnessssss."
"When I awoke, I wasssss amazed to dissssscover that more than 15 yearsssssss had passsssssed by," King Cobra rasped. "My body had sssssomehow entered a recuperative coma to ressssstore itsssssself. And I had woken from it only weekssssss before."
So…if you've been missing all this time, why haven't you tried to contact anybody?" Kim had to ask. "I'm sure that after 15 years, somebody's been looking for you."
"Oh, I intend to return to the outssssside world. But only oncssssse I have made sure that everyone out there will come to undersssstand the truth that I have come to learn firssssst-hand," King Cobra answered. "When I awoke, my mind wassss no longer clouded. And oncssssse I had proccssssssesssssed what had happened to me, that'sssss when I learned the truth. Thisssss new body was sssssstrong…powerful…it had the ability to ssssssussssstain injury and recover from it. Sssssssuch formsssss like young Gill and myssssssself are the perfect ssssstepping ssssssstonessssss. The building blocksssssssss in the next ssssssstage…of human evolution. And ssssssssooon, the entire world will realize this truth."
"Riiiiiiight," Ron uttered as he and Kim simply tossed each other a wide-eyed look.
"Of courssssssssse, I only had the crude insssstrumentsssss of this lab to work with. Hardly ssssssufficient meanssssssss to rebuild an entire world," King Cobra continued. "But it was then, that I discovered young Gill here, who had learned the truth asssssss I have. Hisssss ability to mutate other life forms wasssss a quantum leap that hasssss allowed me to achieve in dayssssss what would have taken yearssssss for me to realize on my own."
"Of coursssssse, I needed to manipulate the sssssstructure of hisssssss ssssssecretionsssssss with a powerful electromagnetic exssssssposure. Luckily, the equipment I needed wasssss easssssily available from Telecommunicationsssssss Camp," King Cobra added, taking on of the metallic spheres, which was armed with a small timer, in his clawed hand. "Thisssssss hassss allowed me to incressssssse the potencsssssssssy, allowing transformation to occur in secondssssssssss insssssstead of minutesssss or hoursssssssss. Oncssssse thessssse ssssspheresssss are detonated, out in the open or even in a local water ssssssupply, the evolution will be imminent and unssssstoppable.
"However, like any man of ssssssciencssssse, I can hardly disssssstribute this wonderousssssss gift without tesssssting it firssssssst," King Cobra concluded, looking over at Kim and Ron with purpose, "Which issssss where the two of you come in."
"Not exactly what I had in mind for you, Squeeb. But it'll do for now," Gill added to Ron under his breath with a smirk.
"Look 'Fangs', I've got news for you," Kim protested as King Cobra came around the table towards them. "If you think anyone on the planet is going to accept YOU guys as the next fashion trend of human evolution, then you woke up from your nap to soon!"
"We'll ssssssssee if you feel the ssssame way after you've had a chancsssssse to exssssssssperiencsssssse the truth for yoursssssssself," King Cobra replied dismissively, sliding forward with one of his detonating spheres. "I have no doubt that ssssssoon, you will come around to my way of thin…"
"Kim! Ron?" Max's voice could be heard echoing from outside, instantly getting King Cobra's attention.
"Oh…that guy," Gill noted, recalling Max from when he had spotted Kim and Ron earlier.
"Hmmmmm, another volunteer for tesssssting," King Cobra declared, handing the sphere to Gill before slithering off. "Watch them. I'll return shortly."
"Uh-oh," Kim and Ron muttered in unison as they gave each other a worried glance. With the way Max had been reacting since he'd shown up, there was no way of telling what was going to happen when he and King Cobra ran into each other.
"Kim! Ron! Aw, come on, where ARE you guys?" Max called out, an almost whiny sound in his voice before muttering to himself. "Honestly, the sooner we get out of here, the better. I mean, seriously, I'm not kidding. A few tons of concrete here and this travesty would look a whole lot…"
Just then, Max heard a long, cold hiss coming behind him, instantly sending a chill down his spine. His whole body tense and shuddering, his head slowly creaked around to see the form of King Cobra towering over him. And as soon as the two figures made eye contact, each one felt an image flash into their heads.
For Max, the image was all-too obvious. He may never have seen the face until now. Or maybe he had simply forgotten what it looked like. But those eyes…There was no mistaking those green eyes for any other eyes. And as he stood, rooted to the spot, his trembling jaw hanging open, he could see the image from that night of his childhood more clearly than he ever had before. No longer a dark silhouette, this time he knew for sure.
This…this was the face of the creature that attacked him all those years ago.
For King Cobra, the memory was no less vivid. For a moment, there was something so familiar about this young man standing before him that he couldn't quite place. But suddenly, those same fragmented images flashed into his mind again. The image of his tail wrapped tightly around a frightened little boy in the dead of night. But suddenly, the boy's eyes snapped open, flashing a brilliant white. The next thing King Cobra remembered seeing was as if the sky itself had torn open, sending a blinding streak of lightning down towards him…! And in that instant, there was no mistaking it…
"I…know you," he rasped, sounding completely perplexed as his head inching ever closer to Max's, who only stood there, whimpering and shaking. But just Kin Cobra's head was hovering mere inches away…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Max let out a piercing, unending shriek of pure, unrelenting terror as something snapped inside of him. Whirling around, he was off like in a blink, dashing across the lake and disappearing into the woods on the other side in less than a second.
But Max didn't stop there. In almost an instant, he'd not only ran through the woods but clear to the coastline and straight across the ocean, still screaming and letting nothing stand in his way. Not even the island lair of Dr. Drakken, who was quietly right in the middle of a chemical experiment while Shego sat just a few feet away, casually reading through a magazine. But just as Drakken was about to pour only a single drop of chemical into the beaker he was holding.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Max continued to wail as he burst through the thick steel door, tearing it off its hinges. Running laps around the walls of the lair in an upward spiral, he completely blanketed the lair in a torrent of dust and rubble before finally streaking out the door and running on, leaving Drakken and Shego both lying on the floor in a daze.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Max shrieked on as he continued to run at blinding speed across the ocean, with no end in sight. Just then…without warning…just like that…
…he stopped.
Completely dead in his tracks, Max just stopped. Stopped, running, stopped screaming, stopped…everything. Hovering just about the churning ocean water, his gaze slowly panned around him, staring at the endless sea on all sides and the emerging stars in the darkening sky with wide-eyed fascination. At that moment, it was as if he had just come to a realization that had never occurred to him before. And once the idea had entered his mind, there was only one other thing he could think of…
"What-am-I-DOING?" he exclaimed to himself, sounding almost confused at his own behavior.
Without a pause, Max burst back in reverse, just as fast as he'd run before. Almost instantly, he'd reached Drakken's lair again, running down along the wall, exactly the way he'd come and reversing all the damage he'd just caused. He even repaired the broken door as he backed out of the lair like a shot, leaving Drakken and Shego exactly where they were, with Drakken in the middle of his experiment and Shego reading her magazine.
"Uh…what just happened?" Drakken had to ask as he and Shego could only look at each other wide-eyed.
Max, meanwhile, continued reversing his course, hitting the coast, the woods around Wannaweep, crossing the lake and finally stopping short in front of King Cobra, right where he'd just been standing. In the time it had taken Max to run to where he had ended up and come all the way back, only mere seconds had passed. And as Max suddenly reappeared before him, King Cobra was still trying to figure out what it was that he'd just seen. But while King Cobra was still lost in confusion, Max was more focused than ever, cracking his neck in a circular motion before slowly turning his head to face King Cobra's confused expression.
"Let's…try…that…again," Max hissed under his breath with a wicked smirk.
Back in the lab, Kim and the others heard what could only sound like an explosion. A second later, a stunned and very surprised King Cobra came crashing into the lab, much to Gill's shock. A few moments later, Max could be seen standing just inside the hole in the lab wall. And as he twirled his cane and snapped it over his shoulder with a toothy smile, it became fairly obvious to Kim and Ron that they no longer had anything to worry about.
"Well, well…look who finally showed up," Kim remarked with a smirk.
"Did you miss me?" Max replied with a smug air.
"Not that much," Kim answered jokingly.
"You know, looking back on it, I really would have thought you'd have learned your lesson after you ran into me all those years ago," Max lightheartedly stated to King Cobra as he struggled to rise. "You gotta face the facts. This world just isn't built for creatures like you."
"Wait a minute…ran into…," Kim uttered silently before turning to Max in surprise, her head finally putting the pieces together. "YOU'RE the kid he attacked all those years ago?"
"Oh good, he explained that," Max replied, "That'll save me a lot of time, thank you. You know I really hate exposition. All it does is just slow me down."
Just then, Gill, who had gone pretty well ignored until this point, thought to attack, instinctively lunging forward as he prepared to belch out another of his slime balls. But before Gill could even think, he found himself lifted off the ground in a swirl of glitter with a flick of Max's fingers. Then, Max threw his hand out, sending Gill flying across the room, crashing over a table and into the far wall.
"Look out!" Kim shouted as King Cobra had already recovered from his flight, charging fangs first towards Max at blinding speed.
Luckily, Max was one step ahead, vanishing instantly and causing King Cobra only to bite down on a cloud of glittering smoke when he reached him. Darting his gaze about in confusion, King Cobra finally whirled around to see Max standing right behind him. But his discovery came too late as Max drove a fist into his jaw with a flying uppercut, sending them both crashing up through the lab ceiling.
This just left Kim and Ron to deal with Gill. And those odds were more than good enough. Finally seeing the opportunity to cut loose, Ron fired up his Mystical Monkey Power, unleashing a force wave from his body that burst through Gill's slime cocoon, freeing both him and Rufus. Whirling around, he saw Gill recovering from Max's attack, thrown for a loop, but still looking for a fight.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time," Gill declared with an evil grin. "I don't know how you got loose, but it's gonna take a lot more than just a day-glow complexion for you to take me on, Squeeb."
"Okay, now see, that's one thing we really need to talk about. What IS a 'Squeeb', exactly?" Ron asked innocently. "I mean, I know you're trying to insult me and I'm supposed to feel bad. But dude, it's seriously not even a word."
Feeling sufficiently put down by Ron's comment, Gill instant launched his attack, firing a ball of slime in his direction. But Gill was about to receive a big surprise as Ron's fist shot forward, causing the ball to burst in mid-air. Responding instinctively, Gill fired twice more, only to have Ron block both of his projectiles in much the same way.
At this point, Gill could only stand in stunned silence. Having never seen this side of Ron before, he was completely at a loss as to what he should try to do. But Ron wasn't about to give him a chance to figure that out. Charging forward before Gill could react, Ron lashed out with a Mystical Monkey Powered roundhouse kick across Gill's jaw, sending him spiraling outside, head first, through the hole in the lab wall.
"Hang on, KP. I'll have you out in a sec," Ron called out, running over to Kim.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be right behind you," Kim protested. "Just make sure we don't lose him."
Conceding Kim's point, Ron ran outside after Gill as Kim rose to her feet, trying to find something in the lab that she could use as a tool to free herself. But just then, a series of slow, rhythmic beeps caught her attention as she looked over towards the far wall. The timer on the detonating sphere that Gill was still holding when Max flung him across the lab had been activated…and it only had five seconds left on the timer…
…four…
…three…
…two…
…one…
"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding…," Kim remarked dryly, wincing tightly at the last split-second…
Outside, Max's fight with King Cobra continued to rage across the woods. Charging forward, King Cobra's fangs chomped down towards Max again. But Max was quick to counter by shoving his hand forward, the length of his cane extending to wedge open even King Cobra's enormous maw. With that, Max whirled around, heaving King Cobra's massive frame over his shoulder and sending him flying down the path. With luck, King Cobra was able to recover at the last second to avoid falling flat on his face. But as he got his bearings and looked around, there was something about this darkened path that seemed very familiar. It took a moment, but finally it dawned on him. This was the very path where Dr. Colby King, half crazed from his transformation into King Cobra, had attacked young Maximillion Ambro all those years ago.
"Brings back memories, dun' it?" Max noted with a goofy grin before disappearing in a puff of glittering smoke.
A second cloud appeared right behind King Cobra's head as Max dropped from the air. But this time, King Cobra reacted with lightning speed, lashing out with his tail before Max could strike him. Fortunately, Max was able to throw up his arm, creating a mystical barrier to protect himself. But the force of the blow still sent Max flying through the air, forcing him to use the momentum to ricochet off the trees before finally skidding to a stop along the path, standing amidst a hail of dry leaves and dead twigs.
"Fool me oncsssssssssse, shame on you. Fool me twicssssssssssssse…," King Cobra remarked smugly. "I possssssessssssssssss the reflexssssssssesssss of a ssssssnake. Did you really think that would work again?"
"Don't know if I don't try," Max replied with a smirk. "But you know, I have learned something else today."
"Oh? And what might that be?" King Cobra rasped.
"Even though I didn't even know your face, almost my whole life, I've been scared to death of you. You were the monster in my nightmares," Max explained. "But after seeing you again, I'm seeing things a little differently now."
"And why issssss that?" King Cobra asked, leering towards him menacingly.
"Because I had to remind myself that the shoe's on the other foot now. I don't have nightmares about monsters anymore," Max replied with an evil grin, his free hand crackling as ribbons of electricity snaked up his arm. "Monsters have nightmares about ME…"
"…And I'm about to show you why."
Glaring at Max, King Cobra surged ahead, charging along the path with all the speed his coiled muscles could muster. But Max merely steadied himself, holding his ground as he reached back with his electrically-charged fist in the path of King Cobra's charging fangs.
Meanwhile, Ron's pursuit of Gill had taken them both to the lakeshore as Gill let loose with a barrage of slime ball projectiles. However, Ron's Mystical Monkey Power still proved to be the deciding factor, allowing him to either dodge the attacks with ease or burst them with force waves before they got anywhere near him. Eventually, Gill found himself running out of steam as he began panting and wheezing heavily. Ron, however, seemed to be just warming up. Desperately, Gill tried to cough up one more slime ball, but Ron was on him first, clamping his mouth shut with one hand.
"Dude, seriously…is that all you got?" he asked with a shrug.
The next thing Gill knew, Ron was whirling him around with one arm and tossing him out onto the lake. Skipping across the surface, it was only a matter of time, however, before Gill's body skidded to a stop and he finally sank into the water. Initially, Ron's first thought was to go back and check on Kim, then see if they could find a boat to fish Gill out. But things weren't about to go as Ron expected as Gill suddenly burst from the lake, atop an enormous column of water.
"Funny you should ask!" Gill answered with a wicked grin. "How's THIS for something different? I've had more than a year to test out what this new mutation can do."
"Me and my big mouth," Ron groaned as Rufus could only nod in agreement.
Now it was Gill's turn to take the offensive as two massive water streams burst from his hands. Luckily, Ron was just barely able to dodge them. But their force was perfectly demonstrated as one of them slammed into a nearby cabin, reducing it to splinters.
Just like that, Gill had completely leveled the playing field. While Ron's Mystical Monkey Power was still more than enough for him to survive Gill's onslaught, all the power in the world wasn't going to help him if he couldn't touch his opponent. And with the lake pretty much providing Gill with all the fuel he'd need for his water-based attacks, even if he couldn't beat Ron with it, he could still force an indefinite stalemate. The only question would be which one of them would tire out first. But no matter how things seemed now, Ron's concerns were quickly about to change.
"R…Ron…?" Kim's voice came from the direction of the lab, almost gargling as though she were underwater.
Ron instantly turned in the direction of Kim's voice. And it was immediately apparent why she sounded so strange. Standing outside the lab, Kim was completely coated in head to toe with the muck from King Cobra's exploding mutation sphere.
"Kim? KIM!" Ron could only cry out in panic.
Slowly, the ooze began to drip away. And as it did, it showed that Kim's body had indeed changed. Her body appeared more muscular. She suddenly had large clawed hands and feet, covered in soft fur, like cat paws. Her canine teeth grew had grown into fangs, a tail had grown out of the small of her back. And two little pointed cat ears were sticking out, just above her hairline. If one were to guess, it was almost as though she had been crossed with a mountain lion, turning her into some kind of wilderness catgirl.
"Oh, this had SO better be reversible," Kim groaned as she looked at her paw-like hands and feet. "I mean, I like buying custom clothes as much as the next girl, but this is nuts."
"KP? You…You look…well, actually, you look kinda hot," Ron uttered with a chuckle and a dreamy smile as Rufus blew a hooting whistle in her direction.
"Gee, thanks," Kim responded with an annoyed eye roll.
Meanwhile, Gill was getting tired of being ignored again, firing a huge water stream in Kim's direction, with no way for Ron to stop it. But Kim seemed already well prepared for what was coming her way, leaping straight into the attack at blinding speed. And with one swipe of her claws, what was once a solid mass of water was instantly slashed to ribbons in mid air. Kim would then gracefully land on the edge of the dock, over 100 yards away, a second later, much to Ron and Gill's combined amazement.
"Okay," Kim noted, sounding more than a little surprised herself. "That…wasn't terrible."
Back in the woods, Max's battle with King Cobra rolled on with Max's cane trading blows with King Cobra's tail, the two of them almost seeming to be at a standstill. Finally, one strike ended in a recoil so large it knocked them both back several feet, though both managed to stay upright.
"Impressssssive abilitiesssssssssssss, I musssssst admit," King Cobra noted. "But jusssssst think what you would truly be capable of if ssssssssssimply embracssssssssed your true evolution."
"Mmmmmmmmmmmm-nah, I don't think so," Max replied mockingly. "But then…you would have that decision taken out of my hands, wouldn't you?"
"How sssssssssad," King Cobra remarked. "You ssssssssimply refussssssssssse to undersssssssstand what I am trying to accomplish."
"Oh, it doesn't take much to understand you," Max replied. "I mean, come on. One small person instantly thinking he knows what's best for everyone else? How perfectly cold-blooded of you…"
"…Of course, there is ONE problem with being cold blooded."
"And what exsssssssactly might that be?" King Cobra asked as he charged forward once again.
Letting out a sigh that sounded almost bored at this point, Max threw out his free hand, unleashing an endless blast of frozen air. Caught completely in the path of the gust, King Cobra's body instantly felt the chill running throughout every molecule of his being. With his reptilian body unable to produce its own heat source, it almost instantly began shutting down to preserve energy. Within moments, King Cobra's shivering body collapsed to the ground before falling unconscious, in a state of hibernation.
"That much easier to freeze. Not much of a biologist if you don't think of that, huh?" Max replied simply, whipping his arm out to shatter the thick layer of frost that had formed onto it before looking down at the defeated King Cobra, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Oh, and for the record…"
"…you have no idea what I'm TRULY capable of."
Back at the lake, Kim's mutant form had quickly turned the tide against Gill's powerful water attacks. In fact, as Gill unleashed another stream in Kim's direction, Kim leaped up, using her enhanced speed to actually run along the water straight to Gill, slamming him across the face with a roundhouse kick and sending him tumbling back into the water. But now it was Ron's turn to act. His Mystical Monkey Power flaring at its fullest, he slammed his fists into the shoreline, sending a wave of force that actually parted the water halfway into the lake. As a result, Gill found himself falling face first into a floor of mud, rather than water. Scrambling to his feet, Gill instinctively tried to fire more water streams at Kim, who was falling right after him, only to notice too late that his fuel supply for those attacks had temporarily left him.
"No!" Gill shouted, realizing his attacks were in vain.
But his protests were of no use as Kim came down, landing a falling axe kick square on the top of Gill's head and bringing the fight to an end. Kim then gathered Gill's limp form and charged for land at top speed, making it to shore just as the water Ron had blown away came crashing back in.
"Whew! That's a relief," Kim noted as she flopped Gill to the ground. "I don't know why, but I've never been that nervous about getting wet before."
"Uh, KP…you okay?" Ron asked, walking over to her, sounding concerned at first until it sounded like he was trying to keep himself from laughing. "Can I get you anything? A…scratching post…saucer of milk?"
"You're SO hilarious," Kim responded with an annoyed scowl as Rufus burst out laughing uncontrollably.
"That's it, boys!" Max called out to the biohazard team as they hoisted King Cobra's still-unconscious form into a refrigerated transport. "Keep him on ice until you can find a nice terrarium to put him in!"
"Don't think for one second that this is over, Squeeb!" Gill shouted as he was unceremoniously dumped back into his giant fishbowl. "I'm nowhere close to being done with you yet!"
"Okay, does anybody have an MP3 player or something that they're not listening to right now?" Ron called out to the biohazard team, "Because I really don't need to hear this anymore!"
Gill could only growl in frustration as the flatbed transport hauled him away. Meanwhile, other members of the team were hosing down Kim with a concentrated solution to counter the effects of her mutation. And within moments it appeared to do the trick as Kim emerged looking perfectly human again.
"Thanks, Dr. Lirkin," Kim could only say in welcome relief.
"Well, there may still be some slight residual effects from the mutation," Dr. Lirkin cautioned, "But those should vanish within the next couple of days."
"I just hope you'll be able to get Dr. King back…to…oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo," Kim started to say, but was cut off as she felt an irresistible urge to start batting at a piece of string that Ron had dangled in front of her face. That is, until she shook the cobwebs out of her head and turned to Ron with a glare.
"Sorry," Ron replied, hiding the string behind his back with a chuckle as Rufus started giggling, "Couldn't resist."
"DON'T…DO THAT…AGAIN." Kim growled through her teeth as Dr. Lirkin walked off.
"Heads up!" Max called as he suddenly dropped from the sky with a heavy thud behind Kim and Ron, driving the Camp Wannaweep sign that he'd launched into the cabin back into the ground where it belonged. "There, that's better."
"Well now," Kim noted, sounding somewhat impressed. "Do I take that to mean that someone here has gotten over their camp issues?"
"Well…no…no, this is pretty much still a place of evil," Max answered simply, looking around the camp as Kim rolled her eyes in amusement. "But, rather than complain about the weather, I figure I can probably try and do something about it. I'm thinking…maybe try my hand as a camp counselor in the summer, see if I can't fix the problems from the inside."
"Now THERE'S and idea," Kim had to admit, turning her attention to Ron. "Camp counselors, Ron, what do you think?"
"Uh…I'm thinking maybe nooo," Ron protested as Rufus nodded his head, whimpering in agreement. But just then, Ron could feel Kim sidle up to him, gently placing her arms around his neck.
"Oh, come on, baby" Kim cooed gently in between tender kisses along Ron's cheek. "Pleeeease…? Pleeeeeeeeeeease…?"
"Aaaaaaaaoooooooooooh," Ron could only whine as Kim's lips continued to caress his cheek, with no signs of stopping…
The End