Foreverlost
A sunny day, with a gentle breeze flowing through the city with all the people scurrying about their normal chores. Inside a nicely air-conditioned building with the girl of his dreams, uncaring about the outside world, as their love for each other brightened an already cheerful day. Where they spent the entire day together without a care in the world. Ron Stoppable had to ask himself... was that really too much to ask for?
A thunderclap from the dark clouds outside sent a shiver down his spine, and he could feel his Naked Mole Rat Rufus cowering inside the pocket of his hooded jacket. His companion Zita Flores pulled her hood back and shook out her shoulder-length mane of lustrous black hair. She gave Ron a slight smirk. "And today the weather will be bright and sunny." She mocked the news reporter they'd seen right before hitting the streets. "Sunny my foot..."
"Well sunny or snowy or sad, if we're together the day isn't bad." Ron smiled brightly.
"Ahhh... you saw Friends last night." Zita smirked. Ron cast his eyes down at the floor and nodded shamefully, prompting a chuckle from his girlfriend. "Well come on friend, I still have some things to pick up." She turned and walked through the small shopping mall, with Ron walking close behind her. They made their way to a small store tucked away in a back corner that was filled with strange trinkets and items for sale.
"So this is where Goths get together and organize how to fight against organization." Ron quipped, picking up a small statue of a nude angel. "Nice trinkets at least." He grinned, holding it up to show Zita.
"You know, there is a head on that statue." Zita smirked playfully.
"Oh you're right, I thought it was just a strange growth." Ron placed the stature back in its place as Rufus shook his head 'tsk, tsk'ing him. "Hey come on, that's probably the closest I'll get to a real one for years."
Zita rolled her eyes and approached the desk clerk. "I need the 2004 die-cast model of Vlad the Impaler please." She said. The clerk turned to head into the back to hunt down the requested item.
"I didn't know you were into this stuff." Ron commented as he walked up behind her.
"I'm not, it's my sister's birthday soon and she loves this kind of thing." Zita pulled out her wallet and hunted for her money as the clerk returned with then requested model.
"Ah, little tike is going through that rebellious goth phase huh? That's cute." Ron chuckled.
"She's twenty-five." Zita replied drolly, grabbing her bag and walking out of the store with Ron trailing behind her.
He rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Everyone needs a hobby..." He grinned bashfully and she shook her head again before stopping dead in her tracks. "Zita?" He waved his hand in front of her face, but she just stared straight ahead. He looked to see an electronics store where she was staring, with a huge sign out front that exclaimed 'Forever for Everlot!'.
"Speaking of hobbies..." Zita rushed over to the electronics store and went inside with Ron trailing close behind her. "They have it, I didn't even know it was out yet!"
Ron blinked and looked down at the case she was staring at. "Foreverlot: Everlot Expansion Pack"? He rubbed the back of his neck again in confusion. "I don't get it, don't you already own Everlot?"
"It's an expansion pack Ron, it makes the game bigger and more fun." She stood up and rushed to the clerk behind the counter. "How much is Foreverlot?" She asked like a giddy schoolgirl waiting for a lollipop.
"Forty bucks." The clerk replied coldly.
Zita's giddiness immediately turned into a sour frown, and she let out a sigh. "Alright... thanks anyway." She turned away from the clerk and gave Rom a slight smile when she saw his downcast expression. "Ah, I can come back after my next paycheck. Don't worry about it."
Ron looked down and exchanged a sly glance with Rufus, who was perched on his shoulder. The Mole-Rat shook his head warningly, but Ron held up his hand in a gracious manner. "I can get it for you." He marched past her, ignoring her mystified expression. "One copy of Foreverlot please." He held his chin up high as the clerk slammed the box on the counter between them and rang up the total. "Thank you my good man. And keep the change." Ron winked and handed the man fifty dollars, ignoring the fact that it was all the money he had left.
"Wow, Ron! Thank you so much!" Zita grabbed him and kissed him ferociously on the cheek, grinning ear-to-ear when she pulled back. "I promise I'll pay you back!"
"Hey... don't mention it..." Ron swayed back and forth in a dreamlike daze with a wide smile on his face. Zita grinned and slid her hand into his as they exited the store, with her clutching the back with Foreverlot close to her chest. Ron stumbled after her until he finally regained some of his senses as they reached the exit.
"Well, I should get home and get my sister's gift wrapped. I also want to try my new game." She grinned and hugged Ron tightly. "Thanks again!"
"Sure no problem... I'll see you tomorrow." Ron swayed weakly as Zita kissed him on the cheek again and pulled her hood up to cover her hair. She stuffed her shopping bags in her jacket and ran outside, running through the rain toward her house.
Rufus jumped up on Ron's shoulder and glared at him, shaking his head reproachfully. "I know, it was stupid to give her the money for Kim's present... but it made her so happy." Ron explained. Rufus rolled his eyes and shook his head as he climbed down his shirt into one of his pants pockets. "I'll figure something out..." Ron pulled his hood up and stepped outside, ignoring the pounding rain as he made his way home.
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"Rrrraaaaaaa!" Kim Possible leapt from the plane, flying through the air with her arms outstretched. The ground came up fast, but she wasn't worried. She whirled in the air and landed as light as a feather, putting her arms up as she faced Shego in a barren glade in the middle of a vast forest. "Drakken won't get away with his plans Shego!"
Shego shook in her boots, looking around nervously until she burst into tears and collapsed to the ground. "You're right... I can never beat you! Please forgive me!" She threw her arms up and bowed down to her in reverence. Kim looked over at Bonnie, who smiled and got down on her knees, throwing her arms up and bowing in reverence as well.
She was surrounded by people bowing to her. "Kim! Kim! Kim!" They shouted, as if her name alone was enough to save them. "Kim! Kim! KIM!"
Kim shot straight up with a surprised gasp, looking around. She was sitting in her desk at school, staring up at a very irate looking teacher. The other students were all suppressing laughs and chuckles, except for Ron of course, who had a look of concern on his face. "Kim Possible... you may be a hero but you still have to pay attention in school. There's a place for sleep... it's called bed."
"Yes sir... I'm sorry." Kim rubbed her eyes and sat up straight just as the bell sounded.
"Remember everyone that you have to have a paper on the Civil War finished by Friday. I'll see you all tomorrow." The teacher nodded. Kim watched everyone else rush out of the room before prying herself out of her seat and marching out to the hall tiredly. Ron was standing beside the door, waiting. He pushed off and approached when he saw her.
"Kim, what's going on? I've never seen you like that before. And it's your birthday and everything..." Ron told her.
"My birthday is TODAY? Ooohhhh man..." She grumbled. She marched up to her locker and pried it open before throwing her books inside and slamming it shut. "I don't think I can take it Ron... I was out half the night in the freezing wind and rain... I was up the other half of the night with a cold."
"Geeze, maybe you should take a few days off until you get back on your feet." Ron suggested.
"People in my line of work don't get days off Ron." Kim sighed. "I'm not a politician, what I do is important."
"Well just relax and enjoy your special day K.P., if anyone's earned it it's you." Ron placed one hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Kim sighed and gave him a weary smile.
"Yeah, okay..." She rubbed her eyes again and stood up straighter than before. "You're coming by for the party tonight right? Tim and Jim claim they have something for me." She smirked. Ron knew that whenever the little twin geniuses decided to do something special, it meant a commotion regardless of what it was supposed to do.
"I'll be there without a doubt." Ron assured her with a grin. "I'll catch you there, I was going to swing by and see what Zita's doing, she wasn't at class today."
"Sure, see you there Ron." Kim waved and pushed the double doors of the school open, walking through the dreary afternoon weather toward her home. The rain had stopped and the wind died down, but the clouds stuck around overhead seemingly just to keep the sun from warming anything up. She stroked her temple with one hand, she just wanted this day to go away.
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Ron walked slowly up to Zita's house with his hands in his pockets, trying to think of something to get Kim that didn't cost any money. Yeah right. A wise man once said all you get for free in life is your own right hand. He wasn't sure what it MEANT exactly, but it didn't really help him... unless...
He looked down at his hand thoughtfully. "There's an idea." Rufus slapped him on the cheek with one claw with a squeaky 'nuh-uh!' "Hey, it was just a thought." Ron shrugged, nearly sending the mole-rat tumbling down to the ground. "Sorry." He knocked on the front door.
An older woman with slightly graying hair opened the door and looked down at him like she was waiting for him to try to burst in and steal a pile of stuff. "Yes?"
"Uh, hi... I'm Ron Stoppable, and I was wondering if I could talk to Zita." Ron explained. The woman continued to stare at him like a petrified owl for the next five minutes. She didn't even blink the entire time. "Uh... please?" Ron squeaked.
"She's in her room playing one of her games." The woman stepped aside and watched Ron walk past her with those unbelievably creepy owl eyes.
"I'll just go see what game it is then..." Ron flashed the older woman a smile and rushed up the stairs. He could feel Rufus shivering from his pocket, where he'd leapt when Zita's mom had first opened the door. "I know buddy, I know." He stroked the pocket Rufus was hiding in as he peeked inside one of the doors on the second floor of the house.
Zita was sitting in a comfy looking chair in front of her computer. She looked eerily like her mother at the moment with those wide owl eyes staring unblinking at the monitor, where her Everlot character was leaping from tree-branch to tree-branch like a female version of Tarzan. She had dark circles under her eyes, a clear signal that she hadn't even slept last night.
"Enjoying your game huh?" Ron asked as he pushed the door all the way open and stepped into the room. Zita didn't notice him, staring at her computer screen with a blank look on her face. "Did you... still wanna do something today?" Ron walked up behind her, but she still didn't respond to him. He stroked his chin and moved his hand above her head, bringing it down in a sweeping arc to obscure her view of the game.
The response was instantaneous. Zita whirled in her swiveling chair and leapt at him, screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs. Ron and Rufus screamed while Ron lunged back away from her, tripping on his own foot in his scramble to get away and slamming into the far wall with a loud thump. Zita though had already gone back to her game by that time, staring at the monitor with that same creepy owl-eyed expression.
Ron slowly dragged his butt along the floor toward the door, staring at Zita to make sure she didn't explode at him again. When her eye turned toward him he bolted for the door, lurching outside and slamming the door behind him. He leaned against it panting, with a shivering Rufus hiding deep inside of his pants pocket.
"That was way beyond creepy..." Ron said to himself. Rufus poked his head out of the pocket with a whimpering 'uh-huh.' "Well, she'll probably calm down by tomorrow..." Ron pushed himself away from the door and walked toward the exit, muttering to himself. "Maybe Kim could tell me something about what's going on..."
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Kim shoved her bedroom door closed behind her and shuffled up to her bed, dropping onto it with a comfortable moan. "Softness... you greet me at least." She grabbed the blanket and pulled it around her shoulder. Already her eyes were beginning to droop, and she was almost sound asleep when she heard her mother calling from downstairs.
"Kim, come pick out the kind of cake you want!" Ms. Possible called. Kim grunted and opened one eye.
"Any is fine!" She called back.
"Now I want your birthday to be perfect, it'll only take a minute!" Her mom shouted back. Kim sighed and mustered up the willpower to push the cloudlike blanket off of her and shuffle downstairs into the kitchen. "Now I have this cute chocolate cake here, or this tasty marble one. Which do you want?" Kim poked the marble with her finger and turned to shuffle back to her room. "Hold on, there's still the decorations."
With a grumble Kim shuffled back over to the kitchen table to help her mother pick out the decorations for the party. When that was finished the shuffled back to her room and made her way thankfully to her bed. She was only a foot away from it when she heard her mother again.
"Kim, Ron is here to see you!" Her mom shouted. Kim growled and shook her fists in the air, then sighed and shuffled back out to the living room. Ron was a bit paler than normal, Rufus looked freaked out as well.
"Hey Ron, what's up?" Kim yawned.
"Oh... nothing really..." His voice trailed off like he was hiding something, but Kim was too tired for curiosity. "I just thought since I don't have anything else to do we could hang out until the party starts. I could get you something at Bueno Nacho."
"I don't think heartburn is going to do me any good." Kim muttered.
"How about coffee then?" Ron asked. Kim quirked an eyebrow, intrigued.
Thirty minutes later Kim and Ron are sitting in one of the booths at Bueno Nacho, where Ron is having his way with a bean burrito while Kim sucks down her third cup of coffee. "You were so right Ron, I feel a lot better now. Not tired at all." Kim smiled, slapping the now empty cup down on the table.
"Hey, when I have ideas they're sometimes good ones." Ron replied as he poured an extra packet of hot sauce onto his burrito before taking a huge bite. "When is your birthday party exactly?"
"In an hour or two. As long as nothing happens I should be good to last the length of the party." As if on cue, a massive explosion rocked the restaurant down to its foundations. A fireball arched into the air outside, vanishing into the dark gray clouds overhead as plumes of thick black smoke billowed after it. Kim looked down at her Kimmunicator as it beeps for her attention.
She pulls it out and Wade appears on the screen. "Kim, there's been an ex-"
"We noticed." Kim replied drolly. "We're checking it out." She shut the communicator and dashed out of the restaurant. Ron shoved his burrito into his mouth and took off after her, with Rufus clinging to his shoulder to keep from being dislodged as he ran.
They soon arrived at a building that had the roof blown clean off, and had debris littering both the floor and the surrounding block. There were pieces of electronics mixed in with the stone and cement. A man noticed as they approached and raised his hands.
"There's nothing to worry about Kim Possible, it was just a slip by one of our technicians. He put a wire in the new server backwards... he's new." The man smirked. Kim and Ron looked at the towering structure of what had apparently been an internet server before it had gone up like a fireworks display.
"A server? What were you going to store in that thing, Texas?" Ron asked incredulously.
"We just build 'em, we don't ask questions. I assume it was supposed to be used as a server for Everlot though, their subscribers have been growing by the thousands lately." The worker told them. Kim looked up at the massive shell curiously.
"That's a lot of data for a simple video game..." Kim looked at the worker and smiled. "It looks like you don't need us here though, and we have something we have to do." She gestured for Ron to follow as she turned to walk away.
"Thanks for checking on us Kim." The worker waved jovially before turning back to the cleanup. Kim would have liked to investigate, but she'd promised her parents she would be there for her party.
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Most of the presents were already open... with few surprises. Kim's dad got her a new shirt while her mom got her a pair of matching shorts. They were comforting, if unimaginative. Ron was growing more worried by the second though, he hadn't had time to look for anything to get her. He supposed he would just have to bite the bullet and tell her what happened when it came time to give her his present... he hated honesty. It was so hard.
For the moment though, Jim and Tim were walking up to Kim with a box held behind their backs. They spoke in an alternating fashion, one after the other sometimes with a single train of thought. "Our present is one you might recognize Kim." Jim said. "Because we got the idea from one of YOUR adventures." Tim added as they held the box out to her.
Kim grabbed the box curiously and pulled it open, taking out a sophisticated looking helmet. "It does look familiar..." She said. Ron recognized it though. It was the same kind of device that had trapped him and Zita inside Everlot through some weird virtual reality system he gave up trying to understand a long time ago.
"It's a supped up version of the Immersion Caps." Tim told her, though Jim continued the train of thought. "But we tinkered with the output/input ratio." "Now not only does it put you into virtual reality, but it puts you in control of your virtual surroundings." "A stroke of genius if I don't say so myself." "Huzzah!" The boys watched her proudly as she examined the helmet.
"So basically you gave my a device to let me experience my own imagination in high-resolution video and surround sound?" Kim asked confusedly. The twin boys blinked and exchanged a glance before sighing in unison.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." Tim said guiltily. Kim chuckled and reached down to pull them both into a hug.
"I love it boys, thank you." She sat up and everyone looked at Ron expectantly. Ron looked around at the Possible family, a blush creeping across his face.
"Uh... ee... I... Oh... um..." Ron rubbed the back of his neck nervously and gave Kim a pleading look. "Can I... talk to you in the other room, Kim?"
"Of course..." Kim gave him a strange look, but stood and followed him into the kitchen.
"Look Kim, I feel rotten but... I..." I spent your money on Zita, I'm a horrible friend, I'm an impulsive jerk who shouldn't be let out of an insane asylum. "I... lost your present... when I was mugged..." He said haltingly.
"Mugged!? Ron, are you okay!?" Kim exclaimed worriedly. "They didn't hurt you did they?"
"No, I'm fine, but they got away with the bag I was carrying with your present in it... I'm sorry." Ron looked down at the floor guiltily.
"Hey don't worry about it. You're worth more than the present." Kim gave him a sweet smile, tearing his heart apart since he knew she was giving it to him under false pretenses. Before he could say anything else Kim yawned and her eyes half closed. "Geeze... I think that coffee is wearing off... I feel like I'm about to pass out all of a sudden..."
"Come on, you deserve some sleep." Ron helped her head into the back toward her bedroom, where she collapsed onto the bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow. Ron grabbed the blankets and pulled them up to the back of her neck, brushing a bit of her hair out of her face. "I'll make it up to you Kim, I promise."
He stood up and walked toward the door, turning to look back at her. "Goodnight." He flipped off the lights and left, closing the door gently behind him.
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The next morning the clouds were gone and the sun was shining brightly. But then Ron woke up and discovered that not only were the clouds still there, but it had begun to drizzle again. At least there was no lightning this time he supposed. He got dressed, ate breakfast, and made his way to school hoping to catch up with Kim and Zita.
Kim was there looking remarkably refreshed after an extra long night's sleep... but Zita was, one again, a no-show.
"No luck huh?" Kim asked with a regretful smile. "Maybe she just got the flu or something." She suggested. Ron knew that wasn't it, she was occupied with that game... now that he thought about it though, the halls seemed awfully empty today.
"Hey, have you noticed that almost nobody showed up to class today?" Ron asked. Kim looked around, then nodded.
"Now that you mention it yeah... maybe there's a bug going around." Kim suggested. She looked down when her Kimmunicator started beeping. She took it out and turned it on. "What's the sitch Wade?"
"Big bad bug on the internet." Wade told her seriously. "It looks like it's taking over all over the place."
"A computer virus?" Kim asked. "That's not really my area... computers are more your thing."
"But this virus is infecting people." Wade replied. "Check it out." A small picture of a video game box appeared on the screen. "Parents nationwide have reported their children staying home and becoming unnaturally attached to their computers, even going wild, after playing the Everlot expansion pack, Foreverlot."
"But that's what Zita was playing when she attacked me..." Ron muttered under his breath so that the others wouldn't hear him.
"I've already done an analysis on the game, it looks like the visuals are laced with subliminal messages. But the signal is pretty weak... they would need more power to make it take over completely."
"Like a server with enough capacity and bandwidth to fit Texas in?" Kim exchanged a suspicious glance with Ron.
"Bingo." Wade told her.
"Can we just blow up the game's existing servers or something?" Kim asked.
"That's my idea." Wade replied. Kim was about to reply when a siren approached from behind. They both looked to see an ambulance rush by with its siren blazing and its lights flashing.
"Hold that thought." Kim closed the Kimmunicator. "Come on Ron, let's go see what's going on." She took off in the direction the ambulance went with Ron following close behind her. They found it a short time later stopped at a small apartment complex in the middle of the town. They made their way upstairs to where the paramedics had the door open.
They walked inside and Kim found the paramedics in one of the small bedrooms. "What's going on here?" She asked.
"We don't know, her parents found her like this." One of the doctors replied. They set the unconscious and pale girl on the stretcher. "As far as we can tell, she's in a coma... but we can't find any physical cause for it." He sighed and gestured for his colleagues to wheel the unconscious girl out of the apartment, past her sobbing mother.
"Mind if we take a look around?" Kim asked.
"Well it's technically a crime scene, but we'll make an exception in your case Kim." The paramedic stepped aside and let the two teens walk into the room. Ron scratched his head.
"Why are we here?" Ron asked.
"The timing is too convenient, there has to be a connection." Kim told him. Ron sighed and started walking through the room, looking around. It looked just like his bedroom... only girlier. He didn't see anything that could put someone into an unexplained coma.
He stopped when he saw the girl's computer on the other side of the room. He walked up to it and read the screen. "Game over... this is Foreverlot." Ron turned back to Kim. "Kim, I think I found our connection." Kim looked over and approached, reading the screen for herself.
"So dying in the game sent her into a coma?" Kim quirked one eyebrow and took out her Kimmunicator. "I have to talk to Wade about this..." Ron stood up straight, not paying attention anymore. Anyone who played this game couldn't get off of it... and if they died they went into a coma? But Zita was playing the game already... what if she died in the game?
Ron whirled and started to run out of the room, with Kim shouting after her. "Ron, where are you going!?" Kim exclaimed. Ron ignored her and made his way out fo the building, running down the street to Zita's house. He knocked loudly and waited for her mother to answer.
"Yes... oof!" She grunted as he pushed her aside.
"Sorry, life-saving business!" Ron charged upstairs and burst into Zita's room, gasping when he saw her. The circles under her eyes had grown darker, and her clothing was hanging off of her as though she didn't even try to make herself look good. Her skin was dirty and her hair was a mess, as if she only slept when she finally passed out and didn't bother bathing.
"Zita, you have to stop playing." Ron marched up to her and knelt down beside her. "Hey, Zita!" He shouted. She ignored him, staring at the screen with that same blank expression on her face as before. "Enough is enough." He grabbed her arms and tried to pull her away from the computer.
Zita let out a yell and tried to hold onto the desk, but Ron grabbed her around the waist and managed to yank her back, slamming himself into the wall. Zita howled and tried to get back to the desk, but Ron held onto her as tightly as he could. "Snap out of it!" He shouted at her, trying to calm her down. Suddenly she whirled and punched him in the face, sending his head back into the wall. "Hard... knuckles..." Ron slid down the wall to the floor, holding his nose.
Zita stumbled weakly back to the computer, where she plopped back into the chair and put her hands on the mouse and keyboard, looking relieved that her character was still there when she got back.
Ron held his nose as he pushed himself up the wall to his feet. "She's too far in... I have to keep her from dying... but I suck at that game, and I would get stuck too..." Ron rubbed his head, trying to think. Suddenly it came to him, and he looks up again, filled with renewed determination. "Don't worry Z, I won't let anything happen to you."
A sunny day, with a gentle breeze flowing through the city with all the people scurrying about their normal chores. Inside a nicely air-conditioned building with the girl of his dreams, uncaring about the outside world, as their love for each other brightened an already cheerful day. Where they spent the entire day together without a care in the world. Ron Stoppable had to ask himself... was that really too much to ask for?
A thunderclap from the dark clouds outside sent a shiver down his spine, and he could feel his Naked Mole Rat Rufus cowering inside the pocket of his hooded jacket. His companion Zita Flores pulled her hood back and shook out her shoulder-length mane of lustrous black hair. She gave Ron a slight smirk. "And today the weather will be bright and sunny." She mocked the news reporter they'd seen right before hitting the streets. "Sunny my foot..."
"Well sunny or snowy or sad, if we're together the day isn't bad." Ron smiled brightly.
"Ahhh... you saw Friends last night." Zita smirked. Ron cast his eyes down at the floor and nodded shamefully, prompting a chuckle from his girlfriend. "Well come on friend, I still have some things to pick up." She turned and walked through the small shopping mall, with Ron walking close behind her. They made their way to a small store tucked away in a back corner that was filled with strange trinkets and items for sale.
"So this is where Goths get together and organize how to fight against organization." Ron quipped, picking up a small statue of a nude angel. "Nice trinkets at least." He grinned, holding it up to show Zita.
"You know, there is a head on that statue." Zita smirked playfully.
"Oh you're right, I thought it was just a strange growth." Ron placed the stature back in its place as Rufus shook his head 'tsk, tsk'ing him. "Hey come on, that's probably the closest I'll get to a real one for years."
Zita rolled her eyes and approached the desk clerk. "I need the 2004 die-cast model of Vlad the Impaler please." She said. The clerk turned to head into the back to hunt down the requested item.
"I didn't know you were into this stuff." Ron commented as he walked up behind her.
"I'm not, it's my sister's birthday soon and she loves this kind of thing." Zita pulled out her wallet and hunted for her money as the clerk returned with then requested model.
"Ah, little tike is going through that rebellious goth phase huh? That's cute." Ron chuckled.
"She's twenty-five." Zita replied drolly, grabbing her bag and walking out of the store with Ron trailing behind her.
He rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Everyone needs a hobby..." He grinned bashfully and she shook her head again before stopping dead in her tracks. "Zita?" He waved his hand in front of her face, but she just stared straight ahead. He looked to see an electronics store where she was staring, with a huge sign out front that exclaimed 'Forever for Everlot!'.
"Speaking of hobbies..." Zita rushed over to the electronics store and went inside with Ron trailing close behind her. "They have it, I didn't even know it was out yet!"
Ron blinked and looked down at the case she was staring at. "Foreverlot: Everlot Expansion Pack"? He rubbed the back of his neck again in confusion. "I don't get it, don't you already own Everlot?"
"It's an expansion pack Ron, it makes the game bigger and more fun." She stood up and rushed to the clerk behind the counter. "How much is Foreverlot?" She asked like a giddy schoolgirl waiting for a lollipop.
"Forty bucks." The clerk replied coldly.
Zita's giddiness immediately turned into a sour frown, and she let out a sigh. "Alright... thanks anyway." She turned away from the clerk and gave Rom a slight smile when she saw his downcast expression. "Ah, I can come back after my next paycheck. Don't worry about it."
Ron looked down and exchanged a sly glance with Rufus, who was perched on his shoulder. The Mole-Rat shook his head warningly, but Ron held up his hand in a gracious manner. "I can get it for you." He marched past her, ignoring her mystified expression. "One copy of Foreverlot please." He held his chin up high as the clerk slammed the box on the counter between them and rang up the total. "Thank you my good man. And keep the change." Ron winked and handed the man fifty dollars, ignoring the fact that it was all the money he had left.
"Wow, Ron! Thank you so much!" Zita grabbed him and kissed him ferociously on the cheek, grinning ear-to-ear when she pulled back. "I promise I'll pay you back!"
"Hey... don't mention it..." Ron swayed back and forth in a dreamlike daze with a wide smile on his face. Zita grinned and slid her hand into his as they exited the store, with her clutching the back with Foreverlot close to her chest. Ron stumbled after her until he finally regained some of his senses as they reached the exit.
"Well, I should get home and get my sister's gift wrapped. I also want to try my new game." She grinned and hugged Ron tightly. "Thanks again!"
"Sure no problem... I'll see you tomorrow." Ron swayed weakly as Zita kissed him on the cheek again and pulled her hood up to cover her hair. She stuffed her shopping bags in her jacket and ran outside, running through the rain toward her house.
Rufus jumped up on Ron's shoulder and glared at him, shaking his head reproachfully. "I know, it was stupid to give her the money for Kim's present... but it made her so happy." Ron explained. Rufus rolled his eyes and shook his head as he climbed down his shirt into one of his pants pockets. "I'll figure something out..." Ron pulled his hood up and stepped outside, ignoring the pounding rain as he made his way home.
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"Rrrraaaaaaa!" Kim Possible leapt from the plane, flying through the air with her arms outstretched. The ground came up fast, but she wasn't worried. She whirled in the air and landed as light as a feather, putting her arms up as she faced Shego in a barren glade in the middle of a vast forest. "Drakken won't get away with his plans Shego!"
Shego shook in her boots, looking around nervously until she burst into tears and collapsed to the ground. "You're right... I can never beat you! Please forgive me!" She threw her arms up and bowed down to her in reverence. Kim looked over at Bonnie, who smiled and got down on her knees, throwing her arms up and bowing in reverence as well.
She was surrounded by people bowing to her. "Kim! Kim! Kim!" They shouted, as if her name alone was enough to save them. "Kim! Kim! KIM!"
Kim shot straight up with a surprised gasp, looking around. She was sitting in her desk at school, staring up at a very irate looking teacher. The other students were all suppressing laughs and chuckles, except for Ron of course, who had a look of concern on his face. "Kim Possible... you may be a hero but you still have to pay attention in school. There's a place for sleep... it's called bed."
"Yes sir... I'm sorry." Kim rubbed her eyes and sat up straight just as the bell sounded.
"Remember everyone that you have to have a paper on the Civil War finished by Friday. I'll see you all tomorrow." The teacher nodded. Kim watched everyone else rush out of the room before prying herself out of her seat and marching out to the hall tiredly. Ron was standing beside the door, waiting. He pushed off and approached when he saw her.
"Kim, what's going on? I've never seen you like that before. And it's your birthday and everything..." Ron told her.
"My birthday is TODAY? Ooohhhh man..." She grumbled. She marched up to her locker and pried it open before throwing her books inside and slamming it shut. "I don't think I can take it Ron... I was out half the night in the freezing wind and rain... I was up the other half of the night with a cold."
"Geeze, maybe you should take a few days off until you get back on your feet." Ron suggested.
"People in my line of work don't get days off Ron." Kim sighed. "I'm not a politician, what I do is important."
"Well just relax and enjoy your special day K.P., if anyone's earned it it's you." Ron placed one hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Kim sighed and gave him a weary smile.
"Yeah, okay..." She rubbed her eyes again and stood up straighter than before. "You're coming by for the party tonight right? Tim and Jim claim they have something for me." She smirked. Ron knew that whenever the little twin geniuses decided to do something special, it meant a commotion regardless of what it was supposed to do.
"I'll be there without a doubt." Ron assured her with a grin. "I'll catch you there, I was going to swing by and see what Zita's doing, she wasn't at class today."
"Sure, see you there Ron." Kim waved and pushed the double doors of the school open, walking through the dreary afternoon weather toward her home. The rain had stopped and the wind died down, but the clouds stuck around overhead seemingly just to keep the sun from warming anything up. She stroked her temple with one hand, she just wanted this day to go away.
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Ron walked slowly up to Zita's house with his hands in his pockets, trying to think of something to get Kim that didn't cost any money. Yeah right. A wise man once said all you get for free in life is your own right hand. He wasn't sure what it MEANT exactly, but it didn't really help him... unless...
He looked down at his hand thoughtfully. "There's an idea." Rufus slapped him on the cheek with one claw with a squeaky 'nuh-uh!' "Hey, it was just a thought." Ron shrugged, nearly sending the mole-rat tumbling down to the ground. "Sorry." He knocked on the front door.
An older woman with slightly graying hair opened the door and looked down at him like she was waiting for him to try to burst in and steal a pile of stuff. "Yes?"
"Uh, hi... I'm Ron Stoppable, and I was wondering if I could talk to Zita." Ron explained. The woman continued to stare at him like a petrified owl for the next five minutes. She didn't even blink the entire time. "Uh... please?" Ron squeaked.
"She's in her room playing one of her games." The woman stepped aside and watched Ron walk past her with those unbelievably creepy owl eyes.
"I'll just go see what game it is then..." Ron flashed the older woman a smile and rushed up the stairs. He could feel Rufus shivering from his pocket, where he'd leapt when Zita's mom had first opened the door. "I know buddy, I know." He stroked the pocket Rufus was hiding in as he peeked inside one of the doors on the second floor of the house.
Zita was sitting in a comfy looking chair in front of her computer. She looked eerily like her mother at the moment with those wide owl eyes staring unblinking at the monitor, where her Everlot character was leaping from tree-branch to tree-branch like a female version of Tarzan. She had dark circles under her eyes, a clear signal that she hadn't even slept last night.
"Enjoying your game huh?" Ron asked as he pushed the door all the way open and stepped into the room. Zita didn't notice him, staring at her computer screen with a blank look on her face. "Did you... still wanna do something today?" Ron walked up behind her, but she still didn't respond to him. He stroked his chin and moved his hand above her head, bringing it down in a sweeping arc to obscure her view of the game.
The response was instantaneous. Zita whirled in her swiveling chair and leapt at him, screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs. Ron and Rufus screamed while Ron lunged back away from her, tripping on his own foot in his scramble to get away and slamming into the far wall with a loud thump. Zita though had already gone back to her game by that time, staring at the monitor with that same creepy owl-eyed expression.
Ron slowly dragged his butt along the floor toward the door, staring at Zita to make sure she didn't explode at him again. When her eye turned toward him he bolted for the door, lurching outside and slamming the door behind him. He leaned against it panting, with a shivering Rufus hiding deep inside of his pants pocket.
"That was way beyond creepy..." Ron said to himself. Rufus poked his head out of the pocket with a whimpering 'uh-huh.' "Well, she'll probably calm down by tomorrow..." Ron pushed himself away from the door and walked toward the exit, muttering to himself. "Maybe Kim could tell me something about what's going on..."
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Kim shoved her bedroom door closed behind her and shuffled up to her bed, dropping onto it with a comfortable moan. "Softness... you greet me at least." She grabbed the blanket and pulled it around her shoulder. Already her eyes were beginning to droop, and she was almost sound asleep when she heard her mother calling from downstairs.
"Kim, come pick out the kind of cake you want!" Ms. Possible called. Kim grunted and opened one eye.
"Any is fine!" She called back.
"Now I want your birthday to be perfect, it'll only take a minute!" Her mom shouted back. Kim sighed and mustered up the willpower to push the cloudlike blanket off of her and shuffle downstairs into the kitchen. "Now I have this cute chocolate cake here, or this tasty marble one. Which do you want?" Kim poked the marble with her finger and turned to shuffle back to her room. "Hold on, there's still the decorations."
With a grumble Kim shuffled back over to the kitchen table to help her mother pick out the decorations for the party. When that was finished the shuffled back to her room and made her way thankfully to her bed. She was only a foot away from it when she heard her mother again.
"Kim, Ron is here to see you!" Her mom shouted. Kim growled and shook her fists in the air, then sighed and shuffled back out to the living room. Ron was a bit paler than normal, Rufus looked freaked out as well.
"Hey Ron, what's up?" Kim yawned.
"Oh... nothing really..." His voice trailed off like he was hiding something, but Kim was too tired for curiosity. "I just thought since I don't have anything else to do we could hang out until the party starts. I could get you something at Bueno Nacho."
"I don't think heartburn is going to do me any good." Kim muttered.
"How about coffee then?" Ron asked. Kim quirked an eyebrow, intrigued.
Thirty minutes later Kim and Ron are sitting in one of the booths at Bueno Nacho, where Ron is having his way with a bean burrito while Kim sucks down her third cup of coffee. "You were so right Ron, I feel a lot better now. Not tired at all." Kim smiled, slapping the now empty cup down on the table.
"Hey, when I have ideas they're sometimes good ones." Ron replied as he poured an extra packet of hot sauce onto his burrito before taking a huge bite. "When is your birthday party exactly?"
"In an hour or two. As long as nothing happens I should be good to last the length of the party." As if on cue, a massive explosion rocked the restaurant down to its foundations. A fireball arched into the air outside, vanishing into the dark gray clouds overhead as plumes of thick black smoke billowed after it. Kim looked down at her Kimmunicator as it beeps for her attention.
She pulls it out and Wade appears on the screen. "Kim, there's been an ex-"
"We noticed." Kim replied drolly. "We're checking it out." She shut the communicator and dashed out of the restaurant. Ron shoved his burrito into his mouth and took off after her, with Rufus clinging to his shoulder to keep from being dislodged as he ran.
They soon arrived at a building that had the roof blown clean off, and had debris littering both the floor and the surrounding block. There were pieces of electronics mixed in with the stone and cement. A man noticed as they approached and raised his hands.
"There's nothing to worry about Kim Possible, it was just a slip by one of our technicians. He put a wire in the new server backwards... he's new." The man smirked. Kim and Ron looked at the towering structure of what had apparently been an internet server before it had gone up like a fireworks display.
"A server? What were you going to store in that thing, Texas?" Ron asked incredulously.
"We just build 'em, we don't ask questions. I assume it was supposed to be used as a server for Everlot though, their subscribers have been growing by the thousands lately." The worker told them. Kim looked up at the massive shell curiously.
"That's a lot of data for a simple video game..." Kim looked at the worker and smiled. "It looks like you don't need us here though, and we have something we have to do." She gestured for Ron to follow as she turned to walk away.
"Thanks for checking on us Kim." The worker waved jovially before turning back to the cleanup. Kim would have liked to investigate, but she'd promised her parents she would be there for her party.
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Most of the presents were already open... with few surprises. Kim's dad got her a new shirt while her mom got her a pair of matching shorts. They were comforting, if unimaginative. Ron was growing more worried by the second though, he hadn't had time to look for anything to get her. He supposed he would just have to bite the bullet and tell her what happened when it came time to give her his present... he hated honesty. It was so hard.
For the moment though, Jim and Tim were walking up to Kim with a box held behind their backs. They spoke in an alternating fashion, one after the other sometimes with a single train of thought. "Our present is one you might recognize Kim." Jim said. "Because we got the idea from one of YOUR adventures." Tim added as they held the box out to her.
Kim grabbed the box curiously and pulled it open, taking out a sophisticated looking helmet. "It does look familiar..." She said. Ron recognized it though. It was the same kind of device that had trapped him and Zita inside Everlot through some weird virtual reality system he gave up trying to understand a long time ago.
"It's a supped up version of the Immersion Caps." Tim told her, though Jim continued the train of thought. "But we tinkered with the output/input ratio." "Now not only does it put you into virtual reality, but it puts you in control of your virtual surroundings." "A stroke of genius if I don't say so myself." "Huzzah!" The boys watched her proudly as she examined the helmet.
"So basically you gave my a device to let me experience my own imagination in high-resolution video and surround sound?" Kim asked confusedly. The twin boys blinked and exchanged a glance before sighing in unison.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." Tim said guiltily. Kim chuckled and reached down to pull them both into a hug.
"I love it boys, thank you." She sat up and everyone looked at Ron expectantly. Ron looked around at the Possible family, a blush creeping across his face.
"Uh... ee... I... Oh... um..." Ron rubbed the back of his neck nervously and gave Kim a pleading look. "Can I... talk to you in the other room, Kim?"
"Of course..." Kim gave him a strange look, but stood and followed him into the kitchen.
"Look Kim, I feel rotten but... I..." I spent your money on Zita, I'm a horrible friend, I'm an impulsive jerk who shouldn't be let out of an insane asylum. "I... lost your present... when I was mugged..." He said haltingly.
"Mugged!? Ron, are you okay!?" Kim exclaimed worriedly. "They didn't hurt you did they?"
"No, I'm fine, but they got away with the bag I was carrying with your present in it... I'm sorry." Ron looked down at the floor guiltily.
"Hey don't worry about it. You're worth more than the present." Kim gave him a sweet smile, tearing his heart apart since he knew she was giving it to him under false pretenses. Before he could say anything else Kim yawned and her eyes half closed. "Geeze... I think that coffee is wearing off... I feel like I'm about to pass out all of a sudden..."
"Come on, you deserve some sleep." Ron helped her head into the back toward her bedroom, where she collapsed onto the bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow. Ron grabbed the blankets and pulled them up to the back of her neck, brushing a bit of her hair out of her face. "I'll make it up to you Kim, I promise."
He stood up and walked toward the door, turning to look back at her. "Goodnight." He flipped off the lights and left, closing the door gently behind him.
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The next morning the clouds were gone and the sun was shining brightly. But then Ron woke up and discovered that not only were the clouds still there, but it had begun to drizzle again. At least there was no lightning this time he supposed. He got dressed, ate breakfast, and made his way to school hoping to catch up with Kim and Zita.
Kim was there looking remarkably refreshed after an extra long night's sleep... but Zita was, one again, a no-show.
"No luck huh?" Kim asked with a regretful smile. "Maybe she just got the flu or something." She suggested. Ron knew that wasn't it, she was occupied with that game... now that he thought about it though, the halls seemed awfully empty today.
"Hey, have you noticed that almost nobody showed up to class today?" Ron asked. Kim looked around, then nodded.
"Now that you mention it yeah... maybe there's a bug going around." Kim suggested. She looked down when her Kimmunicator started beeping. She took it out and turned it on. "What's the sitch Wade?"
"Big bad bug on the internet." Wade told her seriously. "It looks like it's taking over all over the place."
"A computer virus?" Kim asked. "That's not really my area... computers are more your thing."
"But this virus is infecting people." Wade replied. "Check it out." A small picture of a video game box appeared on the screen. "Parents nationwide have reported their children staying home and becoming unnaturally attached to their computers, even going wild, after playing the Everlot expansion pack, Foreverlot."
"But that's what Zita was playing when she attacked me..." Ron muttered under his breath so that the others wouldn't hear him.
"I've already done an analysis on the game, it looks like the visuals are laced with subliminal messages. But the signal is pretty weak... they would need more power to make it take over completely."
"Like a server with enough capacity and bandwidth to fit Texas in?" Kim exchanged a suspicious glance with Ron.
"Bingo." Wade told her.
"Can we just blow up the game's existing servers or something?" Kim asked.
"That's my idea." Wade replied. Kim was about to reply when a siren approached from behind. They both looked to see an ambulance rush by with its siren blazing and its lights flashing.
"Hold that thought." Kim closed the Kimmunicator. "Come on Ron, let's go see what's going on." She took off in the direction the ambulance went with Ron following close behind her. They found it a short time later stopped at a small apartment complex in the middle of the town. They made their way upstairs to where the paramedics had the door open.
They walked inside and Kim found the paramedics in one of the small bedrooms. "What's going on here?" She asked.
"We don't know, her parents found her like this." One of the doctors replied. They set the unconscious and pale girl on the stretcher. "As far as we can tell, she's in a coma... but we can't find any physical cause for it." He sighed and gestured for his colleagues to wheel the unconscious girl out of the apartment, past her sobbing mother.
"Mind if we take a look around?" Kim asked.
"Well it's technically a crime scene, but we'll make an exception in your case Kim." The paramedic stepped aside and let the two teens walk into the room. Ron scratched his head.
"Why are we here?" Ron asked.
"The timing is too convenient, there has to be a connection." Kim told him. Ron sighed and started walking through the room, looking around. It looked just like his bedroom... only girlier. He didn't see anything that could put someone into an unexplained coma.
He stopped when he saw the girl's computer on the other side of the room. He walked up to it and read the screen. "Game over... this is Foreverlot." Ron turned back to Kim. "Kim, I think I found our connection." Kim looked over and approached, reading the screen for herself.
"So dying in the game sent her into a coma?" Kim quirked one eyebrow and took out her Kimmunicator. "I have to talk to Wade about this..." Ron stood up straight, not paying attention anymore. Anyone who played this game couldn't get off of it... and if they died they went into a coma? But Zita was playing the game already... what if she died in the game?
Ron whirled and started to run out of the room, with Kim shouting after her. "Ron, where are you going!?" Kim exclaimed. Ron ignored her and made his way out fo the building, running down the street to Zita's house. He knocked loudly and waited for her mother to answer.
"Yes... oof!" She grunted as he pushed her aside.
"Sorry, life-saving business!" Ron charged upstairs and burst into Zita's room, gasping when he saw her. The circles under her eyes had grown darker, and her clothing was hanging off of her as though she didn't even try to make herself look good. Her skin was dirty and her hair was a mess, as if she only slept when she finally passed out and didn't bother bathing.
"Zita, you have to stop playing." Ron marched up to her and knelt down beside her. "Hey, Zita!" He shouted. She ignored him, staring at the screen with that same blank expression on her face as before. "Enough is enough." He grabbed her arms and tried to pull her away from the computer.
Zita let out a yell and tried to hold onto the desk, but Ron grabbed her around the waist and managed to yank her back, slamming himself into the wall. Zita howled and tried to get back to the desk, but Ron held onto her as tightly as he could. "Snap out of it!" He shouted at her, trying to calm her down. Suddenly she whirled and punched him in the face, sending his head back into the wall. "Hard... knuckles..." Ron slid down the wall to the floor, holding his nose.
Zita stumbled weakly back to the computer, where she plopped back into the chair and put her hands on the mouse and keyboard, looking relieved that her character was still there when she got back.
Ron held his nose as he pushed himself up the wall to his feet. "She's too far in... I have to keep her from dying... but I suck at that game, and I would get stuck too..." Ron rubbed his head, trying to think. Suddenly it came to him, and he looks up again, filled with renewed determination. "Don't worry Z, I won't let anything happen to you."
