The complex was dark. Not a sound could be heart. Not a blade of grass would have stirred, if not for the fact that there was no blade of grass in view, let alone any plants. A dangerous looking rock jutted from the deadly still sea and a reinforced concrete structure towered over the island, taking up almost all of the space. The moon held it's ground, shining a shimmering beacon of light over the scene creating the odd combination of light careening off the concrete but being absorbed by the seemingly black windows, the opposite of what you would expect. Nothing out of the ordinary (as far as ordinary is concerned with concrete island bunkers) was in view. That was, until a small black dot appeared on the horizon and gradually got larger and larger. It grew to the size of a fingernail, hovering on the dark silvery grey horizon and a noise could faintly be heard. The rotors of a chopper, slowing slightly in ready for a landing.
The helicopter drew closer to the island, making it's way to the unmarked heli-pad atop the roof of the complex. As it flew across the path of the moon it reflected the ghostly glow and the sleek black body shone brightly, revealing the marking on it's side, white letters on a green sheen stripe. "Zombie-1". It landed, several passengers were relieved all wearing dark pinstripe suits and briefcases and then lifted off in a matter of minutes. No one saw, as the chopper started its new ascent, two dark shadows attached to the bottom of the fuselage detach and free fall to the roof of the building below the heli-pad. No one saw the miniature parachutes deploy. Not a single person on that island noticed as one figure hit the roof perfectly, the other skidding, swearing and finally stabling themselves gently with both hands outstretched. Which was probably a good thing, seeing as how this island was the lair and multi-billion dollar home of the infamous Doctor Rajun Dead.
The two figures rose silently from their crouching landing positions and walked slowly to the edge of the building, surveying the surrounding buildings. They were on top of a longish flat building, most likely a hangar of some sort. To their right was a large communications tower, partially destroyed and rather old. In fact, it was the only part of the island (save the rock base) that looked dilapidated in any way. Directly in front of them stood an imposing grey and black structure, tall and gleaming against the dark sky above. There was a low humming sound and then a probe rose from a building to their left, the final building on the island. It was lowish compared to the rest, and slightly lighter grey with a slightly ribbed roof, the shadows of the segments outlined by the slowly lowering moon. The roof parted as the spire rose skywards and the humming got louder. There was some weird machinery at the bottom of the probe as there was a clunk and it stopped rising. After a pause a bright spark shot from the sky to the ground, encompassing the tower. Sudden creepy music sprouted from somewhere but they couldn't tell where. Then again, super-villains tended to be fairly eccentric so it wasn't really much of a surprise. Suddenly, all over the ground before them there was movement. The earthy dirt and the concrete was breaking in front of their eyes and shapes started emerging. What looked like thousands of writhing tentacles. But it wasn't tentacles, they were arms. Hundreds of arms reaching out for the moonlight and the air. The island was now covered in newly born zombies.
Of the two figures standing on the rooftop, although both masked and body-suited they were as different as chalk and cheese. The one in front was tall and athletic, their posture obviously honed by years of training. The one to the back was trailing behind, slouching slightly and visually unsure about the situation. The front one took off their headgear. A light stubble, short nose, blue eyes and short, handsome blonde hair was revealed. He raised his wrist to his face.
"Sir, this is Ron Stoppable. We've infiltrated the enemy's head-quaters. Looking for an entrance. There may be some firefight involved. Commencing operation Undead-Another-Day" he spoke into his wristband, chuckling at his own joke, a play on the James Bond movie title.
Behind him, still slightly breathless from the descent another face was revealed from the now discarded balaclava. Flowing red hair gushed from the cottony enclosure and was immediately joined by the bright pouty smile and emerald green eyes of Kim Possible. Her toned yet decisively womanly chest heaved slightly from exhaustion.
"Ron? Do we have to do this? You know I'm not comfortable with this sort of situation. AND I've got to be home by at 10pm at the latest..."
"Shut it KP. We have a mission to complete" and with that, in one motion he pulled a rope out of his belt, attached it to the roof and jumped off the edge keeping a tight grip and performing a perfect impromptu abseil. Kim hesitated and after fidgeting with her rope and making sure it was attached lowered herself over the edge into the fray.
Crossing the edge brought with it the sound from below. A hundred groans and moans of the undead mixed with sporadic gunfire and the occasional "Booyah!" from Mr. Stoppable. Kim never really liked using projectile weapons, preferring her own arms and legs to a cold metal projectile extension any day. Launching herself downwards and kicking a living dead creature through the breastbone with a sickening crunch she started running to where her comrade was, high atop a jutting rock in the centre of the courtyard. Swinging his firearm round to the right and cackling wildly Ron watched as dozens of zombies were taken out. He accidentally pushed it too far and swung across Kim's path.
"Ron!! Friendly fire!!" she yelled above the roar of his machine gun.
"Sorry KP! It looks like we're almost out of this situation, just a few more to kill!" he stated matter of factly, decimating several more skeletal corpses as he talked.
She joined him up on the rocky pedestal, throwing her arms around his waist for support and screaming as she was clawed at by skeletal fingers, slipping on the smooth rock. A final burst of gunfire brought silence. The corpses of the dead were strewn everywhere like a dark lawn of bone debris. In the middle-near distance in front of them a door opened. It was probably a trap but it was the only real exit out of here. Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and dialed Wade but... the number was busy? Wade was never busy. All he did was hang out in his room, stalk bad-guys on the internet and search Youtube! But no hope, he wasn't there. They were truly alone. Ron saw the look on her face and read her mind.
"There's always a way out KP. We'll both make it, I promise".
"But Ron... I'm so scared! What if we don't? What if we never see our families or friends again?"
"I won't let that happen to you Kim. Lets just keep going."
They were about to start for the door when they both heard a rustling sound. They looked down and the ground was writhing, languishing around like thousands of brown snakes. The flesh-draped skeletons were reforming in front of their eyes by some unknown power. Sharing a look they both broke out at a run for the open door and dove through it, slamming the lockdown button just as the skeletons started after them for the door. The heavy-set blast doors started to close but it was painfully slow. Ron slugged the final few rounds of his gun at the approaching creatures. The opening clamped shut at last and there was only the dim thud on the other side. A voice boomed through the corridor.
"Team Stoppable, you have no hope. You may have got past my weakest minions but they are simply my spawn."
Kim looked gingerly around her. The strange voice continued.
"You will be no match for any other of my personal guard. It was nice knowing you Team..."
The voice cut out at the exact same moment that they were plunged into darkness. Ron had walked straight for a panel in the wall, opening it and thrown a knife into the darkness inside. The action had obviously had an effect on the electrical system. Kim shifted her body weight, curling further into herself in an almost automatic response to fear. She could hear Ron step forwards with bold strides. She wondered where his courage had come from but right now that wasn't the greatest of issues. A murmuring was emerging from the corridor ahead of them. Ron took the lead and Kim followed. They were met by hoards of the undead warriors, eyes glowing red in the passageway. Fighting their way through, strike after strike, blow after blow for what seemed like years. As the same moves started to get old and Kim could feel a slight ache in her overused arm muscles a light appeared ahead. The tunnel was visible but dim, but this was a bright beacon ahead of them. They ran towards it, it was a hole in the ceiling. Grappling hooks went flailing and they were pulled out from the corridor below and into a giant room filled with all sorts of odd and complex technology.
"KP. You okay? You look a bit worn?" Ron said with a hint of mockery in his voice.
"Shut it you. I'm fine, just a bit out of shape with this whole experience. I'll be fine." She smiled sweetly at him but didn't tell him about the pain in her right leg. She had been bitten in the leg by one of the zombies. Because of the nature of these zombies she wouldn't mutate into a zombie, at least not any time soon, but it sure did hurt. She joined Ron at the doorway he was scrambling to decode just as it slid open. They stepped through and it shut behind them, releasing pressure in an ominous hiss. They turned to start at the door when they heard a hovering hum from the opposite end of the cavernous room. In the inky black shadows they couldn't see what was making the noises, now slowing down to a stop. As the almost stopped noises came closer the dim light of the chamber revealed a disheveled man in a browned old lab coat and a giant dusty purple turban. So this was Doctor RajUn Dead.
Ron jumped straight into action.
"No time for talking KP, we need to take this guy down" his microphone transmitted to her earpiece. But she was stuck. There was something about this man that stopped her in her tracks. She was absolutely rooted to the ground.
"It seems your friend here doesn't realize who I truly am..."
"KP don't listen to him. This happened last time remember? Just aim for the head. His turban is his weak spot."
"Words come out of his mouth but they don't effect you do they child. Come to me. Everything will be okay..."
"KP!! Don't listen to him!" Ron pleaded but it was too late. Kim had started walking towards the man, almost trancelike, but she had full control over her body. Her whole self was trying to will her away but she just wanted to know who he was, what he was doing there, and then everything would be okay...
"You should have listened to your friend child. But not to worry. Your death will bring life to hundreds. I'm glad I led you here, Kim Possible" and with that he took out a long spear and threw it. It didn't quite seem to be possibly happening. Her partner watched in vivid slow motion as it sped through the air toward the dazed teen and punctured a hole in the front of her jumpsuit.
"KP!!" screamed Ron, diving to try and save her, but it was too late. The arrow had pushed through the back of her outfit, and a dribble of blood was starting to fall from the wounds in both her front and her back. He caught her in his arms as she was about to fall backwards, her eyes wide in shock.
"Ronn........ Sorry..." she whispered, her eyes blinking for the last time before she breathed a last breath. And then she died. Ron breathed heavily. He may have been completely in control, even with a few miscalculations, but this just took it too far. He rose with a snort to charge at the deranged doctor but before he was halfway up a single bullet was implanted between the two lobes of his brain. He collapsed instantly. As dawn broke on the horizon Dr Dead polished his gun with a cloth that had been in his pocket. Staring into the horizon he simply sniffed slightly and breathed out.
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The glass pane in front of them flashed black and white. GAME OVER. They had lost just before the end again! There was a annoyed groan from a pink, fleshy animal sitting next to the screen.
"Rufus! You sat in my way again!" said Ron swatting the creature playfully and missing. "Kim, what have i told you about that final part. You actually have to fight!"
"Ron...." she sighed lazily "you know i totally suck at these games. Besides! My controls seized up. I want my money back. In real life it would have been the other way round. I would have kicked zombie butt whilst you sat in the corner freaking out!"
"Shut up!" Ron punched her arm lightly. "Just because I'm good at these games and you're jealous" he teased, pulling away from the joysticks and buttons of the machine and walking towards the exit of the small gaming arcade. Rufus, who was incidentally his best friend and compadre, and who was slightly less incidentally a naked mole rat, jumped off the machine and bounded after him.
"Dare you hit a girl? Really Ron Stoppable?" she teased back at him leaping past him and out of the door to leave. Pushing through the thick strips of plastic, heavy with both the material and the weight of the world, they were in the dark street outside. She swatted him over the shoulder yelling "You may have won on the inside, but will you win me over out here?".
"Erm... KP... That could be taken badly..." he stammered. Just then, as she was turning to face him, the worst possible thing that could have happened at that moment did happen. Ron tripped on the corner of a paver and trying to stop himself from falling, grabbed Kim's arm. This, instead of his expected result of righting him, wronged them both and before they knew up from down they were both on the pavement, in the dark shadow of a bench, lying on each other. Ron was acutely aware of Kim's hot surprised breath on his neck. Rufus was aware that it was his moment to become very interested in a shop nearby them. Kim was even more acutely aware of a slight pressing into her thigh from something in Ron's possession. She hoped it was just his Kimmunicator. What else could it be? No... It couldn't be... Ew! That meant he would be thinking about her like.... No. To think about him, her best friend, like that was just... well it was weird.
Ron looked down at her. What was she thinking? Was she thinking about him? About the awkwardness of this? What about the street around them? One thing he could never figure out about girls was what was on their mind.
Their wandering eyes met and they both blushed. Ron looked away. There was a very awkward pause.
"Ron?"
"*Cough* Yeah KP?"
"Could I please get up now?" she said gently.
"Oh, um sure... Sure thing" he blushed deeper again as he jumped up out of her way and helped her to her feet. They stood for a moment avoiding eye contact.
"Bueno Nacho?" asked Ron, possibly too eagerly, but Kim didn't mind.
"Bueno Nacho!" she said energetically and started running in the direction of the mexican restaurant, Ron struggling to catch her.
"See Ronny-kins? I SO would have beat you if that mission were in real life!"
"Not a chance KP. I'm just letting you win now!" They ran off together, almost entirely forgetting the events that had just occurred between the two of them.
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Kim felt sufficiently full. She didn't quite know how Ron could possibly eat that much but he always managed to so she ate on the safe side of full, her watching of Ron making up that little bit extra. He had left her alone moments earlier. His scooter was broken and he had to catch the bus, inviting her along for the trip, but she insisted in running home. After a night playing video games and eating junk food she needed to be in shape. After all there was a game tomorrow at school and the cheerleaders would be needed. She hoped the world didn't need saving tomorrow afternoon.
Bueno Nacho was fading into the hazy evening Middleton distance and Kim decided to break into a run. She was a fit young woman, 'much more so than in that stupid video game' she thought. She was strong and athletic but her muscles didn't define her silhouette, meaning for all the exercise and working out she did, Kim was still stunning. She had been running for about ten minutes, hardly breaking a sweat. It was a little past dusk and in the darkening town there was a range of smells on the air. The nearby bakery, now closed, was preparing the yeast for the following day. The far off sirens of a fire engine were accompanied with the slightly sweet smell of burning structural timber. The still lingering smell of Nachos on her breath mixed with the hotpot of dishes that met her nose as she wandered past the restaurant strip. But suddenly she detected something else. Something on the wind that was not meant to be mixed in with smells like these. Turning on her heel she ran in the direction of the odd scent, thinking to herself that of all the things to pick up after a lovely evening out, why did it have to be TNT.
As she sprinted she realized that she was heading towards the town's only JG's shop. One of the worst fashion houses in all of america by far, yet it had survived, and was now a large franchise. Rounding the corner Kim was almost bowled over by a large, black SUV rushing past in the opposite direction. It was impossibly large for the small lane-way it came from and also quite unmarked either by license plate or scratches of any kind. Speeding off into the distance, Kim watched it for a moment but then turned back sharply about to start running into the alleyway that held JG's loading docks when all her senses suddenly told her to run in the opposite direction.
Moments later there was a shattering clash. A boom thundered up from what remained of JG's and the sky above was engulfed in a ball of flames. Kim woke up slightly dazed and stuck half way up a tree a block away, a lucky catch. There were a few after-shots, small parts of the building falling and bursting into flame, after the main blast but now the building was just being engulfed in an inferno, the cheerful wood smoke smell being replaced with the horrid stench of melting steel, concrete and plastic. Walking slowly and slightly dazedly to the edge of the block housing the flaming store she looked for any sort of clue that she could determine before the police turned up. Taking out her Kimmunicator she dialed Wade, one of her good friends and invaluable technologically minded friend.
"Wade, there was a bomb explosion on the corner of King and 7th" she gasped, not realizing her voice wasn't quite with her.
"Kim! Are you okay? You look like you were in the blast!"
"Not quite. Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a slight ringing in my ears, it's all good. What do you know?"
"Hold on a moment... Let me work my magic." You could hear him typing on the other end. The mixture of a ringing, licking flames and distant typing sounded sort of weird to Kim but she made no comment. "Yep, this looks like the work of Señor Senior Sr. It's on his... blog? Wow, super villains must be getting really bored these days! But yeah, looks like him."
"Okay, thanks Wade. Oh! One more thing? Can you get me a flight to see him tomorrow morning? Make it early, I have cheerleading at four."
"Sure thing Kim. See you round."
"Bye." She hung up. The distant sound of sirens was getting closer, the police would be here any minute. Breaking into a run she left the scene quickly and made for her home. 20 minutes later and she reached her front door with her heart beating fast. She went to knock just as it was whipped open.
"Kimmy-cub... It's 10 minutes past your curfew young lady" he stated looking between her pouting, breathless face and the slightly less pouty (but most probably equally breathless) face of his watch.
"You know that means you're going to have to be grounded!" her mother added as she walked past holding a basket of clothes. Kim sighed and tried to step past her dad to go inside.
"Kimmy... I won't ground you but next time this happens I suppose I'll have to. Or your mother will be onto me" he added in a whisper, looking around to meet they eyes of Mrs Dr. Ann Possible frowning slightly at him. Dr James Possible smiled weakly at his wife "Well hello dear? Did you need anything?"
"You're lucky he treats you Kim. No such luck from me!" his wife yelled back to Kim as she dragged him off by his ear.
"Love you daddy! Love you mum!" she yelled after them smiling as she shut the door and ran upstairs to her room. Opening the door she was greeted by her two younger brothers staring out her window through a telescope, at least twice as high as they were.
"Dweebs, get out!" she said, intending to scream but with not quite enough effort in her voice. Usually they wouldn't have listened to her but sensing their impending doom quickly scooped up the telescope and left. Now alone in her room she closed the door and slumped back onto her bed sighing with great effort. She lifted her head to peer down at her body below her. She felt exhausted, but only having taken the time to stop and think did she realize how much so. Usually a night run was refreshing but she generally tried to avoid getting caught in the radius of a bomb blast. Scooting up her bed slightly she lay her head down on the several pillows that were found there. The last thing she heard was her parents, arguing playfully again and then her body went limp with a deep and dreamless sleep.