BLACK ANGEL
CHAPTER 1
DREAMS, DARKNESS, AND NIGHTMARES
BY: darkpower (darkpowrjd )
RATING: PG-13 (Language, Violence, Dialogue)
DISCLAIMERS: All copyrighted materials belong to their respective companies.
NOTES: Okay, so when I wrote the first chapter to this (which was in 2003), I wasn't exactly as experienced or as knowledgeable as I am now. At least I'm more so than I was before. However, this first verity into the KP fandom is one I still want to try to finish. Knowing that, though, I have the overtaking Silver Project Saga on the Sailor Moon side that has been taking up the majority of my time.
However, now that I have some time (and an idea got into my mind for a second KP fic), I decided to revisit this one to see that there was a lot in this fic that I would see now as mistakes (and my God, I needed a spell checker). Thus, I decided to revise this so it would reflect a bit more of my current knowledge. Well, at least I HOPE it will. I'm going free bird here (i.e. no beta reader) for this fic since I want to see if I really am in need of one for this fic now that I'm using Word. I added a few details to the scenes, fixed the technical issues, cleaned up the wording, and added some things that I would've done had I thought of them then (also so it's more consistent with what I want to do with this fic). I did leave the culture reference in there, though. Let me know what you think.
The ominous, black scene drenched her eyes in darkness. She had absolutely no clue as to where she was, but she knew that she needed to find someone, and soon, because the more that she was within this dark void, the worse off she believed that she was.
"Ron? Wade? God, where are you guys. Anyone, answer me," she blurted out loud enough for someone to hear her within the next few lengths ahead of her, to no avail. She was more frightened with every passing second she spent in the pitch black environment.
As she moved forward even more, she crossed over into some light, but it was then that she wished that she stayed in the dark. Around her stood Middleton, though it looked as though it just went through a cataclysm, with a red hue to the crumbled buildings, streets, and even the sky. It left the red-headed Kim Possibly as speechless as she was horrified.
"Oh, my God," she gasped as she looked about some of the rubble to her right. From what she saw, it was the remains of one of those small grocery stores that were family owned, although it had no use now. She tried to remove some of the rubble, squinting as she was barely able to push it aside. What she made her jaw drop to the ground: her best friend, Ron Stoppable, with his dead and bloodied body still pinned by the remaining granite. She even checked his pulse, hoping for any sign of life, but even her black gloves could not even shield her from the ice-cold chill she felt run through her veins as she checked. It only took a few more seconds for Kim to scream bloody murder, though she wasn't sure to whom. She could only look up towards the crimson sky.
"Who did this?" she screamed to the best that her lungs allowed her to anyone that could hear her. "Show yourself, you little piece of shi…!"
"So, you haven't figured it out yet, have you, Kim Possible!" The voice was raspy and haunting. However, what made Kim's eyes pop open was, besides those different characteristics, the voice sounded exactly like her own.
However, the girl who appeared before Kim made her gasp and take a step backwards. It was as if she was looking into a mirror. She was of the same small stature, had the same black shirt, cargo pants, white socks and black shoes on, the exact same hairstyle, and exactly the same facial features. The only thing keeping this girl from being an exact doppelganger of Kim was her eyes, which had a crimson red glow to them.
"You're—you're me!" she exclaimed.
"No, you are inferior to me," the clone responded, raising her arms to form a blue sphere of pure energy.
"Did you do this?"
"No, Kim Possible. You did this. The buildings, your friends, your town; this was your entire fault."
"No, I did not; I would never do anything like this. NEVER!"
"Listen to you, acting all innocent, when you know what sleeps within your soul. You're still naïve to your true power, Kim, but it's only a matter of time. You will soon realize just who I am, and how much you want me around, and how much you need me. When you finally are ready to awaken me, you will never want to rid of me. I'm surprised you have yet to mention anything about this big, blue ball I have above me. It's just the final piece of the puzzle you see under your feet. It will be the final blow you give to this pitiful Earth. It holds so much pure energy, that just one blast will crush this entire, measly planet. The best thing is that the one person that could save them from this mess is the one person who will be the one to put them out of their misery."
"You're not me!" Kim screamed, almost in tears. "The people I help are the reason I continue to help them. I would never even think of scratching them, and God help me if I would ever cause something like this. Please, I need my friends and family in my life! I want my family, Ron, my friends, my town, my life back!"
"Why?" the doppelganger shouted. "You don't need them, or this pathetic Earth!" The clone shot her aura towards the ground. Kim was helpless to stop her clone from doing the unthinkable. As the ball neared her, all Kim could see was a bright, white light, almost blinding her. The closer the aura got, the brighter the light got until she was completely blinded.
-xXXXXx-
The next thing that Kim knew, she had woken up in the bedroom of her Middleton home, completely intact. She shot up, seeing that she was still in her pajamas, though she was in a deep, cold sweat. Her pillow was soaked in the cold perspiration. She took deep but short breaths, realizing that school time was near, even though she knew that her recent nightmare seemed all too real to just try to ignore.
She jumped out of bed and immediately began getting dressed. She picked a green mid-drift tank-top, black jeans, and white running shoes. Though this was like any normal day, she felt half-empty. She did everything in a blur, not really paying much attention to things she did before. From room to room, she did everything she normally did, with brushing her teeth and combing her hair being the final rituals, though she rushed more than before. She looked into the mirror at herself after combing her locks, though. 'The hell was that dream all about? Had to have been some crazy nightmare! But…God, what did that mean. I had nightmares before, but I never…no, KP! Stay calm, like you always do. Don't panic like this! It's not like any others you had before. It just looked more…real than before, that's all!'
"Kim, are you all right?" Missus Possible yelled out as Kim heard a knock as the door. "You've been in there longer than I remember you being in there!"
"I'm fine, mom," Kim responded.
"Are you sure? You know you can talk to us if there's something bothering you."
"Thank you, mom, but I'll be fine. I think I slept through my alarm. Trying to make sure no one is going to notice a rush job I did today."
"All right," her mom said before Kim heard footsteps heading back downstairs.
Kim just as quickly got her backpack and everything else put together, and headed out the door with only a, "bye mom and dad, see you after school," before leaving. She didn't stop for breakfast, which was part of her ritual, and the only thing she skipped today.
When the door closed behind Kim, Missus Possible turned back towards her husband. "I'm worried about her. She doesn't usually blow off breakfast like that, and she spent an eternity in the bathroom."
"That's teenagers these days," Mister Possible said, attempting to read a newspaper while he was talking. "The older they get, the more complicated they become."
"Yes, but still, this is not like her."
"Don't worry about it. It's not like she is going to be the exact same way forever, you know," he responded before going back to his paper, leaving Missus Possible to have to do with only a sigh.
-xXXXXXx-
Basically, Kim was semi-somber on her way to school, nothing usual for her.
"Hey, KP, wait up," said the cheery voice of her best friend, Ron Stoppable, from behind her. She was rather relieved to hear his voice after the condition she saw him from within her nightmare. She questioned whether or not to tell him about it, though.
"Hey, Ron," she said with a sly smile. "I didn't think you were going to make it."
"Oh, c'mon, KP, you know me better than that. I'm never late. Well, not that late, that is."
Kim could only let a small sigh escape her "No, Ron, that is not what I meant. I meant that...well..." 'Shit. Should I tell him? I don't want to scare him, too.'
"KP, you okay? You don't look too well," he said, hearing the sudden pause and seeing the sudden dead freeze.
"Uhh yeah, I'm fine," Kim responded as she shook her head and tried to manufacture a quick, fake smile. "Just went with little sleep, last night. You know how it's been for me lately. I'm lucky to get five hours of sleep, even."
"Ehh no," he said, going around, looking at her face from as many angles as his head could allow. "With as much as I've known you, I should be aware of those things, and I don't see that much baggage in your eyes. But that bummed look; the look of being dumped; the look of being grounded; the look of chickens getting into your hair and ruining a good hair day, causing great anarchy across the world. Yep, I know that look."
The chicken comment changed Kim's somber look into a confused one, though she chucked slightly. "Ron, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Actually, I have no idea. It happened to me, though. A perfect day, the hair all nice and good, and then someone had the release those damn mutant chickens, and before you know it, I'm suddenly Don King or something."
"Oh, don't remind me," Kim mentioned. "Monkey Fist wanted a sidekick, so he decided to try to make some sort of weird chicken experiment so it could have his skills. Only it didn't go exactly as planned. Foiled the plan, but the chickens…wow!"
"I'm telling you, KP, those mutant chickens rivaled those of a South Park Thanksgiving special. Those things were brutal!" Kim could only smile at Ron's comparison
The two approached the front doors of the school, with Ron's pet naked mole rat, Rufus, going back into Ron's pants pocket, having heard enough of the past mission that he wanted to be reminded of himself.
Kim began to respond when, suddenly, from seemly out of nowhere, a voice started to echo in her head. "This isn't just a dream, Kimmy. I'm as real as they get."
'Oh, my God! That voice! But it was just a dream!' Kim stopped on a dime, unsure what to think.
"You think that I was just a figment of your imagination? Wrong, sister! I'm as real as they come. I'm within you, waiting for you to awaken me. You know you want for your true power to come out. You've always wanted unstoppable, irresistible power, and it's all there, right at your fingertips. All you have to do is to accept that I'm a part of your soul, and all that you have ever desired will be yours for the taking. Imagine it, Kim: total freedom to do and say how you truly feel. Accept me, and I will give it all to you."
Kim was in a daze, and her eyes were as glazed as a doughnut. 'Please, just leave me alone!'
Ron looked back to see his friend frozen stiff. "KP, are you all right?" He ran back and tried to revive her from her statue-like state. "Say something, KP, anything." There was still no answer as he tried to shake her for ten seconds. "KIM!"
Kim finally heard his call and shook her head vigorously. "Sorry about that! I told you I didn't get that much sleep last night."
Ron responded with a nod and bit his tongue before the two entered the school.
-xXXXXx-
"Uhh, yes, I am a little bit at edge; I'm sitting inside a damn volcano that could blow at any moment. Would put you at edge, would it?"
Shego was right in the fact that she was in a volcano in an uncharted island territory off the East Coast of South America. The only problem is she didn't have any means of knowing why her partner, Dr. Drakken, decided to put a makeshift lair inside of the mouth of the volcano, and drag her along. That and the fact that she wasn't told of just what evil scheme the doctor had planned this time.
She was in a room in the lair made out similar to an office cubical, complete with an executive-type office chair and a chestnut-wood desk. She saw only red hue on the inner walls of the volcano. She wasn't sweating from the heat within the volcano, partially because Drakken had installed, with surprisingly successful results, cooling devices in the lair to make sure that the temperature wasn't uncomfortable. How he was able to do so without everything breaking down on him was anyone's guess. A metal, grated floor completed the lair. Though it wasn't a luxury suite, it was livable for now.
"No, I have not figured out his plan yet. Worst thing is, we don't know if this thing is even active, which is very unsettling," she said into her small and compact cell phone to whoever she was talking to on the other line. Shego paced back and forth in her office room. She looked out the door that led into the main room, when she saw Drakken doing something to, well, something, although she couldn't make out the details. When she peered further towards that room, her confusion and curiosity peaked. He was attempting to point a huge, fifty foot satellite straight towards the sky.
"Can I call you back? I have to check something...uh huh, he's doing yet something else really weird. I really think he's off the deep end this time...all right, I'll talk to you again...uh huh, bye," and she pressed the end talk button on the cell, and went into the other room.
The center of the main room sat the said massive satellite that towered over the entire lair, and guard rails all along the edges of the platforms except for one part, which housed a ladder instead which went to a lower, bare platform. The reason for the mad doctor being there, the lower platform's purpose, or the lair itself, was a mystery that was lost on the former Team GO member.
"Drakken, I need to ask something of you?" Shego asked, coming into the room.
"Not now, Shego, I'm rather busy," said the proverbial demented doctor.
"With what? You haven't told a single soul what it is that you're up to in the first place, and now I'm seeing you point that damn thing up to the sky, God knows what for. Do you really expect me to think that you haven't finally gone cuckoo?"
"For your information, Shego, I have not gone cuckoo. This is my latest plan for world conquest."
"Yeah, and just what the hell are you doing about world conquest sitting inside a volcano, not knowing if it's inactive or able to blow us all straight into Hell in a second?"
"I saw the lava bubbling non-stop since we got here, and if that tells me anything, it is that this volcano is indeed active, no doubt," Drakken said.
"That'snice," Shego groaned, "and we're inside an active volcano, why?"
"The reason for this satellite: when the sun beams down on this bad boy, it will warm up the receiver of the satellite, which is connected to a rod that goes all the way down into the lava. And, when it heats up enough, the amount of heat generated being helped out by the power of currents from the rods electrical power, will get this lava boiling so much, that when this baby finally erupts, it will not only erupt onto this island, but to other areas of the world."
"Wow! Very thought through! So basically, you want to turn this entire world into one big lava pit, is that right?"
"You catch on quick, Shego. Now, if you don't mind, I'm rather busy," he said as he waved her off. "The sun is about to pass over soon, and I need total concentration to get this thing ready in time."
"Sure, I'll let you do your deeds. Just be sure to let me know when we'll all be burned to a damn crisp, so I'll be ready," she smartly said before returning to her cubical.
"Yes," he began under his breath, "soon, this entire world will be for the taking. They will be so scared of the lava ruining their cities and towns that they will beg for my mercy. This will be so delicious." He then continued to work on his plan.
As she was going back to her cubical, however, Shego stopped and looked down into the bubbling lava. She took a heavy breath, though she found it to be a shorter breath than what she was used to experiencing. She narrowed her eyes at the sudden loss of breath, which was followed by an equally sudden rush of panic. One second later, she felt herself return to normal. She shook her head of the irregularity and continued her trek.
-xXXXXx-
The school day was almost over, and Kim was going to get something from her locker. When she opened it, however, the built-in computer screen came on. Kim's boy-genius sidekick, Wade, was on the other end.
"Kim, am I ever glad to be able to reach you right now."
"Go Wade, what's going on?"
"I have been getting some really weird readings from a spot in the ocean, somewhere near the eastern seaboard of South America. I have no clue where it is exactly. The computer can't really figure this out, having trouble pinpointing the exact location."
"Do you have an idea what it is?"
"I don't have a single clue what's going on, but whatever it is, it seems to be massive. I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Here, seeing is believing, if you ask me."
Wade brought up his readings on his end onto Kim's screen. There was a cross-hair cursor trying to locate something on the mentioned seaboard, only the sensors were going crazy when searching for the exact spot.
"What the hell?"
"My sentiments exactly," he responded. "I'm going to be digging further into this, though I can't guarantee anything concrete. You must understand, with this caliber of a reading, there's no telling what it could be or how dangerous it is. If I can't pinpoint the spot within, say, then next day or so, you're going to have to go yourself to find a visual. This is very weird, though. It's giving me an awful feeling."
"Me too, Wade. Keep in touch."
"Will do," Wade responded before termination.
"I suppose the boy genius couldn't explain why you were late to the cheerleading practice today," said a raspy voice coming from the other side of the open locker door.
"Now what?" Kim groaned. She closed the locker door to find no other than Bonnie Rockwiller behind that metal door, giving her a hard time, as usual.
"Me, Kim, that's what, or should I say, who! Care to explain why you were so late, eh?"
'Shit! They don't even know about my cover-up for that creepy nightmare last night, much less the nightmare itself.' "Not right now, Bonnie. I have a lot to worry about, and-!"
"Tell her, KP, tell her how you really feel about her!"
'No! Not again!' she thought, horrified as her eyes popped open again.
"You hate her; you want her to go away. Go ahead and tell her the truth. Better yet, why don't you try to give her a slight push. Tell her that you are no longer going to put up with any more of her shit! Give her the bloody nose she's always deserved."
"What's the matter?" Bonnie continued. "You just found out about people being upset about you being late-!"
"Can't talk, have to run, see ya," Kim said before running out of that area. Bonnie folded her arms on her chest in disgust. She pivoted and began to walk back.
"Well now, I see she doesn't want to answer. Oh well, I guess she'll have to face the wrath of Bonnie tomorrow," she said, but then, she turned her head back to where Kim once was. "Weird, though. I've never seen her that late before. In a small way, I kind of-feel a bit concerned. Don't know if I should. She's been acting weird all damn day." After saying that to herself, she slapped herself on the head. "No, what are you thinking, Bonnie? This is Kim Possible you're talking about, the one girl who never can be figured out. Why are you worrying over her?"
She snorted a bit, but turned back one more time. She walked back to Kim's locker. Realizing that in Kim's haste she didn't shut her locker, Bonnie made sure it was closed before returning to the gym.
-xXXXXx-
Kim ran into the unoccupied girls' restroom in a heavy pant. Running to a sink, she turned on the cold water and splashed it as much and as fast as she could onto her face.
"This cannot be happening. First the dream, then that voice wanting me to pick a fight with Bonnie. God, this has been a horrible day," she said to herself while continuing to wash her face with the icy liquid. She looked into the mirror right above the sink. "Come on, Kim, you're not going crazy. You're just freaking out, hearing things because of a dream you had; a creepy dream. It's so not the drama, Kim-."
It was at that moment that she saw the reflection suddenly developing the same crimson eyes her clone had in her nightmare as it took on a life of its own. Kim jumped back far enough to hit the wall of the bathroom stalls.
"MOTHER OF GOD, WHAT THE HELL?" she screeched.
"It's me, Kim. You're true nature. I'm the Kim Possible you've been waiting to show. I'm the KP you've been trying to suppress, to keep in. You have done a good job in hiding me so far, but you cannot deny me forever. I've been waiting for you to accept me, Kim. There's nothing you can do to stop me." With every passing word, her voice gradually sounded more and more exactly like Kim's.
"No. I don't know who or what you are, or what you're trying to do to me, but it won't work. I'm not like that. Just leave me alone!"
"That isn't an option, Kim. And you want to know why I can't do that, Kim? Because I'm a part of your soul; I'm you, KP. I'm what you've been trying to deny that you have within you. You've been waiting for the day, when you could have the courage to tell someone no; to help themselves; to screw them and have them give something back to you. You could've felt just how good that would've been back there with that measly little bitch, Bonnie, yet you ran, like you seem to always do. You could still be able to feel it; to enjoy it. You will be unlocking me, Kim, there's no point in trying to hold back. Everyone has their dark side, Kim, and I'm yours, and you will soon see, Kim."
Kim shook her head as fast as she could, and then started to shout, "No, I am not like that. I love helping others; I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have that opportunity to help out the people that need me. I would never do that to anyone, even to Bonnie. I would never do anything like that. And you're never going to make me do anything I don't want to do. Just get out of my head. Please!"
With that, the reflection started to shout, as well, "It is futile to try to stop it, Kim! It is extremely worthless! I can see it in your eyes: the frustration, the anger within you! Like a fire, like a bomb waiting to go off at any moment! I'm here to guide you, Kimmy! I'm here to give you total freedom! Go ahead; show me your anger, Kim! Show me the side of you I know you have in you!"
"No! Just get out of here, leave me alone, don't come back," Kim shouted once again, this time her voice somewhat trembling, something that she hadn't ever had in her voice in her life. If the doppelganger looked closely, she could see that Kim's hands were clenching into tight, quaking fists.
"No, Kim!" the doppelganger yelled, "I won't! I'm a part of you, Kim! You will never get rid of me! You are a roaring blaze of anger, of hatred, and you don't even know it yet!"
"NO, I COULD NEVER HATE ANYONE! GO AWAY, DAMN IT," Kim cried, not realizing the power her voice had taken.
"YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU CAN'T FIGHT SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE, KP! I'M YOUR SAVIOR! I'M YOUR SAVING GRACE, AND I WILL BE YOUR GUIDE TO THE REAL YOU!"
"I'LL ASK ONCE MORE TO LEAVE ME ALONE, AND GO AWAY!"
"YOU'RE CONTINUING TO LIVE IN DENIAL! IT WILL COME SOON ENOUGH! YOUR ANGER IS FUMING! HELL, I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF YOU GO OFF AND LET YOUR ANGER OUT ON RON, YOUR FRIENDS, HELL, EVEN YOUR OWN FAMILY!"
"How dare you?" she growled, eyes narrowing. "Ron's the nicest person I've known, I'm thankful for my friends, and my family means the world to me. You dare to even fathom the idea that I would ever hurt them? You really are as dumb as you sound."
"Oh, c'mon, even you have to admit that you would give them what for. And who knows, maybe a lesson in an old fashioned manner is what they need, and if you make them bleed, kill them, then so be it. What they deserve, I would think."
"NO, I'D NEVER HURT THEM! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Kim yelled, her whole body starting to tremble.
"YES YOU WOULD, KP, BECAUSE I'M YOU! I'M THE PART OF YOU THAT WANTS IT TO HAPPEN! FACE IT, KIM, IT'S HAPPENING! IT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! YOU WILL JUST DELAY THE INEVITABLE!" And then, the doppelganger screamed, "GO AHEAD, KP, YOUR INNER FIRE OF PURE ANGER AND HATRED IS BURNING! YOU CAN'T HELP IT! ADMIT IT, YOU LIKE IT! DON'T TRY TO FIGHT IT! ACCEPT IT!"
Kim had enough, and, with the best her voice could allow her, she screamed bloody murder, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She accompanied her sentiment with a hard fist right into the glass. The glass completely shattered from the mirror and dropped onto her wrist and hand. Whatever was actually talking to her had made its abrupt exit as a result.
The second she had heard the mirror shatter, however, she froze stiff. Her fist stayed right at the point of contact, and she could only take deep breaths similar to those she took whenever she heard the voice in her mind. As she slowly withdrew her fist, she looked towards the palm and her hand. She had a few cuts on her palm, and blood coming out of her wrist. She could see them, but she could not feel pain at that point. She looked towards where the mirror once was to find it completely gone.
She could only stand there, frozen in time, even when her Kimmunicator was beeping for her. It took the device a few beeps before she finally heard and answered Wade, who was oblivious to the situation.
"I've got some more information on that disturbance that I was picking up. It seems that it's some sort of-," Wade began before he saw Kim's lack of attention. "Kim, is something wrong?"
"I-I don't know. I really don't know," she responded, softly and slowly. "Wade, I'm sorry. I need to call you back, something's-something's wrong."
"With what?" Wade asked. "What do you mean, something's wrong? Something's wrong with what?"
"-With me," Kim said, looking back at what used to be a mirror.
"What? What are you talking about, Kim? Something wrong with you?"
"I-I can't talk about it right now, Wade. I-I'll let you know later. I-I'm sorry," she said before turning the device off and letting it rest within her pocket. She went out the restroom door and towards home.
-xXXXXx-
Kim got home and made a beeline to her room, not being heard by anyone as she shut and locked her door.
She threw her book bag to the floor without any care as to where it ended up. Sitting down near the foot of her bed, she once more took a peak at the lacerated hand. Blood had come down her arm. She didn't even try to stop the bleeding, letting the blood fall freely onto her skin.
"What-happened to me," she asked herself quietly. "I never felt like that before; never that kind of hatred for anyone. I didn't know I could get that angry at anyone before. Even by myself, at myself. I felt-felt the exact same way she said I was trying to suppress. Oh, my God. What if-what if she was right?"
She stood up and looked to her dresser, in which sat a few framed pictures. The left side housed a picture of her and Ron, smiling for the camera. The right side was a same style picture of her and her family. She stared at those pictures, starting to feel a quaint worry overtake her.
"I would never hurt you guys. Not now, not ever," she said as she was looking at those pictures. "No matter how angry I get or how upset I become, I would never allow for my anger to take it that far."
She then took a look into her room mirror, hopeful that she wouldn't see that red eyed reflection once more. She wanted to make sure that she knew exactly who she was, or at least knew who she should be. "I can't let this thing even think of controlling me. It's the only way to keep my sanity. It's the only way to keep my friends and family safe."
She looked a bit more in the mirror, but then turned quickly away from it, afraid that she was going to see the evil image once again. "But how can I stop something that I have no clue of what it is, or how to stop it. I just don't know. I don't want to tell anyone about this. It's something I need to deal with. All I have to do is to just control my emotions, and to stop that damn thing from doing what it wants to do to me. If that thing tries to, I will fight it. Fight it in any way I possibly can. It all seems too confusing, though."
As she was talking to herself, the phone began to ring, although she was too much in thought to be able to hear it. She was too worried about what was going on from within that she wasn't hearing anything else but her thoughts. Ten seconds later, she finally heard the phone, and she shook her head hard to try to get her mind back to Earth, and threw herself to the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Hello," she said into the phone.
"KP, what's up," said Ron on the other end. Hearing his voice brought a smile back on Kim's visage. "I tried to find you after school, but you were nowhere to be found. Had me worried there."
"I'm sorry, Ron. Just that I had to rush home right away for something after school. I forgot my money, that's all," she said, laughing nervously.
"Hmm-you know, you should really be careful about all of this. It's not like you to be this forgetful. First you forget to sleep, and then all this now about your money being lost. You're starting to sound like me forgetting anything and everything."
"I didn't forget to go to sleep. I told you I couldn't go to sleep."
"Hey, it's the same thing to me. You did find the money, though, right?"
"Well, yeah, I did find it," she said with a nervous laugh. "It's the sleep deprivation getting to me. I don't usually forget it."
"Hey, don't worry about it. But tonight, you get some sleep, alright? Take it from me, sleep is good; a lot of sleep, if you ask me."
"All right, I'll try to get some sleep tonight. But I got my money now. The usual place?"
"Yeah, sounds good. I'll see you there," Kim said before both of them said their goodbyes and hung up the phone, them going to Bueno Nacho as their 'usual place.'
She went downstairs and into the bathroom. Was anyone else even there right now? She still didn't hear anyone as she turned on the sink and thoroughly scrubbed the wound clean, at least the best she could. Thankfully for her, the wounds had stopped bleeding. She looked into the mirror one more time as she scrubbed.
"Though I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't nervous about doing anything today. Why is this thing haunting me when I least need it to? Why can't I even feel any pain in this wound?" She looked one more time to the cut on her wrist. "I can't let Ron see this! He'd think that…no, I don't think he has that kind of suspicion. Even if my life began turning upside down, I would never think of something like that. I'd have too much to live for. But I don't want him worrying about me."
She turned off the water, watching the remainder of the clear liquid whirl pooling down the drain, before she headed out the door of her house.
-xXXXXx-
"It's almost finished," Drakken said, putting the finishing touches on his would-be Earth-conquering machine within the mouth of the blistering, quasi-active volcano. All he had to do with it was to tighten a few final screws before he could turn on the device and put his plan into action.
While he was doing that, Shego, once more in the other room that she had for herself inside the volcano, was staring down beneath her feet, at the lava down under the ground. She could witness the bubbling through the grating holes, and it made her more uneasy than it had done to her before.
She suddenly heard Drakken yell out a very excited, "YES!" in the main room, and it caught her attention to what was going on in there. As she made her way into the main room, she saw Drakken come down from a stepladder with a big smile on his face.
"So, you finally are able to keep something of yours from going haywire, Drakken. I'm actually quite surprised. Nothing in here has stopped working yet," Shego told.
"Heh, this all is nothing compared to what you are about to see. Within a matter of moments, the switch will go on, and all of the Earth will suffer in a sea of lava. They will succumb to my ever command once they know that they can be saved from this volcano's lava by obeying me."
"Yeah, I'm happy for you, in a way," Shego said, getting a bit quieter when she was saying that. She once again looked down at the boiling lava.
Drakken was still oblivious to her concerns, as he was staring at the massive satellite. "And no one will be able to stop me from my grand plan to take over the world. Not even that damned Kim Possible. Once and for all, this entire planet shall bow to me!" Drakken laughed.
Shego, still looking at that lava under her, could only think to herself, 'That's actually what I'm afraid of. If we can't get out of here if and when he fails this, no one will be able to save us...not even her.'
Drakken paused in his laughter to turn around. He found Shego staring at the lava, though he was dumbfounded by the concern he saw on her face. "Shego, what's up? Why are you looking down at that lava?"
Shego, caught off guard, could only look up with a nervous laugh and grin. "Eh, it's nothing; just looking at the lava. Thinking about how much of this will actually be spewed beyond this island and the water to the other lands. This is some plan you are doing."
If Drakken knew that she was lying, he didn't show nor push on it any further. He turned back to his creation. "Yes, this is the biggest scale plan I've made yet. And this will be the final plan, because this will be the one that finally works."
'I hope it does, for both of our sakes.'
-xXXXXx-
On her way to the Bueno Naco to meet up with Ron, Kim suddenly remembered that she needed to call Wade back about the disturbance on the Atlantic. She got the Kimmunicator out and dialed him up, a rarity for her to initiate a call.
"Oh, hi Kim, I'm glad you called back. I was getting worried about you," Wade answered as soon as his face appeared on the screen.
"I'm all right," she responded. "I was just getting sleep deprived. I was getting drowsy and getting some weirdness hallucinations in my head. Needed a few moments to rest, that's all." Kim had a few fingers crossed, praying that Wade would believe that lie. "So, what's the sitch?"
"Heh, glad to hear that line come out of you; shows that things are alright for now. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about what I found. The radar was finally able to get something on what's been causing the disturbances, but it's weird. It's showing the ocean, but nothing else to where it is. It's insisting it's in the ocean."
"It's not too weird, right? I mean, it could be something within the water. So we have to swim to get to whatever is causing it. No big."
"Well, I wouldn't be so puzzled if the thing didn't also keep insisting that it was a volcano."
That was what got Kim off guard. A volcano in the middle of an ocean, where there was absolutely no land there was enough to get Kim puzzled, as well. What made matters even more difficult to disprove was that Wade punched up the image on the radar screen of his onto her Kimmunicator, and it only proved that either the radar had finally begun seeing better days, or there was something there that even the radar had a hard time figuring out what exactly it was trying to find.
"A volcano in the water, perhaps," Kim questioned, knowing that that would be the only possible explanation for what she was seeing on the radar.
"Don't know for sure about that, because that's where the disturbances are. From what I can understand, the magnitude of these readings from this area tells me that if this is indeed a volcano, then it was active and getting somewhat close to eruption. The Ring of Fire is in the Pacific Ocean, last I checked, too. Nothing like that in the Atlantic has ever been discovered."
"Are you saying that the thing is on land?"
"The only other reason I could see is that it's an uncharted, landlocked volcano ready to erupt. But that still doesn't explain why the radar viewed it as an imminent threat to everyone. I wouldn't believe for an uncharted island to be inhabited, so no people are in danger on the island. I know I should be smarter than to think that, but I don't want to speculate any more than I already have."
"Keep checking it as much as you can, Wade, please? The radar is usually right, so I'm sure something is fishy about it."
"Already on it, Kim. I'll see what I can get, but I have to be honest with you, I don't know what to make on this, or if this radar can give us anything else on this volcano, if it is even that. I'll let you know if something comes up. In the meantime, you try to get some rest tonight, ok? Don't want the world's best crime fighter to be without her much-deserved sleep," he said with a grin.
"Thanks, Wade," she answered with a smile and a little chuckle. "See ya."
"You too, Kim," Wade ended before the transmission went down.
It was when she ended her conversation that she had reached the Bueno Naco. 'Yeah! Now I have to worry about a volcano that no one knows exists on top of whatever the hell keeps talking to me in my head. Yeah, KP, this day is turning out to be swell.'
-xXXXXx-
Kim had bought her food and sat down across from Ron, Rufus on the table scarfing down the cheese nachos Ron bought for him. Ron had already eaten before she got there, due to her being awfully and uncommonly late. He waited for her at the restaurant, their usual booth, until she got there.
"KP, glad you could make it," he mentioned as she was sitting down to the table. "I don't know how in the world you were able to not sleep. Our street is usually dead quiet."
"It's because you sleep like the dead. Nothing can ever wake you up. It's getting harder for me to go to sleep lately."
"Hmm, I'm not sure if I can agree on that. You're usually Sleeping Beauty waiting to be kissed by that Prince Charming to be woken up. I know you; I've tried to wake you up before your time. It's impossible. Impossible!"
Kim couldn't laugh at those comments. She knew she could, usually. It was then she began to feel her soul erupting. She could not explain what it was that caused her to begin to feel hatred towards the man that was across from her.
"You haven't been there when I couldn't sleep, that's all. I'm telling you, sleep is hard to come by." 'He's pissing me off with this stuff about sleeping. I told him…ugh!'
"Not for me, it isn't. I would sleep all day if I really could, and wanted to."
Kim sighed heavily, though all she could feel were her emotions becoming like an inferno. "So tell me, Ron, why you couldn't have waited for me before you went to eat, huh?"
"I didn't think you were going to show up, thought you were going back to sleep, even, so I just got something to eat. I couldn't take my hunger anymore."
"Oh, so you're own hunger is more important than your best friend, right?"
"Now Kim, wait a minute. This went from me not waiting for you before I ate to suddenly questioning me putting our friendship first. You know me better than that."
"No, you wait a minute, Ron. That was extremely cruel of you," she answered back, her raising her voice even more. Though she felt powerless to stop herself from acting out of anger even she couldn't understand, she continued on, "And, for your information, I have no trouble with my damn sleep, alright! I told you five times that I couldn't sleep last night, so you should just shut up about it! I couldn't sleep, and that's all there is to it!"
"Kim," Ron answered, "calm down. I never meant to..."
"To do what, Ron, huh: to put something important to you over our friendship? To make a rude comment to me about how I sleep? I'm surprised that I even came here, and you should be so lucky I did! And now I'm wishing that I didn't, because all I get from you is you not waiting for me, and some nasty comments!"
"Kim, stop this!" Ron shouted, their voices now catching the attention of a few others in the store. Though Ron turned his head around to catch the curious patrons, Kim couldn't care less.
"No, you little asshole, I won't stop, and you know why? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A DAMN PRICK!" she screamed, slamming the table with a trembling fist.
However, once she slammed her fist on the table, she suddenly froze dead still and looked down at it, as if her slam woke her up from her trance. After a few seconds, she looked at a frightened Ron, and then at the patrons of the Bueno Naco, both in line and in their seats. Everything froze to a standstill, and all other sounds, besides her shortened breaths, ceased.
About ten seconds passed before Kim uttered, "Ron, I'm sorry. Excuse me, just a minute," before sliding out of the booth and heading towards the restroom in haste.
-xXXXXx-
"Oh, my God," Kim said to herself, as, for the second time in the day, she found herself in a restroom, splashing cold water on her face even more so than before. No words this time beyond her three word exclamation. Mirrors were becoming both her best friend and her bane, as she looked into another one as she washed her face.
"See what I told you," the clone's voice said within her mind. "The anger you have. That was only the beginning. It felt good, did it? He really was a prick."
"No, you monster," she trembled. "I hate myself for it. He's my best friend, and it's because of you that I said all that."
"Kim, you didn't get any help from me, I'm afraid. That was all you back there. I'm surprised that you were suddenly jumping gears the way you did. Face it, Kim, you really do think all of that about Ron was true. He is not a true friend to you."
"You sick freak. I told you he's the nicest guy I know. I care a lot about him. I would never in my life question his friendship to me, and you know it. I would do anything for him, how dare you?"
"You just now questioned it, Kim. Didn't you hear yourself ask him if his measly hunger was more important to him than your friendship?"
"Because you pushed me to say it!"
"NO, I DIDN'T!" it screamed, "That was all you saying that! Don't you get it yet, Kim! You're the reason why I'm here! All this anger you don't want anyone seeing, when you're hurting yourself to show it! I'm not going to let you hide it anymore! All I'm doing is to let you see! Nothing more! You'll be the one the express it! As for Ron, well, he deserved everything he got! Hell, I think you'll be going out there and punching him next instead of a wall or a table! Making his face bloody would be the best thing for you, would it?"
"NO, SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! JUST SHUT UP," Kim screamed back.
-xXXXXx-
Ron was recovering from the fallout of Kim's sudden outburst of anger on him. He was at a loss as to what he should think or do next.
He suddenly heard a screaming voice as well as everyone else did from the restroom. "NO, SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! JUST SHUT UP!"
Ron knew immediately who it was. He forgot all about what happened a moment ago and became concerned again.
"KIM!"
To be continued...
So yeah, I decided to redo this one, and I'll see about getting a new chapter up for this. Also be advised that I've been doing the Silver Project Saga (which is a Sailor Moon fanfic series). Let me know what you think (and yes, I know the subject matter for this is unusual. That's the idea.).
Good night, and good luck.
