The cemetery was beautiful. Everything was trimmed grass sectioned off by flower beds, surrounded on most sides by woods that were just big enough to seperate the place from its surroundings. The result was a colourful, peaceful place to lay the recently deceased to rest.
Mourners gathered. Words were spoken. The coffin was lowered into the grave.
The ceremony ended, those assembled began speaking among themselves.
One among them caught a hint of movement at the edge of the woods, a figure they believed they recognised. Excusing themselves with a whisper, they left the congregation for the treeline to seek the figure out.
"Kim? Are you here?"
Lacking a response, but knowing what he'd seen, he ventured deeper into the woods, looking all around. It took a minute of wandering before he found what he was looking for. Or, more accurately, the opposite. "Erik..."
He turned just in time for Kim to rush into him and wrap her arms around his torso, burying her face in his chest. He held her gently, letting her cry quietly for as long as she needed.
"You know they're all over the place, right?" Erik asked when the tears slowed.
"I know. It's supposed to be a trap. Synthodrones and diablos, big ones all around the cemetery and the building, little ones in the woods. Wade made me something..." the teen hero stepped back out of his grip and held up something resembling a toy ray gun, "It's basically a glorified tazer, but it knocks out the small ones. When it recharges."
"How is Wade?" Erik asked, eyeing the weapon dubiously.
"Hiding. Erik, my family... are they okay?"
"Yeah, they're fine, they're at the funeral. More bait, I guess. Kim... do you know what happened?"
Kim tried not to resume crying. "Do you mean to the world, or..."
"Ron." When the teen hero shook her head, Erik explained. "He went to Bueno Nacho while we were at the prom. I don't know exactly what happened... he freaked over something and went to the payphone outside. Maybe he noticed something, or just made the manager nervous, because the little diablos attacked him." He paused, then drew a sympathetic breath as he carefully observed her reactions. "He tried to escape on his scooter, but... it wouldn't start, and... they swarmed him. He was covered in cuts and burns... all over... it wasn't pretty."
That stupid scooter, Kim thought morosely, before asking in a broken voice, "What about Rufus?"
"They're being buried together."
The redhead nodded. "They both would have wanted it that way. It's too bad... I could have used the little guy's help."
"You've got a plan, then."
Another nod, this one more assertive. "The diablos are being controlled by a signal from one location. Kill the transmission, and Drakken's robot army goes back to being kids' toys."
Erik appeared to think it over, then asked, "How can I help?"
The offer surprised Kim, but she quickly turned him down. "No, Erik. If this was just another mission, I'd consider it, but..."
"But what? Kim, I can help," he insisted, looking her in the eye.
"I'm not trying to stop Drakken from taking over the world this time. He's already actually done it."
"It's true then." Erik elaborated when he saw Kim's questioning expression. "We've only gotten snatches of info from outside the tri-city area since the attack ended. The only thing on TV, radio or the net is that mad scientist declaring himself ruler."
"Well, it is true, but not for much longer. Wade's working on a way to get me to Drakken's lair without being detected. It'll be a lot easier for me to do that alone."
"...Okay." Erik didn't sound happy about it, but seemed willing to accept her judgement. "What can I do?"
"Look after my family. Tell them I'm going to stop Drakken, once and for all. He'll pay for what he did to Ron." Suddenly she clutched at him in another hug. "And keep yourself safe too, okay?"
"You're amazing. Good luck, Kim."
"Goodbye, Erik," she gasped, both emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed at the same time. She wasn't sure she would make it back home from this one, but she was certainly going to try...
"Actually these days, I'm known as synthodrone number nine oh one."
