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Chapter 3: Exposed
"Ron, we need to talk," Kim said the next day while the teens waited for the school bus; the distance to Middleton High was a bit too far to go with a wheelchair and Kim's mother had needed the minivan earlier that morning.
"About what?" Ron asked, "You mean what happened to you?"
"Yeah," Kim smiled sadly, "Last night I had this dream…" she was interrupted by the school bus arriving.
Seeing as the bus wasn't the best place to discuss this rather private concern, Kim decided to postpone the talk until after school.
However, during lunch break, Wade called, "Hey guys, did you still want to go to Yamanouchi?"
"Yeah, but I thought we'd planned that for later in the week," Kim said.
"Well, today I've got a plane heading there," Wade explained, "and it's wheelchair accessible."
Kim pondered for a moment; maybe it was best just to get this over with, at least it might take her mind off her dream, "The dream, I still have to talk with Ron."
"Okay Wade," Kim nodded, "We'll go today."
"So how are we going to get to Yamanouchi?" Kim asked when the teens sat in the plane that took them to Japan.
"The plane is going to fly over the school," Wade told, "So you can parachute down."
"So… why did we bring the wheelchair?" Ron asked.
"Uh…well…" Wade chuckled a bit embarrassed, "I guess I forgot about that… I'll have a new one delivered at your home Kim."
"Please and thank you," Kim grinned, but her smile faltered when she thought of the parachuting, "Maybe it's a better idea to just land and walk up there?"
"What!" Ron cried out, "Do you know how long that will take?"
"Well, if there is no-one else around there, I can walk," Kim told.
"What's wrong with parachuting?" Ron asked, "It's not like it's really dangerous."
"Not to me…" Kim thought sadly, "Why can't I just tell him?"
"Ron…" she started, "About that talk…"
"Would you like some refreshments?" The co-pilot interrupted as she walked back to check upon the teens.
"Uh no, thanks," Kim smiled.
"I do," Ron said, gladly accepting a few snacks and something to drink, "What were you saying KP?"
"Well, I had this dream last night," Kim said, "and in it you were really old… and dying. And everyone around me was dead…" tears began to well up in her eyes, "And I don't want to lose you."
Ron put a comforting arm around Kim, "That won't happen."
"How can you know," Kim snivelled, "what if something happens to you? What if you get hurt?"
Ron gasped as he suddenly understood that the roles had been switched; instead of his fear for Kim's well-being, Kim now was having major fears for his health.
But Kim wasn't finished yet, "I've always known we did some pretty dangerous stuff, but I-I figured we'd still be together whatever happened… but now I'll be left behind no matter what happens, and I know it's selfish, but I can't live with that."
"That's not true, and you know it," Kim looked up, shocked at Ron's harsh words, causing him to reel in a bit, "You always took on the dangerous part; fighting with Shego, doing the dangerous climbs and jumps… how do you think I felt when you did that?"
Kim looked down, "I-I didn't know, most of the time you looked too scared to take it up and I figured; well… at least you wouldn't get hurt…"
"I was too scared to do most of that stuff," Ron sighed, "and I still am… but when I see you do those things, it scares me even more… I don't want to lose you anymore than you want to lose me."
"You've had that all that time, and you didn't say anything," Kim gasped, "But how… when?"
"Remember your first mission," Ron asked, "when you were jumping through the laser grid and almost stumbled and fell into the laser?"
"Yeah," Kim nodded.
"Until then I never thought something could ever really hurt you," Ron said, "I mean, you even fell off your bike gracefully the few times you did."
"But still, you could have called it off," Kim objected, "or tell me you thought it was too dangerous, I would have understood… eventually."
"Maybe," Ron admitted, "but you seemed so… alive during the missions that followed, like you finally got a real challenge on your hands."
"I guess you got a point," Kim chuckled embarrassed, "I mean, I like the missions, but if it bothers you too much because I might be endangering myself, you should say so, so we can work around it."
"I'll try," Ron said, "but for now it doesn't really matter."
"I'm not intending on staying indestructible… or immortal for that matter," Kim told, "The sooner we figure this out, the better."
The parachute jump down to the Yamanouchi ninja school went perfectly, although Kim found herself much more nervous in anticipation of Ron's safe landing than usual.
"Stoppable-san, Possible-san," Sensei greeted the teens, "It is good that you could arrive so soon, even though the reason is not a good one."
"I know," Kim muttered, "we were hoping you would have an idea on how to remove this curse."
"I am sorry Possible-san," Sensei told, "it is not in my power to apply or remove a curse of this magnitude, that power is only available to the masters who guard it."
"Which is those Egyptian priests, right?" Ron asked, earning him a nod from Sensei, "And do you know how to find them?"
"The priests of Anubis have disappeared a long time ago," Sensei said, "however, there are several scrolls held in the Yamanouchi School that may give insight in what happened to the control of the power."
"Can we see those scrolls?" Kim asked.
"Not directly," Sensei explained sadly, "only a guardian of power and the holder of the power may look upon the scrolls that are key to their power."
"But KP hold the power," Ron objected, "So she can look upon it, right?"
"Only if she is truly immortal," Sensei said hesitantly.
Kim frowned, "So what am I supposed to do? Some radical dangerous action?"
"No," Sensei held up a small vial containing a transparent red liquid, "You have to drink this poison."
"But why?" Ron asked, partly refusing to let Kim try out anything that dangerous, even though technically she should be able to survive it.
"There is a catch," Kim said, it was not a question.
"Yes," Sensei nodded sadly, "Once you drink this poison and show yourself to be immortal, you will begin to know the implications to their fullest."
"Like my dream?" Kim asked and she shortly told about the dream she had the night before.
"Yes," Sensei nodded, "As I feared, due to the car accident you are already obtaining more understanding of the implications of your curse."
"Why was that part of the deal anyway," Ron angrily interrupted, "what is it with magic and all these catches?"
"No power can be gained without a price to be paid," Sensei explained, "the greater the power, the steeper the price."
"This means the dreams will come back worse, huh?" Kim gulped, but she still accepted the vial, "Well, guess I'll just have to hold out until we fix this."
The redhead took a deep breath, closed her eyes and drank the contents of the vial.
"KP, no!" Ron cried, but Kim had already emptied the vial.
"Guess that wasn't too bad," Kim sighed as she looked at the empty vial, "Now let's get going, I want to get rid of this as soon as I can."
Ron paced around, anxiously waiting for Kim and Sensei to come back out of the small shrine where the special scrolls were held; he had not been allowed to enter despite his protests that he had some standing as he had been exposed to the Mystical Monkey Powers.
"I am sorry Stoppable-san," Sensei had told, "It is too dangerous to let anyone but the guardian and the holder of the power read from the scroll."
Finally, Kim and Sensei exited; Kim still having a somewhat sad expression.
"KP, did you find anything?"
"Maybe," Kim told, "but first we have to find the lost temple of Anubis' doorstep."
"What's in there?" Ron asked, but Kim explained that she was not allowed to tell much more on it. Sensei emphasized on this, telling again that it would be highly dangerous to learn of the secrets about the great powers.
Fortunately, Sensei was so kind to lend the Yamanouchi helicopter to bring the teens to the nearest airport where Wade had a plane ready to bring them back home, the technical genius also promised to begin searching for the temple immediately.
On the plane ride back to Middleton, Ron was about to nod off when he noticed Kim was reading in one of the books from the small stack she had brought with her, "You're not going to sleep a little?"
"No," Kim sighed, "I'm afraid the nightmares will come back… besides, I don't actually need sleep, just like I don't technically need anything to stay alive. I just have to have something to keep me awake."
Ron sat back up, "Do you really think you can hold on that long?"
Kim looked down, "I don't really see another way, and I know I don't want to have those nightmares again."
"Come here," Ron gently pulled Kim in a hug, "I know those dreams must be terrible, but maybe it's better to face them rather than avoid them at all costs, and I'll be there when the nightmares end."
"I guess you're right," Kim pulled closer to Ron, "just promise to stay here, okay?"
"Always," Ron smiled as Kim put her head in the nook of his shoulder.
The teens were about to doze off when the Kimunicator chimed.
"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked.
"It's Drakken and Shego," Wade told, "Drakken has built some kind of ray that will make mosquitoes grow and he's about to use it."
"This again?" Kim groaned, "I thought he'd given up on that plan when heating the oceans with his laser failed utterly."
"I guess he's trying a more direct approach this time," Ron chuckled; knowing full well that growing the mosquitoes had only been phase one of Drakken's complicated scheme, the teens had never found out what the other phases were.
"It's on your route," Wade explained, "I understand you still have to play injured so I've also notified GJ but I'm not sure how much time we have left before Drakken starts up his ray."
"We'll do it," Kim told, "I could use some action."
It didn't take long for the teens to arrive at Drakken's lair.
"Could you scout ahead a bit?" Kim asked as she struggled to get the leg cast off, "I'll be there in a few. And don't confront them, okay?"
"What do you think?" Ron smirked, "I've only gone up alone against Shego a couple of times, and it wasn't pretty."
"Just be careful," Kim told, increasing her effort of sliding the uncooperative cast off.
Of course, Ron and being careful don't always go together that well, but this time he just had plain bad luck; As he walked around the corner, he bumped into Shego. The green skinned woman recovered first and grabbed him, "Where's Possible?"
But before Ron could answer, Shego got another idea and dragged the boy to the main room of the lair, "Dr. D, I captured the buffoon, Kim Possible is probably also nearby."
"Good," Drakken grinned in his best evil way, "Tie the buffoon up, this time I will take out Kim Possible myself."
As Shego tied Ron up to some equipment, she sighed when she saw Drakken take position next to the door with a large baseball bat held above his head, "That's not going to work, remember last time you tried that?"
"I stood there for an hour," Drakken growled, "my arms hurt for three days after, but this time Kim Possible will arrive shortly… right?"
Shego looked at Ron, who nodded, "Yeah, she's here too, but I don't think…"
The villainess shut Ron up again, "That's enough, I don't want you distracting Dr. D or warning Kimmie. Drakken deserves to win at least once."
"I heard that," Drakken growled, but at that moment the door opened and Kim walked in, "Ron?"
With precision and strength unprecedented for Drakken, the blue villain slammed the baseball bat down on Kim's head. Unfortunately for Drakken Kim did not budge and the bat bounced back and hit him in the face.
Kim looked confused at Drakken for a moment before she understood what had happened, "Oops, sorry Drakken."
As Drakken laid on the ground, holding his hands over his face and whimpering in pain, Shego stared at Kim in disbelief, "What just happened?"
"I'd say Drakken hits like a girl," Ron joked, earning him a glare from both Kim and Shego, "I mean weaker than a girl," he quickly tried to recover, "weaker than you two."
Shego turned her attention back to Kim, "That's not what happened, you should have at least felt him hit you. You got a new upgrade?"
Deciding that denying wouldn't help against Shego, Kim nodded, "Yeah, so you better give up because there is no way you can beat me."
Shego flared up her hands, "We'll see about that."
In the meantime, Ron had been struggling to get free. But when he finally got himself out he heard the whining of machinery and when he looked back he noticed that his struggling had unhooked a couple of power cables.
"No! The cooling fans!" Drakken cried and ran over to Ron, on his face was still the red mark of where the baseball bat had hit him, "You're ruining everything."
Before Drakken was able to reattach all the cables, a stray plasma bolt melted the cables to a pile of rubble, "Shego!"
"Sorry Dr. D," Shego muttered, not feeling sorry at all; she had been trying to hit Kim for a while now, but the redhead kept dodging every plasma ball, "Stand still."
"Forget it," Kim smirked, "What's the challenge in that?"
Suddenly, Drakken's machine began to whine loudly before exploding and collapsing half the lair.
"Ron, get out of here," Kim told as she tried to push a heavy metal beam off her leg.
Shego approached the younger girl with a smirk on her face, "So you can take quite a hit without having much trouble? Well, at least you're sitting still now."
"Cut it out Shego," Kim snapped as she fended off Shego's plasma with one hand, "You can't hurt me anyway."
"Really?" Shego grinned, "What about that?" the villainess pointed at Kim's arm.
Kim looked and gulped when she saw that her glove and part of her sleeve were burned off, "You wouldn't…" the redhead doubled her efforts in freeing herself from the large metal bar.
"Oh, I would," Shego smirked as she increased the fire on her hands.
Ron was sure he saw the remains of the lair shake with the power Shego was putting out, and occasionally green flames burst out of parts of the lair.
He was about to ignore Kim's warning and head in anyway when Shego came out, panting heavily from the extreme workout but with a huge grin on her face.
"Princess is in there, she really needs you," the villainess smirked before heading over to the spot where Drakken was waiting in the hovercraft.
"What did you do Shego?" Drakken demanded, "This was a time-share lair, I surely lost my entire deposit now."
"Can it Dr. D," Shego said, "move us up a bit, I want to watch."
"KP?" Ron called as he entered the still slightly burning lair, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," came a weak voice from a partly collapsed hallway.
"What happened?" Ron asked as he ran over to where he heard Kim.
"Stop! Wait," Kim yelled.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked again, "Please, just tell me."
Kim's head appeared, looking from over some rubble; her hair was dishelved and full with ash and dust, but further she looked fine.
"Shego did find something to stop me," Kim sounded miserable.
"Did she hurt you?" Ron began walking towards Kim again.
"No, Stop!" Kim yelled frantically, causing Ron to stop again, "But she found out my clothes weren't so… indestructible."
Ron gasped, suddenly understanding why Kim was still hiding behind the rubble, "Did she…"
"No, she didn't see me," Kim told, "I managed to free myself and hide in the hallway, but she burned everything down around me until my clothes caught fire as well."
Ron looked back at the entrance of the lair where Shego no doubt was waiting; probably with a camera ready, the villainess wouldn't let this chance to humiliate Kim go.
Kim's eyes widened as Ron began taking off his sweater, "Ron! So not the way to deal with this."
"Don't worry," Ron grinned, revealing he had a shirt on beneath his sweater, "And I've brought an extra pair of pants in my backpack, just in case."
He tossed the items of clothing over to Kim, who quickly put them on, "Thanks Ron."
The sweater was way too large on Kim, fitting her almost like a skirt, and she had to put the belt buckle on its tightest to prevent the pants from falling off, but at least she could walk out of the lair without facing utter humiliation by Shego.
Going commando in boy's clothes wasn't the greatest, but it was better than nothing. Fortunately, a Global Justice jet arrived before Shego could try anything else and she and Drakken made a quick getaway.
If the Global Justice agents were surprised to see Kim back in full health or by what she was wearing, they didn't show it when they brought the teens back to Middleton.
Once Kim was back into some more comfortable clothing, the Possible and Stoppable families got together to decide on how to go on from here.
"Drakken and Shego know about me being indestructible," Kim told, "They'll sure spread the word, and it won't take long for the news to reach Perkins."
"Especially with the coming villains convention," Ron added, "Monkey Fist will probably receive word of it as well."
"I'm not that concerned about Monkey Fist," Kim said, "I can't tell too much of what I've read on that scroll at Yamanouchi, but I think it's safe to say he can't get the power from me."
"Well, that's something," Ron smiled.
"So what do we do about Hank Perkins," Ron's father asked, "The moment he finds out you didn't actually sustain any damage from the car accident, he'll try to get as much out of it as possible."
"I have an idea," Kim smirked, "but I think we have to discuss it with our family lawyer as well."
Kim shortly explained her plan, earning her nods from the rest of the families, "It could work, but you have to play it right or the surprise won't work." Mr. Dr. Possible said.
"And you have to start wearing the leg cast again," Kim's mother told.
"Fine," Kim sighed, "oh, Jim and Tim, remember that offer you had for me? I'd like to take it up."
"Hoosha!" The twins cheered simultaneously.
Drakken stood at one of the tables at the villains' convention, eating from a small pile of snacks he had gathered. He wasn't in a particularly good mood, seeing as his plans had been foiled and he had nothing to brag about. Shego, on the other hand, was having a great time; telling everyone about her latest encounter with Kim Possible and how she had humiliated the girl. Of course, funny as the anecdote was, without any video material most villains quickly lost attention.
The blue villain shook his head, wondering whether Shego was getting too much carried away with her victory.
"Is it true?" a voice next to him suddenly called, Drakken looked up to see Monkey Fist standing next to him, "Did she really blast off all of Possible's clothes while leaving her unharmed?"
"She seemed unharmed when she got out of the remains of the lair," Drakken pondered, just realising how unlikely that actually was, "And when I clubbed her on the head it didn't do much to her either."
"Interesting…" the simian villain smiled vaguely before leaving again.
Before Drakken had time to think about it though, someone else caught is attention by tapping him on the shoulder, "Hank Perkins?"
"Hello Dr. Drakken," the sleek counsellor smiled, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, did you say that Kim Possible was fully healthy?"
"It seemed like it," Drakken told, "She dodged Shego's attacks easily, why do you ask?"
"Just curious," Hank said before heading over to Shego to hear the green skinned woman out about her latest encounter with Kim Possible.
"What is it with everyone and walking away after just one question?" Drakken muttered, "Is it too much to ask to stay for a short conversation?"
"I'll talk to you," A familiar and highly annoying voice said. Turning around, Drakken faced Frugal Lucre, "I've got plenty of questions."
Suddenly Drakken wished he had stayed home to fix up the lair.
"We got this," Hank Perkins ensured Rick Lumen as they prepared the last bit before the court, "I've done some digging on Miss Possible's condition and I'm sure we can take full advantage of it."
"Okay," Rick nodded, "As long as you can keep me out of jail, I'm good."
They entered the courtroom and waited for the others to enter.
Hank grinned when he saw the Possible and Stoppable families enter; only Kim and Ron were still missing, no doubt having difficulties with the wheelchair.
The attorney chuckled, if only they knew how he would use that against them.
But when Kim and Ron came walking in holding hands and Kim showed no sign at all of having been injured, Hank's smile faltered.
"What are they up to?" he pondered, but then he shrugged; most of his plan still stood, although it may have gotten a little more difficult to convince the judge, but he was sure he could still pull it off.
A/N: Sorry for the longer wait, I hope you liked the chapter. I appreciate reviews.
