As with any good action movie, Ron's senses seemed to slow down so Shego's blast almost seemed to crawl across the short distance to the Chorlix. He saw the surprise on her face at the sheer power of the blast; saw the way the Chorlix tentacles writhed and tried to evade the wrinkled bolts of green lightning. He watched the sliver of green just brush a tentacle that was fractionally too slow, and saw the undulating tube silently split. The halves sprayed sparks, and the ends twitched frantically. The air became thick with emotion, whether from those around the Chorlix, or the Chorlix itself, Ron couldn't tell.

Then time sped back up to normal, and chaos reigned.

A mighty whumpf emanated from the glowing strands of light, knocking everyone on their butts. Within an instant, however, two of Tana's companions appeared next to Shego and gripped her arms in what looked like a painful move. Shego glared at them, but didn't try to force herself free, just stood up and watched the rest of the group with a mixture of defiance and unease.

Kim and Ron both watched the split rope of light as it flopped around the other threads within the Chorlix. Yuma stood up next to the pair, and watched intently, whites around her eyes showing clearly. Of the advanced humans, Malcolm seemed the most moved; he appeared almost near tears. "No…" he whispered, over and over. Tana just glared at Shego, then moved in front of the green villainess and her sponsor.

Extending her arm, Tana poked a finger onto Morla's chin. "This cannot be forgiven." Morla, smiling, seemed to dissolve like milk poured into coffee.

Tana turned to Shego, her finger still extended. Ron and Kim both yelled, "No!" just before the finger touched Shego's face, and Tana hesitated. "You can't do that!" Kim yelled, and ran to stand by Shego. "We won't let you." Ron puffed up beside her, torn but siding with Kim as always.

"Even after what you just witnessed? You have no concept of what was shattered! Even we don't understand the ramifications of this action." Crazy sparks of light from the Chorlix made her eyes seem even more intense.

"That's murder. That's not what we came here for."

Shego tossed her head. "I don't need your protection, Princess." But she didn't protest too hard.

Tana thought for a moment, then lowered her hand. "Very well. You assume responsibility for this one." The two holding Shego's arms released her, and the three advanced humans retreated.

Shego pointedly didn't thank Kim. Tossing her hair again, she said, "Now what?"

The voice of the Chorlix spoke. "As we said, this was a risk for us as well as you. This place is a meeting ground, one we cannot access directly. We have no way of healing the harm that has been inflicted on us. As you watch, an entire universe is dying – untold sentient creatures, their entire thought and life and history, fading from all existences. We are lessened."

Kim strode up to face the glowing cords. "Well, is there anything we can do? We're really sorry about this, and we'll help if we can." The dancing lights from the Chorlix shone over her face, casting odd shadows, but Ron watched her determination and never found her more beautiful.

Silence for nearly a minute. Then, the Chorlix replied, "There is a way, but the price is high. You will not survive."

Ron and Kim stepped forward at the same time. "I'll do it," each said, then looked at one another defiantly.

Kim put her hand gently on Ron's chest. "Ron, you know this is something I have to do. It's who I am." A single tear slid down her cheek, sparkling from the light of the Chorlix.

Ron wanted to argue, to yell, to persuade, even sling her over his shoulder and drag her out of the way – as if she'd let him. All sorts of arguments began to form in his head, but even before he opened his mouth, he knew she was right. Helping people was her thing. Helping Kim was his.

Surrounded by multiply-evolved humans on a plain under a missing sky, with the super-intelligent consciousness of dozens of universes undulating in front of them, Kim and Ron faced each other, all else ignored. Fingers intertwined, they leaned together in a last kiss. All the long centuries of sharing one anothers' lives was reflected in the gentle touching of lips… habits and impulses and muscle twitches and sighs and desires all known and shared intimately. Knowing it was the very last time made them both savor it all the more. Thoughts and emotions twined around one another through wetware links, until their entire consciousnesses were focused on their lips. With a slight intake of breath, Kim drew back and broke contact. Unnoticed tears streaked down her face as they faced one another. There was absolutely nothing either of them could say that they didn't already know.

All the long years, all the disappointment of watching others have a family, children, grandchildren… all the accomplishments and discoveries, everything… something had kept her going. Even during those tough first 50,000 years, in another timeline where she was despised and Ron was stranded on another planet, she hadn't given up. And she wasn't giving up now, no matter how it felt. Her mind could easily justify trading her life for untold billions or trillions.

But her heart ached for Ron's loss after she was gone.

With a shudder, Kim turned away from Ron and faced the Chorlix. "What do I need to do?"

"Grab both ends of the stricken cord. Hold on. You will know what to do."

Everyone was watching her, but Kim was used to that. Striding forward with more confidence than she really felt, she watched the flipping cord of light and timed her grab. She had to stretch tall to get the top part, but once snagged she had a firm grip, and the bottom half was easier. She knew she held them, but she felt no pressure from holding anything – it was like holding air. The spasms of the cord damped immediately after she grabbed it.

She'd know what to do, would she? Nothing was happening. Thinking to heal the break, she brought the two ends back together, and then started to feel something. And it wasn't fun. A buzzing in her head threatened to damp out her vision, and her teeth rattled. It felt something like an electrical shock (which she'd experienced numerous times) coupled with an earthquake in a blender. She held on and held on, willing the ends to reunite, but she couldn't tell if anything was happening. The two ends didn't want to flap around, which was good, but she couldn't tell if the tear was mending. Moment after moment, she strained to hold the two ends firm, but her strength failed surprisingly fast. Just before blacking out, she finally felt an intelligence from the strand.

"No."

With a sudden jerk, both ends flew out of Kim's grasp, and she stumbled backwards. She would've fallen if Ron hadn't been there to catch her. Massive gasps drew in flavourless air, and soon her heart rate came back to normal. Vision returned, and strength flowed back into her arms and legs. Swallowing through a dry mouth, she looked up at Ron as he cradled her in his lap. "Did it work?"

Wordlessly, Ron looked over at the Chorlix. The broken cable of light twitched its ends, showing no sign of Kim's efforts.

Kim looked at the Chorlix. "Why didn't it work? Wasn't I strong enough?"

Once again, the voice was delayed, but finally answered, "You had strength, but you lack something essential. Intent is as important as deed. There is a spectrum – the one who did this is at one end of the spectrum. You are at the other. We need assistance from one who contains both ends of the spectrum."

"Yo."

Kim looked up at Ron, who had just raised his hand. "Ron, no!"

Ron smiled down at Kim, whose head still lay in his lap. "If I wasn't a good guy, you wouldn't have anything to do with me, would you? But I'm also Zorpox the Great, remember. I think he just described me.

"It's my turn."

Struggling out of his lap, Kim threw her arms around Ron. Now she knew how he felt, each time she dove into the mouth of the dragon. But this time was for keeps.

Disentengling himself from Kim, Ron turned and quickly strode to the Chorlix and grabbed both ends. Without pause, he brought the ends together, and his hair stood on end. Light showed through his skin. After a few seconds, a bright light engulfed Ron and the Chorlix. When it cleared, the broken strand was whole once again.

Ron lay on the ground, motionless.

Without a word, Kim knelt down, turned Ron over. His face was peaceful, hair askew as always, but his limbs had a looseness that told the true story. Yuma reached down, and gently closed his eyes. A single tear fell on her adopted father's face before she withdrew.

Kim drew a shuddering breath. Just a few moments before, she had been thinking about what had kept her going. Even without Ron those first few thousand years, she persevered. After they were reunited, she kept going on. Despite her increased longing for a family of her own, she didn't allow despair to overcome her. She now realized that even the slim chance of having a family with Ron was what kept her getting up, day after day.

Now even that slim hope was gone. Her reason for existence was gone. She didn't cry, didn't rail against his choice. But her shoulders slumped. It was over.

A strong hand grabbed her arm, pulled her to her feet. Shego's bright green eyes drilled into Kim's slack face, and the villainess gave Kim a little shake. "I didn't wind my way through the intestines of time to get dumped into a universe where you just give up," Shego snapped. "So do your mourning and let's get out of here!"

The non-sequitur of Shego reaching out to Kim snapped her out of her fugue. She nodded woodenly, stepped out of Shego's grip. With one last look behind her, she turned away and began walking.

Ron's corpse cooled behind her.