Authors Note: Once again many thanks go out to those who have read and reviewed. I'm happy that so many people are enjoying this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
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It had been a few days since his last mission and Ron was getting restless. He had so few places to vent his increasing levels of anger and aggression. The football field and weight lifting could only do so much. He had truly become a force on the field, where he was more likely to plow through defenders than evade them as a running back normally would.
No, this just wouldn't do at all. He needed the missions. They were a legitimate way to unleash his rage. Most of the time he didn't even know why he was angry anymore. All he knew is that many times now he would just get angry for no reason. He felt bored, restless, anxious. He felt the need to get out and do something. And that was where the missions came in.
Surprisingly, his anger was not directed at Kim. He could only get so upset over what Kim had done over a month ago. In fact many times now he just laughed at the past situation and how upset he used to be. Perhaps that was the acceptance step in the five stages of grief. Perhaps that was his way of handling the pain it brought.
He missed her sometimes. Not the current image of her that he had in his mind of course. He didn't miss the liar, the cheater, the Kim who had betrayed him. He missed the old Kim. He missed his best friend. Sure, he loved his new friends. Who wouldn't? They understood him in a way that only guys could understand other guys. They introduced him to a whole new world, one he never would have dared touch had he still been with Kim. It was something he genuinely enjoyed these days too. Always the optimist, he could at least note that as something that came out of the whole Kim mess.
And that's what he was doing right now. He was sitting in Mike's room, with his newly repaired window. Mike had of course forgiven him about the earlier Lotus Blade incident. There was absolutely no way of knowing something like that would have happened. That was one thing that Ron liked about his new friends. No matter how much they insulted and messed around with each other, they were always ready to forgive them for their misdoings. That was what true friends did after all. They forgave the mistakes of those who had wronged them.
"So Ron, going to the dance with anyone on Friday?" Sean asked.
Ron took another hit from the joint before passing it onto Mike. After holding it in for a few seconds he exhaled it before responding to his friend.
"No one to go with. I mean, I don't really know anyone at the school or anything."
"Yeah but dude, you're like a popular kid now."
"Me? Popular?" Ron asked sounding surprised.
"Yeah man. You're the big star football player guy. Probably the most popular guy on the team."
"I never thought about that."
"Well you have three days left to ask someone. I mean, homecoming is a big thing. And then the game on Saturday? Huge weekend for the school."
"Since when do you care about the school?"
"Fuck homecoming, and fuck dances," Nick chimed in.
"Says the guy who couldn't get anyone to go with," Mike smiled.
The rest of the boys laughed as Nick mumbled something under his breath.
"Hey, go with Nick's sister. She's kinda hot."
"You son of a bitch!" Nick yelled at Mike.
"He's right you know Ron. And I think she kinda likes you too," Sean added.
"Stay away from my sister asshole!"
"She did talk to me the other day about stuff…" Ron said thoughtfully.
"No. No. No. Don't even think about it man."
"What do you care Nick?" Mike asked. "Don't you and your sister like hate each other?"
"That doesn't mean I want some guy trying to get in her pants tomorrow night."
Ron put an expression of mock hurt on his face at those words.
"Oh come on, Ron's not like that and you know it. Ron wouldn't know what to do if she was sitting on him naked."
"Hey!" Ron said, this time genuinely insulted.
"Sorry man, but in all fairness, you wouldn't ever try to snake your way into a girls pants. You're too nice of a guy."
"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"
Mike took a while before responding. The weed was starting to take an effect.
"Um, because I thought my way was better."
It didn't take long before the others too felt the effects of the drug. With the amount they had smoked combined with a room full of smoke, it took around ten minutes before they started to lose track of the conversation.
"So, I, um, am going to ask who again?" Ron asked.
"Sarah," Mike said.
Nick began to laugh.
"Dude that's my sisters name too!"
"Idiot," Mike laughed as well.
"Oh wait, you're talking about my sister. That's right. You fuckers."
More laughter erupted from the boys.
"Dude Ron check it out," Sean said. "I was reading the other day, and there are like, um, these guys who do drugs."
"No, really?" Mike said sarcastically.
"Shut up dude I'm not finished."
"Well hurry up then."
"Okay so there are these guys who like did drugs, and then killed people."
"Killed people?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, they were like assassins and stuff."
"Sweet."
"So um, what was my point again? Oh yeah. They were called like, hashassers, or hash something. Hashashin, that's it!"
"That sounds like assassin!" Nick said.
"No shit, that's where it came from!"
"Anyway, Ron, on your next mission, you need to like, um, do drugs and stuff. That would be totally sweet!"
Ron began to laugh as an effect of the drug combined with the talking. Even the most boring or mundane conversation could make someone laugh who was under the influence of weed.
"Sounds like fun," Ron said.
And truth be told, it did sound like fun to Ron. These days he was seeking greater thrills from his life. He sought not only new ways to unleash his disturbing amount of aggressive energy, but also new ways to feel alive. Luckily the missions fulfilled both of those. Perhaps doing drugs while on a mission would be a good way to get the next thrill from his life.
"So you're gonna do it?"
"Yeah. Hook me up with some weed before a mission, and I'll become one of those hash dudes."
"Dude, you know what we're like?" Nick asked."
The others didn't reply vocally, but just looked at him waiting for a response.
"We're like those kids from That 1670's Show sitting around smoking the peace pipe. We even have a foreign kid."
"Hey fuck you," Mike retorted.
"What, I didn't say anything bad about Bulgaria."
The four continued to smoke and chat, talking about the future, TV, or whatever else came to mind. But one thought that kept crossing Ron's mind was the red headed girl from That 1670's Show, and how he was once friends with one too.
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As soon as Ron had gotten home his cell phone began to vibrate. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was Wade, which could only mean one thing. He smiled as he answered.
"Yo Wade. Mission time?"
"Hey Ron. Mission time indeed."
"Who, what, where, and when?
"Dementor has apparently gotten his hands on the pandimensional vortex inducer… again. You're going to be heading out to his lair in the Swiss Alps, about 30 miles outside of Bern. Your ride will be there in twenty minutes."
"Global Justice?"
"Yeah, considering you didn't do any favors for anyone, G.J. is the one source I can use for rides for you."
"Hey, I did plenty with Kim that could count as favors."
"Yeah, but the problem is they only really remember Kim. Setting a ride up for you alone would be difficult."
"Typical."
"Anyway Ron, just be ready."
"Yeah, I just hope it isn't Du this time."
"Out of my control Ron. Sorry."
"No b-, no problem man."
As soon as Ron hung up he gathered up his mission clothes in preparation for his assignment. Armed with the Lotus Blade he was quite confident he would be able to defeat the Teutonic terror known as Professor Dementor. This was also the ideal opportunity to unleash his aggression on someone deserving of it.
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Kim was in the middle of doing homework when she heard the tell-tale beeping of her kimmunicator. This could only mean one thing. It was mission time. But more importantly, it was Ron time.
What would she say?
Since coming up with the plan to meet him on a mission, she had had days to come up with what she was going to say to him. An apology would of course be the first thing. He deserved one after all. Looking back on it, it amazed her just how much of a jerk she was to her former best friend. Some friend she had been. She had been so wrapped up with how perfect Josh was that she forgot how perfect Ron was for her. Not just in a romantic way, but also in a friend way. They were seemingly meant to be together.
Each of them had faults, no doubt. But it was the other person who would make those faults bearable. Ron had a tendency to not take things seriously and be lazy, so Kim was always there to help motivate him and keep him going. Kim on the other hand tended to be impatient and an overachiever and Ron was there to make her sit back and relax, and enjoy the ride known as life. Kim knew one thing for sure, she missed her friend.
"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked, already knowing the answer.
"I set up Ron with a ride to Dementor's Swiss lair about ten minutes ago. He should be leaving soon."
"What about my ride?"
"It was tricky to get two Global Justice rides this close together to the same place, but I managed."
"Why does it need to be G.J.?"
"Their hoverjets travel at near supersonic speeds, so you can get on the other side of the world fairly quickly. And since that's what Ron is using, you need the same thing."
"Makes sense."
"So anyway like I told Ron, your ride will be there in about twenty minutes. So you'll be ten minutes behind him, should give you enough time to assist him if he needs the help, then get on with your plan."
"Thanks Wade. This really means a lot to me."
"No problem Kim. That's what friends are for."
The screen went blank and Kim breathed a heavy sigh. This was it. This was her chance to try to rebuild her friendship with Ron. She couldn't, wouldn't mess this up. Outside of her family, no one in the world meant more to her than Ron. She only hoped that he still felt somewhat the same about her.
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Freefalling. It had always been something Ron had hated. Why, he couldn't say for sure. It's not as if it would make much of a difference how far into the jump he was if his parachute decided to fail. Maybe it was just the feeling of utter helplessness. The harsh stinging wind whipping against his face didn't feel too good either. But he had promised himself to make an effort to not pull his cord right after bailing out of the plane. He had many flaws and quirks, no doubt about that. But they wouldn't be so glaring if he at least made an effort to change his ways.
The landing was a bit harsher than he would have liked, but at least he was within walking distance of his target. Scanning the area there didn't appear to be any sentries around to stop him or inform the people in the lair of his approach. At least that was something that was going his way.
Ron swiftly and silently made his way to the lair and proceeded to use his grappling hook to get to the roof of the lair. As he had done in his previous mission against Duff Killigan, he took the Lotus Blade and decided to hack his way through the HVAC ventilation system. He crawled inside and proceeded to wherever the light was coming from.
Using his blade once more, he cut through the metal of the vent and descended to the floor in a not so graceful manner. Picking himself up off the floor and dusting himself off, he realized he was in what appeared to be the main control room of the lair. Dumb luck or dumb skill, whichever one they wanted to attribute his success to, Ron had found his target.
His presence did not go unnoticed by Dementor and his henchmen, however. He had cause a bit of noise with his landing, but even if he had not there was still no way that he would have been able to evade detection.
That was when Ron felt the affects of the weed he had smoked begin to kick in. He knew he only had precious minutes until his reaction time would be severely affected by the drugs. But he wasn't going to become a Hashshashin by going into the mission clean.
"Vhat is this, ze sidekick?" Dementor asked in surprise.
"Hey dude, I'm no ones sidekick anymore," Ron countered.
Dementor waved his hands to dismiss what Ron had said.
"It does not matter. Henchmen, ATTACK!"
Slowly Dementor's gray-clad henchmen rose from their seats and began to move in towards Ron.
In typical henchman form, they had decided to attack Ron one by one.
"It's a good thing Dementor is too cheap to hire competent goons," Ron thought.
The first of the henchmen charged headlong at Ron, who merely sidestepped the sluggish man and threw him face first into the wall about ten feet behind him. He was soon followed by the second man, but Ron decided not to let him off the hook so easily. He thrust his elbow into the face of the oncoming henchman and was rewarded with the sickening crunching sound of elbow connecting with cartilage. The man in gray stumbled backwards before receiving a boot to the abdomen and quickly collapsed to the floor in agony holding his ruined and bleeding nose.
The third henchmen had snuck up behind Ron and tackled him to the ground, forcing him to drop the Lotus Blade. Ron was able to flip over on his back trying to get the man off of him, but his arms were quickly pinned to the floor. The henchman smiled in satisfaction, knowing his superior bulk prevented Ron from escaping. What he didn't expect was the savage head-butt Ron delivered to his nose, relieving the pressure on the young mans body. This was followed by a knee to the mans groin, which sent him slumping sideways off of Ron. Pressing his advantage Ron stood and brutally kicked the stomach of the downed henchman, incapacitating him and leaving him laying beside his bloody companion.
Ron went and picked up the Lotus Blade and transformed it into its trusty staff form. Gripping it tightly in both hands he looked at the remaining henchmen with a glare in his eyes, as if warning them beforehand not to approach him. The henchmen did look at him more warily now after seeing what he had done to their companions.
But of course, that didn't stop the goons from trying.
Another henchman ran at Ron only to receive one end of the Lotus Staff into his gut which forced him to double over in pain. Wasting no time, Ron took the staff and smashed it over the back of the hired thug.
With a fourth henchman out of the fight, Ron was left only facing one, who visibly flinched at the loud screaming of Dementor in German. Ron didn't understand what he was saying, but by his tone it couldn't be anything nice.
Deciding to take the offensive for once, Ron rushed at his opponent holding his staff in a two handed grip, and proceeded to swing it as hard as he could. The henchman tried to block it with his arms and succeeded, but in the process his arms were of course injured. No longer able to use them to defend himself, Ron was left with a clear shot at the henchman's head, which he gleefully took. With that swing the last henchman was out of the fight and Dementor was now defenseless.
It was a good thing the fight ended when it did, because now Ron was completely stoned. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his bottle of Jack Daniels and took a swig from it. After he was through gagging, he put it away and looked at Dementor.
"Vhat's wrong sidekick, can't handle you're liquor?" Dementor asked playfully.
"What's it to you… you… yellow guy," Ron asked before he started laughing.
"I do not understand, vhat is so funny?"
"I dunno man. You're just like, whoa, and stuff."
"I see…"
"Now here's the fun part," Ron grinned as he stumbled over to Dementor. "Now I get to hurt you!"
A look of fear took over in Dementor's eyes as he heard these words. He looked on at his fallen henchmen and realized that the sidekick was a very real threat. He also had no problem hurting those who stood in his way. That left only one option.
"Very vell, I surrender."
"You surrender? SURRENDER? There's no surrendering in baseball!" Ron screamed. "Or is it crying… I can never remember which."
"I'm afraid I do not understand… again…"
"You want to understand, understand this!"
Ron smashed the Lotus Staff into Dementor's torso, causing the tiny man to double over and hold his side. He looked up into Ron's glazed eyes, with terror in his own.
"I told you I surrender!"
"Well, how about this. I don't care!"
Ron brought the staff down once more on his helpless opponent, forcing Dementor down to a knee.
"Speaking of baseball…"
Ron changed the Lotus Staff into a metal baseball bat. Ron looked at his new weapon with pride and took a batting stance with the bat in both hands.
"Now batting… uh, whatever number he is, Todd Helton!" he said as if acting like a public address announcer. "I guess it would be more effective if I were left handed. Oh well."
Ron took a hard swing at Dementor which brought the villain down once and for all.
"And what's with that fucking helmet of yours anyway. You look so stupid with it! Why do you wear it!"
Ron knew he wouldn't get an answer from his fallen foe. He was just venting his frustration and anger. Hurting others dulled his own pain.
He took another swing at Dementor, causing the villain to curl up in a feeble attempt to defend himself. But as long as they were the only people involved in this fight, Dementor stood little chance of causing Ron to stop.
Ron raised the bat once more, until he heard a voice he never expected to hear.
"Ron!"
It sent chills down his spine. His entire body froze; his fingers lost their grip on the bat which fell to the floor. He couldn't move for a few seconds. Slowly but surely, he turned around to see the source of his discomfort. And there she was.
Kim.
"Ron what are you doing!" she said horrified.
Ron didn't answer. He just stared at her. Even if he hadn't been stoned, he doubted he would have been able to come up with anything to say.
Kim walked over to the two, the entire time having to walk around fallen henchmen. As she approached Ron, she began to notice the details of his appearance. What she saw terrified her.
His eyes were glazed and bloodshot. Underneath them were large black bags, probably due to lack of sleep. His hair was a mess, even more so than she remembered. But his eyes, there was just something so different about them. No longer was there the goofy, happy go lucky friend she once knew. Now she could only see a mix of anger and sadness in them. It truly made her feel depressed inside to see him this way.
"Ron… what have you done to yourself?"
Instead of getting any kind of answer she was expecting, Ron began to laugh. This reaction of his shocked Kim, who was expecting some kind of anger from him directed toward her. Instead of that however, his reaction had only caused confusion.
"Dude check it out. It's the Kim Possible!" he said as he pointed at her and laughed.
Kim didn't know who this "dude" was that Ron was talking to, and it was probably better if she didn't ask.
"Ron, are you okay?" Kim asked, concerned.
"Kimmie Kimmie on the wall, who's the fairest one of all. 'I am I am!' said the duck. What the fuck you're not a duck!"
"Ron, you're scaring me."
"Ron. Ron? Ron! Ron… Roooooooooooooooon. Ronnie! Ron!"
Ron said his own name in a variety of pitches and accents trying to find one he liked. Eventually he settled on one that sounded sort of like Kim's own voice.
Kim moved closer to Ron and was very worried about him. Although she had never done drugs herself, she was a senior in high school. She had been around people who had done drugs before, such as Junior and Big Mike.
"Ron, are you… high?"
Ron began to laugh some more.
"Kim Kim Kim, the question is, are you high?"
"That doesn't make sense."
He laughed.
"Sure it does! Did you eat my nacos?"
"What?"
"I can't… find them. They were in my pocket," he said as his eyes looked off to the side in thought. "Oh wait wait, no, I was, um, I was going to get them after the mission."
"I don't get it."
"Would have been such a waste too. You would have thrown them up anyway. You cheerleaders are good at that kind of stuff, aren't you?"
Ignoring the intended insult in her direction, she moved closer to Ron.
"Look, I don't trust you getting home on your own. Let me help you."
Ron laughed more.
"Are you sure? It's a long walk and swim."
"We're taking a Global Justice hoverjet."
Ron was about to say something, before he stumbled and collapsed to the floor. Kim was quickly at his side and helped him to his feet. Putting one of his arms around her neck, she slowly began to walk towards the exit.
"It's okay Ron, just walk slowly with me, and we can get through this."
Supporting Ron was taking a toll on Kim's back, and she was slumping as a result. It didn't go unnoticed by Ron.
"Dude Kim, you would make a horrible Victorian gentleman guy. Your posture is horrible!" he laughed again.
Kim once more ignored Ron's stoned remarks and continued to make her way towards the exit. She decided that now would not be the best time to talk to him about their relationship, or lack there of. She would wait until he wasn't under the effects of drugs. That would be the best way to go. Talk to him when he was good and ready to, and not force it on him right now.
Lost in all of this was the fact that Dementor, his goons, and the pandimensional vortex inducer were still back in the lair. Both had forgotten about it in their combined shock of seeing each other, and just the situation as a whole. Kim was very scared for her friend and what had become of Ron, but she felt better knowing that he was in her arms now. It was only then did she realize that Ron was passed out. Despite the fact that he was, it felt good in a way to be caring for him like this. She was determined to get to the root of what was going on with him, and she would be there to help and support him every step of the way.