So, I know it's been a little while since my last update. You can thank college finals for that. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the next few chapters in a slightly more standard time frame. Anyway, I had to do some actual research for this chapter. I kind of wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible (even though it really isn't). Enjoy and let me know what you thought.
Kim woke up to the sterile smell of a hospital room. She saw Ron, already awake and dressed, standing above her.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Ron sat down on the foot of the bed he had slept in the night before, pulling a shoe on his foot.
"What time is it?" Kim sat up slowly, adjusting to the bright lights and clean smell.
"Uh, ten, I think? Yeah. They discharged me like an hour ago. I've just been waiting for you to get up."
"Ok, well I'm awake, so…"
"Alright, let's get out of here." Ron grabbed Kim's hand and helped her up. He moaned and grabbed his arm.
"Oh, Ron. Don't strain yourself. Let's go home. You aren't allowed to do anything today." Kim rubbed Ron's shoulder and walked out of the room. They left the hospital, standing in the parking lot before realizing neither of them had a car.
"Hey Wade… We need a ride." Kim said, talking into her Kimmunicator.
"From the hospital? I'll just access your car's GPS to remote drive it there." Wade typed furiously on his keyboard.
"You can do that?" Ron asked, looking from Kim's wrist to her face.
"Of course. It's easier than actually driving. It'll be there in a few minutes. Now, I gotta go, your dad's having me run diagnostics on his latest prototype. Really technical. See you later." Wade cut out and the two sat on a nearby bench. In ten minutes, Kim's car pulled up and opened its doors.
"That's some service!" Ron said, sliding into the passenger seat.
"Better than valet." Kim commented as she drove off. They drove home, neither really saying anything. They were both all smiles, Ron happy that Kim was still home, and Kim happy that Ron was still alive.
They pulled into Kim's driveway and went inside. Ron dropped onto the couch and Kim went to the kitchen. She returned holding two bowls of cereal.
"Oh, you read my mind. I'm so done with hospital food." Ron sat up and took a bowl from Kim. Rufus hopped out of Ron's pants pocket and onto the coffee table. The three ate quickly. When Ron's bowl was empty, he dropped his spoon and sat back.
"So… What's the plan for today?"
"Well, you aren't doing anything, remember? You need to sit here and heal."
"Aww, but Kim!" Ron protested.
"No, you're hurt. You need to get better."
"But I feel fine!" To emphasize, Ron stood up and flexed his arms. He stopped, sharp pains running through his body. "Ow. Ow ow."
"Kim pushed Ron back onto the couch. "You stay put. Watch some TV. I'll be back in a bit."
"Where are you going?" Ron grabbed the remote.
"Doing some research. I'm going to figure out exactly what we're up against."
"Why can't you get Wade to do it?"
"We can't get Wade to do everything for us. And anyway, he's still working with my dad, remember?" Be back soon, don't hurt yourself."
Kim walked out the door. As she walked to her car, she heard Ron shout, "Booya! Captain Constellation marathon!" Kim smiled and shook her head. Oh Ron, she thought.
Four hours later, Kim made her way back to the front door of her house. She heard a crash and ran in, bursting through the door. She stopped as Rufus flew by on a miniature rocket followed by an unmanned one. Ron, Tim, and Jim were standing in the kitchen, each with a remote control in hand. At the edge of the room, one rocket was in pieces on the floor.
"Hey, you cheated!" Tim said, pointing at Ron.
"Nuh uh! It's not my fault you can't fly straight!" Ron stuck out his tongue.
"Stupid rockets…" Tim walked into the living room and picked up the pieces. "Oh, hey Kim! You're still here?"
"Yeah…" Kim turned to Ron. "I see you're feeling better." She put her hands on her hips.
"Much. Captain Constellation really helped. Then the twins got home from school and… Yeah. So, how'd the research trip go?" Ron set his controller on the coffee table and sat down on the couch.
"Well, Wade was right about there being little information on the tablet." Kim sat next to Ron. "It took me like two hours to just find a place to start. Eventually, I was able to find evidence of several sightings of the tablet throughout history. It's like it pops up every couple hundred hears and disappears. Usually it's mentioned in relation to some form of cataclysmic event. The fall of the Roman Empire, the tsunami at Alexandria. It was even found in a drawing from the Valley of the Kings. It was telling the story of the Plagues of Egypt. This thing's been everywhere."
"Wait, the plagues? Like the Exodus?" Ron sat up slightly. "I thought those were good."
"Well, yeah, but not to the Egyptians. Point is, there's a major relationship between these big events and the tablet."
"What does it all mean?"
"Sounds like you've got a grade-A evil artifact on your hands." Jim said, sitting at the coffee table.
"Yeah, sounds pretty bad." Tim replied, dropping his broken rocket parts on the table.
"Kim fighting the Harbinger of Death? Awesome!"
"Hoo-sha!"
"No, not 'Hoo-sha'. Bad. I have to talk to Wade. Let him know what I found." Kim got up and went upstairs, leaving Ron and the tweebs in the living room.
"Want to race again?" Ron asked Jim.
"And break another rocket? No thanks." The twins got up and left for their own room.
"Well then…" Ron looked around. Rufus was sitting on the table, playing with the rocket controls. Ron had turned off the TV because nothing interesting was on. After a few minutes, Kim walked back downstairs.
"Kim I'm bored!" Ron blurted out.
"Uh… Ok. What do you want to do?"
"I don't know…" Ron thought for a few seconds. "Hungry?"
"Starving, actually. Ideas?"
"Actually…" Ron walked into the kitchen. Kim followed, watching as Ron scoured the cabinets, pulling out several boxes and cans.
"Um, Ron?" Kim asked picking up a can of tomatoes.
"All a part of the process. Hey, where's the Prosciutto?"
"Uh what?"
"Italian ham? Really thin." Ron emphasized with his fingers.
"I don't think we have any. Why?"
"You can't make pasta rags with prosciutto di Parma without the prosciutto."
"Ron, are you cooking?" Kim sat on the counter and looked at Ron incredulously.
"That was the idea. We're going to Smarty Mart!" Ron ran out of the kitchen and outside. Kim followed, skeptical.
Kim and Ron pulled out of the Smarty Mart parking lot an hour later, Kim's backseat full of bags of ingredients. Ron seemed to have gone a little overboard.
"I'm telling you Kim, don't knock it until you try it."
"I'm sure, but why did you have to buy half of Smarty Ma-" Kim paused. "What's the sitch at Bueno Nacho?" Kim pointed out her window. As they passed the restaurant, they could see four tall, dark figures standing at the counter as other patrons were quickly leaving.
"Hey… Those are the guys that attacked me! What are they-"
"THE MEDALLION!" They both said in unison. Kim stopped the car and jumped out, Ron following close behind her. They rushed through the doors.
"Tell us where the medallion is or we will destroy you!" One of the men demanded as he lifted Ned above the counter by his collar.
"I don't know I-" Ned turned his head to see Kim. "Kim! Help!"
Kim didn't hesitate. She jumped in, kicking at the man who held Ned. His grip broke as Kim's foot landed on his head. The other three stepped back as Kim landed. She turned, facing them. They lunged together, but Kim jumped up and out of the way. She landed behind them and kicked, sending them into the counter. The leader stood up and unsheathed his sword. He swung at Kim who backpedaled, avoiding being struck. She reached out and grabbed the man's wrist, throwing him over her shoulder and through a window.
Ron helped Ned get out then ran in to join Kim, but was stopped by three large, black dogs blocking his path. "Oh, look puppies!" The dogs snarled and together burst into flames. Their black skin heated up red and they lunged at Ron. "Ah! Not puppies! Demon dogs!" Ron ran back out the door as the three pursued him.
Kim jumped onto the back of one of the warriors, leaping off and landing behind the counter. She grabbed food trays and began throwing them. The trays did nothing as the three remaining warriors climbed over the counter. Kim smiled as she swung her elbow back, knocking into the nozzle on the soda machine. The nozzle broke off, sending soda gushing out, knocking the three back and over the counter again. Kim jumped, but was thrown midair as one of the men clipped her leg. The other two got back up and grabbed Kim, each holding an arm. Kim struggled, but was stopped with a punch to the stomach. Kim gasped for air as the leader sauntered back into the establishment. He approached Kim and reached a hand into her pocket. He withdrew the medallion, holding it up to the light to make sure it was what he was looking for.
Ron suddenly burst through the door, chased by the three flaming dogs. He knocked into the leader, sending the medallion flying. Kim saw this as her chance and wrestled out of her captors' grip.
She tackled the third warrior, sending them all to the ground. Ron kept running, scampering over the counter. The three dogs pounced. Rufus, who fell out of Ron's pocket as he was running, climbed onto the soda machine and kicked through another soda nozzle, spraying the dogs with water, extinguishing them. They yelped in pain and ran off. Ron got back on his feet.
Kim and the leader scrambled for the medallion. Punches flew and Kim was knocked onto the floor. The medallion rolled out of the tussle and stopped at Ron's feet.
"KP, I got it!" Ron called as he picked up the medallion. Suddenly, two of the warriors lunged, shoving Ron into an ice machine behind the counter, rendering him unconscious. The medallion flew from his hand and was caught by the third warrior.
"Ron!" Kim screamed as she was thrown onto the floor. The leader picked her up and held her. Kim saw a flash of light as a round hole opened up in the middle of the room. From the hole stepped a tall man in a black cloak. The man's face was hidden, but he carried with him an air of authority. Kim knew that this was the man who had the tablet.
"Well hello there." The man said in a raspy voice. "You're the one who's had my medallion? A little girl?"
"Excuse me." Kim choked. "I guess you don't know who I am."
"No, I don't. And I don't really care." The man turned and walked to the warrior holding the medallion. He took it and walked back to Kim. "I guess you don't know what this is, do you?"
Kim scowled defiantly. "No I don't. And I don't really care."
"That's ok. You don't need to know. I must thank you for returning it to me, though. I was deeply disturbed when I found out that I had dropped it as I was leaving the museum. It definitely caused a delay in my plans. In any case, I have it again, and that's what matters."
"What's it for?"
"You don't need to worry about that." The man patted Kim's head. "Now I'm going to let you live, as thanks for bringing me the medallion. I suggest you run as far away from here as you possibly can. You might survive a little longer." The man cackled and turned. Another bright light formed in front of him. He stepped through it and disappeared. Behind Kim, she felt the armored warrior's grip loosen, dropping her to the floor. As she turned around, all she saw was black smoke. Around her, the other three turned into smoke as well, disappearing. Kim picked herself up and went to get Ron. Rufus was on him, attempting to wake him up. Kim shook him.
"Owww! Not again." Ron rubbed his forehead.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Kim helped Ron up and together they walked out of the ruins of the store towards Kim's car.
And the plot thickens. The bad guy is revealed to the heroes. Don't worry, it's not all going to be action-action-action. I just wanted to move the story along before this becomes too much of a fluff-fest and loses substance. But hey, next chapter: "Discouraged" will fill my fluffy quota for the next week or so. Stay tuned.