Kim's heart was in her throat as she approached the Stoppable residence. She hoped that it was Ron on the phone; she couldn't take it if this was a prank. The voice was horse and could barley speak, but Ron had been slashed in the throat when he fought the man in black. Who knows how long it would take his voice to heal. She knew the powers gave him the ability to heal quickly, but he didn't know how bad an attack like that would affect him. The person on the phone had said to meet her here, at Ron's old home in Middleton. Kim looked under the mat, and found the spare key where they always left it. Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable were visiting Ron's grandparents, so if Ron was here he wouldn't have to explain about the wound on his neck. Kim slowly put the key into the lock, unlocked the door, and went inside. So far, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Everything was in order, and it looked like no one had been in the house for a while. When she glanced into the living room, that's when she saw it. There was a blanket and a pillow in the couch, but that wasn't what she was looking at. On the floor, not too far from the couch, was a battered and burned Superman uniform stained with blood around the collar and chest that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks.
"RON?" Kim shouted and bolted upstairs to Ron's room.
Ron didn't know how long he had been laying there, he just know he hurt. He had tried to open his eyes once before, and swore he had seen Mankey standing over him with that sadistic smile of his! What had happened? Where was he? He remembered a fight, between him and Monkey Boy. He thought Mankey was down, but he was wrong. Mankey has slashed his throat and kicked him so hard in the stomach that he didn't know what happened afterward. Wait his throat was slashed! Ron put his hand to his throat, and was immediately greeted by pain! Ron slowly opened his eyes, and saw that the sky was painted with an array of yellow to orange. Either the sun was just now rising or it was setting. Ron looked at his hands and saw they were covered in the dark brown of dried blood. Ron tenderly felt where Josh had slashed him, and still felt pain, but there was something else as well. Ron felt what was on his throat, and realized that it felt like a scab. His powers must include healing, because he though for sure he was going to die. As Ron sat up, he noticed he didn't feel too well. He must have gotten sick or something. Wait, didn't his powers prevent that? He didn't know. Maybe Mankey's abilities gave him an infection or something.
Ron took in more of his surroundings, to try and get his bearings. He looked, and saw he was in some kind of alley. As he stood on very shaky legs, he saw he had been lying in some sort of small crater. He looked up again and saw a hole in the side of one of the buildings that went in an upward angle. Ron could see through the hole, and saw a hole in a distant billboard. Ron must have been falling pretty fast to go through those. Ron leaned against a near by wall, taking a few deep breaths. He felt like crap that had just been run over. His head was spinning, he felt like he was going to throw up any second or collapse into a heap again. He hadn't felt this bad since he and Kim rode the tilt-a-whirl at the fair and threw up all over a clown. At least there wasn't a clown near by now if he had to throw up again.
Ron took a few more deep breaths and started moving again. He had to get home as fast as he could. If Mankey had really lost it and believed all that stuff he had been spouting, he was probably going to after Kim next. Ron steadied himself, took a few running steps and leapt into the air. Only for him to fall and hit the pavement face first. Ron's nose wasn't bleeding, but he could feel the mild sting of pain go through his nerves. He relly must be sick if he could feel pain again. Ever since his powers had made themselves known, he hadn't felt pain from even stubbing his toe. As Ron raised himself to his feet, he was able to see his reflection in a near by puddle of water. At least he hoped it was water he was looking at. It took a few moments for his brain to register what he was seeing, but he realized that his hologram projector wasn't on. He could clearly see his almond brown eyes, his freckles, and his shaggy blond hair. Ron balanced himself on his knees and looked down to see how bad the projector was, only to see that the projector was gone! Mankey must have taken it from him when he was out. This wasn't a good situation Ron was in. He was sick from the wound Mankey gave him, he was filthy and lost, not to mention he was in one of his Superman costumes with his true identity exposed.
Ron lifted himself back onto his feet and started moving out of the alley. The streets were dark, with only a few street lamps working here and there. He could see a few homeless people up and down the street. Some were gathered around trash can fires, others were sleeping on the cement or in boxes with only old newspaper to keep them warm. Ron stumbled down the street, hoping to find something that could tell him where he was. The buildings that lined up and down the darkened streets seemed to be abandoned and boarded up. Not even a glimpse of any kind of lights could bee seen through the windows that were uncovered, and decorated with shards of shattered glass. As Ron continued to walk, he ended up stumbling over his own two feet and hit the pavement again. He coughed a few times, sounding like he was fixing cough up both of his lungs. Ron tried to stand again, and felt someone hold him underneath his arms and help him up the rest of the way.
"You got to be careful here, man. If some of these guys even think you might be dead, they'll take the clothes off your back." The man told him.
Ron got a good look at the man who had just helped him. He wasn't that tall, probably about five foot seven, and he was partially hunching over. He had a small pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, and curly hair that looked like he hadn't seen a bath in ages. He was wearing an old jeans jacket, a white shrt, and a ratty old pair of Levis that needed to be sent to a burn pile. A large brown leather bag sat on his shoulder as the man looked at Ron.
"Nice costume, guy. Did you get lost on the way to a costume party?" the man asked him.
"Um – it's a long story. D-do you know where I am?" Ron asked him as he noticed that his voice sounded like it had been dragged across sand paper and gravel, making part og his throat sting and burn as he talked.
"Your in an old part of Chicago. City has been planning to tear down this part of town and rebuild it, but they haven't done it yet. They were supposed to start seventeen years ago, so most homeless guys decided to live here. It's a nice place so far. People leave us alone, and we leave them alone. I'm Stan Kline by the way." The man said as he held out a paint stained hand.
"Ron. Ron Stoppable." Ron croaked as he weakly shook the man's hand.
"Nice to meet you Ron. Listen, you're going to get mugged if you walk around in that getup. Hold on a minute." Stan said and walked to a near by old man who was pushing a shopping cart full of cans. In a few minutes, Stan came walking back to Ron with an old tattered trench coat.
"Here, this'll help. What are you doing on this side of town anyway?" Stan asked him.
"Don't know. Last thing I remember was a guy beating me up, and I woke up here." Ron told him and gingerly rubbed his healing throat.
"Sounds like you got jumped my friend. I know, it's happened to most of us. As soon as we make a few bucks, some punks beat the crap out of us and take whatever we have to our name." Stan said as he and Ron started walking down the street, Ron stumbling now and then.
"Thanks for helping me up, by the way." Ron told Stan as they walked.
"No problem. Listen, do you need to get to a hospital? There's a clinic not too far away from here and that cut you got might get infected." Stan told him.
"I'll be fine. I – I just need to find a way to get home." Ron told him.
"Where you from?" Stan asked the young man.
"Middleton, Colorado." Ron answered as he began to cough a few more times.
"You're a long way from home, Ron. I wish I could help, but my last car got impounded." Stan told him.
"Do you at least know where I might be able to find a phone?" Ron asked him.
"Nearest pay phone is about ten blocks away. It wouldn't help you though, it's been busted for two months now." Stan told him.
"Great." Ron said and started to fall again. Stan was able to catch him in time and help him back to his feet.
"You don't look so good, man. Tell you what, how about I take you to my place to get some sleep. Then we can find another phone for you to use." Stan asked him.
"No, I have to keep going. My girlfriend might be in trouble." Ron told him.
"Sorry, pal. But it looks like you can barley stand. You ain't going to be helping anybody right now. Some sleep might do you some good." Stan told him.
Ron wanted to keep going, to try and get to Kim in time. But he knew Stan was right. Ron could barley walk; how could he help Kim and go another round with Mankey with him like this? Maybe some real sleep would help. Before long, Ron found himself and Stan entering one of the old buildings, and into what looked like a small apartment.
"How come other people don't stay in here?" Ron asked Stan.
"A lot of these places are falling apart. Too dangerous to live in, so they stay away. I still think this place has got some strength left in her, but I stay in a first floor apartment just in case she starts to buckle." Stan said and helped Ron lie down on an old mattress.
"Thanks, Stan." Ron said.
"It's okay. Just get some sleep." Stan said as he wondered to another part of the old apartment. In a few moments, Ron fell into the comfort of a dreamless sleep with one thing echoing through his mind. Kim.
Shego was blasting through the skies, checking out every spot Mankey had stopped at when he launched Ron into the air. He had been to various spots along his way back to Drakken's lair. Right now, Shego was getting very frustrated at her lack of progress as she still didn't find anything. Where was Ron at? Where could he have landed? Maybe Mankey had been lying about finding Ron. Maybe it was all bull just to please Drakken? No, she wouldn't believe that. She had to have that one piece of hope that Ron might still be alive. She had one more stop left, and she prayed to God that this was the right one.
She was amazed at the crater as she stood right beside it. She glanced at the hole in the building and back at the crater. It looked like she had found where Ron was, but where was he? She stepped into the crater and began looking around it. As she glanced through it, something caught her eye. She picked it up and dusted some of the concrete dust off of it. It was part of the S from Ron's costume. That mean this was where he landed, and it also meant he was alive. She let out a sigh of relief as a small smile graced her lips. Now she just had to find Stoppable. She jumped out of the crater and started to walk. If she had to, she would bribe or beat the living snot out of everyone here to find him.
Ron started to wake up slowly from his sleep. Sleep did help, but it not that much. He still felt some what dizzy and nauseous as he stood up, but not as bad when he woke up in that crater. Ron looked down and saw he was wearing an old tattered trench coat over his Superman uniform, and was puzzled by it. It took him a few moments before he remembered that a homeless man named Stan had helped him. Ron looked around and saw most of the place was covered in dust, cob webs, and few boards and pieces of wall were missing in different spots. As Ron looked around at his new surroundings, he wondered where Stan was. Ron staggered to a wall and braced his weight against it. Walking might not be such a good idea at that moment. Ron closed his eyes and listened. His hearing was normal. He could hear sirens off in different parts of the city, the homeless people outside, and then he found Stan's voice. What was weird was that it sounded like he was talking to someone. Ron opened his eyes and x-rayed the decaying wall to see what he was doing. As part of the wall became transparent, he could see Stan talking on a brand new cell phone. When did homeless people have cell phones?
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's not Superman!"
"You just said Superman."
"I know I said Superman, but I said Superman costume! It's that Ron kid, the one who hangs out with that teen red head."
"It doesn't matter. The deal's off."
"What do you mean the deal's off? Wait a damn minute here, you told me to keep my eyes peeled if I found one of the boss' enemies!"
"Not anymore. Something else has come up. Drakken's got a new weapon that has the boss scared. All contacts from now on are severed."
"Now listen, I want what you guys owe me!"
"Don't worry, you'll get what's coming to you."
The cell phone went dead, and Stan threw the phone against the wall and shouted something that Ron couldn't understand. Ron had to get out of there, and fast. He was in the home to a guy that was a lackey to one of Kim's enemies. Wait, did he hear the guy on the other end mention Drakken? He had to get out of there now! Ron turned to head for the door, but heard the squeal of tires peeling against asphalt. He knew there weren't any cars near here, and knew that this automatically meant something bad. Ron looked to the windows and saw a bottle filled with brown liquid and a flaming piece of cloth coming out of the spout of the bottle.
"Oh no!" Ron said as he saw the bottle shatter and flames starting to cover the old apartment.
"THAT BASTARD!" Stan yelled from the other room.
Ron forgot about himself being ill, and knew what he had to do. Ron ran through the flames, feeling them lick the coat as he passed through them, and stumbled into the other room.
"Who are you working for?" Ron asked him.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Stan told him.
"I heard you talking. Who are you working for? Drakken? Senior? WHO?" Ron shouted as he got to his feet and felt his throat burn, looking very intimidating as the Superman costume underneath the old coat was revealed.
"I-It was Dementor. He paid me to keep an eye out for his enemies. Mainly, he wanted me to keep an eye out for Superman. B-but he stabbed me in the back!" Stan told him.
Ron was satisfied with what the old man told him, and decided it was time to get the hell out of there. Ron grabbed the man's leather bag from a kitchen shelf, and used it as a club to knock away the loose boards that were covering the kitchen window. Not all of Ron's strength had returned, but it was enough. Ron soon had most of the dried out wood knocked away to reveal the darkened streets outside as they were illuminated by the fire.
"Come on! We've got to get out of here!" Ron shouted at Stan.
"Are you crazy? We're three stories up!" Stan shouted at Ron. Ron looked out the window to see that the old man was telling the truth.
"I thought you said you stayed on the first floor!" Ron shouted at the old man.
"I lied, so sue me!" Stan shouted as part of the roof started to collapse.
They didn't have time for this, the whole building was going to catch fire and crash around them in no time. Ron grabbed the old man around the waist and held him like he was a piece of luggage underneath his arm. Ron backed up a few steps and took a running leap out of the window! Ron had to concentrate hard as they saw the ground rushing to greet them fast. Ron had both legs straight as his feet aimed down. Ron could feel their decent start to slow, but it wasn't fast enough. The landing combined with Ron's weakened state caused his knees to give and sent both of them tumbling along the asphalt. Pretty soon, Ron found himself weaker than he was when he woke up in the crater and looking up into the coffee brown sky. His throat burned him from the shouting, his limbs felt like they were going to snap if he even tried to wiggle a finger, and his head still felt like he was in a blast furnace. Ron looked to his side and saw Stan getting up and run away from the inferno. Ron just closed his eyes as he moved his head, and looked up to see at least a few stars in the night sky. As he started to doze off again, he felt something smooth touch his face. What ever it was felt like it was almost tickling his face, and he could smell the faint scent of strawberries. Ron opened his eyes again and saw a pair of Emerald green eyes, filled with worry and concern, looking into his. At first he thought it was Kim that was looking at him, until he saw the strands of jet black hair that were barley touching his face.
"Shego? You don't know how glad I am to see you." Ron said in his horse voice.
Ron could almost swear that he heard the villainess let out a small sob as he felt her soft lips gently lay a kiss on his forehead. He soon felt her pulling him to his feet, and wrapping his right arm around her shoulder. Ron was so sleepy and dizzy that he didn't even know he was sitting in the back seat of her large state of the art jet until the momentum of them flying into the sky pushed into his seat.
"H-how did you find me?" Ron asked her again, feeling pain flood his throat as he talked.
"It's a long story, Ronnie. The important thing right now is that you're alive." Shego told him. If Ron could have seen her, he would have seen Shego using a gloved hand wiping away two brand new tears that had begun to roll down her pale face.
Ron was alive, and she found him. The important thing now was to take him somewhere safe and let him heal. She couldn't take him to Dr. D's lair. Mankey wouldn't hesitate to kill him as soon as they walked in the door. She didn't have a hideout and a hotel was out of the question. What about his dorm? No, too many people bugging about his condition. There was one more place, and she would have to worry about the consequences later. She was going to take Ron home.
"You've been here ever since? You let the whole world, and me, think you were dead while you've been hiding out here?" Kim asked her boyfriend as he sat in his bed with his back against the wall. Rufus, in the meantime, had fallen asleep in his master's lap and enjoyed the fact that his master and best friend was alive.
"I-I'm sorry Kim. Shego wouldn't let me do anything for a while. And I couldn't really do anything with me being so sick." Ron said to Kim, his voice not sounding as bad as it did over the phone.
"Where is Shego?" Kim asked him.
"Out to get some more medical supplies. She's been my nurse since she brought me back." Ron told her.
"Why didn't you tell me you and her were talking to each other?" Kim asked, her anger starting to boil as she remembered the photos her cousin Helena showed her.
"Kim, you broke her arm and her nose last time you two fought. Shego has honestly been helping me. She helped me get my head together when I flipped out. That's what she was doing in those photos. She's a nice person when you get to know her." Ron told her.
"I still find that hard to believe." Kim told her boyfriend as she layed her head on his shoulder.
"You can think whatever you want, Princess. At least I went and looked for him while you were crying like a little kid with a scrapped knee." A very familiar voice said.
Kim looked up to see Shego standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of jeans and a black V neck sweater. Kim instantly was on her feet in a defensive stance as Ron shook his head.
"I know you too well, Shego. What do you want?" Kim asked the villainess.
"How about you get out of my face?" Shego asked as her hands ignited and started to burn away the sleeves of her sweater.
"Guys, come on! Can't you quit the fighting for one day?" Ron asked the two feminine warriors, but they weren't listening.
"How about you make me Jolly Green Bitch?" Kim asked her enemy.
"You are so going down for that!" Shego said as she crouched down and lunged for Kim while the teen hero began to launch her own attack.
Before their attacks could make contact, Shego found her blazing fist being stopped as she felt a vise like grip hold her by the wrist. Kim's leg was also being stopped in mid air as another hand gripped her by her ankle. Both saw a very agitated Ron standing between them.
"I am so sick and tired of this! KP, you're my girlfriend and I will love you for the rest of my life. And Shego, I know I owe you a lot. But either you two sit down right now and calm down or I'm going to honestly bend you over my knee and tan both your hides!" Ron told the pale skinned woman and the flaming haired hero, an immediately regretted it.
"Why Ron, I didn't know you wanted me that way." Shego told him with a wicked grin on her face.
"Don't you even!" Kim said and tried to move her foot.
"KP, quit it! Shego, be nicer for a little while. Please?" Ron asked his new friend.
"Okay, I'll try. But I make no guarantees, so consider us even." Shego said and extinguished her hands. Ron let the two women go, and both skulked to one part of the room that would give them the most distance between each other.
"So what do we do now?" Kim asked Ron.
"As soon as I get better, I got to after Mankey. He thinks I stole you from him, that's why he attacked me." Ron told his girlfriend.
"You can thank Drakken for that. All part of his brilliant plan to have his own perfect Super Soldier go after Ron." Shego told the young couple.
"This means he might come after me next." Kim said to herself.
"That means Superman's going to have to after him again, and I have to think of a way to beat him." Ron said as he sat back down on his bed and covered himself with a blanket.
"Ron, everyone thinks Superman is dead. If you come back as Superman, people are going to feel like you lied to them." Kim told her boyfriend.
"But they never found a body, Princess. Let people think whatever they want." Shego told them in her normal blunt tone of voice.
"No, not going to happen. Part of being Superman is for people to trust me. If I make a comeback as Superman, I'll have to tell them I was sick or recovering. That really isn't too far from the truth." Ron said to himself as he rubbed his throat.
"Are you sure about this? You can become something totally different now." Shego told her young friend.
"I have to do this. A fight is in rounds. Josh might have won Round One, now it's time for Round two." Ron told them as he walked to his closet, and pulled out a fresh Superman costume he had left for emergencies. IT would be a few more days until he could fight again, but Superman was about to rise from the grave and open up a can of Whoop Ass.