Chapter 25 : Pick and Choose
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Kim found herself speaking to her parents in the hospital room when she finally awoke from her sedation. Her parents were very concerned, as she could clearly see from their faces and body motions. Her father especially showed great interest in her condition. "Kimmie-Cup, are you ok? Did Ron do this?" her mother gasped in shock when she heard that question. "I'm fine, a little bruised but I'll be fine. Daddy, you should know by now that Ronald would never do that to me. We were being kidnapped by some old guy and Ron told me to kick out the window and leap. He said he would follow me… he never made it out of the car…" Her mother looked at her in horror. "So you jumped out of a car going 80mph and you didn't think twice? That's not the Kimberly I know." The doctor placed the lab results on Kim's lap and turned to her parents. "We need to talk to you about your daughter." Her parents solemnly nodded. She looked down at her legs and reached for the results.
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Wade had already known the results. He hacked into the hospital system moments after Kim was admitted. An immense amount of guilt drove him to continuously monitor Kim. He hadn't slept in three days and every moment he was at his computer driving away DDOS attacks and trying to trace Ron's location while also closely monitoring Kim's progress. The DDOS attacks were getting harder to stop now, and he had a decision to make. "Kim's more important, so is Ron. KimPossible Dot com is signing off." He clicked the server remotely and disconnected it. "It needs an update anyway." He felt a surge of relief after he pulled the site. "It was killing me, I really need to reprioritize." He looked at the screen and felt a tug at his heart. "I'm so relieved, but I can only imagine what Ron's going through. It must be really scary." He took another swig of his drink. "I am going to have to sleep. I'll run Project V in the meantime and it will alert me if there is a change." He stretched his arms again. "A 30 minute nap never hurt anybody" He felt comfort in his bed.
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Ron's head was on fire. His body was hurting severely. "If I'm not dead, than I hate to know what that's like…" he thought to himself. He looked around to see an empty room. The Multihanded demon was gone, and he was alone. The room was different this time. He could see a great deal of detail was placed into the design. The gold ceiling, the silver walls, each allowing a perfect reflection of himself. Jokingly, he shouted, "Echo!" and the walls shook in response. The pain was still intense that he could only look around and barely speak. It's amazing how much energy it takes to talk. He tried to relax. He looked ahead of himself to see the reflection look back at him. The bloody face, with the trademark freckles smirked back as he realized how bad of condition he was in. He looked to the reflection on his neck, the scar was still there, but no blood. He smacked himself hard when he landed, as the gash from his forehead allowed his life-force to flow down his nose and into his eyes. He couldn't help but smirk still, knowing that he was still alive. For a moment, he thought he saw sensei floating above him, there was no reflection in the walls, but he gave into the illusion. "Stoppable-San, It troubles me that you have been under so much pain. As the monkey master, you were brought into a world that you never knew about. I must admit that I am proud to have you as my student and guardian." Ron blinked. "Guardian?" He coughed. A sting of pride struck him. "I am the guardian to my sensei…" The appraritian continued. "There will come a time when you will have to choose. The decision will be final, and there will be no going back. You will know the time, but I can not tell you more. Stoppable-San, I know you used your power earlier. I will heal you once more, for no one in this world could have predicted this situation. You have my gratitude and my love. Fight for us." The apparition floated to Ron as he closed his eyes. He felt a sting and a wave of warmth. It lasted only a moment and when he opened his eyes, he was alone. His reflection looked at him but he noticed the gash was healed and his head only mildly hurt. "Boo-Yah" he smirked. He thought he saw his reflection move, but of course, he could be wrong. He managed to free his hand, and his reflection did the same. He wiggled his other hand and eventually freed it. The refection did the same. He managed to free his legs, and the reflections did the same. He stood, but the reflection did not. "Huh?"
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Kim opened the results and looked at them. "Internal bleeding, cracked rib, fractured wrist, twisted calf…" she knew she hit the ground hard, but didn't know the true extent to her actions. "I must be hurt kind of bad." She thought to herself. "I wish I could just call Ron, a kiss from him would definitely help at this time." She shook her head. "I wonder what the Doc had to tell my parents? These injuries are not that serious, what could it be?" Her body began to hyperventilate. The monitors started skyrocketing. Nurses flew into the room as well as the Doctor and her parents. "What is it?" Her parents shrieked. "Just a panic attack." The nurse spoke with confidence. Kim managed a few words through the chaos. "What….Did….You…Tell…My…Parents….." Her mother spoke up. "Kimmie, you need to calm down. If you promise to not go crazy, and promise to do whatever the doctor's say, I will tell you." Kim's pulse went to normal and she nodded.
"Kim, there was a strange sighting close to the scene of your accident. Witnesses claim that a baby is walking around with a hairless rat on it's back. The only reason the Dr. brought it to our attention was because the baby had a small shirt with KP on the arm. The baby has been brought here to the hospital for examination. We are going to check it out."
Kim's eyes sparkled. "Rufus…. That means…." Her pulse went up again. "RON!!!" She started smiling.
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Yuri awoke suddenly and looked around. She was not dead, though her body hurt as such. Her sides were sealed, and the pool of blood from her was no longer growing. She gained a little confidence and shouted. "No matter what you throw at me, I can take it." The dark voice laughed. "Oh, is that so?" He started to chuckle. "I'll give you what very few get, a glimpse into the future." Yuri nodded. "Bring it."
She felt a tug at her eyes. She closed them. What she witnessed took her breath away.
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"Huh?" the blonde boy questioned. He quickly realized that it was either a hint or a mockery. He took the hint and pretended he was still tied up. He heard something faint in the distance. It sounded like weeping. He looked at his reflection and awaited it's response. The reflection shook it's head no. Ron obeyed. "it's hard not to trust myself in this place." He felt something in the seat get warm. "Huh?" He quickly got out of the chair and the reflection did the same. He walked to the reflection and looked closely at it. It was definitely him. Every detail was there, the scar on the neck, the scab on the forehead, the claw marks on his back. He shook his head, the reflection did the same. He decided to try something silly. "How are you doing?" he asked the wall. The reflection tried to speak, but no words were gathered, only a moving of lips that Ron deciphered as to saying "Been Better". Ron realized that this was way too sick and wrong, but his curiosity forced him to continue. "How do I get out?" he asked. The Reflection shook it's head and mouthed, "You don't." Ron looked again. "what do you mean I don't?" the reflection smirked. "You never leave." Ron shook his head a little. "This is sick and wrong!" The wall reflection sat back in the chair. It no longer spoke. Ron looked as if he was looking in a window. This was not him. Why was this place playing mind games? He was used to enemies that were so obvious, ones that were all talk and then when their big machine was destroyed, they cowered away. Ron could not find the big machine. This was going to be tougher than he thought. He grabbed his side for a moment as a sharp pain erupted. His muscles have never been through so much stress. Countless missions with Kim, and this workout was the toughest. He decided to look around the room some more. His reflection stayed seated as he explored. He looked to the left, discovering a sealed door. "Well, that way is out of the question." He sighed. He looked to the right, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone. "Emma-o?"
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Mrs. Dr. Possible and her husband went to the evaluation room to see a familiar sight. "Han?" Mr. Possible questioned. He approached her and noticed that Rufus was not anywhere to be found. "Han? Is that you?" Mrs. Possible caught herself. "She's a baby, if she starts talking, that'll be something else all together." She picked up the baby, beating Mr. Possible to it. "That's Han allright. I wonder where your parents are?" She handed the child to Mr. Possible. "Hold onto Han, I'm going to call Ronald's parents." She walked out of the room. A puzzled Mr. Possible held onto this baby girl and looked into her eyes. "You know, It's been a while since I held a baby girl. I remember when my Kimmie Cup was this size. Times were easier then, to protect her I would just never let her go, I'd cradle her like I am you." His heart swelled. "I know now that I can't hold on to her forever, she will have to find her way eventually, but it's so hard sometimes. I miss the days where I was the center of her world, along with her mother of course." He felt a burning in his eye. "Han, I know you are a very special child, I only wish I knew what to do to help you. I know that Kim is going to be happy knowing you are ok." He caught himself. "I mean, Kimberly… she's still my little girl." He hugged the young child. "It makes me wonder if I'll ever want to have another child again. The pain of loosing Kim to College is immense, but the joy she has given me throughout these last 17 years overcomes it. I'm just glad she has Ronald to look after her." His other eye started to burn. "Your brother has really come a long way." He looked at Han. "I remember he was quite susceptible to scare. Now, it seems like he's a completely different person. He's really grown up. And If I can say it, he's got a strong head on his shoulders. I always had a good feeling about him, I never trusted a single boy around my Kimberly, but Ronald always had my approval. I did threaten him a few times for good measure, but I knew he would never really betray our trust." He opened his mouth again to speak but was caught off guard when he noticed a certain beautiful redhead looking at him. "Honey, did you want to tell me something?" Mrs. Possible smiled. "How much did you hear?" Mr. Possible quickly asked. "Enough to know that we may have to discuss some future plans." She purred. She approached him and kissed him seductively on the lips. He smiled and moaned lightly. She reached and took Han from his hands. "They said that Rufus was exhausted, like his battery was drained, so they have him under observation. When he recovers, I've assigned him to Kim's room for company. I think it would be a good idea to keep Kimberly in the hospital until we find Ron and his parents."
The husband, still under his trance from his wife's passionate kiss only nodded. He was in a completely different world. Times like these he questioned his reasons for being a scientist, every time she kissed him, he went to another planet. He loved the experience. "I was told that Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable were in a fender bender. They are ok, but will be under observation for a few hours. I've arranged for them to be air lifted here as soon as they are transportable. They really should be with their daughter." Mrs. Possible took a breath. "though it is a really good feeling to hold Han. It brings back some amazing memories." She giggled.
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"Emma-O" Ron looked again to see the old man. "Stoppable, you really should just relax, you are not leaving this place. You've bet two of the 10, three if you count myself. I will give you one chance to leave. You must make a choice though. In Hell, it's quite a necessity to make a hard, and sometimes unfair choice. I will give you two options, both equally fair and equally dangerous. Right now, your precious Kimberly is dying. She hit her head on the ground when you told her to leap, and the doctors are helpless. You can go save her if you want. I understand your ability to heal has been used." He smirked.
Ron looked at the Demo-God and nodded. "that's easy, I'll go save Kim." Emma-O laughed. "You Americans and your lack of patience. I was not done speaking. There is also another visitor here that could definitely use your help as well." Ron interrupted. "Nope, Rufus and Han are gone." Emma-O's eyes turned red. "SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH!!!" His deep voice roared throughout the room. Ron's hair went on end. "Fine, don't have to get all angry about it." Ron huffed.
Emma-O turned Ron's attention to the reflection wall. "Your guardian attempted to save you, but failed miserably. Will you save her instead?" The wall became dark and in the vision before him, Ron saw Yuri, strapped to a chair, bleeding profusely from her sides. "She does not have long. You can only save one…. You can only save your true soul mate. Just remember, one dies, one lives." He started to laugh.
Ron stood in horror. "this cannot be true…." Emma-O ceased his laughter. "Oh, it is. She snuck in when your little rat and sister snuck out. One – For – One as I like to call it. Listen to her…. Tell me that is not your beautiful ninja lover." Ron's eyes glued to the screen. "Ron-Kun…." The pitiful voice of Yuri mumbled. "I love Ron-Kun…"
Ron gripped his fists tight. "That's not fair! I cannot choose between the both of them!" He screamed. Emma-O quickly responded. "that's fine, you can just let them both die and stay here. There's nothing bad for me in this. I win either way. I give you 5 minutes to choose." He disappeared into smoke. Ron's eyes started to burn with tears of hatred. "How can this happen? Why couldn't it just be one of them in pain?" he quickly shook the thought. "how could I wish this on any of them? What is this place doing to me?" He looked again at the wall. The image of Yuri was split into three, Yuri, bleeding to death, Kimberly with the cracked skull, and a clock with 4:30…4:29….4:28…. Counting down.
"How does he expect me to pick and choose?" Ron screamed.
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A/N: Thanks for the kind words! I got a request wanting to know about Kim, and I hope I've given a little shed of light to that particular reader. This chapter is quite the page turner, but really is necessary to build some more to the story. Who will Ron choose? What is Yuri watching? These questions and more answered in the next chapter of….. Nothing Can Stop A Stoppable!!!