Warning: This story contains some strong language and explores mature themes such as sex, violence and death.
Disclaimer: The characters and locations from Kim Possible belong to Disney and the characters of Jonny Quest belong to Hanna-Barbera. Hattori Hanzo is from the move Kill Bill by writer-director Quentin Tarantino and are all being used here without permission or profit.
I would like to thank ByrdDog66 and Jutter6922 for their most gracious reviews of chapter 34 their words of encouragement make it all worth while and help drive my writing ambitions.
I also want to remind everyone to visit Samurai Crunchbird and Captainkodak1's Fan Fictions sites to see where all this started and see what else they have to offer. (Captainkodak1 has over 112 stories and Samurai Crunchbird has 17 stories including the 'ch-RON-icles series which is all about the young Ron Stoppable, it's really a great series so go check it out!) As you most likely know by now Samurai Crunchbird is my Beta reader and Captainkodak1's story The Lotus Bloom was the story in which all my stories are originally based off of and if you are confused as to where Kim got her powers and the Louts Bloom from then go read his story and it will all be much clearer.
In the mean time and without further ado on with the show (ah story)
Chapter 35
Preparations
After they wiped away the last of their tears, Kim reverted back into 'mission mode'. "Sheri," she declared, "I need to get prepared. Do you have any weapons around here?"
Sheri responded, "Sure…What do you need?"
Kim started counting off anything she could think of for a mission of this nature. "Well, maybe some shock grenades and a pistol. A parachute would be nice, too, if you have one handy somewhere."
"Not a problem there," Sheri mentioned, "but we're gonna need two parachutes if I'm jumping with you."
Kim reasoned, "There's not going to be an airport where I'm going, so I need a pilot to get me there. Unless you actually trust someone else to fly 'your precious baby', you will have to stay on the plane." With a scoff, she added, "That is, of course, unless your jet can actually fly itself!"
"Oh, yeah?" Sheri smirked. "Let me see that Kimmunicator of yours." Taking the device from Kim, she turned it on and called Wade.
Wade was rather busy trying to keep a lock on the kids' transponders as it was. Seeing the raven-haired woman's image on a screen reserved for Kim's 'triple-secure' channel did not help his mood in the least.
"Sheri," he growled, "I'm a little too busy to chat right now. I'm trying to keep a lock on Katie and Patrick."
Ignoring his curtness, Sheri shot back, "I know, I know. I just have a few quick questions. First, can you still fly my jet remotely?"
Wade snipped, "Of course…unless you removed the hardware adapter."
"Nope." Sheri offered. "It's still there. Next question…Can you remind me again how you do that?"
Wade let out a long, exasperated sigh. "You just plug your communicator into the adapter! Remember? "
"Ooooookaaaaaay…" Sheri nervously scanned the room. After a moment of futile searching, she meekly asked, "Can you beep my communicator for me? I kind of forgot where I put it."
Wade huffed, "Fiiiine!" He pressed a few buttons. "There you go." A few seconds later, Sheri heard a faint beeping.
"Oh, yeah." She realized. "There it is!" She rushed into her bedroom to retrieve it from her night stand. As an afterthought, she added, "I think I better charge the battery."
Wade was beginning to lose his patience. "Enough with the 'hide and seek' game, Sheri. What do you really need?"
Sheri explained her plan. "Based on your previous tracking, Kim and I will most likely be the first to arrive. I will need you to lock the coordinates into our communicators. After we bail from the plane, you will have to fly my jet back to the hangar." With a wry smile, she challenged, "Do you think you can still do that Wade…or should Kim get one of your GJ ASS-istants to help us?"
Realizing Sheri was serious about helping, he softened his tone a bit. He still gave Sheri a disgusted look after that crack about his staff. "Yeah, I can do that. In the mean time, I think that now would be a good time for you and Kim to try on those outfits I sent you. I'll call you as soon as the kids stop moving." Without waiting for Sheri to ask him anything else, he quickly cut off the connection.
Kim was unsure of Sheri's plan; but those worries were overcome by her curiosity. "What outfits?" She asked. "What was he talking about?"
Leading Kim into her bedroom, Sheri pulled two boxes out from under the bed. She found the one marked 'Kim' and gave it to her.
When Kim opened the box, she found her old battle-suit…or at least one that looked like it. Sheri opened her box and unfolded a replica of her old green and black 'cat-suit', complete with matching gloves and boots.
Seeing the puzzled look on Kim's face, Sheri explained, "Wade sent these to me thinking that we may need them. Sometimes, I swear the man is clairvoyant. In his instructions, he said you could show me how to use mine. He also said that yours is an updated version of the suit you used to wear and that mine works the same as yours…" She then added with a crooked smile, "…But I think mine's much better looking!"
Fukushima was beside himself with excitement. His spies had not only found Stoppable relatively unguarded, but the buffoon had divided what little forces he had…and now his family was on their way to him.
Still, the best news he received so far came from his spy at Yamanouchi. It appeared that Kim Possible was no longer one of the 'Chosen Ones', and had given up the Lotus Bloom. That honor now belonged to Stoppable's wife, who was already being delivered as his prisoner. In one master stroke, both Lotus Blades would soon belong to him!
As Fukushima watched all of the activity from his throne, it allowed him time to reflect back over all of his careful planning. His plot for revenge was set in motion. No one, not even the mighty Global Justice, could stop him now!
He already had everything set. The cages were in place and the bait for the trap was on its way. Soon, Stoppable would be coming to him—and he would die in vain trying to save his family.
Now that he made his first move, he started daydreaming about what he would do after Stoppable was dead. Once the Lotus Blades were in his possession, he would return to Yamanouchi in the dead of the night and lay waste to the school.
He would start by using the Lotus Blade to kill Sensei. Oh, the sweet irony… the dried-up old man being killed in his own bed chamber by the very instrument he protected for so long.
One by one, the rest would quickly fall. With the Blades in his possession, and no 'Chosen One' left to protect them, his revenge would be complete.
The only sad note to all this was the thought of killing Yori. Maybe he could get her to join him and be his mate. Together, they would rule the world with an iron fist!
Nah, he knew she would never join him. She still held on to those flawed values of trust, friendship, duty, and honor. That's why he would simply keep her alive long enough to have his way with her…before killing her slowly while she cried out for mercy.
Once the school was under his control, he would use it to train his ninjas as they were meant to be taught—to be cold, ruthless, undetectable assassins and mercenaries. From there, he would launch his plot to destroy Kim Possible and Global Justice once and for all!
Ron sat in Burn's office, thinking about what Kim had just said to him and how angry she was. Had he been selfish, and put his family in jeopardy? His mind answered that with a resounding "Yes!"
Everything he had worked so hard to avoid for the last ten years came crashing down around him. Thinking back to when he first got hit with the monkey powers as a teen, Sensei had warned him that his life, like Kim's, would never be normal again.
At first, Ron didn't care about that. He loved the adrenaline rush he got from every new adventure with Kim. Of course, that was before the adventures started to get harder, deadlier, and much more frightening. After joining Global Justice full time, and especially after Will's death, the fun and the rush just died.
Then, there was the final battle with Monkey Fist and Ron's departure from GJ…and Kim. Those painful experiences tarnished his soul forever.
He tried to rebuild his life the best he could. He caught up with Jessica at a class reunion just after his divorce from Kim. She sympathized with Ron's plight, having undergone a messy divorce from Josh Mankey. Apparently, she caught the man in bed with Tara one morning. She found out later that Tara and Josh decided to get married after their affair spawned a child of their own.
When Jessica recounted one of the times Ron rescued the cheer squad at Camp Wannaweep, she confessed that Tara was not the only one who developed a crush on him that day.
As weeks turned to months…and then to years, Ron and Jessica tried to re-build their lives, having nobody to lean on but each other. Their support and friendship became love. From that love, they launched a wonderful marriage, a successful restaurant, and two other priceless creations…Katherine Sheri and Patrick Dean Stoppable.
He had just stopped having those bad dreams of the fatal duel with Monkey Fist when that damned sword showed up again.
He started to hate that sword and his powers—not because of what he could do with them, but how they kept forcing him back into a game of life and death that he no longer wanted to play.
To make matters worse, his precious wife and children had now been dragged into this disgusting game. An old adversary has shown his ugly head, bent on revenge against Ron for something for which he had no control.
The only reason Fukushima hated him was because every time the two met in combat, the man's employers had been defeated, with both of them eventually dying as a result. Now this mad-man had his family, and Kim was furious at him for not listening to her and Sensei about taking Fukushima seriously.
The worse part was…Kim was right. He didn't take it seriously. He didn't want Jessica to have the Bloom. He certainly didn't want her burdened with all the responsibilities of being a 'Chosen One'.
He just wanted to be left alone. He just wanted a normal life with his wife and kids…
Was that being selfish?
Was that really too much to ask?
The more he thought about it, the more depressed he got. Ron couldn't help himself as he broke down and started crying.
Trying to rest up before a big mission was always hard to do for Kim. This time, she had even more things on her mind then usual. She was lying down in the spare bed room in Sheri's house, dressed in her new battle-suit. She even had time to get something to eat before testing all the new enhancements Wade had installed into the suit.
This time, though, it seemed that every time Kim fell asleep, she kept falling into the strangest dreams. They weren't exactly nightmares as much as they were awkward twists on deep memories...
…It all started with the first time she and Ron had a run-in with Dr. Drakken and Sheri—or as she knew her back then, Shego—and Kim had that exploding robotic tick stuck on her nose. In this demented and unconscious 're-write', Shego had another tick placed on her neck. During their fight, Shego and Kim each dislodged their opponent's ticks. The devices landed on Drakken's chest just before their explosion splayed his blood and bone fragments over the entire cave.
The scene changed from a lair painted with gore to a mural painted on a wall. She recognized the artwork from the date she had with Josh Mankey. That was the time Ron saved her from fading into nothingness after Drakken doused her with orchid pollen. This version took a darker turn than what really happened. In this dream, instead of going home with Josh, she found Ron curled up on the sidewalk, crying to himself in the pouring rain…
…Kim woke up with a start. She then stumbled into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Looking into the mirror, she asked herself, "What the hell is wrong with you, Possible? It was just a dream! Now stop being so silly and get some rest."
Kim returned to the bed and flopped back down on the mattress, this time falling fast asleep. No sooner had she passed out than she started to experience another episode of altered reality…
…She was with Ron at Bueno Nacho's headquarters, attempting to foil Drakken's massive Diablo scheme. Instead of Eric, it was Ron who betrayed her. He was laughing at how such a smart girl could be so incredibly stupid. All the while, Shego clung to his frame as they started kissing…
Sitting straight up in bed for the second time that night, Kim looked around room, trying to get her bearings in this strange house. It took a few moments before she remembered where she was.
Berating herself, Kim rolled over on the bed, angrily hitting her pillows with her fists. With a huff, she closed her eyes once more. It took almost 30 minutes before she finally fell back to sleep…
This time, Kim found herself alone, sneaking through Monkey Fist's mansion. She was searching for something; but had no idea what it was.
Seeing a young girl across the room, Kim approached her from behind. When she turned around, Kim was looking at herself as a young girl of twelve or thirteen.
The younger Kim smiled at her warmly, with a mouth full of braces. Without saying a word, the girl took Kim by the hand and started leading her through a long, sloping corridor. Their journey ended when they entered what looked like a dungeon. Before she could thank her younger self, the girl disappeared without a trace.
Five pedestals stood in the center of the room. A different monkey idol sat on each one; but the one on the center pillar was headless.
Kim cautiously approached the headless idol. She couldn't explain why…but heart was pounding and her blood was running cold. Reaching out, Kim gingerly touched the object of her apparent quest.
Suddenly, the whole room started spinning. Her stomach got queasy as she lost her balance and collapsed to the floor.
Closing her eyes tightly, Kim attempted to fight the feeling of imminent vertigo. She laid there for an undetermined length of time, until she heard a harsh female voice call her name. "Kim? Kim Possible? Is that YOU?"
Strong hands roughly grabbed Kim by her shoulders and forced her to sit up. Opening her eyes, it took a moment for them to focus. They were fixed on Sheri. At least, it was someone who looked like Sheri, but with a much harder look to her features.
Even though her eyes were the same brilliant green, they were filled with hate and menace. All Kim could do was stammer out, "S-s-sheri?"
The woman's face grew even angrier as she lifted Kim up by her shoulders and brought the crimson-haired woman's face to her level. Sheri leaned in closer, their lips just centimeters apart.
Instead of a kiss, however, she screamed at Kim. "How dare you call me by my given name! NOBODY calls me Sheri except my closest friends and family—and you are definitely not my friend. YOU will address me as 'The Supreme One'!"
The woman then started ranting about something about which Kim had absolutely no clue.
"I knew that one day you would show up and try to end my reign of power…but its not going too happen. NOT today, Kimmie!"
The 'Supreme One' backed away a half-step and sneered, "I am going to do something I should have done years ago, when you were just an annoying little brat! Do know how many times I let you go simply because I didn't want to kill you? Well, I'm going to correct that mistake right now."
Her right hand shot out and latched onto Kim's throat. The talons in her gloves dug into the soft, tender flesh of Kim's neck, crushing her wind pipe.
She charged her left fist with bright green plasma and cocked it backward, ready to strike a deadly blow. Kim's eyes grew wide with fear at the realization of her impending doom.
Reacting on instinct, Kim blocked the blow with her right arm while slamming her left fist as hard as she could into the women's face. The strike crushed the woman's nose, causing her to spew blood…
…Kim's head slammed into something hard, releasing her from the subconscious hell. She found herself lying on the floor, wrapped up in the blanket from the bed. The side of her head throbbed from where it came into contact with the night stand. The lamp, alarm clock and her Kimmunicator were scatted across the floor.
Extracting herself from the entangled blanket, Kim stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the light. Looking in the mirror, she gingerly felt the growing lump on the side of her head. Her neck was bruised and scratched as if fingers tightly clamped it. Kim was at a loss as to how that happened. Apparently, she must have gripped her own throat while she was sleeping.
She then searched the cabinets, looking for anything to stop the pain. Her violently-shaking hands fumbled upon a bottle of ibuprofen. It was difficult to pry away the cap, but she finally managed to force it open. While the recommended dosage on the bottle called for one caplet, she quickly downed two of the pills.
Kim returned to the bedroom, straightened the mattress, and replaced everything back on the nightstand before crawling back onto the bed. Her head and neck were still in pain, but it gradually began to fade.
Her heart was still pounding from the nightmares, making her almost afraid to close her eyes. As it was, fatigue from the long, strenuous day was too much and she finally succumbed to the spell of Morpheus once again…
…Kim stood on a hilltop overlooking a quant town, with a rather large villa behind her. She was enjoying the view when an earth-shaking explosion from the villa sent her diving for cover.
Seconds later, she witnessed a younger version of herself landing on the hilltop, carrying an unconscious Sheri. A raging Kitara landed behind them, using the booster jets in the boots of her own super-suit.
Knowing what was coming next, 'Older Kim' screamed out a warning as Kitara aimed her gun at them. 'Younger Kim' ducked and rolled away from the villain. She then rose up with her gun, blasting Kitara in the chest. While the woman was reeling, 'Younger Kim' charged Kitara and soundly beat her.
'Older Kim' remembered the whole ordeal, but was powerless to stop Kitara from recovering enough to grab her gun. The vile woman started blasting away, until knocking 'Younger Kim' off the cliff.
'Older Kim' remembered this particular nightmare from long ago. Each time before this, Sensei intervened to restore calm to her mind before she stumbled over the edge of her sanity.
She fell to her knees as she screamed, "NO! NO! Please, Sensei…please stop this. Don't let her do this again!"
This time, Sensei was not there with her; and Kim didn't know what to do. She watched in horror as Kitara walked over to a defenseless Sheri and lifted a large rock. The woman held it over her head with the intent of crushing Sheri's skull.
She then watched with pride as her younger self came flying back over the ridge. 'Younger Kim' fired her grappling gun, wrapping the cord around Kitara's hands before they both flew back over the cliff.
'Older Kim' felt the earth betray her, as it had done in so many renditions of this nightmare. The crumbling dirt caused her to fall off the cliff's edge and merger into her former self. She wailed, "Sensei, where are you? Why am I here again? Please help me!" Alas, Sensei never came…and Kim realized she was all alone this time.
Moments later, Kim felt a stabbing pain in the center of her chest. The intensity of the pain brought her to her knees on the ledge where she landed. She then felt it five or six more times, all in different locations. Before she had time to catch her breath, she heard the Global Justice jumper jet land. She watched Will and Ron rush out of the jet to rescue Sheri.
Seconds later, Ron came rushing back out of the jet as soon as he heard the jet pack coming back up the cliff. He rushed up to who he thought was Kim, only to run into Kitara's knife. His death was almost instant as she pierced his heart.
Kim's own chest was still hurting; but she ignored the pain as she climbed back up to the hilltop. She rushed up to Ron's side, hoping in vain that there was something she could have done for him.
The look of shock on his face was almost too much for Kim to witness. She had to keep telling herself this did not actually happen…it was only what Sensei said could have happened if Kitara had lived. Still, that was twenty years ago…why was she seeing all of this again now?
Before Kim could ponder that point further, she heard a loud noise from inside the jet. It sounded like something being slammed up against the cabin wall. Gathering what remained of her strength, she rushed into the plane.
When Kim rushed through the cargo door, she almost slipped and fell on the floor. She caught her footing just in time to examine the cabin. Blood coated the floor, walls and ceiling of the plane's interior. Lying in the middle of it all was Will.
Kim fought back the bile that was forcing it way up from her stomach and rushed to the back of the plane—only to find Kitara already there, with her knife poised over Sheri's heart. Sheri was using all of her remaining strength to hold back her attacker.
Sheri looked up at Kim with complete fear in her eyes. She begged "Kim…please save me…I don't want to die!"
Kim was frozen in place. The last time she saw this, no one knew that she was there—and she could not intervene. Kitara looked up at Kim and smiled at her. She then lunged forward with all her weight, slamming the knife home through Sheri's heart. Sheri let out an ear-splitting scream and then went limp as the life drained from her body.
Kitara slowly sat back up, pulling the knife from Sheri's chest. She smiled at Kim as she wiped the blood off on Sheri's suit. She then startled Kim by sneering, "That felt sooooo damn good! I have been waiting for years to waste that bitch…and now it's your turn!"
Kitara positioned herself to stand. Before she had the chance to do so, Kim screamed out, "DIE, YOU BITCH!!" She called the Lotus Heart to her hand and swung with all her might, catching Kitara just below the chin. The swift movement sliced the woman's head clean off her shoulders…
…When Kim woke up this time, the Lotus Heart was in her hand. One of the pillows had paid the price, and was cleaved clean through. Kim curled up into a tight ball and started crying, while hugging the only remaining pillow. She didn't understand why she was having these nightmares, or why many of them involved Sheri. She did know they had to stop, or she never get any more of the rest she most certainly needed.
Seeing no other alternatives, Kim reasoned that maybe discussing these scenes would help her understand them. At the very least, talking about them would relieve enough of the tension for her to get some rest. Clearing a few more cobwebs out of her head, she rose to her feet and staggered to Sheri's bedroom.
Lightly knocking on her door, Kim got no answer. She pushed it open just a crack and listened closely. All she could here was the sound of Sheri's light, even breathing. It appeared the woman was blissfully unaware of the troubles Kim was experiencing in the next room.
Letting herself in, Kim silently walked over to the foot of Sheri's bed. She let a small smile creep upon her face as she looked at her friend sleeping peacefully in her king-size bed.
Kim shook her head and thought to herself, 'Only Sheri would keep a king size bed with no one to share it with.' Her heart sank once more when she remembered Sheri telling her about Will buying the place two weeks before he was killed. 'Oh, no…this was supposed to be their romantic oasis…and they never got the chance to fully enjoy it!'
Trying not to disturb Sheri, Kim eased herself down on the bed. Once she was there, her mind refused to stop thinking. It kept going over everything that occurred in the last few weeks, including her dreams tonight…and Sheri's words and actions earlier in the day.
For some reason, Kim's mind kept going back to that damn kiss! She kept thinking about how it affected her, and why. Kim was no longer the inexperienced little prude of her youth. Her lips have made contact with quite a few others over the years. Still, she could not remember the last time a kiss took her breath away…or turned her legs to jelly.
Finally exhausted, Kim curled up to Sheri's back in 'spoon' fashion, listening to Sheri's gentle breathing. Within minutes, she was finally overtaken by blissful, peaceful sleep.
Authors Note: I never thought writing a series of dream sequences would take so much out of me, even Samurai Crunchbird told me that this a very difficult chapter to work on. (Although, that may have had more to do with my poor use of the English language than the dreams) But I think he did a great job for me and I wish to thank him for all of the extra work that he has been doing for me on the last few chapters. I know that it can't be easy Beta reading my rough work and making it look this good. Sometimes it is a lot easer being the idea man than it is being the one the makes the idea make work.
Please remember to keep sending those reviews so I know that we are holding every ones interest and as always I am very interested in every ones opinion good, bad or indifferent it is the only way I have to learn.
Thanks again for following my little story and remember we are all in this for fun. So have Fun!
Snapbang