Hello guys, we're getting closer! I hope you enjoy!
Special thanks to Ultimatrix bearer for reviewing so diligently! I really appreciate your reviews :) !
P.S. something has been brought to my attention by a fellow reader! If you have questions concerning my characters' abilities, I recommend rereading the first story and the mini story because most questions have already been answered in the much later chapters of "Kidnapped". Please and thank you!
Kim had been acting really off lately.
It was transpiring for a long time now actually, but it had been more frequent than usual. He knew she had her secrets, he understood that... and accepted that she would come out to him on her own time... but what about everything the blue-haired woman said? Obviously, Kim was going to do something about it, and maybe she already was and hadn't informed him yet.
That was one secret he just couldn't understand. Why not include him? They were a crime fighting duo, from even before they dated. Screw crime fighting, they were together from the moment they met in Pre-K. The same schools, the same classes, heck, they lived right beside each other. He couldn't think of one moment where she wasn't in his life.
Well, with the exception of Camp Wannaweep, and... last summer. But other than that, she was always with him.
He literally can't imagine his future without Kim Possible.
Graduation was either going to seal that fate or bring them closer together.
After Ron left Kim's house, he was went to train at Yamanouchi again, as per usual. He had been practicing his flight abilities and found it quite easy to travel long distances in a short amount of time. With the invasion happening any moment now, it was imperative he stayed prepared and as powerful as he can be. Even if she didn't plan on telling him anything, he had to stay strong so that he could help her the second it went into motion. She must have something planned, he just needed to find out when it was transpiring.
"Sensei.. something major's going to happen soon," Ron started.
"I see," Sensei spoke, dodging Ron's strikes with ease. "How so?"
"Well, Kim and I.." The old man sweeps him off his feet, but the blonde flips backwards and lands back on his feet and continues speaking. "..we got a mission from somebody related to those crazy strong guys and uh, long story short, turns out there might be a wide-scale alien invasion. Any time soon, actually..."
"I suppose I cannot say I'm surprised," Sensei responds, dodging a left hook by Ron and grabbing his arm and throwing him over himself. "I do find the situation quite odd, however."
Ron flies through the air and begins to land back on the ground after being thrown, but he staggers back onto his feet upon hearing his teacher's words. "Wha-what's odd?"
"I can sense these beings you mention, but... only recently at such close proximity." He paused to think briefly, before turning back to look at his student with a somewhat concerned expression. "Stoppable-san, for a good part of last month, I have been getting this.. odd feeling."
The young man gazed with a worried, anxious look. "Why do I get the feeling it's not the 'good' kind?"
"Your feeling is correct," Sensei answered. "In the event this invasion occurs... you must not leave Kim Possible's side."
Ron's eyes broadened and he took a sudden step forward. "Huh? What do you mean by that? Is something going to happen to Kim?!"
"I'm afraid I'm uncertain, Stoppable-san, but I do know that it is such a malevolent energy, steadily creeping to levels where even I must intervene. Something dark is at work, and I will do my best to help you prepare for facing this new enemy. I will teach you the same technique I taught L."
Ron had a remembrance of the assassin when he heard that last part, being taken aback at the same time. She was mentioned during the visit to Capsule Corporation. He felt it was necessary to mention to his teacher, especially since she could be the source of this dark energy. Also.. Sensei trusted him enough to give him such a powerful technique, even after it was the reason he lost all of his students to L all those years ago. He couldn't help but feel honored.
But first things first.
"Uh, well," he began awkwardly, stretching out his collar. "I forgot to mention... uh, L might be part of why this invasion is happening in the first place."
"I had an inkling," Sensei sighed. "But I'm afraid she is not the source of this evil. I want you to think of this event as a first in a cascade of events that will lead to the downfall of this planet and everyone on it."
"Well, that's one outcome from an invasion," Ron replied back with a brow raised.
"You misunderstand. Though you may be successful in defeating the enemy, another event may be triggered, one far worse than the initial event. "
Ron's face lit up in understanding. "Like... dominoes?"
"That is one way to put it. But in any case, you must be fully prepared to defeat this new foe to the very end, else we'll be seeing a chain of events and I believe this new evil will have something to do with it."
Daema was meditating again, searching for a new solution to the request L made. She was busy talking to their newest prisoner, so he had time to himself to ponder his current dilemma. He hadn't revealed this yet to her, but he was adept at magic.
Considering where he originated from, most of his strengths came from his magical abilities. Most, if not all of his people, had an affinity with magic. Had it not been for magic, he wouldn't have been able to take over this Saiyan body.
As of right now, he just didn't know what exactly he needed to fulfill his current goal; L's request.
Apparently the human girl had a white and blue suit that would boost her abilities; Warmonga also mentioned this. It was the reason that human managed to gain the upper hand in the first place. L wanted him to take it from her and destroy it. She wanted to make sure the girl's chances were slim to none, she wasn't taking any chances.
..Be that as it may, there was one little issue with that.
Cell was at that residence, and while Daema was now a Saiyan, he wasn't confident of his chances in battle against him.
What to do, what to do...
L was right about a number of things concerning that chimera. He was just as paranoid as she is, but why? It was time to think critically. They had back up now, sure, but he detected the energies of that bug and those Saiyans in battle last year, from before he made his move. Their energies were massive, he was sure he could handle them while in a last resort fusion with his old partner, but she wasn't here right now. L had the other earring, but he was unsure if their combined energies would be enough.
He clicked his tongue and continued meditating. Maybe he should go take a gander at this girl to see what was so great about her. Everybody, including their recent prisoner seemed to have ill will against her.
Of course he wasn't going physically, like hell Cell would allow him to approach, much less leave in one piece. He astral projected and flew to his destination. He knew where to go, he saw the coordinates on the screen way too many damn times to not forget.
He passed through the house in his spiritual form. He didn't actually know what she looked like, so all the more reason to visit. He noticed the house is occupied with four people. An older woman, and that spawn, as well as two boys. He avoided their line of sight and nearly ran into a wall before remembering he can't actually run into anything. He started to move on until he realized there are portraits on this wall.
"Which one are you.." he thought to himself with a smirk, finally setting his sights on a family portrait of the five of them. Junior drawn on the side by someone, which is telling that there will be a new portrait to replace this one.
And there she was, the human herself. She resembled her mother, but didn't inherit either of her parent's eyes. He stood there for a moment to remember this face, then he decided to move on to look for the suit.
After some searching, he finally found her bedroom. She wasn't here. If only his spiritual form could grab physical objects.
Well, back to his train of thought from before he decided to visit. Why was the chimera paranoid? Enough to stay glued to this area?
"Hmm.." he hummed, strolling around the room, wondering where the suit could be. A closet most likely, but something like that wouldn't just be around, would it?
He already knew why the fiend was paranoid, because he was scared. Scared of this little gadget of theirs, which wasn't even his own invention! It sure did help against those inhuman warriors back on the ship. He had the humans to thank for that.
He approached the closet, passing through the closet doors and moving his dark crimson orbs left and right for a white and blue suit.
But what was the point of staying in the vicinity of this house? Did this human girl have a use to Cell? If so, he failed to see it. L didn't expand upon her words when it came to this, which only left him grasping at straws. He was about to pull his head back out when it suddenly pieced together in his head.
Cell wasn't here, and neither was that girl.
He entered the closet fully, noticing a glowing hand panel. There was a door behind the closet.
The device worked only on nonhumans, and the girl was human. They were working together. In the event he got incapacitated, she would free him. He would protect her in exchange. It was a mutualistic relationship.
Apparently this team up was exactly what L feared.
Even so, was Cell really that terrified of this device to resort to relying on such an insignificant human?
Daema poked his head through the door and found the suit. He instinctively tried to grab it but frowned when his hand passed through. Of course it did.
He backed out of the closet and turned around to see two young boys looking up at him, slack-jawed. He suddenly had an evil grin upon his scarred face.
"Enjoy today, because it's going to be the last for you, little humans," Daema whispered wickedly, leaning in closely and quickly shoving both his fists through their heads, but it merely passed through. He knew it wouldn't kill them, but he wouldn't pass an opportunity to incite fear in these mortals.
Jim and Tim shrieked and ran out of their sister's bedroom. The man smirked and left the premises to return to the ship.
"Well?"
Daema opened his eyes. L was in front of him again.
He knew of one spell that could be of use to them.
"I've found a solution to our problem," he stated with a wide smile, stepping down from the air.
"We haven't got all day, she likely has a plan to counter us," she berated impatiently. "Out with it!"
Daema stretched his limbs out first after meditating for so long. "First things first..." he said while stretching his legs. "There is a narrow window of time, and it is nigh, I'm fetching the suit now. It's in a secret compartment inside her closet. He's not at the house, but I'm certain he's still hovering around the area."
"No need, I think I may be able to help with that," L added with a knowing smile. She placed two fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes. It took awhile, but all of a sudden she vanished from the ship. Daema stood there with a dumbfounded look. It would've made a lot of things more convenient had he known about that.
She reappeared out of nowhere with the suit in her possession. She then lit it ablaze with ki and watched the high tech suit gradually reduce to nothing but ashes.
"Instant Transmission," he mused. He wondered why she hadn't used this to capture the mini chimera, but figured it would raise Cell's defenses too high and dismissed the thought.
"Oh, is that what that's called? Looks like that little blue brat was good for something, after all."
"Did the 'little blue brat' detect you?"
"I'm not dense, it's not my first time concealing my energy."
"But he would've seen you."
L narrowed her eyes. "First and foremost, I am a ninja, I think I know when to conceal myself if I happen to make my existence known by accident."
Before she was an assassin, she was an adept ninja, top of her class back at Yamanouchi. She could easily erase her existence temporarily had the situation called for it. Did this man really have to underestimate her?
He simply nodded before returning to his thoughts to remember what he was going to tell her. His face lit up as soon as he recalled it.
"One more thing," Daema continued. "I found one perfect solution for capturing Cell without sacrificing a good amount of our reinforcements."
"And that is?" she asked, already impatient.
He put a hand to his chin. "How good are you at acting?"
L's face twisted in confusion. "What?"
"Okay, let me rephrase," he began again, a mischievous grin on his face.
"How do you feel about becoming ginger?"
Kim's driving to Middleton High with Ron in the passenger seat.
It was silent at first, but Ron wanted to break the ice. Fast.
"Kim, I know," he stated firmly.
Kim nearly jumped, but didn't want to assume too much. He was most likely referring to the invasion.
"Ron..." she trailed off, genuinely not knowing what to say. "..Everything's fine."
"No, it's not!" Ron cut her off, promptly grabbing her steering wheel and forcing her to brake. "Everything. Is. Not. Fine!"
"Hey, what's your damage!? In case you haven't noticed, we're inside a hunk of metal moving at 55 miles per hour! And we're going to be late," she noted with slight irritation, pointing to her watch.
"Don't you already know by now? I don't care about any of that, all I care about right now is you!" he practically yelled as he flailed his arms about, Kim taken aback in response. He stopped his arms in front of him and clenched his fists. He quickly composed himself and looked at her straight in the eyes. "Look KP, even if you won't tell me, even if you never tell me, I.. I'm still going to help you. I just want to let you know that I've got your back. Whatever happens, whenever it happens, you can count on me. That's a Stoppable promise. Well, uh, unstoppable I mean, but you get the idea!"
The heroine is speechless, and she's also nervously sweating, but she was stealth enough to keep it from making it known. She averted her eyes and accelerated again, unable to return his gaze.
"Of-of course we can always count on each other, but... um, let's get going before we're late," she replied carefully, but after some quick thinking, she sent him a brief, angry look. "Don't do that again."
Ron nodded and sat still in his seat. It seemed she still wasn't going to give in. It didn't matter. No matter what, he'll protect her. This plan of hers, whenever it begins, he'll find a way to be there for her. His determination is unstoppable.
They arrived at school and went about their usual day, although it was their last day. Kim did receive more attention than usual, not knowing why, but she brushed it off because of what might be transpiring tonight. Nothing was going to distract her today, her attention is always going to be on one thing entirely.
Ron did take notice of the eyes on Kim today, but unlike his best friend, he didn't brush it off. He later found out it was because she was on the front page on the Humans magazine and her graduation was a cover story.
..And that he was out of the picture.
He doesn't even remember when this was taken! Probably when they foiled a villain earlier this year.. but still, it hurt not to be included with her. Heck, even Rufus was more in the cover than he was. He managed to get a copy from someone and gazed at the cover with a disappointed look.
Center will not hold...
Out of everything, why did it have to be Mr. Barkin's words to ring in his head?
Meanwhile, while everyone is busy looking at their yearbooks, Kim's at her locker. She opened it only to find it completely devoid of her things. She stared briefly with a confused look until the door was suddenly slammed in her face.
"Possible! The locker belongs to the school," Steve Barkin stated, then he handed her a box with her things. "I believe this belongs to you."
"I tried to stop him, Kim!" Wade shouted desperately.
Kim grabbed the box while her teacher left and sighed. She guessed she was so busy with her current plans that she forgot to empty out her locker before the last day.
"He's right, time to move on. Any updates? How's the Kimmunicator?"
Wade shook his head. "Not good. In the beginning, it was just phases of connection going bad and returning to normal, but today... it's the worst it's been. It's taking everything I have to talk to you right now."
She gripped the box tightly. "..Not a good sign. Can you see anything through the satellites?"
"No, virtually everything isn't working today, I think it's going down tonight. Dr. Director already knows, but even GJ is getting affected by this. It's going to be bad."
That was an understatement.
It was going to be really bad, especially if any part of her plan went wrong. It had to be perfect.
"Can you believe it? G-day is here! We're finally graduating!" Monique shouted excitedly, making Kim jump briefly.
Her friend gazed with a concerned look. "Kim, you good?"
"Yeah! I guess I sort of zoned out, I mean, we're starting a whole new chapter," Kim managed to say, which seemed to convince her friend.
"It all feels so final..." Ron mused, looking through his yearbook as they all started walking to their last class.
"Right! No more Barkin, no more school bell, and no more mystery meat. Oh, hey Tara! Sign me, girlfriend!" Monique ran off, leaving Kim and Ron alone, but Kim couldn't help but stare at her friend worriedly.
She hoped she would be safe tonight, along with her loved ones.
Ron noticed her current expression and opened his mouth to say something, but someone moved in between them and rudely shoved them apart.
It was Bonnie.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Cover Story," Bonnie noted, her tone disdainful as she revealed the sudden news to Kim. "Props on the pic."
Kim gazed at the magazine cover with a somewhat incredulous look. Well, it explained the extra attention she received today. Somehow, it made her feel worse than elated.. as if expectations of her were greatly increased. Despite that, she also hoped Bonnie would be safe tonight, no matter how badly she treated her throughout their school years.
"Oh, well thanks, B."
Bonnie took a quick glance at the cover before turning it back around for Kim to see. "Uh oh! Is that a lady bug, or a zit on your chin? How humiliating!"
As she sashays away, Kim only gazes with some odd sense of endearment. This was one part of high school she won't miss.
"Kim.." Ron tries to begin, but Kim walks forward as if to ignore him, but she stopped briefly in place. The freckled teen was confused by this.
"What are you waiting for, Ron? Come on, let's head to class."
You must not leave Kim Possible's side.
Sensei's words echo in his head this time.
Bulma's working relentlessly to finish her ship so she can go rescue her family and friends when Krillin walks in.
"Whoa, Dr. Briefs wasn't kidding! You're really going?!" he asked incredulously.
"Well, duh! This isn't my first rodeo, you know!" Bulma shouted back as she cranked one part of the ship with a wrench.
Krillin strolled forward and approached her, determination on his face. "I'm coming with you. Whoever's on that ship knew Goku and the others were a major threat, you need someone to protect you! If not, well, maybe Tien, or Yamcha-"
"Nope! I've got this covered, so head on home to protect your family." Bulma paused, then she stopped working to look at her friend with a grave expression. "..Situation's not good, Krillin. Dad and I were looking at it earlier, and he spoke with a younger colleague this morning. There's a massive army, it's nothing like we've seen before, something I'm sure Goku could handle, but..."
The two were silent. This new enemy easily subdued their strongest allies, which meant this oncoming threat knew more than they thought. Bulma knew more though, she knew the aliens were known as Lorwardians, and they had an ally from Earth named L.
It didn't change the fact that no one as strong as Goku could help them right now.
Well, Krillin knew of one that he was about to announce.
"..Uh, okay, I know this is bad and all, but I didn't just come here to offer my help. I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but there's more.."
"Oh, God, what is it now? Is it Cell? Don't tell me he came back to Earth."
His face began to bead with perspiration and he was silent again for a brief moment.
"...Cell came back to Earth-"
Bulma threw her wrench on the ground and groaned out of exasperation, borderline shouting. She abruptly turned to her friend, spooking him a bit with her current visage. She started stomping toward him and he backed away in fear.
"When was this?!"
"We-well, I'm not really sure! But last night, there was a huge energy spike, and imagine my horror as soon as I realized it was Cell preparing to attack! It didn't feel like he was fighting anyone, though. His energy disappeared after that, so he might've been.. well, you know..."
The woman turned away in thought, analyzing what Krillin said. Maybe Cell was fighting off these invaders. He might be against it as much as they were... but it couldn't be the only possibility. Besides, even if it were true, he was probably captured right now with how Krillin ended his explanation. But despite that, she was almost tempted to ask Krillin to request aid from that monster to help their cause, because...
As fast as she was working on this ship, she knew she wasn't going to finish it on time. At least, from how the situation was unfolding. She gazed up at her unfinished ship, knowing it wouldn't last going through the atmosphere without combusting in mid air. Her eyes began to sting, almost to the point of tears, but she did well enough to keep them from welling any further.
Crying wasn't going to save anyone, nonetheless her family and friends.
Maybe she could ask her Dad if he knew any colleagues who could help speed up the process. He mentioned one scientist with proficiency in rocket ships, but she couldn't quite recall his name. It was familiar too, what was it?
James Timothy something...
She just can't put her finger on it, but she'll figure it out. She always does.
"Thanks Krillin, you can go home now," Bulma finally said, the exhaustion kicking in. "You and 18 should probably prepare for what's coming, make sure to tell the others too. We're going to need all the help we can get to save the others."
"You're letting me help?"
"I can't exactly fly or shoot things out of my hands, Krillin," she noted in a disgruntled manner. "I'll find a way to get to that ship. You'll provide protection."
Krillin nodded. He wondered if Bulma knew their current issue concerning the dragon balls. She probably pieced it together by now since she wasn't suggesting it as a solution. It would've been a lot easier to use them to free Goku and the others, but it hadn't been a year yet. About a month until they can, but they were running dangerously low on time, it would be too late by then. And they couldn't use the Namekian dragon balls because Dende was their main way of contacting Moori and King Kai.
The situation was getting worse the more he thought about it.
Their conversation ended and he left to do as he suggested. He felt that he needed to act fast or they were all doomed.
Bulma remained in her lab. The lights began flickering dangerously, she took a gander to her left and noticed the electronics on the wall were acting off as well.
The school day ended.
Everyone burst out of their classrooms feverishly, bumping into one another as they exited the school.
"Oh, seriously! Every year! Leaving like the school's about to be blown to smithereens!" Mr. Barkin shouted angrily.
Unfortunately what Steve said wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Kim and Ron were left alone at the school's exit.
"It's really over," he mused, almost to himself.
"Yeah, it is," she replied back. She turned to him with an unreadable expression.
Sad? Frightened? Worried?
He couldn't tell.
"No matter what happens, we'll always have each other's backs," she continued.
He reached for her hand and wanted to say something, but she was already leaving. She exited the school doors and disappeared. He watched as she left. Looks like they weren't heading home together.
Besides the upcoming invasion, he also had bad news he didn't want to deliver. She most likely knew, Junior was by her side after all. He sensed the monster Cell last night, he actually attacked the Earth, but... that was it. He didn't know what was going through his head, but Kim had more than enough on her plate right now.
He hoped last night would be the last attack. He didn't know what that fiend was thinking, but he knew it wasn't good.
Speaking of, Kim was getting in her car, but caught something in the corner of her eye.
It was Cell.
She was taken by surprise at the sudden appearance. He actually followed her to school? Was the bio-android really that paranoid of getting captured? She didn't blame him, but she still remembered what he did to her last night and would really appreciate it if he actually made the effort of staying out of sight. Her sight, specifically. More so, Ron's. If she saw him, chances were Ron could see him too.
Then again, time was running out. Like her, he might've been getting more antsy with each passing second.
"Seriously?" she scoffed to herself, her mood already plummeting more than before.
She did her best to forget it and drive back home. She had to get ready for tonight. If she predicted correctly, then everything will be going down tonight. So long as Cell did not get contained within this timeframe, then everything will go through perfectly.
It has to.
Kim drove at a leisurely pace. At this point, she half-expected herself to floor it to get it over with, but she managed not to.
She parked in the driveway of her house and walked inside her house mindlessly. All of a sudden she's making eye contact with her grandmother.
"Na-Nana," Kim stammered aloud, astonished.
She had forgotten what her mother told her yesterday.
"Oh, I wouldn't miss this for the world!" her grandma started, strolling forward quickly and giving Kim a hug. "Oh, and I hear you're speaking too!"
Kim has a melancholic expression as she returned her grandmother's embrace. "..It's no big... just a few words."
Nana pulled back and put both her hands on each side of her granddaughter's face. "Oh, living so far away. I miss you so much."
The heroine gazed back, her expression hadn't changed. "Me too. It's awful to be far from somebody you love."
"Honey, you're back! Look at all these college acceptance letters," Ann announced, strolling closer to reveal one from Hong Kong. "A bit far, but you have my full support."
Kim only gave the letters a brief glance before she observed the room just to find her father and uncle absent. "Where's Dad and Uncle Slim?"
"He's been gone since this morning, your uncle also went to join him," her mother explained. "I got a call, but I couldn't make heads or tails of what your father was trying to say. Connection was terrible, which is weird because this is the first it's happened. Oh, but I'm sure he'll make it in time for your graduation! He has to for his daughter's sake."
Her mother's answer only worried her. It really was what she was thinking this morning. She just hoped her father had no plans of intervening or joining in some way.
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll make it," Kim replied dismissively. "Uh, I'm going to go upstairs and get ready, okay?"
Both her mother and grandmother nodded and she hurried her way up. However, she ran into Tim and Jim on her way up.
"Kim!" they both shouted in unison. "Are you okay?"
"Can't be any worse," she answered with a sigh.
"We finished our satellite, it's really bad, Kim," Tim continued. "There's so many ships that I can't even see the moon!"
Good to know Cell wasn't lying.
"I know, someone already informed me," she said, her eyes narrowing as she put emphasis on that one word.
The twins exchanged knowing looks. "Everything's going to be okay.. isn't it?"
She gazed at her two brothers, their expressions unsure. She always appeared so sure and confident of herself and her abilities, especially in a situation she wasn't familiar in. She needed to show that version of herself now.
Kim knelt down to be around their height and tried to appear as self-assured as possible. "Of course it is. I'm trusting you guys to protect Mom, Dad, Uncle Slim and Nana while I'm gone. Junior will help you, just leave everything to me."
Before she got up to leave, they pulled her back. Kim looked back with a puzzled expression.
"Kim..." one of them began, anxious. "...someone was in your room."
Her blood ran cold at the news. From the way he was speaking, it couldn't be Cell. It had to be someone else involved with what was happening.
"..What were they doing?"
"It was some guy, he was looking inside your closet," Jim answered.
"Yeah, he was freaky looking too," Tim finished. "He was like a ghost, he moved through the doors like it was nothing. He shoved his fists through our faces, it felt so cold."
The two shivered as they recalled the sensation.
Someone was in her house while she was out and could have harmed her family, but didn't. She was scared, who was it? Why? She needed answers.
"I need you to tell me what he looks like."
After hearing the description, it vaguely reminded her of someone she saw before. Not in real life... in a drawing she had seen the day before. Once she connected the dots, she rushed into her bedroom and saw Junior on her bed, who seemed to be awaiting her arrival. She felt she didn't have a lot of time left so she merely gave him a brief acknowledgement and glanced around until she saw the sketchbook on her bedside table. She quickly grabbed it and began to open it but was surprised to see it was snatched out of her hands.
"What the.." Kim looked around, confused, until she turned and saw the chimera towering behind her with the sketchbook in his hand.
What the hell? She almost could not believe the amount of anger swelling from within because of his action. On today of all days.
"Look, I'm really not in the mood for any of your mind games, so give it back, I need to see it," she said quickly.
Cell almost had a puzzled look, very faint, but it was there. Why was he confused? She's the one who should be confused! She only got angrier at the reaction.
"Why do you need it?"
"I need to see your sketch of the man with L," came her terse reply.
He opened the sketchbook and ripped out the page she needed and handed it to her. With a raised brow, she grabbed it and began examining it quickly. This was the man. The description was almost identical. Why was he looking in her closet?
"This guy was in my closet," she announced, causing a glower to appear on the bio-android's face.
"That's not possible, I didn't detect anyone else here but your family."
"My brothers said he was here, looking in my closet, they even knew what he looked like," Kim pressed on. After some quick thinking, she sprinted to her closet and opened the doors, her heart dropping at the sight.
Her battle suit was gone. The hidden doors concealing it were torn apart and the suit was gone. Her greatest chance against L was gone. It was gone.
It was gone.
Kim nearly trembled as she gripped the handle on the closet door tightly, fighting back tears. Junior hopped off the bed and went to her side to comfort her. Cell just scoffed at the sight.
"I doubt it would do very much, it hardly made any difference," he noted in a slighting tone.
She was sick of tired of him and his insults, but couldn't bring herself to say anything back. However, she did need some privacy to actually change into her graduation attire. But she didn't want to look at him, not once.
Without turning back, she began to speak. "...Can you please give me some privacy? I need to change my clothes."
After she spoke, she waited a bit before she reluctantly turned around to see if he left. To her surprise, he actually heeded her request. He was gone. So was Junior, it seemed he listened as well. She heaved a sigh and took out her graduation outfit. She also needed to do her hair and makeup.
While she got ready, it was almost like the invasion wasn't happening. As if it were just any normal graduation for any young adult. The excitement, the anticipation, the experience. She almost felt like a normal person.
But she wasn't normal. She knew that much.
Kim took her time getting ready, wanting to savor the moment as if it were her last. Before she knew it, she was in her black cap and gown, a golden sash draping over her shoulders. Along with a new hairstyle, her hair tied up with the front half of her ginger hair hanging on each side of her face, one side slightly longer than the other. She had put on a necklace that had a green gem.
She was ready.
Junior reappeared out of nowhere and stood next to her in the mirror. It seemed he had his own outfit to wear for the occasion, a small formal outfit she bought herself weeks ago, from before she knew all of this was even happening.
"You look beautiful," he complimented, gazing up at her in awe.
Kim looked at him endearingly. "Thank you, you look great too," she responded as she kneeled down to pull him into a hug, him returning her embrace.
"Well, it appears you can clean up nicely."
The redhead's face fell immediately, and just when her mood began to lift a little. She let go of Junior and looked back at Cell with narrowed eyes.
"I thought you were giving me some privacy."
He clicked his tongue at her. "And I did. I returned as soon as you finished to discuss our plan."
"You mean my plan?" she returned with a raised brow, pointing to herself with her thumb.
"Call it whatever you like, I'm still a part of it, a rather big part, I might add," he continued. "This is for clarification, you know, to ensure we're on the same page."
Kim's glare persisted as she remained silent and waited for him to go on. He paused to allow for a response, but when he found she wasn't going to give one, he continued.
"Just so we're clear, you will allow yourself to be captured by the enemy, and I'll use my Instant Transmission technique to free you, and we will look for Goku and the others—assuming that they are on the same ship, of course."
She nodded. "If they're not on the same ship, we'll just have to check them all.." She recalled her brothers' words when it came to the amount of ships surrounding the planet.
Cell appeared somewhat miffed at that part. "I might as well destroy the entire fleet and kill two birds with one stone," he muttered to himself.
Strolling around her room, Kim was pensive for a moment until she remembered what might be a crucial piece of information. "Cell, do you remember the ship that went after you?"
"You think they will be on the same ship?"
She eyed the sketchbook in his hand again and nodded. "Not completely sure, but it's our best bet. Let me see the sketch of the ship." She reached out for the sketchbook and he yanked his hand away.
Kim shot him an indignant look. "Seriously, what is the deal with you and that thing? Just give it to me, we're running out of time and I need to see it!"
He narrowed his eyes and ripped out another page and handed it to her. She wasted no time grabbing and observing the page, committing it to memory. It wasn't an entire view, but anything was better than nothing. She wanted to be as prepared as can be. A second later, she took out her watch and tried to contact Wade.
"Wade? Wade, can you hear me?" she asked aloud. She got patched through, but the screen with Wade on it was so fuzzy she could hardly see him. He was speaking but she couldn't understand him, it was all incomprehensible. "Wade!"
The screen went black.
"..I should've known," she mused, recalling her mother's phone call with her father. "Well, I guess I'm trusting you to know which ship tracked you, it might as well be the one containing everyone," she continued, directing her attention to the bio-android.
He just gave her a half-nod, before his face suddenly twisted in alarm. Before she could open her mouth to ask what was wrong, he beat her to the punch.
"Get out."
"What is-"
"Get the hell out of here!" he yelled at her. "GET OUT NOW!"
Kim flinched out of fear when he suddenly yelled at her with such ferocity, but she immediately did as told and began running out of her room and darting down the steps with Junior at her side. Her mother and grandmother were waiting for her at the bottom.
Ann looked up at her daughter with a concerned look. "Kimmy, is something the matter? I thought I heard someone-"
"Mom, Nana, uh, I got the timing wrong actually, we're supposed to leave half an hour early, so we should really get going!"
"Oh dear, okay everyone to the car!"
Tim and Jim are now dressed formally and running to the car, appearing well-versed in what was about to happen. Everyone piles into the family car and Ann starts it as soon as the last door is closed. She pressed on the gas and they began speeding their way to Middleton High.
While her mother is complaining how they didn't get to take pictures with the family(especially since her father and uncle are absent), Kim is sitting in the backseat with her brothers and Junior, wondering why in the world the chimera reacted in such a way. As if answering her question, she could feel a distant bang that could be perceived as someone's loud car, or fireworks being lit. On today of all days, it wouldn't be a surprise, in fact it should be expected.
But she, of all people, knew.
It could've been fireworks, or an explosion.
Kim looks back and could see smoke billowing out of the direction in which her house is in.
Was in.
She slumps slightly in her seat, looking at Junior and her siblings worriedly. Junior gazed back with a knowing look.
The house is in shambles. There is virtually nothing left that once resembled the Possible household. Everything is gone, almost to the fullest extent. With the exception of one thing, of which Cell is currently holding.
He was in the air, unaffected by the sudden explosion. He wiped off some soot that got on him and looked around. This was definitely a threat. A threat he would not be fazed by. He wanted nothing more than to kill that wretched woman along with her allies. It had been awhile since he obliterated an alien's military forces.
A hue of red appeared on him suddenly, he looked up and noticed a gigantic beacon sticking out of what used to be Kim's house. It had four, razor sharp legs, along with a red and black head that was glowing bright red, pulsating at the same rhythm as the average human heartbeat.
Furious, he flew towards it and punched a hole through it, his fist igniting with a large amount of ki and the beacon exploding from within and collapsing onto the ground with a loud thud.
Cell looked down at the machine. Despite how easy it was to destroy, the exterior was actually pretty tough. He must've been pretty livid to destroy it in a way that seemed easy.
He was about to follow the redhead until he noticed a familiar figure below him.
It was Daema.
"Aw, come on! You can't destroy an alien's toy like that! They worked pretty hard on it," Daema spoke aloud, mockery clear in his voice. "Katchin, you know, it's the most dense, strongest metal in the universe! Well, it's actually not katchin, but a well-fashioned copy, since you managed to destroy it pretty easily. These aliens are pretty good at mimicry, I'm sure you figured that out by now."
Cell turned down in his direction sharply and prepared to fire a powerful blast at him to shut him up until he recognizes another figure in his arms.
It was Kim, graduation attire and all.
"That device sure did its job of distracting you," Daema noted with a wicked smile, holding a hand over the redhead's mouth and an arm around her torso. "Now, you have no one who can save you."
He quickly analyzed the situation and noticed the enemy was alone, he couldn't see L near him, or detect her energy anywhere nearby, at least not within a certain distance that could be considered a threat. He was going to make this man regret his current actions.
Cell descended to the ground gracefully and narrowed his eyes. "You aren't going to come out of this alive, I can assure you that."
Daema raised a brow, his smile still in place. "Oh? You sound sure and confident."
The bio-android began to smirk. "Oh, but I am. You came to me last time in a form I couldn't harm you in, why was that, I wonder? Because I think we both know the answer."
The man is silent, sweat beginning to appear on his forehead. He knew the bio-android surpassed him by a wide margin, hell, he couldn't even go Super Saiyan like the other Saiyans back on the ship. Despite that, he still remained silent, not that it made a difference because Cell doesn't give him a chance to speak.
"I can read you clearly, you're only here in your physical form because you think you have an upper hand on me. You think having that human in your clutches gives you any sort of protection? Or any sort of bargaining chip?" he asked derisively, a laugh coming out but his grip on the sketchbook tightening. "Well, I don't blame you for rushing over in a desperate attempt to capture me by such means, but allow me to demonstrate why you're so foolishly wrong."
At that last sentence, Daema quickly braces for an upcoming attack, but he could suddenly feel white-hot burning sensation in both of his shoulders. It was too fast for him to prevent, he couldn't even utter a word to threaten the girl's life with how quick the chimera was to act. His arms, as well as his grip on the human loosen and Kim struggles free. She staggers forward and almost falls but the bio-android catches her before she can.
Cell sent his soon-to-be victim a victorious look, but the look on Daema's pained face throws him off.
Something was amiss, but by the time he perceived it, it was too late.
He could feel a familiar, numbing sensation rapidly spreading from in his midsection, the dread blossoming from within at the same rate.
Slowly, he looked down, only to see Kim smirking and the device spreading rapidly across his being. He was genuinely confounded at her actions; he couldn't understand why she was doing this and how this was even happening until he took a good look at her eyes.
They were blue.
"Who knew you would be so easy to trick?" 'Kim' noted in mock, shoving him to the ground.
"A.. A good thing we took a look at that girl again, other-otherwise I wouldn't have been able to revise the-the disguise accordingly," Daema noted in a pained voice, the burned holes in his shoulders still as painful as can be. "I-I'm going back to the ship to heal, you deal with him."
A green light hit Daema and he was transported back. Meanwhile 'Kim' still stood over Cell with a pompous grin and what looked like a remote in her hand.
"You feel a little different, don't you? Not quite like the last containment device, right?" she continued, lifting her hand.
The chimera was still trying to comprehend what had just happened to him, but he glanced at himself curiously and could see red lines glowing throughout the device. It was a different sensation compared to the other device, but as soon as he made the realization, she continued.
"Let me show you just how different this one is."
The unexpected sharp pain gave him a severe jolt. It was pretty new since he was quite literally resistant to nearly everything, but this was pain on another level. It was nothing like the beautiful buzz of pain when fighting someone similar to his stature, like Goku. His cells were on fire, he couldn't stop it from happening, and he could hardly move either. It was so painful that was it actually reminiscent of Gohan's Kamehameha obliterating him until nothing but his nucleus was left.
"Oh, that must really hurt," a familiar voice added with a cackle. "You might be shocked to hear this, but... this isn't even the highest setting!"
The pain stopped, leaving him somewhat breathless. He sent a pained, but irate glare to the person above him and could see the ginger hair fading into a blinding white and their pupils thinning into a slit.
"Don't worry, that was just a taste of what your life is going to be like from now on, but I can give you another if you'd like," L continued, gazing at the remote with a smile. She went to crank the shock to a higher level but saw something in the corner of her eye, sticking out like a sore thumb.
"Now, what do we have here?" she mused to herself, moving past the chimera and finding what looked like a book beside him. She noticed it earlier from when she was 'Kim'. It stuck out so much because everything that was left of the house was reduced to nothing—all except this.
When she reached to grab it, she noticed that Cell had quite the violent reaction, he seemed to be very against her taking it. All the more reason to grab it and add onto his torture.
"Still intact," she said in observation. "I wonder what's got you protecting this so badly." She opened it and noticed two pages were torn from it, leaving her a good, full view of the third page and its contents.
Cell lets out an angry grunt, nearly grinding his teeth from how livid he was. The assassin stared at the page with a blank look, but a smile slowly crept onto her face. When she turned away from the book, she shut it quickly and merely scoffed at his reaction.
"So angry, oh I'm so scared," she feigned. "I would hold back on the glares, I mean, take a good look at yourself right now. You should be ashamed of yourself."
You're trembling.
He hadn't noticed it. Was it fear? The pain? Mortification? He didn't need to know, all he knew and felt right now was humiliation, and that it was all over before the plan had even began.
Ron and his family arrived at Middleton ridiculously early.
His mother insisted on it and now he was in the bathroom of the boy's locker room fixing his cap. He was literally the first person there, besides Felix who made valedictorian.
While he was distracted, a blue light appeared from behind him, making him scream." AHH! Sensei?!"
"Stoppable-san," Sensei greeted in the air.
Ron palmed his face in disappointment. "Oh no, you know, you never pop in like this with good news."
"Indeed, I'm afraid there has been an unfortunate development."
The young man rose a brow. "Unfortunate, how?"
"One of our greatest defenses against this threat has been immobilized, leaving you as our greatest defense. I sense you must soon face your greatest challenge yet."
"Oh, am I the only one who saw this coming!" Ron shouted out, raising both of his clenched fists angrily. "Okay, okay, you know what? I got this in the bag. I'll just use what you taught me yesterday."
"About that..."
Ron groaned. "Please let it be good news."
"At this point, you can only give energy to others, you cannot take, remember that," he elaborated.
"So I'm just a healer," he said with a sigh.
"You have the ferocity of the ancients within you," Sensei reminded.
The blonde only turned away, disappointed in himself when he thought about the future to come. "Oh great! If only the college admissions people were looking for intermittent monkey power, I'd as in as Kim."
Even if he defeated this new evil, even if everything was resolved, even if everything went back to normal... it didn't change the fact that he and Kim were on vastly different leagues. She was off to the stars and he... was stuck here. In Middleton. He remembered that pile of college acceptance letters, she had her pick of any institution thousands of miles away from here, and he'd be lucky to get accepted in their local community college, which accepted everyone.
"Sensei... do you know anything about this 'center will not hold' thing? Uh, what is it and why am I so afraid of it?"
"It is natural to fear the unknown, my student."
"Well, I'm tryin' to know it so I don't have to fear it!" Ron complained. "Argh! Why does it all have to change?"
"I know you will dislike hearing this, but change is inevitable," Sensei said. "The only constant is change."
"I know, I know.." Ron just said, rubbing the side of his shoulder in defeat. "But I still don't like it one bit!"
"You will soon discover, Stoppable-san, that you are..."
"..Going to be late?"
"...Ready." Sensei's spiritual form dissipated in the air while Ron bent down to pick up his fallen graduation cap.
"As I'll ever be," he finished while putting his cap on, looking at the mirror one final time.
He didn't feel ready, but he'll be anything for Kim, he'll never be ashamed of that.
Yay, it's done! I had a good time writing this one. Sorry it's a bit late, I'm a full-time student now and all of my free time is gone. T_T
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
Cheers!
P.S. The story titles probably won't make sense at one point, but kudos to anyone who figures out the more obscure ones!