Cancun, Mexico
The sleek black helicopter set down at the edge of a thick forest. As the rotors slowed from their frenzied pace, Kim turned to the pilot, while removing her helmet and goggles.
"Thanks so much for the ride, Julio."
"Ees no problema," said Julio. "Thanks to you, my goat business was es-saved."
Kim grinned sheepishly and waved her hand. "Aww. Working out a rotating milking schedule your staff could handle was-"
"No big?" chimed Ron.
"Uhh...yeah...that." Kim turned to shoot a look at Ron out of the corner of her eye, then hopped out of the copter.
"Bye Julio," said Ron, as Kim's hand reached in and grabbed a handful of his shirt. "And thanks aga-a-a-ainnnn!" as Kim jerked him out of his seat.
Then both held their hair while the helicopter rose and flew out of sight. Kim backhanded Ron's arm. "What are you doing? 'No big' is mine!"
"Yeah, but 'No big' is major cool!" piped Ron. "I had to say it just once. I don't have any cool catch phrases. All I have is 'Boo-ya'. That's not even a word!"
Kim sighed, and dropped her head. "Okaaay. But just this once, Ron. I've had enough stolen from me lately." She started up a small rise. Now let's see if we can find Drakken's lair, and put an end to this clone thing once and for-*whoa*!"
Ron caught up to Kim, and gulped. About an eighth of a mile away was indeed Drakken's lair. A low-rise dark gray building that covered at least ten acres. Searchlights lined the roof, and a high fence topped with razor wire surrounded the entire compound.
"This...is...sick...and...wrong," said Ron under his breath.
"There," said Kim, grinning as she pulled the Kimmunicator from her pants pocket. "That one's yours."
"Yeah, but it's not as cool as 'No big'."
Kim rolled her eyes at Ron, then looked into the Kimmunicator. "Wade, scan the area for infrared sensor beams."
"I'm not picking up anything," replied Wade. "Funny, a place that big, and no security. Nothing on the doors, windows...the fence isn't even electrified."
"We'll call you when we're inside," said Kim, stuffing the device back into her pocket, and turning to Ron. "Let's get through that fence."
They sneaked through the underbrush until they were next to the tall chain-link fence. Kim pulled a small laser-like torch from her pocket, and began burning through the fence. After about five minutes, she pulled back a small section of the fence, and motioned Ron through it.
"We have to be on our toes when we get in there, Ron," said Kim in a low voice. "We still don't know how strong these clones are. I don't even know how *many* of them there are."
"Not to mention having to deal with Drakken's thugs," added Ron. "And Shego. She just scares me half to-"
Ron was stopped in mid-sentence by a bright pair of headlights coming down a gravel road to the compound. "Get down!" snapped Kim.
They both stayed to the ground, and watched the large purple truck turn and stop while the gates to the compound slowly swung open. It rumbled up to the front door of the building and stopped. Two of Drakken's henchmen got out, their orange uniforms lit by the searchlights, which turned to the truck. They went to the back of the trailer, and swung open the doors. Kim and Ron stared in wide-eyed disbelief as "Kim" after "Kim" began to emerge from the trailer, jump to the ground, and file into the lair.
Kim started to count under her breath as each "Kim" jumped from the truck. "Seven...eight..."
Ron picked up the count. "Nine...ten...eleven...this...is...sick...and...wrong...seventeen..."
"The patch on the one that went to Wade's house said '22'," said Kim. "How many of these things has Drakken made?"
Kim thought to herself. How many are there? How many? 30? 1000? How is anybody going to trust me when there are so many of "me" running around? The thoughts that earlier in the afternoon brought her to tears now just caused her anger to rise. If there was just some way to figure out how Drakken is creating these copies of "me," I might be able to stop him from ever making any more. But how to get rid of the ones he's made already? We should just blow the whole place up, and deal with whatever "Kims" are left over...
The last of the Kim clones exited the trailer and walked into the lair. "Nineteen...twenty...twenty-one," counted Ron. Including the one that Wade aced, that makes twenty-two, Kim. Let's go get 'em!"
Kim continued to pore over the situation in her mind, recalling everything that had happened, and how it was affecting her life - not to mention her reputation. Suddenly her eyes got very wide. She turned to Ron and said, "I know how to put a stop to this once and for all. Stay...*here*." She started to get up...then she stopped and, turning back to Ron, stroked the side of his face, and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and a tight hug. She then looked at him with her warm, full eyes and said under her breath, "I'm so sorry."
Ron looked at her, not sure of what she was planning - or why she kissed him, much less what she apologized for. "Kim, what..." Kim was already on her feet and running toward the lair through the dark underbrush. The quiet of the evening was shattered as sirens filled the air. Searchlights trained on the young teen's body as she streaked across the compound. Kim kicked at a door on the side of the building, and disappeared inside. Ron just crouched there, still confused by Kim's actions. "I guess I'm not the distraction this time," he muttered to Rufus, who shrugged his shoulders and sighed at him with a somewhat dejected look.
Ron plopped down into a sitting position. Several minutes passed - then Ron turned toward the lair as a bright flash appeared in one of the windows near where Kim had entered. Then the window was blown out by an explosion. This was followed by an eruption that seemed to heave the very earth beneath Ron into the air and throw him onto his stomach. The entire lair had exploded! Ron covered his head as parts of the building and machinery rained down around him. It seemed like forever until the fallout stopped, and Ron raised his head. Drakken's lair was completely gone. Nothing remained but tatters.
Ron leaped to his feet and ran toward where the building stood. He kept turning his head back and forth, looking for Kim to emerge from behind a crate, or some other part of the rubble. His head was whipped around by a familiar sound coming from over his left shoulder. The Kimmunicator! He ran to the sound, and lifted a couple of pallets to find it. No Kim. He pressed a button, and Wade's monitor-lit face appeared on the screen. "Are you guys all right??" Wade shouted. "I received a 6.2 seismic shock from your location a few minutes ago."
"I...I think so." Ron stammered. Kim went into Drakken's lair, and a couple minutes later, the whole place just...blew up!"
"Where's Kim? I mean, she made it out of there, right? Ron? Ron, can you hear me?"
Ron didn't hear Wade. Rufus had grabbed his face and turned him toward part of the rubble. His gaze had become focused on something he saw near the corner of a pile of splintered crates. As he moved slowly closer, what he saw became clearer through the smoke - a leg, covered with shreds of cargo pants...and a black shoe. Ron ran over and began tearing at the crates, throwing them aside. Then he stopped, and all the color and expression was sapped from his face.
"Ron! Are you there or what, dude?" Wade's voice screamed through the Kimmunicator. Ron's expression did not change, and his eyes didn't move. He just managed to utter "It's.....it's Kim," before dropping to his knees.
"Kim? Well let me talk to her," Wade shouted. "I wanna know what she did to total Drakken's lair!"
Ron said nothing, but raised the Kimmunicator, and turned it to face away from him. Wade's face dropped, and he took on the same expressionless, disbelieving stare that Ron had. Wade was now staring at the same thing Ron had found amongst the rubble of the lair - Kim Possible's lifeless form. Ron slowly reached down, moving her now-disheveled hair, and pressed a finger to her neck for a moment. Nothing. His hand continued on, and tried to straighten her hair and brush some of the dirt from her smooth skin, whispering repeatedly, "Kim...Kim...Kim Possible...Kim..."
"Ron," said Wade, "This is wrong. This is just wrong. It can't be...it's not..."
Ron curled his arms under the limp Kim, and scooped her up. Her head fell slack, and her mane of auburn hair spilled over his arm. "We've got to get her back to Middleton. Wade, get us a ride."
"Ron, I think it's too late to do anyth-"
"We can't do anything here. We need to get home. Wade, GET...US...A...RIDE. NOW."
Wade pressed a few buttons. "Coast Guard chopper coming from the southeast. It's homing on the GPS signal from the Kimmunicator."
"Thanks, Wade," said Ron, as Rufus pulled the Kimmunicator with him into Ron's pants pocket, giving short whimpers and uttering a faint "Kim" now and then. Ron walked through the gates of the fence, which were now askew, and to the small rise they had come from. Kim's hair rustled slightly in the gentle breeze of the Mexican evening. "Don't you worry, Kim," said Ron, looking down at the lifeless teen hero, as his tears started to flow. "Drakken's gonna pay, if he hasn't already. I swear this to you...if he wasn't in the lair...Drakken...is gonna pay."
The sleek black helicopter set down at the edge of a thick forest. As the rotors slowed from their frenzied pace, Kim turned to the pilot, while removing her helmet and goggles.
"Thanks so much for the ride, Julio."
"Ees no problema," said Julio. "Thanks to you, my goat business was es-saved."
Kim grinned sheepishly and waved her hand. "Aww. Working out a rotating milking schedule your staff could handle was-"
"No big?" chimed Ron.
"Uhh...yeah...that." Kim turned to shoot a look at Ron out of the corner of her eye, then hopped out of the copter.
"Bye Julio," said Ron, as Kim's hand reached in and grabbed a handful of his shirt. "And thanks aga-a-a-ainnnn!" as Kim jerked him out of his seat.
Then both held their hair while the helicopter rose and flew out of sight. Kim backhanded Ron's arm. "What are you doing? 'No big' is mine!"
"Yeah, but 'No big' is major cool!" piped Ron. "I had to say it just once. I don't have any cool catch phrases. All I have is 'Boo-ya'. That's not even a word!"
Kim sighed, and dropped her head. "Okaaay. But just this once, Ron. I've had enough stolen from me lately." She started up a small rise. Now let's see if we can find Drakken's lair, and put an end to this clone thing once and for-*whoa*!"
Ron caught up to Kim, and gulped. About an eighth of a mile away was indeed Drakken's lair. A low-rise dark gray building that covered at least ten acres. Searchlights lined the roof, and a high fence topped with razor wire surrounded the entire compound.
"This...is...sick...and...wrong," said Ron under his breath.
"There," said Kim, grinning as she pulled the Kimmunicator from her pants pocket. "That one's yours."
"Yeah, but it's not as cool as 'No big'."
Kim rolled her eyes at Ron, then looked into the Kimmunicator. "Wade, scan the area for infrared sensor beams."
"I'm not picking up anything," replied Wade. "Funny, a place that big, and no security. Nothing on the doors, windows...the fence isn't even electrified."
"We'll call you when we're inside," said Kim, stuffing the device back into her pocket, and turning to Ron. "Let's get through that fence."
They sneaked through the underbrush until they were next to the tall chain-link fence. Kim pulled a small laser-like torch from her pocket, and began burning through the fence. After about five minutes, she pulled back a small section of the fence, and motioned Ron through it.
"We have to be on our toes when we get in there, Ron," said Kim in a low voice. "We still don't know how strong these clones are. I don't even know how *many* of them there are."
"Not to mention having to deal with Drakken's thugs," added Ron. "And Shego. She just scares me half to-"
Ron was stopped in mid-sentence by a bright pair of headlights coming down a gravel road to the compound. "Get down!" snapped Kim.
They both stayed to the ground, and watched the large purple truck turn and stop while the gates to the compound slowly swung open. It rumbled up to the front door of the building and stopped. Two of Drakken's henchmen got out, their orange uniforms lit by the searchlights, which turned to the truck. They went to the back of the trailer, and swung open the doors. Kim and Ron stared in wide-eyed disbelief as "Kim" after "Kim" began to emerge from the trailer, jump to the ground, and file into the lair.
Kim started to count under her breath as each "Kim" jumped from the truck. "Seven...eight..."
Ron picked up the count. "Nine...ten...eleven...this...is...sick...and...wrong...seventeen..."
"The patch on the one that went to Wade's house said '22'," said Kim. "How many of these things has Drakken made?"
Kim thought to herself. How many are there? How many? 30? 1000? How is anybody going to trust me when there are so many of "me" running around? The thoughts that earlier in the afternoon brought her to tears now just caused her anger to rise. If there was just some way to figure out how Drakken is creating these copies of "me," I might be able to stop him from ever making any more. But how to get rid of the ones he's made already? We should just blow the whole place up, and deal with whatever "Kims" are left over...
The last of the Kim clones exited the trailer and walked into the lair. "Nineteen...twenty...twenty-one," counted Ron. Including the one that Wade aced, that makes twenty-two, Kim. Let's go get 'em!"
Kim continued to pore over the situation in her mind, recalling everything that had happened, and how it was affecting her life - not to mention her reputation. Suddenly her eyes got very wide. She turned to Ron and said, "I know how to put a stop to this once and for all. Stay...*here*." She started to get up...then she stopped and, turning back to Ron, stroked the side of his face, and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and a tight hug. She then looked at him with her warm, full eyes and said under her breath, "I'm so sorry."
Ron looked at her, not sure of what she was planning - or why she kissed him, much less what she apologized for. "Kim, what..." Kim was already on her feet and running toward the lair through the dark underbrush. The quiet of the evening was shattered as sirens filled the air. Searchlights trained on the young teen's body as she streaked across the compound. Kim kicked at a door on the side of the building, and disappeared inside. Ron just crouched there, still confused by Kim's actions. "I guess I'm not the distraction this time," he muttered to Rufus, who shrugged his shoulders and sighed at him with a somewhat dejected look.
Ron plopped down into a sitting position. Several minutes passed - then Ron turned toward the lair as a bright flash appeared in one of the windows near where Kim had entered. Then the window was blown out by an explosion. This was followed by an eruption that seemed to heave the very earth beneath Ron into the air and throw him onto his stomach. The entire lair had exploded! Ron covered his head as parts of the building and machinery rained down around him. It seemed like forever until the fallout stopped, and Ron raised his head. Drakken's lair was completely gone. Nothing remained but tatters.
Ron leaped to his feet and ran toward where the building stood. He kept turning his head back and forth, looking for Kim to emerge from behind a crate, or some other part of the rubble. His head was whipped around by a familiar sound coming from over his left shoulder. The Kimmunicator! He ran to the sound, and lifted a couple of pallets to find it. No Kim. He pressed a button, and Wade's monitor-lit face appeared on the screen. "Are you guys all right??" Wade shouted. "I received a 6.2 seismic shock from your location a few minutes ago."
"I...I think so." Ron stammered. Kim went into Drakken's lair, and a couple minutes later, the whole place just...blew up!"
"Where's Kim? I mean, she made it out of there, right? Ron? Ron, can you hear me?"
Ron didn't hear Wade. Rufus had grabbed his face and turned him toward part of the rubble. His gaze had become focused on something he saw near the corner of a pile of splintered crates. As he moved slowly closer, what he saw became clearer through the smoke - a leg, covered with shreds of cargo pants...and a black shoe. Ron ran over and began tearing at the crates, throwing them aside. Then he stopped, and all the color and expression was sapped from his face.
"Ron! Are you there or what, dude?" Wade's voice screamed through the Kimmunicator. Ron's expression did not change, and his eyes didn't move. He just managed to utter "It's.....it's Kim," before dropping to his knees.
"Kim? Well let me talk to her," Wade shouted. "I wanna know what she did to total Drakken's lair!"
Ron said nothing, but raised the Kimmunicator, and turned it to face away from him. Wade's face dropped, and he took on the same expressionless, disbelieving stare that Ron had. Wade was now staring at the same thing Ron had found amongst the rubble of the lair - Kim Possible's lifeless form. Ron slowly reached down, moving her now-disheveled hair, and pressed a finger to her neck for a moment. Nothing. His hand continued on, and tried to straighten her hair and brush some of the dirt from her smooth skin, whispering repeatedly, "Kim...Kim...Kim Possible...Kim..."
"Ron," said Wade, "This is wrong. This is just wrong. It can't be...it's not..."
Ron curled his arms under the limp Kim, and scooped her up. Her head fell slack, and her mane of auburn hair spilled over his arm. "We've got to get her back to Middleton. Wade, get us a ride."
"Ron, I think it's too late to do anyth-"
"We can't do anything here. We need to get home. Wade, GET...US...A...RIDE. NOW."
Wade pressed a few buttons. "Coast Guard chopper coming from the southeast. It's homing on the GPS signal from the Kimmunicator."
"Thanks, Wade," said Ron, as Rufus pulled the Kimmunicator with him into Ron's pants pocket, giving short whimpers and uttering a faint "Kim" now and then. Ron walked through the gates of the fence, which were now askew, and to the small rise they had come from. Kim's hair rustled slightly in the gentle breeze of the Mexican evening. "Don't you worry, Kim," said Ron, looking down at the lifeless teen hero, as his tears started to flow. "Drakken's gonna pay, if he hasn't already. I swear this to you...if he wasn't in the lair...Drakken...is gonna pay."