STILL don't own 'em.

The Lazarus Factor

Chapter 5 - Six Feet of Eternity

"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." - last words of Pancho Villa

Japan

            It was early morning, the grass was still covered with dew.  A lone girl ran across the grass towards a small building.  Clearly Japanese, she had black hair that hung down to her jaw line.  She wore a white training outfit, tied together with a black belt.  Upon reaching the building, she quickly knocked on the door, waiting for a response before entering.  Walking into the room, she immediately knelt down and bowed low to the elderly man in front of her.

            "Forgive my intrusion sensei, but I must speak with you."  She spoke hurriedly in Japanese.  The elderly man smiled warmly.

            "Not at all, Yori," he gestured for her to sit, "please, tell me what has troubled you."  Yori sat back, crossing her legs and began to carefully relate what had happened.

            "I entered the resting place to meditate this morning, but as I sat, there came a noise from the pedestal.  Looking up, I saw that the case was shaking.  It was actually moving around by itself.  I could only stare until it suddenly broke open and the Blade flew out, burying itself in the floor in front of me.  I do not know what this omen means, sensei, and hoped you might be able to enlighten me."

            The old man sighed, rubbing his long white beard.

            "Yes, I DID feel a strange energy this morning.  I had hoped it would prove to be something else, but your tale has confirmed my fears."  Yori sat still, listening intently for the sensei to continue.  Sighing again, the old master looked at the student with sad, weary eyes.  "I am afraid that the bearer has fallen."  Yori gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

            "Stoppable-san?" she asked in disbelief.  The sensei nodded.  The young girl bowed her head, a tear rolling down her face.

            "Ron." she whispered.

America

            Kim sat in a chair outside the morgue.  The military had picked her up at Drakken's destroyed base and took her to the hospital.  They re-bandaged her shoulder and treated her for minor cuts and scrapes, Kim saying nothing, a blank look on her face.  She had sat glumly on the hospital bed until two doctors came and asked her to identify the body.  Kim was silent for a while, and then finally looked up at the two nervous doctors.

            "If you'd rather not, we could wait for one of the family," the doctor offered, seeing the tormented expression on Kim's face.

            "No," she WAS his family, "I'll do it."  A last favor to Ron, she thought.  Spare his parents the agony, she owed him that.  As they entered the morgue Kim kept her eyes on the floor, as if not looking would keep it from being real.  Slowly, she forced her eyes upward to the figure on the table.  Her mouth opened to say something, but she couldn't seem to force out the words.  The two doctors looked at each other sadly.

            "Ronald Stoppable?" one asked gently.  Kim bit her lip, nodding her head shakily.  "Thank you, Miss Possible.  You can go now.  If you need anything, please let us know."  Kim thanked them and stumbled out of the room.  Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to go too far from the room, like she needed to stay near him.  Sitting down in a chair outside the door she waited.  Rufus pushed at the buttoned pocket of her pants, which Kim had fastened to make sure Rufus wouldn't have to see the body.  She undid the button and Rufus peeked out of the pocket, looking up at her sadly.  Kim patted his head, leaning back in the chair she let her head fall forward, staring at the floor.  Her mind seemed to shut down or something, for she wasn't sure how long she sat there and didn't even notice the two new doctors enter the morgue until they started talking to each other just inside the door.

            "Wow, he's in pretty good shape for being blown up," one was saying.  "Apart from the broken bones, there's only some minor burns."

            "Well, it's because of the explosion," the other one explained, "See, those types of explosions have a slight implosion of air at the beginning.  The rest of the explosion starts outside of the air pocket.  The pressure inside would still kill you, but at least it leaves a nice looking corpse."  The first doctor chuckled.  Kim suddenly felt sick.  Getting up, she staggered down the hall, almost falling through the restroom door.  Inside, she ran into a stall and fell to her knees, puking violently into the toilet.  Rufus sat on the seat, doing his best to hold back her hair.  Vomiting again, Kim finally spat into the toilet.  Falling back against the wall she slid down it until she lay on the floor, curled into a fetal position.  Her whole body shook as she alternately sobbed and gagged, vomiting a little more onto the tiles.  She didn't bother getting up, she didn't care.  All she could do was lay on the floor and cry.

            When the parents arrived the Stoppables were taken into another room to talk to the military doctors while Mr. and Mrs. Possible went looking for Kim.  The two doctors who had gone with her to identify Ron hadn't seen where she went, but a nurse had seen a redheaded girl stumbling towards the restrooms next to the morgue.  Walking in they found Kim still on the floor, no longer crying, but rocking gently back and forth.  Rufus lay curled up beside her with a worried look on his face.  They fell to their knees beside her, asking her if she was all right, trying to get her to talk to them.  Kim couldn't answer.  The voices seemed to be muted, coming to her from over a great distance.  Pulling her away from the puddle of vomit, the doctors were able to get her up, half leading and half dragging her away.  They gave her a sedative and put her in a bed, assuring the worried parents that the best thing for her was rest.

            Kim slept threw the night and the next day.  When she woke, she found her parents sitting beside her bed, their worried expressions turning to relief when they saw her eyes open.

            "Kimmy," Mrs. Possible hugged her daughter tightly as Mr. Possible stood beside her.

            "Are you alright, dear?"  Kim looked at him strangely.  Was she all right?  How could she be all right?

            "He's....... dead," Kim whispered.  Mr. and Mrs. Possible bowed their heads.

            "Yes," Kim's mother gripped her daughter's hand, "I'm sorry, Kimmy."

            "They... informed us yesterday night," Mr. Possible said slowly, "We were flown in as soon as possible."

            "I..... I... should be... doing something." Kim stammered.  She felt like she couldn't just lie in bed, not with Ron.......

            "Just relax," pleaded Mrs. Possible, stroking Kim's hair gently, "the doctors say you need to rest.  Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable will be in soon and..."

            "NO!" Kim suddenly sat up, interrupting her mother, "I can't see them."  She hid her face in her hands, crying.  "I can't see them, " she wailed again, "not after this.  I lost Ron.  I failed him...them, everyone.  It was my fault.  I killed him."

            "That is nonsense," a voice at the door made Kim freeze and look up wide-eyed and shaking.  The Stoppables stood in the doorway looking terrible, but smiling warmly at her.

            "Mr. Stoppable," she said shakily, tears running down her face, "Mrs. Stoppable...... I'm sorry.  I couldn't save him.  He died because I..." She trailed off, not being able to finish.  Mrs. Stoppable walked across the room and without hesitation, wrapped Kim in her arms.

            "It wasn't your fault, dear," she soothed, "Ronald always admired you so.  He knew what kind of danger he was in; we all did.  But he loved you so much, that he went anyway.  And I know you loved him just as much.  I know that you would have done anything to save him." Kim held Ron's mother close, and tried to convince herself that she was right.

            The funeral was to take place in two days.  Kim would help out as long as she could, but could never keep it up for long.  The day before the calling hours, Kim stopped by the high school to pick up the class assignments she would miss while out of school.  Everyone had told her not to worry about it, but she had insisted.  Truthfully, she wanted something, anything, to busy herself with.  She was going crazy sitting around all day.  After visiting the classrooms, she stopped by the locker room for some books she had left there.  As she was about to close her locker door, her eyes fell on a picture stuck in the corner of the door.  It showed Ron in his mascot outfit, the head pushed up to show his face, standing beside Kim.

            She had been surprised when he had offered to help out the cheerleading squad.  He wasn't exactly popular in school, and being part of the cheerleaders wasn't going to help that.  But he had done it anyway, going to games, camps, and fundraisers.  There had been a couple times when she had almost quit the squad, depressed over school or an especially difficult mission, but Ron had kept her going.

            "Was that why he did it?" she thought, "Just to keep me from giving it up."  She couldn't help but wonder how many things he had done just to help her.

            "Kim?"  She looked up, startled to see the cheerleading squad standing in the doorway.  How long had she been standing there?

            "Oh, hey guys," she said, "I just came in to pick up some stuff.  I'd better get going."  As she walked out everyone hugged her and told her how sorry they were.  She thanked them, knowing they meant well.  She walked across the gym and was reaching for the door when a voice behind her made her stop.

            "Kim."  Turning around Kim was surprised to see Bonnie running up to her.

            "I REALLY don't need this now," Kim thought to herself.  "What do you want, Bonnie?"  she asked, being as polite as she could.  Bonnie seemed nervous, rubbing her arm and looking at the floor.

            "Look, I know we've never gotten along," she started, "and we've done some pretty nasty stuff to each other, but..... I mean...."  She fumbled a bit, finally sighing and looking up at Kim.  "I just want to say that I'm truly sorry about Ron.  And I know we aren't friends, but I know what it's like to......... lose someone," she seemed to choke up for a second, before continuing, "so if you ever want to just talk to someone..... well, I'm here."  Kim stood perfectly still for a while, not quite being able to process what she had heard.  Bonnie had sincerely offered to talk to her.  Finally, unable to help herself, she stepped forward, hugging Bonnie tightly, crying a little on her shoulder.  Bonnie hugged her back, waiting patiently for Kim to calm down.  Stepping back, Kim wiped her eyes, looking at the other cheerleader.

            "Thanks, Bonnie." she said softly.  Bonnie nodded, turning and walking back towards the locker room.  Kim turned and left the gym, wondering who it was Bonnie had "lost".

            The next day, Kim stood in her dress at the calling hours, shaking hands and talking with the relatives and friends as they entered.  The whole cheerleading squad showed up along with quite a lot of the school.  Kim appreciated it all greatly, but couldn't help smiling as she thought how bored Ron would be by the whole thing.  He always hated suits and talking to relatives he only saw once a year.  Sighing she gazed around the room at the people, letting her mind wander to other things.  Suddenly, a loud gasp brought her back to reality.  She looked up to see several guests staring, wide-eyed at the doorway.  Following their gaze, Kim froze.  The whole room went deathly silent as all the guests caught sight of the figure in the door.  The outfit was different.  A black oriental suit with a stand up collar and black buttons with a white lace design on them.  But while the suit was unfamiliar, the hairy hands and long face were unmistakably that of Lord Monkey Fist.  As he entered, looking calmly around the room, he was followed by his monkey ninjas, though their ninja outfits seemed a little fancier, sort of like military dress uniforms.  Monkey Fist walked straight to Ron's coffin at the end of the room.  Kim clenched her fists, anger rising in her.  How dare he come here now?  Couldn't he let Ron be buried without degrading his funeral with some stupid act of revenge?  She tensed, ready to tear into him as soon as he made his move.  But the move never came.  He stood before the coffin with his monkey ninjas lined up behind him, and the group solemnly bowed once.  Turning, the monkeys quietly exited while Monkey Fist walked over to where Kim, her parents, and the Stoppables stood, bowing to the group.

            "I would like to offer my deepest condolences for your loss.  Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable, your son has brought great honor to your house.  He was.... a most worthy adversary."  He then exited the room without another word, leaving Kim and everyone else speechless.

            The calling hours finally ended and the coffin was taken to the cemetery.  Kim was glad it was cloudy.  A sunny day would have seemed mocking.  She didn't really listen to what anybody was saying, she just let her eyes wander over the landscape.  She remembered how much Ron had seemed to like the wide-open grassy hills that surrounded Middleton.  Most of the time he had been the stereotypical high school student.  He loved to hang out at the mall and the Bueno Nacho, but whenever the family had a picnic or they just came to walk around, he seemed a little quieter out there.  He seemed to like the silence.  Kim was suddenly yanked from her thoughts by a strange sight.  On a hill a little ways off she could see a group of people.  They were dressed in black except for an older man in front who seemed to be wearing some sort of robe.  At first she thought it was just some people visiting a grave, but they were all staring directly at Ron's coffin.  She watched them for quite a while and their collective gaze never left the group of mourners around the gravesite.  A sudden thump made Kim look down.  The first clump of dirt had been thrown into the hole.  She slowly walked up to the edge and watched as more dirt was thrown in, covering more and more of the coffin.  How strange, she thought to herself, that only six feet of dirt was all it took to separate her from Ron, forever.

            Kim started walking back with the group, but thoughts of the people on the hill made her hang back.  Watching from beside a nearby tree, she saw the group approach once the grave had been filled and the diggers departed.  Now that they were closer, she could see that they all appeared to be Japanese of varying ages.  Mostly grown-ups, with a few teenagers and the old, bearded man she had seen before.  As she watched, they walked up to the grave and the old man said something that Kim couldn't quite hear, though it sounded like Japanese.  One man stepped forward with a long case, opening it to a young girl with medium black hair.  The girl bowed, reaching into the case she lifted out a sheathed sword.  By the curve of it, Kim recognized it as a "katana", a sword of Japanese origin, used mainly by the ancient samurai.  Not sure what to make of all this, she kept her distance, watching to see what would happen.  The girl held the sword horizontally in her outstretched hands, as if offering it, and bowed again towards Ron's headstone.  Then, in one smooth motion that Kim had trouble following, she pulled the sword from its sheath and, stabbing downwards buried it almost to the hilt in the soft earth of Ron's grave.  Kim was too shocked to move.  The group all bowed again, and started turning to leave.  Kim suddenly felt a dark rage wash over her.  Running full tilt at the group, she burst through before any of them could react, grabbing the dark haired girl by her shirt and slamming her into a tree.

            "What was that for?" Kim shouted angrily, "Is this some kind of sick joke?  What do you think you're DOING?"

            "Calm yourself child," feeling a hand on her shoulder, Kim turned to find the old man smiling at her.  "We are only doing what must be done.  You are upset, and I apologize for torturing you further.  Please, meet us tomorrow and I will answer any questions you have."

            "Sensei!" one of the others gasped.  But the old man held up a hand, silencing him.

            "She has a right to know everything.  Besides she knew Stoppable-san better than anyone, she can be trusted."

            "I can be trusted?" Kim said sarcastically, "I think I should be asking how I can trust you."  The old man smiled.  Raising his hand he pressed his index finger against Kim's forehead, between her eyes.

            "You know already." he chuckled.  Kim could only stare as the group walked off.  Shaking her head, she suddenly realized she had a piece of paper in her hand, on it was an address and a time.  Kim looked over at the sword sticking out of Ron's grave and the scabbard lying in front of the headstone.  Walking over she reached out for the handle, but suddenly stopped.  For some reason she couldn't bring herself to pull it out.  She couldn't shake the feeling that it HAD to be there.  Perplexed, she walked slowly away from the grave, vowing to get ALL the answers from that old man tomorrow.

Next: Kim gets answers, but more questions soon show up.  More action comin' soon.