Jao: Ok, gunna try to manually format this since FFn loves to destroy it. And look! A different band besides APC! I'm sure you guys are so happy. Ok, more fun ahead, hope you guys weren't too mad about how the last chapter ended. Hope you guys won't be angry about how this one ends either…o.o; Speed of Pain's lyrics are exceptional for this chapter. I suggest you check it out, the song is beautiful. The Speed of Pain is by Marilyn Manson from the album Mechanical Animals.

Paragon

The Speed of Pain

It was late by time Kim made it home. Skillfully she managed to open the door without a sound and got halfway to her stairs before the lights came on, her mother standing there was an un-amused face.

"Kimberly Ann Possible. Do you have any idea what time it is?" Kim looked at a wall clock, which read 2:30 am.

"Two th-."

"You're grounded, young lady. Except for missions and school you don't leave the house."

"But mom!"

"No buts, you have to understand how important it is to let us know when you're going to be late.  I have to punish you so you'll remember next time, now go." Kim opened her mouth to disagree, but closed it and painfully walked towards her stairs.

"Legs sore?" Kim froze at her mother's suddenly dark tone.

"Mom, I can explain."

"We'll talk about this later." Kim hung her head in shame and made her way up the steps.

Her computer was still on, the end of the video played long ago. She closed them all before stumbling over an image of her and Ron at the beach. She had to look away, holding her stomach from the pain. Swallowing hard she knew what she had to do. Closing out of the folder she right clicked and deleted everything. Every image, every video and with a deep breath emptied the recycling bin. It was over; that life she had with Ron was over. She had a new one and it was just beginning.

Kim removed her clothes and put on pajamas and settled in her bed. She hadn't expected to be so sore…she hadn't expected to do that at all. She…she was so scared and confused and Josh being there and what they did, it made everything ok if only for a little while. For the first time in what felt like weeks she had control. And it felt good. She loves Josh, so it doesn't really matter. Snuggling up deeper in her bed she tried to push away all her thoughts.  She didn't notice the other person in her room…

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The teen hero was awaken to the sound of her Kimunicator. With a lazy yawn she mumbled a groggy "What's the Sitch, Wade?"

"Ron is missing from the Sanitarium, turns out there was a massacre-."

"I know."

"You know? Why didn't you contact me?" Kim looked away from the twelve year old.

"Some things came up." Wade raised an eyebrow at that, but continued.

"Anyway, I checked that chip we put in him…it says it's either not on him anymore or that…"

"Or that he's dead." Kim's words sounded as far off as she looked. "I think that's what it is."

"Kim? Wh-why would you say something like that?"

"Because at least he'd be innocent." Silence followed after that, neither looking at the other.

"I'll do a search for him anyway." Wade said before closing the signal.

Kim flopped back down on her bed, letting the blue device fall from her hand to the floor. There was a part of her that felt so numb, numb enough to allow herself to say something so horrible. But she was partly right. What if Ron was alive? What if he really was responsible for all those deaths? What if he really was that crazy? That would be a far harder truth to live with than just his death. At least then she could always remember him as he was, not as some homicidal lunatic.

But still she was ashamed of feeling that way. Ashamed she wasn't more upset…but there was nothing more to cry with. And tears were useless. Ron would want her to be happy. Happy with Josh. He'd want it. He would. Kim shut her eyes tightly pushing back more tears. God, she was so tired of crying. It felt…it felt so unfair. What had she done to deserve this?  Things like this weren't supposed to happen to good people.

Kim walked to her computer looking through her folders only to remember she purged her computer out of shame. She settled for crying on her keyboard instead.

There was a tap at the window that caught her attention. Kim stood and opened it to find Josh who quickly made his way inside. He gave her a kiss and sat on her bed.

"Josh. You shouldn't be here, if my parents find out-."

"They won't. Lets go, maybe catch a movie?"

"I'm grounded." Kim sat down next to him, entwining her fingers with his. "Mom found out about last night."

"So? C'mon, Kim. You're always such a good girl. Lets go be bad, just this once. Your folks will get over it." Kim looked at her window gazing out feeling as tho she should be doing something else. After all, Ron was out there somewhere and unstable. Shouldn't they be looking for him instead? But things had been so horrible in the last few days; it'd be nice to forget about them for just a little while. Kim took a deep breath and walked towards her window where a ladder awaited.

"Let's go."

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To say that Mr. And Mrs. Possible weren't happy with their daughter would be putting it lightly. Furious would be much more accurate. Kim had never been so disobedient and it worried them. Mrs. P most of all because somewhere in her she had that feeling. The feeling that tragedy was just beyond her front door…

"I'm going to get the boys off to bed," Mrs. Possible said after kissing her husband on the cheek.

"I'll keep and eye out for Kimmie." He ruffled his newspaper trying to get it to stand straight up and down, knowing it would be a long night.

Jim and Tim were in their room already bathed and dressed in pajamas and arguing over the age old question of which came first the chicken or the egg. After a little bit of pleading and commands she got them into their beds, giving them kisses and turning out the light. There was that rush of cold over her again and she turned back to look at them, her sweet little boys. It was nothing, she told herself and closed the door. Nothing at all…

Jim had just drifted to sleep when he heard the floor creak beside his bed. Rubbing his eyes he smiled at the person who loomed over him.

"Hey Ron I-."

"Shhh…" A pale hand covered the pre-teen's forehead. "You might wake up your brother." Then quickly the hand slid from forehead to eyes and before the young boy could move from beneath the touch he was silenced, blood splattering across the walls. Ron reached up and rubbed against the cloth that covered his eyes, feeling his own blood fall down his face. It was his way of crying. He turned around to find Tim who sat shocked, mouth open at the sight. Taking a deep breath the boy tried to scream but severed vocal cords were denied the chance to call out.

Cleaning the switchblade, Ron tucked it back into his pocket and settled the boys back in bed, tucking them in, fixing the blankets, trying to make it look as tho they were asleep like any other night. He left the room then, making his way to the stairs, avoiding the watch of Mr. P who sat comfortably in his chair behind his newspaper.

Mrs. Possible was also already asleep. He was hesitant; standing just beyond the door he had shut behind him, looking at her laying there in the moonlight. Sight had returned to him in a different way. He could see her, but not like how we see. He could see her on a different plane, an astral plane. He could see her good pure soul, like the boys. Darkness had no effect on him, she glowed, her spirit radiating warmth and love and it was because of that he hesitated. She was always so kind to him, treated him like a third son. But what had to be done, had to be done. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blade. It would be quick and painless. It was the least he could do for her.

But her eyes opened, wouldn't it figure? She smiled at him, clearly barely conscious.

"Ron. You're safe, that's good. Kimmie will be so happy." The blood fell faster from his face as he stood next to her bed.

"Yea. I-I wanna thank you, Mrs. P. You've done so much for me."

"It's ok, Ron," She yawned before laying her head back on her pillow, closing her eyes. "You take such good care of our Kimmie."

"I…I do what I can." And with that he pushed metal thru her flesh.

Mr. Possible glanced at the clock, which read 12:45 and shook his head.

"Kimmie cub and I will have to have a talk about punishments and boys when she comes back." Just then he felt something wet drip down his neck. When his fingers touched the liquid and brought the substance into view he stood, the paper falling from his hands. From the ceiling dripped blood, but something else caught his attention. Standing on the stairs was Ronald, a bloody white bandage across his eyes, the gray blue tri-city sanitarium uniform on his pale body; blood streaked his face and stained his clothes, a blade in his hand. It was horrifying.

"R-Ronald.  What's going on?" The boy didn't respond. Mr. P held up his hands in a peaceful gesture as he approached the Teen. "W-why don't you put down the knife and we can just sit and talk, what do you say?" The ghostly young man only shook his head slowly, taking a step down the stairs. The elder man stopped, fear so clear in his eyes. Ron's movements were quick after that, setting the blade thru the man's neck. Quick, painless.

The front door opened before Ron could remove the switchblade.

"Kim," Ron pulled the knife from the father, allowing the body to fall to the floor. From behind a frozen Kim stepped Josh.

"Ron, What's going on?!"

"I'm protecting them." Ron's voice put it simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Josh was planning on coming here and killing them, so I had to do it first, KP. If Josh did it then their souls would be trapped on earth!" Kim slid down the doorframe, her eyes locked on her father.

"Did you kill them all?!" Josh demanded as he walked towards the teenager, rage evident in his body language.

"They're all safe. You wouldn't believe how hard it was, I loved them all."

"This is how you show love, you sick freak?!" Josh threw a punch, which hit Ron squarely in the jaw, sending him careening backwards and against the wall.

Kim's wide eyes moved from her crumpled father to the two boys fighting. There was her beloved Josh fighting some monster she could barely recognize. That wasn't Ron. Ron was dead. This monster, this monster with no eyes killed him…killed her family, killed her friend Monique. Killed them all and now…now he was trying to hurt her Josh. He killed them. He killed them! Suddenly her strength returned. That was until the sickening sound of metal pushing flesh rung out into the room. Both boys had froze, only blood falling between them.

Josh fell to the ground with almost no sound at all. Ron turned to Kim, a smile on his face.

"We did it, KP. We-we're finally safe!" He tossed the knife aside, his arms outstretched to an approaching Kim. Her fist brought him down hard against the stairs. On his face was shock and pain. "K-Kim? What are you doing?"

"You killed them!" She threw herself on him, her hands tightly around his neck, squeezing with all she was worth.

"K-Kim… y-y-you're killing me…!" His words were chocked and garbled. Her only response was squeezing harder. Using his legs he was able to kick her off, coughing and gasping for air. Kim had fell backwards, landing hard on her back.

"KP, what's gotten into you? It's me, Ron!" Kim stood slowly, in her hand the discarded switchblade.

"Ron's dead. You killed him, you killed my family, my friends, and the only one I've ever loved!" She leapt at him, the sharp edge just barely missing his face. Ron backed away from her and towards the door.

"You've got it wrong! I-I had to! If I didn't, then Josh would have-." He fell backwards tripping on the body of Mr. Possible, landing with a splash on the blood soaked carpet. He didn't have a chance to move out of the way or even defend himself before the same knife he had used turned against him.

The living room…a place of so many happy memories. Of Christmas plays, of video game tournaments and laughter. Walls that had held so much warmth were sprayed with blood. A floor that housed many sleepovers for the two of them now was soaked. Never would anyone have guessed that this would be the setting, which this would be the way it would end. You could almost hear the echo of their past as the knife came down time and time again.

Happy birthday Ron. Here's a watch so you'll always to be on time. No matter what happens this year I want you to know I'll never forget you. Time can never change that. Just as it hasn't changed you. Stay you Ron. Love, Kim.

Jao: No, it's not over, we still have another chapter. =P That and there's a huge announcement left to be made concerning the story, so stay tuned!