Chapter 8
Josh Goes Down
Ron had told Wade about the tracking Chip that he had left on Josh's leg, but not Drakken, and Shego,
"When the time comes, I'll let you know." Ron had told them as they dropped him off near his house, allowing Ron to walk the rest of the way home.
As Ron got to the door, he reached under the flowerpot, located on the stoop, and pulled the hidden door key from underneath it. He unlocked the door quietly(being one in the morning, his parents were asleep) and made his way up to his room, his right side stinging. As Ron pulled his mission shirt off, he saw a small burn where Josh's bullet had made it's impact.
'Huh, must've been using tracers.' he thought, looking down at the cigarette sized burn near his right hip, just above the beltline. It was at this moment, the Kimmunicator went off, letting Ron know that Wade got a fix on Josh.
"Where is he, Wade?" Ron asked,
"Middleton Space Center." Wade said,
"Wonder what he's doing there?" Ron thought aloud,
"I'd say, setting a trap for you, from the looks of it, and he left a message for you on the site." Wade said, punching a few keys on the keyboard in front of him, Josh's face appeared on the small screen, and his voice sounded, loud and clear,
"You want a piece of me, Loser, bring your punk ass to the Space Center, there, I'll finish you off, then, I'll finish the job I started, and put Kim into her grave." he said,
"You got any transportation for me, Wade?" Ron asked. Wade had still not finished with his car, or so he thought,
"Look outside, Ron." Wade said, smiling. Ron walked out of his room, and downstairs. He looked out the window, and saw his car, sitting on the roadside, waiting for him like an old friend,
"Boo-yah, you got it done." Ron said, grinning from ear-to-ear,
"Oh, yeah, and I added something into it that might come in handy, if it were to ever fall into the wrong hands." Wade said, his own face breaking out into a grin,
"Self-destruct system?" Ron asked,
"Yep, operated from inside, or out, it just takes a press of a button, and the front seats eject, then, ten seconds later, the weapons in the car turn on themselves, blowing the car to smithereens." Wade said,
"What all did you put into it?" Ron asked,
"What you wanted, everything, but the kitchen sink, remember." Wade said,
"What else did you put into it, Wade?" Ron asked, his eyebrow raised,
"A 3,000,000 gigawatt laser cannon," Wade replied, "if you look closely, your ride has gone from a hardtop, to a convertible."
"Boo-yah, babe machine." Ron said, grinning even wider,
"More than just that, Ron," Wade said, reeling off the weapons that Ron had at his disposal, "forward firing mini-missiles, hidden behind the headlights, .50 caliber machine guns, hidden in the front, and rear quarter panels, electromagnetic stun guns, rated at 500,000 hertz, and full armor plating."
"What's the armor rated to?" Ron asked,
"It can stop an M-16 at 500 yards." Wade said,
"What about up close weapons?" Ron asked,
"Oh, that's taken care of too, 180 degree, fully rotating gas guns." Wade said,
"Guidance system?" Ron asked,
"On everything, but the laser cannon, it has to be fired manually, but if the juice is turned up on it, you could punch a hole through a mountain." Wade said, his smile getting bigger, matching Ron's awestruck look,
"The perfect undercover weapon, no one would ever notice it, just by looking at it." Ron said, in an awestruck voice,
"That's the general idea, Ron, you don't want Josh to see them, do you?" Wade asked,
"No, I don't want him knowing what it's capable of." Ron replied, now walking out of the house, and grabbing a clothing box, marked Club Banana. Once outside, he opened it, and threw on a black leather jacket, it looked as though it belonged on the shoulders of a biker, not Ron. Kim had bought it for him two months before Josh had put her where she is now, shortly after they got back from their last mission together, as a token of her appreciation.
Hours later, at the Middleton Space Center:
Ron had met Drakken, and Shego outside of the main building, and had told them how he had tracked Josh here,
"You had him bugged," Shego said, looking at Ron, and smiling, "I'm impressed."
"That wasn't my intention, Shego, I decided to shove a huge leash up his ass, give him enough rope to hang himself with." Ron said, a grin creasing the corners of his mouth,
"There'll be time to impress later, right now, our target is inside, and we need to flush him out." Drakken said.
About that time, a loud shot rang out, Ron looked up, and saw Josh, standing on the roof, holding a starter's pistol,
"I'm going up there." Ron said, reaching into the backpack he was wearing, and pulling out Kim's grappling gun. He fired it up to the roof, where it caught onto a large pipe sticking out of the roof, and ducking back down, into the building.
As soon as Ron was on his feet, Josh wasted no time, coming after Ron with everything he had. Ron was able to dodge some of his better moves, luckily for him, Shego was at Ron's car, manning the huge laser cannon that now stood on top of a re-enforced carbon steel platform,
"Come on, Ron, get him closer to the edge." Shego said, watching the fight, noticing that Ron was losing. She took careful aim, and turned down the setting, making sure that she didn't kill her target, but hit him with enough to put him out for a few hours.
Ron was losing the fight with Josh, and he knew it, Josh had already connected with a nasty right hook to Ron's jaw, bruising his chin from the impact,
"Is that all you've got?" Ron said, shaking off the effects of the hit as though it were nothing more than an slight sting,
"There's plenty more where that came from, Stoppable." Josh said, lunging after Ron, who sidestepped him. Josh lost his balance, and his feet left the roof, he had just enough to turn his body around, and grab onto the eaves,
"Gimme your hand." Ron said, sliding across the roof, and leaning over it, extending his hand to Josh, who shook his head,
"No, I'm not going to go to prison for this." Josh said, slapping Ron's hand from his face, and letting go, but his prayers for death weren't answered. Shego appeared out of nowhere at that moment, and grabbed Josh by his pants,
"Gotcha!" she said, reaching out for a pipe that was embedded into the ground in front of her, and taking both her, and Josh to the ground,
"Why," Josh muttered to Shego, "why didn't you just let me die?"
"I couldn't cheat the judge out of having his fun, now could I?" Shego said,
"You don't have enough evidence," Josh said, "the cops would never suspect me, they think I obey the law."
"Ah, but we both know better." Shego taunted,
"Yeah, I went bang on Kim, she had no right to do what she did." Josh said,
"And who are you to say who does, and doesn't have the right to live?" Shego asked,
"I'm the one who will put Kim Possible in her grave if I ever get out. In fact, I'll never make it into prison." Josh said,
"Why not." came a voice to Shego's right, Drakken made his presence known,
"Because you don't have a confession." Josh said,
"Wrong." Drakken said, producing a tape recorder, and shutting it off, Josh had just been caught.
Two days later, at Middleton Memorial Hospital:
Ron was sitting at Kim's bedside, looking at her still form,
"We got him, KP," Ron said, sniffling, "Josh went down, his trial is in a couple of weeks."
He got up, and walked to the window, the day was clear, and bright, the birds could be heard through the closed window, singing in the trees,
"I wish you could see this, Kim, it's a beautiful day outside, and you're missing it." Ron said, he then drew in a deep breath, walked back to the seat in front of Kim's bed, sat down, and took her hand into his,
"Kim, there's something I want to say, that I need to say." he said, the tears starting to fall. He didn't look at the monitors that Kim was hooked up to, as he laid his head onto the bed near Kim's side, if he had, he would've noticed that life signs were picking up, Kim was coming around.
While Ron spoke, Kim took a deep breath, and slowly, ever so slowly, opened her eyes, she looked around, her vision blurred, but her hearing in perfect working order, she blinked her eyes several times, and slowly, the room came into clearer focus, Ron was sitting at her bedside, spilling his innermost secrets to her,
"Kim, I love you, I have for a long time, I was never brave enough to follow through with it, and I wanted you to know, in case you never made it." he sobbed, not realizing that Kim had heard every word he had said.
She took in another breath, and said, her voice somewhat scratchy from a months worth of non-use,
"I love you too, Ron."
Ron's head came off the bed faster than he had ever moved in his life, his eyes wide, and staring, Kim was back, she had finally awakened, but did she hear everything?
"Uh . . . Kim, did you hear?" Ron asked. Kim nodded slowly.
Ron put his arms around his best friend, and hugged her tightly,
"Ow," Kim sighed, "that hurt, Ron."
"Oh, sorry, KP, I'm so happy you're back." Ron said, reaching over, and pulling the call cord attached to the wall behind Kim's bed. A few seconds later, a nurse walked into the room,
"SHE'S AWAKE!" Ron said, as though announcing it to the world,
"I'll get the doctor." the nurse said, running out of the room.
Ron walked up to Kim, and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead,
"I love you, KP." he said, smiling the first true smile in a month,
"I love you, Ron." Kim replied, smiling just as widely.
A month later, at the Possible home:
Today was a big event, Kim was coming home. The school, and all of her teachers had arranged for her to finish her homework, so she could graduate with the rest of her class later this month, but, she didn't want to cross the podium in a wheelchair, she wanted to walk.
So, over the course of the last month, she went through hell, in the form of rigorous physical therapy. The one constant throughout the whole ordeal, was Ron.
Ron had stood by her through it all, even during the times that it hurt so badly, that she screamed out in pain. He was always there, the rock that she could lean on.
She had made an appearance at Josh's trial, although against her doctors wishes, she wanted to be there when the verdict was read, and she was happy with the results. The jury had found him guilty of attempted murder, and the judge had sentenced him a couple of weeks later, he would serve the rest of his life in prison, never to see freedom again.
Today, as she stepped out of the family van, being helped out by Ron, she was smiling. She stood, taking a cane into her right hand, her legs, though strong enough to allow her to walk, were not completely strong enough to support her weight, according to the doctors, that would take some time, and a lot of patience on her part.
"And, in we go." Ron said, holding out a hand for Kim to grab onto, she did so, and thrust herself forward, through the door, and into her home. Looking around, she saw the living room sofa,
"I need to sit down." she said, making her slow progress to the inviting sofa, and some comfort,
"Be right with ya, KP." Ron said, then, turning to Mr. Possible, he smiled,
"Mr. Dr. P., I have a serious question to ask you." Ron said, making the elder Possible look at the young man standing in front of him,
"What is it, Ronald?" he asked,
"I would like to ask your permission to marry your daughter." Ron said,
"You want to ask Kimmie to marry you?" Mr. Possible asked, "Don't you think you're rushing things a little, Ronald?"
"Oh, not right away, I meant, after graduation, and when she's completely healed." Ron replied,
"How soon after graduation?" Mr. Possible asked,
"Once she's able to fully walk on her own, so she could walk down the aisle without the cane." Ron said,
"Okay, in that case, you have my permission, you're already family as it is, why not make it official." Mr. Possible said, making Ron smile, he ran into the living room, and took a seat by Kim's side, who noticed the big cheesy grin right away,
"Okay, Ron, what did you ask my dad?" Kim asked,
"Oh, no, that's a surprise, one that'll be worth the wait, believe me." Ron said, smiling.
And that ends this chapter, and this story. In case you're wondering, I didn't put an epilogue on this story, because there's going to be another one attached to this one, dealing with Kim's marriage, and Josh, busting out of prison. Why? Well, you'll have to find out in the next story.
Shout outs go to the following people:
captainkodak1: my good friend, sometimes idea man, by the way, you should check him out at deviantart, he, and another man that I consider a friend, Rich, do some good collaborative work.
gargoylesama: one of the best critics I've got, and I've never gotten a bad word from him, ever.
buenonacho: this guy has an awesome site, called KP Forever, you should go and check it out.
And continental-line: here's a guy that gives me the straight story, every time he posts a review, and I appreciate that.If you shoot straight with someone, you'll get more respect, than if you lied to them rightto their faces.
Until next time, folks, keep the reviews coming, luvs to all of you.
Doug :-)