Muchas Gracias to: Widow Shark (aka Jessica Ann), Jezriana 2.0, recon228, Tanya16, L Killingsworth, FutureGoddess, aimtbj, KitsuneAkurei, Spooks-a-lot, kimnronever, and finally a thanks, a spelchek and some punctuation to domisMINE.
This chapter: fake techno-babble alert! Let's find out how Ron got those sweet ninja skills…
Chapter 6
"I'm reading five more heat signatures at the far end of the northwest corridor. Other than that I don't think there's anyone else in the building." Wade's voice informed him.
"Got it," Ronin replied, "See if you can get into their billing systems and decipher who they might have sold weapons to in the last year."
"You really think they'd keep a record of who was billed for what?", Wade asked skeptically.
"Not in the literal sense. But an outfit like this has to be keeping some kind of track of their inventory, and who the stuff is sold to. Whatever it is, a coded ledger, or a seemingly useless database, that'll have the answers we're looking for."
"Alright, but I'm going to have to disconnect from the interface to do this." Wade said.
"I'm not going anywhere." Ronin replied. He shifted on his perch in the rafters.
In his online search for information about Lord Deathray, Wade had stumbled across a coded and heavily guarded URL. The website was the home page for a weapons firm, specializing in laser and ray type weaponry, although they carried a little bit of everything. If you wanted spinning tops of doom, they had a few in stock. Wade discovered an electronic copy of a shipping manifest for a repulsor beam. Ronin figured that had to be Deathray. He'd never seen anyone else use such a virtually harmless weapon.
The weapons firm was in a warehouse located on a small island north of New Zealand. The Ninjet got him there in two hours. Unseen and unheard, he landed on the beach and infiltrated the compound. So far, no one had been alerted to his presence. Because the weapons facility had an isolated computer network, it was necessary for someone to sneak into the main offices and plant a transmitter. After doing just that, Ronin made his way into the warehouse itself and found a hidden place to perch high up among the rafters.
"OK," came Wade's voice in his ear, "I think I might have something. See what you can make of this."
Ronin turned to face a wall. From the Katana-shaped logo on his chest, a tiny projection put the image of a database on the surface of the wall in front of him. Ronin studied it; a page full of numbers and letters in a seemingly random pattern. The entire page was made up of squares, some blank, while others contained the random numbers and letters. None of it made any sense.
"This is the only thing on the site that could be a record of sales." Wade said, "I found a couple of pages that are similar to this, but nothing like what you're looking for."
"How many pages are there that look like this?"
"Three total."
"Can you put up all three images?"
The projected image flickered and was replaced by an image of three pages that appeared similar to the first; squares across the surface with random letters and numbers in some of the squares, while others were blank.
"See if you can superimpose the pages, starting with the second page's first column of squares aligned with the first page's last column of squares," Ronin said.
"I see where you're going with this" Wade's voice said in his ear, "Hang on a sec."
The image on the wall flickered again. Ronin looked around to make sure he was unseen and then looked back to the image. It still made no sense.
"Let me play with this a few minutes," Wade told him, "I'll get back to you."
The projection cut off, and Ronin resumed his perch on a high rafter in the main warehouse. Though everything was in crates, Ronin could practically see all the destructo-rays, the mind-scramblers, the neutronalizers, and so forth. There always seemed to be a big market for supervillain type weapons.
He took the Lotus Blade from his back and occupied his time by changing it into different weapons. He was becoming very proficient with the blade's operation. Naginata, he thought and the blade instantly morphed into the long Japanese-style sword. Nun chucks; again it changed. Boomerang, he thought, and the blade obeyed, though the boomerang was metal. He learned long ago that the blade did not obey his commands in the literal sense, but rather, it sensed what he wished, and produced that particular weapon. He found he could get the blade to form itself into just about anything as long as it was metal, had less than four square feet of flat surface, and had no mechanical parts.
His mind drifted back to the day he acquired the Lotus Blade. He'd been training at Master Sensei's school for four years. In that time he had learned the ways of Ninjitsu. He had arrived at the school less than a month after his all-too-painful parting with Kim. In fact, it was the circumstances of that parting that had brought him to the school. Master Sensei took him in without comment or judgment, and patiently set out to train Ron Stoppable in the ways of the Ninja.
The first two years of training had been tough, almost brutal, but Ron relished it. It kept him occupied, kept his thoughts away from what happened with Kim. Slowly he began to develop the senses of a shadow warrior. Unfortunately for him, he was, and would always be, Ron Stoppable, which meant he was prone to clumsiness. Still, the skills were honed, albeit slowly, and his fighting techniques developed.
Near the end of the fourth year, Ron noticed that Master Sensei was teaching him the same lesson, morning after morning. Leap from the roof to the top of the pole, he would order. At first, Ron would come crashing down, painfully, in a heap at Sensei's feet. But eventually, Ron successfully made the leap and would stand triumphantly at the top of the pole. Sensei would merely nod and walk away, and that was it for the day. After awhile, Ron began to grow puzzled. Every morning he would leap from the roof to the top of the pole, Sensei would nod, and then walk away.
At last, Ron went to see Master in his chambers. He bowed low, and then asked why he was not being taught anything new anymore.
"You must learn to successfully make the leap," Sensei told him impassively.
"But I do!" Ron protested, "Every morning I leap from the roof to the top of the pole and do not fall."
"That is not a leap, it is merely a first step. You must successfully make the leap."
Silence between them. Sensei gazed at his pupil without a trace of emotion on his face. Ron studied his teacher closely, but found no answers there.
The leap from the roof is merely a first step.
It was time for him to leave the school. Realization played across his face.
"There is no more I can teach you," Sensei said calmly, "You must now go and learn what lessons there are to be learned from the world."
Ron nodded and stood up. "I wish to take the Lotus Blade with me," He heard himself say.
"How is it you think the blade belongs to you?" Sensei asked him. He did not seem angered by the request.
Ron simply held out his hand. The blade tore through the wall behind Sensei and sailed through the air into Ron's grasp.
"It would be wrong" Ron declared, "To leave this blade on a shelf collecting dust, when it could be used as a force to thwart evil."
Sensei stood up, nodded, and bowed low. "You are the blade's master," he said to his pupil, "It has been waiting these past years for you to claim it."
When he arrived back in Middleton, the first person Ron contacted was Wade.
"Score!" Wade exclaimed, rousing Ronin from his memories, "I've got it."
Ronin returned the blade to his back and turned toward the wall again. "Go", he said.
"I divided the pages into four-square blocks", Wade explained, "Then, I virtually folded each of the blocks into cubes. Look what happens when you put two adjoining cubes together with their blank sides facing each other."
The image on the wall revealed two cubes, one stacked upon another. The seemingly random numbers lined up to show names and dates. The one projected on the wall read 'Dementor, Shrink Ray, Swiss Lair, April 16'.
"That's our manifest" Ronin confirmed, "Are there any orders listed for Deathray?"
"Two", Wade answered, "Two deliveries early this year, but they're both marked 'Middleton lab' and don't give a specific address."
"But it's something," Ronin said, "When I get back to Middleton, I want you to scour all the websites that have anything to do with any of the labs located in town. There's got to be a delivery confirmation. Someone signed for those weapons. I want to know who."
"That's a lot of laboratories", Wade reminded him. Because Global Justice was headquartered in Middleton, many top-secret lab facilities had decided to relocate there for security reasons. Middleton had practically become one giant top-secret research facility.
"I know," Ronin said sympathetically, "But right now it's all we've got. In the meantime, I guess my work is finished here."
He turned to make an exit and suddenly stopped.
"Wade."
"Yeah?"
"It occurs to me we may have an opportunity here. This is a weapons factory, after all, and there isn't a country on the planet that legally sanctions the stuff this place sells."
"You wanna shut this place down?" Wade guessed.
"Hard." Ronin confirmed, and dropped from the rafters.
At twenty years old, Wade still lived with his parents. He'd moved from his room and turned the basement of the house into one massive computer station. Monitors where everywhere. Most of the stuff he had built himself. He held patents to software and electronics systems that wouldn't be available to the general public for decades. Some of it was so advanced, only Wade would ever know how it operated. Most of the monitors he used were three-dimensional holographic systems with the kind of interface found in science fiction films. Every now and then, Wade would sell off something he'd designed and fund his and Ronin's operation with the profits. Wade could care less about mansions, or cars, or material wealth. He was addicted to hero work. In addition, Ronin contributed millions of his own money, having transferred his Naco royalties to off-shore accounts just before he faked his death. Between them they were able to afford things like the Ninjet; a one man aircraft that operated on a hydrogen burning engine and made almost no noise when in flight. Ronin, of course, was not a pilot. Wade did all the piloting by remote from his basement.
Wade had also developed Ronin's battlesuit, and it was something he was very proud of. Made of an advanced Kevlar-based material, it could withstand just about any projectile thrown at it, from bullets to small missiles. The Katana logo on the chest of the suit housed everything from a global communicator to advanced scanning and detection apparatus. With a tiny microphone located at the larynx, and a tiny speaker sewn into the ear fabric of the mask, Wade could carry on conversations with Ronin anywhere in the world, thanks to three dedicated satellites positioned in various strategic orbits. No more need for a handheld computer to house all the scanning and communication equipment. Ronin wore it all on his chest, on a razor thin piece of integrated technology. Two tiny cameras with every type of capability (including infra-red and night vision) sewn into the headband, faced both forward and rearward. The suit could absorb and even store unfocused energy, like electricity or certain types of kinetic energy, but it could not withstand focused beams, such as rays, or lasers.
The suit also came equipped with a cloaking device. Wade found a way to manipulate light particles so that the suit allowed light to pass through it without reflecting back to the human eye. A flick of the switch and Ronin would appear to just vanish, though physically he'd still be there. There were drawbacks to this feature, however. It used a huge amount of power (storage cells for the suit's power were located in the heels of Ronin's boots), so the cloak couldn't stay engaged for very long. In addition, Ronin had to pull his mask completely down over his face, which meant he was blind while cloaked. And finally, whenever he was cloaked, he couldn't move without giving away his position. Anyone looking directly at him while cloaked couldn't see him, of course, but if he moved even a few inches, anyone looking at him would see a human-shaped distortion in their field of vision.
But the real beauty of the suit, as far as Wade was concerned, was the Neurological Interface. In his basement, Wade had a separate station set up that had sleeves for his arms, legs, and each of his fingers. In addition, he had goggles wired directly to the cameras in the battlesuit so he could see everything Ronin saw, and more. The arm and leg sleeves were connected to an interface that allowed Wade to assist, enhance, or just plain control whoever was wearing the battlesuit. Through tiny amounts of neural-electrical generation, Wade could, for instance, move Ronin's arm, make a fist, make him walk, make him jump, etc. But thanks to the suit's built-in neurological enhancers, Wade could also make Ronin jump higher than he normally could, or run faster, or hit harder. All of it was based on delivering a tiny, precise neural-electrical charge into a given muscle on Ronin's body in order to stimulate it. The Neural-Interface manifested itself as wire-thin crimson stripes that glowed whenever they were in operation.
All of these features were brilliantly packaged by Wade into a skin-tight suit that – except for the stripes – looked like any typical ninja outfit. Thanks to a combination of Ron's ninja abilities, his prowess with the Lotus Blade, and Wade's technical expertise along with his real-time physical assistance via the Neural-Interface, Ronin was one formidable superhero.
And Wade loved it. When Kim and Ron had parted ways in college, Kim made a half-hearted attempt to do solo work for awhile, but she had clearly lost the enthusiasm for it. One day she abruptly quit, and left Wade with virtually nothing to do. When the Twins set up their own operation, Wade hoped he would be a part of it, but they didn't need him. They were geniuses themselves, after all. As the months, and then the years went by, Wade slowly sank into a depression. He was once part of a team that saved the world on a frequent basis. What was there to do in life that could compare to that? After awhile, Kim stopped calling or e-mailing, and they fell out of contact with each other. Eventually, Wade would spend whole days in his room, all monitors dark but for one solitary screen flickering in front of him with nothing on it, just staring listlessly. His parents became alarmed, but nothing they tried could pull him out of the depression he was spiraling into. Finally, even that one monitor flickered out, and Wade just sat in the dark, alone, doing nothing.
Then one day, for the first time in months, Wade's private phone-line rang. It was Ron with a proposal. Develop a suit, similar to Kim's white battlesuit, and partner up with him.
Wade couldn't say 'yes' fast enough.
Ronin was on the warehouse floor by the time Wade hooked up to the Neural-Interface.
Three guards were standing in a group in one of the warehouse aisles. Ronin dropped silently into their midst, taking one guard out with a lightning-fast kick while Wade took out the other two using Ronin's fists.
It had been just short of a year since Ronin began his career as a hero, and they were still working out the intricacies of the interface, but the more missions they went on, the more it began to feel like second nature. In fact, Ronin was enjoying a very pleasant side effect of the neural-electrical stimulation aspect of the suit. Every time Wade assisted with a maneuver, Ronin's muscles would flex, sometimes involuntarily. As a result he was developing an extremely lean, muscular build. If high-school-aged Ron Stoppable had been able to see his future self in a picture or a mirror, the descriptive term he would have used was 'ripped'.
Three guards lay unconscious on the floor.
"Anything here we can use?" Ronin asked looking about.
"Scanning", Wade said. A beam emitted from Ronin's chest and swathed the room. "Two aisles over. I think there's something that has potential."
Ronin leaped to the top of the stacked crates and bounded over two aisles.
"Which crate?", he asked.
"Third from the far end; the tall, thin one."
Ronin dropped into the aisle and strode to the crate. "OK, now what?"
"We'll need to remove it from its packaging and then plug the suit into it." Wade informed him.
The suit glowed crimson. Three seconds later, a rather nasty looking ray cannon was liberated from its packaging. Ronin reached down and pulled a thin wire from the toe of his boot.
"Where?" he asked.
"Base of the control panel", Wade answered.
Ronin plugged in and the machine powered up.
"It's a Sonic Combustulator," Wade explained, "It uses high frequency soundwaves to generate heat, and make things combust."
Ronin looked around, nodding, "Lot of firewood in here."
"Just pull the trigger and aim wherever."
He bathed the warehouse with the beam and watched as an instant inferno erupted. Unplugging the suit from the machine, he sprinted up the aisle for the nearest door.
"Four guards approaching from that exit," Wade cautioned him.
The door burst open and four huge men ran in, staring at the fire. Alarms began to blare. Never breaking stride, Ronin ran straight for them. They noticed him too late. At the last second, the suit glowed crimson, Ronin leaped into the air, spinning as he did so. To the guards it almost looked like a small, black and red tornado had descended upon them. It was their last conscious thought for some time.
"I relocated the Ninjet to the beach directly north of your position," Wade notified him, "I need to de-interface and upload a virus into the factory network."
"Copy that", Ronin acknowledged pulling the blade from his back. Claw and chain, he thought, and the blade morphed into a length of chain with a claw attached to one end. He reached the perimeter of the compound, a fifteen foot high electric chain link fence standing in his way. Hurling the claw, it attached itself to the fence. Lightning seemed to travel along the chain and over Ronin's suit. Three guards approached from behind and began firing automatic weapons. Ronin pulled down a section of the fence, then turned to the guards. Holding his hands out in front of him, he flicked his wrist, and the stored electricity erupted from him and flew at the guards. They dropped instantly.
The warehouse began disintegrating in a series of massive explosions. Ronin slipped through the fence and ran for the beach, climbed inside the black one-man aircraft, and shot away into the night sky.
After some time in the air, Wade appeared on the cockpit viewscreen, "The Middleton Gazette just posted your obituary on their website. Care to read it?"
No, thought Ronin, "Sure, why not?"
Wade's image was replaced by a page full of text.
Stoppable, Ronald. Beloved son and cherished friend. Born in Middleton Medical Center. Graduated from Middleton High School…
"Martha R. Patterson"
Applause.
"John Roger Peterson"
Applause.
"May B. Plausible"
Applause.
"Kimberly Anne Possible."
Cheers.
Graduation. Both the Possible and Stoppable families erupted in elated cheering, as did most of the Senior class. Ron watched Kim walk across the stage and accept her diploma from Mr. Barkin with an excited smile on her face.
"Yeah! All right, KP! Wooo!"
Kim shook Barkin's hand and waved to her parents, then found Ron and waved to him.
Ron managed to pull his GPA up a little in the final semester and graduate with his class. He'd still be going to Lowerton Community College, but that was three months away. He was looking forward to a summer with Kim. Although it was somewhat bittersweet. Rufus was spending the summer with Wade.
A long time ago, a small-time villain by the name of Drew Lipski had stolen a top-secret intelligence-boosting ray from the U.S. government. His plan was to boost the intelligence of various animals, and take over the world with his personal animal army. Things hadn't gone as planned. Lipski never bothered to anticipate the possibility that the animals might not want to do the bidding of an egomaniacal, blue-skinned villain. Early experiments had been disastrous. Lipski boosted the intelligence of a yak only to have it act aloof and uninterested in any of his plans. An intelligence-boosted housecat made several insulting remarks about Drew's mother and promptly left the lair. And a baby naked mole rat, though it could perform menial tasks, was only able to say one or two words at a time and could only gibber and chatter the rest of the time. Communication was impossible. The yak had long ago abandoned the lair (later it would turn up in a monastery in Tibet teaching a unique brand of philosophy to the monks there) and Drew simply returned the baby naked mole rat to the Middleton Smarty-Mart for a refund. Before he could conduct any more experiments, Global Justice tracked him down and hauled him away.
Wade was keenly interested in studying Rufus, and the effects the intelligence ray had on him, and this summer seemed like the perfect opportunity.
"Bonnie Rockwaller."
A smattering of applause.
Poor Bonnie, her mother cheered like a banshee while her older sisters simply sat with their arms folded, embarrassed.
Kim was going to work part-time at her father's lab for the summer. Four days a week, and she promised Ron he could have the other three. Ron thought about getting a job, too, but didn't see the point. When he turned eighteen, Ron's dad showed him the contents of the trust fund. There were enough zeroes on the end of the number to choke a philosophizing yak. Ron was pretty much set for life. He couldn't wait until he turned twenty-one so he could set his parents up. He offered to get them a huge house, cars, the whole works. They insisted they didn't want any of it. Well, Ron's Dad did want to join the country club, but couldn't afford it. Ron was only too happy to oblige. When the money did come to him, he intended to pay off his parent's debts and make sure they'd get a comfortable income.
"Ronald Stoppable."
Cheering.
Ron crossed the stage and accepted his diploma from Mr. Barkin.
"Nice work, Stoppable," Barkin said.
"Thanks Mr. B!", Ron turned and waved to his parents, the cheering Possible family and then Kim who was waving a pom-pom and making a mild spectacle of herself. When she found out he'd be graduating with the class, she couldn't hide how proud she was of him. Monique, sitting next to Kim, also waved a self-conscious pom-pom.
The celebration was at the Possible house that night. Games, food, and plenty of friends. Of course, everyone in their class had their own celebrations, but many stopped by to say hello. Ron and Felix played video games with the twins most of the evening.
Late in the evening, the Kimunicator beeped.
"How goes the party?" Wade asked.
"Great", Kim told him, "But winding down. What the sitch?"
"Something's been bugging me since that day Ron lost his treehouse." Wade informed her.
"Ah, the dearly departed treehouse," Ron said in a sad voice, "So many memories… so muchas smooches!"
Kim nudged him playfully, "What's the problem?"
"Well, how exactly did Goliath Kilgore know you were there? I mean, specifically, how did he know you were in the treehouse that afternoon?" Wade asked.
Kim and Ron looked at each other.
"Hey, yeah!" Ron exclaimed, "He just walked right up and put the smack down on my treehouse without asking if anyone was home! What up with that?"
"Remember how I was able to pinpoint Ron's location while he was wearing the Molecular Enhancer?" Wade asked.
"Yeah," Kim said, waiting.
"I just performed the same scan on your house. Ron's still showing residual traces of the Molecular Enhancer's effects. I noticed it while I was performing some initial scans on Rufus today."
"Hey, how is the little guy? Is he there? Does he miss me?" Ron asked, crowding his face near the Kimunicator.
Wade said nothing. Rufus scampered into the picture, gibbering and chattering.
"Hey, little buddy! How's life at Wade's house?" Ron almost sounded like he was gibbering himself.
"Let's put the reunion on hold for a few minutes," Kim suggested, "So, Wade, you're saying it's possible to detect anyone who's ever worn a Molecular Enhancer?"
"Precisely!" Wade confirmed, "Ron's traces are almost gone, but it is still possible to detect them with a sophisticated enough scan. The thing is, only one person knows you ever wore the Enhancer. And that person also has the capabilities to scan for residual Enhancer traces."
Kim put two and two together, "Hench."
"Right" Wade said.
"Wait a minute….what? Hench called us when Kilgore broke into his lab a couple of months ago… he's playing us and Kilgore against each other?" Ron was incredulous.
"When you have two enemies, the best way to deal with them is to get them to fight each other." Kim concluded.
"Pretty much what I was thinking," Wade agreed.
"OK, Wade, hook us up with a ride to Hench's offices tomorrow. I think we'll pay him a friendly visit." Kim said.
"You got it." Wade acknowledged.
Ron grabbed the Kimunicator, "Put Rufus back on!"
It was slow going. With Jim's help, Kim was searching the web for any mention of Deathray, but there was precious little. At one point, Jim was sure he'd found a hidden URL that mentioned Deathray, but when he logged in, all he got was a mess of disjointed programming. Either a secret code was needed to decipher it, or someone had infected it with a virus. Kim was trying to set up some sort of base in her room at her parents' house. Yesterday she'd moved all her things out of her apartment and decided to stay here until the wedding.
That morning she'd asked Raymond to postpone the wedding by a week. If she couldn't find Deathray by then, she'd let her brothers and the authorities handle it. She couldn't spend the rest of her life avenging Ron Stoppable. Raymond was patiently waiting to begin their lives together, and to make him wait any longer would be unfair.
One week.
The twins continued to set up various equipment in Kim's room. When Tim powered up a satellite link-up and ran a test scan, he discovered an interesting signal coming from downtown Middleton and alerted his sister..
"I'll check it out", she said, "You guys finish up here." Then, realizing she'd just issued an order, added, "please."
Kim slipped into her battlesuit and headed out.
"Anything?" Ronin asked.
"No", Wade replied, "You do realize this is going to take awhile."
"Yeah, I know. I'm just getting impatient. Sorry."
Ronin was perched at the edge of the roof of the Middleton Bank Tower. It wasn't want you'd call a world class skyscraper, but it was the highest vantage point in the city. He liked to come up here sometimes to clear his head. Sometimes it made him feel as though he was watching over Middleton. It was corny, but it appealed to the 'lone hero' in him.
"Well, well," Wade said, chuckling, "Would you look at this!"
"You found something?" Ronin asked.
"In a manner of speaking," Wade replied, "You're wearing your mask, right?
"Yeah, why?"
"Stand up and turn around," Wade advised him.
He did so. His breath caught in his throat.
There, standing with her arms folded and jade fire in her eyes, stood Kim Possible.
He double-checked his readings and climbed into the massive mechanized suit. The low flying aircraft that had just stopped briefly at the roof of the Middleton Bank Tower had to be the same one that had stopped outside his lair the night he killed Ron Stoppable.
This ninja, this Ronin, was a variable he didn't like having in the equation. If he could just eliminate Ronin, then he could execute his plans without interference. Kim Possible, he had decided, was no threat to his intentions. She would be taken care of in ways better suited to her than death.
He strapped himself in, closed the hatch, and powered up.
"You're the guy they call Ronin. I want all the information you have regarding Lord Deathray", Kim demanded.
Ronin stared at her with a blank expression in his eyes. She was in her white battlesuit with the blue trim. Over the years her hair had become a deep auburn. It was shoulder-length and waving in the breeze. The emerald fury in her eyes only served to greatly enhance her beauty.
Emotional wounds Ronin thought had healed in the last six years were suddenly ripped wide open.
She stood there looking at him expectantly.
Ronin struggled for something to say, "Have…have I done something wrong?"
Unheard by Kim, Wade offered up an answer to Ronin's question, "You faked your death, hurt the ones you love the most, and now your life has become a hollow lie."
"That remains to be seen," She answered, "Tell me what you know about Deathray!"
"I don't know anyth-"
He was cut off when Kim's fist slammed into his face. He was sent sprawling. Wade erupted into laughter.
"Something funny?" Ronin muttered.
"You just got jacked by Kim Possible." Wade said through fits of laughter, "What's not funny?"
"Wrong", Kim said striding over to him. She stood with a foot on either side of him, crouched and grabbed his tunic by the neck, "I heard Deathray say he knew who you were. It's probably a good bet you know who he is."
"In case you're wondering", Wade said in his ear, "I'm not hooked up to the interface. I am not going to help you fight her."
His nose throbbing, Ronin thought frantically about what to do next. He didn't want to fight her either. Looking up into those green eyes was like taking a kick to the stomach. There was anger in them, yes, but there was more. He could see pain and grief. Pain and grief that he had caused.
"I am sorry," he said hoping she couldn't recognize his voice, "I am unable to help you."
Before she could reply, he grabbed both her lower legs, brought his legs up and pushed her over forward. It was her turn to sprawl, and it made him wince to see it.
They both scrambled to their feet and squared off. Circling slowly, they faced each other, ready for combat.
"Maybe if you tell her you're Ron Stoppable, she'll stop kicking your butt!" Wade was a big helper today.
Kim lunged, he stepped aside, she threw out an arm and clothes-lined him, taking him down again.
Ronin regained his feet. OK, he thought, I better play defense.
Kim came at him again, her face a mask of pure anger and determination. He stood his ground, blocking her incoming fists. He let Kim attack him again and again, and each time he defended himself, never throwing a punch or even going on the offensive. She kicked, he blocked. She swung, he ducked. Sometimes she managed to land a blow, but he took it in stride. Kim would leap into the air with a flying kick, he'd block it and then back off a few steps. Back and forth across the rooftop they fought. Ronin could tell she was beginning to tire.
"Incoming!" Wade suddenly shouted in his ear.
Ronin's suit glowed bright crimson as he lunged at Kim. Grabbing her, he leaped and rolled as an explosion erupted behind them.
"Are you hurt?" He asked her.
She pushed him away with a grunt and said nothing. Above them, a roar, as a massive machine swooped over head and settled on the roof with a huge thud. Ronin pulled the Blade from his back, Kim readied her grappler and quickly checked her other tools.
Facing the monstrous machine, Ronin and Kim Possible stood, back to back, and prepared to battle Lord Deathray.
