Chapter Two
Kim woke up earlier that usual. She climbed shakily out of her bed and went straight into the shower. As she stood under the hot water, her nightmare began to replay in her mind. Ron was flipped down by Drakken's arm again. He was being dragged up by his arms and secured in front of Sheego. She then started hitting Ron with her plasma gloves all over his body, from head to toe.
Kim shook her head violently, driving the haunting images from her mind. She quickly washed and got out of the shower. After getting dressed, Kim slowly trudged down the stairs to the kitchen to grab a quick bite.
Mrs. Possible, Jim, and Tim were at the table already when Kim poured herself a glass of orange juice. She was absolutely silent, and that didn't go unnoticed.
"Kimmie?" Mrs. Possible said. "You okay?"
Again, saying nothing, Kim just nodded slowly.
"She had another bad dream last night," Jim said.
Kim's eyes widened as she whipped to face her little brothers.
"Yeah, we heard her talking in her sleep. 'No…stop…leave him alone'" Jim chimed in.
"Shut up, Tweebs!" Kim yelled.
"Kimmie!" Mrs. Possible scolded. "What happened in your dream?"
"Nothing! Don't worry about it!" Kim cried, grabbing her bag and storming out the door.
Kim walked as fast as she could toward Ron's house, tears threatening to pour down her face. She had three days…three days to stop what she knew would happen. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she completely missed Ron's house and walked right by it.
Ron, who was waiting on his porch as always, called to her in bewilderment. "Kim! Yoo-hoo! Over here!" She didn't react, but kept walking. Ron got up and ran after her. "Kim, what's wrong?" he asked, grabbing her elbow.
Kim jumped at her name and the touch. She whipped around and saw Ron standing in front of her. She threw her arms around his neck and tears began to fall. Shocked and concerned about his best friend's sudden reaction, he put his arms around her and hugged her back.
"Whoa….Kim? Are you okay?" Ron asked, rubbing her back consolingly.
Kim sniffed. "Yeah, I'm just very glad to see you," she whispered.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked, pulling away to see tears flowing down her face.
Buying herself time by wiping away her tears, she debated severely on whether she should tell Ron the truth. No, she couldn't…she couldn't scare him like that.
"Ah…nothing," Kim sighed. "I've just had a really bad night and morning."
They continued down the street, Kim sniffing occasionally followed by Ron rubbing her arm. She had done this several times before, and every time it scared Ron. He hated to see her hurt, or scared, or worst of all, to see her cry.
As the school day progressed, Kim wasn't nearly as emotional as that morning, but she still stayed unusually close to Ron. Not that Ron minded that at all. Kim had always been his best friend. Always…since pre-school. All these years, the only person he could count on to never leave his side no matter how badly he screwed up was Kim. He would be lost without her. He loved her more than anything, but it had always been as the sister he never had. But then…
"She's a sister to me…that's it. Nothing more…" Ron reassured himself. "But lately…"
At lunchtime, not five minutes after Kim and Ron sat down, the Kimmunicator beeped. Kim's stomach dropped.
"Wh-what's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked, a limp growing in her throat.
"You got a hit on the site Kim," Wade replied.
"Drakken involved?" Kim asked, hurriedly. Ron looked up from his meal and stared at her…that was an odd response. She never did that.
"Uh…we don't know yet," Wade said, catching onto Kim's reaction. "Dr. Silverton, the director of the Astro-Physics Lab has reported that a device known as the Extreme-o-Rama Proton Disruptor 3000 has been stolen."
"Damn it!" Kim cried, beating her fist on the table, sending Rom clear up out of his chair, and causing a few heads to swivel in their direction.
"What's the problem, KP?" Ron asked, reaching out and holding her wrist.
"Damn you, Drakken," Kim whispered, tears welling in her eyes.
"Kim, we don't even know if it is Drakken or not," Wade said, very freaked out. He had never seen her like this before.
"It's him Wade. I know its Drakken. I can't tell you how I do, but I know it's him," Kim sniffed, a tear falling down her right cheek.
"Kim…" Wade said, stunned. "…you know what? I don't want to know. I give you more information when I get it. Just…feel better, okay?"
"Yeah, thanks Wade," Kim said, clicking off the Kimmunicator and squeezing her eyes shut.
Ron was speechless, his hand still grasping her wrist.
"KP? What's wrong? Oh, my God, you're crying!" He cried after she tried and failed to choke back a sob. "Kim, what is wrong?" Ron urged, shaking her slightly, as if to snap her out of it.
Kim opened her eyes and stared into Ron's. The genuine look of fear and sincerity of concern almost made her break down again. Kim glanced quickly to the left and right of Ron to see that nearly everyone in the cafeteria was facing them and whispering to each other. Ron followed her eyes and looked around the cafeteria. He stood up fiercely.
"All right, everyone!" Ron shouted. "Nothing to see here! Just eat your mystery meat and mind your own business!" A majority of the heads turned away, but of course Bonnie and her crew continued staring.
"I'm so sorry." Kim whispered. "I hate that you're seeing me like this."
"I don't care about that, " Ron said, tightening his grip on her wrist. "What I do care about is that you are like this. Now tell me what's wrong so I can make it better."
"Ron, I…I can't," Kim stammered, her voice breaking. "I just…can't. Not now." Kim jumped up and ran out of the cafeteria before Ron could do anything. He took one last wistful look at his mystery meat, and started off after her.
As Ron passed Bonnie and her posse, Bonnie called out to him, "What's wrong, Ron? You and Kim have a lover's spat?"
Ron stopped instantly, turned, and strutted toward her and stopped with one foot's distance between them.
Ron sighed. "You know what, Bonnie?"
She put on her typical, snotty, cheerleader face and stared right back at him. "You got something to say, geek?"
"I have had it up to here with your smug, bitchy, 'I'm-better-than-you-because-I'm-a-cheerleader' attitude you've given me since we were four!" Ron spoke loudly so he could attract as much public attention as he could. "I have half a mind to—"
"To what?" Bonnie said, putting her hands on her hips.
Ron smiled and reached for the cup of chocolate pudding on her tray.
"What are you doing?" Bonnie demanded.
Ron bounced the pudding cup in his right hand as if it were a baseball
"You…wouldn't…dare," Bonnie said with momentary flicker of fear.
Simultaneously, Ron slapped upward with his left hand, catching the edge of Bonnie's tray perfectly. A tray fully of dark, brown, thick, inedible mystery meat and its grave flew majestically in the air and splattered Bonnie from head to toe. With his right hand, he dumped the entire contents of the cup in her perfectly done hair. Bonnie screamed…the entire cafeteria burst into laughter and applause.
Brick Flag, who was seated next to Bonnie, leapt up to advance on Ron. Ron took one look at Bonnie, finally realizing what he had done, one look at Brick, and he took off like a shot, Brick at his heels.
Kim didn't have the two remaining class periods with Ron, so she was given time to think without distraction. As any school day does as it wanes, it inched by slowly. When the final bell tolled, liberating the captive students from their prison cells, Kim rushed home without waiting for Ron.
Kim ran through her front door, nearly crashing into the Tweebs. She ran by them, muttering a soft, "sorry", dropped her bag on the couch, and headed toward her room.
As she reached the bottom stair, Kim heard her mother call, "Kimmie? Is that you?"
Kim sighed disgusted…so close. She can evade countless evil-doers, yet her mother can catch her every single time!
"Yeah, Mom. It's me," Kim called, hoping that she wouldn't have to face her after her outburst that morning.
"Could you come in the kitchen?" Mrs. Possible called with that "let-talk-about-how-you're-feeling" tone.
Thinking fast, Kim replied, "Uh, sorry Mom, I can't!" Kim bounded back to the couch and grabbed her bag. "I've got a ton of homework to do! Even if I start now, I'm going to be up until about two," Kim called back, rushing up the stairs before her Mom could respond.
She threw her bag under her desk and flopped on her bed. The things she knew that would come to pass were already being set into motion. Two days left…and the only things she knew were that Drakken already has the Proton Disruptor and that Ron will die. She didn't know what warehouse it was going to happen in. She didn't know where Drakken and Shego were, and she didn't know how the hell she was going to handle this.
"I can't let him die…I won't let him die!" Kim thought, giving her pillow one, good, frustration-venting punch.
She couldn't explain how it happened, but on three prior occasions, Kim had dreamt of she and Ron participating in missions involving a number of her usual adversaries. Every time it happened, for some unexplainable reason, her dream would play out three days later, with every event being the same is in her dream. It was as if she became temporarily psychic or something. The problem was…every dream she had, had a bad ending. The villain got away, or what they were trying to retrieve got destroyed, or even Rufus getting hurt. She tried to change what had happened, and succeeded in changing only one…just barely. She was going to make damn sure that last night's dream would not come true, even if drastic measures had to be taken.
She alternated from pacing to and fro across her bedroom floor to lying on her bed, thinking with the fervent concentration that she should always have given to studying for her tests and never did. Hours passed. She rejected her mother's dinner call with the one request that a plate be saved for her. She had "homework" to do.
Finally, at 1:48 am, Kim reached a decision that she struggled and wept over the entire night. She climbed into bed, heavy-hearted, and despising the person she was going to have to be tomorrow.
"He's not coming with me," Kim stated. "No matter what he says or does, he can't come." She was trying to reassure herself, and psych herself up for what was to come. "I have to hurt him, hurt him to save him."
A/N—Okay, yeah I know. "That's a line from 'Moulin Rouge!'. She stole that line!" Well, guess what? It's late at might for me and I couldn't figure out how to end this particular chapter. So I used a quote from my favorite movie. Additional disclaimer: "Moulin Rouge!" ain't mine either. Hahaha…