Chapter 7: Divergence
Stealth was a lot more difficult in real life than it was in the movies or games. You could walk behind an enemy and make sure they didn't see you, easy. But Ron had to make sure a lot of things wouldn't throw him off and blow his cover. It looked just like tip-toeing everywhere else, but he had to make sure he didn't breathe loudly or at all, that his body joints wouldn't pop for no reason, and that his feet made no noise.
He had been walking quietly for three minutes already, and he was barely halfway there.
Sure, Ron had been trained as a ninja, but he was extremely nervous. Anything could go wrong and Yori could be shot. He also hoped Yori wouldn't make any sudden moves that would allow her to become hurt.
Slowly…
Quietly…
The thought of some food didn't help things either…
Finally, he had made it to the girl. He was right behind her and she had no idea he was near. She was far too focused on her prey.
Grooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaoooooooo
Ron's face turned red as his eyes almost popped out of his skin. He should've known his stomach was his worst enemy. Worst, the sniper heard it all. Without hesitation, she thrusted her gun backward at him, the butt of her gun striking his chin, and without giving him a second to recover, she grabbed the barrel of her gun and swung it at him like a baseball bat, destroying the gun completely and sending Ron flying back where he started. He was now tasting concrete.
She quickly got up and pulled out a handgun, holding it firm in her hand. She couldn't see who her new guest was.
"Who are you? Get up slowly! Don't think of any funny moves, wise guy!"
Ron got up and grabbed his head as if he didn't hear her, but she reminded him by pushing her Desert Eagle against the back of his neck.
"Answer me! Who are you and why did you follow me here? Maybe the real question is… how did you know I was up here?"
Ron let out a painful groan. "You know, I've had my share of unwelcome entrances, but that was a bit harsh."
The girl pushed her gun further into his skin. "Answer my question! You know what…. Turn around. There's been few people who managed to sneak up on me like that. I want to see your face…"
Slowly, with his hands now raised in the air, Ron turned around to reveal himself. He froze at the sight before him, a young blonde beautiful girl with shining blue eyes. She had a stern look on her face that reminded him of Kim, but she had eyes of compassion. They weren't cold in any way.
She also froze when she saw Ron's face, immediately dropping her gun and taking a few steps back.
"Oh my gosh… You're… You're Ron Stoppable, aren't you?"
Ron almost felt like he was cursed. "Whoa, okay, yes, it's me, the one and only Ron. Now why does everyone here know me?" He was acting as if standing at gunpoint didn't happen.
The girl ignored his question. "But if… I mean… Okay, I'm confused."
Ron was surprised that she now spoke like an ordinary teenager. She sure didn't have the look of an assassin other than her raincoat. More surprised that he wasn't the only one confused for once.
"I can't believe I'm so stupid!" The girl pounded her head with her fists. "I am soooooo sorry about that!"
Ron observed the red areas on his face. "What, this? Happens all the time."
The girl shook her head. "No, I'm serious, that's no way to treat someone who's saved someone you love."
Mentally, Ron rolled his eyes. Here comes the story at ten.
"I didn't mean to do that, it's just that… well, I have a thing with boys sneaking up on me like that, I just didn't know if it was any different on the job."
Disregard.
The girl then removed her raincoat. Ron's jaw almost dropped with what he saw. She was no more older than he was, had a build that was similar of Kim's, she was wearing cargo shorts and wore a blue tank top. A bit more skin, but nothing questionable. Her smile had a more cute quality than Kim's, he thought.
"My name's Jen. I can't believe it was you who saved my dad!"
Ron blinked a few times, "Whoa, back up, wha-"
Before he knew it Jen had wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big fat smooch on the cheek. He completely froze.
She twirled around almost dreamily. "I've heard so much about you, but no one said you were cute."
The expressionless look on his face confirmed her thoughts. Except…
"RON!"
Ron went pale as he instantly recognized the other voice. "KP?"
Both turned towards the east side of the building, where Kim had just landed, putting her grappling gun away.
She wasn't too pleased. "I knew you were bound to run into some trouble, Ron…"
"But wait, KP! I mean, she… Yori… this is complicated…" He covered his face. He knew he was in for it now.
"You're not going anywhere without an explanation," Kim threatened.
"Stop!"
Now it was Yori's voice, who somersaulted and landed on the opposite side of the building.
The second Yori's feet landed on the roof, all hell broke loose. Jen quickly rolled on the ground, picked up her gun and pointed it at Yori's head. However, she saw that Kim and Ron were about to stop her. Before long, she had her gun aimed at Yori in one hand, the other hand wrapped on Kim's neck, and one leg wrapped around Ron's neck. From a glance, it appeared she could barely maintain her balance, but she was no less still than the concrete they were all standing on.
Jen quickly went stern again. "You guys had better not get in my way."
"Whoa, time out, time out!" Ron yelled. "This is all some big misunderstanding!"
Jen's tone went cold. "We can talk about it after I kill her."
"Stop it, Jen…" came another voice. Everyone looked at the small red glowing dot on Jen's face, but it quickly went to her gun and before anyone knew it, it was shot straight out of her hand and to the farthest corner of the building. "He's right. This is all a big misunderstanding."
Jen's voice went shaky.
"Nev? But…"
Slowly, she got out of her position and back on her feet. Sure enough, Nev was on the far end of the roof them wearing a trenchcoat and glasses, giving him a sophisticated look. Kim and Ron were more than surprised to see him.
"Really, do you want to head home and tell your dad you killed the suspected assassin? He's not going to be too happy to hear that."
It felt like a bad family reunion for Ron. "This is just peachy," he sarcastically remarked, "Again I have no idea what's going on."
Nev chuckled. "I'm not surprised, but actually, a whole lot of this makes sense now."
Kim turned to Nev. "You… knew about this?"
He shook his head. "Not in that way. I realized just now that these pieces are of the same puzzle. You all can relax, we're not enemies here."
The other four continued to sure suspicious gazes at each other. Kim kept glaring at Jen, who kept her eyes on Yori, who kept her eyes on Ron, who kept his eyes on Kim.
Nev scratched the back of his head. "This is going to take a while…" He then took on a firm mood. "Right now, step away from each other, all of you."
This time he actually pulled out a different handgun and pointed it at them, but it looked heavily modified.
"This laser gun can lock on and home in on any four targets I desire, whether it be military weapons on air, water or ground, or humans themselves. I don't want any funny moves from any of you. If one of you fall, you all fall. Got it?"
As if feeling betrayed, the four did as instructed, but now their eyes were on Nev.
"Since I know the real deal behind everything, well, for the most part, I'll fill you all in."
Jen interrupted. "How did you get your hands on that weapon?"
He scoffed. "You really thought I wasn't paying attention when you told me how each and every one of your weapons worked, didn't you?"
She didn't answer.
"So… who is she?" Kim asked.
Jen answered. "Jennifer Ferno. I'm not too keen on the double 'Fer' in my name, so people just call me Jen."
Ron interfered. "Why were you after Yori, then? Wait, are you-"
Jen gave Ron a really cold look. "Yori should be obvious, because she tried to kill my dad."
Ron whispered to Kim. "Think she's the puppet master in this?"
Nev let out an exasperated sigh. "This is why I said I'd be the one explaining things."
"You do that…" Kim requested.
"Okay. Let's warp back to the Bueno Nacho attack. Yes, that was Yori, but she was under mind control and she was targeting Ron. Jen's dad just happened to be in the same room."
Ron thought about it. 'Jen's dad was there…?'
Nev continued. "And Jen's been following Ron ever since he got here so that her dad knew everything was bomb diggity with the whole 'Ron's coming over' deal."
Jen blinked. "You knew?"
He nodded. "Your dad was the one who wanted me to make sure nothing would happen to you. He also wanted me to make sure you didn't mess up."
Kim intervened. "Okay, who is she really? Other than the name?"
Nev sighed. "Like you're the heroine of Middleton, Jen's the silent heroine of Bay City."
Jen had a sheepish smile. "Hi."
"Ferno…" Ron thought out loud.
Ferno was the president of Bueno Nacho, wasn't he?
"Ferno? No way, you're Ben Ferno's daughter? The Bueno Nacho President?"
Jen avoided eye contact. "Yeah."
Kim still wasn't convinced about the earlier detail, seeing that she whacked Ron with a sniper rifle and then kissed him on the cheek. "Okay, so let me get this straight, she's a hero around here?"
Jen answered. "That's not the term I'd use, more of a vigilante." Her focus wasn't on Kim, though. "Did I hear you right? 'Yori' was under mind control?"
Yori nodded. "I deeply apologize for getting your father involved in this. I saw everything that happened but I could not control it no matter how hard I tried."
Nev seconded Yori. "She's telling the truth. It was a device in her earrings that relayed a signal to her brain."
Jen took a look at Yori's brown eyes. They were sincere all right. "My bad. I should've been more careful in my judgment."
"You can say that again." Kim snapped, still bitter over the small bit of lipstick on Ron's cheek.
"So what's your damage?" Jen asked as if she weren't in any way intimidated by Kim.
Kim nodded her head towards Ron's left cheek, where Jen had kissed him only minutes ago.
"Oh, that. Well, he did help my dad escape from the attack that night, and I honestly didn't think I'd meet him in person. My dad told me to keep a watch on him to make sure he arrived, but I never expected to see him right in front of me, so I thanked him in a way I thought he deserved. Oh, I get it, you're jealous."
Kim growled. "Did it ever concern you that he has a girlfriend?"
Jen looked at Ron, raising an eyebrow. "You have a girlfriend?" She was completely oblivious.
Ron nodded, then motioned his head at Kim.
Her jaw almost dropped. "You're dating Kim Possible? You mean you two…"
Both nodded.
"Then that means…" The cold part of her attitude dropped like an anvil. "Oh hell, what's gotten into me lately? I am soooooooooo sorry for that! I had no idea he was taken… by you! That's… wow. You lucky girl you…"
Everyone but Nev was surprised how quickly the vigilante of the night turned into a… regular girl. Yori restrained herself from making a face at Jen's reaction to Kim and Ron.
Kim seemed to lower her tension. "Okay, now a lot of things make sense… so you're also not the one who took out the Forefathers…"
"No, but I honestly wish. They were what you'd call my archenemies. They're the main reason I do what I do here."
If Jen lied, she was a really good liar, but she was an honest type, a brutally honest type.
Kim continued. "So you're really not the one we're after, but… how did you and Nev…?"
"I'll answer that," Nev replied. "Much like how you and Ron are the teen heroes from Middleton, Jen's the one from here, only she doesn't travel throughout the world and she works alone… for the most part."
Jen confirmed this. "He's told me quite a bit about you, not that anyone hasn't heard of you and Ron."
"I beg to differ." Ron interfered.
Jen continued as if she didn't hear him. "Anyway, you two have a techno wizard helping you two out, right? Well, Nev's mine. I met him online while he was still in Lowerton working alone in his house, making weapons for various government agencies. They helped him move to Bay City a while back, and me and my dad already moved here, so we met and he was familiar with the teen agent thingie. That was about four months ago when we met?"
"That's about right. You and your dad moved here after that Lil' Diablo fiasco, but you had been 'in the business' long before then."
Ron grabbed his head. "Wait, that was before we met, right? So was that what you meant when you said KP and I weren't the only ones in the field? That Jen was also…?"
Nev smirked. "Exactly right."
Ron then grabbed his jaw and moved it back and forth. "Should've figured she wasn't just a sniper. My jaw still hurts."
Jen grinded her teeth just hearing this. "Really really sorry. I've had weapons training and I know the ins and outs of just about every weapon in existence; handheld, vehicle, or projectile. Sometimes when someone scares the crap out of me like that I use weapons in a manner not intended."
Kim was still skeptical. "So that's why you were armed with a…" she looked at the remains of the gun nearby, "… a PSG-1… A PSG-1? So you were actually going to kill Yori? Is that how you 'save' the city? By killing people?"
Nev and Ron rolled their eyes.
Jen didn't take Kim's tone lightly. "If you're going to assume I kill for sport, I don't. I only go there as a last resort. But get my dad involved and someone's going to pay with their life. Other than that, I can tell you haven't been here for long, Kim. You see, Bay City has some of the worst villains you can imagine, and you'll only find them if you look hard enough. Since my dad has business ties, that's where I looked and found them. These guys aren't just ordinary Joes who want to take over the world for attention, these are the kinds with all the power in the world and use it for their own entertainment, and it always comes at the expense of others. I'm not talking about humiliation and the like, I'm talking about taking lives. You can't try them in court or put them in jail, and even if you do, they have enough bail money to last them five lifetimes. Pedophiles, gangsters, the mob, funding terrorists and the like. Want to deal with these people? You better be sure you do everything flawlessly. I'm sure you heard about the Forefathers."
"Wade spared us the details earlier, but-"
"Those guys target innocent family men and women. If they do something wrong, which mostly consists of a setup, they're dead, and their family is sold off to the highest bidder in a country that hates Americans regardless of their race or beliefs. The wife is sold off to prostitution who's always found with a bullet in her head and hacked limbs. The children? Sold off to sweatshops any and everywhere. So don't you try to change my mind on what justice is. As far as I'm concerned, it's removing a problem. Sometimes it requires the worst of all actions to do it. Many people here won't realize it, but I'm the reason they're able to walk to work in the morning without being mugged or killed. You live here for a few months and tell me otherwise, and I'll be impressed. So back off."
Everyone but Nev froze at Jen's spirit in her cause.
Kim still had a few words to share. "That… makes sense for the most part. Have you actually… you know… killed anybody?"
Jen sighed. "Yes, but none of those killed were by any means innocent…"
Nev supported her. "Not in any way. Imagine if you're near a sex offender who was released but was back to their old tactics. Try sitting on a rooftop one night and witness the beginning of a rape crime. What else are you going to do when you're armed with a gun? And what are you going to do if the non-fatal gunshot wound does nothing to stop them?"
Kim had lost her intention to argue. "I see. Not something I'd do, but I understand. So how old…?"
"Eighteen." Jen replied. "I just graduated from a High School in Colorado earlier this year. The whole killing thing isn't something I'm proud of, but believe me, I've tried everything else that didn't involve death. These people just commit crimes, kill people and ruin innocent lives, and do it over and over until they're dead. I know I messed up with Yori, but everybody else I've had to take down, there's no good in them. Those are the only people I take down, really. It's not like I get a thrill out of it. Never have, and I hope I never will."
Nev chuckled. "Not what I'd say about that so-called 'victim' in the desert."
Jen narrowed her eyes at him. "You try working at night and suddenly have a snake crawl up your leg! That thing was just so gross!"
Kim noticed the sincerity in Jen's voice, and what she was wearing indicated she was no amateur or liar. "So, other than that, you're just like us…?"
"That's right. Just another ordinary crazy strange girl with a lot of weapons training trying to do her part." She let out a huge innocent beam that almost blinded Kim.
"Don't let her weapons knowledge and seriousness toward her work fool you," Nev warned. "She's actually more of a goof than Ron is."
Jen stuck her tongue out. "Quiet, you."
Kim was convinced but still a bit skeptical of the new girl, but now turned her attention to the other one. Jen didn't know that she and Ron were dating, meaning…
"And Yori?"
Ron knew where this was headed, almost as if he were reading Kim's mind. "She's fine for the most part, and I've already told her about us."
"And…?"
Yori answered. "It is okay, Possible-san. I am in no position to challenge the decisions that Stoppable-san has made, especially those that relate to the heart. He cares a lot for you, and even though you try to hide it, I can see that you care for him just as much as he does for you. It would be dishonorable to try to change anything."
Kim quickly replied. "Good to hear."
Nev finally lowered his weapon, seeing that everyone's faces seem to be calm. "So it seems we're all on the same page here. Sorry about that, but I didn't want anyone to get physical." He decided to show everyone what he was holding, but laughed the whole time.
"Oh, by the way, I bluffed. I wish there was a way to track four people, and actually, I forgot to take the safety off. Score one for me."
Everyone but Ron was in disbelief, as his focus was elsewhere.
"There's one thing missing," Ron realized. "Yori and Jen aren't the enemy, so who was it that put Yori under mind control?"
Kim thought about it for a second. "She doesn't remember?"
"I do not, Possible-san. I could see everything that was going on, but I do not remember anything prior."
"Great…"
Meanwhile, Jen had already picked up her handgun and reloaded it. "I'm sorry about my involvement, I guess I kinda freaked out when my dad was under fire. It's not like me."
Ron put a hand on her shoulder. "It's cool, we all mess up sometime."
Jen slowly removed his hand. "Thanks. To make up for it, I'll help you guys out in any way I can."
Nev got up from his crouching position. "It'd be wise to accept it, you two. No one knows the ins and outs of the city better than she does, and she's awesome at weapons detail."
Jen put her handgun in her holster. "Besides, I want to find out who's really behind this."
Yori placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "I also wish to assist you in this search, Stoppable-san."
Kim slouched. "The help's more than appreciated, but we're suddenly one big team now?"
"Looks like it," Ron replied.
Yori and Jen had pretty much invited themselves onto the team for the moment. It never came to mind that Ron was the only guy on there, not counting Nev.
Kim sighed. "So much for a nice vacation."
Something else came to Ron's mind. "By the way, Nev, how come you didn't tell us about Jen?"
"Yeah!" Jen remarked as she picked up the remains of her sniper rifle, "How come you never told me about what was going on with Ron's end and why he wasn't dating Kim? That would've saved me a whole lot of trouble!"
Nev let out a sheepish grin. "You guys never asked."
Ron and Jen grunted while grabbing their heads. Just then, a beeping noise could be heard. It wasn't the Kimmunicator, not Ron's little 'Ronnunicator', but it came from Jen's pocket. It was a cell phone, which she tossed in the air and grabbed it.
"Uh huh? Oh, hi dad… Yes… Yes… Yes, I had bacon cheese fries before I went on duty… There's a long story behind that… I know, I know, it's already past midnight and I'm missing Adult Swim… Oh, you are? Great! You're the best… Okay… Wait, what? Okay, some bread, milk, eggs, and flour? Okay, no problem. Good thing they're 24/7. Give me about forty minutes. Okay, bye!"
Kim, Ron and Yori still couldn't believe how quickly she went from one person to another over and over again.
Jen just turned around and smiled. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I would've preferred we met some other way. My bad! Anyway, my dad wants me to get some groceries and I'm missing my favorite cartoons. So, I guess I'll see you all around. Bye!" She had been walking backward the entire time, then tripped over the edge of the building. Everyone but Nev looked over the edge to see if she was okay, but she was gone.
"That's her exit for you, she always thinks she's going to backflip off the building but she trips instead. Don't worry, she'll be fine, and believe me, she can be trusted. It'll just take some time, you know."
Kim was weirded out by the new girl. "Ooookaaaaaayyyy…. So… What was this you were telling Ron about us 'not being alone in the field'?"
Nev sat down on the edge where he was at. "Did you really think you two were the only teenagers going out and saving the world?"
"Well… I know GJ had a few agents, but… I guess it really never crossed my mind…"
"Well, guess what? GJ isn't the only anti-crime group out there that has teenage agents. There's actually hundreds if not thousands of teens out there saving their cities and countries from anything they consider evil, no matter how light or how hard it is, and there's much more anti-crime cells out there than you can possibly imagine. DNA, Nugal Resistance, Boom Boom Bang Bang…"
Ron almost burst into laughter. "Boom Boom Bang Bang?"
Yori answered. "It's a mistranslation into English. Its original Japanese name properly translated is 'Action and Suspense' which really is not a good name for a crime fighting organization… even by my standards."
"Those were just a few examples," Nev finished.
Kim felt out of the loop. "How come I haven't heard of any of these people? Wait, that makes no sense. I'm a world famous crime-fighting teen hero and I don't have my fingers on the pulse of all this?"
Ron replied, "They keep themselves in the dark so that no one hears of them, just like Jen."
Kim crossed her arms. "You know this and didn't tell me?"
"You… um… never asked, KP."
Kim groaned, but Nev laughed. "Don't worry about it, Kim. I told Ron about this when I made his ninja battle suit. You weren't exactly around at the time."
"Don't remind me, I was fighting a four-armed megalomaniac in a warehouse."
Right then, another beeper went off, this time coming from Nev's direction. He quickly pulled out a small device from inside his trenchcoat.
"It's about time those files downloaded. Besides, I put a few potatoes in the oven before I came over. So I'd better leave before my lab blows up. Toodles!"
After waving, he instantly vanished. No movements, no smoke bombs, nothing. He was just gone. This left Kim, Ron and Yori all alone on the roof, all surprised to what just happened.
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "That guy isn't exactly predictable."
Kim stretched, as if she weren't concerned. "Ron, we've seen just about everything this world has to offer. Gravy ghosts, nano-ticks, a museum made out of cheese, a giant green blob, muscular enhancers, syntho-drones, a talking naked mole rat, our archenemies have blue and green skin, embarrassment ninjas, a plant that causes someone to disappear from reality, a helmet that turns you evil or good, a talking car, female robots, a truth ray, giant cockroaches, ghost monkeys, cafeteria mystery meat, exploding golf balls, flying cars-"
Ron stopped her. "Okay, KP, I get the point. I shouldn't be that surprised, right? But I still am! Who just vanishes like that?"
"The Bebes?"
Ron slapped his head. "Right, and you still don't believe in the supernatural."
Kim shook her head. "It's like an episode of Scooby-Doo, those things aren't real."
Ron had argued this over a hundred times with Kim, so he just gave up. Besides, it wouldn't be good to argue in front of Yori.
Kim put her fingers on her lip, focused on Nev. "Hmm, you can't exactly move at that speed without damaging your muscle tissue."
Ron remembered. "Like the time you had those shoes that made you move too fast?"
"Yeah, I should've known Wade meant something else when he said there were several side effects, but didn't mention killer muscle cramps. I still can't believe I did two weeks of homework in the hospital after that was all over. And Rufus didn't even suffer any side effects, other than not getting the shoes off!"
Yori had been just standing next to the other two the whole time, observing their behavior. Funny enough, even though Ron told her that he was dating Kim, the two were acting the exact same as she last remembered, even though Ron took on a more serious persona. She feared that the two may have been nothing more than a bad make out session, but that was much earlier in the relationship when the two started dating. Kim still had a hard attitude and Ron was still clueless to a lot of things, even though she could quickly see the differences in both. She couldn't help but feel as if her presence was interfering with the two.
"If you two do not mind, I also wish to make my leave."
"Really, Yori? Where are you going to stay?" Ron asked with concern. The thought of Yori sleeping in a dumpster wasn't a pleasant one.
She let out a small giggle as if reading his mind. "Do not worry, Stoppable-san. It seems whoever sent me here also set me up in a nice hotel room on the opposite side of town. I will retreat and rest there for the night. I may also find out some information regarding our situation. If I find out anything, I will let you two know. Thank you for your concern, though."
Ron was speaking in the third person again. "Eh, what can I say? There's enough room in Ron's heart for everyone!" He then shared a look with Kim, as if telling her he didn't mean it in a way she would fear, then turned back to Yori. "Good to know you're already set up and all."
"Good night, you two." With that, Yori leapt into the air and suddenly disappeared.
"See, Kim? That's an escape I can make sense of."
Kim patted the dirt off her shirt. "Well, that wasn't exactly expected. But at least we got some answers. I'm still skeptical of that Jen girl, though."
Kim then walked up to Ron and decided to wipe off the small amount of lipstick off his cheek as lightly as she could. After all, it was the same place Jen whacked Ron earlier. Ron noticed a peculiar look on her face as she did it. It wasn't hostile or tough, but as if she had been hiding some kind of sadness in the curve of her lips.
"You okay, KP?"
"Yeah, but I just realized another thing. Ever since we hooked up just about every other girl has been eyeing you."
"Really? Why couldn't they do that in high school?... I mean, uh, not that that would change things between us, and uh…"
Kim let out a weak giggle. "I understand you, Ron. You get a girlfriend and suddenly everyone wants you."
"Not just any girlfriend, Kim. It's weird, no one paid attention to me before we started going out, and now that we are, it's like everyone's giving me the evil eye. Like in school when I had the muscles and the money, the attention was fine, but its different, it's like I'm now the top of the food chain and have been for the last three months! Now I'm here where everyone knows me and I have no idea why!"
Kim finished rubbing off the lipstick. "It's like the Jos thing backwards. Jen's the first Bay City native who actually knows who I am. Everyone else has just said 'weird last name,' even though last time I checked 'Stoppable' was more or less weirder."
"What can I say, KP? This is like a whole other world. Not that I mind the celebrity status, but some answers wouldn't hurt." He finished with a huge yawn that lasted five seconds.
Kim grabbed his shoulder, "C'mon, sleepy celebrity, we should probably head back to the room. Besides, you might need an ice cube or two on that cheek."
She then quickly turned around and proceeded to the edge, but she stopped when she noticed Ron wasn't following.
"KP? Are you still… jealous?"
Her back was still facing him this time. "It's just that… well… imagine yourself in a position where you meet up with two others and they're both attracted to the one you care about."
"I'm not going to leave you, KP, if that's what you think. I mean, we've been going strong for three months, and we've known each other for how long?"
"And what if something like Thailand happens again?"
Ron let out a worried sigh. "You're really worried about us, aren't you?"
There was a long quiet moment between them.
"I get it, Kim. You still don't trust Yori or Jen because they like me. Anything goes wrong between us and they'll come walking in."
"Honestly, Ron, I really don't know. I can't explain it. I'm telling myself I'm not jealous, but… am I?" Kim had given up denial for some time now that she and Ron were more than just friends. "I just think someone's going to try to change everything we have."
"It wouldn't be the first time, KP. More than ever everyone's doing the whole 'separate the girl and the buffoon' thing. Whatever happens happens and we'll get through it as we always do."
Kim let out a faint chuckle. "Heh, usually I'm the one who says that."
"And usually I'm the one who's worried about situations, but Kim, I'm not worried about us and I don't have any reason to be. Be cool, okay?"
"I guess I'm just worried about everything. Not just us, but who's after you. I just can't crack it, but they can't stay hidden forever."
"Oh, it gets a bit old…"
The new voice sent shivers up Kim and Ron's spines, but in reflex they both quickly turned to the right where they heard it.
"Really, I'm disappointed. You two should have figured out everything by now."
The mechanical sickly male voice sounded like it came from nearby on the same roof, but Kim and Ron couldn't see anything for the life of them. They both got into defensive stances.
"What kind of method is this?" Kim demanded.
"Relax, I'm not here to fight."
"Says you!" Ron barked. "You're the one behind all of this, aren't you?"
"Again, the buffoon spoils the fun. But if you're going to obsess over spilled milk, yes, it is I who set up Yori against you and killed all members of that crime syndicate. You are both welcome." He was speaking slowly but seemed to be completely calm.
Both Kim and Ron growled when hearing this, but they easily cooled themselves.
"Don't you think hiding yourself is a little pathetic?" Kim teased with a smile.
"Don't you think being dependant on Stoppable when saving the world is a little pathetic?" the invisible enemy retorted.
A sly smile formed on Kim's face. "So now that you know so much about us," she sarcastically remarked, "How about you tell us a little bit about yourself?"
"What you see is what you'll get, Kimmie, absolutely nothing."
Ron leaned his head over to Kim. "He's got you there."
Suddenly, Kim almost leapt in the air and yelped as a finger slid down her neck. It felt like cold steel. Kim quickly turned around but saw nothing.
Ron decided to break in. "So what are you really after?"
"Oh no, no, no… This isn't about what I'm after. It's about what some other people I know are after."
"So, you're working with somebody, huh?" Kim guessed.
"Not what I was referring to, but yes. I suppose you do live up to your name."
Kim continued. "Lucky guess. So you decided to set Yori against Ron to remove him from the picture or-?"
"Hardly. So far everything's been going according to plan."
"Do tell."
"You see, I like toying around with people, Kimmie. There's no better puppet than that of the human being, and Yori was this week's pick. You see, I planned her attack so that Ferno would get involved and you both would be in a dilemma when you… well, Ron, would find out that Yori was the one under the mask. And just as I anticipated, Yori and Jen were unaware of your dating, and now there's a love square involving Stoppable and you know it. It was entertaining to see such a conflict arise already. Three girls crush over one guy? Cute…"
Kim groaned. "Another separation attempt? I'm getting tired of these."
"At this rate I'm sure all your enemies would agree, but they don't. You should know better that this a method to throw you off from the real problem."
"Which is?"
"Something that you will have to figure out all by yourself. You'll learn it in time."
Kim was starting to grow tired of this, especially with an enemy she couldn't see. She quickly pulled out a pair of sunshades from her pocket, but as one would guess, they weren't ordinary.
"I beg your pardon, Kimmie, but those thermal sunglasses will pick up nothing but static."
He was right. They were glasses electronically configured to read heat signals, but this time they worked like ordinary glasses with a lot of static.
Kim quickly took them off. "How…? Chaff nearby, right?"
Chaff was good for disrupting computer and electronic equipment, but it was by no means an invisible weapon.
"You're good."
"Not so bad yourself…" Kim was constantly turning around to the direction of the voice. It was moving in a circle around them. "So why tell us all of this?"
"Confusion doesn't allow one to think clearly in any kind of situation. It's not something I would want for when we meet again."
"What makes you so sure you're going to get away?"
"What makes you so sure you can stop an enemy you can't see?" he mimicked.
Ron chortled to himself, closing his eyes. "Not as hard as you make it out to be, actually."
In a quick and swift movement, Ron performed a few backflips and then released a hard elbow behind him. Somehow, he managed to land his elbow straight into the intruder's gut, somehow making their invisible stranger completely visible. The blow was strong enough to send them back, but not off their feet.
Their now visible enemy got up and wiped the dirt from Ron's shoes off his ninja suit. "Impressive, sloth. Impressive…"
The figure before them appeared no taller than they were, hiding their face with a gas mask. They wore some ninja garb under a leather trenchcoat, and Kim and Ron were able to see that inside he was packed with guns, grenades, swords and shurikens. Under the mask was dirty blonde hair that went down to the neck. Another unfamiliar, standing completely calm.
"'Fight not with your eyesight but with your other senses…' Looks like someone here has had some special training…" More surprising is that he was talking to the two like a friendly conversation over tea.
Kim complimented Ron disregarding their new enemy. "He packs quite a punch, really."
"… but you are not alone, Ron Stoppable…" He didn't even bother with what Kim said. The other two were still in fighting stances, but their enemy refused to give in. "I will not fight you tonight."
"Then I suppose that gives us the advantage!" Ron cried before letting out a battle cry and hurling his body at him.
He dove at his enemy with his elbows thrusted out and moving in a screwdriver motion, but when he was close enough he suddenly got on his feet and attempted to do a backflip kick on his enemy. Ron's opponent had only milliseconds to respond to the sudden move, but in the end, he was holding Ron upside down from his foot.
"Even a child could see that coming." His hoarse breathing didn't help Ron become anymore confident, even if he was already hanging by one foot.
He then threw Ron straight at Kim, who was quick to catch him and put him back on his feet.
"You're telling me that you're the mastermind behind everything that's going on, and you don't want to fight, even though you've pitted Ron in danger?"
The dark culprit did several bizarre movements with his neck, moving his head in all kinds of directions. He was only popping his neck.
Kim's eyes narrowed. "Did you hear what I just said?"
His filtered voice sounded more raspy. "I did. I've only come to provide you two with some clues. It will make things more interesting on each of our ends."
This wasn't the usual villain talk to Kim. Sure, they always wanted to reveal their grand scheme as if it were the inevitable, but this guy was making it sounded like he wanted them to know some of the details, as if helping them. Did he want them to know all this, and why?
"What is it that you're really after? Why did you kill those guys the way you did? Who the heck are you?"
"You'll find out everything when you're ready."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Ron just sat down. He usually let Kim do the talking here.
The stranger who was hardly intimidated just rubbed the bottom his neck. "You'll be ready when you stop so many questions. Do I appear to be some sort of idiot to you, Kim? I'm not just some attention-seeking drone who wants to take over the world because they can't do anything else in life. I know what questions you're going to ask me, and I'm not going to give you all the answers you desire, just the ones you need for now."
"That doesn't make that much sense, even for a bad guy."
"Just because I'm wearing what I am, you assume that I'm the villain in all this."
"No, it's because you set up a plan trying to screw things up between me and Ron, put his life in danger, and drained the blood out of sixteen old corporate leaders, and the last one is just beyond sick and wrong."
Gas mask was doing nothing more than twisting his head in all kinds of directions. "It was necessary. Too bad you won't find out why."
Both Kim and Ron knew this meant one of three things; Plan to escape, Prepare to fight, or both. Since Kim had been standing in a fighting stance for the last ten minutes, she stretched herself as Ron got up and popped his knuckles.
The two were ready to go.
The stranger in front of them scoffed as if he were disappointed. "For a girl who is so resolute against cheating, you can't even give me a fair one-on-one fight? How harsh."
Kim and Ron didn't move. This guy could've been someone who talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. Not exactly fair, but it something the two couldn't risk.
Gas mask just sighed. "Suit yourself."
Under his trenchcoat and on his belt, he revealed a small plastic electronic device that was no larger than a stack of cards. With the press of a button, a few electrical sparks shielded his body, then he vanished into quick air.
Kim took another lucky guess at what it was. "Optic Camouflage…?"
"Correct…"
But for Ron, something was completely different. He could actually 'see' him by making out slight distortions in the lighting and everything else where his body stood. Kim couldn't however, and she made this apparent by moving her head back and forth, as if listening for her enemy, when he stood in the exact same position he disappeared in.
Ron pretended to do the same, pretending to look for his prey, but every step of his led him closer to him.
The question that came to his mind was, how could he see it and not Kim? Why was he able to see it now and not earlier? The plastic cover must've shielded it from chaff as before, but it had to have worn off by now. He could see in his enemy's movements that he was aware of Ron approaching closer. Just when he reached into his pocket to grab something else, Ron went in straight for the kill. Another second and his enemy could've attacked Kim or escaped.
Kim had her share of seeing strange things, but seeing Ron charging at something she couldn't see, being held in the air by the neck, then slammed onto the concrete wasn't one she wanted to remember.
The enemy then shouted as if he were insulted. "Just because you cannot see me does not mean I cannot see you!"
Ron, despite having his figure engraved into the concrete, was in the mood to only provoke his opponent more. "That's a nice trick. Is that all you've got?"
Laughter echoed throughout the nighttime rooftops. "One of many, and believe me, you haven't seen anything quite yet."
Kim got an idea. All this time the villain never shared their name, but if she was going to get some information, she needed a trick. "Nice tricks for someone with no name. Kinda tacky."
"Some of the world's best warriors in ancient history and even today have had no names, Kimmie. You should know that more than anyone considering the field that you're in."
Okay, that didn't work.
"Only a fool allows their full name to be known to villains. It still surprises me that someone in a giant ship didn't crash it into your houses yet."
"Now see, that's low," Ron remarked, pulling himself out of the roof's concrete floor.
"But it would get the job done, and since when do villains play fair? Then again, I suppose it would destroy the fun."
"Okay, dude, just who are you anyway?" Ron demanded.
"I suppose I will give you one last clue for everything."
Five seconds of silence.
"Dive."
"Hmm… catchy."
"Ron, eyes on the prize here."
"And I bid thee farewell for now!"
Dive had some kind of projectile bomb in his hand and hurled it in front of the two, landing it near their feet. It was another device that released thousands of chaff into the air, but with the distance the metal pieces were at, the two were forced to cover their eyes. It was perfect for an escape, and that's exactly what Dive did. Kim and Ron weren't slow on the issue, jumping onto a nearby building so they could see. But Dive had escaped.
Kim sighed. "So he escaped… This is starting to get so annoying."
Ron put an arm around her. "Kim, it's okay. Now we've got a lead, and we've got some help as well. You know, you've been kinda p'oed all night."
Kim just glared at him, then sighed. He was right and she knew it. "If you know of something that'll cheer me up, send it my way."
Ron chuckled. "Glad you asked."
Without giving Kim a second to interpret that, he swept her off her feet and delivered a hard, passionate kiss on the lips. For Kim, the lights of the city made the feeling much more intense, kind of like a picture. When Ron finally let her go, she could barely stand on her feet. He had to be her support.
Now he was glaring at her. "Kim, you can drop the dizziness act."
"Ooowah Issah episs cohlahooooooooo…" was all Kim could babble.
Ron sighed. "Right, right… I forgot it's not an act."
Shrugging, Ron just picked Kim up, put her body over his shoulder and dove off the roof. He was soon swinging between the buildings with his grappling cords.
Little did both know that Yori was watching them from a higher building. She couldn't help but be disturbed and feel uncomfortable with what she just watched.
"A promise… is a promise…" she told herself.