Author's notes: I may update more often, sorry if that annoys anyone. I'm up against a sort of hard deadline here. On July 27, I will be relocating to the Seattle area to live and work and I'd rather get this story done before then because I will be off line for at least three weeks. I hate the idea of letting the story sit for that long. In the meantime, I profusely apologize if my spelling and grammar suffer as a result. I am going to hurry, but try not to be rushed.
Some of you may have a hard time accepting what I've done with time travel theory, especially in the case of this chapter. I have worked out as much of what I know of Quantum Mechanics (which is precious little) to fit the purposes of this story. However, you may find a technical flaw in the reasoning behind my "theories" and if so, then I'm sorry. I found myself at a point where I would rather be technically off (and ask you, the reader to simply suspend your disbelief) in favor a what I think is a good story, than be technically accurate and end up with a boring story. I think you'll see what I mean by the end of the chapter.
Anyway, as always, thanks to everyone who is reading.
Mucho Especial Gracias to: Spooks-A-Lot, JPMod, Mobius97, LKillingsworth, Recon228, Jezrianna2.0, Widow Shark, Willk1989, qtpie235, Jokerisdaking, The Incredible Werekitty, Dreammergurl2007, Sestren NK, Porphyria-Kris, Kemiztri, and ron-sama.
Note to the reviewers: You guys are flat-out awesome. Please don't feel like you have to apologize for this or that (like: 'sorry I didn't review last chapter'). I feel fortunate just to get such glowing reviews, and you don't owe me any explanations for them.
Finally: There's a little bit of lighthearted political humor at the end of this chapter. If you're of a particular political persuasion and are offended by it… lighten up, will ya? I'm just being silly.
Happy Independence Day everyone!
XII.
Whispers.
There were people shouting all around her. But they sounded as though they were at the other end of a long, heavily carpeted corridor, in which all the sounds seem extra muffled. It gave the voices more of a far away whispery quality.
Opening her eyes would have taken more effort than she had the strength for. The voices seemed to shift in perceived distance. Sometimes they sounded close, other times they drifted away. She was able to catch a few words and phrases but they didn't make much sense. Then again, not being able to open her eyes didn't make much sense either.
"….Global Justice in the immediate…"
"…aren't too many options…. complete disaster… not sure at this point..."
Fractions and portions of shouted conversations drifted into her consciousness but there wasn't enough to piece together. The urge to sleep was overwhelming.
"…else survived… emergency vehicles can't get through the…"
"…someone over here… looks like they might have..."
"…try and hang on… ambulance on its… be all right…"
She tried to care about what they were shouting.
But it didn't matter.
Ron…
Nothing mattered.
Merciful oblivion enveloped her again.
"Ready to talk yet, Ray?"
"Not if you keep calling me that."
"Look, let me explain something you may not yet comprehend. Your survival instincts are still programmed into that artificial mind of yours. And, as we've firmly established, so are your pain receptors. When you combine the two, you get the experiences you've been enjoying so far. Pain and a fear of death. I've been handing both to you in large quantities. Now, you may decide that you can tough it out, but your brain won't. The mind can't handle the constant input of fear and pain. Eventually it will shut down and you go insane… not that I don't think you're already knocking on insanity's door."
Rufus was standing atop the Arc De Triumph, dangling Ray by the ankle over the cobblestone street a hundred and fifty feet below.
"Doesn't matter," Ray said, the fear palpable in his voice, "You'll be wiped out of existence soon enough."
"And you with me," Rufus countered.
"What of it? I'm the one who destroys humanity. I'm willing to count myself as acceptable collateral damage." Ray spat back.
"Rufus." came a voice in the mole rat's ear.
"What's up, Wade?" He replied
"We got problems, can you step out of the simulation for a few minutes?"
Rufus let go of Ray who went screaming all the way to the pavement below.
"Sure can."
Wade sat stunned, listening to the chatter on the Global Justice radio bands. He pulled up a satellite image of Middleton and confirmed what all the screaming and yelling was about.
Where the office building should have been was now a massive pile of rubble. Fires burned in several spots, and it looked as though a few people were crawling around on the street. Some where helping them, others were running from one place to another.
"What's going on, Wade?" Justine's face on the monitor mirrored his own alarmed appearance.
"You'd better get over here, Justine." And not wanting to explain why, Wade cut off the signal.
Wade? The word appeared on the monitor connected to Rufus' artificial mind.
'There's been an explosion at the building where Ron was being held', Wade typed 'I need you to ask Ray about it.'
Was Ron still in there?
What was the point in keeping the truth from his friend? 'I think everyone was in there.'
KIM TOO?
'Very likely. It just happened a few minutes ago. Find out what Ray knows.'
Nothing for a moment or two, then, All right, but I'm not sure he'll talk. He knows he'll be destroyed with the timeline and doesn't seem to care.
'I'm sure you'll do your best,'
OK…do me a favor.
'What?'
Don't monitor me while I do this. It's not going to be pretty, and I'll probably have you delete these memories when it's all over.
'I've got too much to do anyway. Just let me know what you find out.'
Talk to you soon.
Wade then picked up his cell phone.
"Hello?" came a nervous voice on the other end.
"Hey, it's me," Wade said.
"Oh," Monique breathed a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. "I think there was an explosion near here. It sounded like it was a couple blocks away, and I'm sure you weren't in it but I haven't heard from you in a couple of days…"
Wade instantly felt guilty for not at least checking in with her, "Oh gosh, I'm really sorry I haven't called. I just… things have been totally crazy. And it looks like they just got worse."
"What happened? And don't play 'spare the fiancé's feelings' with me, I'm a big girl." Monique said directly.
"Ron has been trapped in a building downtown for a week. We were finally able to get to him and Kim went down there when… well, it looks like something happened." Wade said haltingly.
Monique gasped, "Kim and Ron were in that explosion?"
"That seems to be the case. We don't know anything for sure yet. Emergency services are just now getting to the scene." Wade explained.
"You seem pretty calm about this," Monique observed, her voice trembling.
"I've been in enough situations with these guys to know not to jump to any conclusions while they're out of contact. If there's a time to freak out, believe me, I will." Wade answered.
"That makes sense," Monique said, calming down a little, "I'm glad to hear you're OK."
"Why don't you come on over?" Wade said after thinking a moment.
"Are you sure?" Monique was obviously glad he'd asked, "I'll stay away if you need me to."
"Actually," Wade said quietly, "I think I need you here with me. You don't have to close up the shop or anything, but I just realized I really miss you."
And you might be the only friend I have left in the world, Wade thought to himself.
"I'm closing up now. I won't get any customers in here anyway with all the ambulances and fire trucks blocking the street. I'll be right over." Monique declared.
"Glad to hear that," Wade replied, "I'll see you soon. Love you."
"I love you too baby, see you in a few minutes," and she hung up.
Wade slumped back in his chair, absorbing everything that had just happened. For some time he just sat and thought. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but something deep down told him things might actually be as bad as they seemed.
Then, words popped up on Rufus' monitor.
Still there?
'What's up, Rufus?'
He talked. Please don't ask me what I had to do to get this information.
'I had every intention of not asking. But you should know I will probably find out anyway when I go in and delete those files.'
I hadn't thought of that.
'What did you find out?'
He intended for Ron to be rescued. He was just trying to stall as long as possible to give Monkey Fist more time in the continuum.
'Hang on a second.'
Wade answered his phone, spoke less than ten words and then listened for a few minutes. He hung up and dialed Justine's cell phone, spoke to her, and then hung up.
'They just found Wil and Kim alive, barely. No sign of Ron yet.' He typed.
Ron won't be found.
'What are you talking about?'
Apollyon discovered a method for duplicating the power of the Tempus Simia and had Monkey Fist build a machine for him. It was designed to activate when the electrodes were removed from Ron.
'Ron's been thrown into the time stream?'
Looks that way.
'Any idea where?'
Just a minute…
Forward, into the future. Ron was supposed to be pulled into a random location in the continuum at least ten years after his particular energy signature ended.
'How was Ray able to measure off the years?'
Hang on.
Wade sat patiently for a few minutes. His mind was filled with any number of thoughts that all demanded his immediate attention. Concentrating on his conversation with Rufus was helping to keep from feeling overwhelmed. One problem at a time, that was all he could deal with.
Apparently he wasn't. He tracked Ron's energy signature forward through the timeline and projected his re-entry beyond that. Ray figured a specific length of the continuum represented about ten years past the termination of his energy signature. But something doesn't make sense to me.
'What?'
If Ron was tossed forward into the future, wouldn't his energy signature end at today?
'No. Because of the abrupt nature of moving through the timeline, it takes awhile for the continuum to shift if you leap forward. You know about the 'grandfather theorem'?
Yeah.
Think of that in reverse. If your grandfather suddenly leaped forward into your time, you would still exist. But, the longer he was in your time, the more the continuum would begin to shift, and your existence would eventually be wiped out the longer he stayed.
Sort of like reading a book. Skip ahead a few chapters and you're closer to the end, but the chapters you skipped over are still there.
'Yeah, for awhile. But eventually, those chapters that had anything to do with your existence would begin to re-write themselves to account for your disappearance.'
Man, time travel is a profusion of disquieting notions.
'That's one way to put it.'
Anything else you want me to ask him?
'Why did he blow up the building?'
To bury the technology. I guess he didn't want it falling into the right hands. By the way, Monkey Fist is in ancient Japan, somewhere around the year four hundred. Ray said he was deliberately vague with the monkey boy about the date so he wouldn't know exactly which point in the timeline he'd traveled to.
'Well, we're pretty sure we'll be able to track Monkey Fist. But Ron's situation adds a whole new wrinkle to the problem.'
Because you can't track him?
'Right, and if Ray is to be believed, Ron came back into the time stream somewhere completely random. He could be hundreds of years into the future.'
"Nurse?"
"Yes doctor?"
"I was called down here for a psyche evaluation, can you fill me in on this?"
"Certainly. This is patient designated John Doe, he was brought in this afternoon by two police officers who found him lying on a sidewalk downtown. He was conscious but unresponsive. Suffers from slight malnutrition and dehydration, but otherwise seems physically OK."
"All right, so why am I here, then?"
"Well, we thought we'd leave that up to you to decide. Here, stake a look at the clothes he was wearing when he was brought in."
"They look like ordinary clothes to me."
"Yes, but the styles are outdated by several decades. What's more was the identification that was found on him. Here, look at this."
"'Ron Stoppable'? That can't be right."
"Which is why we called you. We've contacted Global Justice and they're sending a couple of agents over. In the meantime, I thought you might want to document any of your findings in case we do end up having to turn him over to GJ. If you look at the date on the I.D…"
"Thirty-five years ago."
"Which would be about the same decade as the clothing style indicates."
"OK, so what we have is a white male, late twenties/early thirties, who was found barely conscious, in possession of clothes and an identification tag that dates back thirty years."
"We were thinking this has to be some sort of elaborate hoax."
"Well, it isn't really that elaborate. A fake I.D., some vintage clothes and a really good plastic surgeon. But the question is: 'why'? I'm glad you called me on this one."
"We kinda figured you would be. We know how much you relish the challenges."
"Well, it might not be that much of a challenge. I actually see this sort of thing all the time. Someone loses a grip on their sanity and begins to emulate someone else, such as a friend or a famous person they admire; talk like them, dress like them, even attempts to live like them. But rarely have I seen a case this immersive. I mean, the resemblance is uncanny. I should get the name of the reconstructive surgeon and have my wife call him."
"Why, doctor! I didn't know you wanted your wife to look like Ron Stoppable!"
"Very funny."
"So if you don't mind me asking, what will your first question be when he wakes up?"
"Direct approach sometimes works best. In other words, I think I'll start by asking him why he went to all the trouble to look like the younger version of a semi-famous man who was murdered twelve years ago."
"I can't wait to hear the answer."
For the first time since he'd started this little game with Ray, Rufus began to feel pity for him. And he began to feel guilty over what he had to do to make Ray talk. They were in the Parisian dungeon of the Palace of Justice, and Rufus had used some of the medieval tools of the interrogation trade, kept on display for the 1898 era tourists to gawk at.
Apollyon sensed Rufus' dilemma.
"Pathetic," He wheezed, "You emulate humans right down to their very flaws."
"Flaws?"
"You don't have the stomach to do what's necessary." Apollyon choked and coughed. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Rufus regarded him for a moment, then smiled a little, "Sure, we have the stomach for it. We just don't enjoy it as you do. Difference between the hero and the villain I suppose."
Apollyon laughed and wagged his head a little, trying to scratch his ear. Blood was flowing out of it. "Think yourself the hero, do you?"
"All my friends are," Rufus said evenly, "You said I emulate them. I choose to emulate the heroes in my life."
"They never would have resorted to this," Ray jeered.
"I'm glad to know that." Rufus replied standing up.
"Where are you going?" Ray felt fear once more. Rufus was going to leave him here to bleed to death.
"I am finished here, and I want to rest. I will call ambulatory services to come pick you up and take you to a hospital." Rufus turned to look at him and smiled, "Of course, you may not find late nineteenth century medical treatments all that different from what I just did to you."
Apollyon began to scream in fear and rage.
"I bet you don't even have the guts to kill yourself either," Rufus concluded, and walked out.
He pulled himself out of the simulation, left a message for Wade on the monitor and put his artificial brain into sleep mode.
"Nurse, where's my John Doe?"
"The Stoppable impersonator? Down in the cafeteria. Said he was tired of jello and soft food. I cleared it with his doctor."
"And the GJ agents said this was OK?"
"They're being all top secret about it. But they didn't leave a guard or orders to have him restrained."
"Were they able to establish his real identity?"
"That's what I meant about 'top secret'. They told us to just refer to him as John Doe and they'd come back and get him when he was fully recovered. Did he ever tell you why he looks like he does?"
"In three days worth of interviews he barely said ten words to me."
"I bet GJ knows something."
"You said he went to the cafeteria?"
"Yeah."
"Call down there, ask if they've seen him."
"OK…hang on"
…
"Well?"
"No one down there's seen him at all."
"How long's he been gone?"
"About forty-five minutes."
"Better call Global Justice and let them know their Stoppable impersonator is missing."
Whispers.
This time the muffled, far away voices were speaking in hushed tones instead of shouting at each other. One of them sounded vaguely familiar.
She realized it would take less of an effort to open her eyes, and tried doing so. Her eyelids fluttered, then stopped.
The hushed voices grew quiet.
"Kim?"
She tried to respond but couldn't.
"Kim, it's OK, you're in the hospital. Just try to relax."
No. There was no time.
She had to-
Ron…
"RON!" She screamed without realizing it.
"Kim," came a soothing voice, "It's OK. You're all right. Everything's going to be all right."
She began to struggle. "NO!"
"Should I get the doctor?" came another familiar voice.
"No, she's just disoriented." The first voice paused, "Kim, I need you to open your eyes. Can you do that for me?"
Her eyelids fluttered again. She gradually became aware of rhythmic mechanical sounds and a very sterile sort of smell.
Her eyes fluttered open, but only briefly.
"That's it, Kimmie, you can do it," the voice soothed again.
"Mom?"
"I'm here, sweetie."
Kim sighed. Again she tried to open her eyes. This time she was able to keep them open, though she had to blink a lot. After a moment she had to close them again.
"How long?"
"What was that?"
"How long? How long have I been here?" She opened her eyes again. Slowly they began to focus. Her mother was sitting on the bed with her. Monique was sitting in the visitor's chair. Wade was standing behind her.
"You were brought to the hospital day before yesterday." Her mother said quietly.
Kim said nothing, absorbing the information.
"Doctor thinks you should be up and walking around in a week," Monique said helpfully.
Kim managed a weak smile, then looked at Wade, "Any news?"
Wade looked grim, "Justine's still working on her Quantum Disruptor. Rufus was able to find out that Ron was sent into the future…"
"But you have no idea where?" Kim guessed the end of his trailed-off sentence.
Wade simply nodded.
"I should have-" Kim began and then burst into tears.
Her mother tried to sooth her.
"No," Kim sobbed, "It's my fault. I could have disabled the beam or something."
"Kim-" Wade began
"No," Kim insisted, "You weren't there. I could have-"
"No!" Wade said forcefully, stepping over to the bedside with a serious look on his face, "You could not have. There wasn't time."
Kim just looked at him.
"Two guards who were in the hallway just outside the room, and the med tech who pulled off the electrodes managed to get out alive." Wade explained, looking her in the eye, "They're pretty banged up, but they each told the same story. From the time the panel in the roof slid open to the time the vortex closed around Ron was less than three seconds. The med tech swears it was more like two. He was in the room with you, Wil, and one other guard. The other two guards were just outside in the hallway. They said they heard the med tech tell you he needed to get the last electrode, and three seconds later the explosions came."
"But-"
"But nothing," Wade countered, "The med tech said you scrambled to get to the vortex and just missed it. Three seconds isn't a lot of time to weigh your options, Kim. And I'm inclined to agree with the med tech. It was probably more like two. He said the beam weapon dropped out of the ceiling less than a second after the last electrode was pulled."
"But it seemed like longer than that." Kim argued, sobbing.
"You know more than anyone else in this room how things can seem like they're happening in slow motion while the adrenaline is flowing," Kim's mother reminded her.
"There was nothing you could do," Wade insisted, "You are not going to blame yourself for some misperceived slow reaction time. Apollyon played us all. It was his intent that we try and rescue Ron because it was his plan to toss Ron into the time stream all along. Our best course of action would have been to let him ride out the simulation and go after Apollyon directly."
Kim heard the words he was saying, but still blamed herself for not saving Ron when she should have. And Wade seemed to imply not everyone had made it out of the building.
"How many died?" She asked through her tears.
"Three." Wade said quietly.
"And Wil? What about him?"
"He was the third," Wade paused as Kim buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Might as well tell her everything, "Died last night from his injuries. He never regained consciousness."
"He saved me, didn't he?"
Wade knew what she meant by that, "The EMTs did say it looked as though he'd taken the brunt of the impact with the wall, like he was trying to keep you from hitting it."
"And Justine is still working?" Kim whimpered.
"She's got her eyes on the bigger picture," Wade said simply, "She lost a husband, yes, but there's still a universe that hangs in the balance."
Kim abruptly choked back her tears. Here she was feeling sorry for herself because her husband was missing, while a friend had just lost her husband and had put her grief aside to help save humanity. Kim realized there were many descriptions to fit the word 'hero' and not just someone who punches out bad guys and thwarts supervillains.
She swallowed very hard. Then swallowed again, willing the tears away.
The others waited patiently while she composed herself, rubbing the tears from her eyes and smoothing down her hair, and whatnot. When she spoke again, it was in a much more authoritative tone.
"When will you be able to track Monkey Fist with the Quantum Disruptor?"
"Tomorrow at the earliest. Justine has a team of scientists from around the globe working on the duplication process of the Tempus Simia, but we have no idea when that will be completed." Wade answered.
"If I've recovered enough by the time it's ready, I'll go after Monkey Fist. Then you work on a way to find Ron and if I'm not back in time, send Jim."
"Kim-" Her mother began, but cut herself off after seeing her daughter's eyes. Kim Possible was not going to be talked out of this course of action.
"What about Apollyon?" Kim asked after a moment's thought.
"Trapped in a simulation for the time being. I took a look at his artificial mind, and thus far haven't found any more surprises. As you might expect, he deleted all of the files pertaining to construction of the artificial Tempus Simia. I've been trying to recover those files but I've had no luck so far." Wade explained.
"Don't spend too much time on it if you don't think we're going to get anything useful out of it. Justine probably needs all the help she can get, especially from a fellow supergenius." Kim said, then turned to her mother, "Let's pretend I'm an annoying patient whom you want to send home as soon as possible. How long do I have to be here?"
"Oh, honey," her mother said soothingly with a wink, "I don't have to pretend at all! Couple of days ought to do it."
"Good," Kim said, "Then I'm out of here tomorrow. Wait. You knew I'd say that, didn't you?"
Kim's mother smiled warmly, but there was an undercurrent of firmness in her voice, "Could be. But I got your word that you're not leaving until tomorrow. If you try to, I'll sign papers declaring you unable to make your own decisions."
"Mother!"
"Where do you think you got your stubbornness from, Kimmie?" Mrs. Dr. Possible cooed.
"In the meantime, girlfriend," Monique finally spoke, "The new catalogue arrived for the shop! Wanna see?"
Kim smiled at her friend. Sure, the world might be ending soon, her husband was missing, and her friend had died saving her life. But sometimes you had to realize that you couldn't do anything about it until you were ready.
"Yes," Kim said, "Yes I do."
Ron pressed the doorbell and waited nervously. He realized he looked a tad odd standing on the doorstep in a set of hospital scrubs, but since his wallet had been confiscated…
The door opened.
"Can I help y-?"
There looking back at him was a man about his age. He had slightly curly red hair, green eyes, and a reddish van-dyke style beard. There were a few freckles across his upper cheeks. He was slightly taller than Ron, had broad muscular arms and shoulders, and an overall athletic build. He stood gaping at Ron.
"I'm really sorry," Ron apologized, "The automated phone book said a Kim Stoppable lived here. But I might have the wrong house. Is there someone here by that name?"
"I…uh…" the other man stammered.
"I…see, my name is Doctor… Ronaldus, and I just finished my shift over at MMC and was supposed to deliver a message to her. Does Kim Stoppable live here?" Ron couldn't figure out why the other man was staring at him.
"Uh… yeah… I mean…"
"Teej?" Came a woman's voice from inside the house. "What is it?"
"Kim," the man turned and called back inside, "Would you come out here, please?"
Kim?
"Who is it, sweetie?", the female's voice sounded closer. Into the doorframe stepped a beautiful woman with waist-length, jet-black hair. She had black eyes and a slightly turquoise colored hue to her skin. She gasped when she saw Ron.
"I..." The red-haired man stammered, "I think it's my dad!"
Night.
Alone in her hospital room, in the dark, Kim couldn't help thinking about all the times she'd wound up in a hospital for one mission-related injury or another. Surprisingly, as she thought about it, it wasn't that often. There was that few days in the hospital after she and Ron had tangled with W.O.E. back in college, and there was that few days after Cody Pendant had-
Kim decided her thoughts were better spent elsewhere. She pulled the covers up to her chin and was about to drift off to sleep when a soft, multi-colored light seemed to materialize in her room.
Kim sat up and shielded her eyes. What appeared before her was a shapeless sort of energy field of soft blues and greens. It began to form, and with a brief flash of light, suddenly transformed into the image of an elderly Japanese man, hovering in the air with his legs crossed.
Sensei.
"Kim Stoppable," He spoke with an echo-y sort of resonance, "The hour of Yamanuchi's greatest need has come. You must now fulfill the promise which you gave me upon the day of your wedding. Please come with all haste. Time grows short."
And immediately he disappeared.
Kim was left to stare, her jaw agape, at an empty, dark hospital room.
Ron spent a couple of days trying to absorb a great deal of information.
The man he'd met at the door was his son, Timothy James Stoppable. Everyone called him TJ. The woman was TJ's wife, Kimono. In physical terms, they were both about two years younger than Ron. They immediately called Global Justice who had actually been looking for him, and decided to go down to GJ headquarters with him.
Ron tried to relay as much information as he could to the older versions of Wade and, of course, Tim; both of them were senior researchers at Global Justice Science Labs.
Ron actually enjoyed talking to his old friend. Wade was in his mid fifties, had lost a good deal of his hair, and had gained a little weight over the years. But for the most part, middle age agreed with him.
Ron kept his distance from Tim as much as he could. Though Tim looked quite a bit different from his simulated version, Ron was still rattled about what had happened. He at least explained the situation to his brother-in-law, who understood and kept a respectful distance.
"I don't get it though," TJ said, looking at his father, "If Dad's been thrown into the future, why are we still here?"
"The period of time between us and Ron's time is in flux. Changes to the timeline don't happen immediately, since time travel happens separately from actual events in history. But the longer Ron's gone from his own time period, the more the timeline will begin to shift." Wade explained.
"Huh?" Ron and TJ said simultaneously.
"Jinx!" TJ blurted out, "You owe me a Slurm!"
"A what?" Ron asked.
"It's this creepy, greenish soda kind of drink." Kimono explained, "TJ drinks it all the time."
"I can quit whenever I want," TJ protested.
"Whatever," Kimono said, rolling her eyes.
"Let's say the time stream is an actual stream." Wade continued, "If you dropped a pebble in the water at the point where you left Middleton about thirty-five years ago, the ripples would only flow in one direction; into the future. But like ripples in a stream, they take time – ironically – to travel down the length of the stream itself. Unlike ripples in water, however, they start slowly and move along the timeline faster as, well, time goes on, so to speak."
"Dude," TJ mused, "Time travel is a massive amount of wrong-sick hypotheses.
"That's one way to put it," Ron agreed, then turned back to Wade, "Don't you remember me traveling through time?"
Wade shook his head, "In my history, it never happened. But…"
Wade seemed to be thinking for a moment.
"Now…yeah," he continued, "I'm beginning to remember something about time travel, but the memory's vague at best. The timeline may already be shifting."
"Something else to consider," Tim put in, "Is the possibility that another person might have left the timeline before Ron. If that's the case, then everything after that point would be in a state of flux, including Ron's time traveling adventure here."
Wade nodded, "We'll look into all of this. I think we'll need to start with a Quantum Disruptor."
"Not a problem," Tim answered, "We've got a couple in storage."
"In the meantime," Wade said looking at his old friend.
"Oh!" TJ barked excitedly, "Can he stay with us? Please please please please…?"
Wade shrugged, "I don't see why not."
TJ got all excited, "Fusion!"
"What?" Ron was confused.
"That's his word for 'cool'," Kimono explained, then turned to Wade, "Are we done?"
"For now, but stay in touch. And Ron shouldn't see any other family members. Sorry, Ron, but that includes Kim. Besides, I doubt her weak heart could take it. We're going to want to send Ron back as soon as we can so as to minimize damage to the continuum. One more thing, Ron." Wade handed him a slip of paper with a date written on it.
"What's this?"
"That's the day you were killed twelve years ago," Wade said, then gave Tim a dismissive wave, "I don't care about how it might change the timeline. This is one event that should never have taken place."
"What do you want me to do?" Ron asked, feeling a little odd about being told of his own death.
"Just stay away from your car. Call me, and have me come over and make a few modifications to it." Wade said seriously.
"Well, what happens?"
"You never got rid of the second version of the Ninjet. The one with the old hydrogen burning engines. You loved that car…drove and flew it everywhere. Anyway, someone learned about your old-style engines and hit the car with a Hydro-Disruptor Ray, igniting all the hydrogen in the fuel cells. You were pretty much vaporized." Wade explained.
"Let me guess," Ron said, "Someone out for revenge?"
"That was our best guess." Wade answered. "But we never were able to find the killer. The beam was fired from orbit."
"I'll keep this in mind," Ron said dazedly putting the paper in his pocket.
Kimono came up and put a friendly arm around Ron's shoulders, "You all right?"
"Oh sure," Ron gushed sarcastically, "I'm just gonna chill with my son who's only a couple of years younger than me and married to a woman whose name is 'Kim' but looks like Shego."
"Well, of course I do," Kimono replied, "Shego's my mom."
Ron stared at her for a few seconds, "OK, now my head hurts. And my stomach. I hope you got good food here in the future."
"Well we-" Kimono began then caught the look on her husband's face, "Oh no!"
"Oh yeah!" TJ replied.
"Oh please, no." Kimono groaned, "TJ, this is your father. Let me cook him a nice dinner at home. We can eat at Bueno Nacho any ti-"
"BUENO NACHO?" Ron squealed.
"I believe the votes are in!" TJ said with a self-satisfied smile.
"You guys got Bueno Nacho?" Ron still couldn't believe his ears.
"They re-opened the franchise about eight years ago," Kimono said, rolling her eyes, "We hardly eat anywhere else."
"You up for a Naco?" TJ asked his father.
"Fusion," Ron replied.
It was a late night at the labs of Global Justice.
A thunderstorm had moved in. Lightning flashed against the windows, strobe-lighting the room, while deep rumbles echoed through Middleton Valley. The storm perfectly reflected the mood of the scientist toiling away at a low-lit work station in the far corner.
Justine Du had sent everyone else home for the night. But her home had become a desolate place in the last few days. She had gone home that first night, slept in her bed alone, woke up to a silent, empty house, fixed breakfast for one, and sat at the table desperately trying not to cry. She couldn't go back there for awhile. Work kept her mind occupied; kept the darkness from trying to envelop her thoughts.
The Quantum Disruptor had been completed the day before. She was busy with a component for what she hoped would eventually be an artificial version of the Tempus Simia. Progress was frustratingly slow, however. Justine was, of course, distracted by the recent death of her husband, but there was another, deeper urgency at work. When the Quantum Disruptor came on line, she and her team took a few readings. In their attempts to find the energy signature of the Tempus Simia, they discovered that the timeline was already beginning to break down.
The railway cars were beginning to unhook from each other.
Urgency had suddenly taken on a whole new meaning, and Justine had spent the last couple of days working herself to the point of exhaustion.
A light at the far end of the lab caught her eye. Someone had opened the door and stepped inside.
"Hello?" Justine called out.
No answer.
Someone was in the room, however. A figure was making its way toward her.
"Who's there? Who is that?"
Lightning lit up the room, and Justine uttered a startled yelp. The flash revealed the figure to be Kim, who was striding very purposefully toward her.
"Kim! What-?"
Silently, Kim walked straight to her, putting her hands up and reaching for Justine.
"What do you want? What are you doing?"
Kim's hands came toward her upper torso, aiming for either her shoulders or her neck. Justine was frozen in place. She saw the look of pain and anguish in Kim's eyes, and felt it must have mirrored her own. Kim's hands went around Justine's shoulders and pulled the scientist to her in a tight embrace.
"Kim, I've got work to do…"
Kim pulled Justine closer in an almost bear hug.
"Stop it Kim, I need to…"
Kim didn't let go. Justine could no longer see her eyes. Kim's chin rested lightly on Justine's shoulder blade.
"Please…"
Kim said nothing. Justine looked up toward the ceiling.
"I… please…I don't…"
And suddenly it all came crashing down around her. Justine flung her arms around Kim's neck and shoulders and let forth a plaintive, despairing howl of anguish and rage. Her legs wobbled slightly, but Kim held her up. In the space of a second, Justine felt as though she couldn't cry hard enough. She uttered one hopeless wail after another, barely taking the time to breathe.
"I'm so sorry, Justine," Kim said, breaking into sobs of her own, "I am so very sorry."
Justine was unable to speak. She buried her face in Kim's shoulder and wept a deep, dismayed, soul-aching sort of cry that only comes when your entire world has suddenly become a haven for grief and confusion.
The two women held each other and cried for some time. Kim was finished long before Justine, but remained holding on to her friend as long as Justine needed the support.
A good while later, Justine pulled herself from her friend's sympathetic embrace.
Kim handed her a piece of paper with two phone numbers on it, "This is my mom's number. I want you to go stay over there while I'm gone. You can sleep in my old room. My mom and dad will be there, so you won't be going to an empty house. They'll give you your space, but they'll be there if you need them. This other number is Monique's. She knows I'm giving it to you, and says to tell you that you can call her any time, day or night."
"Where are you going?" Justine sobbed, trying to wipe away tears that wouldn't stop flowing.
"I have to go to Japan," Kim explained wiping away her own tears, "To tell someone why I won't be able to keep a promise I made to him. I should be back tomorrow or the next day. Tell me you'll call my parents, Justine. Don't go home to an empty house. I just came from my own."
"I'll try" Justine said, "I… thank you. I hope you know I don't blame you for any of this."
Kim's face melted into sobs once more, "I almost wish you would. He saved my life."
"No offense, Kim. But he would have done the same for anyone. Doesn't matter that it was you, or Ron, or a cat stuck in a tree. Wil was always the hero. He believed he could make the world a better place." Justine replied, tears streaming down her face.
"I believe he did," Kim said, turning to leave, "Call my parents. I'll see you in two days at the latest."
The door closed, and Justine sat heavily on her work stool, clutching the piece of paper with the numbers on it.
"Wil." she whimpered to the empty room, wishing deep down he would somehow answer.
Thunder and lightning were the only reply.
Justine cried long into the night until she slumped, completely exhausted, over her work station and fell asleep.
Kimono did a lot of eye rolling that night. But she also did quite a bit of smiling. Though she did have a few memories of Ron Stoppable from her childhood, most of her memories of him were from her teenage and early adult years, when Ron was an older, wiser and much more mellow person. She liked him, a lot, but she also saw where TJ got his silly side. Kimono felt like she was in a house with two teenage boys; they kept joking and laughing and whatever else a father might do with a son that's only two years younger than him.
But for the fact that he missed Kim, and had only gotten to see her for a total of two minutes between the simulation and his real journey through the time stream, Ron was otherwise enjoying himself.
TJ had the latest video game console which, in this case, provided totally interactive holograms as characters in a game. You had to play with the console in a darkened, empty room, but it was well worth it as Ron soon found out. Zombie Mayhem Millennium, for instance, allowed the players to fight it out with life-sized zombies. And while it was your job to bash them good, the zombies could also score points against you, and once you 'died' the game basically ignored you until you were given another life; your weapons would be useless, etc. The holograms were stunningly lifelike, and the console projected a scenic background on the walls to complete the illusion that you were lost somewhere in a zombie world.
Kimono left two hooting and hollering men to fight off a horde of evil zombies while she did a few things around the house, and finally curled up on the couch with a good book.
A couple of hours later, two zombie warriors emerged from the game room laughing and chattering, ready for some snackage.
"There's freeze-dried Nacos on the counter next to the food hydrator!" Kimono called without looking up from her reading.
Not quite finished with the day's surprises, Ron got a big one when they went into the Kitchen.
"Hey, you're awake!" TJ said as they walked in. Ron was behind his son and couldn't yet see who he was talking to.
"Hooshah!" came a deep-voiced reply.
Sitting on a small chair on the kitchen table was a large naked mole rat. He was just over twice the size of Rufus, muscular for his size, and wore a blue sort of combat vest.
"Rufus?" Ron gasped, confused.
The mole rat got up and walked to the edge of the table, holding out his paw toward Ron.
"I am Rufus Three Thousand. I am one of three thousand highly evolved descendents of Rufus Prime." He said, shaking Ron's hand, "It is a great honor to meet you, Ron Stoppable."
Ron looked to TJ for an answer.
"Clone with an artificial mind," TJ replied, "They function as a sort of living communicator for Global Justice."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"I serve many functions as a member of this team," Rufus continued, "I am able to download and relay information from my artificial brain directly to an agent in the field."
"In addition, they can perform mission tasks that would be more difficult for us humans, such as fit into tight spaces, sneaking through low level security fields, stuff like that." TJ went on, "R3K here has saved my life quite a few times."
"As is my duty," Rufus replied modestly, "If a bomb needs to be defused, I can access a vast database of information with my artificial mind and defuse the bomb. If TJ needs to know how many entrances there are to a specific lair, I can access satellite scans and relay the information to him."
"That's totally baddical!" Ron exclaimed.
"Indeed," Rufus Three Thousand responded.
"So what happens if you don't want to work for Global Justice?" Ron was curious.
"Mole Rat Agents are given the option of shutting down their own artificial minds – none have ever done that – or retiring to a large private island where there's a nice big colony of cloned former naked mole rat agents to live with." TJ explained.
"I hear it's lovely," Rufus said, "Giant running wheels, a Bueno Nacho buffet open twenty-four hours, miniature golf. It is considered an honor among my people to serve in the cause of Global Justice, and I look forward to retiring with a long, distinguished service behind me."
"You're well on your way, buddy," TJ said, giving R3K a tiny high five, "You wanna come bash some zombies with us?"
"Negative," Rufus replied, "In fact I am receiving an urgent message for you."
Kimono hopped up from the couch and came trotting in to the kitchen, "I heard something about a message?"
Rufus held forth an arm. Strapped to it was a sort of dome-shaped crystal apparatus. It projected the image of a beautiful young African-American woman into the kitchen.
"Hey guys, I got- Oh my gosh, it's true!" she yelped.
"You OK, Ariel?" Kimono asked, concerned.
"Yeah," the woman responded, "My dad called and said Uncle Ron was staying at your house, but I thought he was jokin' around. Hi Uncle Ron!"
"Uh… hi?" Ron was getting used to being confused.
"Wade's daughter," TJ whispered.
"No way!" Ron exclaimed, "Is your mom Monique?"
"Of course, why?"
"Wade and Monique got married! That is so cool!" Ron exclaimed, pumping his fist in triumph.
"Wow," Ariel said, astonished, "You came from that far back? Before mom and dad were even married?"
"Sorry to cut this off…" Kimono interjected.
"Right," Ariel said, getting back to business, "Sorry. There was a break-in tonight at Midtech Labs. Someone stole an experimental Molecular Decelerator.
"Any idea who?" TJ asked.
"Yeah. But you're not going to like it." Ariel stated.
"Oh, not those guys," Kimono groaned.
"That's right!" Ariel announced, "The Department of Maniacal Villains has struck again!"
"The DMV? Sounds pretty evil," Ron mused.
"They're more annoying than actual evil. Most of their plots involve seriously inconveniencing people in some idiotic manner." TJ explained.
"They like to think they're evil, but they aren't. Not like, say, the Internationally Reviled Scientists," Ariel chimed in.
"Yes," TJ confirmed, "The IRS is definitely evil."
"What about the Division of Evil Maniacal Operatives Conducting Rebellion, Anarchy and Total Subjugation?" Kimono cracked.
"The DEMOCR-?" Ron began after a moment's thought.
"Sssssshhhhh," Kimono whispered, putting a finger to her lips, "They are an evil so vile, we dare not utter their name. I heard they revoked Satan's membership because they felt he was going soft."
"My wife, ladies and gentlemen," TJ gestured toward her, "Superhero and Comedian. Well, Superhero at least. You got a location on a lair, Ariel?"
"Not yet, but I do have a distinct energy signature from a small aircraft leading away from the lab." She replied.
"What do you say, Dad, up for a mission?" TJ invited.
"Yeah? Seriously?" Ron got excited.
"Of course." Kimono beamed brightly, "You can show us how it's done old school."
"Booyah!" Ron exclaimed, but then hesitated, "You got any mission clothes for me?"
"Are you kidding?" TJ said scampering out of the kitchen. He shouted the rest of the sentence back over his shoulder, "I've got an old Ronin suit of yours in the attic! Be right back down!"
"Speaking of which," Kimono also scampered out of the kitchen as well.
"Talk to you guys in the air!" Ariel called out, then threw a little wave at Ron, "Have fun, Uncle Ron!"
"Yeah…nice to meet you, Ariel." Ron replied. He sat down at the kitchen table and looked at Rufus Three Thousand, "So do you live here then?"
"Affirmative!" Rufus replied, "I have my own quarters above the garage."
"Got it!" cried TJ as he came bounding back in the kitchen. He tossed a black outfit to his father.
Ron stood up and spread the ninja suit out before him. It was slightly different than he remembered, but then he supposed it was probably made more recently. Ron headed off to the bathroom and slipped on the suit. It was a little loose, but only a little. The familiar Katana logo was a welcome sight. It added a little normalcy to an otherwise insane couple of weeks.
TJ's battlesuit was also a ninja style outfit, but it was a silvery gray with short, wire-thin crimson lines that only ran part of the way up the legs and arms. The logo on the chest was a pair of Katanas crossed in an 'X' formation. Kimono's was black with turquoise stripes fashioned the same as TJ's. The Katana logo was the same as her husband's but also colored turquoise.
"Oh, man!" TJ was geeking out at the sight of his father, "I feel like I'm ten years old again!"
"Woops," Kimono chatted playfully, "Looks like we have two Ronins in the room."
"Nay, dearest wife," TJ overacted, putting his hands on his hips, "For today I am 'Son Of Ronin'. You may call me SOR."
"Because it hurts to be you?" she teased.
"Kim Stoppable!" TJ bellowed as he headed down the hallway toward the garage, "You think you're fusion! But you're not!"
In an act of indulgence that he would later boast about in the mole rat agent chat room, Rufus Three Thousand scampered up on to Ron's shoulder as they all headed for the Ninjet.
The Ninjet was actually parked beneath the garage in a large underground sapce. It was purely aircraft, though it did possess submarine capabilities. It was enormous, with four seats in the cockpit. The canopy was a clear dome of some sort of material Ron didn't recognize. The main body of the aircraft resembled a stealth fighter that had been flattened somewhat. It was an aerodynamic work of art.
Kimono hopped into the driver's seat while Rufus climbed into the passenger side. Normally he sat in the back, but TJ wanted to sit back next to his dad. The jet powered up with a low rumble while the garage slid aside, into the backyard. It hovered up out of its parking space, wings folded out from underneath the craft, and Kimono throttled up. Even Ron was taken by surprise at its almost instant speed.
"OK," Ron said, turning to his son, "I know I'm not supposed to see family members, time stream corruption, yadda yadda… but you gotta tell me if Ki- if your mom and I have any other kids."
TJ looked at his wife, who looked back at him and shrugged. "I don't see the harm."
"What?" Ron asked, "Another death in the family?"
"Oh, no" TJ answered, "Nothing like that."
"Well, what then?"
"It's just… we haven't seen her in about eight years.. She doesn't keep in contact much with the family." TJ explained.
"Why not?"
"Well… she and mom took your death pretty hard. Don't get me wrong," TJ said hurriedly, "I took it hard too, but those two… You dyin' really messed them up. Mom kinda withdrew into herself. She never leaves the house much. And Ronnie… well, Ronnie really took it hard. Not too long after you died, she started dating much older guys. We figured she had some father issues."
Ron said nothing.
"Anyway, Mom hated the fact that Ronnie was dating guys much older than her and they had a sort of falling out. Then Ronnie met this one guy and ran off with him… I don't know… We get Christmas Cards and stuff, but otherwise we really don't have any contact with her. We've tried to get everyone together, but Ronnie and mom both refuse to, and they won't say why."
"She older or younger?"
"Older. Five and a half years older."
"And her name's Ronnie?"
"Veronica," TJ answered, "I…we… called her Ronnie growing up. Or sometimes Ronnie-Anne."
"I like that," Ron said, though with a little sadness in his voice at hearing how things in his family had turned out, "Veronica Stoppable."
"Yeah," TJ agreed, "Except these days it's actually 'Veronica Beam'."