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You saw it on KP, it belongs to Disney. Clarence and It's a Wonderful Life belong to Republic Pictures.
Oh yes, I promised three chapters. But now you get four. Fear not, though, the story will be fully posted by Christmas.
I.
Ron reached down and pulled Clarence up. "Tell me!" the blonde-haired teen demanded; he was determined to know what happened to his best friend/girlfriend.
Clarence, confronted with a frenzied Ron, trembled. Finally, he answered, speaking at a staccato clip. "Drakken and Shego tried to break Kim's spirit, to humiliate her. They tried for weeks, but they failed. Then Drakken used the brain tap on Kim's father. Afterwards, Drakken brought James into her cell, so she could see what had become of him.
"Drakken left them alone for hours, James just standing there, vacantly staring, completely unaware of his daughter; Kim begging for her father to recognize her. Drakken finally came in and told her that James' condition was all her fault, that if she hadn't been such a bad girl, her father wouldn't have been punished. She was crushed; all the fight went out of her," Clarence said sadly, shaking his head. "After that, he let her go."
"He just … let her go?" Ron asked, reeling from the news.
"Well, there were terms to her release. She was fitted with an obedience collar which would shock her if she ever tried to fight again. And she has to wear shirts designed by Shego. They have slogans like 'Nothing's Possible for a Possible' and 'I Got Nuthin'' and 'I Should Have Stuck to Babysitting.'"
"KP has to wear those?"
"Everyday, everywhere, for the rest of her life."
Ron was ready to retch. There was no way he could leave Kim to this fate. He pushed Clarence aside.
"Where are you going?" the angel-in-training asked.
"Smarty Mart."
"Oh, I don't think you want to go there, Ron," Clarence said, his voice quavering.
"But Kim's there!"
"That's exactly why you don't want to go there," he said, his words pregnant with pity, anxiety, and remorse.
II.
Ron had never run so far or so fast in his life. He didn't care that his muscles were screaming with pain, his breath was growing short, or that he was breaking into a sweat. He had to find and save Kim.
He tore across the parking lot of the giant box store. Apparently, people in a world dominated by a mad scientist still needed to buy bargains in bulk on Christmas Eve. Ron ran through the doors and past the greeter who welcomed him to Smarty Mart, then he doubled back.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Kim Possible, do you know where I'd find her?" Ron asked breathlessly, fully expecting to be directed to the manager's office.
The greeter flashed a sadistic smile at Ron and answered, "The loser's in aisle 28."
Ron, surprised that the man would call his boss a loser to a customer, dodged and weaved between shoppers, heading towards Kim, grateful that every Smarty Marty in the world, and indeed in every possible reality, seemed to have the exact same layout. As he turned the corner into aisle 28, he saw her from behind. It was Kim. There was no doubt.
And it was clear that she was not the store manager.
Kim Possible, the girl Ron loved and admired and knew was destined to do great things, was working in the livestock section of Smarty Mart. She was wearing tall rubber boots and was shoveling something brown into a bucket. Ron now had no illusions about what Kim's job really was and it made his heart break.
He slowly approached her. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing a red Smarty Mart vest, made, he was sure, of 100 percent pure polyester. He couldn't help but notice how it clashed with the pants she was wearing; the Kim he knew would never have been caught wearing mismatched colors. And as she turned just a bit in his direction, he saw the bulky obedience collar fastened around her slender neck. Ron was infuriated by the sight of the device and had to work to control his breathing.
Slowly, he approached the livestock section. Kim had finished cleaning up after the animals and was now standing just outside the pen.
"KP?"
Ron received no response. He then remembered that in all likelihood, Kim had never before been called 'KP' by anyone.
"Excuse me, Kim?"
She looked up at him. It was all Ron could do not to gasp. Her eyes. Her lively, sparkling, fiery emerald eyes were dead – no, not dead, defeated. Twin silent witnesses to incredible loss, complete repudiation, utter failure, and unalloyed sadness.
"Yes?" she asked meekly.
"Kim, it's me, Ron."
She scrutinized him. "Ron?"
His eyes opened wide. Did she, somehow, someway, recognize him? Was there hope? He could save her, help her regain her natural Kimness. He knew he could. He smiled.
"Yeah, it's me, KP."
"KP?" she asked. "Why are you calling me that? Do I know you?" she asked, before looking around nervously.
Ron's heart broke again as he looked at a Kim Possible wearing a shirt that declared, 'Check the motto: I can't do anything.' A Kim Possible who was afraid and lost. A Kim Possible whose spirit had been broken. This Kim Possible – this shell of the spirited, brave, adventure-seeking girl he knew and loved – was his doing. She was this way because he'd abandoned her, because he'd left her alone by never existing.
"I'm your boyfriend. Your best friend."
Kim's eyes were filled with shock. "I, I don't have a boyfriend. And I don't have a best friend. I never have," she said, her voice redolent with longing and regret.
"Kim, we've known each other for thirteen years!"
Kim looked increasingly frightened. "Please, go away," she begged, her voice trembling. "I don't know who you are. Just leave me alone. I, I don't want any trouble. Tell Dr. Drakken I'm trying to be a good girl."
Ron was gripped by panic. He grabbed Kim's arms. "Kim, it's me, Ron Stoppable. I love you!"
Kim's instinctive response to being grabbed was to defend herself. But the moment she wrestled free and adopted a kung fu fighting position, the collar shocked her. She dropped to her knees, then looked at Ron with tears in her eyes.
"Kim, please, let me help you …" he said plaintively.
"NO! You don't love me! Nobody does! You just want to hurt me like all the others!" she shrieked. "Get away from me!"
Kim Possible may have been a pariah, often taunted and baited by customers who blamed her for Drakken's rise to power, but store management didn't need trouble on Christmas Eve and so sent security towards the livestock department. Ron knew he had to leave, and quickly. Overwhelmed by grief, he took one last look at Kim. "I love you, KP. Please believe that," he said, before he turned and began running.
He pushed, blocked, jumped, and leapt, finally reaching the front doors, which had been closed. He quickly grabbed a shopping cart and slammed it through the glass, then fled into the night.
III.
Guided by nothing but instinct, Ron headed back to the bridge. As he ran, he cried out in anguish, "Clarence, help me! I want to go back! I want to live!"
Ron was frantic as he approached the span. He was halfway across when he saw the car pull up a few score feet away. Two large men in red form-fitting suits emerged from the vehicle: Steve Barkin and Brick Flagg. Each sported a mind control chip on his forehead. Then he saw another vehicle pull up at the other end; it was Officer Hobble's. "This is so not my day," Ron muttered.
Ron didn't know what to do, other than avoid being captured. Quickly, he climbed onto the railing. Just as he did, he heard the air crackle as a laser beam flashed in front of his face.
Forgive me, Kim, Ron thought as he swung his legs over the railing and launched himself off the bridge and into the frigid waters below. I love you. If I ever have the chance again, I promise I'll always have your back.
TBC …