Chapter IV: Ron's Fate
… …
Middleton HospitalRon paced back and forth as they waited for any word on Kim. They rushed her earlier to the emergency room where trained medical professionals took care of her. But it had been like hours to him since they arrived and he was getting antsy.
As he turned for another set of steps, Vincent, who was sitting still on the bench by Ron's path, quickly extended what Ron thought at that time as a walking stick and blocked his chest.
"Stop it. It's annoying," Vincent said as he retracted his stick. "And besides, your foot fall is out of sync."
"I'm just worried!" Ron said obviously agitated. "What if they're beginning to experiment new medical things on her?"
"You are being paranoid," Vincent said. "Ms. Possible's fine."
"But what's taking them so long?" Ron asked.
"Stoppable," Vincent growled in exasperation. "We've been waiting for only ten minutes."
"Ten minutes without Kim is ten minutes lost in my soul," Ron mumbled sullenly as he slumped beside Vincent. Smiling, Vincent patted the boy's head in consolation. He understood perfectly what the boy was going through. He himself lost four years of his life since his accident.
A life worth living for.
"Get ready," Vincent said as he stood. Ron was puzzled on his actions. Were the doctors arriving? Vincent opened his arms and waited.
"VIN!" The doctors were arriving alright, but it was the doctors Possible. Ron saw Mrs. Dr. Possible running towards them and hugged him tying to seek comfort. Vincent wrapped his arms around her and caressed her hair.
"Where's my Kimmy cub?" Mr. Possible asked worriedly as he looked at the young man holding his wife.
"Relax, Possible. She's out of danger," he said with such confidence that the Possibles sighed in relief.
"But what's taking them so long?" Ron asked as he looked at the door where they were operating on Kim.
"Right now, the doctors are baffled as to why her blood seemed mysterious," Vincent said as he released Mrs. Possible who looked at him in confusion. "What they are seeing is the antidote taking effect."
"Antidote?" Mr. Possible said in a gruff tone. "Was my Kimmy cub poisoned?"
"I'll let Stoppable explain," Vincent said as he placed a hand on Mr. Possible's arm to comfort him. "Take it easy on him." Mr. Dr. Possible nodded in understanding.
However, Ron froze. How would he explain to Kim's parents what had happened. Vincent touched his arm reassuringly and he calmed a bit.
"You'll be her keeper one day, Ronald Stoppable. And such, you shall be responsible for her well-being," Vincent said as he sat down.
"So… what does that mean?" Ron asked clueless. Vincent growled as he rubbed his temples. This was getting nowhere.
"Is he always this dense?" he asked Mrs. Possible who smiled in mirth.
"He always is," she answered making Vincent grumble.
"Just tell us what had happened," he said and with a deep breath, Ron started.
… … …
Dr. Drakken's Lair MeanwhileShego surfed the Internet as she tried to figure out who the man in the shadow was. She had a feeling that he was not an amateur for no one who walked as quietly as him was a klutz.
She had successfully hacked into the police's mainframe and searched for the file on the theft of the King Solomon exhibit. And when she saw the report, she was baffled.
There was a sign of forced entry in a window of the roof. That she already knew for it was she who entered there. Other than that, no visible signs of entry could be established. Every recorder on the security room that had cameras on the exhibit was turned off and the guards knocked out with sleeping gas.
The sensors around the glass cases were shut off as well but the laser sensors were still online. Aside from the opening Shego made, there was no trace of the theft.
It was as if the jewels were never there in the first place.
He was good. Too good. Shego decided that she should meet this man.
Before she could decide whether to kill him, or curse the thought, kiss him.
Strangely, the latter appealed to her more and that thought made her frustrated.
She continued to read the police report and found something interesting.
"It's believed that the perpetrator is the thief that is know as the Wraith. It had been four years since the Wraith had allegedly committed his last crime. However, it is the belief of the chief of police that the Wraith only steals artifacts whose owners acquired them through dubious ways.
"When the owners of the artifacts were subjected to an inquiry, the investigators found enough damning evidence to convict the owners of crimes from money laundering to art forgery to even murder." Shego frowned and searched the net for information about the Wraith.
And when she saw Interpol and Global Justice's notices, she found that the criminal known as the Wraith was wanted for theft. He was getting interesting every minute, Shego thought.
Now she really wanted to meet him.
But first she needed to find him.
.. …. …
Middleton Hospital"And that's what happened," Ron took a deep breath which was noticed by Vincent. All throughout the story, Ron was taking deep breaths. It was like he ran as fast as he could and was exhausted.
"You drove?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked incredulously and Mr. Dr. Possible matched it.
"Seraphim took me for a cruise," Vincent said calmly. "The window was slightly open and then I heard Rufus scream for help. We picked him up and looked for them."
"Who's Seraphim?" Ron asked. "It was only the four of us in the car."
"Seraphim?" Mr. Possible frowned in thought. "The Seraphim project?"
"The same," Vincent nodded. "In case you're wondering, Stoppable, Seraphim is my GT-R."
"Like Sadie?" he asked. Sadie was Dr. Freeman's SUV who asked Kim to help find the good Dr.
"Basic principles applies," Vincent said. "Although Seraphim is wilder."
"Wilder how?" Ron asked.
"He roams the streets alone," Vincent smirked. "Anyway, the doctor's coming." True enough, one of the doctors who were with Kim when they entered the E.R. was walking towards them. How Vincent could do it baffled Ron. It was like he knew every move the doctor made and Ron had a suspicion that Vincent knew what everyone was doing.
"Dr. Possible," the doctor said as he entered the waiting room. "I have some good news. Kim's going to pull through." Mrs. Possible happily hugged the doctor then shared a hug of relief from her husband. "She's stable, somehow." The doctor looked at Vincent skeptically. "How did you get your hands on something that potent? Never mind. Knowing you, you have every antidote known and unknown to modern medicine."
"Naturally," Vincent said. "I came from Africa so I came prepared."
"I just saw you yesterday," Ron said as he breathed. Vincent smirked as he turned towards the doctor.
"Doc, see to Mr. Stoppable. I think he might have broken or at least bruised his ribs. He has a hard time breathing." The Possibles looked at Ron in surprise. Mrs. Possible began to fuss about his health and reluctantly, with her urging, Ron gave in and relented to be examined.
"Martyrdom has its limits, Mr. Stoppable. Kim is fine now it's your turn to get well and be strong," with Vincent's words, Ron sighed and shook his head.
"Okay, but I'm not leaving this hospital until Kim does," he vowed. "Monkey Fist is still out there and he's after this," from his pocket, Ron took out the Crown of Goku and tossed it towards Vincent. "Please see to it that it goes to the proper people."
"Don't you worry, Ron," Mrs. Possible smiled. "Vincent always returns stolen property to their rightful owners." Vincent frowned as she told Ron that. It was like he was annoyed at something but Ron could not know what it was.
"We'll call your parents to let them know where you are," Mr. Possible smiled and he walked towards the payphone.
"Tell them that Ron also needs fresh clothes and soap," Vincent called after Mr. Dr. Possible. "He smells like monkeys."
"Eeewwwww," Ron cringed in disgust. "And tell them to hurry! I smell like monkey!" on wailed as the doctor led him out of the waiting room to be examined.
"I wonder how Ron got hurt," Mrs. Dr. Possible mused as she stood beside Vincent.
"Best guess, he used his body to protect your daughter," he said calmly admiring the boy's will to protect Kim Possible. "Invite me to the wedding, will you?"
"Are you sure they'd realize what they have?" Mrs. Possible said mostly in curiosity and in hope.
"Perhaps not now, but one of these days they would realize that they would as it was always with friends."
"Thank you for saving my daughter," Mrs. Possible hugged Vincent one more time in gratitude.
"It's the least I could do," Vincent said as he smiled. "You and Possible saved my life four years ago. And until a few days ago, I resented that."
"And what had you learned when you rejoined the world?" she asked. Vincent had a contented smile as he started to walk away.
"I found a reason to live," he said. "Excuse me but I have to meet someone." Mrs. Possible smiled back and wondered what his reason of living was.
… …
Go City ParkMidnight
Shego sighed as she sat at the swing. She had searched every site in the web for information about the Wraith but nothing. All of them were just rumors.
She was no closer to finding the Wraith. But somehow, she felt that he could find her.
And she hoped he did.
"The wind sings a fine tune tonight," a calm voice suddenly said making Shego gasp in surprise.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face after that stunt you pulled," Shego said as she got up and her hands glowed. But the stranger in the shadow merely chuckled and motioned her to sit on the swing.
"Truce, for now," he smiled. And when she really looked at him, she was surprised at what she saw intrigued her. He was wearing a hooded cape that was pulled low to cover his eyes. His cape was closed and he emulated a specter of the night.
"Cool costume," Shego smirked sarcastically as she warily sat on the swing beside him.
"It was either this or that a cat burglar set up that screamed amateur. And I'm not an amateur," he said. She could hear a smile in his tone and it made her chuckle.
"So not," she smiled. "I'm supposed to be angry at you for stealing those jewels."
"So, Miss Crime Fighter, are you going to turn me in?" he asked amusingly as if daring her to turn him in.
"Helloooo. As if I would turn you in. I'm also wanted in eleven countries you know," she crossed her arms in irritation.
"Really?" she noticed that he sounded disappointed.
"I've left crime fighting, where have you been?"
"Wallowing in misery," he answered so evenly Shego knew it was true.
"What did you do with the jewels?" Shego asked trying to understand the individual beside her.
"I returned it to its rightful owners," he said calmly as if it did not matter to him.
"You WHAT!" Shego screamed but the Wraith was unaffected. "What kind of idiot are you? Why did you do it?"
"Half of the exhibit have are of some sentiment to a village where Carl Buncle… stole them. Are you going to steal them back?" he asked but there was a hint of warning in his tone. Something told her if she did try to steal the jewels from where they were, she would have paid them with her life.
"You have a way to dissuade someone from doing something," Shego said with a smirk. The wraith chuckled and stood. Shego watched him warily, ready to jump him if he made a move.
"Relax, I'm not going to fight you," but she was tense. "Close your eyes."
"Why?" she asked as she glared at the figure. "So you can kill me?"
"If I wanted you dead, Princess, you wouldn't be here," words to ponder and Shego knew he was right. With a frustrated sigh, she closed her eyes.
"Are you peeking?" he asked playfully.
"No I'm not. Would you get on with it?" she grumbled.
"Okay, okay," Shego could sense him walking behind her and stopping inches from her. She then suddenly felt an object of some weight pressing on he chest as she felt a cool metal necklace fasten on the back of her neck. The Wraith carefully moved her long raven black tresses to her front so he could clasp the necklace. As he returned her hair to its original position, he brushed his fingers on her neck oh so slightly that it made her tingle.
Shego could feel his breath on her scalp as he smoothly inhaled her essence. With her eyes closed, she could only imagine what he was doing.
And she liked what she imagined.
"Can I open them now?" she asked quietly. She was curious of what he had placed around her neck. It felt like it was made of stone.
"Open them," he whispered in her ear, tickling her in the process. And when she did open her eyes, what she saw shocked her.
There was a rock tied around her neck but this rock took her breath away.
It was a large diamond. About six inches in length, was carved intricately into an angel in prayer. It was magnificent and Shego couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship.
"Where did you get this?" she asked wondrously as she looked at him.
"Not exactly the response I was hoping for," he said as he sat back down on the swing. "Did you know that the jeweler almost had a heart attack when I told him what I wanted it to be done with it? Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful," she said breathlessly.
"Its beauty comes from his bearer," his tone carried a smile that suddenly made her blush.
"But… why?" she asked. Not that she did not want it but his actions bewildered her. Why was he giving her such a precious gift? What was the catch? Shego's suspicious nature led her to believe there was something more he was not telling her.
"A beautiful lady must be adorned with the best. But a princes must be adorned with the stars," the Wraith said almost dreamily. And when Shego turned to ask him what he had meant, he was gone.
A little perturbed of his enigmatic departures, Shego merely shook her head.
It was getting real hard to get angry with him.
And when she looked at the diamond angel she realized why he gave her the "trinket".
He was a cat burglar after her heart.
Shego smiled as she stood to leave. If the Wraith wanted her heart, he'll have to work hard at it.
….
Somewhere in Middleton"That blasted Kim Possible and her monkey phobic friend interfered with my plans for the last time!" Monkey Fist growled as he paced on all fours. "I should be the ULTIMATE MONKEY KING if they haven't gotten the Crown of Goku from me!"
"Me, me, me. All you villains are selfish bastards," a voice in the shadow said startling Monkey Fist.
"Who goes there? Who dares interrupt Monkey Fist?" the former titled lord demanded from the shadows. He was arrogant enough to challenge what he does not know.
And what he did not know was that he was facing a ghost.
"You almost killed Kimberly Ann Possible. That is unforgivable," the shadow said in a calm voice that something in it made Monkey Fist's spine shiver. "Although, this should be reserved by her friend but I can't wait."
"Wait for what?" Monkey Fist asked as he poised for attack. But he faltered when he saw something he never thought he would see.
The figure in the shadow was carrying a Japanese Katana. The man ignored the question and retreated back into the darkness.
"This is a warning, Monty my boy. Usually I don't give warnings. "Try anything stupid. against my charges and there would be hell to pay." With that, Monkey Fist attack but when he reached the shadows, his visitor was gone.
Not a trace and not even a scent was left.
And the first time since he became Monkey Fist, Lord Monte Fiske was terrified.
All because of a ghost.
/End of 4/
Next: Kim awakens with Ron by her side. What had happened the night before? And why was there a man standing by the door holding a cane watching them? Also, Drakken noticed Shego acting strangely and tried to find out why. Infuriated, Monkey Fist vowed revenge and attacked the hospital, only to meet his worst nightmare.
Chapter V: Kim's Guardian