Kim's mind was a whirlwind of different emotions, none of which would be satisfied until she worked them out on Slade's face. As she made it outside, she scanned her surroundings. At first, nothing, stillness, only the ambient noises of the night time. But she would not be fooled. She knew what she saw, and she knew his type. He was here.
"Where are you? Show yourself." Kim announced to the breeze. Yet still, no response. She could only imagine how she must have looked to the casual observer, standing in her own backyard at night, shouting at shadows. But that didn't matter. Slade was here, at her house. And she would make sure it was the last mistake he ever made.
For a minute longer, there was still nothing.
Then… movement.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kim caught sight of a shadowed figure leap from out of the cover of a tree's branches and bound across the yard, leaping over the backyard fence and running off into the night.
Kim bounded off after it without a second's hesitation, covering the wooden fence just as easily, pacing herself as she followed the outline that she had come to recognize all too well.
Slade moved in and out of the shadows, as he led her across the back ways of the neighborhood before finally pausing before a large, undeveloped, untouched, area of woods. In the day light, Kim might have recognized this as a place where she and Ron had often played together as children.
Slade paused, turning for a moment to eye Kim. Kim's feet brought her to a grinding halt as she prepared herself for battle, every one of her muscles screaming for the chance, her bruises crying out for retribution.
But instead of fighting, Slade merely turned and leapt up into the branches of the trees, moving with amazing agility and grace for someone so powerful.
Kim followed suit, chasing afterwards with the same agility and grace, following in his steps branch for branch. Spare branches and pine needles cut at her cheeks and the exposed arms of her t-shirt, but she pushed them out of her mind. They were a small price to pay for the toll she planned to exact out of Slade's hide.
Finally, the chase came to a halt on the balance of a particularly large branch, as Slade paused for Kim to land before him. The two eyed each other warily.
"Impressive." Slade commented. "You did very well coming after me like this, especially after barely escaping from our last meeting."
Kim didn't say anything. She expressed herself through action far better. With a fierce cry, Kim let her comb fly straight from her hands, passing Slade's head as he dodged it, only to dig deeply into the trunk of the tree behind. The tips of the comb dug in with the sharpness of a blade.
"Why Kim, that was vicious, dishonorable and even quite deadly. Impressive. And to think, I never suspected you had it in you."
Slade's taunt did little except to provoke Kim further, as she charged forward to attack, lashing out with a right fist. However, Slade merely backed away from the attack, only to leap over her, landing squarely on the other side of the branch, before leaping off the branch completely, free falling to the ground below.
Kim did not hesitate to dive after him, feeling the rush of air in her face, letting the thrill take over her for a split second before she calmed her mind. On instinct, her hands brought themselves up, catching a nearby branch to slow her descent. Her body reacted of its own accord, perfectly moving in flow with the momentum, as she flipped over the branch, moving into a single gymnastic routine that would have won her the State Championship all over again as she landed squarely before Slade, who had clearly made the fall of his own somehow.
Slade reacted first this time, moving in with an opening punch. Kim ducked the blow, and swept out with her right leg, sweeping him clear off his feet. Slade leapt back to his feet in an instant, as Kim followed up with a kick to his face that landed squarely on target.
Slade reeled back from the blow, just in time to see Kim leap at him with a drop kick. Slade's arms shot out reflexively, catching Kim in mid-flight before swinging her around in the air and then straight into a nearby tree.
The force of this was enough to knock the fight right out of Kim. She was sure she had broken something this time.
"What do you want with me?" Kim asked, the fear that she had fought so hard to repress and conceal behind rage now bubbling visibly to the surface.
"Everything." Slade stated coldly. However he was cut off from saying more by a piercing scream that filled the air. Kim looked on in horror as Ron appeared directly behind Slade, brandishing a tree branch that he had found for himself as a weapon, which he smashed over Slade's backside.
The rotten wood shattered ineffectually, leaving Ron with a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look on his face as Slade turned, seemingly unfazed, towards him.
"Ah, and you must be the princess' knight in shinning armor. We have unfinished business, you and I." Slade turned away from Kim, moving slowly towards the young man backing away for his life.
"Well, I really think of myself as more of a court jester actually." Ron explained nervously. Slade seemed unamused.
"Just a little further. Come on ugly." Ron's mind screamed at Slade. "So, I've been wondering. Do you have a big problem with depth perception, or is it just something you've learned to live with?" Ron asked weakly.Slade's only response was to knock Ron back a ways before causing him to stumble to the ground.
Kim struggled to push the pain out of her mind, yet her back screamed too loudly for her brain to tune out as she attempted to bring herself to her feet again. She was just able to look up in time to see something that took the breath away from her all over again. As Slade took another step towards Ron, a trip snare came to life, catching Slade's left leg in it, and lifting the masked villain up into the air, left to dangle seemingly helplessly.
"Oh booyah!" Ron exclaimed, looking up at his snared prize. "And only a summer of double arts and crafts from Camp Wannaweep under my belt. Too bad they don't give merit badges for this kind of thing."
Kim tried to shout out to warn Ron away but it was already too late. In a second of over confidence, Ron was blinded to Slade as he picked up a knife from within his belt and, in a single swift motion, cut the rope suspending him upside down in the air. Slade fell quickly to his feet and close lined Ron to the ground. The young man scarcely had a chance to let his breath out as Slade's right foot came down hard on Ron's throat, constricting his airways. Ron desperately tried to lift Slade off of him, but it felt like lifting an anvil.
"No… Ron." Kim whispered, as she brought herself to her feet once more, pain and all, to try and assist him. She felt herself brought to a grinding halt once again though as Slade spoke.
"Take one more step, and I'll crush his windpipe."
Kim tensed herself as if for combat. Taking in her situation, she tried desperately not to indicate even a fraction of the pain that she was in. She eyed Slade with fierce resolve before speaking again.
"I could stop you." She spoke with cold determination.
"Could you now?" Slade responded, punctuating himself by stepping into Ron just a little harder, forcing the young man to scream breathless cries for help. Yet Kim did not flinch or waver in her stance in any way.
"Yes. I could." She reaffirmed.
For the first time, it seemed that Slade was considering this as a viable possibility. "Hmm, perhaps you are correct dear child. After all, I've seen how fast you can move, and there are only a few precious feet between us. It seems unlikely that I'd be willing to sacrifice myself just to squash an insignificant insect…" Slade looked down at Ron as his lungs continued to gasp for precious air. "But you won't take that chance." Slade returned his gaze to Kim.
Kim's eyes only glared more deeply at Slade as he went on.
"No, you wouldn't dare risk the life of your lover just to strike down another mere super villain. The world is full of my kind, but him" Slade indicated to Ron. "Oh he's far too precious for you to risk. And that is why you will never truly win, Kim Possible."
Kim didn't respond. It looked like Slade was about to launch into some kind of monologue. If so, this would be her only chance to save Ron. For the time being, there was nothing she could do but listen, watch and wait for him to get so caught up in himself that he would make a mistake.
"As long as you live Kim, as long as you do the things you do, there will be others like me. Others willing to punish the ones you love for your own arrogance. Do you really think you can just fly off around the world, play super hero, and then return home like it was all a game? It's not enough that you are foolish enough to risk your own life in such a suicidal endeavor, you even bring along a companion for yourself, someone to entertain you as you travel. But do you really think its fair for you to play with his life, with the lives of your friends and family, just so that you can think of yourself as a hero."
Kim struggled to push Slade's words out of her mind. She knew what he was trying to do. Distract her, make her loose her guard while he twisted the truth of her life, all the while he was doing the exact same thing that she was, waiting for the right moment to strike. But something in her suddenly became very pensive.
"How many times has your boyfriend here been put in harms way simply for being your boyfriend? Can you even count all the occasions? What if I decided to crush his throat here and now, even at the cost to myself? Such a bright young man, cut down before the prime of his life, and all because of you."
Kim struggled in vain to push back tears beginning to form beneath her eyes. A deep fear was close to erupting within her, and it was all she could do to keep it down with each passing second. "You're the one with your foot over his lungs."
"I'm a villain, it's what I do." Slade stated in such a manner that Kim almost imagined him sneering beneath his mask. "But you, you pretend to be his friend, his lover even, and all the while you selfishly gamble with his life, all for your own personal gratification."
"Shut up." Kim could not keep this up for much longer. Even as he gasped for precious wisps of air, Ron could see Kim collapsing mentally before him. He needed to do something.
"You know it's true. One day, whether it's tonight, or even if you somehow manage to postpone it till later, he is going to die because you couldn't save him. It's inevitable. You're the reason that he's here right now, instead of at home, studying, trying to go out with some other girl, one more appreciative than you."
"SHUT UP." Tears began streaming out of her eyes. Kim couldn't take this much longer.
"How many others do you suppose will pay for your sins? Your mother? Your brothers? From your website, I gather that your father has already experienced the unpleasant consequences of raising a super hero for a daughter. It won't stop. It will never stop. As long as you live, you'll save countless strangers, and continue to bask in their meaningless praise. But all the while, the ones you love will be the ones to pay."
Ron knew he had to act, and fast. In desperation, his mind raced back to his training days in Yamanouchi. So long ago, yet so much of it seemed fresh in his mind. He remembered something that Sensei had once told him. 'For a true ninja, the body is the greatest weapon ever to be wielded in battle. All other so called 'weapons' are merely accessories, and unnecessary ones.' Ron had never really been able to follow this message entirely, but he got the gist of it, especially after he had seen the students there shatter stone blocks with their bare hands as part of their daily lessons. Ron had never really been able to perform that little miracle of martial arts, but he had often observed the technique.
Doing his best to imitate it, his hand tensed, his fingers shot straight. "Not a hand." He told himself. "A blade. My hand is a blade." Ron summoned all his power, knowing that it would mean his own end, or worse, if this didn't work. Uttering a silent prayer with breath he didn't have, his hand struck the meat just above Slade's kneecap.
The result was more than he had hoped.
Slade audibly cried out in pain as his foot released its hold on Ron. The blond haired man inhaled, his aching lungs taking in gasps of precious air once again.
Kim didn't have time to analyze what happened. She was in no mood to do so anyway. With all her anger, she struck out with a hard roundhouse to Slade's face, knocking him back, which she followed through with a strong punch straight to his gut.
Slade struggled to regain his composure, striking out with a solid slap that burned across Kim's cheek. But she merely threw it off as she leapt into the air, flipping over Slade and landing squarely behind him. In a single swift motion, she lifted a solid branch, one far sturdier and stronger than the one Ron had picked, off the ground and into her hand with her foot. She then turned to Slade.
"I'll say this once, so listen good." Kim slammed the branch into the side of Slade's still sore right leg, causing him to scream out in pain. "Stay away."
She attacked again; striking across Slade's masked face. "Stay away from my house." She lashed out this time into Slade's stomach. "Stay away from my boyfriend!" Once more, this time, Slade's left foot, causing him to bend over the ground, holding himself up with his arms. "Stay away from my family." Another shot, this time to his left arm. "And stay the hell away from me!" Kim cried out with an inhuman rage as she smashed the branch into splinters across Slade's face.
Slade fell to the ground, splinters of wood and the remnants of Kim's primitive club lay off to his sides. Yet still he moved. With a will and determination that Kim and Ron had simply never seen before, Slade brought himself to his knees.
"Well done Kim. I'm impressed." Even as he spoke, Slade slowly reached into his belt, striking a small switch, releasing a number of small pellets into his palm. Kim and Ron never saw this until it was too late. Slade threw the pellets to the ground, causing a grand cloud of smoke to rise up from the ground, completely obscuring him from all sight. The two didn't need to wait for the smoke to clear to know what had happened.
He was gone.
For a minute, there was an uneasy silence. Kim didn't say anything or move at all, even as Ron continued to lie on the ground, struggling to breathe. His gasps for air spoke volumes to Kim as Slade's words echoed in her mind.