The Trinity Sitch - Book 4: Heart of the Fury
Chapter 5: The First Piece
Four years earlier:
Gryphion watched as the scene unfolded before him. None could see him as he wove a spell about him, hiding him from their eyes. Just under his breath he intoned the prophecy.
Those who have ascended have chosen their champion. The first of the Trinity, the Heart, the Wisdom! The first and greatest among them.
The Sword has been chosen as well. For along with the wisdom there must be the will to do what is necessary. The sword is poised to strike for all that is just, for the greater good of all life!
The Hand has been chosen. The strength and the goodness, the power and the purity!
The Trinity of the Effurien stands ready to lead all from the days of darkness!
He watched as a pair of lovers kissed. The tall man with light brown hair, the lithe woman with long, raven tresses, both of them locked in an embrace that was more than just the kiss. It was the meeting of two souls that had become entwined with each other. Too bad it couldn't last long beyond this moment! He could see the power coursing around them, understanding the meaning of every swirl, every ripple, every blending of color. Then he heard the sound as their strange communication device beeped.
The warning had been given. They knew the Heart of Arkon had been triggered and would soon obliterate that part of their world. His cloaking spell still around him, he followed them, to the chamber where one of them would meet his doom!
He watched as the heroes battled the creature known as the Omnitron. He then watched them race to the device, leaving the defeated warrior behind. The time had almost come. A man and a young woman were all that stood between them and destruction.
Gryphion knew what would happen next. From the folds of his cloak he brought forth the idol, willing its power into being. This was the first step. When his trials were complete he would rule two worlds!
The young man grabbed the red haired woman by her belt, throwing her far from the weapon, hoping it would be enough to at least save her life.
Neil Argus plunged his energy wreathed hand into the containment field of the ancient Arkonian weapon. There was a split second before the massive energies contained within were released. That split second turned into an eternity for the young man as he witnessed what would surely be his death, yet he rejoiced in that end, knowing he had become what he was born to be!
A hero!
He wasn't aware of the swirling red maelstrom of energy opening up behind him until it drew him in, nanoseconds before the blast consumed him.
There was a sound like a thunder clap. It was the same sound heard when you are too close to a large firework. Only, here, there was no burst of sparkling, burning material, only light as only a small amount of matter had been converted to anti-matter. With the containment field ruptured, normal matter rushed in and was annihilated mutually. It was not a blast that would have taken out most of South Carolina and Georgia, but everything within a thirty foot sphere was blasted down to component atoms.
The Omnitron was gone, as well as the Heart…
…and so was Neil Argus.
Pleased with his success, Gryphion left that place and once he was certain he was alone, he used the Tempus Simia to return to his proper time.
The first puzzle piece was in place!
Sidekick in trouble.
Those words, in Ron's voice, played over and over in her head. Those words, spoken to her by him over five years ago, carried power. They brought focus as her mind swept away the cobwebs ten months of inactivity had inevitably left.
She still mused how Ron was so much more than a sidekick now. Best friend, lover, husband, future father of her children…Soulmate.
I am your soul, you are mine.
Ron added that to the otherwise traditional vows they had taken at their wedding. It was actually from the Soul Melding ceremony an aged holy woman performed for them when they were on the distant planet of Arkonia. Over the last months, Kim felt more and more there had actually been two weddings. The Blessed Mother of Arkonia had said as much, at least as far as her people were concerned. They certainly did spend that trip behaving like newlyweds.
Kim placed her palm on a handprint hidden behind her clothes. The false rear wall of the walk-in closet slid aside, revealing seven Team Possible Super Suits, three for Ron and four for her, though the extra one on her side was the original white suit she wore in the fight with Drakken at Bueno Nacho Headquarters. Ron pestered Wade for months to make him a matching suit and was rewarded with the first of his dark gray and goldenrod trimmed suits, made as an exact match for Kim's newer units trimmed in blue.
She selected one of those, stripping out of her tank and capris. The newest set, made from 25th century flex-armor combined with some of Wades technology, she considered too bulky unless the heavier protective plating was called for. Taking a cue from Ron, she slipped on a pair of her old olive mission pants, right over the suit itself, tying the blousing straps to the tops of the form fitting boots. She allowed herself a small smile recalling Ron's lament the pants cut off his view of skin-tight super-fabric stretched over her shapely athletic backside. She had four little words to say to him in response.
Spinning Tops of Doom.
That was their code phrase to remind Ron that he had to watch what he said to certain people. The first time they ran into the Seniors, he had run off at the mouth how their home was like a lair and they could use it as a headquarters to take over the world. Among the many suggestions he made that fateful day was to include the monster, bladed killing machines. They had nearly done Kim in.
Ron was the one to suggest pants over the super-suit, well, not being able to admire her tush in one was the consequence. She, of course, made it up to him on many occasions.
She buckled her equipment belt on last, putting her old original grappler into its holster to supplement the two built into the suit itself. Her transportation was just coming to rest as she locked the front door of her townhouse.
On the outside, her new "Blue Fox Flyer" looked just like the original. It had a small side-by-side cockpit in the main module, flanked by two double engines. The majority of the outside was painted a pleasant shade of blue, trimmed in black. The canopy was treated so you could not see the occupants, though it was perfectly clear from the inside. What was new about this one (the original got shot down over Greenland, stranding the couple there for a short time) was better armor, better magnetic shielding and better sound proofing. The old one you could hardly hear yourself talk over the engines.
Wade was already onscreen as she climbed into Team Possible's primary transport for the first time in months. "Kim, are you certain about this?"
"I'm going with my gut on this one Wade."
"Okay, but I've got to warn you, the rest of the team is pretty wrapped up in stuff right now."
"Wrapped up? How?"
"Joss is in Bermuda running down a miniature particle cannon that was stolen from a research lab there. Tim is at a secure lab hidden in the Rockies investigating the latest theft of the you-know-what…"
"Don't tell me…"
"The Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer!" They said together.
"Jinx, you owe me a soda." Kim said automatically.
"Wonderful. Jim is at Global Justice Headquarters consulting on the disappearance of some dangerous tech right from under their noses there.
The pre-flight complete, the canopy closed and the little craft lifted into the air. In moments she was rocketing past downtown Middleton at five hundred miles per hour.
"Wade, it's sounding like there's something you're not telling me."
"It may be nothing, maybe just a coincidence, but so far there is one thing tying all the thefts and disappearances together."
"Let me guess." She said. "They're all items we've recovered."
"Right. We wouldn't have picked up on this but Professor Dementor chose the same moment as our mystery gatherers to attempt a grab at the Vortex Inducer himself. He got there moments too late, but close enough his more direct assault got us some fuzzy video of two figures dressed kind of like Ninjas."
"So is that all we've got so far?"
"Pretty much. Dementor was so flustered by that point he got captured, but he clammed up tight when GJ brought us in on it."
Kim sat and thought a moment. "So, I'm finding out about all this just now why?"
"No offense, Kim, but we didn't think we'd need to pull you out of your leave-of-absence over this. We're just now getting our feet wet here. None of this would have warranted your attention until we have the next full team meeting."
"Sorry, Wade, but being back in the saddle here puts me into team leader mode. So, what's missing so far?"
"Mostly smaller items, like the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer, some smaller laser tech and the Roflax."
"Why would anybody want all of those things together?"
"Well, unless somebody wanted to invade another dimension with an army of giant cockroaches, I don't know. I really don't think we have enough information yet to see the big picture. I've done some checking, though and Chester Yapsby is still in prison, along with almost everyone else involved originally. They're all either locked up or otherwise accounted for."
"What if all this was just time to distract so they could go after one or more of us?"
"It could be, but we only just started piecing this together. Some of the thefts started several weeks ago."
"Yes, but if you look at it, the moment all three active members were tied up, Ron went missing."
"So you still think Yori had something to do with it?"
"That's the best guess I have right now. You verified the scan yourself, it was pure Japanese silk, a type used only by Yamanuchi instructors. She's either got something to do with it or somebody really wants us to think so. Either way, I'm going to the Yamanuchi school for answers."
"Probably a good call. I've been running down our list of usual suspects when it comes to Ron personally. Monkey Fist appears to be holed up at DNAmy's fortress right now and Gill is still in a government facility, stuck somewhere between his human and his fish-man forms. So, that leads us right back to Yamanuchi. Kim, what if it's just a case of her enlisting him on some secret quest for Sensei?"
"I thought about that, but his wallet, his wristwatch and as far as I can tell, all of his clothes were still in the apartment. I don't think he'd leave without all of those things. Plus, the last time he ran off with Yori, they took everything but the kitchen sink."
"True. Still, it's all pretty thin, but that's your call. Look, even using the sonic boom abatement equipment, the best I can do is get you there in about six hours. You don't have to do any of the flying until you're ready to set down so my advice to you is to switch off your comm and get some sleep."
"Thanks, Wade, you…" Her eyes went wide as a light bulb went off in her head. "Wade! I didn't see Rufus anywhere!"
"Are you sure, Kim?"
"If Ron was in trouble and Rufus couldn't get to him, the first thing he would have done would be to find me and try to tell me!" Kim was starting to panic slightly, the worry over her husband being compounded by the missing Naked Mole Rat.
"Okay, I accessed Ron's Kimmunicator, so far I can't pick Rufus up on the scanners, though it's not a really thorough way to scan for him. That might be a good sign. If Ron is in trouble, maybe Rufus was able to tag along with him. Or even better, if Ron left willingly with Yori, Rufus would have tagged along anyway."
"I hope you're right, but Rufus isn't as young as he used to be. He's already twice as old as any Naked Mole Rat in the wild."
"I know. Please Kim, it's getting late as far as your body is concerned. You'll do yourself and Ron a whole lot better if you get some rest. It's been a long time since you pulled a real mission related all-nighter."
"Oh, so all those late nights studying during my Senior Year don't count for anything?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Don't tell me you didn't have to do that when you were working on your PHD?"
Wade sat there, not making eye contact with her.
Well, you told him not to tell you!
"Fine, I'll shut off the comm and try to sleep, but I'm not turning off my Kimmunicator. I don't want a repeat of last year's England run."
"If an Arkonian fighter attacks, you'll be the first to know."
"Thanks Wade, you rock."
She followed his advice and shut off the main communications system. Her flight path would take her up over Alaska, arcing down toward Japan. All she had to so was sit back and let the flyer take her there. She slipped the darker visor of her helmet down and closed her eyes. Exhaustion won out over fear and anxiety as the steady thrum of four ion engines lulled her into a fitful sleep.
Only the sounds of the jungle creatures penetrated the darkness. The moon may or may not have been up but it had been waning, approaching new. Even if some part of the heavenly orb was visible that night it was unlikely such meager light would penetrate very far through the lush canopy.
Kim and Ron, by all rights, should have been home unpacking in their tiny new apartment, sharing a few glorious days together before their Senior Year started. The had just signed a one-year lease for the place, just a few blocks from Middleton College. Their reputation smoothed over any bumps involved with the owners leasing the place to a young college couple who technically didn't have jobs. It did help that Ron was finally able to draw on a larger part of his trust fund, enabling him to pay the rent six months in advance, including the security deposit (twenty-one year olds don't get a pass on that for saving the world!)
It also didn't hurt that Kim had saved the owner's daughter from an apartment fire across town. It was, as she said, no big! That's why she carried a grappling gun made out of a hairdryer!
Only that hairdryer was not going to save them tonight. It no longer had any firing charges left in it. The most it could be used for would be to manually extend the thin, ultra-strong cable inside if they needed a rope.
It was a tight spot, alright. The darkness that night brought their pursuit to a halt, just as it had them. At least they found some semblance of shelter in the form of some old temple ruins. Ron tried his Kimmunicator once more, but something about the strange jungles here kept the devices from working. They were cut off from the outside, forced to use their wits alone.
"Do you think they're close?" Kim whispered.
"Probably." He said, straining to see something, anything in the inky blackness that enveloped them.
"They'll come as soon as it's light." She said. There was just a touch of fear in her voice. Ron didn't know whether it was a good fear, one that would make her just cautious enough, or a bad fear, one that would sap her will.
"I'm sure they will." He stroked her hair in the darkness.
Kim was tired. She had given her all fighting the goons, then trying to escape, trying to get to a point where they could signal Wade or Global Justice or simply anyone who might be willing to take them from this place. Yes she was tired. Ferociously tired. Before long she would simply give out, but she couldn't do that. There was real murder in these men! They weren't henchmen like they normally faced, they could kill and kill quickly, without any elaborate schemes or long-winded ranting gloats. They could catch them and they would do away with them. It was simple as that. Ron couldn't do this alone, no matter how good he had gotten. It was still up to her.
Yet here she was, sitting in the darkness with Ron gently touching her hair. She felt his hand touch her shoulder, guiding her downwards. Her head came to rest against his leg and she could feel him lightly stroking her hair again.
"Get some sleep." He said softly.
"What if they come?"
"Then we'll deal with it together." He replied.
She let her head rest against his thigh. A small body climbed down her waist, curling up on a couple of their discarded gloves. Rufus, at least, had the right idea.
How could she sleep when there were men out there who wanted them dead?
A hand grasped her index finger gently, holding it and by extension holding her.
She had her answer. Whatever would come with dawn would come, but Kim Possible, the great hero had her own hero to protect her. With him she could allow herself to get the rest she needed so they could prevail and she knew they would.
Kim fell into a deep sleep, cradled in her soulmate's lap, her one finger entwined with Ron's.
Kim awakened with a start, taking a moment to realize she was alone in the cockpit of the Blue Fox. For a split second she thought she was curled up against Ron, but that had only been a dream that was even now fading from her memory. The sun was up in this part of the world and she could see the open ocean rushing by beneath her.
She wrapped her arms around herself, chilled despite the controlled temperature of the tiny cabin. Something tickled her mind, something else she had seen in her dream within a dream.
What else was missing? What horror was waiting to be unleashed on the world by these mysterious gatherers?
The thought was fleeting, like the dream of Ron that had almost slipped back into the ether. The last of it was chased away as the craggy shores of an island nation appeared on the horizon, approaching faster than she could have imagined. She checked the instruments. Her craft was flying at four times the speed of sound, though airspeed was steadily dropping as they neared an inhabited area. The magnetic shielding could soften a sonic boom, but not damp it completely and they didn't want to chance having the military scrambled to chase an improbable aircraft with no wings!
She could see mountains in the distance now. For the first time in her life she was entering what had once been Ron's world, the one thing in his life she was not a part of. That was something she had finally come to terms with after many years, but it still sat there in her mind, like a forgotten bit of string tied to a finger that had fallen off and had been swept away, only to be found later when it really didn't matter any more.
It mattered now, though. This was her link to her missing husband. Some part of her hoped he was off on some adventure with the beautiful young woman. That wouldn't bother her in the least, knowing in her heart that she could trust Ron to the ends of the Earth like that. He would never betray her that way. That was the joy of knowing your souls were one.
Of course, if he had, she would still kick his biscuit all the way back to Middleton for doing this to her.
The navigation system chimed, announcing she was on the final approach to the school. She spotted it in the distance, recognizing it mainly from Ron's stories. There was the waterfall, the rope bridge, the path leading to the valley below. When her husband had come here, he was always forced to climb the steep path to the school, as all the students were. Today she didn't have time for that. There was just enough room in the courtyard to land. With the flip of a switch, control of the Blue Fox shifted to her. It had been some months since she had flown one of these, but the computer still exerted just enough control to keep her from making a critical mistake.
However, as the canopy rose she realized she may have made one anyway, judging from the expressions of the ninjas approaching her and at the sheer number of naked blades pointed at her!
A/N - Once again I am paying an homage to some of the great artwork found over at DeviantArt. This time it's a new work by Minnesotamutt titled Saint Stoppable. For one thing, she's captured what Kim and Ron really look like in my minds eye at this point in their life, for the other, it's just a magnificent work of art.