"Super hero?" Ron exclaimed with rage. "Do I look like a super hero to you?"
Dr. Drakken dangled helplessly in the air, his arms bound above his head, over a pool of his own private army of mutated sharks that swam in circles beneath him, their ravenous appetite readily apparent as they bit up into the air at their dangling meal.
"Not especially." Drakken admitted sheepishly.
"A super hero." Ron began muttering to himself incredulously. "Me? Who the hell snatched that mystic monkey power from right under Lord Montgomery Fiske's nose? Me. Who seduced the head student of the Yamanouchi School into getting himself admitted as a student, only to turn around later and kill half the students, and their Sensei, with their own stupid holy weapon? Me. Who…"
Ron was distracted from his private ranting by a familiar sound coming from the corner of the room. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Shego, still struggling to burn off her custom manacles that completely covered her entire hands, locking them together while simultaneously dampening her powers.
"Listen toots," Ron began. "I was only able to coble those shackles together on short notice, so if you keep that up, you will probably burn through them in about twenty four hours." Ron then turned over to face Shego, seething rage consuming his entire face "but if you don't cut that out, I'll shove those glowing hands of yours down your own throat in less than a second, so give it a rest!"
At this, Shego's hands went dim, their glow fading.
Ron took a deep breath before beginning again where he had left off. "I did not throw one of my camp counselors into a lake of toxic crud just so that I could be thought of as a hero. Got it?" At this, Ron let fly with a shuriken straight at Drakken in a fit of rage. The mad scientist was just barely able to pull at his bonds, lifting himself slightly higher into the air, allowing the flying blade to pass within a half of a centimeter of his crotch area.
"Duly noted." Drakken assured in a high pitched tone.
"Look, sorry to get your underwear in a wedgie or anything, but Dr. D is telling the truth. You and Kim really do fly around the world, righting wrongs, helping the helpless and a bunch of other incredibly lame stuff. You dorks even have your own website to brag about it." Shego went on, well aware that her life was in the hands of a raving lunatic.
"She's right. I've even got it bookmarked on the computer." Drakken explained frantically.
"You have the site bookmarked?" Ron and Shego asked in stunned unison.
"What? That site has some really nice features." Drakken defended himself feebly. "Plus that naked mole rap is just so catchy."
Ron rolled his eyes in frustration before moving over to a large computer terminal in the side of the wall. As he sat down, his fingers moved naturally over the pad, searching through the various other files on the hard drive, his eyes scanning through them at an impossibly fast rate. Images and data flashed on the screen for less than an instant before changing and being replaced with yet more hard information. Shego and Drakken looked at each in confusion, each trying to determine whether or not the figure was actually just skimming through the information, or if he was indeed processing everything the screen was showing him.
Finally, he brought up the site in question. The images before him brought a look of revulsion across the young man's face, yet still he pressed on. The front page displayed the image of the red headed teen hero that both Shego and Drakken had come to know and hate, dressed in her regular mission clothes, smiling widely, and standing next to her partner/sidekick/boyfriend, their hands held tight. The website was a massive virtual monument to the duo and their accomplishments. Message boards, FAQ, reports of them in assorted papers around the world, press photos, the list went on.
The dark clothed man stared at an image of himself, or someone disturbingly similar in appearance to himself, for the longest time. Only this Ron Stoppable was very different in appearance. Loosely combed over hair and a flimsy, flabby physique fit into casual, khaki pants and a red, white outlined t-shirt.
A look of horror passed over the figure as he got up from the computer terminal, walking absent mindedly over near to where Drakken hung.
"Oh god. I'm not in some alternate dimension. I'm in hell. This is hell, and I'm in it." Ron muttered to himself as if the life had been drained from his very body.
Ron's revelation was cut short as one of Drakken's mutant sharks leapt right out of its tank, its jaws opening wide, a mash of teeth and horrific agony flying straight at Ron. However, the young man sensed the attack. Moving to the side, he dodged the attack, only to grab the shark by its rear end in mid leap, swinging it around in the air a few times before throwing it back in the tank.
Not ready to give up on its lunch, the shark quickly attempted to rise again, only to be knocked down hard by a solid foot to its nose.
"Stay down, 'skippy.' I'm in a bad mood." Ron shouted furiously.
For a moment, there was stunned silence, until Drakken interrupted a tone of confusion apparent in his voice.
"Wait a minute, 'alternate dimension?'"
"Oh for pete… Dr. D, this guy is from another dimension, just like with that stupid Dimensional Inducer thingy."
Drakken paused for a moment, digesting this information before responding. "He is?"
Both Ron and Shego rolled their eyes in despair and frustration before speaking again.
"Have you noticed the change in clothes?" Ron asked.
"Well, I just thought you were going through one of those teen phases." Drakken answered simply.
"And the fact that his history is completely different from everything we know?" Shego included.
"Well, I thought he just bumped his head when he dropped out of the air." Drakken replied nervously.
"And what about the fact that he appeared out of a weird, twirly light show in the first place?" Shego added.
"And the fact that I just knocked a shark out cold?" Ron finished.
Drakken paused for a moment in consideration.
"Ok, I have to admit, those had me stumped."
Ron rolled his eyes in frustration before walking over to a control on the wall, activating the mechanism to seal the lid over the shark pit and lower Drakken down to the ground. Even as the mad scientist regained his footing, Ron leaned over the back of Shego to undo her shackles.
"Ok look, this is how I see it. I need to get out of here, before I lose my mind. You help me get what I need to get home, I'll let you live. Heck, I'll even kill someone for you, I don't care." Ron finished rather apathetically as he went over to cut the ropes binding Drakken's arms together.
"You'll help me destroy Kim Possible?" Drakken's eyes lit up at this offer.
Ron turned for a moment to Drakken's large computer screen where the image of his 'twin' and his partner remained frozen in cruel mockery.
"Yeah. We'll call it even." Ron glared at the screen with horrific intent.
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"So anyway, there we are, and the dragon is blocking our only way out of the castle. So the party all gets together to attack, and I decide to cast 'Wall of Force'…." The figure on the other end of the table had been recounting his role playing adventures now for exactly thirty eight minutes and fifty two seconds. Kim had been keeping track.
It had been two days since Ron's postcard, and there had been no further news or additional postcards whatsoever. Kim had started to despair so much that she had finally given in to Monique's pressure to resume dating, at least casually.
Unfortunately, Felix hadn't been available. Instead, Kim had been set up with a kind of friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend for the date, even if it was just a lunch date. His name was Ian, and he had seemed nice enough at first. Tall, somewhat thin, blond hair that reminded her of Ron, and he'd even been well mannered. She'd actually considered this to have not been such a bad idea after all, at first.
He'd taken her to a bar restaurant near by, not very romantic, but it was passable, and in truth, Kim preferred it that way. Just because she was getting out again into the world didn't mean she was going to start looking for a real relationship.
The food was decent and they had even had a nice band playing that afternoon.
Then Kim made the mistake of asking what he liked to do in his spare time.
It turned out that Ian was an extremely avid fan of role playing games. He'd spent the entire time since then going on and on about his various 'adventures', the conventions he'd been too, and all the 'famous' writers he'd met.
It was official. She would never speak to either Felix or Monique ever again. Ever. If the fate of the world or the success of a mission ever depended on her directly interacting with either of them, she was just going to have to accept the end of the world.
Thankfully, Kim's living nightmare was interrupted by a familiar chime within her purse. A floodgate of relief opened within Kim as she reached in for the device, silencing her 'date' with a lone finger as she activated the device.
"Hey Wade, what's the sitch?" Kim tried not to sound too relieved as she spoke, with only moderate success.
"Hey Kim. Listen we've got a hit… wait, are you out? Is this a bad time?" Wade asked almost guiltily.
"NO! No, everything's fine. You were saying." Kim trapped Wade with her facial expressions.
"Uhmm, yeah, we got a hit on the site. There's a hijacking going on. A government train running through the area."
"Got my ride?" Kim asked enthusiastically.
"All set. You'll be out there in ten minutes."
"Please and thank you." Kim turned off the image on the Kimmunicator, returning it to its resting place in her purse before throwing a few dollars on the table. "Listen Ian, thanks… for taking me out, but I got to run." Kim didn't wait for a response as she hurried out the door.
"Wait, I didn't tell you how we got past the two Orks!"
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Kim hunched over the Kimmunicator as her ride flew at less than five hundred feet over the train lines through Middleton.
"So Wade, what's the deal with this train?"
"Well, technically, it doesn't exist. It runs special equipment for government laboratories. A lot of highly classified stuff that doesn't appear on paper anywhere."
"Security?"
"More than just boy scouts, I can tell you that. There's between fifty and a hundred soldiers on this train at any time. Whoever is pulling this little stunt off is good."
"Any leads?"
"Nope. They're sneaky too. Distress call was cut off in a hurry. Train didn't make its usual stop so they figured something was wrong. I don't know if you want to go in blind like this Kim."
"I'll be fine. See what else you can find out. Later Wade." Kim hung up on the technical genius, leaving her to time her jump just properly. Out of a plane and onto the back of a speeding train. Kim had done this before, but that didn't mean that this required any less concentration.
Kim called out to the pilot, thanking him for the ride, for which he assured her it was the least he could do after she helped coach his daughter for that musical competition.
"It was no big, Mr. Clarkson."
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Kim set her chute down as she made it atop the rear car of the train, releasing it to be carried off by the wind. Acting quickly in case someone had seen her drop in, Kim leapt down between the two cars, before entering via the door at the end of the second rear car.
Kim entered into a large container filled with unlabeled boxes, nearly tripping over two unconscious figures in military garb as she did. A quick check of their pulses confirmed they were alive but out cold.
Kim moved as lightly as a feather as she proceeded through the car, passing at least a dozen more unconscious soldiers as she walked. The air inside was stuffy and musty, but she pushed this aside, focusing instead on the sounds of boards being pried up ahead. As Kim continued to move quietly, she managed to make out a familiar outline in green and black forcing open a wooden container with a crowbar.
As Shego struggled with the box, she was completely oblivious to Kim sneaking up behind her. However, Kim herself was so focused on Shego that she failed to see a super thin noose quickly lowering down in front of her.
The noose tightened immediately, catching around Kim's neck, causing the teen hero to reach at her throat in a desperate attempt to pull at it. Yet, before she could do so, she felt herself lifted up off the ground, gasping for air, and looking up in horror at the face of her assailant.
"R-Ron." Kim managed to gasp before going dark.
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Kim groaned as she slowly regained consciousness, a hoard of twisted and sick memories filling her mind.
She slowly became vaguely aware of a finger moving up and down the sides of her face, outlining it slowly, sensually. For a moment, she allowed herself to indulge in the feeling, until she opened her eyes to see who it was.
"Ron!"
Kim tried to rise up, only to find her hands and legs bound tightly. As she looked around, she could see that she was no longer in the train car. Instead, she appeared to be in an aircraft of some kind. To her side, she noticed a series of large containers she assumed to have been lifted from the train heist.
"Ron, what are you doing here? What… why are you..." Kim had too many questions, and none of them could decide which would go first.
A cruel smile crossed Ron's face as he rose up to his feet, walking over to the side of the cabin. "Well, gosh Kim. I tried the whole 'good boy' routine, but that just didn't work out. I guess no matter what I did, it just wasn't good enough for you. So I decided to grow a backbone. What do you think?"
"Ron, you're not making any sense." Kim tried to see a trace of her friend, her boyfriend, within the man standing in front of her, yet there was none. A thousand different explanations offered themselves up to Kim's confused mind. Mind control? Under the influence of the Attitudinator again? Somehow, neither of these really satisfied Kim. There was a different look in his eyes, something completely out of place.
"Well then let me use small words for you, Kim. We're through. I'm dumping you." At this, Ron opened the hatch in the compartment, causing a huge gush of wind to blow out of the cabin. "Right over downtown Middleton in fact. You'll be hitting rush hour, literally."
At this, Ron picked up Kim, throwing her over her shoulders, carrying her over to the hatch, only to set her down, upright.
"Ron! Please, don't do this. Fight it. Whatever Shego did to you, fight it."
Ron just smiled a cruel smile, then grabbing the back of Kim's head, forced his mouth onto hers, his tongue invading her mouth.
Kim twisted away in revolt. Whoever this was, this was not Ron. Ron would never, could never do this. Yet this did little to comfort the violation, even drawing a tear from Kim.
Ron turned to push her out, only to pause for a minute before turning to Kim again. "Say, before you go, any ideas where they keep the Lotus Blade around here?"
"What?"
"Oh forget it. I'll find it myself."
With that, Ron casually pushed Kim straight out of the plane, sealing the door behind her.
"Echk. She's even a lousy kisser in this world." Ron commented to himself.
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Miles and miles of concrete and buildings rushed up to meet Kim at terrible speeds.
Determined not go down willingly, Kim struggled at her bonds, but they would not give. Her hands were tied tightly behind her, almost completely cutting off circulation.
She attempted to stretch her arms accordingly in order to active the mini-laser kept within her sleeve, only to discover it was missing. It was probably a safe bet that her other gear had been removed as well.
Kim struggled to think, but at the speed she was falling, it would be challenge enough to remain conscious. Kim struggled to keep her breath, continuing to tug at the ropes around her wrist.
She was so absorbed by this as she passed the Middleton skyline that she failed to notice a figure clad entirely in black sweeping out towards her, swinging from a strong line attached to the top of a nearby building. Kim turned about just in time to see the figure catch her firmly with one arm while the other arm held onto the line for dear life.
Kim could only watch as the figure swung through the air without fear or hesitation, finally bringing the both of them down rather roughly atop a skyscraper. Kim let out a rough cough as she tried to regain air in her lungs, bringing herself weakly and gradually up to her knees. Yet before she could say anything, the figure had already knelt down, cutting her bonds to harmless shreds of rope.
As she rubbed feeling back into her wrists, Kim looked up to the masked face of her savior.
"Whoever you are, thank…" Kim lost her breath all over again as the masked figure removed the garbs covering his face. "… you."
"Come on KP. You know it's what I do best." Ron Stoppable smiled wildly.