Our Place in the Food Chain: Part XXXI

Kim back-flipped away as another blast of white light from Carrion's staff ripped into the floor where she had been an instant before. In the same move she sprung backwards again, using her momentum to hand-spring up onto a stack of crates.

It had been painful enough and her arm and shoulder would complain in the morning, but she did managed to flip him over her head a moment after he kissed her neck. Well, that is if she could get out of this scrape. This was much worse than usual, she was fighting a foe who knew how to play on her weaknesses and had waited to strike when she was the most vulnerable. The fact she could admit to herself that not having Ron to rely on had crippled her did make her smile. Sure didn't help the current sitch though. She had to fight down the urge to throw up as she considered the rest of what he had said.

"Oh, this should be so much fun." Carrion screeched from below her. His voice had gone up an octave and now sounded so much like his father it was scary. It sounded so odd coming from someone who looked like he did. "You know, I considered having the whole place cleaned out so you wouldn't have any place to run, but this is going to be so much more stimulating. Funny, isn't it, that Dad likes to emulate birds that feast on the dead instead of birds who hunt. I'm finding I like hunting my prey instead of waiting for it to expire. How much brain power does it take to wait for something to get run over by a car. No, the hunters have the real brain power, not the carrion feeders. Do you know how much trouble he had teaching that condor of his to fight?"

"Only someone as insane as your father would use a species that came so close to extinction, and to think I actually had to hurt that poor thing." She winced again, though it was now being de-trained so it could be released back into the wild.

"Don't flatter yourself, hero." He said, casually spinning the staff in his hand. "His giant condor was nothing more than a distraction so he could bring my toys out to play. You think somebody like my Dad actually built Heat-Seeking-Hummingbirds?" He suddenly pointed it at her and fired the beam. She only just got clear as it struck. "Jump around all you want to sweetheart, it's only going to prolong the inevitable." He fired again, but she was well clear of the blast this time.

"So you're the one who built the Flamingo of Doom too? Boy, that sure was really sane." She taunted as she leaped from box to box.

As if he had all the time in the world, he started unbuttoning his shirt. He slipped it off and started working on his pants, revealing the costume he had on underneath. It was skin tight, mostly black except for the outstretched bird wings across his chest and shoulders. Somehow she thought it was missing a fringe of feathers around the neck and a cape. Then all that remained would be to slick his hair up like a blue-jay's crest.

"Dad designed it, but I'm the one who had the genius to build it. I'm the real brains of this operation. I may be named for the great carrion feeders, but I like to think of myself more as a hawk. I'm a natural hunter and I've got to admit, you have been my most worthy prey to date." He said, twirling the staff again.

"Know what, Carrion, I was scared there for a minute, but you're just like all the rest of the freaks, you talk too much." She stepped from around a crate and landed a powerful right hook on his chin, sending him sprawling backwards.

He recovered, rubbing his chin with his free hand. "Oh, that was a good one. Too bad you didn't do that before instead of just a slap. Zita used to slap me, until she learned not to."

"Ach, I sure don't know her all that well, but what would she ever see in a creep like you?" Kim said disgustedly as she sprung back into the heights of the warehouse.

"Oh, and like you didn't like what you saw? If it weren't for your little pet boy-toy I'd have had you the first time you set eyes on me, so you think she was any different?"

"So, why Zita, Carrion. Isn't she Puerto Rican or something, wouldn't that be 'polluting the gene pool' as you so beautifully put it?" She sneered at him.

"She serves her purpose." He said, angrily, trying to draw a bead on her.

"Sounds more like you're just a hypocrite. So what did you do? Use your magic rock to sap her will or something?"

"You don't know the half of it, cheerleader. You have no idea what she used to be capable of." He was clearly growing impatient. This was taking longer than he thought it might.

Kim thought the longer she kept him talking, the better chance she would have to find an opening. If that didn't work, she was going to have to find out just how well he had the building sealed off, though that would mean cutting across the open and risking being hit by the beam. She recalled what it felt like to have Hego's power ripped from her body by one of those. Even though that wasn't her power rightfully it was far from pleasant having it taken that way.

She was also starting to feel very sorry for Zita. She might have once been a potential rival for Ron's affections but nobody deserved the way Carrion had been treating her.

Kim also found she could not think of him as Cary any more. Only a short time ago he had been the nice, pleasant, hot-looking guy she had known since the start of school. All of that was gone, ripped away just as he had ripped his street clothing off to reveal his true identity. Now he was simply Carrion.

Like Monique said, carrion is nothing more than dead meat!

If she could just keep him talking a moment more…

"Thinking of keeping me busy?" He said, shouldering the staff as he scanned the warehouse for her. "Think again. I've set up a communications disruptor so not even that tracking chip embedded in your neck is going to help." He smiled, which now instead of showing off his perfect teeth, looked more like a snarl.

She had to fight down another wave of nausea as she remembered her first thought when she met him was to wonder what it would be like to kiss him. Gross! She made a pact with herself right then and there the only guy she would ever consider kissing again was Ron.

If he was jamming her tracking chip, that meant that Wade would only have a general area to look in. Now she had no way of knowing if the destruction of her Kimmunicator had set off the automatic warnings or if her signal had simply disappeared off the map. Either way, that meant he couldn't pinpoint where she was right then.

A search of all the warehouses in that area could take all night.

"Here Kitty, Kitty." He called casually shouldering his staff. "Yeah, I think you're a kitty-cat Kim. That sounds cool. Kitty-cat Kim. You sure used up a bunch of your nine lives there, haven't you KCK?

She noticed something sitting on the floor, apparently forgotten by her foe. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on her new target. If she could only get to the floor…

Carrion barely missed her again as she vaulted up into the open framework of the roof. She caught the welded rebar and worked her way hand-over-hand. Kim might have avoided one more blast of the abilities sucking weapon but now she was in the open. In her minds eye she could see him drawing a bead on her. Making a quick guess at the speed it could generate another beam she let go of the framework. Her judgment was near perfect, the beam just missing her fingertips as she dropped away.

It was a good thirty feet to the floor below and she was too far away from the stacks to spring off one, slowing her descent. She landed in a roll, hoping to soften the blow. It worked, she didn't break any bones but her left ankle was now at least badly sprained. The pain was almost too much to bear but the alternative was even worse.

"See?" His voice drifted over the crate, echoing slightly on the metal roof. "Meow, meow, meow kitty, kitty. Did you land on your feet? Or course you did, but that's another life gone. How many lives has the great Kim Possible spent out of her nine now?"

"What's the matter, Cary? Don't you know cats hunt birds?" She said, limping between some boxes but keeping her target in sight.

"Hah! Have you ever seen what a great horned owl can do to a housecat? Their wings don't even miss a beat when they snatch them up. They're no different than rats to them."

Keep talking, jerk. Let's me know right where you are.

"See, I was upset at first that I had to come here, but Dad didn't want Mom to know just exactly who I was yet. Then he found out where she was taking me. Now, normally all he cares about is Team Go. That's why they let him out this time, since all he did was battle them. They couldn't even make the kidnapping charges stick since the Wegos are part of the team. Aggravating circumstances and all. Don't you just love lawyers? Some guy named Ted, he's a real peach.

"Anys-the-how. See, Dad was ecstatic I'd get the chance to have a crack at you. For me, I thought it would be fun, especially since you're so hot. You're ever hotter than the chick who used to be on Team Go. He thought a good bloody nose would be a fitting revenge for your part in his last capture. So, I got to thinking. It'd be a whole lot more fun to knock you down a couple pegs, especially if I got a shot at you in the bargain. That's why I had the party. Oh, you thought you were so smart fixing your own drinks. Too bad you didn't keep a good enough eye on your cup. Vodka is some wonderful stuff, you don't even know you're getting wasted until you're too far gone to care.

"But you had that little angel sitting on your shoulder, your little ninth life waiting there. I thought for sure once you started pawing all over him you'd get him upstairs. Then all it would take would be a quick pop to the back of his skull and I'd be the one having fun instead of him. No, you're little loser up and decides he's mister noble and takes you home right quick-like. That's why he's never going to amount to anything, he doesn't know when it's his advantage to take."

Carrion was at least two rows over. She was sure about it. It was now or never.

As quickly as her busted ankle could carry her she burst from her hiding place, making a dive for Carrion's forgotten street clothes. The remote for the door should still be in his pants pocket! He might have been incredibly intelligent, but that was just a rookie mistake!

She grabbed the trousers, trying not to think whose flesh had been touching them as she fumbled for the device. Her hands closed on something made of rectangular plastic.

Carrion wasn't as inexperienced as she thought. There he stood over her, the staff leveled at her.

"Hello Kitty." He said with a snarl.

The crystal came up. This time she had nowhere to run.

"Carrion, do you know what you said about that angel sitting on my shoulder?"

"Doesn't look like he's going to save you this time, Kimberly Anne!" He gloated.

"Turn around." Another voice said.

He turned just in time for the end of a bo-staff to smash across his face. Teeth went flying from the force of the blow. Carrion went sailing backwards, landing in a heap some fifteen feet away from Ron, who was holding the staff ready. The look on his face wouldn't have just cowed Drakken that night at Bueno Nacho Headquarters…

…it would have sent him screaming into the night.

A few short minutes ago he had been in Sensei's room, begging the old man for a way to help Kim.

"I have to send her a warning, something, anything. Wade can't reach her, so that leaves only you."

"Stoppable-san, you are asking me to do something that is not in my power to do." The old Master said sadly.

"Don't' give me that, Sensei. I know you've been spying on me. You've either got some way of getting back and forth to Middleton or you were using that mystical contact thingy. Whichever, I either need to get over there or I need to warn her." Ron pleaded.

"It does not work that way. When I contact you, it is because you have the Mystical Monkey Power. Your friend…"

"She's way more than a friend and you know it. You know it now more than ever since you're little scheme with Yori fell apart." Ron said angrily.

"Your…lover is a strong woman. She can defend herself against this minor thug." He said resolutely. "We have judged him to be no danger, he follows his mother's lead, not his father's."

"How can you know that? I knew the moment I saw him that he was bad news and now Kim's missing and she's supposed to be with him? Come on, Sensei, even somebody as slow as me can connect the dots there. That's why I've got to warn her, she thinks he's her friend!"

"Again I tell you it is not possible. You are the only one who can do so and you do not yet know how to harness that power. I do not have the link to her that you do. I would help you if I could, but this is beyond my power. We must all accept what is to come for good or ill simply because there is nothing that can be done. The best I can offer is to call on Hirotaka's satellite phone." He turned to the young man, who looked genuinely surprised. "I know you have it and I know you honor my rules by not using it here. However, it would do us no good at this time if she cannot speak on her usual devices. You will recall she was cut off from help when she helped rescue me as Doctor Hall-san took it from her."

Ron left the chamber, hanging his head. Yori followed close behind, her hand resting on his shoulder.

He had a horrible thought that if things didn't go well, the young Ninja might be all he had. No, it wasn't any good to think about things like that. It would be like burying her before she was gone. If only it didn't seem so hopeless.

"Boy!"

Ron spotted Nooni coming toward him down the corridor.

"I'm afraid I'm not much in the mood for any breakfast right now, Nooni-sama."

"Pagh! Not making food for fat boy no way. You go help red-hair girl. She need you."

"But I can't. The fastest I could get there is almost a whole day. She needs my help right now." He said sadly.

"Then you go help her now."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

She grabbed him by the arm and shoved him into an empty sparring room. "This not for you, Yori-chan." She said, shutting the screen in front of the startled young woman.

"You think Nooni make you Naco? Funny boy. I good cook, but not that good." She produced what looked for all the world like a bit of carved stone. It was about an inch thick and perfectly triangular. Some sort of characters were carved on it, though they were obviously not Japanese or Chinese. In fact, he had no idea whatsoever what they were, only that they had something to do with her ability to provide him with dinners that he was used to. The fried chicken the night before must have actually come from the Chicken Shack in Middleton.

That meant something else.

"It was you I saw in the caf! You were the one spying on me."

"Yes, yellow hair. You got me. You see Nooni make sure boy behave self properly. Now, you take this." She handed Ron a bo-staff from a nearby rack. "It good hit bad boy with stick." She chuckled as if it were some kind of private joke.

She took the stone and held it out in front of her. Then she looked him right in the eye. "You must think where she is. You must find way to her. I give you ten minutes, then I bring you back. You understand."

"I do." He said. Concentrating, he tried to think of where Kim was, tried thinking of her face, framed by that lovely auburn hair, her green eyes shining brighter than the emeralds he had given her for her birthday.

With a yell Nooni slammed the stone down on the wooden floor. There was a burst of light as a circle of energy formed over the stone. It was hazy white at first, then it turned into what looked like a floating pool of mercury.

"You go now, round-eye. You help red-hair girl. You help her and make lots of babies with her some day." She giggled as he stepped into the circle.

Moments later he was standing in a dark warehouse. At first all he could see was a small table sitting beside a new looking car. Then he heard somebody speaking.

It was Cary, though his voice sounded different. He was saying something about Kim's angel.

He was standing over Kim with a crystal tipped staff. The staff itself was longer, but he knew what it was and what it could do. She didn't have any special powers but that didn't mean it couldn't hurt her somehow.

At a dead run he held up the staff like a baseball bat. Just as he reached then he said. "Turn around!"

Carrion looked at his attacker. If his possibly busted jaw hadn't hurt so much it would have hung there slack. Standing in front of her was the very last person he thought he would see that night.

"This isn't possible." He whispered, holding his jaw with one hand, the staff with the other.

"No, she's Possible, pretty boy. I'm Ron, Ron Stoppable and I told you before…"

"…Stay…away…from…KIM!" He screamed as he vaulted toward his opponent.

Not experienced in combat, he did the only thing he could think of at the moment, which was to bring the staff up in front of him, trying to ward off the blow. He just barely managed to do just that, but Ron simply vaulted over him.

However, he was recovering quickly. Some of the abilities he had stolen with his crystal bordered on the astounding and when used all at once, granted him an accelerated healing ability. It couldn't do anything about the missing teeth, but at least his jaw wasn't broken, only deeply bruised.

"Looks like I'm going to get the complete set, just like my father thought. I wonder what that monkey thing of yours is going to do to me. Hope it doesn't make me look like a little shrimpy loser like you."

"Why don't you try and find out." Ron growled right back at him.

"Don't mind if I do." In a movement that was hard to follow, he brought the crystal down and fired. It intersected with Ron's body, lifting him partially up into the air. Along with the white light that held him fast, a pale yellow light started snaking from his body.

"Ah, I can feel it already!" Cary gloated, his eyes gleaming with the same madness his father had. "Soon I will have power that rivals that monkey freak you fight. Team Go will fall to me, then the other superheroes of the world will fall. I will become what my father only dreamed of. All because you are such a fool to bring me the power that will be key!"

"Oh, you can have it." Ron said wearily as the Mystical Monkey Power was sucked from his body. "I didn't want it to begin with, but do you know what my job is in Team Possible?" He grinned slightly.

"What's that, loser?"

"He's the distraction." Kim said, grabbing the staff from Carrion's hands.

She spun it over her head, bringing the crystal down, smashing it to a thousand pieces on the concrete floor.

"NOOOOOO!" Carrion screamed as multi-colored lights streamed from the remains. Then his own body started to glow as the powers he had stolen were separated from him. They wafted into the sky, presumably returning to their rightful owners.

He feel to his knees, trying to scoop up the shards. His shoulders sagged and his face changed subtly. He was still Cary, yet he seemed so much less now.

The resemblance to his father was striking.

Ron fell to the floor, still dazed. The yellow light was rushing back into him. His power, his curse was returning to him once more. It almost would have been worth it to lose it. Almost.

It may have been a trick of the light, but he thought some of that light had settled on Kim, though the vision was only fleeting. Then it was gone.

Carrion looked at Kim, who was standing proudly even on her injured ankle. Ron was slowly getting up. He took one more look at the two of them and ran screaming. He hit a hidden switch and the door rolled up, letting him out into the night.

Ron started to go after him.

"No, Ron. It's over. We've won. We can let the police pick him up now. If we do anything else that makes us just like him. It will be revenge."

He looked back at her knowing she was right. Then it hit both of them.

They rushed into each other's arms, crushing their bodies together as they kissed. Kim put her head over his shoulder and held him even tighter.

"Ron, how did…?"

Sadly, he let go of her. The place was already fading away, slowly being replaced by the dojo in Yamanuchi.

"I'll tell you when I get home. I love…" and then he was gone.

Carrion stumbled through the dark streets, not quite knowing where he was or where he was going. His whole world had been shattered along with that crystal. It was his masterpiece and it should have worked.

It was that boy! That thrice-cursed loser that bitch Kim was so in love with. How did he get back form Japan? Was he even over there in the first place. Not that it mattered, even without the stolen abilities he was a genius. He would build another crystal, this time making it so the effect really would be permanent. Then he would have his revenge.

Something stuck him in the temple, sending him sprawling to the ground.

A figure was silhouetted in the half-light of a distant street-lamp. It was the figure of a woman. A short, slight woman with dark, full hair. She was holding what looked like a baseball bat but was more likely a crude club of some sort. She tapped it in her free hand.

"Hello, boyfriend." Zita said as she advanced on the source of her torment.

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