Author's Note: I should warn you, the website has been having a bit of trouble sending me emails for every review I get so if it takes a little while than longer for me to reply to reviews, I apologize.
Once again, thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, whether it was every chapter or just whenever you saw something that caught your fancy. I truely appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart.
Enjoy. I think you will.
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For Ron Stoppable, a nightmare was when he dreamed of coming to school in just his underpants. A nightmare was finding the entire world's population having been replaced by monkeys, or finding himself on a deep space probe heading for the nearest black hole. Ron Stoppable was no stranger to the experience of nightmares. But finding himself standing face to face with the complete representation of everything that was rotten within himself… well, 'nightmare' hardily did the experience justice.
"This isn't Wannaweep," Ron realized aloud as he turned to look around, taking in his surroundings.
"Oh, very astute. I can see why they think you're the smarter of us." Zorpox rolled his eyes before adding "oh wait. They don't."
"Where are we? What's going on?" He asked warily of his other self.
"Heck if I know. Dream, some kind of side affect of the Attitudinator, hell, maybe you're actually having some kind of vision quest. Beats me. We never really figured that out the last time this happened either." Zorpox stood up, starring his alter ego squarely in the eyes.
"This happened before?"
"Last time we switched back."
"Then why don't I remember."
"Same reason you don't remember anything else about me, because you were scared. We're in your mind, and you're as scared of me now as you were then, so you hid me. You hid me away where even you wouldn't be able to find me."
"Wait a minute, if this has happened before, then that it's happening again means KP won. She used the Attitudinator, I'm me again!" He paused as he turned to his darker self. "So why are you still here?"
"I'm always here." Zorpox answered with a grin. "The Attitudinator didn't create me; it just gave you a name to remember and a face to speak to. I'm just trying to make you appreciate what you're about to lose like I did last time. Of course, this time should be much more interesting. You see, we didn't get a chance to really talk face to face last time. You couldn't really bring yourself to face me, so I was more of a whisper in the wind." Zorpox paused briefly to ponder his word choice before amending "or echo in the wind. There was a lot of wind, I do remember that much. After all, we were in your head; the breeze through there gets pretty serious on windy days."
Ron had heard more than enough as he rushed forward to tackle Zorpox, only to find himself on the ground as he passed harmlessly right through the space that Zorpox seemed to occupy. His blue skinned alter ego seemed unsurprised by this turn of events as Ron rolled over on the ground to look up at Zorpox.
"You know, I don't care anyone says, I absolutely refuse to believe that you and I use the same brain." Zorpox turned, looking down on Ron in pure disgust. "This is going to be hard for you to accept, but I'm not actually here. You're not really lying on the ground… well, at least not in that position. We're in your mind!"
"Why?" Ron rose up, looking his other self directly in the eye, standing inches apart. "Why is this happening? Why are you here?"
Zorpox simply smiled. "Ron Stoppable, here is your life."
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Ron found himself standing on the sidewalk of Middleton. The streets were unmistakable, but there was something about the neighborhood that seemed… different. Some quality of it that was out of place that he could quite put his finger on.
"Be it ever so humble, there's no dump like home." Zorpox mused. Ron turned about, the surprise evident on his face.
"Oh man, since when do you get to be my conscience? What, does Jiminy Cricket have the day off?"
"He does ever since I squashed him with a can of buy spray." Zorpox bit back.
"You're not a nice person." Ron was unimpressed by Zorpox's sick humor.
"Uh, hello? Evil! It says so on my card."
"You have a card?"
"I was getting to it!" Zorpox replied defensively.
"Ronnie, look." A high pitched voice interrupted the duo's bickering. Both Ron and Zorpox turned to see a familiar young girl, complete with red hair, pig tails, and braces, as she walked side by side with an equally familiar young boy with short blonde hair and a familiar decoration of freckles across his face. The young pair walked across the 'street' from where Ron and Zorpox stood.
"Hey, that's me and KP!" Ron exclaimed fondly.
"Well, we are in your mind after all." Zorpox replied obviously, before turning his attention to little Kimmie. "Man, you sure know how to pick them young. Who'd have thought 'that' would turn into a smoking cheerleader?"
"Just so you know, if I could, I'd turn your face inside out." Ron threatened.
"Well you can't so tough." Zorpox actually stuck his tongue out at Ron before turning back to the mental hallucinations before him. "Oh no, wait a second. I remember which memory this is."
Ron noted the frantic look on Zorpox's face, before finally drawing his attention to the middle of the street, where a tiny black kitty had apparently wandered aimlessly. The sound of a nearby car drew Ron's attention to a blue minivan that was driving down the road, apparently oblivious to the helpless infant feline standing before its merciless path.
"Oh no, I can't watch this again." Zorpox's face nearly turned white as young Ronnie bolted out across the street, headless of little Kimmie's warnings, scooping up the tiny cat in his hands and leaping out of the way as the car continued to drive past, its horn blaring even as it went on its way.
"Ronnie! Ron, are you ok." Little Kimmie cried out as she made her way across the street, over to where Ronnie sat, the tiny cat in hand.
"I just rescued a cat!" Ron announced triumphantly, even as he turned to see the fuming mad expression on Zorpox's face.
"The only thing I hate worse than being stuck on the crummy channel that is your life is being stuck watching re-runs!" He complained to no one in particular
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It took a few more knocks on the door, before little Kimmie and Ronnie were eventually greeted by an older lady who seemed quite pleased to see the pair.
"Oh, Kimberly. Ronald. How nice to see both of you," she exclaimed.
"Mrs. Kline, we found your cat." Kimmie exclaimed, as she held up the tiny animal in her hands.
"Oh, Wiggles! Did you get out again?" The older lady asked as she took the feline in her hands. "Thank you so much Kim for finding him and bringing him back."
"Actually," Kimmie began to clarify "Ron is the one who saved him. There was this car coming, and Ron rushed right out and grabbed Wiggles and saved him. He was really cool."
A poorly concealed look of disbelief covered the old woman's face as she listened to this astounding tale of heroics. "Now Kimberly, your mother and father should have told you, you don't need to make up stories to impress other people."
Little Ronnie didn't have the experience necessary to mask his disheartenment at his unthanked heroics, even as Kimmie protested on his behalf.
"But it's true. Really. He was all brave… and, and fearless and it was amazing."
"Ok then." She replied, obviously attempting to placate the simple children. "Well then, thank you Ronnie. Would you two like to come inside?"
"No thanks Mrs. Kline." Ronnie replied. As young as he was, even he wasn't that stupid.
"Oooh, isn't that such a shame." From the sidewalk, watching from a safe distance, Zorpox could not hope to restrain himself. "Even as a little boy, no one believed you could even save a cat. Pfft. No wonder everyone thinks the cheerleader does all the work."
"So I saved a cat, and no one else believed me." Ron crossed his arms, obviously annoyed at Zorpox's little mental slide show. "Is there some kind of point to this?"
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"Our gratitude, Ron Stoppable." Sensei praised as he held the Lotus Blade in its case. "At Yamanouchi, you will always be remembered as a warrior hero." Sensei's final words caused the other students in attendance to bow their heads respectfully. Ron found himself and Zorpox looking down on himself back at Yamanouchi, just after his after his first visit to the secret ninja school.
"Booyah! Warrior hero. Score!" Past Ron exclaimed as he gave a finger to Rufus atop his head who returned the enthusiastic high five.
"But, the true nature of the ninja school must be kept secret." Sensei explained solemnly, prompting a look of confused shock on Ron's face.
"You must never tell anyone of your adventure here." Yori sounded almost consoling as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Not ever."
"Hmm, I think I'm starting to catch the pattern." Zorpox noted as he watched the familiar events unfold. "If the world is saved, and it's by Ron Stoppable, does anyone ever notice? Nope! Not once."
"Hey, I've helped other times than that." Ron bit back. "What about that time I fought Gill?"
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….
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"Alright you know what, enough with the flashbacks already!" Ron cried as he steadied himself and Zorpox back on the memory of Mount Yamanouchi. "They're giving me a headache."
"Yeah, that figures. Anything that happened longer than five minutes ago, and it's a real brain buster for you, isn't it?" Zorpox merely rolled his eyes.
"You know what, can we just fast forward to the part where I wave good bye to you, tell you to call sometime and then forget to give you my number? Or do you actually have a point to all this?"
Zorpox merely smiled.
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"I thought I said no more flashbacks!" Ron cried out as he found himself standing on the side walk of what looked to be downtown Middleton.
"Oh, this isn't a flashback. This is something else." Zorpox took Ron as he led him down an alley way, out towards one of the main streets. As they hurried along, Ron could see a large crowd of people gathered together en mass along the sides of the street while band fair seemed to fill the air even as multi-colored confetti rained down over the entire area.
Ron quickly surmised a parade of some kind was going on, even as he watched a giant float driving down the street. Ron thought he could make out Kim's parents and brothers atop the float, each sitting in specially ordained seats atop the float as though they were guests of honor amidst the proceedings. The Possible family smiled and waved as thousands of people seemed to scream in cheer at the very sight of them.
As loud as the cheering was, it quickly rose into a deafening roar, forcing Ron to cover his ears as he turned back down the street to see what all the commotion was about.
"What is all this?" He could barely hear himself shout the question back to Zorpox.
"Your worst nightmare." Zorpox made no effort whatsoever to raise his voice over the crowd. Never the less, his words echoed clearly and plainly in Ron's ears as Ron turned back to see another float, this one curiously decorated with plates upon plates filled and overflowing with cheese. Cheese of all types and colors, sizes and shapes, all neatly arrayed both as decoration and dinner, and at the center of them all was a large pillow propped up on another extravagant chair, where a tiny pink figure sat, waving happily at the crowds of people as they chanted and cheered his name.
"Rufus! Hey, Rufus!" Ron shouted, attempting to reach his tiniest friend over the roar of the crowd. "Rufus, over here little buddy."
Ron could swear he saw his mini friend turn to look at him with a look of confusion before dismissively turning back to the masses and masses of loving admirers.
"Rufus, it's me! Ron! Hello?" Ron turned back to Zorpox. "Why the heck didn't he remember me?"
"Hey, don't ask me why this is the way it is. This is your nightmare." The roar of the crowd grew even louder, prompting Zorpox to look back down the street with glee. "Ooh, and here comes my favorite part."
The band fair redoubled in noise, reaching out over the roar of applause as an enormous float came down the street. Off to its side, a squad of cheerleaders jumped and danced perfectly in formation alongside it. The entire thing was extravagantly decorated with gold and lace, the top of which carried two thrones, worthy of royalty. Ron's heart nearly snapped as he saw Kim Possible sitting comfortably in one throne, every wave of her right hand prompting louder and louder cheers and cries of praise from the crowd, while her other was wrapped contently within some one else's palm.
Ron didn't recognize the young man who held Kim's attention and affection, but to look at him, one would almost think someone had taken Eric and Josh Mankey, put them in a blender, and produced this pretty boy. Whoever he was, he was clearly the sole object of Kim's focus, her eyes staring dreamingly into his.
"KP?" Ron couldn't even find the strength of lungs to call out as her float moved right past him. His face was one of pure disheartenment as the float moved on down the street. Ron felt himself want to chase after it, but instead, his feet remained firmly planted where they were, as both the parade and its crowd seemed to vanish around him even as the float with Kim on it faded off into the distance.
"It's the same every night, isn't it?" Zorpox asked. "You must remember. They're celebrated, you're forgotten. They're cheered, you're left behind. It's coming. As much as you try to convince yourself that it's just an irrational dream, you know, deep, deep down, that it's going to happen. Kim is going to go on to bigger and better things, and you're going to get left in the street, watching her backside one last time as she rides off into the sunset."
"Drop dead." Ron's voice had taken on the texture of pure gravel.
"It's that thing that haunts you every time, that thought that lingers just at the edge of your conscious thoughts when ever the two of you say good night or good bye for a little while. That between then and the next time you see her, she's going to find someone better, like she almost did with Eric." Zorpox went on.
"Shut up."
"You got lucky then, and you know it. It was only by some sick twist of good fate that Eric turned out to be a syntho drone, cause if he had been real… hohohahahahaha." Zorpox could restrain himself. "Oh man, she left you behind in the dust at the drop of some pretty boy's comb, and for as long as you've been alive, you can't ever remember being so miserable. And the thought that that might happen again is what slowly eats away at you inside doesn't it? It's a fear that has woken you up in the middle of the night screaming."
"I said, Shut Up!" Ron gritted his teeth together.
"You honestly don't know what you'd do if that happened again do you? The very thought is almost enough to stop your heart. But I can help you. I can take away that fear, that pain. I can promise you that you will never be left behind ever again."
Ron turned to Zorpox in anger even as the world around him seemed to melt, changing. The street was the same street, but the buildings were filthy, many had fallen into decay and some into basic, utter ruin. The sidewalks were lined with some kind of elite soldiers, their weapons drawn, in full riot gear, as they held back a mob of people who looked on in helpless defeat as a different kind of procession marched through their town.
Two dozen slaves pulled at a massive armored behemoth of some kind as Zorpox stood tall and proud, his very presence seemed to blanket the area in a palpable fear. Faint cheers were forced at weapons range by the soldiers in the street as Zorpox cackled, his laugh filling the whole street.
"You see?" Zorpox motioned to himself and his own triumphant march. "I can give you the world. And all you have to do is surrender your fear, your pain, and your doubt. Stop being afraid, and be honest. This is who you are, I am who you are."
Ron just looked on in numb horror as Zorpox revealed in the destruction all around them. Above them, the sky seemed to darken, not with clouds, but with a kind of growing night that spread across the sky, illuminated only by lightening and cracked by thunder.
"I know you've felt it. You felt it when you watched that creepy fake place his hands on hers. You felt that urge to throttle the life out of him just for looking at her. I'm offering you that freedom; the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want and all you have to do is just be honest with yourself!" Zorpox roared, his rant echoing through the abandoned ruins around him.
Ron's face was that of stone resolve as Zorpox asked, in a much lower, more normal tone of voice, "So, what do you say?"
Ron's fist cracked against Zorpox's face, knocking him down to the ground.
"You know, I had a feeling the rules around here had changed when you started showing me your fantasies." Ron rubbed his hands with utter satisfaction. That had felt good.
"Ooh, you are so disappointingly predictable." Zorpox burned as he rose up to his feet. "I'm offering you…" Zorpox was cut off as Ron's fist slammed into his face yet again, knocking him back.
"I heard you the first time. That was once more than I ever want to hear that again." Ron rubbed his hands again.
"Ah, so now what? Just senseless violence?" Zorpox asked as he rubbed his jaw smartly.
"Ok." Ron threw another punch, but Zorpox caught it, before retaliating with a blow to Ron's stomach, causing him to bend over.
"Oh come on, don't tell me that you thought the rules only worked in your favor." Zorpox grinned with satisfaction; that had felt good. "I've got some say around here too you know."
"It's still my head, what I say, goes." Ron came back up with an uppercut that knocked Zorpox straight to the ground. "And I say, you go."
"Not your choice." Zorpox rolled around on the ground for only a moment before leaping up to his feet. He launched into a series of attacks at Ron who managed to deflect every one of them. "I'm everything that you want to be, everything that you can be. If you get rid of me, you fade into nothingness."
"Yeah right." Ron deflected one last attack before kicking out, hitting Zorpox into the gut. "Like I'd take anything you'd tell me at face value. But even if that were the case, I don't care."
"Loser." Zorpox spit out before coming back up with a strike to Ron's face. Zorpox then immediately rushed Ron, tackling him to the ground, pinning him beneath his own weight as he dug his fist into Ron's face. "Is that how you want to go through life? Forgotten?" Another fist. "A nobody."
Ron caught the next strike in his hand even as he struck outward with his spare hand, knocking Zorpox off him. "It's not about who remembers me, it's about what I do. It doesn't matter if they forget, I won't. And neither will she."
"Oh god, here comes the speech." Zorpox and Ron rose to their feet at the same time, even as Zorpox jabbed with his right fist, then his left, then a combo to Ron's lower, middle and upper body with Zorpox's left foot, all of which Ron blocked. "You know she'll leave you sooner or later."
"She could have left me years ago." Ron's fist crashed against Zorpox's jaw again, sending blood spitting out and leaving Zorpox to stumble back. "She's had any numbers of opportunities to leave me behind, and absolutely no one would have blamed her. Hell, I might not have even blamed her after some of the idiotic things I've done. But she never did, not once. I bet even a smart guy like you can't figure out why, I know I can't."
Zorpox caught himself, even as he shot a fist of his own into Ron's face, but Ron merely absorbed the blow, allowing himself to land another fist directly into his opponent, knocking Zorpox back.
"And you know something, you're right. I am scared that she might one day leave me. She's the best thing in my life, of course that scares me. But she has never once done anything to justify that fear. Even when she was with Eric, she still took my word over his. And I know if I'd been the one Drakken had taken hostage, she would have come after me without a second's hesitation, even if it meant running right out in the middle of her perfect prom."
"Still… stupid…" Zorpox stuttered as he tried to keep his balance. Ron just punched him again, sending him down to the street.
"Yes, it is a stupid fear. One day, I'll get over it. Until then, I know she'll put up with me anyway." Ron paused, leaning down to pick up Zorpox by the scruff of his shirt, before slamming another fist into his face. "And in the meantime, you won't ever touch her again!"
Zorpox said nothing as the force of his injuries caused him to just stir weakly. Ron said nothing at the pathetic sight as he dropped Zorpox back down. Without another thought, Ron turned to walk away, taking a few steps before a sound from behind caused him to stop.
"Oh, you don't think it's that easy, do you?"
Ron turned around to see Zorpox standing upright, confident, calm, and his face completely normal. No bruises or bleedings at all to mask the discoloration on his face.
"Who do you think I am? Where do you think we are?" Zorpox asked, indicating to himself and his surroundings. "You think you can just beat me into submission? I don't think so. We're not done yet."
Ron stopped to stare at Zorpox as he glared back at him expectantly. Ron carefully analyzed the expression on his sadistic alter ego, before finally realizing the truth. Ron then turned back around, and continued walking away.
"Hey! Hello? Remember the battle with your evil alter ego?" Zorpox cried back.
"I remember. I just don't care anymore. I'm going to go see my girlfriend." Ron said dryly as he kept walking, not bothering to turn around.
"You can't just leave!" Zorpox shouted, his voice picking up its volume. "Get back here. Fight me!"
"Don't need to. Like you said, this is my head. That means my choices."
"You can't walk away from me! I'm still here Ron. I'm always here!" Zorpox shouted, his rage growing and growing.
"Zorpox, I may have to live with you, but I don't have to listen to you."
Ron kept on walking as Zorpox yelled after him. Ron never knew what final threat Zorpox uttered as he walked off, the world fading around him.
