Jeri 2.0: I wanted a sudden, shocking event, and Ron being shot was a simple way to do it; in other words, lazy writer syndrome.
"Oh my," the scientist said.
"Indeed," his smaller mustachioed partner replied.
"Did he come from the same dimension?" the first asked.
"It seems that way."
"Friend-"
"Or foe?"
"Hard to say-"
"But we shouldn't take risks. Shut the-"
"The shield wall? Way ahead of you."
Mid-flight over the Rockies the other Kim slept soundly; sound enough to keep her counterpart and beau amused with rather loud snoring.
"Tell me I don't do that," Kim said.
"Naw, you just snort a little," Ron said.
"I do not snort," Kim replied facing Ron with an indignant expression on her face.
"OK," he said, rolling his eyes theatrically. However, he couldn't keep a smile from escaping. Kim elbowed him in the ribs; Ron responded by launching his own assault.
"Stop it! I'm flying!" she shrieked, but giggled just the same.
"Muh?" Her twin blinked a couple times and stared at them bleary eyed; Ron was practically on top of Kim, and he had his hand up her shirt in a full-on tickle attack. Half awake, she frowned and rolled over to face out the window of the chopper.
"Well, that was awk-weird," Ron said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Kim said.
"It doesn't matter," her other self mumbled. It was awkward even without the inadvertent public groping; after all, the only other spot for a passenger was directly behind and between the pilot and co-pilot seats. "No big." She hugged herself, and kept her face away from the two so they wouldn't see the tears start.
Thankfully, the flight was a short one, a quick hop back to Middleton, and a touch-down at the airport. Waiting to greet them were several university representatives who were eager to meet with Kim about her plans for college. Much like a star athlete got hookers thrown through his bedroom window, Kim had been pressured by every college and university in the tristate area for enrollment. However, they were a bit taken aback by the duplicate show they were given when the two Kims disembarked.
"Gentlemen, please, the future Mrs. Stoppable is too tired for interviews," Ron said, holding his hands up to push through the stunned interviewers. The three of them passed the gauntlet unscathed and proceeded to a waiting car, a familiar red, low slung sedan.
"Daddy!" the extra Kim cried, leaping into a rather confused Dr. Possible's arms.
"Uh, Kim, is there something you'd like to tell me?" he said, staring at the girl he was pretty sure was his daughter.
"Sorry about that shock at the airport," the outland Kim said with a wan smile. She glanced back at the man she knew was her father yet wasn't. It frustrated her. She knew he was her father, but he wasn't. It wasn't really him; in her reality, her father hadn't survived Drakken's Mind Drill . What was she doing here? What was her purpose, how was she allowed to be here, why was fate torturing her like this? She trembled as she tried poorly to hold back her tears. Ron patted her on the back as the resident Kim held her hand.
"Well, miss, given the circumstances, you technically are my daughter," Dr. Possible replied.
"And mine," her and her twin's mother chimed in. "Dear, at least stay here. Just for a little while."
"Cool, now we have twin sister's," Jim piped up.
"Just like us," Tim continued. It was too much; the other Kim lurched over and clasped them both in a big hug, so happy to see them after so long, and let her tears flow again. A family with a new member, a duplicate of one already there but soon to leave. Perhaps a this was what both needed; a way for the family who loved her to keep her, for her to return to what she'd lost, and at the same time for her to begin a new family.
No.
She was one person, not two. Kim sniffed, and pulled away.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I should be stronger than this."
"Kimmy cub," her erstwhile father began.
"Kimberly, we all understand," Mrs. Possible continued. "We love you just as if you were our daughter; that is what you need to hear, isn't it?"
"But I know I'm not," she said. "I'm not your daughter. I'm someone else's child, someone else's love, and nothing I do here can bring the people I love back. Even if for all intents and purposes you are them, you aren't; not really."
She sniffed and wiped her eyes, and glanced at her not-parents. "I know you love Kim, but she's Kim, not me." She gestured at her double, who'd rested her hand on her shoulder. "I love Ron, but it's too late even if I do realize it now. My Ron's dead, and nothing I do can bring him back, no matter how much I wish it were true."
Ron felt a chill. Her saying that made it more clear that in another life he wasn't alive, and he felt footsteps on his grave.
The doppelganger stood and made her way to the picture window in the living room, laying herself down on the couch. She rested her chin on her hands, and stared out into the night, unsure of where she belonged, unsure of her place anymore. She had lost herself in fighting, in rebellion, and in wild abandon in the arms of the willing. A fractured and twisted life was hers, and this world made her ill with confusion. It was too easy, too complacent, and seeing it made her feel cheated out of a better life.
She clenched her eyes, and as many times that day in as many months since she'd last cried, she once more descended into tears.
"I demand that you let me out of here this instant!"
God, would he ever shut up, Jake thought. The whiny brat had been raising a stink ever since he'd arrived. Why did I get stuck with freak watch tonight?
"Yeah, whatever bub," he said, and nursed his cup of coffee.
"Listen here peasant, I am the master of my armies, leader of the empire, chief among my subjects," the man shouted, "and by Jove, as Lord Ronald Stoppable the First, monkey master of Tai Shin Peqwar, I shall have your hide!"
Author's note: Psyche!