Chapter 19: Nothing Is What it Seems, Enter Rufus

Kim woke up in the morning, stretching her arms and legs. Her toes had curled and she had yawned while rubbing her eyes. During the night, she had a dream. A dream of fighting a man wearing a demonic mask that smiled at her. A mask that looked like it was from some Kung-Fu movies she'd seen in the past. The enemy dared to hide his face, yet for what reason? It looked sadistic, it mocked her with the smile, created a feeling of discomfort that jolted inside her, it dared to look at her as if death itself stood before her.

Subliminally it did, the man fought with such ferocity, his strikes were filled with the intent of killing her. The man was composed, strategizing and dominating the battle from a cerebral standpoint. As time progressed, his composure was lost and he fought like an unhinged animal. His aggressiveness started to show, the intensity of his attacks were taking a toll on his body, to which the redhead capitalized and turned the fight to her favor.

Before he could pierce Kim's shoulders with the blade he had, Kim slipped from the attack, dodging it completely, this was the finale, the coup de grace… using her right hand, she swung at the man's face, not only knocking him down, but she broke the mask covering his face. She could only see the back of his head, blonde locks spilled and kissed the ground as he failed to make a move. As she turned his head, she saw that it was of course Ron's face.

Rather to see an unconscious face nearly contorted with pain with the look of defeat plastered upon him. Rather, he looked as if he'd given up… eyes devoid of hope, body refusing to move even a single muscle, not even a twitch of a finger. The grip on his blade loosened completely as the hilt fell beneath him. By the time Kim turned him to see her face, the blade fell with a clang.

Kim expected him to land a cheap shot, a sucker punch to the gut, a fancy flip to slash her right in the knee, she'd even settle for a head butt or a kidney punch.

But it never came…

She found herself to be in a winning position, yet was uncomfortable in the outcome. Kim didn't know why she'd feel that, especially since he'd somewhat traumatized her when he murdered those criminals on the last mission. Notably, the redhead shouldn't pity him, yet she did.

Those empty eyes moved to look towards her own, and it felt as if it was staring into her soul. She felt a vice gripping her heart, the cold air made her shiver and her mind ran amok. It was then he spoke similar words to their last encounter.

"You don't know what that's like… not like I do." It didn't hold that bombastic strength, the energy, much less the malicious intent hidden away. "I'm not right, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong." A sense of deja vu came over her as she remembers those words he spoke, the same as their first mission together. As she paid attention to his voice, she felt water rising to her ankles.

"We're fighting for the same thing." After he said that, she felt water rise to her ankles, then dragged her and Ron down. Before she could be dragged deeper into the depths, Ron's hand pushed her towards the surface, she felt herself rising while witnessing her adversary being dragged deeper, everything went black for her and she heard that same sentence.

"We're fighting for the same thing." She woke up, gasping for breath at that point. She wondered about the importance of the dream that came upon her. What was the significance of that smiling, yet demonic mask? Why did Ron lose his composure during the fight? What's the point of the water dragging them down? Why did Ron go out of his way to save her and let himself go further into the depths?

She wanted to discount it as just some fantasy, and maybe it is… but she couldn't shake off the feeling that it could be something realistic.

While on the subject, there was a particular matter that took root in her mind: the bounty that funded the Middleton Space Center's robotics division.

Her father was simply a rocket scientist, he even befriended many of his colleagues. To hear that is own job accepted blood money, the scandals that are happening underneath, or soon to follow… one thing's for sure: Kim wouldn't let her own father get caught up in this.

Hearing the Tweebs rush down the steps after their Mom and Dad call them for breakfast, she slipped on an outfit and began to walk her way down.

"Good morning everyone." Her mother cheerily says. She smiles at her children while her father helps set the tables in preparation for the meal to follow. They all greeted her and James alike.

They ate and had their morning conversations, nothing out of the ordinary, just as average as they come… from their perspective anyway. Kim took a glance at her father, who smiled at her.

"Morning Kimmie, how are you doing today?" He asked.

"I'm ok." She says. "Hey Dad, could I ask you something about the Space Center? It's really important." She stressed the last part.

His face changed from a normal upbeat smile to a concerned parent. "Is everything ok?"

"No…" Kim paused. "The robotics division, do you know how it started? I'm working on a mission and I was hoping you'd know something." She said.

James hands fidgeted, despite having a hold on a newspaper. He sighed, tapping the pages. "The robotics division was there longer than I was… but here's what I remember. The division there had a bit of a snag… retiring or fired employees, less funding from their normal benefactors, more people taking interest in other fields… things like that. They also needed funding for more state of the art technology, to keep up with modern day research."

Kim nodded her head… all of this appeared to be a slight setback in the center, this whole bounty happened when she was a little kid, she smiled inwardly at the memory of how small she was, how she was going to be a big sister. To remember something so innocent was to reveal something so sinister.

That was when Anne added her piece. "I actually remember something about that. New people were coming in, interested in robotics and they got the things they needed. Now that I think about it, the timing was too convenient." She said as she dug into her breakfast.

James agreed. "Yeah, it was. No one even questioned the fortune and timing of it all. Only people who would've known about it would've been the board of directors, they know more about the external fundings from other sources than our usual ones."

"Does anyone stand out to you in particular, who knows this stuff?"

James took a breath. "Ahhh… Wanda Wong… she's our current Chairman, but before that, she was an Executive Director. What's going on Kim, is everything ok?" He asked.

At that point Kim couldn't lie, much less keep a poker face, considering it was already seen through. "I think someone might be after the Space Center. Umm… what happened was that Jack Hench brought this six million dollar bounty out on someone, and once it was fulfilled they…" Kim struggled to find the correct words, the more she spoke, the more her nerves got the better of her. "They used that money or some of it for funding. I feel that, the vigilante he's gunning for someone there."

"Oh jeez." Anne voices her concern. "You don't think he's after your father, do you?" The thought of her loving husband being stalked by a killer filled her with dread. She knew James, he wouldn't willingly fulfill a bounty, much less accept one.

Accept one…

"No. Kim responded. "If it was someone from the robotics division, it narrows the search. Since Dad's a rocket scientist he's has nothing to worry about. I just want him to keep an eye out."

"Well Kimmie-cub you don't have to worry about anything. I'll be sure to keep an eye out." He sits up from the table. "Alright, I gotta go, so long." He hugs his daughter, kisses his wife and ruffles both of the twins heads.

"Speaking of which, Kimmie, you should get going to, don't wanna be late for school." As he left the house. A cold feeling gripped Kim's spine. The feeling of encountering Ron again, with that hidden malice, the intent to kill. He never showed it to the school, much less anyone close to him… but she remembered how he showed it to her and Jack. All of this for a bounty…

'The bounty…'

That's the connection to Jack Hench, the Space Center and Ron himself. She stormed out of the house without saying a word. She had a realization, a bounty fulfilled meant that someone was killed… whomever was killed must've been close to Ron… close enough to have something in him snap and hell bent on this vengeful mission. This month hadn't passed, but there was already thirty to fifty confirmed kills all of which were done by an anonymous killer, all victims had a criminal record and were participating in a crime.

That conversation popped into her head. "You talk about… families ripped apart… you don't know what that's like… not like I do." That had to have been Ron's slip of the tongue. Not only that, she's got another lead on her investigation.

She pulls out her Kimmunicator attempting to contact Wade, it took awhile for him to answer, but it finally went through.

"Hey Kim, what's going on?" He asks.

"Wade, I think I have a new lead… on the bounty that went down." She smiles.

"Really… spill." Wade sat attentively.

"I need you to find any records of a Ron Stoppable, blonde hair, about my age, family tree, whatever you can dig up."

"Ok lemme check…" Wade does some typing and something came up… although there's wasn't much to go on. "Ok, this is strange. We have his name and regular physical attributes but…"

"But what?"

"There's nothing here notable about him, if there were… it's long gone. We do have his education, citizenship… normal stuff, but that's it. He's basically a ghost who just showed his face. I can't access anything more than that right now."

Kim sighed. It seems as if Wade hit a roadblock on identifying Ron. Him being a normal person, when he's clearly not. What about medical or flight records… if he's been traveling or got injured, something had to be on file.

"What if we find something about him or his family on old newspaper articles… there's gotta be a lead."

Wade tapped his chin. Thinking of an idea that'll supplement the investigation. "Ok, if I can find the exact date when the Robotics center accepted the funding, then there's a high chance that whomever was murdered because of the bounty was killed prior to that. Try a range of three to four weeks and that'll be a good chance the murder happened then. The robotics division got their funding when your father started right… so that means this happened when…" The hacker drifted away from the conversation, knowing the realization of it all.

Kim wasn't stupid, she knew exactly what Wade didn't want to say: it happened during her days as a toddler, which means whatever tragedy Ron suffered, he suffered at that age.

She sighed. "It's ok… but listen… this stays between us… I'll deal with him myself." With that she cut the transmission. Even if she loved being a hero, she couldn't trust Global Justice with this whole Ron issue. Team Impossible would resort to combative methods to subdue the ninja and boast of their victory. That had a small chance of happened since the team got their asses handed to them. Will Du… he's more of an annoyance, thinking that he's the top agent and all that. He'll try to perform duties above his jurisdiction if it meant capturing Ron…

Her blood ran cold at the thought, if Team Impossible were inept at taking the case, then Will would've already taken it by now. Knowing Will, he's throw whatever's at his disposal take a huge gambit for the capture. 'No… he can take care of himself.' Kim thought. 'Ron's eluded us for awhile, if he could take me and Team Impossible, he'll definitely handle Will.'

With Ron:

Ron decided to take an early walk to school, followed with a cup of green tea to help with the recovery of his body. 'Gotta start taking care of myself more.' He thought. Seeing the school doors open to his surprise, he decided to simply walk in. Taking another sip of his drink, his mind felt relaxed… relaxed enough to think of what he'd do today.

Checking out the Smarty-Mart first sounds like a good idea, since he had time to… spend before school even started. Tugging at his collar, he headed to this destination as a burst of cold air touched his skin. He looked around to see if there was any type of pets to adopt. It took him back to a distant time, Ron always wanted a pet to befriend, but there was one thing that kept him from having one: his father.

Not so much as his father, but rather his allergic reactions to fur. It caused so much strife to see if there were any hairless animals available. There was a time where a stray Golden Retriever came to the house, Ron looked from the window. His mom would examine the collar and contact the people who'd lost their animal. When the dog and his father came into close proximity, that's when he found out why. Fortunately for him he wasn't afflicted with similar reactions to fur.

He'd look at some of the animals there, a couple dogs here, cats there, but he didn't want just any animal. A part of him would like to honor his late father's wish and not have a furry pet in the house. Another part is that since he's a vigilante, he's needs to make sure the pet is capable of not messing up the house, or better yet accompany him on his ventures.

He looked to his left smiling at some goldfish. Unaware that something crept into his pocket. Taking a look at his watch, it looked to be thirty minutes before school started. He sipped his tea again, the muscles from his chest to his shoulders relaxing afterwards. As he took a couple steps, he felt something scurry in his pocket, as if it was trying to rearrange itself. Taking his fingers, he pinched whatever it was and picked it up. It was definitely an odd animal; a naked mole rat for a precise description.

But while it was a naked mole rat, there were attributes that said something else. He was wrinkle free for one thing, his eyes were open for the most part and he was about four inches.

It struggled to free itself from Ron's grip, his little hands and feet thrashing about. It only caused the blonde boy to smile. "Heh… feisty little guy aren't ya?" The naked mole rat chittered and pointed at a direction, it looked like one of the workers rushing towards him.

She was eyeing the little thing in Ron's hand. "Oh, I'm so sorry…" she says. "The little rascal must've gotten out of his cage somehow. I hope he didn't give you any trouble."

Ron eyed the pet again. 'An escape artist too, huh?' His mind thought. "No, that's ok. He must be a handful huh?" He chuckled.

"Yeah." She scratched the back of her head. "I mean I started working here a week ago and he's always trying to leave the place." She held her hand out for the little naked mole rat.

Seeing the little trickster in his hands, Ron realizes that for an animal he's quite cunning. "Actually, I was here hoping to adopt the little dude. Might as well take him off of your hands y'know." The animal crawled up to Ron's shoulder.

"He does seem to like you, even though you two just met." They walked together to the registry, with Ron hoping to adopt the pet."

"Hey, this might be random, but does the little guy have a name?" He asked.

"Not that I know of, no." The lady answered. Ron looked at the creature and he simply shrugged his shoulders, saying he didn't know his name either.

"Alright, let's fix that. What name would you like little buddy?" He opens his palm in order to get a look at him without glancing at his shoulders. "George?"

The animal shook its head.

"Ok. Will?" Ron suggested.

Another shook to his head indicated a no.

"How bout I call you Nancy, since you can't make up your mind?" Ron teased. He was met with blowing raspberries and rejections.

"Ok, I'm just messing with you. Max and Rex are too cliche… Pinky's a little degrading…" Ron snapped his fingers with an idea popping into his head. "Rufus! That's sounds like a good name! What do you think?"

The creature replied with two thumbs up, a sign of approval.

"Ok, it's official. Your name will now be Rufus."

"You two really are a good pair. Come over to the desk here and we'll make the adoption official." The lady went to get the papers for Ron to fill out and sign. Once Ron was finished, he left Smarty-Mart in good graces, with Rufus residing in his pocket.

Arriving at the school, he saw a small amount of people inside and outside, looks pretty barren… meaning class isn't starting yet. Throwing his cup of green tea in the trash, his eyes darted towards a certain female.

Monique was there, walking into the entrance of the gym. Maybe it'd be time to make amends as he probably wanted to do in the first place. Being the ninja that he was… he desired to do this quietly. He didn't want to have Monique escape the area and he didn't want to spook her either. Seeing the door in front of him, he took his backpack from his shoulders and Rufus from his pocket. He opened the zipper upfront and placed him inside, leaving it open.

"I need you to stay here and hide for a little while bud. I'll be back soon, ok?" With that Rufus hid inside the bag, peeking out to watch whatever show that was going to unravel. He set the bag on one of the bleachers. He then walked up to her, before he could take another step, she spoke to him.

"I've been friends with Kim for a long time, you think I wouldn't be aware of stuff like this?" She said. It took Ron by surprise, he had to give her credit.

Ron sighed. "You… ah… you led me here, huh?" His eyes darted from side to side as he rocked his body back and forth.

"I was lucky to see you get to the school, if I didn't, you'd give me a scare." She commented. She sat down on the bleachers in front of him… patting the space next to her. Monique wants Ron to sit with her, an odd feeling. Ron did as she wanted him to do.

They sat for a bit with an awkward silence. Both of them wanted to break that, but wondered how to go about it.

"There's been a lot of stuff left unsaid." Monique began. "I mean after last night, you just ghosted."

"I mean, I told you something you really shouldn't know about me. Look I… I'm not evil, I just… can't stand by anymore." He lamented, folding his hands.

Monique raised her hand, wanting to place it on his shoulder… yet she hesitated. What kind of response would it merit from him? "I get that when something isn't right, we want to change it… but why not do it the right way, fight alongside Kim, she'll definitely like you as a partner. I mean don't get me wrong, but going to Japan as a kid and coming back as a ninja… I've seen everything now. "

"Yeah well that's the thing… I don't care if it's right or not… I want it to be permanent. Look, Kim she… she's done this for years right… but nothing's changed. What I did…" He paused for a moment, thinking of his actions prior. "Did you know one of the guys I went after was kidnapping and selling girls… another was running protection rackets and extorting good people for their money?"

Monique paused at this, she didn't necessarily read into the news that much, normally it's just music videos, fashion and those reality shows about teens. But there were times where she took a peek at what was happening, sometimes on her phone or on the front cover of a newspaper. She really didn't know much and Ron picked that up in a snap.

"Yeah." He mumbled. "I'm sorry… that you had to… hear all this stuff from me like that. I want you to know that, even if I didn't want it… being with you, Felix, even Kim… I couldn't fake it… even if I tried."

Monique didn't see a killer, but rather a wounded boy around her age with a lot of baggage and conflict in him. Normally, she'd try to keep her distance… thinking that he'd be trouble. But he wasn't… I mean Kim was a hero too… and she got into danger almost on a daily basis. One thing she knew for certain…

There was still some good in him. Even if it's covered with apathy and bloodlust. She then made a gesture.

Her hand touched Ron's, they both looked each other straight in the eyes. Monique lightly smiled, with Ron madly blushing. His eyes would dart away, but it took a good amount of willpower to look at her without being flustered.

He smiled back at her… thanking her gesture. Before any more could be said, the gym doors opened to another person.

"Monique, you have to get away from him!" They both looked to see a redhead filled with concern for her friend, and frustration for a blonde ninja.

Hi everyone, it's me again. Sorry for the wait, but a lot of things are happening back where I'm at. College graduation is happening soon & there's a chance where I might go back and get a Master's Degree; my final semester and all that left me worried. But thank you everyone for… reading and reviewing the story, it honestly keeps me going with this. I'm trying to make sure that I'll upload more, but I hit a block when it came down to this chapter, so I'm hoping maybe the next will come sooner.

Thanks everyone, I'll make sure to update soon.