Took a little longer than I expected, but I hope y'all enjoy this chapter…
Next, I would like to say Thank-you to all those who reviewed the last chapter: XanQenadius, Shrike176, James MacPherson, Katsumara, readerjunkie, nigeltje, screaming phoenix, CajunBear73, JCS1966, Sharper the Writer, Nutzkie, Reader101w, and Thomas Linquist. As I've said before, y'all Rock!
Disclaimer: If no one has figured it out by now, I do not own any of the Kim Possible Characters. Moriarty is a creation of my own, and is not related to the individual in the Sherlock Holmes series…
Chapter 3
Previously on "The Power of Kim":
Kim continued to speak angrily at Ron, her eyes almost wild. "I don't know about you Ron, but my family is very important to me! I hold you personally responsible for anything that happens to them from this point on!" She then leaned in close to her 'so-called boyfriend', narrowed her eyes and spoke in a tone that sent a shiver up Ron's spine. "I will do anything in my power to keep them safe Ron… Anything."
…x x x x…
Moriarty continued to watch the small screen that was still sending him video from Middleton Park. He was also able to pick up most of the conversation as well.
His lips screwed into a smile. "I had a feeling all she needed was a little… encouragement."
And now for the continuation…
...x x x x...
On the drive home from Middleton Park, the silence was almost deafening between Kim and Ron. Kim's eyes were glued to the road ahead, and Ron just sat there in the passenger seat, with his eyes looking down at his feet. When the dash-mounted Kimmunicator went off, neither of them moved for a good 5 seconds.
Beep Beep Bee Deep
With a heavy sigh Kim finally pressed the button to receive Wades call.
"Hey Kim…" The young Tech Guru said, and immediately his eyes looked back and forth between the two occupants of the car. "Is… this a bad time?"
When she finally answered, Kim's eyes once again never left the road. "As if you hadn't heard Wade, the plan didn't work. But we'll figure this out, I'm sure. So anyway… what's the sitch?" With her last three words, Kim finally looked at the small screen.
"If you're up for it, I've got a mission for you. It looks like Drakken and Shego are finally coming out of their retirement. I'm picking up HUGE power readings from his local lair."
A slightly confused look crossed the red head's face. "I never thought he would go back to that lair, as many times that we've defeated him at that location."
"I have a feeling he's only there because it still has a direct connection into Middleton's Power Grid. In fact, that's how I discovered the power surge, by watching for spikes in the system."
"As always Wade, you Rock. Got everything set up for us?" Kim knew she really didn't even have to ask.
"You know it. Your Super-suit is back at your house now with it's upgraded power cell. Nothing else major has been done to it, but it now has the ability to handle any electrical interference, and all hiccups in the suits systems have finally been de-bugged. In fact, the energy absorption capacity of the Glove has been increased by at least 50-fold." The young boy then took a swig of his ever-present Slurpster and placed his hands behind his head with an air of bravado.
"Awesome Wade. I don't think I'm going to take it this time though, as I doubt I'll need it for this round. I mean… it's just Drakken and Shego." She then glanced back out the windshield. "Ron and I should be at my place in just a few minutes. After we get changed and our gear together, we'll head out to the lair. Got anything else for us?"
Just then a beeping could be heard from Wade's end of the connection, and the young Tech Genius looked off to one side. Kim could see that he was scanning a message that had just come in.
"Guess what Kim?" Her only reaction was to raise a questioning eyebrow. "I just now finally received a message from GJ explaining how Moriarty broke out of their 'High Security' cells. You got 5 minutes?"
Looking over at Ron, Kim looked at him for a few seconds as if she was thinking about something, and then answered. "Sure, Wade… Go ahead."
…x x x x…
The Maximum Security Wing of Global Justice was basically a long corridor with three cells on each side of the main hall. Each cell was about a 15 X 15 room, each with a basic lavatory that was partitioned off near the back to give at least a modicum of privacy, yet GJ Agents could tell if someone was using the facilities by looking down at the open bottom of the wall.
Otherwise the room itself housed only a single bed against one wall and a simple desk, which was really a small table on the other side. Both the desk and the frame of the bed were made of solid steel, and bolted to the floor. All seams were welded, so there weren't any bolts or screws on either piece of furniture. There was single chair made of metal as well, and was fashioned in the same manner. It was also permanently attached to the floor in front of the desk so it couldn't be moved. Absolutely nothing in the room could be used as a weapon in any fashion.
For the first two weeks of Moriarty's incarceration, his food and drink were set on a combination of a small slot and shelf between the bars that held him in. One peculiar thing though about the food at GJ, was that every once in a while, it wouldn't completely agree with him. So at times the GJ Agent would need to enter the room to make sure the prisoner was doing OK, as he would be in the lavatory for almost 30 minutes at times. Changing his diet helped only a little, so it had become normal for this to happen once a week at the most, maybe once in two weeks at the least.
At first protocol was strictly followed by those who had to enter the cell when Moriarty had his… trouble. No agent was allowed to enter the cell with their keys or any of their weapons, including the Shock Gun. When it became apparent that each time this occurred Moriarty was no threat because of his discomfort, protocol became a little… lax… for lack of a better phrase.
One particular day Moriarty's discomfort was quite… serious. The GJ Agent on duty at the time once again entered the cell, his now lax protocol fully in force. The agent didn't stand a chance when the prisoner, who actually was not incapacitated at all, this time or any of the other times, employed his full training in Pang Lang Quan on the poor man.
Moriarty then easily slipped out of the High Security area by using the keys and cards he lifted from the now dead GJ Agent. The rest of his journey out of the building left behind about a half dozen agents with various life-threatening injuries, and another half dozen dead. The alarm was never sounded until none other than agent Will Du literally tripped over one of the dead agents inside a bathroom that was rarely used. The alarm wasn't tripped until a good two hours had passed after Moriarty had left the premises, giving him a lead that only widened as time went on.
…x x x x…
Wade finished his tale of how Moriarty escaped his prison just as the Sloth pulled into the Possible's driveway.
"And we just hear about this now, Wade? I mean it's been what, more than a few weeks since he broke out." At this point Kim was fit to be tied after hearing this information, and all Ron could do was shake his head.
"Dr. Director says here that she wanted to keep the breach of their security from getting out to the public, and she said that she was even reticent to even tell you guys, even though you should have been the first ones outside of GJ to be notified. They never once thought he could get anything together as fast as he has. In fact, they are thinking that there must have been someone in GJ that was working for him." Wade finished with a look of sympathy for both Kim and Ron, as he knew all too well what Moriarty had already put them through
"Well… Thanks for the info Wade." Kim said with her face set. She was now 100 percent in Mission Mode, and nothing was going to distract her, especially the current situation with Ron.
After entering Kim's house, both teens quickly changed into their Mission Gear without speaking a single word to each other. In fact, Kim didn't say anything until they had left her house, and even then she was all business.
"So you have everything Ron?" Kim didn't even take her eyes off the road when she spoke.
"Yeah, I do." Was her 'boyfriend's' short answer.
Kim sighed and looked at him, dropping her Mission Attitude for just a few seconds. "Ron look… I'm still upset with you. You screwed up… big time, and my mom got hurt. Maybe we can figure this… No, I know we can figure this out. In fact, I can figure this out." She then took another breath before continuing, and forged on with what she had to tell Ron. "So after this mission is done, I hope you don't mind… taking a little break."
"A… break, Kim?" Ron said, speaking for only the second time since they left Middleton Park. "You mean we aren't going on missions anymore?"
Strong female hands gripped the steering wheel a little harder. "No… I'll still go on missions…"
"You just don't want me along." Ron said sounding crestfallen, and Kim didn't say anything. This was hard enough for her as it was. "You don't want me to screw up again."
"No… it's not that. It's just…" Kim sighed again. "It's just that I don't trust myself around you."
"What's… that… supposed to mean?" Ron said slowly
"Remember I said that I would do anything to keep my family safe?" Ron nodded. "Well, I think that I might… you know… mistakenly on purpose…"
"Kim!" Ron said, realizing what his… now former? Girlfriend was saying. "You mean you might try to… hurt me?" A look of fear crept into his eyes.
Kim dropped her face and looked down at the dash directly in front of her and muttered, "Or worse."
Ron's jaw dropped almost immediately, as he knew exactly what Kim was saying. "You mean you think you would actually… kill… me, to get that monster to release your family?"
"Like I said Ron… I don't trust myself when my family is involved. Especially when a deranged whacko has my entire family." Kim then pulled to a stop at the side of the road, and reached behind her seat to grab her backpack. Before putting it on she reached inside the pack and pulled out…
"Kim…" Ron said with wide eyes. "What… Why did you pull out your knife?"
"OK, let's get this over with." Kim breathed, and right away Ron started to get very nervous.
"Kim… you're not going to… do this right now, right here… are you?" Ron watched with wide eyes as Kim checked the sharpness of the blade with a finger, and he absently noticed that the light from the dash played across the surface of the cold steel as Kim turned it in her fingers.
"What are you talking about Ron? And why do you have that look on your face? I meant it's time to get out and walk towards Drakken's lair." She then quickly cleaned a small amount of dirt from under one of her fingernails and placed the 4-inch blade back inside its sheath inside her backpack.
"Oh… yeah." Ron said with a short laugh, and breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew that."
…x x x x…
After the two young heroes entered the blue villain's lair through one of the air ducts, they immediately heard the voices of their target.
"It's finished Shego! Finally!" Drakken said with a triumphant sound to his voice. "With this newly redesigned Counter Electrodynamic Concentrator I will literally have the ultimate power! After you stole the plans from Dementor, I kicked it up a notch. Now I can target specific cities and deprive them of their electricity one… by… one! Muwa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!"
A crashing sound was then heard behind them, and the villains turned around to see…
"Kim Possible!" Drakken blurted out purely from habit.
"Now hand over that Counter Electro-whatcha-ma-callit." Ron said, causing Kim to drop her head into one of her hands. When Shego lit her hands with her green plasma, Kim immediately dropped into an attack stance, and Drakken took off running through an archway off to one side of the lair.
"Ron!" Kim yelled. "Follow Drakken and I'll take care of Shego!"
"You got it KP!" Ron replied and took off after the blue villain.
"You? Take care of me?" Shego said with a laugh. "Since when have you done that, Princess?"
Kim chuckled a bit. "Do we have all night?"
With that said, the two adversaries growled at each other and leaped at virtually the same time, attacking. Kim kept evading Shego's energy blasts and hand swipes, while the green villainess continued to press her attack.
"So why did you and Drakken decide to go back to evil, Shego?" Kim said, barely winded from the fight.
"We missed it, and the benefits are much better." Was the snarky reply, which was accented by a particularly vicious leg sweep that Kim barely had the time to jump over.
"Benefits?" The redheaded hero replied and sidestepped a jab from a green-gloved fist. "Such as…"
"You." Shego said smiling without skipping a beat, and the shocked look from her opponent gave her time to perform a double handed strike to Kim's chest, knocking her back into a wall, dazing her. "I like kicking your little biscuit all over the place."
The next thing Kim knew was that a black gloved hand was around her throat and a plasma-enshrouded fist was barely inches from her face. Shego drew back her plasma charged hand to throw the final strike when Drakken called out, stopping her attack.
"The Buffoon's got the CEC Shego!"
"The what?" The green villainess said whipping her head around.
"Nnrrrgghh…The Counter Electromagnetic Concentrator!" Drakken yelled. "It just takes too long to say the entire name. Why Dementor didn't name it something a lot shorter, I'll never know!"
Sure enough, both Shego and Kim saw Ron at the same time, running out of the lair holding onto the CEC. Just after he ran through the exit, an electronic voice was heard over the speakers mounted inside the ceiling.
"Lair Self-Destruct will commence in 10 seconds… 10… 9… 8…"
"Shego! Let's get out of here!" Drakken yelled while flying past his sidekick on what looked like a hovering platform.
He grabbed onto her outstretched hand and whipped his sidekick up onto the platform before making their escape. Kim then took her cue and ran out of the lair in the same direction that Ron had gone, exiting the building just as the first explosion rocked the entire structure, destroying the one remaining lab inside the already damaged building.
"Good job Ron!" Kim said with a smile as she jogged up to her boyfriend's side where he stood next to the Sloth, holding onto the CEC. Ron didn't say anything and just smiled, handing her the device that was about the size of a blender.
After setting the device in the back seat of the Sloth, Kim sat down in the driver's seat of the car and drove back to Middleton. Her praise of Ron was short lived, and the two went back to that same uncomfortable silence for the remainder of the ride, which was to drop the CEC off at GJ.
After pulling into the parking lot, Kim said she would be right back and grabbed the CEC from the backseat and took it into the building. Sure enough she came right back out after only a few minutes. Sitting back down in the drivers' seat, Kim put her seatbelt on, and sat there for a moment before finally turning to Ron.
"So are you going to say anything to me?" All Ron did was shake his head side to side in response to Kim's question. "Is this because of what I said before?" Again no verbal answer, but this time, the blond boy slowly nodded in the affirmative.
Kim sighed again and started the car. "Ok then. I guess well talk about this at a later time. For now I'll just drop you off at your house, since we decided you weren't going to help with the rest of the situation with Moriarty."
The tension in the little coupe couldn't have been thicker on the short ride to Ron's house. When he got out after Kim had pulled into his driveway, Ron walked around the car and went to lean in through the driver's side window to give her a goodbye kiss. Instead, he was rewarded by smacking his face against the glass, as Kim had quickly raised the window without him realizing it.
She then lowered the window a little so she could speak to him. "Now I have less than an hour and a half to save my family Ron. If I need your help, I'll call you."
With his kiss denied, Ron slumped into his house, and Kim then backed out of the driveway to head home. She was planning on calling Wade when she got there to discuss their next plan to get her family out of Moriarty's grasp.
…x x x x…
After entering his house, almost immediately Ron's eyelids began to droop. Neither his parents or Hana were home at the time, and he was tired from the mission and the drive back. Figuring Rufus was taking his usual early evening nap up in his room, Ron decided to take his own nap on the couch, and hope that Kim would call him before Moriarty's deadline was up.
After lying down on the couch and closing his eyes, it wasn't long before they suddenly snapped back open. He thought he had heard something in the room, and Ron quickly scanned the area. Not seeing anything, he closed his eyes again, but then he sensed that something, or someone, was right next to him. Opening his eyes again Ron saw a face right next to him with green eyes, framed with black material that held her hair flat against her head. It was Kim, and she was in the Stealth Suit that she had worn when on the Kimber Diamond mission.
Just as his lips parted to say something, a black gloved hand slapped over his mouth, and Kim spoke. "Not a sound Ronald." She hissed. "I know there isn't anyone else home, but we don't want to wake the neighbors now, do we?"
Ron looked at Kim with pleading brown eyes. "Oh please Ron… Don't give me that look. I know Hana will miss you at first, but she'll get over it. All kids do."
By now Kim's other hand was directly over Ron's head, and his eyes went wide when he saw that it had morphed into the Energy Absorbing Glove. It was then he realized that Kim didn't have her Stealth Suit on, she actually had on the Super Suit! And now she had a weapon that could absorb and contain a tremendous amount of power directly over his head. What was it Wade had said? The Glove could now contain about 50 times more energy? Ron closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his MMP. Kim winced a little as she felt tremendous power course through the suits systems, but true to its inventor it contained everything that was emanating from Ron, just as it was designed to do.
"Sorry Ronnie… This is the only way I could keep you from using your powers against me. See… Wade had studied the building that Moriarty held you in, that kept your power at bay, and he was able to adapt that technology to the suit's energy absorption properties. So basically, you can't use it against me now."
Ron then felt the hand that was over his mouth move a little, but it was still pressed to his face. His eyes looked down and panic came over his features. Extended from Kim's index finger was now what appeared to be a six-inch long silver spike with a very sharp point, which was formed by the morphing properties of the suit.
"I do love you so very, very much Ronnie…" Kim said with a hint of sadness in her eyes, but then suddenly they went stone-cold serious. "But I love my family just as much, and I simply can't and will not lose them. I have to protect them. So don't think of this as your death, but the saving of four lives. I'll miss you very, very much. I love you Ronnie…"
Kim removed her hand from Ron's mouth, and before he could say anything Kim placed her own lips on his, giving him one final kiss before plunging the silver spike straight up under his jaw and straight into his brain from the bottom, killing Ron Stoppable instantly.
Removing her now trembling lips from his, and with tears falling from her own green eyes, Kim slowly closed Ron's eyelids over his now lifeless brown orbs. "I'm going to miss you so very… very much."
Tears continued to fall from Kim's cheeks and landed on Ron's pillow next to his head. With a quick shot of heat into the spike that killed her boyfriend, the wound cauterized so there wouldn't be a mess when Kim withdrew the weapon.
Quickly and quietly, so as not to wake the small rodent slumbering just upstairs, Kim gathered Ron and threw his body over her shoulder, easily hefting him up with the aid of her super suit. Turning up the audio sensors in her headpiece, Kim then listened for any other movement around the house, and scanned the area outside looking for anyone who may see her when she left. Hearing and sensing nothing, she quickly carried the body to the Sloth, which was waiting in the driveway.
Her final destination: to get to Moriarty and dump Ron's dead and lifeless body at his feet, and in the process, save her family.
To be continued…
Well… Anyone expect this? Y'all know by now how much I like throwing readers for a loop...