Finally! I've now finished the next chapter of this story. Sorry it's taken so long.
Now, let me say Thank-You to all those who reviewed the last chapter: Earl Allison, CajunBear73, readerjunkie, Reader101w, Katsumara, screaming phoenix, kim's 1 fan, James MacPherson, Classic Cowboy, TheRedKommie, Shrike176, Nutzkie, and Thomas Linquist. Along with all those that have read the story, y'all ROCK!
Disclaimer: I'm gonna get lazy here and say "Please see the disclaimer on the other chapters".
Chapter 5
Last time on "The Power of Kim":
An evil smile crossed Moriarty's lips as he looked at the twin brothers. He knew which was which, as he had gotten the two to tell him when he first met them after their abduction. He stepped in front of Jim and adjusted his grip on the knife in his hand. Just as Moriarty raised the blade for an angular strike at the neck, another voice boomed through the speakers that he immediately recognized.
"Stop!" It was Ron Stoppable!
With wide eyes Moriarty looked over at Ron's body, expecting it to sit up, but it didn't. "What the… but he's… I shot…" For only the second time in Moriarty's pitiful life, he felt something almost alien to him. Fear.
And all Kim could do at this point in time… was smile.
…x x x x…
And now the continuation:
Ron's voice suddenly appeared to be right behind Moriarty. "Hana was right. You don't play fair." Whipping around while still brandishing the knife in one hand, and holding onto the pistol in his other, Moriarty had an almost wild look to his eyes. When he didn't see anyone there, he snapped his head back to look at the body he had shot in the head.
Then he felt someone tap him on his left shoulder, and again Moriarty snapped his head back around. This time though, his jaw was met with a fist, and the hit spun him back around the other direction, making him drop the gun and lose his grip on the knife causing it to fly out of his hand and land harmlessly away from everyone.
The hit was hard enough that it also made him literally see stars for a few seconds, and Moriarty's knees failed him. He stumbled like a boxer who had been stunned, but not quite knocked out, and then dropped to the floor in a sitting position.
Ron knew that his nemesis wasn't a threat at this time, so all he did was step up in front of the man and look down on him with an utter look of contempt. A flick of his foot sent the .38 skidding across the floor, and one corner of Ron's lip curled up a bit in a snarl that just dared Moriarty to try anything. Wisely, the man sitting on the floor didn't make any hostile moves.
Although after his head cleared up a bit, Moriarty's head ping-ponged between 'standing Ron', and 'dead Ron'. "But… but you're… then who is…"
"Kim?" Ron said while looking at his girlfriend. Why don't you untie your family while I fill in Sunshine here." The red head looked at Ron askance at his 'Sunshine' comment, but paid no further mind and quickly started to untie her mother first.
"But I put a bullet in your… how can you be alive?" Moriarty still wasn't quite understanding what he was seeing. He had had everything planned, and it was going perfectly until… well, quite frankly, until he had put a .38 caliber bullet in what he thought was Ron Stoppable's brain.
"Let me tell you a story, but first, let's make sure you don't try anything funny." Quickly Ron picked up a piece of rope that Kim had dropped after untying one of her brothers, and tied Moriarty's hands together at the wrist in front of him.
…x x x x…
Ron took the news better than Kim had originally expected.
"He did WHAT, and he wants you to WHAT?" Ron almost screamed, and then started to hyperventilate.
"Please Ron… don't get too excited here now. We have…" Kim checked the time on her Kimmunicator. "An hour and forty-five minutes before his deadline. I say we come up with a plan and try to implement it in about half an hour. Wade's checking my house with a more intensive scan, and I need to wait for those results anyway. According to his estimate, it should be done in about 10 or 15 more minutes."
Ron started to calm down, and almost immediately his face told Kim that he had an idea. "Kim… I learned something from Sensei when I was at Yamanouchi that I think might work in this situation. Rufus buddy…" Ron looked down to his pocket at his pet Naked Mole Rat. "Sorry, but you'll have to sit this one out. I think you'll understand once you hear my plan. Now first off Kim, this plan will require that you act like you've never acted before."
"Just tell me what I need to do Ron. I want to take down this Bastard." Kim using the "B" word brought Ron up a bit, as he had never heard her call anyone a name like that before, but he quickly recovered.
"OK then." Ron was all business as he laid out his plan, and Kim couldn't help but be proud of her boyfriend. "When Wade calls you back, we'll figure out the details, but this is going be a 'double mis-direction'. First were going to stage an attempt on my life by you. It will be botched on purpose, by none other than me of course, and you'll get mad at me. Now I'm talking VERY mad Kim. I'll let you improvise and say what you want to. That way it will seem more real.
"Then, after the faked attempt on my life, we'll get a call from Wade that there is a mission for us to go on that involves Drakken and Shego. After I talk to the two of them, I should have Drakken and Shego agreeable to what I want them to do. The key here is to make everything look like a run of the mill mission of ours to the lair. Once we get there, Drakken should have everything set up, that is after I talk with him, to make a quick clone of me."
"But don't those things bleed green ooze and dissolve in Soda?" Kim quickly asked.
"Something tells me that our favorite blue scientist will have some ideas to fix those aspects of the clones. Anyway, inside the lair I'll get with Drakken, and we'll make the switch, me for the clone. Then… and this will be the hard part Kim… you will need to kill me. At least the clone of me, and do it in a manner that if Moriarty was watching or listening that he wouldn't suspect anything." Ron took one of his girlfriend's hands between both of his and continued. "That's key Kim. I still remember how Moriarty had this complex in which he always had to know exactly what was going on at any time. I'm counting on his arrogance to think that he's got us controlled, and that we wouldn't even think of trying to cross him a second time. I'm 99 percent sure he won't disappoint.
"From that point on I'll be using my invisibility that I used when taking out Martin Smarty to stay low. I'll actually be with you the entire time, but the only Ron anyone will see will be the clone.
…x x x x…
"When Drakken said that the clone couldn't speak," Ron said to the tied up man, "I thought for sure the plan wouldn't work. But we used it anyway. It was the only thing we could do. In actuality, Kim here was able to make up for that disability with flying colors." The blond boy then smiled to his girlfriend in admiration.
"I am impressed, Ronald." Moriarty said with what appeared to be a smug look on his face, and then he looked at Kim, who was now standing with her family since they were all untied by then. "And you Kimberly… If my hands weren't tied, I would applaud you right now. That was a most impressive display of acting I have ever seen, or heard. Especially the way you spoke to the clone in Ronald's house."
Immediately Kim had a surprised look on her face. "Oh yes Kimberly, I heard it all." He then looked at Ron. "If I were you Ronald, I would sleep with one eye open around her."
Looking up at Ron while still sitting on the floor, Moriarty raised his still tied hands. "Now would you be a good chap and help me to stand? This floor really isn't that comfortable."
He looked at Moriarty for a few seconds, and then obliged by lowering one hand to help the man stand. Just as the two clasped hands, Ron heard a muffled click that seemed to come from Moriarty's forearm. Before he could do anything, a stream of white smoke shot right into his face, and Ron collapsed immediately. Moriarty rolled away from the boy's form, and quickly jumped to a standing position, and the rope that was tied around his wrists dropped harmlessly to the floor.
Both his eyes and Kim's then sought out and found the small pistol, which was about half way between the two of them. Instantaneously the two lunged at the weapon, and Kim was able to reach it first. But instead of grabbing the gun, she slapped it away towards the opposite side of the room from where her family was. Immediately Moriarty jumped up into a fighting stance and Kim did the same.
"So Kimberly…" Moriarty said as he took a step sideways while staying in his attack stance. "Shall we see what a Master in Pang Lang Quan can do against a cheerleader that knows only a few Kung-fu moves?"
Immediately Kim's lips formed a sneer. "That's 16 styles of Kung-fu, but who's counting."
"Hmm…" Moriarty said as he continued to work his way around. He noticed that Kim's family had all retreated to one corner of the room where they could watch. "Knowledge of all, yet Master to none, I presume?"
A quick jab and then a leg sweep made Kim back up from her adversary, and she stole a glance over at her boyfriend's unconscious form. "What did you do to Ron?"
"Oh I just hit him with a knock-out gas of my own concoction. Your boyfriend will be out for a good half-hour. More than enough for me to… how do you Americans say… 'Wipe the floor with you'?"
"Heh… you can try." Kim said, and was then surprised by a kick that hit her directly in the stomach, sending her back a few steps. The kick wasn't hard enough to knock her off her feet, or even enough to knock the wind out of her, but it definitely got Kim's attention.
OK, no banter, just fighting. Kim thought to herself, and she almost missed the punch that was headed towards her.
The red headed fighter wasn't in a position she wanted to be, which was defense. For the next few minutes she was backing around the room, deflecting all kinds of strikes and blows from Moriarty, and she definitely recognized the moves from when her Nana had a taught her a few things.
While blocking almost purely by instinct, a memory entered Kim's mind from that lesson. "Kimberly…" She could almost hear her Nana's voice. "If you are ever being backed up by someone, use a feint, and strike back with something unconventional."
Then a thought occurred to her as Moriarty landed a glancing blow to her left shoulder. Let him hit my shoulder, but move with it and come back with… a trip!
Sure enough, the next time Moriarty threw a punch at her left side, Kim rolled with the punch (and realizing she would have a nasty bruise on her shoulder later), made her adversary step forward a bit because of his momentum. He was expecting a hand strike to follow behind, but the next thing Moriarty knew, he was flat on the floor.
Without letting her opponent stand, Kim literally launched herself at Moriarty and came down on his lower back with an elbow strike. The move was almost exactly like a GWA move, but it did the job, making her opponent bring a hand back to that point on his body in pain.
Moriarty rolled onto his back, and Kim immediately stepped over him and grabbed his jacket with both hands. Her green eyes burned with almost murderous intensity. "It's over Moriarty. You lose." Kim was breathing hard, yet she wasn't winded.
"Kimberly, Kimberly, Kimberly." Moriarty said with a shake of his head, and clucked at her a little making Kim raise an eyebrow at the man's actions. She had the upper hand, and couldn't understand his reaction to the circumstances. "It seems that you must have missed something quite important while studying your 16 styles of King Fu. One, always know every little detail of your surroundings when you are fighting an opponent, and two, recognize strategies of your opponent, such as if you are being 'steered' somewhere specific."
Kim's eyes narrowed as she racked her brain in an effort to know what this depraved individual was talking about, and Moriarty continued. "Also, I have come to another conclusion. Kill the woman, and you kill the man."
The next thought that flashed through Kim's mind was the small knife that Moriarty had dropped when Ron had hit him, but it was too late. The next thing the young heroine felt was a sharp pressure in her stomach, and she looked down to see her opponent's fist held against her stomach… A fist that was wrapped around the handle of a small knife.
It hurt to breathe, and Kim felt herself being pushed away by Moriarty, and she fell off to the side and on her back. Moriarty had followed her motion, and was now on top of her with his weight pressing the blade deeper. He then pulled the knife from Kim's abdomen, and instinctively her hand went to where it hurt. She felt a slick substance on her fingers, which Kim immediately knew as her own blood.
A malevolent sneer was on Moriarty's face as he spoke. "Kill Kimberly Possible, and Ron Stoppable will have nothing to live for. He will be as good as dead. If those incompetent fools on the plane had done their jobs in the first place this would have already happened. But this way, I'll get to see the pain and anguish on Dear Ronald's face when he sees that I have killed you with my own… bare… hands."
Taking the knife in both hands while still sitting on Kim's waist, Moriarty raised himself up. Before he could even begin the downward strike that was about to take away his helpless victim's life, a shot rang out and the force of a .38 caliber bullet slammed into his left shoulder, making him twist to one side. Only then did Moriarty look up to see Kim's father, Dr. James Possible, standing with the still smoking barrel of the .38 pistol he had dropped earlier.
To be concluded… (I know I've said this before, but this time I'm sure of it.)
Besides… I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to end a chapter in this manner. Y'all can hate me for this cliffy, but please keep in mind that there is one more chapter to go.
Also, I'm going to finish this before I work on another story, which will be "Sympathy for the Devil". And then only after I finish that, will I get back to "Destination: Cañon City".