Well folks, all good things must come to an end. For this is the last chapter of Ultimate Nightmare. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it, but don't worry, unlike before I plan on picking up the remaining stories a lot of people want me to continue. Look for updates on those stories within the week (which one will be updated first? That's the surprise…).
Thanks to The Real Sidekick, KnightofFaerun, Yankee Bard, Mr. Wizard, Longsworder, Pharaoh Rutin Tutin, Taechunsa, and Atomic Fire for reading and reviewing, and to all of you who decided to just read…you know who you are.
And now, back to the action…
Ultimate Nightmare
One last time…
Ron's eyes snapped open; but unlike the last few times he didn't sit up in a horrific scream, instead he just laid there, determination etched on his face as he could still hear the echo of the lone gunshot.
Just like in his previous attempt he grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out the floor plan for Drakken's lair, this time he didn't leave the smallest detail out.
His thoughts soon drifted back to the Self Destruct feature; more specifically what the Russian said to him about it. The man may have sensed Ron pick up on something, but the man forgot one thing…
This was Ron Stoppable he was hinting at, the same Ron Stoppable who was too painfully oblivious to Yori's crushing on him. So while it may have looked like Ron figured it out, in reality he just realized what the Russian was talking about.
There has to be a way to stop it from going off, but how? What could I possibly do different in order to stop the place from blowing up? And end up destroying the Russian and his men before they kill us…again…
It was a tough sitch for him to figure out, and he wasn't having a lot of luck with it.
Think Ron; think…there has to be some element I'm forgetting, something so basic I should've though of it before…but what?
As he was contemplating what that one element was, Rufus chattered something at him, pointing his claw over to the clock.
"I know buddy its late, but I need to figure this out…go back to bed…"
Then it hit him.
From the first time he went through this nightmare to the very last time the one thing that wasn't ever mentioned, or even really in the was the missing link, the key to stopping this whole episode of torment. Now he had his link, he just needed to formulate a plan around that link. For the rest of the night Ron stayed up problem solving how exactly to use Rufus and what the general course of action would be.
Ron was sitting in Mr. Barkin's history class (yet again) going over his plan, which he finally worked out with the 'Rufus Factor' involved, he'd break the plan to his naked mole rat at lunch, he just had too…
"STOPPABLE!" Mr. Barkin screamed.
"Because the bombers went in against 1100 Axis pilots and had no fighter support with them, resulting in 65 bombers going down, with a loss of 600 men." Ron answered without even letting Mr. B finish his rant.
As expected Mr. Barkin's jaw hung down as he stared at Ron, completely shocked that Ron had responded so fast, and so correctly.
"Is there a problem Mr. B?" Ron asked, with mock concern.
Mr. Barkin quickly regained his composure and pressed his hands against his suit.
"No there isn't Stoppable. Now continuing on class…"
Ron drifted back to the plan he laid out, feeling very, very confident about this plan. Of course, he felt very confident on his last plan too, but to him this was completely different.
Shortly after Mr. Barkin got back to teaching the bell for lunch rang, and Ron was soon up and heading for the door.
"Stoppable!" Barkin called out.
Surprised, Ron stopped and turned towards his teacher. "Yes Mr. B?"
"I'd like a word with you Stoppable…" He said, with a slight edge in his voice.
Oh man, He's going to give me extra homework…hey…he's going to give me extra homework! That hasn't happened in any of the last attempts! BooYah! This is the one that's going to work!
Ron slowly worked his way over to Mr. Barkin's desk and stood in front of it. For once eagerly waiting what Barkin was going to give him.
"Stoppable, I must say you did very well in class today…all things considered…" He said, the last part becoming slightly quieter than the rest.
"However?"
"Yes, however you did show me up just now in class…"
"But I do that a lot at Smarty Mart, and you don't seem to mind."
Mr. Barkin was now visibly seething at this comment, which Ron smirked at.
"That may be so Stoppable, but here in school, I am the boss of you. You even said that YOURSELF!"
Ron sighed, trying to sound disappointed. "Extra homework?"
"EXTRA HOMEWORK!"
Ron gladly took the sheet of extra homework and started out the room.
Bondiggity, I got me some extra homework…
Wait a minute…
I GOT ME SOME EXTRA HOMEWORK! AW MAN! What a cruel fate, I may end up saving our own lives but I get stuck with extra homework! This tanks…
Ron took a seat at the lunch table, this time he grabbed his traditional tray of mystery meat…he wasn't going to eat it though, as he never did. But it kept up with his usual routine at school, making him act more like himself and less like the paranoid individual he was beforehand.
He glanced at the occupied pants pocket where his mole rat Rufus was currently napping. He tapped the fold on the pocket, stirring his hairless companion.
"Rufus, I need you for something."
With a yawn, Rufus quickly scurried out of his pocket and onto the table eyeing his master.
"Ok, what I'm about to tell you is top secret and can't be reviled to anyone, including Kim. Promise?"
Rufus stuck his paw out, it was a crude attempt at a thumb up, but Ron understood that Rufus promised.
Ron pulled his rough sketch out of his other pocket and layed it out on the table for Rufus to see.
"Ok, latter on we are going to be called in on a mission to stop Drakken with his new portable death ray…"
Rufus cocked his head to the side, obviously confused.
"Look, don't ask me how I know this, as I can't reveal my sources; just go with me on this!"
Rufus shrugged his shoulders before he nodded ok.
"Good…anyway we're going to get called away to stop Drakken and his new portable death ray, what I need you to do is to get to this console…" Ron pointed out the console where the device was located, as well as the self destruct button.
"…And I want you to cut the wires that are connected to the self destruct button. Got that?"
Rufus scratched under his chin as he looked over Ron's plan, before giving him a claw up.
"Good, now after you cut the wire I want you to then follow that wire to wherever it leads and cut it there…" He trailed off as he tried to remember the last thing for Rufus to do.
"…Oh yeah and if you come across any explosives could you bring them back to me?"
Rufus raised an eyebrow as he stared at Ron.
"What?"
Rufus chattered something that Ron could vaguely understand…
"Look, it's very important that I get these explosives..."
Rufus started arguing with him, shaking his tiny paw.
"…Oh, how many times have I asked for explosives when we were on a mission?" Ron asked, insulted at Rufus's allegation.
Rufus held his paw in front of him, with three claws pointed up.
"...Well, yeah but I needed them for the current mission we were on at the time, correct?"
Rufus started pondering again, before he realized that Ron was right. He squeaked out a small "Sorry" as he hung his head down.
"That's right; now I need these if we want to complete our mission…just don't tell anyone what I've just told you…Got it?"
"Got what Ron?" Kim asked as she sat across from him, nearly scaring Ron and Rufus out of their skin.
Ron quickly grabbed his plans for Drakken's lair and shoved them in his pocket quickly, unfortunately Kim noticed.
"And what's that you're hiding from me?" She asked.
"Oh, it's um…nothing…nothing important…." Ron said as he refused to look her in the eye.
"Really, then why are you hiding it?" She asked with a smirk.
"Because…well….because it's highly classified top secret-ness….ness." Ron said as his breathing became shallow and wheezy.
"Ron, if you're keeping something from me I will find out…after all I can do anything…"
"Oh you'll find out…just at the right time of course…" Ron said, hoping to throw her off track.
"Ah ha! I knew it involved me in some way! Now spill!"
"KP I can't, it's um…a surprise!"
"A surprise?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes…but you have to wait and see what it is, heh." Ron said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Beep-beep-be-beep
Ron breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the familiar tone. Unfortunately it ended one problem spot, and brought up another, he just hoped his plan this time was absolutely fool proof.
Rufus listened to Wade intently, the look on the mole rats face said to Ron that he was a little shocked that what Ron had told him before hand actually was going to happen.
Probably thinks that because I've never really had a prediction that ever came close to being true…oh well first time for everything.
"We're on our way Wade." Kim said as she turned the device off. Ron was a little surprised that he missed the whole conversation this time; not like it mattered as he heard it three times now.
"Come on Ron, we've got to stop Dr. Drakken again." She said as she started leaving the cafeteria.
"Again, you'd think he'd just give up by now…" Ron said as he followed her out, with Rufus climbing up to his shoulder.
"Remember the plan buddy, I need you on this." Ron whispered.
"Ok." Rufus squeaked.
"That's my Rufus."
They landed outside the lair without a hitch, just as before, and without wasting any time they started walking down the corridor to the main lair.
Ron tapped the outside of his pocket, jostling Rufus awake. The mole rat looked at Ron who nodded his head. Rufus returned the nod and leapt from his pocket and started scurrying down the hall ahead of them.
Best of luck Rufus, we're counting on you.
As they got closer to the main lair, he heard the familiar rantings of Dr. Drakken and Shego; he also heard this conversation several times before. Yet he still continued to listen.
"…and with this ray, I will force the world to bow to my will, and I will be the supreme ruler of everything!!!"
"Yeah, sure thing doc, these things always sound so fool proof in the beginning…"
"Shego, what do you mean?"
"I mean every time you have a brilliant plan it's always interrupted by…"
"Kim Possible?"
"You got it Dr. D…"
"Ah hah, but this time I've gotten a special surprise for Miss Possible and her buffoonish sidekick…"
"You always have a special surprise for those two, and it never works." Shego said as she started flipping through an issue of villains digest.
"Well this time is different! This time she'll be completely locked out of the lair, every entrance and exit is locked with two foot thick solid titanium doors, we're unreachable!"
"Yeah, ah huh, so are the doors shut by any chance?"
"Of course they are! I shut them myself!"
"Yeah but Doc, you were the first one in today, don't forget the henchmen." Shego said as she tossed the Villains digest and picked up a nail file.
"Well my henchmen obviously shut the door, that's what I pay them for isn't it?"
"Actually sir, our last paycheck bounced so theoretically you aren't paying us…" One of the henchmen said from the catwalk.
"WHAT! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU DIDN'T SHUT THE DOORS?!?!" Drakken screamed.
"No we didn't because we want to get our pay…"
"YOU BUFFOONS!"
"Hey, I though I was the Buffoon, what are you replacing me?" Ron interrupted as he stepped from the shadows with Kim.
"YOU! What are you doing here?" Drakken asked, surprised.
"Ugh, do I really have to explain it to you?" Ron asked.
"Well, um…yes. Please." Drakken said quietly.
Ron was about to speak when Kim clamped her hands around his lips.
"Sorry, but we'll just get right down to us foiling you now." She said with a smile.
"SHEGO!"
"Yeah, I'm on it as usual" Shego said as she slowly rose and attacked Kim.
"Ron, get the device!" She shouted as she dodged a blow from Shego.
"I'm on it KP!" Ron said as he looked across the room, trying to spot Rufus.
He saw the little mole rat running along the far wall, coming from the table with the self destruct button. He grinned as he watched him disappear around a corner.
Go my sweet little mole rat; you don't know how happy this makes me…
Unfortunately Ron was, by now, surrounded by at least five of Drakken's henchmen. Snapping out of his sweet moment he became very aware that he was surrounded by Drakken's henchmen, who were very eager to beat on Ron.
Ron stood his ground and tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. Slowly he closed his eyes as he got himself into a Mystical Monkey Kung Fu stance and opened his eyes; he had his trademark smirk on his face.
"Ok boys; who wants to try first." He said confidently.
The henchmen didn't wait; they all rushed him hoping to drown him with mass numbers. Ron ducked as the first one reached him; the man tripped over Ron and smashed face first into another henchmen. Ron did a spinning kick and sent another one of the red goons sailing through the air, taking out another three. It was over that fast, all five henchmen lay broken and battered on the ground.
Ron looked around and saw the remaining henchmen were too far away to do anything against him so he sprinted over towards the console where the device was, when he got there he came across Rufus, who had a package of dynamite (which was ironically already wired and plumbed with a button and timer countdown, which also was amazingly set at sixty seconds).
"Good Rufus, now attach it to the bottom of this device…" Ron said as he lifted the death ray.
Rufus stuck the explosives to the bottom of the device, but once he got them to stay the little guy fell back onto the self destruct button.
"SELF DESTUCT IN 60 SECONDS…"
"Rufus! Didn't you disable the button?!?!" Ron asked.
"Ah huh" Rufus squeaked while shrugging his shoulders.
"Did you disconnect all the explosives then?"
"Yep." Rufus said as the little guy pulled up the panel the button was on, showing that the button was indeed disconnected.
"Well, that doesn't make any sense now does it?" Ron asked, Rufus shook his head no.
"SHEGO, Lets get out of here!" Drakken said as he ran over to the hover car.
"Good luck blowing up Kimmie!" Shego said as she leapt up to the hover car and she and Drakken flew away.
"Ron, come on!" Kim shouted as she hurried to the door.
"But Kim, the button isn't hooked up to anything!"
"No time to argue Ron!"
As Ron and Rufus started over towards her, but they already ate up a good amount of time, and when they reached Kim the countdown neared the end…
"…5…4…3…2…1…thank you for hitting the self destruct button…"
They flinched, expecting an explosion…But all they got was the console where the device was sitting on sparked and sizzled.
"See, I told you it wasn't hooked up to anything!" Ron said pointing to the console.
"Well, I still don't like finding out when we're right here you know." She said as she put her hands on her hips.
"Yeah this is true; now let's get out of here?"
She nodded as they started walking back out of the lair, Ron knew what was coming next and his finger tensed on the button attached to the explosives once they came to the landing pad.
As soon as they exited the lair the lights snapped on, no matter how many times Ron's gone through this, he still was never prepared for the initial blinding they got.
He squinted his eyes as he looked across the pad, spotting the large semi-circle of men with that same Russian man standing center and in front of the rest.
"Greetings Comrades, we've come for Drakken's device…"
Wow, he changes his greeting every time…that's probably how he gets people to realize this isn't a dream…I think…
"And just who are you guys?" Kim asked.
"I thank you for asking, we are mercenaries, we've been hired to retrieve the device…and eliminate all who stand in our way…"
"I'm guessing that we would be in your way." Kim said.
"Very good miss, now I must ask again for the device." The Russian said as he held out his arm.
"And if we refuse?" Kim asked.
"If you refuse, well…your friend knows what'll happen…"
Ron's eyes went wide, He did not do what I just think he did…
"Ron, what's he talking about?" Kim whispered to him.
"I'll explain later Kim, but right now it's in our best interest to give them the device…" Ron whispered back to her.
"RON! We do not hand over world dominating devices to people like this!"
"Kim please! Listen to me, we need to give them this device!"
"NO, WE, DON'T!" She said angrily.
"Kim if you want to come home alive then you'll go with me!" Ron said angrily, not realizing what he actually said till it was too late.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked with a mix of anger and confusion.
"Look, I can't explain it right now, but if we don't give them this device then they will kill us! You have to trust me on this Kim!"
She crossed her arms, trying to figure out what Ron was talking about…
"Comrades, we don't have all day you know…"
Ron looked at the Russian, then back at Kim.
"Kim, if you care for me you'll let me do this…"
When he saw that she still wasn't getting it he bit his tongue and turned towards the Russian and started walking.
"Ron! Get back here!" She shouted with concern and anger.
He ignored her and continued walking towards the Russian, as he got about three feet away he pushed the button on the bottom of the device, arming the explosives and starting the sixty second countdown.
The Russian took the device from Ron, they both shared a look and nodded at each other before Ron turned and headed towards Kim. Her glare burned a hole into him, telling him just how angry she was with him, however he could tell that she was still concerned about what he said to her before.
We're going to have a long talk once this is over…
Just as he reached her he turned back, not sure what he was expecting to see, but he was definitely not expecting what he did see.
The Russian handed off the device to another man, who whispered into the Russians ear. The Russian appeared to swear in Russian at what the man said before he looked at Ron again. The look in the mans eyes made Ron's heart sink, his eyes were full of sorrow, as if he'd been told to do something he didn't want to do. And it only took Ron one guess as to what he was told to do.
The Russian pulled his firearm from his side and pointed it at Kim.
"I'm sorry Comrade, but this is how it must be…"
The Russian pulled the trigger and time as Ron knew it slowed to a crawl. He saw the gun recoil back and the bullet exit the barrel at a slow velocity. Ron's instincts kicked in, he wasn't about to let Kim die again…he started to dive into Kim, pushing her out of the way, but everything he did was in super slow motion and he wasn't sure if he'd get her out of the way in time.
Suddenly everything snapped back to real time as the device exploded. Ron and Kim came crashing to the ground as bits of shrapnel came flying over them as did the roar of the explosion.
Ron looked down at Kim, her eyes were open…and she blinked.
She's alive! SHE'S ALIVE! I DID IT!
But Ron's previous actions came to the front of his mind, and he slowly turned over and looked toward where the men were once standing. Only there wasn't anyone there, every single one of the men were gone, the only one that was left was that one Russian man, lying on his side covered in blood. He looked up towards the two teens as he started to speak.
"You've done it Comrade, you've finally got it. You've proved you could do what is necessary to protect the one you really do care about…" He paused as he coughed up some blood on the ground.
"…I am glad to say we won't meet in this circumstance again Stoppable. Godspeed Comrade, Godspeed…" The Russian then slumped forward, lying face down on the ground…dead.
Ron felt a tear come to his eye and went to wipe it away with his right arm, which was currently under him. As he brought it up to his face he stopped and looked at it, his hand was covered in blood.
Slowly he turned back over towards Kim, only to see her start getting up off the ground.
"…Kim, I may have a problem…" He said as he rolled over to face her, showing her his bloody hand.
"Oh my god, RON!" She yelled as she knelt down by his side, she felt along his right side feeling that his shirt was soaked in his blood. She pulled it up and revealed that the one shot the Russian took found its mark, hitting Ron in the right lower back.
"Ron stay with me, come on…" She said as she cradled him in her arms.
"…Kim…" He started, feeling very weak and tired.
"I'm hear Ron, I won't leave you…" She said, tears coming to her eyes.
"…I'm sorry Kim…"
"Ron you don't have anything to be sorry about, just stay with me!"
"No, I do…I should've told you about this mission Kim, I've done it three times already…"
"Ron…what do you mean?"
"I've done this mission before, and it always ended with you dying in my arms…guess this is how it should finally end, me dying in your arms…" He said with a weak laugh.
"You are not dying in my arms Ron Stoppable! You are going to live, and explain this whole sitch to me!"
"I'm explaining it to you now KP, this was a test for me…to see if I had what it takes to do what was necessary to protect you, to have you live…looks like I've succeeded…"
"Ron, don't talk like this, stay with me please!"
"I want you to know Kim…I've always loved you…I'm sorry…" Ron said as he started fading from consciousness.
"Ron,….Ron….RON!!"
Ron's eyes opened slowly, everything around him was blurry and he had a ringing in his ears. In front of him he saw a bright light, he figured he was dead.
Aw man, how cliché is this…bright light at the end of a tunnel. I guess all those guys were right after all…
Slowly he started reaching towards the light with his right hand, but being his vision was still blurry all he saw was a big flesh colored blob…with something attached to it.
Just what is that? Am I attached to something?
Slowly the ringing in his ears went away, revealing the steady beeping of a machine Ron knew all too well from Kim's mom and his short time as a Sunshine spreader. His vision was slowly coming back too, he realized the bright light was indeed a light, but a florescent light that was attached to the ceiling.
And sure enough, Ron had a IV in his arm. Wow, so I'm not dead after all…
He was sore, and very groggy, probably a result of the medication he was on. He started to look about the room, his eyes came to rest on the redhead sound asleep in the chair by the bed.
By the looks of her he'd estimate he was out for at least three days, judging by the way Kim looked. Apparently she never changed out of her mission clothes, her hair was frayed and filthy and she had some very dark circles under her eyes. Curled up on the arm of the chair was Rufus, who was also sound asleep.
He smiled a bit as he saw them there, he took as deep a breath as he could before he exhaled, being glad he wasn't dead after all.
When he looked back over he saw that Kim was stirring, and eventually her eyes slowly opened, and immediately met his. She brought her hands up over her mouth instantly as tears formed in her eyes.
"…Hey KP…" Ron said weakly.
Kim practically dove onto the bed and gave Ron one of the most passionate kisses he ever got, it surprised Ron at first he quickly started enjoying it and slowly put her arm around her enjoying the moment, at least till he heard voices come from the doorway.
"Anne, what did we tell Kimmie about kissing Ronald while he was in a coma? That's the third time this…" Mr. Possibles voice trailed off, making Ron worry.
"James, I don't think he's in a coma anymore…" Mrs. Possible said quietly.
She probably noticed that my arm's around Kim… Ron though sheepishly.
"Come on honey, let's give them some time…" Mrs. Possible said as it sounded like she was now dragging Mr. Possible away from the door.
That's why I like Mrs. Dr. P. Always doing what she thinks is best for us…
Eventually they broke the kiss and looked each other in the eye.
"How long was I out?" Ron asked.
"Five days, Ron, I'm so glad you're alive…"
"I'm just glad I saved you…" Ron said.
"I also found this in one of your pockets…" She said as she held up the floor plan Ron drew and subsequently hid from Kim.
"I can explain that Kim…"
"No need, I figured it out Ron..."
"You did?" He asked, somewhat surprised.
She nodded. "I found the map, and added that with what you told me, you were telling the truth weren't you?"
He slowly nodded. She just embraced him in a hug.
"Thank you Ron, thank you for everything…" She said as she buried her head into his neck.
Ron turned his head to be against hers, and ended up looking out the glass wall of his hospital room, where he spotted someone he never would've expected to see again.
It was the Russian. He was standing in the center of the hallway, hands at his sides looking at Ron and Kim. When he noticed Ron was looking at him he smiled and gave Ron a wave.
Ron smiled back, and returned a small wave with his free hand. The Russian then turned and started walking down the hallway. Ron turned his eyes back down towards Kim, who by now had fallen asleep. For now Ron was happy, happy that he was alive, happy that Kim was alive, and most of all, happy that he ran into the Russian man.
THE END
There you have it folks the conclusion of 'Ultimate Nightmare'. Again I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Now with this out of the way, look for my other stories to be updated soon for all your reading enjoyment.
If you've read it, please, review it. And you'll get a response from me! Personally! (Well through email I guess but you get the idea.)
Thanks again for reading, till next time!
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