A.N. This story has not yet lost its zest!
Buckle yourselves for more emotional ups and downs!
Enjoy!
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Chapter24- A Hero Falls
"He claims to know the location of Drakken's headquarters!" Kim finished.
All the captains were seated quietly listening to Kim's report in the strategy tent. Now the silence continued as they stared at the prisoner.
"He's a spy!" Jolly stood from his seat, "And she's in it with him!"
"Captain Jolly!" Kyle snapped and stood at the front of the tent beside Kim facing the audience, "I demand you take back that accusation!"
"Why? To allow her to continue trafficking info to the enemy!"
"What?" Kim snapped, "I did no such thing!"
Kyle placed a hand in front of Kim silencing her.
"Our main concern now is to locate Drakken's headquarters." He turned towards Wiley, "could you help us with that?"
"On a condition!"
"What might that be?" Kyle inquired.
Wiley beamed at the crowed as they awaited his reply, "I lead one of your battalions against Drakken's headquarters!"
The crowd of captains erupted into a frenzy.
"Not in a million years!" yelled one captain.
"Dream on, toothy!" bellowed another.
Commander Wiley's optimism sank lower as the criticisms poured in.
"Now hold on!" Kyle raised his hands up to calm the crowd, he turned towards the now furious commander, "Perhaps if you could prove that we could trust you, maybe we'll allow you to lead one of our battalions."
Wiley pondered for a moment.
"Kim, I trust your judgment, how about you have him stick with you for a while, then we'll see…"
Everything was silent…then several acknowledging voices were heard.
"It's settled then!"
Ron watched the whole briefing from the crowd, his feet stretched over one of the chairs in front of him. And he wasn't the slightest bit satisfied.
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Kim packed her bag, swung the strap over her shoulder and was set to go.
She turned around and was face to face with Ron. His scowl could not be missed.
"Oh," Kim staggered, "hey, Ron!"
"Hi Kim!" he smiled.
"Ugh…so, you ready to go?"
"Ready whenever you are Kim!"
"Okay…then, where's Wiley?"
"Commander Wiley!" the third member snapped as he walked into the tent that Kim and Ron were in.
"Right, we're all here." Kim studied the two, "Let's go!"
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"Where are we going?" Wiley called from the back. He was behind Ron, who had Kim in front of him. The three of them were walking along the edge of a fallen bridge. It was the only part of the bridge still connected to the other side. The bridge was part of a highway connecting the two sides of downtown Middleton and several Middleton residential areas.
"We're searching for a member of our team who went missing a couple of weeks ago!" Kim yelled over to Wiley.
Kim finally made it over to the other side, she turned to look behind her and found Ron was a couple of steps away, while Wiley was still half way behind.
As soon as Ron jumped over to her he glared at her…in an uncomfortable manner.
Kim stared back.
"What?" she said. But no reply came.
Ron only shrugged, "Nothing."
Kim swallowed hard as Ron walked ahead. Suddenly, she doesn't feel relaxed anymore.
"Well?" Wiley impatiently questioned.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
The team moved on.
"He's been scrambling the enemy's signals," she pointed up to the sky and Wiley looked, "Haven't you noticed why there are none of Drakken's floating city's?"
"hmmm…" nodded Wiley as he studied the sky, "How do you know it's him?"
"I know!" smiled Kim, "Trust me!"
"I don't," shot back Wiley.
Kim simply stared at him and gave off what sounded like a 'huh'.
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They reached a large crater, which took up a good chunk from Middleton Park.
"What sort of weapons did Drakken come up with?" awed Kim, she then raised a brow when she saw Commander Wiley merely scoff and raise his nose.
After she rolled her eyes over to her other side she noticed Ron watching her, then he turned away as soon as he noticed she had seen him.
"What is with you?" Kim muttered to herself.
Wiley sat down and crossed his legs as he stretched his arms.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Resting…. You have a problem?" he snapped.
"Eh, whatever…take five, I guess." Kim bluntly announced.
She turned and began setting up her sleeping bag. When she was done she turned to find Commander Wiley had fallen asleep, "suspected as much." She sighed.
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Even after Kim opened her eyes, the surrounding was dark. She reached over for her flashlight and directed t towards where she last saw Wiley. He was exactly where she last left him. But as for Ron…he was nowhere in sight. She hadn't felt too comfortable about his recent behavior, he's been eyeing her a lot and brushing her off when she tried to speak to him. What's his damage?
Kim crawled out of her sleeping bag and brushed herself when she stood up. Flashlight at the ready, Kim treaded into the woods, careful not to wake up their 'companion'.
As she continued to creep deeper into the woods different ideas popped in her mind. What could Ron be doing here? Is someone on to us? What if Ron turned? No! Never!
WHOOSH"Wow!" Kim screamed, "Ron…what are you doing here?"
Ron's shadowed face appeared from no where, as though he'd been playing hide and seek with her.
"Nothing." Ron replied.
Kim tried to catch her breath…but at the same time trying to keep her composure.
"Ron," she gulped, "You haven't been acting yourself lately…what's up?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ron countered.
"Well, you've been acting weird…ever since that shot you received from Wiley."
"I'm fine," Ron stepped closer to Kim, "It's you I'm worried about."
"Huh?" Kim tried to step back but instead bumped into a tree behind her.
"I mean it seems as though you've become…paranoid!" A smirk appeared on Ron's face as he began to caress her face.
Kim began shaking like a leaf.
"Relax, Kay!" Ron rubbed his hands through her hair, "I wouldn't hurt you!"
Kim took in a big gulp and snatched Ron's hand, "That's enough!"
"Come on," she turned to walk back to the camp, while still keeping an eye on Ron, "Let's get back to camp."
"Of course!" Ron followed, as his smirk grew wider.
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The sky began to turn a navy blue as dawn arrived.
"Come on fat man!" yelled Ron as he kicked Wiley up, "Let's get moving!"
Wiley jumped up as he tried to reach for his gun, "Pigs! All of you!"
"Don't bother…I suspected that would be your first reaction!" Ron raised the gun over Wiley's head, "I'm keeping it till you're ready to go!"
As Wiley rubbed his eyes open Ron walked over to where Kim was packing her bag.
"Tubby here is gonna slow us down, why don't you go look ahead while I pack up the rest of the stuff…"
Kim turned towards Ron, who put on an innocent smile.
"Sure…" Kim sighed.
It was a good idea after all. With the loss of the enemy camp in Middleton, who knows what movements they've probably made last night to take it back!
With that Kim set off to reach the clearing behind the woods.
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It wasn't long before Kim arrived back. Not much has happened last night, except for new clouds of smoke rising into the sky.
"Yaaaaaaaaagh…." The voice of Commander Wiley screamed.
Kim made it just in time to find Ron pointing a gun towards Commander Wiley, who had leapt into a sprint away from the gun barrel.
"Ron! No!" Cried Kim.
Wiley's legs didn't carry him too far. A bullet struck him in the back, which caused him to dive on to his stomach.
"Ron!" Kim cried again.
But Ron was not listening. He dashed over to Wiley and fired several more bullets into his back. Kim growled in rage and raced over to Ron, before she dived into the air and kicked the gun out of his hands.
She recovered quickly and held Ron buy the shoulders, "What are you doing!"
"He tried to run!" Ron frantically answered.
"No Ron!" Kim yelled back, "No that's not how you do it! He's on our side!"
"But he tried to run!"
"Because you directed the gun right towards him, Ron!"
Ron did not reply.
"What is up with you!" Kim tried her best to find the best words to use, but all that came out were a series of stutters and heavy breathing. Finally Kim broke into tears.
"Sometimes I feel I don't know you any more!" she wept, "Why are you doing this? Why?"
Ron remained blank.
"What is up with you?" she cried louder, "Get lost!"
She shoved Ron, but he merely fell a couple of steps back. Ron just turned away and picked up the weapon off the floor.
As Kim stood there sniffling she heard a moan coming from the direction of Wiley's corpse. Kim's attention quickly turned to his body. And then another moan came from him. Without hesitating Kim glanced over to where Ron went and found he was not there. She then dashed over to Wiley and turned him on his back.
"Commander! You're still alive?" she noticed the blood seeping from many places in his body, anyone would question his survival.
"Ugh….pocket…look!" his throat gurgled.
Kim grimaced, "Which pocket?"
"Auugh…." Wiley moaned, his arm moved over to a small pouch hanging off his belt, the finger twitched nad seemed to be pointing inside.
"Oh…" Kim was about to place her hand inside when another moan came from him.
"Friend…your…" his eyes rolled back and his stomach seemed to be acting up.
"Ron? You mean Ron?" Kim desperately asked, "Stay with me, commander!"
A simple nod was all she got, "What about him, commander?
"Not…himself!" his eyes widened, he clearly had trouble trying to pass on that idea to her, "so…dizzy…. So cold!"
"I'm sorry, commander! This is all my fault!"
"Kim…" he choked as she watched the last moments of the man's life, "The Empire…must fall, for your friends…to live!"
Kim finally placed her hand in his pocket and pulled out what looked like a map. She opened it up and found an area circled.
"You had the map with you all along!" Kim gasped.
Suddenly a series of coughs erupted from him. With Wiley's last breath used up, his lifeless body became limp. Kim shut his eyelids and reached for her shovel in her backpack.
It wasn't long before she buried his body, with Ron watching from a distance throughout the process, and the team moved on.
A simple stone marked the resting place of a man with a legacy that would've probably made the history books had people known his tale. Unfortunately, none will know the true intentions of Commander Wiley and what his life story might've comprised.
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A.N. Whew, I thought at one point I reached a writers block in this chapter, but no big!
Once again, I remind you these next coming chapters are going to be the most exciting of the entire story!
