Chapter XIII: The Man Who Could Get Out of Anything
Ron Stoppable, also known as Ron the Stampede, was deep in thought when he followed Kim and Yori into Middleton Mall. He just couldn't believe it. Back in Gunsmoke, he was wanted for damages caused during the skirmishes he didn't even start. And now, every bad guy in the world would be gunning for him for that reward.
And the size of the reward was a bad sign. $3,000,000 plus a discount card was relatively small to what he was used to but then again, it still made him a marked man. Every nut wanting that bounty would be after him.
At least, they're after Stampede. No one knew that Stampede was also Ron Stoppable and he liked to keep it that way. It was more peaceful living that way.
"Ron-san, you did not seem surprised that you have a bounty," Yori said as she turned towards her friend. Ron simply sighed as he faced the two girls. Of course they would not know, how could they? He hasn't told them anything about the past four years.
"I'm just tired, that's all," he said sincerely. "I thought that by coming home that I'd leave behind all of that. Every time they recognize me the lead flies. Kim, my reputation came from those idiots trying to collect the bounty on my head." Kim smiled in sympathy and wrapped her arm around his right arm.
"It must have been though," she said.
"You have no idea," Ron sighed. "Life is hard on Gunsmoke. There are so many criminals that bounty hunting is the most common occupation there is. The next is undertaking."
Kim suddenly paused as she looked at Ron. It was like she was seeing him for the first time since he returned. There was something in him that she couldn't understand. Something deep, something mysterious. It was like he was hiding the deepest part of his soul.
"So… Ron-san…" Yori began. It was like what she was going to say next pained her. "Was there… someone… you left behind in that planet?" Kim was stunned at her question. Kim knew that he wouldn't find anyone, not that he couldn't that was, as a companion. But there was a lingering doubt within her that mirrored Yori's.
"Well," Ron began as they stepped onto the escalator. "Most of my friends assured me that they would be all right otherwise I would have postponed my return. Plus the kids in the orphanage seemed sad to see me go. But that was before my search for a way home." Kim sighed. As usual, Ron was dense in certain matters. That never changed.
"What she's saying, Ron, is that is there anyone special you left behind?" Kim explained. Ron was about to answer when he caught the hopeful looks the two girls gave. He blinked slowly and smiled, finally understanding.
"KP, you know me right?" he waited for her to nod before he continued. "If I had someone special back at Gunsmoke, would I leave her behind?" Both girls gasp at what he had said. Ron was the type of person who would value friendship, and even romance, more than anything. If he did have a lady friend, he would either stay with her or bring her with him.
With that, both girls sighed in relief. Ron smiled softly as he stepped off the escalator and leaned on the nearest railing. He waited for them to join him and his took Kim's hand.
"I made a promise. And I had moved heaven and earth to keep that promise." Kim squeezed his hand showing him that she understood. Suddenly, Kim's hand grabbed Yori's wrist as she was about to leave. Yori wanted to give the two of them some time alone and probably some time to mend.
But being with Yori for all those years, Kim knew that she was going to leave them alone. Kim took Yori's hand and sandwiched it between hers and Ron's. The meaning was clear. Yori was a part of their lives and both had acknowledged it. Yori smiled shyly as she looked at both of them.
"Arigato," she said softly. Smiling, she removed her hand between theirs. "I shall be in that shop." She bowed and entered the said shop. Ron blinked in confusion. First, at the girls' behavior and second… well, he was confused with the whole thing.
"What just happened?" Ron asked as he faced his girlfriend. Kim smiled and started to walk towards the shop where Yori had entered.
"We had an understanding," Kim said cryptically. "No need to concern yourself."
"KP, I'm in the middle of that understanding, if I had understood what just happened. And there's that thing about sharing me. What happened these past years I've gone?"
"Later," Kim gave him a peck at the cheek and entered the store, leaving Ron dumbfounded.
"She always skirts the issue," Ron sighed as he scratched his head. "If it's not the PDP it's the kiss. At least I get something out of the kiss." With a final sigh, Ron followed the girls in.
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"So, Mr. Tall, dark and handsome, what do you do when you're not bounty hunting and preaching?" Shego asked as she and Nicholas took a walk around Middleton Park. Fully dressed and composed, Nicholas looked at the raven haired seductress and took out a cigarette.
"I cook," he said as he lit the cigarette.
"That I can believe," Shego said as she remembered the tasty breakfast she had when he prepared it. "Why not just cook. Why all this bounty hunting?"
"To tell you the truth that is my plan," he said. "I came here for a new start. And with all the ingredients that's easily to be hand…" Shego saw him smile. A soft smile that one would not really notice but it's there. Nicholas took a deep breath on his cigarette and exhaled slowly. Shego noticed that when he smoked, he liked to hold on to the cigarette with his lips. And sometimes it moved when he talked.
"Those things will kill you, you know," Shego said but was surprised when he gave her a sad smile, took a long breath on the cigarette, exhaled and then killed his light when he came upon a garbage can.
"They won't have time to," he said softly she almost didn't hear him. But she did. There was something else going on in Nicholas's mind and Shego knew it ran deep. If she confronted him with it he might not answer. She smirked, letting it go.
"Any other talents?" she asked instead.
"I don't really know," he said as he lit another cigarette. "Living in a desert planet limits your possibilities. I'm a good mechanic, been handy with a hammer once, I even tended bars. Being a wandering preacher broadens your skills."
"So, a preacher of all trades?" Shego teased. "Stick close to me, Cross-boy. You may learn something new." Nicholas's grip on his cigarette almost slipped as he swore he heard her purr. With an exaggerated sway of the hips, Shego turned and walked sexily away.
Nicholas took a deep breath through his cigarette, its fire almost hitting the filter. Exhaling, it was like he was releasing more than smoke. "If it's not one thing trying to kill you it's another," he said as he extinguished his cigarette. "Then again, dying this way could be fun," he smiled as he watched Shego's retreating form. Shego looked back, seeing why he wasn't following. Nicholas smiled and started walking towards her.
"So, my beautiful teacher. What's the lesson for today?"
"Seduction," Shego simply said making Nicholas miss a step and fall face first to the ground.
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"I don't know KP. I'm sure I don't need new clothes. What's wrong with this one?" Kim looked at Ron as if his question was a dumb one. The mixture of his red coat and brown leather may look cool but it was hardly fashionable. To Kim's standards anyway.
"Ron. No offense but with that getup you look like a moving target," Kim said as she chose some clothes from the rack. "You don't exactly blend in and with that bounty on your head it's better to change your looks."
"I wear this for practical reasons," Ron defended his clothes.
"Maybe where you came from but this is Earth! At least Nicholas's get up doesn't attract any attention. As long as he leaves that cross of his at home," Kim said as she checked is the clothes would fit Ron. "What's with all the leather anyway?" she indicated his left arm with a nod. Ron automatically grabbed the top part of his arm, suddenly conscious.
"Mostly protection," he said. "It's a dry planet. You get scratched easily. Either way, I like the way I dress."
"Ron," Kim sighed. "You've been wearing the same thing back then. And obviously you'll be wearing that thing until the world ends." Ron smirked at Kim's obvious assessment. When it comes to fashion, she could be harsh at times.
"Kim-chan," Yori looked at the red headed woman softly. "I think there's something much more behind his reluctance to change his wardrobe." Kim's fingers suddenly went numb. The clothes she was holding fell to the ground as her head slowly faced the blond man in red.
"Ron? Did… did someone give you that coat?" Kim asked, afraid of the answer.
"Yes," Ron answered plainly. He was confused as to where this was going.
"Someone special?" Kim asked again.
"Yes," Ron answered again. He still didn't know why the girls were reacting so.
"Someone you… love?" Yori asked reluctantly. Ron, after what could be interpreted as a long silence, blinked.
"Well… kinda," he said. "I mean if not for that person I would have died." Kim and Yori sighed in relief. They thought he had another reason for not giving the coat up. But Kim still had some lingering doubt.
"Someone female?" she asked almost in a whisper. Ron blink as it dawned on him. He may be thick but he wasn't that thick.
"She was a special friend," Ron cringed. Wrong choice of words. The girls stiffened at his response. This was not going well.
"Special?" Kim's voice chilled his spine. He hastened to explain before it blew up in his face.
"Well," he smirked. "She told me the last person who wore this believed in peace without bloodshed. She gave it to me as a reminder that life is precious and must be respected. Since then I wore this coat. Her words were the only light in a darkened path." Kim as ashamed of herself. This was Ron she was talking about. Strangely he did have some appeal to other women but he's loyal. And more often than not she gets carried away with her jealousy.
"Ron-san had become wise," Yori smiled in appreciation. High praise indeed from the Japanese maiden. Though, she always found the good in Ron, Kim grudgingly admitted, before she did.
"Hanging around with C.T. would make a person philosophical," Ron smiled at the ladies. "On the other hand, hanging around him would make a person sin."
"Why's that?" Kim asked as she resumed her search for Ron's new wardrobe.
"He views life as precious and he tends to… overindulge. He's a great guy to be with, just… it's just I've never seen a man of God like him before."
"I know what you mean," Kim smiled. "he seemed… carefree."
"Nicholas-san has a tired soul," Yori said solemnly. "He masks his loneliness with his antics and his words of enlightenment. He tries to forget with his jokes but he knew it's futile."
"That's rather accurate," Ron grinned sadly. "I didn't think it was that obvious."
"It's not," Kim said, looking at Ron carefully. "But Yori's quite perceptive in these things.
"I am a ninja, Kim-chan. I have to be careful of my surroundings," Yori said with a smile. "I also know that when he and Ron-san get serious nothing would be left standing."
"Too perceptive," Ron smiled shakily. "She's right though. Why do you think I got the moniker "The Human Typhoon?"
"Still, I can't believe what you did to Dementor's robot. How good are you?" Kim asked. But before Ron could answer, a large explosion shook the mall. Kim and Yori immediately rushed towards the source of the commotion. Ron watched them go and sighed.
"Saved from a shopping excursion by something more sinister," Ron reached for his revolver and checked it. "I'd rather go through the excursion though. Jim, Tim," he called into his communicator. "Something's up in the mall. Kim and Yori are one their way to investigate." Ron ran after the girls, worried that they would get into something they couldn't handle.
"Bad news Ron," Jim said through the communicator's receiver. "We've hacked into the mall's security camera and assessed the situation."
"There're about 20 robots that are rampaging in the mall's square," Tim said.
"That's rather odd," Ron said as he caught sight of the girls. "It seems like… Guys, where's the least activity?"
"Least?" the twins asked in unison. "That'll be… quad 4, ground level."
"I'm heading there," Ron suddenly stopped, realizing one thing. "Is it me or did this mall get bigger?"
"There had been some improvements since your last visit," Jim said. "Unfortunately, you have to go through the square to get to quad 4."
"Anything more?" Ron asked as he resumed his run.
"The robots looked seriously whacked," Tim said as he fed the image through the communicator. Ron smirked as he saw them. The robots were reptilian in form and he would guess also in manner. These were nothing. Androids, no more. He faced much vicious robots before. The type that was programmed to kill you no matter the cost.
"Any weaknesses?" he asked.
"Nothing obvious," Jim said. Ron took a deep breath and sighed.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same," he said as he neared the mall's center square. "Call C.T., I may need his help."
"We'll try," Tim said as he typed. "Could you handle them? Preliminary scans shows their armor's thick and strong. I couldn't penetrate further."
"Every armor had a chink," Ron said. "That's a helpful lesson that kept me alive."
"I'd love to hear the rest," Jim said. "You're mentor must have been a great man."
"He is," Ron smiled and prepared himself. "He taught me how to get out of any situation."
"Then why didn't you get out of a simple shopping expedition?" Tim asked.
"Three words," Ron smiled as he shook his head. "Puppy. Dog. Pout."