It wasn't a journey, Ron reflected, looking around, feet propped up comfortably
It wasn't a journey, Ron reflected, looking around, feet propped up comfortably. Or, at least he assumed he was looking around. And he assumed he was comfortable.
It was kind of hard to tell.
The environment, if it could be called that, was nondescript and... fuzzy. It was like someone took a picture of a room with windows facing the ocean and then attempted to create a 3-D version, but using only broad brush strokes. Ron thought it looked more like the IDEA of a room rather than an actual room. The low chair he sat in was likewise indistinct... his touch slid off the material without telling him anything about it. He also had no memory of sitting down after walking through Bonnie's portal. Flick-flick, there, then here. The walls, or what vaguely seemed like walls, sprouted from the uneven floor at some indeterminate distance from the group.
Ron's gaze landed on Kim, as she sat cross-legged on what looked (and felt like) white sand. Standing next to her, Shego looked like she was trying hard to get her bearings. She'd been awake for about two minutes, and Ron sympathized with her discomfort. Of course, he took a little guilty pleasure in her discomfort, but hey, Ron figured he was only human.
The same couldn't be said for Bonnie, who stood cross-armed in front of the other three. In contrast the their surroundings, Bonnie - or whatever the construct that looked like Bonnie actually was - fairly glowed with a rock-solid presence. Although her form was no larger than it had been before, her imperious gaze radiated a nearly palpable intensity, making her seem towering and forbidding. This Bonnie commanded respect, and got it, even from Shego.
"It's about time," Bonnie told the three, who bounced to their feet as if commanded by a general. Bonnie twirled and walked away from them, never quite reaching a door or wall. Shrugging at one another, Ron and Kim began trudging after the Bonnie avatar. Shego stood her ground.
"I don't suppose it's too much to ask for a little explanation?" she called to the others as they retreated. Bonnie snapped her fingers, and Shego found herself striding just behind Kim and Ron. "Great." She continued walking.
Ron's hand found Kim's, and they continued walking easily. As much as Ron tried, he couldn't see details of where they were. At first glance, it seemed like they were walking on wet sand, only it didn't stick to their shoes. There was no breath of wind, and Ron couldn't even tell if they were indoors or out. They had started off in what seemed like a room, but now an indistinct grayness faded into the featureless distance. Bonnie's stride was nearly mechanical.
"So just how long did you put me out for?" Shego asked from just behind Ron and Kim. The usual Shego snarky tone was back, but not in full force. Ron thought her snotty attitude seemed just for form's sake.
Kim glanced back as she walked, and ran some quick calculations through her wetware. "About twenty-five thousand years. You were in a REALLY bad mood when you went nighty-night."
"Who says that's changed?"
"You're welcome."
Shego paused, unsure of whether Kim's tone was honest or sarcastic. "For what?"
"Waking you up."
The villainess resumed walking. "It's going to be a lot longer than twenty five thousand years before I thank you for something." Her tone was a little stronger, a little steadier. Kim smiled just a little without letting her raven-haired nemesis see.
The foursome trudged through non-sticky, non-slippery sand-like ground for what seemed like forever. The indistinct horizon slowly formed into a series of regular shapes, but not like any buildings that Ron was familiar with. There was no sense of scale, no depth, nothing to make them solid. The shapes seemed based on pyramids and cones and other things that Ron had slept through in geometry and couldn't be bothered to look up through his wetware. Even as they closed in, the structures remained flat and oddly two-dimensional. Ron was reminded of movie sets, where just the fronts were built and held up with a few two by fours in the back.
A small group of people – Ron assumed they were people – stood in a circle just in front of the nearest… well, Ron had to call it a "building" even though there was no entrance or purpose that he could see. The waiting group appeared to be composed of seven people, but the shimmer of distance sometimes made it seem more, sometimes less. As they drew closer, Ron decided it was seven. Even he could count that high after a sleepless night.
Bonnie led the three immortals to the person standing in the middle of the circle. The man was non-descript… about thirty five years old in appearance, dirty blond hair but nicely cut, a gray suit that wouldn't look out of place in Middleton, and a blank expression on his plain face. Bonnie strode up and stopped just in front of him. She looked up at the man, who blinked once.
"They're all yours, none the worse for wear. And I didn't play with them hardly at all, just like you said. Even though they deserved it, just for being them."
His gaze lifted from Bonnie and rested for a measured second on Kim, then Ron, then Shego. His expression didn't change until a good five seconds had gone by, and then he smiled like he'd just remembered how.
"Welcome, my friends. Thank you for coming. We will try to make this as simple as possible." The smile blinked off, just like that, like he'd forgotten to make his facial muscles work. He turned abruptly and began walking among the odd buildings.
Shrugging, Bonnie motioned for the rest to follow once again. With a put-upon sigh, Shego started trudging behind the others. Kim and Ron shared a quick glance – by mutual consent, and long years of reading each others' faces, they would go along with this for a while longer. Until they got some real answers.
After a short stroll, the group – now followed by the other six people who'd met Bonnie and her little entourage – stopped at a small tiered depression in the ground. It was shaped sort of like an amphitheater, but without a focus. The six strangers and their nondescript leader each went to the lowest step, followed by Bonnie and finally Kim, Ron and Shego. The immortal trio instinctively formed a defensive triangle. Ron suppressed a smile but didn't point it out to Shego; she'd just go all green on him, and Ron figured this certainly wasn't a good time to honk off his hosts.
Standing at the lower steps, Ron began to feel self-conscious as the other seven looked at him, Kim, and Shego. Bonnie stood off to the side, arms crossed, and looked bored. No help there, Ron figured. After a couple of uncomfortable minutes, Ron couldn't take the silent stares any more.
"Hi. Ron. Ron Stoppable, pleased to meet you. And you are…?" He extended his hand to the nondescript guy, who stated at Ron's hand until Ron dropped it. Then he looked up and smiled, and for the first time Ron thought it was actually genuine.
Extending his hand, he told Ron, "Malcolm. I'm Malcolm, and I'm pleased to meet you, Ron Stoppable." Turning to Kim, he did the same, and then once more to Shego, who looked like she wanted to slice off his hand to examine later. Undaunted, Malcolm dropped his hand when Shego didn't offer hers, then turned back to Ron. And stood silently.
OK, another impasse, thought Ron, and then he decided to go for it. "So, I take it you guys are, um, either the ones who did a vanishing act on us, or you're their descendents, right?"
A long-haired woman sitting on the lowest tier answered. "We are them."
More silence. This time it was Kim who broke the lull. "So what exactly are we supposed to do here?" She silently grabbed Ron's hand and gave it a squeeze.
A third person stood. Ron thought this one looked a little familiar, but couldn't place her. She looked directly at Ron and said, "I choose you."
Before Kim could protest, the spokesman walked to Kim. "I choose you."
"I'm flattered, really, but what exactly…" Kim's protest trailed off as another of the silent group stood and approached Shego.
"I choose you," the woman told the simmering villainess.
The sky disappeared.