Darev: It's been a difficult semester. My most trying to date. But I won't bore you with my academic scars. What I will say is that this chapter was not an easy one. I felt it wise to slow things down somewhat, after the action of the previous installment. It got so boring at times that I had to rewrite it, four times!
What I am enjoying is writing Justine as the antagonist. She's one of my favorite (one-shot) characters from the TV show. There's some more time with her and Bonnie at the end of the fic and a cliffhanger that (I hope) will leave many of you saying "WTF?"
Chapter 4 was a big success so let's say thanks to all those who reviewed: DayDreamer9, CajunBear73, Can't Catch This, Shadowgirl416, RT (aka Robert Teague, thanks man), Uzziel, Reader101w, DeathCobraEater, and (whew! I'm just going to call you awesome from now on.
Dazed, disoriented, and terrified, the survivors of the tentacle attack returned from the back room. Having wiped the blood off his face, and spitting what was left out of his mouth, Ron was visibly shaking. His hands grasped one another as if he were still trying to remove Junior from the clutches of the alien appendage. The boy's blood, still warm on his clothes and skin, was a potent reminder of his failure to save him. Ron had never lost a life before. Granted Junior's own foolishness - why did he just listen? - had been his undoing, but when push came to shove, when it came time for the hero to step up, Ron Stoppable, inheritor of Tai Shing Pek Kuar, master of the Lotus Blade and partner to Kim Possible, could do nothing.
Even having Rufus on his shoulder, so often the strength Ron needed to persevere in times of difficulty, did little to ease the troubled young man. He felt another presence on his opposing shoulder. Oscar was the most down-to-earth individual Ron had known. To see him shaken up by their experience was further proof that Ron had not dreamed it all. It wasn't some nightmare, and no matter how much he wished it was, one look at his hands and vest, at seeing Junior's blood, and it was all he could to do put one foot in front of the other.
Behind them walked Big Mike and Vinnie, Junior' supposed buddies. They were supposed to help him when Junior was in trouble, when the tentacles snatched him up and nibbled at him piece by piece. They only stood back and watched as their friend was pleading for help, screaming for someone to save his life. Apparently all Mike and Vinnie were good for was getting high for they did nothing but watch their friend being dragged away, bleeding and crying, into the mist, never to be seen again.
One didn't need a morbid imagination to wonder about his fate.
As Ron opened the door marked Employees Only, he slumped against the wall like his legs had lost all strength in them. Sliding halfway down, Ron instinctively propped himself up before he could fall any further. Rufus called his name, fearing for his best friend's state of mind. Ron didn't hear him. He didn't hear anything save the sound of Junior's screams of agony. He tried to blink, but all he saw was Junior being dragged away, his eyes begging Ron not to let him go. Ron did let go. He gave up. He couldn't save him.
Why didn't you?
"Ronald!" Oscar was by his side then, helping him up. Vinnie and Big Mike exited last, seemingly as stunned as he was. Vinnie kept muttering curses and wiping tears from his eyes as he walked. Big Mike seemed brain dead. Even the scowl that had been permanently fixed on his square face was gone. He just saw a friend get ripped to pieces by something that was way bigger and scarier than him. For any giant, that is a humbling experience.
Still holding him, Oscar tried to shake Ron out of it. "Pull yourself together, son. We need you right now."
"Junior needed me and I let him down."
"Don't think like that. You did everything we could. We call did."
"We?"
Realizing what he said, Oscar turned a critical eye over at Vinnie and Mike. The latter was hunched over like he needed to barf while the former was tapping his hands together nervously, pacing back and forth. "You and I did, anyway." Oscar turned back to him. "There was nothing more we could have done. Those things, whatever they were, were too many and too strong for us. We tried to save that boy. It just wasn't meant to be."
"I knew him, Oscar." Ron turned away. "We didn't hang out or anything. Hell, we never bothered talking to one another save the time he and Kim were in detention together. But I used to see him around. He had a life, friends," Ron felt bile forming at the back of his throat after uttering that. What sort of friends let their friend die and do nothing about it? He fought the urge to glare at Vinnie and Mike. Ron had attacked Mike earlier, had almost beaten the boy to a pulp had not Oscar stopped him. There was enough blood on his hands.
"A family," Ron went on, "people that will never see him again because of me."
"Because of us, you mean," Oscar pressed.
"Because of me." Ron looked at him and his eyes were cold. "I'm a hero, Oscar. I save people. It's what Kim and I do. If she were there, there's no way those things could have taken Junior."
"I'm not too sure about that."
Ron brushed his arms away, angrily. "Don't you get it?" Ron slammed a fist into the wall. To Oscar's surprise, as well as the other boys, cracks formed where flesh met concrete. A twinge of blue fire seeped into Ron's eyes. Seeing this damage only served to raise Ron's ire. Where the hell were you when I needed you? He asked his inner champion. "I-Let-Him-Die!"
"Oh, Ronald."
"Ron," Rufus said. When the boy finally looked as his tiny mammalian friend, he found the mole rat's large black eyes reflected a face that was not his own. The look of utter defeat, of shame and agony, was not Ron was accustomed to. Sure he was used to losing, of being humiliated and cast aside, but this was different. Ron had never let his trials in life take him down. He remained positive despite all the obstacles and always walked with his head held high and with a smile on his freckled face. Not this time. This was a different Ron.
The blue light died out and Ron just stood there. He removed his fist from the wall and collapsed down on it, still shaking. "I'm so sorry." Whether he was apologizing to Rufus, to Oscar, or to Junior he could not tell. He was just sorry.
"Come, Ron." Oscar helped him back up again. "We have to tell the others what we saw."
Ron was shaking his head. "We can't."
"Yes we can. And we must. Kim, Steve, they all have to know that there's something dangerous out there."
Too late for that, Ron mused. Way too late for Junior.
"They won't believe us. Well, Kim might. We've seen a lot of things on our missions. But Oscar, I don't know how to explain..." his voice trailed off and at once Oscar knew what was wrong. How did Ron explain to his girlfriend that he failed to save Junior? Ron would continue to beat himself up for it, Oscar knew. What's more, if word got out that someone had been killed inside Smart Mart, there's no telling what kind of panic that would set off. People were scared enough to begin with, and if Ron Stoppable, friend and partner to teen hero Kim Possible, could not save a single life then how could he and Kim be expected to save the hundred or so people still trapped in the store?
"We'll tell Kim and Steven then. No one else."
"Mr. Barkin," Ron said.
"And Kim. She needs to know about this, Ron."
"No. Please..."
"Ron...she needs to know."
Ron sighed his shoulders in defeat. He wanted to keep his shame hidden from Kim if but for a little while longer. She would not judge him, Ron knew, but it still pained him to no end. If Kim had gone back instead of Ron then Junior would still be alive. A small part of him wished it was him dragged to his death. At least then he wouldn't have to live with his failure.
Oscar turned to the other two. "You're both coming with us. If you hadn't been back there to begin with then your friend may still be alive."
Vinnie shook his head. "We didn't know, man. We didn't kn..."
"That's no excuse!" Oscar snapped at them, his voice stern and unwavering. "You shouldn't have been here to begin with. That storage room is off limits to customers."
"But we ain't customers."
"No." Now he turned on them in full. "You're a bunch of potheads who, if you were sober enough, might have been able to help Ron and I save your friend's life. Had you listened to Ron in the first place, he might not have died to begin with."
Ron didn't bother to mention that, despite his warnings, Oscar was still opting to go outside and clear the vent. He remained silent as his co-worker berated the boys and warned them that from this moment on he would keep an eye on them from now on. Still, Oscar went on as his voice softened, the loss of their friend had been terrible enough and he offered them his sincerest condolences. "I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure he was a good man at heart."
"Junior was my boy, man. He didn't deserve to go out like that."
"Monsters," Mike bellowed.
"What the hell was that thing, man?" It took Ron a moment to realize that Vinnie had directed that question at him - had even stepped up to him at that point. "What killed my friend?"
"I don't know." Looking at Big Mike, Ron turned to Vinnie and said, "Monsters." Too disgusted with himself and with Vinnie, Ron turned away. The tentacles may be gone, but they continued to follow Ron, like tendrils of self-loathing.
They found Kim and Mr. Barkin in the presence of a large group of people. The patrons had been freaked out when the lights went off but after the power came back on and the cheering stopped there remained the probability of another blackout. The notion did not sit well with the patrons and they'd crowded around Kim and Barkin, their rocks in this time of crisis, for a solution.
The first person to notice the group was Felix who'd been sitting away from the crowd. He'd been wondering what was taking Ron so long to return from the back and rode his chair up to him. His eyes widened even further upon seeing the state he was in. "Ron! What the hell?"
"It's not my blood," he assured his chair-bound friend.
Looking at the men, Felix's mouth sputtered with a hundred questions struggling to be the first in line to be uttered. Oscar held up a hand to silence the boy. "Excuse me, son. But we really need to talk to Kim and Steven." Oscar walked around him.
"Ron?" Felix watched as Ron walked by. He couldn't even look at Felix when he did so. Something terrible had happened. Felix grabbed him by the arm. "Dude, talk to me. What happened?" He glanced to the side. "What are Vinnie and Big Mike doing here?"
"It ate him, man. It fucking ate him!" Vinnie blurted out all of a sudden.
Ron turned on him just as Felix did. "Shut up!"
But Vinnie fell to his knees, grabbing at his hair. "It ate my boy, man. The damn thing ate Junior."
"Junior? What's he talking about?"
Ron shook his head. "Felix...I can't really talk about this now."
"Talk about what?" Hearing her voice, Ron closed his eyes. He turned around just as Kim appeared, her eyes bulging at the sight of her boyfriend. "Ron?" She rushed to him. "Oh my god! What happened?"
"That's what I want to know," Felix stated.
"Vinnie? Big Mike?" Kim said over Ron's shoulder. Mike touched Vinnie's shoulder in sympathy, showing the first human expression since the attack. Vinnie was near sobs. Several patrons saw the display and wondered what was happening. They moved closer to hear what was going on. Now that they had an audience, Ron wished more than ever that it had been he and not Junior. It's bad enough to admit his defeat to Kim in private, now half the store would hear it.
"Why are you covered in blood? Did you fall?" Kim looked him over like a distressed mother. Seeing he was alright, physically at least, she asked, "What happened back there?"
Oscar returned with Mr. Barkin at his side. He gave Ron a plaintive look. "Might as well tell them."
"Tell us what?" Kim was getting agitated now. "Ron, what is it?"
He sighed. "Kim...I..."
"Something ate Junior."
Gasps followed Vinnie's proclamation. Cries of "What did he say?" and "Who's Junior?" filled the air.
"What's he talking about?" Kim asked Ron.
Sighing Ron told his story. "Mr. Barkin sent me to check on the generator. I found Big Mike, Vinnie, and Junior while I was trying to turn the power back on. Oscar joined us a little while later. The only way to turn the lights back on was to clear the vent outside loading room door."
"You went outside?" Kim asked, and that question alone drew gasps and disbelieving cries from everyone around them. Monique, Bonnie, Tara, Ned, and Josh were among those gathering around when they saw the crowd. One by one, they each worked their way towards the front.
"Junior did. Or tried to." Ron held his breath before dropping the bomb. "Something grabbed him from inside the mist. It was a bunch of tentacles. They took him, Kim. He's dead."
"Did he say tentacles?" Someone in the crowd asked aloud.
"I think he did."
"Is he serious?"
A chuckle was followed by, "Boy watches too much hentai."
While Kim didn't know what hentai was, she did agree that it all sounded strange. "Tentacles, Ron?"
"We all saw it." Ron motioned to Oscar, Mike, and Vinnie. "We were there. Rufus, too."
Rufus bobbed his head quickly.
Mr. Barkin puffed out his chest. "Stoppable, you expect us to believe that there are tentacles in the mist?"
"Shego said that was something in the mist, right? You saw her when she and Drakken came in." Ron stepped back. "Well we saw something. We saw a whole lot of somethings. They came in and grabbed Junior."
"The tentacles?"Barkin asked. His tone showed that he did not believe him.
"Yes! Tell him, Oscar."
"He's right. We all saw it."
"Mike! Vinnie!" Ron urged the boys to add their voices to his own.
"Kim, they took Junior. They ripped him up and then they ate him, man."
"Monsters," Mike said.
"Tentacles?" With an upraised eyebrow, Kim approached the two boys. She sniffed the air about them and waved her hand before her. "Smells to me like you boys were having a party back there."
"Well yeah, but," Vinnie stopped when heard and saw the others laughing at him. At him. "Yo, I'm not making this shit up, alright? Junior's dead. They took him." More laughter. "This ain't funny! My hommie's dead and you assholes are laughing? That ain't right!"
"It' ain't," Ron agreed. He regarded the disbelieving crowd. "Knock it off!" The strength in his tone, so unlike Ron Stoppable, shut most of them up immediately. Even Bonnie and Monique, who never did take Ron seriously though Monique was a friend, were taken aback by his harsh words. Ron grabbed his vest. "You see this?" He pulled at the blood-stained fabric. "You see this blood? This belonged to Junior. This is all that's left of him. He's dead. I tried to save him and he's dead."
"Ron?" Kim turned to him. She saw Rufus looking back at her, his tiny face one of pain.
"Something came out of the mist, through the loading door, and it killed Junior. All we could do was watch as the tentacles took him away, back to the mist. I don't need to remind you about the screams we heard in the parking lot. Maybe whatever killed Junior killed those people as well. There might be more of them. There might be a thousand. I don't know. What I do know is that the outside is dangerous and if some people," he turned on Junior's friends, eyes flashing, "had listened to me when I told them I heard something, we'd all still be alive!"
Kim was in front of him then. "Calm down, Ron. I believe you."
Mr. Barkin was not convinced. "Possible? You believe this nonsense."
"Ron wouldn't lie about these things. If he says he saw a bunch of tentacles then I believe him."
The chortle started up again...albeit nervously. That's the thing with frightened people. When things were bad, they tried to fight their fear with humor, using laughter as a way to combat their growing sense of dread. Ron may have sounded like a nutcase, but when Kim Possible backed him up, it was impossible not to feel it may be true.
Mr. Barkin studied Ron intently. The blood seemed obvious and he'd never seen Ron so shaken up before. Even his dreaded pop quizzes failed to incite the level of intensity and desperation he saw on Ron's face. The boy may be a pro at excuses, but he was not a pathological liar. Besides, that blood did look real.
"Okay, Stoppable," Barkin's voice silenced everyone. "Let's see it."
"What?"
"Proof, you dolt. Show me proof of what you saw was true and I'll believe you."
Ron grabbed his clothes again. "Do you not see the blood?"
"Stoppable, half the time you're covered in blood when you're feeding the lions." The look on Kim's face - one of absolute shock - caused him to clarify. "He provides the raw meat, Possible, nothing more." Back to Ron he said, "Let's go back there."
"Mr. Barkin, I seriously think that's a bad,"
"Now, Stoppable."
"It's okay, Ron," Kim said. "I'll go with you."
"I'll go too," Oscar said.
"I'll go." Felix rolled his chair forward.
Monique moved her way out of the crowd. "Count me in."
With no more volunteers forthcoming (Vinnie and Mike had no intention of going back there), the group followed Ron to the loading door. The walk was a solemn one, with Ron dreading every footstep and dragging his feet in some cases, slowing them down even further. Kim realized that her boyfriend had been traumatized by his experience. No amount of hand-holding or soothing words could break the tension in his step, the shaking in his voice or fingers. What happened to you, Ron?
When they made it to the door she finally got her answer. Foodstuffs were scattered all over the place, the signs of a struggle obvious. What was even less obvious, and therefore even more surprising, was the severed piece of a tentacle lying on the floor. All others, save for Ron, approached the thing tentatively. Kim's expression reflected everyone's feelings at that moment. Even Oscar who had been there for the whole thing, had trouble believing what he'd saw. The ugly thing lay prone in a pool of its own black blood, blood which, they noticed, had spots of red around it. Clearly a human being had been a victim here.
"What is that?" Monique asked.
"That's what killed Junior," Oscar said. Looking to the side, Oscar saw a green baseball cap on the floor near the loading door. He picked up and looked at with a sigh. "Rest in peace, son." It seemed like the right thing to say, though how peaceful a death could be after witnessing those final moments was beyond him. Cradling the cap, Oscar rejoined the group.
"Stay back, Possible," Barkin warned as he saw Kim approaching the tentacle.
Kim leaned in carefully. "It looks dead."
"Looks can be deceiving," Felix shot back.
"No deceiving here. Whatever this thing was a part of, it was big." Kim looked around. She spotted the axe that Oscar had valiantly used to battle the tentacles in a vain attempt at saving Junior's life. She walked over and returned with it, holding it up like a weapon. Barkin reached for it but Kim pulled it out of his reach. "I've got it, Mr. B." She was used to handling dangerous items. Barkin was just being protective of his students.
Kim stretched the axe out until she touched the tentacle. Nothing happened at first but after a second poke the thing came alive, forcing everyone to leap back. Even Felix, who was sitting down, visibly jumped and shook his chair. "It's still alive."
"Kill it!" Monique told Kim.
But Kim could see that it was already in its death throes. The spasms continued for another few seconds before the tentacles stopped altogether. When it finally stopped moving, the severed tentacle began to decay at an alarming rate. The humans watched with disgust and horror as it melted, becoming nothing but an ugly pool of steaming, putrid guck.
"Oh, that's nasty!" Monique covered her mouth, tasting bile in the back of her throat.
"I'll second that." Felix turned to Kim who was still too shocked to speak. "Kim?"
"There goes our evidence." Oscar's comment made the group look up. "If we brought this back up front then the people would have to believe us then."
"I think it would only induce panic," Barkin said. "Better that they take our word for it."
"Who'd believe us?" Kim asked. "I'm here and I still don't believe it."
"Believe it, Kim." All eyes turned to Ronald who had a dark look on his face. Rufus huddled beside his head. "Hell's come to Middleton."
If Ron Stoppable's bizarre recount of previous events weren't enough, having Kim Possible and Steven Barkin return with words of warning seemed to set everyone straight. While not everyone believed Ron's claim that monster tentacles were out to get them, they understood beyond a shadow of a doubt about how precarious their situation had become.
With Steve and Kim leading the way, the people of Smarty Mart began to take precautions. Like Steve had suggested earlier that day, they were to board up the windows at the front using bags of cement and fertilizer. The patrons were divided into squads, each responsible for a certain task. Each squad had a commander of sorts, namely one who was responsible and knew how to keep a cool head. These commanders had radios with which they used to keep in contact with one another that they may coordinate their efforts.
The squad responsible for barricading the windows was led by Steve Barkin. In no time at all they had built a wall that went as high as six feet tall. But the height did not run the length of the wall, for they still needed to see what was going on outside. Barkin had his team place segments that were half as high at several intervals so that anyone, a lookout perhaps, could keep tabs on the mist. At certain points there were peepholes, which were actually bags that were strategically placed so that there was room for someone to poke their head in and have a look without the wall coming down on them. Steve's military experience proved essential in this category. Building foxholes and fortifications meant he knew how to make effective walls with a bit of improvisation thrown in.
Oscar was put in charge of inventory. The man knew Smarty Mart better than anyone, even the general manager who had decided to opt out and make a break for it with all the other unlucky souls who ran into the parking lot when the mist came. He'd catalogued the store's goods so many times that he knew them all by heart. Still, it helped to have a list of things they had or were short on. The latter happening was unlikely and Oscar had taken into consideration the amount of people they would have to feed, shelter, and keep warm during the emergency. Kim had Ned assist him in this category. Ned had worked in the Bueno Nacho stockroom when he first started so his experience proved beneficial with helping Oscar. The two worked well together, though Ned was still a bit disconcerted that he was once again reduced to the rank of assistant.
With his knowledge of mechanics, Felix seemed a no brainer for finding a means of communicating with the outside world. He and Ron went around, collecting all the electronics equipment they could find. While not at the same level as his mother or Kim's dad, Felix was still a genius when it came to mechanics. His task was to find a means of getting a signal, any signal, he could by building a device that could penetrate the mist. Of course he was working half-blind as he didn't even understand the components that made up the mist, components which would possibly hinder any and all signals from coming in or out. Felix did his best, however, and with Ron assisting him, they were already working on the schematics.
This partnership proved to be beneficial for them both. Ron needed something to take his mind off of losing Junior and Felix needed an assistant. The two were good friends so they complimented one another in more ways than one. While Felix could get around easily enough with his mobile wheelchair, Ron knew the store and could find things a lot faster. He could also climb ladders and move around obstacles and people easier than Felix. They worked in silence for the most part, though they'd share a friendly barb now and then. Aside from the fact that they were trapped in a mall with a mist potentially filled with man-eating tentacles, this was just like working on a school project.
And where was Rufus? The naked mole rat put on a show for the little tikes, keeping their minds off the horrors of the outside. He was a one-rat show and how the children laughed and hooted at his antics.
Monique was with Kim doing crowd control. They went around assuring everyone that everything would be alright and to remain calm. What Kim's overly optimistic demeanor and upbeat attitude failed to do, Monique's astounding pragmatism could accomplish. Some people could not be consoled with friendly words, so it took the ebony girl with the sharp tongue to bring those doomsayers in line. Between them, the two teens managed to keep order and everyone, even the adults with no leadership ambitions, took heed of their commands.
"You okay, Kim?"
"Hanging in there, Mon. You?"
"DTO."
Kim looked at her.
"Ditto."
"You created an acronym for a single word?"
Monique gave her a resigned shrug.
Kim stopped her, pulled her to the side behind a shelf for canned soups and looked her straight in the eye and said, "I need to know if you're okay."
"Kim, I," Monique stopped. Seeing her friend's concerned face made her rethink her words. "Am I that obvious?"
"You're trying too hard. DTO? That's hardly original." Kim released her. "You want to talk about it?"
"Sure, Ma. Why not?"
"I'm serous, Mon. You know I've got your back. When the time comes, I just want to make sure you have your head in the game."
"Head in the game?"
"That you're ready."
"You know something I don't?"
Kim glanced around once. "I think what Ron showed us back at the loading door was just the tip of the iceberg. Based on his story, those tentacles were large and cumbersome. Whatever got Shego would need to be very fast and agile, otherwise she wouldn't have so much as a scratch on her."
"She's got more than that."
"And how," Kim agreed. "What I'm saying is those tentacles may be the least of our worries." Kim leaned back, holding her arms. "Ron's really shaken up. I've never seen him this way. I think he blames himself for not being able to save Junior. We've gone up against a lot of things in the past, but I've never seen him so ready to throw in the towel. It's like he's given up, Monique. Ron may be a procrastinator and a whiner, but he's not a quitter."
Monique raised an eyebrow.
"When it comes to being a hero, I mean. He's never given up on me or the mission."
"So this is a mission now?" Monique's tone turned incredulous.
Kim shook her head. "It's just that I need you now. Ron's wallowing in a pit of his own guilt. I can't even talk to Mr. B on the best of days and I won't even entertain the idea of Bonnie as my last resort. You're my best friend and probably the only person I can confide in with confidence right now. You can't be tuning out and acting like there's nothing wrong. If something's bothering you then I need to know."
"Derrick."
Kim winced. "Your brother?"
Monique looked away. "He wasn't home when the storm hit. He slept over at a friend's house the other night. Last time I spoke to him was almost two days ago." Monique sighed. "We don't talk much anymore, me and him. We've gotten so busy with our own lives that we hardly say two words to each other. But we're still tight, you know? We're always kidding around, making jokes at the other's expense and laughing. It's just how we are." She stopped right there.
"Monique, when Ron and I found you,"
"I wasn't going to look for him," she cut her off. "I know where his friend lives so I knew where he was. I didn't think much of it. Derrick will be back when he's back, I told myself. That's how it is now. I don't worry about Derrick anymore because we have our own lives. I used to worry about my brother all the time but not anymore. Back in the day we used to be connected at the hip. Now we act like casual friends, the type of people you wave to when you're walking down the hall or worked on a project with. You smile, but you don't really know that person, which is why when things like this happen you're not even concerned because hey, we hardly speak."
"But you are worried."
"Yeah...now." Monique walked down the aisle, Kim right next to her. "When I could have been worrying an hour ago. When I could have been worrying when I could have done something about it. It's not just Derrick, Kim. When Ms. Vespers bailed on us, it got me thinking of my mom. Is that how she is now, worrying about me and Derrick? Did she go out into the mist to find us? If she did, is dad with her? Are they okay? Are they alive?" Frustration crept into her voice then. "My folks would be that crazy. They'd get in their car, pick up Derrick first, and then come for me." She stopped. "Except they don't know I'm here. No one knows I'm here because my damn phone doesn't work. They don't know I'm here because I didn't tell them. We don't talk anymore. We're just a bunch of strangers living in the same house."
"Monique!" Kim's fingers on her arms eased the girl up. She didn't realize it then, but her voice had been rising with each proclamation and it took Kim to calm her down. "You were starting to shout."
"Yeah. I'm sorry." Monique relaxed as Kim let her go. "I just wish I could call them, you know? I want to let them know I'm okay. I want to know that they're okay."
"I think,"
"Don't." Monique turned on Kim, as serious as she'd ever seen her. "Don't tell me they're fine because you don't know that. No one knows anything."
"Felix is going to change that. He and Ron are building a device that will help us communicate with the outside."
Monique crossed her arms. "And if that doesn't work?"
"Then we'll think of something else."
"And what if that fails?"
"Then I'll go out into the mist and bring back help on foot. God, Monique! I'm not trying to be the optimist for my health. We have to hope things will be alright, otherwise we may as well give up and prepare to die."
"Like Ron?"
The look of pain on Kim's face made Monique realize her error. "Shit! Kim, I'm sorry." She went to envelop her friend in an apologetic hug. "I'm so sorry."
Kim accepted the apology when she returned it. "It's okay."
"It's not." Monique pulled away. "I'm being a selfish bitch right now. I'm not the only one with family out there. After hearing what Justine said about your father..."
"Justine!"
"Huh?"
Kim's eyes narrowed. "I was looking for her earlier. No one accuses my father like that and gets away with it."
"True that. Let's go find her, girl." Monique seemed to be back to her old self again. Kim was glad for it. Despite her "I Can Do Anything" attitude, Kim drew strength from those around her, none more so than her friends and family. Without them, what did she have?
"Monique,"
"Don't worry, Kim. I've got your back." With that understanding, the two friends set off to find a certain blonde-haired instigator.
Little did they know that a certain brunette had already found her. Bonnie spotted Justine making her way to the storage room at the back of the store. She could see that Justine was doing everything possible not to be noticed, always looking around, behind her, trying to keep to the corners and less-populated parts of the store. Once she was confident that no one had seen her, Justine pushed through the door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY and disappeared.
While Bonnie was no ninja, she could avoid being seen when she wanted. Her light steps came from years of ballerina practice and being a cheerleader gave her quick reflexes that enabled her to duck out of sight when the moment called. She was able to track Justine easily, moving from one corner to the next, always a few steps behind the blonde and never making a sound above a slight scratch of her shoe on the smooth floor.
"What's she up to?" Bonnie asked herself when she saw Justine enter the room. She'd been a part of Oscar's squad, assigned the important, albeit boring, task of cataloging their list of supplies. It was far better than hoisting heavy bags of manure to build the barricade and at least this way Bonnie could be by herself. She took with her a pen and pad of paper that Oscar had gentlemanly offered her so that she could jot down inventory and left her to her own devices. Bonnie had only half-tried to do what she'd been trusted to do, writing down a few things here and there, before giving up entirely.
It wasn't that the task was too daunting, it's just that she had more important things to worry about like, oh, survival. For years Bonnie had no one to rely on but herself. Being the youngest daughter in a family that was anything but close-knit had taught her to be self-reliant at an early age. Her father was almost never around and her mother was so caught up in her own world that Bonnie wondered if she knew she even had a little girl who only wanted some affection. Connie and Lonnie, her big sisters, had written the book on Bitch. She both hated them and envied them. They were so confident in themselves, in their intelligence and beauty, that it was no wonder Bonnie had so many insecurities.
She projected those insecurities on others, pointing out their flaws, their mistakes, and their inability to fit in, all because Bonnie could never fit in at home. She surrounded herself with girls who followed her around like mindless drones and dated boys based on their standing in the Food Chain. People called her shallow behind her back, namely those she'd convinced herself were her followers. True Bonnie never saw any of the girls on the cheer squad as friends. Aside from Tara, who was so sincere that Bonnie found her a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy crowd of self-centeredness, Bonnie didn't trust any of those girls. Only her bravado and strength of will, not to mention her immense bitchiness, kept those girls in line. Were it not for Kim Possible, she'd be the undisputed queen of Middleton High.
Now here's a girl who prided herself of being the center of attention at all times doing everything possible to remain unseen. She didn't want to be here, she didn't like being in a situation that she couldn't control or manipulate in some way to create terms favorable to her. Here she was just another prisoner of the mist, a faceless drone at the beck and call of the red-haired queen of Smarty Mart. Kim always had to take charge of everything. She couldn't just step back and let someone else take charge. Who's to say Bonnie couldn't call the shots? No. It was always Kim and her inner circle of friends, telling everyone what to do, how to act, and who to be.
Feeling suffocated, Bonnie wanted nothing more to do with the Kim Squad and just wandered away. She'd shoved the pen and pad in her jean pocket and walked aimlessly around the store for several minutes when she saw, her eyes widening, Justine Flanner sneaking about. After their little confrontation in the restroom, Bonnie had to admit that Justine did make some sense. While Kim may not be directly responsible for what's happening, she knew more than she was letting on. Kim always kept secrets; that's how she stayed in charge, because information was power. It's just like that incident with the Bebe robots or the time Bonnie and Kim got stuck together with that abnormally powerful adhesive. Whenever Kim was involved, Bonnie was always made to suffer, never knowing what was going on until it was too late. Leave to that selfish redhead to bring her work to school and put innocent lives at risk.
Now a deadly mist has covered Middleton and here she was, against her will, trapped in a store filled with people she couldn't stand. Except Tara, Bonnie realized, but she was with Josh and while Bonnie admired her friend's taste in boys she did not want to be anyone's third wheel. Once again it was all Kim's fault. Bonnie needed to find answers. Perhaps Justine would enlighten her.
Following the blonde, Bonnie did a quick turnaround to make sure no one saw her enter the storage section and went inside. No sooner had the door swung shut when a voice froze Bonnie dead in her tracks. "Nosy, much?" Justine stood off to the side of the door, arms crossed, foot propped against the wall, and a smug smile on her face. "I knew you were following me."
Bonnie was about to ask how but Justine cut her off before she started. "Truthfully, I wanted you to see me. I saw you loitering around so I decided to let you see me sneaking. I tried to look as suspicious as possible, hoping I'd entice you to keep on the trail. Looks like I was right."
"If you wanted me to follow you, why not just ask me to come along?"
"We're not exactly friends, Bonnie. We're not even enemies for that matter. What I mean is there is no affiliation between us to justify a level of trust or suspicion between us. You might have just said no. After seeing you apologize to Kim, you might even be sympathetic enough to tell her of my whereabouts. She's looking for me, you know."
"And with good reason. You blame her father for all this."
"I blame no one. Not yet. I don't have the answers but I'm sure he's involved somehow."
"And you'll find those answers in the storage room?"
"More precisely, the loading dock."
Bonnie blinked. "Are you crazy?"
"I'm inquisitive. And so are you." Justine brushed by her. "You heard Ron's explanation. Did you believe it?"
"That there are man-eating tentacles in the mist? Of course not!" Actually she wasn't sure. Bonnie knew Ron could be eccentric at times but after what she's seen and heard it was hard to be sure about anything at the moment.
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm following you."
"And I'm following the truth." Justine glanced at her once. "Coming?" Then she walked away. Bonnie glowered at her back before following. They proceeded in silence; the storage area fully lit now that the power was back on in full, and had finally reached the loading bay area where the supposed attack had happened. It looked like a warzone, with torn bags and foodstuffs scattered throughout the area. There were two dark stains near the loading door. One of them was unmistakably human blood, which according to Ron had been Junior's.
"Is that...?" Bonnie began.
"Human blood."
"Then he was telling the truth?"
"Something did happen here, no doubt." Justine looked up at the loading door. "Though I don't see any tentacles, do you?"
"What about that?" Bonnie pointed at the blackish-green stain across the way. Neither of them had accompanied Kim and company when they came back to verify Ron's story so they had not seen the severed tentacle decay. Getting close, both girls covered their noses as the putrid scent assailed their senses. "Gross!"
Justine had to agree with Bonnie. Still holding her nose, she bent down to study the stain.
"Don't touch it!" Bonnie cried when she saw Justine reach out a finger.
Thinking it over, Justine had to agree. Her scientific curiosity had overcome her common sense and she almost touched a strange substance without any protection. Pulling back her hand, Justine stood up. "Let's move on." After putting the scene of the crime behind them, the girls scouted the rest of the immediate vicinity.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Bonnie asked.
"Even if what Ron said was true, we still need to know what we're up against." After looking around some more, they came to realize that aside from Ron's testimony and a stained floor, there was nothing that could tell them what they wanted to know.
"Happy?" Bonnie asked when she felt they were wasting their time. Maybe she had put too much faith into Justine's accusations in the first place. Justine no doubt fed on Bonnie's obvious distaste for the redhead, which is why she was so quick to believe her when she said not to trust Kim. Not that Bonnie needed to be told not to trust her. Kim was too much of a goodie-goodie and too self-righteous for Bonnie to believe as anything but fake. No one was that lucky, that fortunate, and that downright popular. Sure Bonnie was ranked pretty high in the school hierarchy, but that's because she earned it, through sweat, blood and tears - and a little rumor thrown in here and there to bring down the competition. It was hard work, but by God, she earned her place in the Food Chain.
When did Kim last struggle for anything? What effort did she put into life? Why couldn't people see that she was just so full of it?
So why was she here, in the storage room of a second-rate retail store with a girl she barely knew trying to find evidence damning Kim Possible? "Do you think it's true?" She asked all of a sudden.
The question caught Justine off guard. She whipped her neck around so fast that Bonnie almost thought it would slide off. "Huh?"
"That there are things in the mist?"
"I didn't see anything. Did you?"
"But what about those people? What were they screaming about?"
Justine shrugged. "Maybe they were afraid of the dark." She turned back around.
"They didn't come back." Bonnie's statement froze the blonde in her spot. "No one came back, Justine."
"For all we know, the mist is some poisonous cloud. It could have killed those people."
"And that woman that left?"
"Ms. Vespers?"
"That's right." Bonnie went around so that she could face Justine. "She just walked out. It didn't look like she had any trouble breathing to me."
"Look, Bonnie. I stopped believing in monsters when I was four years old. Everything, no matter how bizarre or fantastic, can be explained scientifically. I don't believe for one instant that there are creatures in the mist. As for Ms. Vespers, sometimes deadly fumes take a moment to have an effect. She might have taken two steps and collapsed right in front of the door. The mist is so thick you just can't see it. You might find her body if you go looking for her. Though I'd suggest you cover your nose."
Justine moved to go around Bonnie but was stopped when the brunette came around to block her. "What is it now, Bonnie?"
Bonnie crossed her arms. "Why do you want to take Kim down so badly?"
"You're defending her now?"
"I'm not as dumb as I look, remember? I'm starting to get the feeling that there's something personal between you and Kim. I want to know why."
"There is nothing personal. And even if there was, why do you care? I would think you'd jump at the chance to bring down Kim Possible."
"Under different circumstances, yeah, I would. But now..."
"Now would be your best chance. You remember what I told you about scared people? They always look for someone to blame and the first person blamed is always the one at the top of the Food Chain. Right now, that's Kim. You'll never have a better chance."
"You want me to turn an angry mob on her?"
"You're the kind of girl who likes to kick people when they are down."
"Not literally. And since when is this about me?"
"I thought it always was."
"What is your problem?"
"I don't have problems, just solutions. Problems are an external obstacle created by ignorant or otherwise stupid people." In the most defying action yet, Justine leaned in close, coming face to face with Bonnie, her eyes showing no recourse. "Are you going to be a problem, Bonnie?" The manner in which she spoke made Bonnie take a step back. She recovered herself quickly, but by then had lost all momentum in the dialogue. That, and Justine was already walking away, believing her point made, though what that may be Bonnie had yet to figure out.
She knew there was more to this than a simple search for the truth. The Flanner girl was obviously up to something and Possible was an essential part in it. Maybe she should warn her; tell her to keep an eye on Justine and don't turn her back on her for a second. Normally Bonnie wouldn't care what happened to Kim, but those last words Justine said to her were spoken with such iciness, such unwavering animosity, that Bonnie suddenly felt much colder...and it wasn't because she was standing underneath a vent.
Something thudded above her. Bonnie looked up at the air vent, her eyes narrowing when she thought she heard something skittering against metal. "Did you hear that?"
Her question had Justine spin around to regard her. "What?"
"Shh." Bonnie took a step back and motioned to the vent. It sounded like fingernails grating against cold steel. The girls exchanged bewildered looks before working towards each other in a semi-circle pattern. "What do you think that is?"
"I don't know." Then Justine said. "Let's get a broom."
"Why?"
"Why do you think? I want to open it up."
"Are you crazy?" Bonnie almost screamed.
Justine gave her a disgusted look and went off to find a broom, or something of equal length, in which to prop open the vent. When she returned, Bonnie was still standing at a respectable distance from the vent. The ventilation shaft ran the length of the ceiling, which was much lower (roughly six feet above their heads) compared to the cavern-like roofs of the newer storage spaces.
Justine held in her hands a mop which she found by the water heaters, no doubt used to clean up spills. She asked Bonnie whether the noise had moved and when she said no, approached the vent with the mop held before her like some kind of defensive weapon. Bonnie could tell Justine was nervous. It was second nature for girls, even scientific ones, to be creeped by strange sounds they heard coming from closed spaces. Images of creepy crawlies scattered about her brain and Bonnie felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She visibly trembled as Justine stood underneath the shaft. Confident she had a good grip, as well as enough room to react quickly if something did jump down at her; Justine raised the mop handle-first, and pushed against the bottom of the vent.
She had to struggle at first, but gradually the partition gave way. It fell to the concrete ground with a foot-trembling thud. Justine had moved out of the way just in time, though even she clenched her teeth at the close call. Well what did you think was going to happen, Einstein? Bonnie eyed her in disbelief.
With a gaping hole above them, Bonnie and Justine slowly walked back into its periphery. They were barley inches from each other and didn't realize it, but that was because they were so nervous that the need for human contact overruled personal space. "Do you hear anything?" Bonnie whispered into Justine's ear.
She shook her head. With a quick glance at Bonnie (which turned into a gawk as she realized how close they were) Justine stepped away (so did Bonnie) and grabbed the mop tightly. She thrust it back into the vent and began moving it around, hoping to hit something. Something hit alright...her.
The mop was pulled from her grasp so fast and so suddenly that the lower end smacked Justine in the face. She cried out, grabbing her chin, and stumbled backward. Bonnie screamed too, but that was because the mop was being twirled back and forth so violently that one would think it was being fed into a woodcutter. It gradually disappeared into the vent. Crunching and tearing sounds followed suit, followed by what appeared to be several nails scraping eagerly onto steel.
Justine came around, actually using Bonnie as a human shield. "What the shit!" Bonnie didn't know the girl knew how to curse. But she was only saying what she was thinking. She just didn't appreciate being nudged closer to the vent like the proverbial sacrificial lamb.
"Stop pushing!"
"It ate the mop!"
"And it'll eat me too if you don't cut it out!" Bonnie shoved her away. "We have to get out of here!"
"Look!" Justine pointed and Bonnie followed her view back to the vent. Something was there, at the edge of the hole, leering back at them. The nail-tapping sound followed and soon a gray mass began to slither, or rather fall, out of the shaft. The girls screamed. A long, flat body, wider still than the two of them standing abreast, slapped onto the ground, making a sickly plop that was further accompanied by a slithery tail. Translucent in view, it was twice the length of the creature's squat, flat husk, and if they didn't know any better seemed to in the throes of agony.
The creature gurgled loudly, a sound that reminded them of the clearing of a kitchen faucet after the soap went down, churning and shaking. The girls stayed clear of the tail which was easily the more precarious of the two and watched in awe and revulsion as this thing, seeming to be some mutated manta ray, excreted some kind of greenish push from underneath its body. The smell was horrendous, but if that weren't enough, it turned, the tail snapping even faster, revealing a series of jagged, insect-like legs that squirmed and kicked into the air. The legs continued to kick until finally, and with a final gargle, the creature contracted, like it was hugging itself, the tail falling dead silent, the tip wriggling a few seconds more before going still.
All that remained was the scent, an aroma of death and rot. The pus was everywhere and covered the creature's bottom like vomit.
Justine and Bonnie were backpedaling all this time. They stopped when they could go no further, as they came up against a railing that separated one part of the storage room from another. "I'm going to throw up," Bonnie announced, and she could taste the bile coming up.
"I think it's dead." Justine looked closer.
"Well don't get close!"
"What is it?"
"A giant bug. Can we go now?"
"Bonnie..." Justine's face actually lit up, albeit behind her mouth as it was still pinching her nose. "This is it."
"This is what?"
Justine looked back. "Our evidence."
"Evidence? I thought you didn't believe in monsters. This means that Stoppable was right."
"No, Bonnie, you don't understand."
"Huh?"
Justine glanced at the dead creature, carefully. Some of the legs still kicked, an involuntary nerve action, but it did not move. Justine was smiling ear to ear. "I don't believe it."
"Believe what? What the hell are you so excited about?"
"Because now I have proof. I know that Kim's dad was responsible for the mist."