July 9th, 2012
Los Angeles, California
8:55 P.M.
My Ceiling is off white.
The Real Sidekick stared up at his ceiling with a weird sense of detachment. He could make out each and every square ceiling tile that composed his ceiling and he tried to shrug but found he couldn't as he simply stared.
Are they really off white or-
He felt two hands squeezing his skull and a tiny jab of pain emanated from his head but he didn't really worry about-
Is someone screaming?
Who on Earth would be screaming at this hour of the night? That's would be very rude to his neighbors.
Of course this was Los Angeles and he did live in a bad neighborhood and a gut wrenching scream wasn't uncommon at this time at night but someone giving a bloodcurdling scream this late at night was still very rude to them.
The Real Sidekick struggled to see what time it was on his watch but found his hands were actually clutching his skull.
What the…
And then it came rushing back to him. After giving Kim that final push to Ron's Universe, he had collapsed as his tumor had decided to remind him not to create as much or else it would kill him.
I bet Hell, can't be any worse than this, he thought morosely as he felt the pain in his brain slowly start to subside.
His eyes focused on SilverWolf, still struggling to reach him despite her being chained to a radiator. He struggled to focus but thinking quickly-
PAIN
Ok, try not to think, he realized as the pain blossomed in his skull like a beautiful cherry tree in the spring.
Sidekick reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny key and slowly crawled over to where she was still tied up.
Reaching behind her, he unlocked the handcuffs and slowly collapsed to the floor as he felt unconsciousness try to claim him.
As if from far away, he felt someone shaking him, "Stay with me!" He turned his head and looked up into her eyes and felt a chuckle at the base of his throat,
"What's so funny?" she asked as he slowly turned from the brink of unconsciousness.
"At least this night can't get any worse," Sidekick joked.
Bang Bang Bang
Three loud knocks echoed from his door.
"Sidekick?" a deep male voice sounded.
He just groaned in response.
"Sidekick, it's Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle," there was a pause as Bob waited for a response.
Hearing none he looked back at his companions for their approval before he called through the door, "You have something that belongs to us."
Sidekick groaned through the pain and rolled onto his side, the world suddenly shifting right by 90 degrees and as he felt the sweet release of unconsciousness come to claim him again, two words came to mind, "Aw crap."
Earth
25,987,354 A.D.
Thirst.
She had never known thirst quite like this but Kim honestly felt like she was on the verge of dying of thirst.
The desire to sate this thirst overrode all of Kim's other desires and she gasped for air even as she opened her eyes to…what was she looking at?
She saw a ceiling of black stone that for some reason glowed an almost neon blue. In the blue light, Kim saw intricate cracks and trails that spiraled through the rock above and they almost seemed random. Her mind began to clear and that was when she saw the cracks and trails on the walls were in fact notches used to mark something, she guessed it pertained to days.
Kim blinked and swallowed dryly, her thirst not even partially eased by the action. Leaning up on her elbows, Kim rubbed at her throat and gasped weakly as she felt the thirst scream for relief.
Kim looked around the stone cavern she found herself in and felt her dry mouth fall open at the sight of the glowing blue star in the center of the room.
She slowly rose into a standing position but paused as she felt blood rush from her head to her legs. She stumbled for a bit as she regained her strength but ultimately her head cleared and the stars cleared as she was able to look with wonder at the sight before her.
Ron.
That was the only answer. She didn't know how, she didn't know why but for some reason Ron Stoppable was floating cross legged in the air, an aura of blue flame flickering around him.
Kim cautiously approached the flames and tentatively reached out a hand but mere moments before her hand would have touched the flame, a jet of fire slapped her hand away as a parent does a misbehaving child.
Kim pulled her hand back in shock and looked at the top of her hand as the red mark faded away.
"Ok, that was weird," she whispered to no one as she took a step back and looked around the cave for a way out.
A shadow on the wall caught her eye and she saw what appeared to be a narrow path through the wall that was wide enough for a man to pass through.
Kim took a deep breath and patted some dust off of her black crop top.
Wait a second…
Kim looked down with a million questions pouring through her mind; the first question being why she was in her old mission gear. Her black crop top and tan cargo pants appeared to be hers and standing in this cave she couldn't help but wonder why she still was wearing this get up.
Focus…
Instantly Kim's mind returned to the task at hand and without a word she walked towards the tunnel and followed the path all the way to a blank wall that capped the tunnel.
She pressed against the wall and felt it give slightly.
An idea formed in her mind and she pushed as hard as she could against the wall.
The wall moved a fraction of an inch before moving back into place.
Sighing in frustration, Kim leaned against the door again and suddenly found herself against the walls of the path as the wall slid into a hidden track that had been carved into the wall.
Kim laughed to herself but the levity died on her lips as she saw what was on the other side of the wall.
Nothing.
It wasn't the nothing that had been pursuing her but just barren, empty wasteland.
An empty planet filled with nothing but sand and wind.
A world of echoes, broken lives and shattered dreams.
Kim took a tentative step forward, the cold wind that whipped up the endless waves of sand provided the only sound of this dying world.
Countless scarlet sand dunes stretched out before her like an empty sea, their endless tossing and rolling brought about by the biting winds that stirred up the sands.
She took another cautious step forward, not believing what she was seeing but unmistakably she knew that this was Earth.
With her first steps on this alien, red planet, Kim sank up to her ankles in the unusually cold sand and she shivered despite being in a desert.
And then she saw the sun.
Hanging above the horizon like a blood red tear drop, Kim saw the sun slowly descend toward the horizon with each passing moment.
Everything about this Universe screamed death.
Rather, it begged for death.
Even without a voice this Universe called for its destruction, it wanted to pass away.
Whether it was sand or the sun, Kim couldn't help but feel that this universe simply existed to die.
To end.
She didn't know how else to describe it other than the fact that it even looked like the sun was wanting to die as well.
Kim opened her mouth to speak but found no words to describe the horror she was witnessing.
"Even after a million years it still leaves me speechless," Ron said from behind her.
Kim turned, the horror still on her face, "What happened here?"
"Time," came the simple reply, "Everything grows old Kim," he paused.
His body may have still appeared as young as it did in High School but his eyes were filled with a mournful emptiness that had been brought on by the destruction of all.
His voice trembled softly as he murmured, "Everything dies."
Thinking back to Sidekick, Kim stammered, "B-but where is everyone?"
"Dead, gone, I don't know," he answered. The brown eyes she remembered being so full of life and energy were now filled with a maturity that one rarely obtains.
"But why aren't you?" Kim asked.
"Because I was waiting for you," Ron said simply before turning back to head inside, "Make sure you slide the door shut behind you."
Kim watched her boyfriend vanish into the darkness of his cave silently before turning to face the emptiness of this world one last time.
With one last look, Kim turned and followed Ron into the cave.
Earth
25,987,354 A.D.
Kim sat across from Ron at a makeshift table that really amounted to nothing more than a flat rock in the center of his cave.
"When did everyone leave?" she asked.
Ron chuckled as he tried to remember, "Somewhere around an eon ago. I sorta stopped keeping track after I stopped hearing from anyone."
Kim nodded towards the notches on the wall, "And those?"
Ron smiled morosely, "I notch one every thousand years to help keep sane."
A moment of silence passed between them as Kim struggled for her next question, "How long have you been here? And what happened to everyone?"
"I've been here since birth, you and I attended Pre-K together and then a few years later we go married. Then you got old and sacrificed yourself to stop the MAMA," he paused, "A robot designed to help us turned on us and everyone fled," he shrugged, "I guess I just got left behind and no one came back to look for me."
Kim tried to ask another question but found her voice gone and instead replaced by her indescribable thirst. She coughed weakly to conjure up a voice but to no avail as she was almost out of water.
Ron smiled as he saw Kim look around for something to drink, "Do you know how long I've waited to say this?"
Kim tilted her head to the side in confusion as Ron pulled out the Lotus blade, "Something to help Kim," he commanded.
Instantly a tall, cool glass of water appeared in Ron's hand. Beads of condensation appeared on the clear crystal and Kim could almost feel her mouth salivate at the sight.
With a simple motion of his hand, he passed the glass to Kim who drank the water in one gulp and watched in amazement as the glass refilled even as she felt the cool water tumble down her throat. Another gulp and the water was gone. A third gulp and the next bit of water disappeared.
Several more refills later and Kim finally felt her thirst quenched and with gratitude on her heart, Kim handed the lotus blade back to Ron.
"Funny," he said as the glass transformed back into a blade, "I've wondered how that glass of water would help you for millions of years and hear it is," he shrugged as he handed her another glass of water, "I can't help feel like it was…anticlimactic."
Kim licked her lips, "it saved me," she argued.
"I suppose," Ron smiled, "But now I feel that you need to answer one of my questions."
Kim looked startled for a second but nodded slowly, "sure."
"Now don't take this the wrong way but," Ron took a deep breath, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Earth
25,987,354 A.D.
To Kim's utmost surprise, Ron kept silent throughout her entire story, only interrupting when there was something he didn't quite understand or to offer her more water from the Lotus Blade. As the sun passed beyond the horizon, Ron surprised her yet again by producing an enormous feast consisting of Nacos, Nachos, and Tacos. She almost wept at the sight of these once common items that now felt like she hadn't seen in what seemed like years.
"How can you create all this?" she asked in between bites of Naco.
Ron swallowed, "The Lotus Blade creates whatever I imagine and desire," he took another bite, "I don't know how it creates it but it creates whatever I want it to and then I eat."
Kim was silent, "Are we eating the Lotus Blade?"
Ron paused, his Naco almost consumed, "No," he took a bite, "It just creates the food and drink but we can't actually eat the blade. If that were the case, the blade would have disappeared long ago."
Kim raised an eyebrow, "But how does it do that?"
Ron shrugged, "I'm no scientist but I guess the blade pulls hydrogen and carbon from the air and converts it to water," he saw Kim's shocked expression and continued, "What? I did pay attention during chemistry class."
Kim's raised eyebrow forced Ron to sheepishly rub the back of his neck, "And Sensei may have taught me how to conjure food with it."
"And the food?" she asked with a bemused smile, "Is that how you eat Nacos when there isn't a Bueno Nacho anywhere?"
Ron shrugged, "The blade becomes whatever I need when I need it," he thought for a moment, "Or it gets me what I want."
Kim nodded to his clothing, "And that's why you still have your clothes?"
A nod, "The blade conjures up whatever I need," he held up a hand and started listing off, "Food, water, clothes," He looked at Kim thoughtfully, "Anything I need to survive."
Kim was silent, "But if you have you MMP and that keeps you alive forever and heals you up, why do you even need to create water and food? Or for that matter, why didn't you create things to play with?"
"It's the little things and habits you form that help keep your sanity," he replied, "Eating and drinking help remind me that I'm still human and not a forgotten god. And it only conjures what I need, not what I want."
Kim nodded while trying not to think of Sidekick. She quickly changed subjects, "And this is how you've survived all these years?"
Ron nodded silently before nodding back to Kim, "What was that whole phrase you kept saying whenever you jumped?"
Kim swallowed a bite, "Let loose the bonds and shrug this mortal coil, only then will the path to the creators open," she was silent, "The funny thing was I only said it when I was around you."
Ron smirked mirthlessly, "Hysterical."
A silent nod as Kim returned to her tale.
By the time she had finished her story, it was well after dark and Kim could feel the biting cold of the outside even inside their cave.
Seeing Kim's attempts to hide her discomfort, Ron transformed the blade yet again into a blanket for Kim, "So this...machine, the one I have in my corner over there," he pointed to a dark corner and Kim saw the golden machine resting comfortably with her back pack on top.
Mentally chastising herself for not noticing it sooner Kim looked back at Ron, "That machine I have over there acts as a sort of ship for you to visit this realm of creators?"
Kim nodded, "It needs only one more item for it to work and then I can visit them."
"Even though this creator you were talking with-"
"The Real Sidekick," Kim interrupted.
Ron continued nonplussed, "Even though he banished you here, you're still going to search for him?"
"I am," Kim said emphatically.
A pause.
"So your entire adventure has been nothing more than a giant scavenger hunt?" he asked.
Kim nodded again, realizing the simplicity of her entire tale, "Exactly, and all I need is an immortal's soul."
Ron smiled morosely, "I wonder what that could be."
Kim shook her head, "It won't kill you. I just need a little bit of-"
"Of what?" Ron interrupted angrily, "Of my soul? Oh sure," a jet of blue flame appeared in his hand, "Here you go, here's a tiny bit of my soul, it's not like I'm using it or anything."
Kim leaned back, suddenly very fearful for her life, "Are you ok?"
"You die, then show up after millions years and the only thing you want is for me to die?" Ron snorted, "I'm just peachy."
Kim was silent.
"Have you seen Rufus at all?" came Ron's next question.
The realization that Rufus was nowhere to be found suddenly dawned on Kim and she turned to Ron, "him too?"
Ron nodded, "Rufus sacrificed himself to save me and I've been alone ever since then," he took a deep breath, "he gave me his part of the Mystical Monkey Power to save my life and in doing so died."
"The Mystical Monkey Power is what's keeping you alive?" Kim asked dumbfounded, "That's why you're not aging?"
A nod, "As long as I have that, I'm alive."
"But this isn't living Ron," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "You've wandered a dead planet alone for how many years waiting for me to come?"
"I was told to wait for you," Ron explained, "Rufus' dying words to me was a command telling me to help you when you came here."
"And now that I'm here, you've fulfilled-"
Ron held up a hand, "Are you asking me to die?"
Kim was silent.
"Are you asking me to die so that you would live?" Ron pressed.
She was silent.
"That's what I thought," Ron said as he stood up and took the Lotus Blanket back from Kim. A thought later and it was a blade again.
Without a word, Ron turned and left the tiny cave, leaving Kim alone in the darkness with nothing but her thoughts.
Earth
25,987,354 A.D.
He stood in silence, just staring at the golden machine.
Ron looked to the corner where Kim lay resting and he inhaled deeply as he thought back to her words.
Let loose the bonds and shrug this mortal coil, only then will the path to the creators open.
Those words kept repeating themselves over and over in his head as he stood in silence.
Let loose the bonds and shrug this mortal coil, only then will the path to the creators open.
Whether or not Kim had known it, she had been carrying that message for him. Every time she had said it, it was to the wrong Ron but now that she had said it to him...
The message was intended for him and now that he'd heard it, he was angry as he realized what it meant for him.
How dare He...
How dare that Creator-that Real Sidekick keep him alive and alone for a million years just so he could kill him.
"Damn you," he whispered under his breath.
Silence.
"Not going to answer me," Ron taunted, "You've been silent all these years why should you give a damn as to my well being now?"
Silence.
"I know what Kim's message means and I'm going to do it," Ron said angrily, "I just want you to promise me that she'll be kept safe. You promise me that."
Silence.
"You're a bastard, you know that?" Ron hissed venomously.
Silence.
"I stopped believing in you long ago," Ron whispered as took another deep breath and approached the machine, "Right," he placed a hand on the machine, feeling the cool metal beneath his fingers, "Let's get to work."
Earth
25,987,354 A.D.
Wum wum wum
Kim's eyes opened as the sound of something humming brought her back to the realm of the waking.
She couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep but somehow she had ended up tucked away on what she could only guess was Ron's bed. Slowly rising to a sitting position, Kim looked around the cave and saw Ron near the machine.
She watched in wonder as tiny jet of blue flame appeared in his hand. He peered at it for a moment, contemplating what he was about to do. With a sigh and a visible drop in his shoulders, he blew on the flame and watched as the flame was absorbed by the machine.
"I found your backpack and put the remaining pieces into the machine," Ron said quietly.
"Thank you," Kim said as an awkward silence descended on both of them.
"If I give my soul to this machine, to you, what happens when I die?" he asked Kim without turning to her.
"Truthfully?" she asked as she stood to her feet and approached Ron.
"As my wife you better tell the truth," he responded.
A pause.
"I don't know," Kim answered.
"I'm sorry for last night," Ron replied after a moment of silence had passed between them, "It's not every day you find out that your sole purpose in life has been to die."
Kim placed a hand on Ron's shoulder, "I'm sorry that this has happened to you. I never wanted anything bad to happen to you."
Ron placed his hand on hers, "It's not your fault," he took a deep breath and turned to face her, "The truth is you're right. I have wanted to die for a long time, just to move on," he sniffed, "Maybe that's why we're not supposed to live forever, we'd all want to die eventually and this gift would be a curse."
Kim opened her mouth to comfort Ron but then he did something that caught her completely off guard.
He kissed her.
This wasn't a simple kiss. Nor was this a fake kiss or a kiss used to distract someone.
This was the kiss.
This was passion.
This was pure unadulterated love and passion from one man to his wife.
They remained locked in their loving embrace, eyes closed. Both simply content to just letting their lives exist inside that kiss.
If Kim had opened her eyes however, she would have seen something truly wonderful and amazing but at the same time heart wrenching.
As Ron kissed her, the Mystical Monkey Power surrounded his body like a blue glow. The fire dancing across his body and licking at Kim but instead of transferring to her, Ron directed the flames toward the machine.
The Machine hummed rhythmically as the flames were absorbed by Ron and for the duration of the kiss the flames, the Soul of an Immortal...Ron's soul, was willfully given to the machine.
As the last bits of the Mystical Monkey Power left Ron's body, he broke away from Kim and left her standing with her eyes closed in the center of the room.
"Waited over a million years for that," he muttered in satisfaction.
His smile drooped a little as he felt himself start to age again. Only like Rufus, he was aging quickly.
Behind him, the Machine began to hum quietly and power up as the final piece of the puzzle was place in it.
The Machine was on and ready for use.
Earth
25,987,354 A.D.
Kim opened her eyes as she slowly opened her eyes from the bliss that had been her kiss with Ron. Countless universes she had jumped through and finally Ron had...
Something was wrong.
Kim couldn't tell what it was but she knew something was wrong. She glanced around the tiny cave before realizing that whatever was wrong was outside.
She turned and raced outside just in time to see the countless miles of loose blood red sand rise into the air and fly up into the sky. When the sand had cleared Kim found herself standing on a large stone spire that rose from the bedrock thousands of meters below her.
Marveling at the bedrock below her, Kim looked up into the sky and saw the nothingness descend to Earth and start to erase everything.
"So you're what I've been running from," Kim said as she stared at the empty nothingness that rocketed towards her, erasing all in its path.
Turning from the emptiness, Kim retreated back into the cave with the machine and Ron.
Ron.
Kim jumped as she realized she didn't know where he was. With renewed vigor, Kim raced into the cave to find Ron-
"Kim," an older voice called out from near the Machine.
Turning slowly, Kim peered into the shadows surrounding the Machine and gasped when she saw the older Ron leaning against the golden craft for support.
"Ron?" Kim asked, not quite sure what she was seeing, "What's going on?"
"I was supposed to die millions of years ago," Ron explained, his voice aging years by the second, "Now that I have no Mystical Monkey Power keeping me this age, time is finally coming to finish me off."
"But why did you give up your Mystical Monkey Power?" she asked as she felt tears in her eyes.
"You and I both know you need this and before you say it, a tiny portion wouldn't do," Ron held up an aged hand in the light, the majority of his body still hidden by the shadows, "Like Shego, it had to be all or nothing."
Her eyes welling up, Kim approached Ron's hunched shadow form, "Come with me. The Machine should be able to keep you-"
"No," he grasped Kim's hand with his own hand that now neared age eighty, "You need to go alone."
"Please," she pleaded.
"I'm dying Kim and nothing you can do will prevent that," he rasped as he led her up into the machine. As Kim neared the center large bulb like chamber of the Machine, the crystalline like glass pulled back and allowed Kim to enter without any problem.
She climbed onto the elevated platform and turned back as the glass closed around her, sealing her in and Ron out.
"Ron," she called out, tears now pouring down her face.
"It's all right," he wheezed as he stepped into the light, his body now nearing age ninety, "I'll be with you wherever you go."
"How can you be so sure?" Kim cried.
"'Even as the Soul of an Immortal protects her'," Ron smiled as he quoted Kim's prophecy, "That's what you told me and since I gave you my soul, I'll always be with you."
Kim leaned against the crystalline glass and slid down until she was curled up at the base of the large oval shaped glass. She put a hand up against the glass and cried openly as she saw Ron struggle against his age to be with her. He raised a feeble hand up to the glass even as the Nothingness erased all of Ron's cave.
The Nothingness surrounded the machine but stopped just before Ron. It swirled around the two for a moment before it swooped in and started to erase Ron.
"I love you," he whispered, his voice almost gone.
"I LOVE YOU," Kim shouted through her tears as Ron's body was consumed by the nothingness.
The Nothingness swirled against Kim's machine, erasing all traces of Ron until only the hand print remained. But then before Kim's eyes, the Nothingness wiped it away and Kim was left all alone.
Plip
?,?,?
?,?,?
Where am I? Kim mentally asked herself. After the Universe had collapsed Kim had felt herself falling before being caught in the Nothingness and now she just floated in her Machine, surrounded by Nothing.
Her machine powered by a flag of royalty from Felix, a diamond ring belonging to Josh, Shego's Plasma and Ron's Soul were the only things keeping Kim from joining the rest of the erased universes.
And then she saw it.
She didn't know how she got here, maybe when the universe collapsed the Machine had been protected or some other near impossible thing but somehow Kim found herself looking at...she couldn't describe it.
It was glowing, an orb deep amber in color at one moment but then the next it would shift to the most pure golden color.
A large bubble, hanging suspended in the air as if unable to move up or down...
Kim suddenly realized what she was seeing and more importantly where she was. Kim and her Machine were floating in the space between universes.
Or in this case: Universe.
Kim looked around and apart from the one Universe floating before her, there was nothing. This was the last Universe but she knew, she didn't know how she knew, maybe it was just a buried piece of her memory resurfacing, maybe it was a part of her hoping for closure, but she knew this was The Universe.
The Universe from which all Universes came from.
It was the Prime Universe.
She stared at it for a long time, every so often the Universe would squeeze and compress but for the most part, the bubble would keep its shape.
But then before her eyes, it began to shift. The outside of the Universe began to glow a fiery golden color but even as she watched the Prime Universe began to rotate. It began to spin, slowly at first but then building up speed. Faster and faster until it spun like an enormous top.
The golden spinning bubble blazed out against the nothingness in defiance even as Kim saw long fissures wrapping around the outside of the bubble.
To Kim it felt like part of her was dying and that was when she realized it was her Universe. Not only was it the Prime Universe, but it was her Universe.
She screamed at the Nothing, cursing it with her every word in every language she knew but it was to no avail. The Nothingness reared its ugly head and before Kim could react, the Prime Universe was consumed, leaving Kim alone in the space between Universes.
Correction: The Space of Nothing.
Correction to the correction: The Nothing.
Kim fell to the floor of the Machine, lost in sorrow and despair even as it floated amid the nothingness.
Kimberly Ann Possible, the Prime Kimberly Ann Possible, was alone at the End of All Things.
Disclaimer: I own Nothing, Disney owns the rest.
Author's Notes: Good Evening! Or Morning depending on when you're reading this.
Not much to say this time around, just that I hope you all are enjoying yourselves.
Special thanks this week goes out to Darev (I guess I don't even know where I end and where Tam begins. That's the problem with mixing Mary Sues and OCs.), Twuscany (Let's hope Disney doesn't see this), Joe Stoppinghem (Be anxious for nothing good sir, everything sorts itself out in the end), Sentinel103 (Thank you for your concern my friend, but I'm fine. Ish.) Eddy13 (Once again, I appreciate the honesty), CajunBear73 (Time's up.)
And thank you to all of you who follow this story, casually read it on your off hours or religiously follow it. If you have a comment, question or concern, feel free to review and I'll respond to you.
TRS