Author's notes: Well, not quite as long as the last one, but the chapter still took a good while. This was mainly because I had a hard time fleshing this one out versus the last chapter which was completely from Shego's perspective and she had only one objective with pain as her only companion. Still, this recent trend of fleshing out the chapters, other than hopefully making them more enjoyable to read, has increased their size dramatically to the point where they've become unmanageable as single chapters. Due to this, I'm testing splitting them up into parts. I'll put out the next part sometime next week. Let me know what you think about the experiment and if it works from a reader's point of view.
As always, big thanks to Cassibeth and Acaykath for reviewing the chapter and catching a ton of mistakes.
Drop in Reality
Chapter 8: Frigid Reception Part 1
Breathe in.
Drip, drip.
Green flare.
Ping!
Drip, drip, drip.
Breathe out.
Flare, ping, ping, ping.
Knees wobble.
Flare, ping, ping, ping.
Grunt.
Shoulder.
Pain.
Numb.
Breathe in.
….
….
Breathe out.
Shego blinked, sweat dripping off of her brow and oozing from her suit as the trembling mass that was her body somehow remained upright in a loose horse stance with her hands on her hips.
Something was missing.
Her head swiveled, tracking the last rubber bullet that had slammed into her shoulder. It bounced across the pale illuminated floor only to stop as it hit one of its brothers. It was not unique; rubber bullets littered the area, forming a demented collage with her at its center.
What was missing…? She blinked as she realized there were no green flares, no pinging sounds, and no new numbness to add to the mass of pain that was her body.
Had it been hours, days, maybe even years since only one of those three things had happened?
Shego's eyes fluttered, her knees nearly giving out. She grit her teeth, remaining upright through sheer force of will. Only a long-pained hiss escaped between her teeth. With one last deep breath, she stood up straight. Her grip on consciousness was firm… for now.
She blankly looked up as a familiar panel silently slid aside to reveal Ron. The boy walked over to her with that maddening smirk.
'Damn kid, putting me through this hellish training,' Shego thought, but even mentally her words lacked their standard bite.
He stopped a few feet away, carefully examining her with those sharp brown eyes from her sweating brow to her quivering legs and back again. He nodded once as if confirming something.
"You never cease to amaze, Shego. You've managed to surpass my expectations. We're a little ahead of schedule. You've earned a break. Go ahead and take the rest of the day off to recover."
Her knees nearly did buckle this time, partially collapsing before she pulled herself upright. She wouldn't allow it, not in front of him, not after what he said. She turned away, just the smallest hint of a smile crossing her lips.
"Of course, what did you expect? I am, after all, the best there is. I couldn't very well do any less than stellar," she responded, a finger idly twirling her hair. The action lasted only an instant before her hand jerked back to her side. Still, there was a small part of herself that continued to preen. After all, he was among a small group of people she acknowledged. He did things on his own. He had constructed this entire underground base all by himself in a mere few weeks with no one in the city the wiser.
There was a sharp ting that echoed through the room. Ron glanced to the side with a small frown. "They sure took their time," he mumbled, approaching a nearby wall. At his approach, a large screen slid out. Curious, Shego hobbled over, ignoring the agony each step caused as it reverberated through her body. She had been through worse very recently. Compared to her recent healing, this was easy.
As she drew closer a world globe appeared, hovering before the screen. Unlike a static image, however, this one teemed with life. She could see the currents in the waters and weather patterns. Squinting, she noticed that above nearly every major city ran a constant thread of unintelligible squiggles. He glanced up at her approach.
"I guess this would be the first time you've seen my work," he murmured with a shrug, returning his attention to several threads.
He hovered a finger over one above Afghanistan. Its motion stopped at his touch, a new window popping up to show a list of names and locations headed with the title Taliban leadership. He dragged this to hover over the United States. Upon release, it dropped away, minimizing to Washington DC. Almost game-like, a new ping sounded as a small window appeared titled two hundred thousand received. Ron continued to drag and drop these windows to various parts of the world with rewards ranging from ten thousand to nearly a million each causing her eyebrows to inch up by the moment. Looking over his other shoulder, she found a list with all the transactions, a total that flashed as it updated after each ping. Her brow rose nearly to her hairline as it kept getting higher and higher.
'Ten…Million?' She gulped, her eyes looking at the mere slip of a boy. 'I really did choose the right side. Even against them, he might be the only person in the world to come out on top.'
He stood there stroking non-existent facial hair for a second, his opposite finger poised over a small red dot blinking above Japan. "This may cause some complications later, but I will deal with them when the time comes," he whispered, tapping the icon. Shego nearly jumped as the whole room vibrated with an eerie whirling sound.
As fast as the sound started, it stopped. For a few moments, Shego continued to examine the room warily.
"What was that?" she asked, turning at last to the boy.
"Shhh."
His response rose her hackles. She took a step towards him, hand raised to demand an answer when she noticed that the icon he had been examining pulsed once, twice, and then the last time before turning green with a small ping, another popup appearing with…
"Hundred Million!" Shego coughed, choking on her tongue. As she regained her composure, Ron waved his hand and the world map disappeared.
"Not as much as I'd hoped, but enough for the moment," he mumbled before turning his attention back to her. "Sorry, I needed to take care of a few orders before leaving for my trip."
'Yes, this boy's…no… this young man's praise ranks high on my list,' Shego thought, seeing Ron in a new light.
"…Wait, what trip? What about my training?" Shego asked, shaking herself free after that little display of fiscal power.
"I've updated the simulations to take your advanced learning curve into account. They will progress properly as you do to maximize your efficiency. When you're ready to begin, simply return here and say 'Start simulation'."
"What are you talking about? I've nearly got this down." Shego boasted, her breathing finally under control without the constant barrage.
He stared at her for a moment before lifting a single finger, "It only takes one missed bullet to die, Shego. In addition, we have yet to include distractions."
"Uh… distractions?"
Ron's eyes narrowed as he examined her. Shego glanced at her sweat-soaked suit self-consciously.
"What?" she asked.
"What lost the last battle for you was a simple distraction. No matter how powerful you become, it can all be turned against you if you lose focus for even a fraction of a second. A resourceful enemy, say Kim Possible, will use this to their advantage. You need to train in the most distracting environments until it doesn't matter where you are, your defense will be absolute."
"I guess I won't need much more train..."
Shego stopped as Ron pointed behind her. Turning, she saw a flash of a bullet coming straight at her. Her instincts kicked in, and her long-trained skills flashed green sending another bullet ricocheting away.
"See what I mea…OUCH!"
Shego spun around clutching the back of her now pounding head to find the boy holding a gun in his hand, smoke issuing from the end.
"I believe you would have just died there, Shego."
Shego rubbed the welt, a large headache in the making. "Point taken." She mumbled.
"Drakken has joined them," Ron continued, his face becoming grim as he stowed the gun away.
Shego raised an eyebrow, before shrugging. "So what? It's not much of a difference if he's working directly for them now. One way or the other, he's still incompetent," Shego absently finished, flipping her hair back out of the way.
"Unfortunately, he has stumbled onto something that could create... difficulties in the future." Shego didn't miss the narrowing of Ron's eyes. She didn't like that expression. Not from the unfazeable boy wonder.
'What could the blue boy have possibly cooked up that would have him so worked up?' she thought.
She shook her head away from her contemplation as Ron continued.
"I'm going on a little trip to bring in an additional resource before we take on Kimberly."
"An additional resource? Why? Between the two of us, we'll stop her in her tracks."
"Unfortunately, despite your recent advances, we won't be enough for everything that is coming," the boy responded, turning and walking away. Shego's lips trembled.
"And who will be enough?" She demanded her eyes flashing green.
"You shall see. Just get some rest for now; I expect all the scenarios to be completed by the time I return." His response finished just as the door closed.
Shego's breath became heavy, staring at the door.
'Not enough?' Her fist slammed into the wall, arcs of electricity spewing to the ground. Visions of just how outmatched she was passed through her mind during the brief fight between the evil Kim and herself. How that sick twisted smirk grew a little larger each round. And in the end, how she watched Shego fall to her doom, a spent toy she had no further use for.
"You said from the very beginning that you would give me the power to fight one on one with her," Shego whispered, lifting a hand palm. "You told me how this suit would help me drop her on her ass."
Three flames shimmered into existence. Each snapped into a pinprick of intense pulsing green. "And I'll show you just how right you were."
Each snapped to life, spinning around her hand until they appeared to join into a single intense band of throbbing light.
"Because I." One of the balls split off, bursting into a fireball as it exited her one-meter range.
"Am." Another flashed behind her, twice as large as the first
"SHEGO!" she roared, the final projectile slammed down to explode at her feet, blasting a small crater.
Shego walked through the plume of smoke to stand in the center of the room, her face neutral. Only her eyes revealed the flaming torrent of emotion swelling within. Her body was soaked with sweat. Every muscle screamed as if in flames, each fighting to keep her upright. None of it mattered.
"Start simulation."
Crunch, crunch, crunch. The sounds of crushed snow echoed as their cause sprinted passed up the mountainside, his brown parka hugging his thin frame. His movements were unhindered by the sheer ice mere inches below the snow he moved over, one misstep away from an untimely fate far below.
Deep brown eyes, framed by a fluffy white laced black fur hood, shifted across the snow-covered pine trees in his path. They focused momentarily on a cascade of shimmering white snow blown down by a stiff breeze from the nearby trees, their branches swaying in time. The headlong pace slowed until he came to a stop, his breathing hardly strained. He absently leaned against a snow-covered boulder. Raising his hood, Ron Stoppable examined the mountain summit where dark ominous rolling clouds bubbled over.
"Best predictive software on the planet and it can't even forecast a friggin snowstorm." The annoyed words were swept away by the rising wind, hitting him in the face with a flurry of snow.
A shiver ran through him, more from irritation than the frigid elements. With a shake, the flakes mostly flecked away leaving a thin coat to cling to his hood and face. Turning his back to the constant wind, his eyes critically examined the stark contrast of the ebony case he carried. His black-gloved hands tenderly wiped away any stray signs of snow, carefully inspecting the edges for any break in the sealing. With a satisfied grunt, he turned back into the wind, picking up the pace, only the soft whoosh of the small suitcase in his right hand going back and forth in time with the constant crunch to interrupt the growing howl of the wind.
Flakes of the newly fallen snow flew into his face for long minutes before a glint caught his eyes. Just beyond the next rise lay a sheet of ice that was once a waterfall now caught by the frozen grasp of winter.
"Finally," he whispered. The wind shut off for a brief reprieve as he circled the waterfall to find a tunnel past the frozen sheets, long ominous spikes of ice crackled at his every footstep. He paid them no mind as he continued through to the other side where he was nearly bowled over as the wind fought to make up for its brief absence. Ron ignored it, before him lay the majestic scene of the suspended bridges swinging in the wind, leading to the temple carved by a single sword. His lips curved up at the thought of such power.
His attention was riveted to the compound as he continued, heedless of the growing signs of the storm to come. His gait transformed from confident to clumsy, his breathing short gasps as he trudged ineffectively through the mounds of snow. He was Ron Stoppable, clumsy extraordinaire after all. It wouldn't do to look suspicious this close to the goal. It took many long minutes before twin mammoth wooden doors loomed over him. He leaned against them, resting his hands on his knees, his gasps of fog blew away in the ever-increasing howls.
Straightening, he made to knock, but even before his knuckles struck, the doors groaned to life, slowly opening before him.
He had been expected.
In front of him stood five ninjas in a line, each with the traditional black garb that was standard to their trade. As he walked past the gate, the middle ninja broke away, taking a step forward and bowing with their right fist in their left palm. They held this for a moment before returning upright, revealing a familiar set of features as the cowl was removed.
"Ron-san, it is very unexpected to see you here," Yori smiled, her eyes going up and down his body, her smile was gentle and genuine. Her left hand absently brushed away flakes that rushed in as the gate slid closed with a loud thump.
'Ah, just the girl I needed,' Ron thought to himself, a light smile spreading as he took one step forward.
"I..." Ron's sentence was drowned out by a thunderous roar from above.
"STOP WHERE YOU STAND!"
With a small shake of his head to remove the echo, Ron glanced up to find the last remnants of the sun blocked out by the outline of a man. His body shone bright, easily replacing the brilliance of the sun he blocked. Slowly, the figure descended revealing a transparent sphere whose yellow brilliance declined until vanishing as he landed between Ron and Yori.
Ron traced the elder's descent, eyes narrowed. 'The true enemy reveals himself,' he thought calmly. His eyes examined the old man, watching the usually relaxed body remain tense, the shoulders taunt with one arm chambered, the fist aimed directly at Ron's heart. Behind it, old eyes examined him with equal intensity, the mist of his breath flitting away in the bone-chilling cold wind.
Ron followed the command, taking neither action nor stance, his posture fully open.
'Your move, old man,' he thought to himself.
"Sensei, what are you doing?" Yori asked, approaching the old figure. "This is Ron-san," she finished by gesturing to the boy.
"This imposter is not Stoppable-san," Sensei said and put out one hand to hold Yori back though his full attention remained on Ron.
Yori stepped away at his gesture, her eyes now focused on Ron's face, jumping to his slight smirk and confident eyes. 'Finally noticed has she? Perhaps she isn't as perceptive as I thought, but given the circumstances of my recent arrival and our history...'
"Really? What gave me away? I thought I had acted the part rather well." Ron asked, carefully stepping back, and raising his hands with his suitcase. When his back reached the heavy framed door, he lowered the case to the ground. With it safely out of the way, he stood back up to rest back against the gate with his arms crossed.
"Perhaps for the last leg of your journey, but I have watched since your first step on this mountain. And in all that time, not once did you get lost, become tired, or lose your pants. Further, your blackened aura is far more than enough to let me know you are not the kind-hearted chosen one."
'Aura reading? There was no such ability in the calculations! How will this affect the scenario?! I have to find out. This is not a good time but…' Ron thought grimly.
The boy's lips upturned; his gut shuddered as if seeking to contain a colossal weight. With all his might, Ron released a mammoth laugh. It was followed by one after another, each growing in volume.
"I see. It is always the smallest of things that unravel all plans. I'll have to make note of it for later," he managed to say in-between laughs. His thunderous laughter filled the skies leaving even the old man to stare askance at him. But for Ron, the world faded a little further from his view with each rise and fall of his chest. The crisp snow, the biting wind, all sensations grayed into nothingness. In its place rose unblemished darkness with Ron's consciousness at its center.
Formless arms stretched out from him, each trembling against an unseen pressure. A primal scream shattered the silence; a slice of light appeared stretching from horizon to horizon. As if an enormous dome, either side of the slash fell away to reveal what looked like the stars in their endless expanse. On closer inspection, an observer would notice that these were not the slow-moving stars on any earthly plane. All of them swirled slowly directly above him. Even closer, one might notice that all of them were connected by the thinnest of strands, all intricately connected to that invisible point above him.
His consciousness looked up to the majestic scene focusing on a specific cluster of closely tied stars. With a thought, a jolt of energy shimmered from his point, moving towards the cluster. Cautiously, it reached out to lightly caress the stars. The center star broiled red, shaking violently against the foreign presence.
Time seemed to reverse, the thread retreating, the stars turning white once more. The same scene played out. This time the thread approached from behind. One touch and the thread vaporized immediately. Ron's consciousness frowned at the result, reversing time once more. Attempt after attempt, each time the thread either vaporized or was rejected.
Thump, thump
After yet another thread withered away, Ron shifted his gaze to trace along a separate thread's path, following it back to the faint pulse he felt. It led to a bare patch of the galaxy, the only area without any stars. As the original thread once again reversed and approached the other cluster, he noticed that the bare patch seemed to pulse in time like a heartbeat.
His attention diverted, the red sun slashed through the thread far faster, like a line of gunpowder, it flashed across the horizon to reach the seemingly empty region.
He shielded his eyes as the space exploded, the quiet heartbeat increasing in tempo to a deafening roar as a single sickly fist-sized auburn star was revealed. Its pulse rippled across the galaxy; every star winking out as if it had never existed in an instant.
As the wave reached him, his mind filled with countless images; a silent street, the stench of decay, corpses piled like mountains, maggots and swollen rats gorging themselves for as far as the eye could see, a blackened sun setting into an ocean of inky blood red.
'NO!,' Ron thought, the images fled, and the ripple retreated as the galaxy lit up once more, the sickly star hidden behind his plans and schemes…for now. Ron was left with his hands on his knees, breath coming in gasps.
Regaining his feet, he looked up to that ominous patch of empty sky. On its edges a small vibrant green marble-sized star and another nearly as large and similar in color to a small lemon. The two held the tightly woven net together. He ignored the larger mellow yellow one, instead focusing on the flaring green marble, watching it buck wildly, growing millimeter by millimeter.
"Not nearly enough for what is coming," he whispered sadly.
Ron turned away from his stargazing. Just as suddenly as it had come, the whole expanse disappeared. The white of snow, the chilled pinpricks of flakes needling into his face with the howling wind, the entire real world snapped into view.
His laughter cut off.
Author's end notes: So this is part 1. As I mentioned previously, the next will be out sometime next week.
As to this chapter, I wanted to explore Ron and his behavior in the series. I've always found it odd that someone that is such a kickass fighter would lose to Drakken in 'Bad Boy' so easily or get hit by the beam in 'Stop Team Go'. The last segment is a way that it could make sense. If everything is planned out in his mind and the smallest deviation causes him to recalibrate his calculations, then the absurdity of Drakken of all people attacking him would account for at least one of the instances. It also accounts for the mad laughter for hours on end when he first was hit and decided to become evil. Probably other explanations, but that's the one for this story.
Let me know what you think of this interpretation and the story as a whole.
