Death is an Art
Chapter 1
By Captainkodak1

Kim came out of the bathroom wearing a clean set of mission clothes and rubbing a towel through her damp hair. Ron lay back on one of the beds in the room they were sharing. The mission they had just completed had been a rather unusual one even by their standards. The son of a leader of a small country had been kidnapped by a group of men attempting to stage a coup. Kim and Ron had been able to return the boy to his father, but were not able to capture the men who had taken him. The mission had been a long, dirty one in the deep forests of the country. After returning the boy to his father, they had been given a small chalet room on the side of a mountain for them to stay in. It was very private and quiet. They both were looking forward to a little quiet time. Kim was a little miffed at the country's leader for abruptly dismissing them after returning his son, but Ron told her he was most likely upset in one way yet happy to have his son back.

Kim sat in front of the mirror in the room and started to brush her hair out. It had been a long mission and both of them were tired. Wade had not been able to set up a ride for them until the following morning, so they had to stay the night.

Ron rolled over and smiled at Kim as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"You ready for some snackage?"

Kim rolled her head around trying to get the crick out of her neck. She twisted her head and sighed when there was a audible pop.

"I don't know what to do Ron. We would have to call the shuttle from the front desk to come get us; then find somewhere to eat. They said they had room service, let's check the menu and have them bring it up here. Besides..."

Kim turned and gave him an sly smile.

"...I saw a nice private hot tub on the deck and I think a nice soak with my boyfriend sounds mighty good."

Ron returned her smile.

"Boooyahhh. I'll get the menu."

Ron picked up the booklet on the table and lay back on the bed. Kim came over and lay beside him with the book opened before them. They had just started to discuss what they wanted when there was a knock at the door. Both of them got up and went to the door. Kim motioned for Ron to open the door slowly as she stood behind it. If the person on the other side of the door was not friendly then they would get an unpleasant surprise when they came in the door. Ron checked through the peephole first. He whispered to Kim.

"It's an older man with a Chalet uniform pushing a food cart."

He turned back to the door and spoke through the door.

"Who is it?"

The man stepped up to the door and flashed an ID badge to the peephole.

"Mr. Stoppable, my name is Ernst. The hotel staff wanted your stay to be comfortable so we have prepared a supper that we thought you would enjoy."

Ron looked over to Kim before he replied back through the door.

"We didn't order anything."

Ernst nodded.

"Yes I know, we were hoping that you would be surprised. If you would like call Room Service, they will confirm why I am here. I will wait."

Kim nodded and stepped over to the old style phone sitting on the table on one side of the room. She picked up the receiver and dialed the number for room service. A voice came on the line.

"Good evening Miss Possible, Mr Stoppable, how may I serve you?"

Kim looked at the phone for a moment and replied.

"How did you know who I am?"

The man on the other end laughed slightly.

"Our phone system is set to identify who and what room is calling. It saves problems with wrong orders."

Kim nodded.

"I understand. I was wondering though. One of your staff is here at our chalet with a food cart, but we have not ordered anything."

The voice on the other end replied.

"Ah yes, Ernst was sent up with a complimentary meal. We knew from other hotels what your preferences were and went ahead a prepared a meal. If it is not to your liking please just give Ernst your order and he will return promptly with it."

Kim relaxed.

"No thank you. I am sure it will be fine. Sorry to disturb you."

The voice replied.

"No need for apologies Miss Possible. I would only hope more people would be as careful as you. If you have any other needs please inform Ernst and he will make the necessary arrangements. Have a good evening."

Kim hung the phone up and nodded to Ron.

"It's okay, he's legit."

Ron opened the door and Ernst rolled the food cart into the room. The wonderful aroma of steak filled the room. Kim's mouth started to water in an instant. Ernst rolled the serving cart over to the table in the room and started to transfer the plates to it. He placed the plates on the table then lifted the covers from them. Kim's eyes nearly popped out at the size of the steak on the plate. There was a large baked potato along side the steak. Ernst opened a cool locker and placed two large salads on the table along with a large pitcher of tea. Ernest turned to both of the teens.

"Please take a seat."

Ron pulled Kim's chair out for her and helped her to push under the table. He took his seat as Ernest took out a trio of potato toppings.

"Butter, sour cream, chives?"

Kim nodded.

"All three please."

Ron smiled.

"Ditto."

Ernst placed the toppings on both of their potatoes then turned to pulled tray with bowls of salad dressings on it.

"We have a variety of salad dressings, what would your choice be?"

Kim glanced at her salad then over at Ron.

"Honey mustard?"

Ron nodded. Ernst placed the two toppings on the salads and then poured tea into both of their glasses.

Picking up her knife Kim cut into her steak. It was done perfectly. Ernst poured a small glass of tea for himself.

"Please if I may? I would like to propose a toast to two of the finest young people I have ever had the honor to serve. May their life and love never end."

Kim and Ron blushed slightly as they picked up their glasses and clinked them together with Ernst. Ernst emptied his glass quickly and then with a smile gave a small bow to the teens as they took a drink of their tea.

"Thank you for allowing me the honor of this toast."

Kim smiled back at Ernst.

"We would like to thank you for this meal and your service. It..."

Kim stopped talking as the room around her began to swirl. She glanced over to Ron to see him wobbling. Turning her stare back to Ernst she could see him standing there with a smirk on his face. Kim forced her mouth to work.

"You!"

Trying to stand, Kim took a wobbling step toward Ernst before she crashed to the floor, pulled their dinner with her.

Ernst's face turned into a grim smile.

"Now the art of death begins."

Opening her eyes, Kim lifted her head from it's place on Ron's shoulder. Glancing around the room she noticed that the dinner table had been cleaned up but other than that the room seemed normal. Ron stirred as she sat up. His eyes opened and made a search of the room just as she had.

"Why do I get the feeling that I am not going to like the reason he drugged us?"

Kim stood for a moment as Ron joined her. He pointed to the table where they had been eating. It was then that Kim noticed an old style tape recorder sitting there. They walked over to the table and stood staring at the tape recorder. Ron reached out when Kim grabbed his hand.

"Ron! It might be booby trapped."

Ron shook his head.

"I don't think so KP. They set us up, why do all this then blow us up without telling us why. Remember the villain code? They have to rant about how they did it and what they plan to do."

Glancing back and forth from Ron to the tape recorder Kim finally shrugged and pressed the play button. Ernst's voice came over the speaker.

"Well Team Possible, I take it you are awake now. If you were wondering, your tea was laced with a rather powerful drug. You see, I have been consuming that particular drug for several years now so it has no effect on me. I can quite literally drink it straight from the bottle with no problem. You have been asleep for approximately 3 hours. During that time we have made some changes to the room. I have placed a bomb in the room of significant size to kill any and all in the room. The bomb has been placed in an ordinary object. It you use the object then the bomb will go off. Now, for our little game. The bomb has a timer of two hours. You are to search for the bomb and attempt to disarm it. You are being watched from a number of angles. If you attempt to hide in another room, you will be shot. If you fail to look for the bomb, you will be shot. You will not have the opportunity to use any of your devices. I removed them from your persons. You see Team Possible, I am an artist. I could have very well given you a poison to kill you, or I could have simply blown you up or killed you in any other of a matter of ways. I could also quite easily shoot you right now. But that would be easy, easy to the point of being a butcher. You see a good death is a work of art, a bad death is the work of a butcher. I am an artist. Are you willing to join me in my work of art? I do hope so. Find the bomb and you are free to go. Oh, as a final note. You need to remember not to stick your noses into someone else's business. My client was very displeased with your actions by rescuing the son of that tyrant. So I bid you farewell Team Possible."

The tape ended and the recorder clicked off.

Kim and Ron stared back at each other then began to look around the room.

--

Greetings from the Captain.

This plot bunny jumped on my back the other night and would just not let me go. It sat on my shoulder and gnawed at me until I wrote it out.

I hope you will enjoy this one. Please leave a review.

This is the Captain
Roger and out
right hand salute.