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KIM POSSIBLE: FUTURE IMPERFECT

Chapter Seven

"Intersections II"

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Kim scrambled to the edge of the large circular hole that had formed in the floor. "RON!" she screamed.

Thirty feet below, Ron rolled onto his belly. A thick cloud of dust and small white feathers puffed up around him, and he sneezed loudly. "I'm fine, KP!" he called back. "Lucky someone left these mattresses here!"

Rufus popped his head out of a pile of fluff and feathers. "Poofy!"

Ron's luck, Kim sighed in relief. May it last forever. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"You bet!" he said. "Be even better once you get me out of here."

"I'm on it!" Kim turned and looked around, searching for something to use as a rope. Nothing. "Ron, is there any other way out of there?"

"What? I mean, well," he looked around, "There is a door."

"Try it."

Exchanging a look with Rufus, Ron walked over to the door and gave the massive iron knob a twist. "It's locked!"

"There's nothing here to use as a rope, Ron," she admitted. "I can't get you out right now."

Ron blinked. "Oh, great." He glanced down at Rufus, who shrugged. "Go on without me, KP."

"What?"

"You said it yourself - Will's in trouble." Ron sat down on a mattress, unleashing another cloud of feathers. "Go save him, then the two of you come back and get me."

"Ron, I can't... I mean, what about you?"

"I'll be fine, KP. Honest." He smiled up at her. "Go get Will."

Kim stood and looked down at Ron's smiling face. Perhaps this is for the best. He'll be safe down there. Safer than up here. "Okay, Ron, you win. I'll be back. I promise."

Ron waved. "Sure thing, KP!" He watched her turn and disappear from view. As an afterthought, he added, "And don't forget about me!" Ron sighed and slumped his shoulders. He almost wished that Kim would have put up more resistance to the idea of leaving him alone in a partially-collapsed basement.

Perched on his shoulder, Rufus looked around and shuddered. "Spooky," the mole-rat said.

Okay, not quite alone, Ron conceded. Looking around, he had to agree. Cobwebs draped every surface, and the fires above caused inky shadows to dance in the corners. "Very spooky," Ron said with a nod. "I guess Killigan doesn't do much cleaning."

Rufus searched around and produced a large broom. "Room service."

"Wonderful," Ron said, taking the broom from the mole-rat's paws, "I don't suppose you can find a ladder or something in here?"

Rufus put his paws on his hips and frowned. "Slave driver!"

Ron shrugged. "I'm simply acknowledging my own limitations."

Behind him, one of the shadows coughed.

Ron crossed the distance between himself and the far wall with a single fear-induced leap and a loud scream, slamming face-first into the ancient masonry. The stone and mortar crumbled beneath his fingers, foiling his attempts to climb out. Turning around nervously, knees knocking, Ron peered into the darkness. "H-hello? Anyb-body there?"

No answer, Ron mused. Big surprise.

Rufus emerged from Ron's pocket with a small flashlight. "Thanks, buddy," Ron said, "I was wondering where that thing got off to." Clicking on the light, Ron aimed the quavering beam into the shadows where the sound had come from.

Nothing.

He laughed nervously. "Heh. Just my imagination, I guess."

To his left, another cough echoes from the darkness.

Ron spun, the light swinging wildly as he did so, the brief strobe of illumination highlighting a body lying amongst the crumbled rubble piled there. "Yo, KP!" Ron called through the opening in the ceiling, "I've changed my mind! GET ME OUTTA HERE!"

"I think," a gravelly, familiar-yet-not voice said from the darkness, "That she's too far away to hear you."

Ron nodded absently. "I know. But I can be really loud when I have to be."

That drew a dry chuckle. "I seem to remember that."

Nervousness abating somewhat, Ron hefted the flashlight and slowly made his way over to the voice's owner, who was lying on the floor beside a shattered wooden crate filled with equally shattered pottery. Ron blinked. "Will?"

"Yes," Will Du rose up on his elbows and looked at Ron sadly, "And no. Been a long time, Ron."

"Sure seems like it, doesn't it?" Ron crouched down beside the man, eyebrows arched. "What happened? I mean, KP's out there looking for you, and you're down here with me. And you... your clothes... your hair... have you always had a goatee?"

"Damned woman got the jump on me, again." Will reached up and gingerly touched the knot on the back of his head. "Listen, Ron. There's some much you need to know, but we don't have any time. We need to stop her."

"Stop who?"

"Kimberly," Will replied. "She's going to steal the jet you flew in on. We have to stop her."

Ron frowned. "Kim.... steal?"

Will sighed. "I know this is hard to follow, but you have to believe me, Ron. It's the only way off the island now, and she needs to get off the island. The logic is sound."

Ron shook his head. "Kim wouldn't steal. She just wouldn't."

"Not the Kim you know," Will replied, "But the Kim I know would."

"What?"

"People change, Ron. Time has a way of doing that."

"It's only been a couple of minutes," Ron protested.

Will rubbed his face. "For you, maybe."

"My head is starting to hurt," Ron said.

Will thought for a moment. Oh, what the hell. "Ron, do you believe in time travel?"

Ron shrugged. "Sure. Happens on Star Trek all the time."

"Right. Well, I'm from the future, Ron. Fifteen years, roughly."

Rufus whistled. "Long time."

"You have no idea," Will agreed.

"From the future, huh?" Ron rubbed his chin. "Can you prove it?"

Will nodded. "Two words : Yori Akemi."

Ron's eyes widened. "How do you... I never told..."

"I'll meet her in two years. A combined operation against Monte Fiske and his army of monkey ninjas." He turned to stare at Ron, who was blinking in confusion. "This is important, Ron. I didn't travel back alone. Kim came, too."

"Two Kims?" Ron breathed, eyes glazing. "That's amazing... and scary. Wow."

"More than you can possibly imagine." Will frowned, unsure how much to reveal. "She's not the same as the Kim you know, Ron. She's changed."

Ron shrugged. "Things change. KP is eternal. Nothing could ever change her."

Oh, Ron. If you only knew. "I wish you were right. But she has changed, and not for the better." Will closed his eyes and lay back on the ground, his head pounding mercilessly. "She's gone rogue, Ron."

Ron thought for a moment. "X-Men style Rogue, or...?"

"Mercenary-style rogue," Will corrected.

"Ah," Ron replied, nodding. "I don't believe it."

"Ron..."

"I don't believe it. Kim is good. Always has been." He turned away. "And always will be."

"You don't believe me, then?"

"No. Time travel? Sure. Fifteen years? Sure." Ron looked over his shoulder at Will. "Evil Kim? Not gonna happen."

Will climbed to his feet, favoring his re-injured leg. "There's one way to find out."

Ron turned around. "What would that be?"

"Let's go to the jet. See if she's there. See which one of us is right about her."

Ron thought for a moment. "Okay. But only so you'll see how wrong you are." Ron turned and looked up at the ragged hole in the ceiling. "Of course, we've got to get out of here first."

Will smiled. "I think I can come up with something." Smile fading, he silently added, Please, God, don't let this be a mistake.

----

Kim crept up to the doorway, mindful of the wisps of smoke curling up around the edges. She pushed gently on the door, then jumped to the side as the door tipped outwards and slammed onto the floor with a deafening crash. Peering through the opening, Kim's stomach churned as smoke and other less pleasant smells assaulted her senses.

"Kimberly?"

Her eyes went wide as Will moved into view from behind the remains of a large wooden crate. "Will? My God, you're alive!"

"Obviously," came the droll reply. He made a show of flicking bits of Killigan off of his uniform. "Although I am in desperate need of a very long, very hot shower."

"But how?"

"Fortunately there was only one crate of Killigan's 'special' golf balls stored here. The rest were normal, inert balls. I ducked behind them at the last moment, and they shielded me from the majority of the blast." He grimaced. "The... uh... 'shrapnel', however, was less easily avoided."

She shuddered at the thought. "Did you see her?" Kim asked, "The one who did... this?"

Will looked at her, eyes unreadable. "Oh, yes. Actually thought it was you for a moment. More than a moment. A very convincing duplicate."

"What changed your mind?"

He motioned to the room around them, spattered with bits and pieces of the former mad golfer. "This," he said simply. "It takes a certain type of individual to do something like this. Among other things." He turned to look at her. "And you're not that type."

She stepped aside as he emerged from the room. "What now?"

"We need to find her. Keep tabs on her until backup arrives." He glanced at her. "I faced her. Fought her. She... she is quite formidable."

Kim blinked at that. "Meaning..."

"Meaning we can't-" A piercing tone interrupted them. Will pulled a small beeper-like device from his belt and stared at the display in disbelief. "The jet!"

Kim nodded. "Come on!"

----

Ron and Future Will (dubbed thus by Ron to help identify him from Present Will) came upon the Global Justice jet, the two of them hidden from view behind a partially-collapsed wall. From the cockpit, a female voice could be heard, softly singing an unrecognizable tune. Ron glanced at Future Will, eyes showing his uncertainty. "Tell me again why this is a good idea?"

"You'll have to trust me on this for now, Ron," Will replied. "Distract her while I move around behind her. You won't need to do anything else, I'll handle it."

"If you say so, but this still feels wrong," Ron complained.

Will didn't reply, simply shooing him on with a wave of his hand and then walking quietly around to the other side of the aircraft.

Ron, for his part, was having major second thoughts. Something odd was going on, more odd than anything else he had ever experienced, and while he knew that he wasn't quite sharp enough to know what, his instincts were telling him in no uncertain terms that anywhere else would be a much better place than where he was at that moment. Still, he had to prove to Future Will (and, also, to Present Will, wherever he was) that Kim was no criminal, and could never be one. Setting Rufus down on the ground, Ron whispered, "Stay here, buddy. Watch my back."

Rufus saluted. "Gotcha!"

Ron stepped into the open and cleared his throat. "H-h-hello? Is th-that you, KP?"

Inside the cockpit, the singing stopped.

"Y-yo, KP!" Ron called again.

The person in the cockpit leapt out, somersaulting through the air and landing with amazing grace in a crouched position, left leg straight out to the side, right leg curled up beneath. Ron blinked, his eyes taking in the sight, opened his mouth to speak, but his voice died in his throat, emerging as nothing more than a soft squeak. The woman slowly rose to her feet, eyes never leaving Ron's face, her gaze boring into his own with such intensity that he could actually feel it. It was as if he were paralyzed - he couldn't move, couldn't turn from that gaze.

Ron took in every detail, every curve, every motion. The hair - right color, but much shorter, like Mrs. Dr. P's hair. The face - the same as his Kim, but more gaunt, with four scars running diagonally across her face and eyes, which were a much, much darker shade of green than his Kim. The body - a bit taller, a lot leaner, even more athletic. Ron blinked. This is what Kim from the future is supposed to look like?

"Ron?" she said softly, voice quaking.

Ron's eyebrows rose in surprise. Kim's voice. "Yeah, yeah, KP. Who else did you expect?"

Her left hand rose tentatively, fingers trembling, "Is it really... can it be..."

He held his hands out, smiled despite his fear, hoped that his teeth weren't chattering. "It's me, KP."

"No one's called me that since..." Scant inches from touching, her fingers recoiled. "No," she said, pulling back. "No. You're Ron, but you're not Ron. Not my Ron. Not my Ron."

What? Ron blinked. "You found another Ron?"

"Never!" she hissed, putting a hand to the side of her head. "You don't understand. You don't know."

He stepped towards her. "Tell me."

She looked up at him, the conflicting emotions evident on her face. "Tell...?"

At that moment, Future Will leapt from the cockpit, aiming to tackle her where she stood. She spun around at the last moment and batted him away as easily as one would bat away an errant beach ball. Will hit the ground with a sickening THUD and rolled to a stop at the base of the broken wall. Kim turned fiery eyes to Ron, then stalked over to Will's unmoving form. Grabbing him by the throat, she lifted him off the ground. "You're beginning to really piss me off, Will!" she growled, cocking her right fist back. Will's eyes sprang open, his hands flying up, trying to pry himself free from her grip. Her hand began to glow with reddish fire.

"NO!" Ron shouted, running forward. Her head snapped around to look at him, and he skidded to a stop. "Don't do this, KP!" Ron pleaded, "This isn't you. This isn't you!" The anger in her eyes abated somewhat, and he decided to press his luck. "Kim Possible can do anything. But she doesn't kill. Not the Kim that I know."

She's not the same as the Kim you know, Ron. She's changed.

Ron blinked as Will's words came back to him. "Not the Kim I know," he whispered, slowly backing away. "You're not Kim Possible."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Don't say that."

"It's true," he insisted. "You look like Kim, you sound like Kim... but you're not Kim. Not my Kim. You can't be."

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Dropping Will to the ground, she turned around and began walking towards Ron, matching his pace. "How can you say that, Ron? How?"

"Have you looked at this place lately?" Ron asked. "Fire and death and destruction? This isn't what Kim Possible is about."

She looked around. "It's for the greater good. Our good." She turned back to face him. "We had it all, Ron. We had it all. Our families. Our friends." She held her hands across her chest. "Each other," she added softly.

Say what? Ron frowned. "Then why...?"

"Because they took it all away!" she shouted. "Our friends, gone! Our families, gone! Everything we ever wanted, everything we ever dreamed, all gone!" Her eyes flared, glowing a brilliant shade of green. "And then they took you."

Ron bumped against a still-standing part of the wall. This is getting seriously freaky. Swallowing loudly, he tried to keep his voice level as she drew face-to-face with him. "And all of this is for... what? Revenge?"

She laughed, the gleam in her eyes brightening. "Revenge? I've already had my revenge. On all of them, each and every one. And all the ones who would follow in their stead. No, this... this, I'm doing for us."

"Us?" Ron squeaked as she stood before him, her hands twitching.

"Us," she said throatily. "They took it all away from us. Well, I'm taking it back. I want it all back. I want you back." She moved close, pressed her forehead against his. "I want you..." she whispered, her breath hot against his cheek.

Oh, boy. Ron reached up and gently grasped her wrists. "I... uh... I really appreciate that. I really do. But how..."

She pulled away from him and turned back to the jet, her entire body trembling. "I... I'll stop them. Keep them from doing it again." She looked over her shoulder at him, grinning happily. "And then everything will be back to the way it was supposed to be. You'll see. It'll all be worth it."

"And how... uh... how many more do you plan to...?"

She shrugged. "Not many. Five more. Hardest one will be next, not that that's saying much." She held up her right hand, which pulsed with licks of reddish energy. "Can't wait to treat her to a dose of her own medicine."

Ron frowned. "Medicine? What-"

"RON!" Kim - his Kim - cried out in the distance. He looked, saw her racing towards them. When he turned back, the other Kim was already in the cockpit. He winced as the engines roared to life with a piercing whine. Future Kim looked over at him, reached up a hand and waved, smiled as the aircraft began to move.

Ron dove for cover as the afterburners kicked in. Crouched behind a pile of rubble, he waited until the ground stopped shaking and the ringing in his ears had faded to a tolerable level before daring to look around.

Kim and Will - Present Will, Ron noticed - were standing in spot were the Global Justice jet had been parked. There was no sign of Future Will anywhere. He turned and was about to say something to Kim and Will when a pink projectile slammed into his chest. "Rufus!" he cried, holding the naked mole rat in the air. "I was wondering where you got off to!"

"Freaky lady," Rufus said with a shiver.

Ron nodded. "Definitely."

"Ron!" Kim cried, wrapping him in a crushing embrace. "What in the world were you trying to do? You could've been killed!"

Ron felt his face flush. "I was... uh... improvising."

"You were lucky." Present Will stepped up to him. "What did she say to you?"

Ron tucked Rufus in his pocket and sighed. Looking up, he spotted Future Will crouched amidst the rubble, pointing to himself and making slashing motions with his hands. "She... uh... she said that she's you, KP."

Kim straightened. "Me?"

"From the future," Ron added. "Fifteen years."

"The future," Will said slowly. "Right."

"Hey, you asked what she said." Ron crossed his arms over his chest.

Kim placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "It's alright, Ron. Did she say anything else?"

"Plenty." Ron looked up at the sky. The Global Justice jet was nowhere to be seen. "She said that she was going to make things right. To make things the way they were supposed to be."

Kim paled. "You'll see. It'll all be worth it," she said softly.

Ron blinked. "Exactly."

"How did you...?" Will began.

Kim shook her head. "It's not important. Ron, did she say anything about where she's going next? This is important."

Ron thought for a moment. "There was something right before she left. How did she put it? Uh..."

"Medicine?" Kim prodded, face ashen.

"That's it!" Ron said, snapping his fingers. "She said that she was going to give somebody a taste of her own medicine. Her hand was glowing when she said it. Some funky red fire or something."

"Plasma," Kim corrected. She shrugged at Will's questioning glance. "It was jamming your comm."

Will frowned. "So the next target uses plasma energy in some manner."

"I can only think of one," Kim stated. "Shego."

Will nodded and stepped to the side, speaking softly into his comm.

Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator. "Wade, I need to know Shego's current location. And we need a ride, fast!"

"On it, Kim," Wade replied. He rapidly tapped commands into his system. "Shego's last know location was... Rio de Janeiro."

"Rio de Janeiro?" Will asked, puzzled.

"Sunbathing," Kim said. "Not that it helps."

"There's a high-speed courier in your area. I can arrange for them to pick you up. They can be there in less than five minutes." Wade frowned. "Only enough room for two passengers, however."

"There's a Global Justice aircraft on the way," Will said. "Enough room for all of us, but it won't arrive for another thirty minutes."

Ron glanced up to where he had last seen Future Will. With a sigh, he said "Go on without me."

Kim looked at him. "What?"

Ron smiled. "Go without me. You need to get to Shego before the ... uh... the other 'you' does."

"And leave you here alone?" Kim shook her head. "I don't think so."

"He has a point," Will said. "Time is of the essence. We need to keep on her trail. My aircraft has a tracking device. If we leave now, we may be able to intercept her before she can do any more damage."

"But-"

Will shook his head. "How long did it take her to do all of this?" he said, motioning to the ruined castle. "We have no time."

Kim turned worried eyes to Ron. "I'll be fine, KP. I'll wait for the next ride. Mean time, me and Rufus will sit and enjoy the view."

"Smoky," Rufus pointed out.

Ron sighed. "I was talking about the ocean."

Kim shook her head. "Wade, call in that courier."

"They're almost there now, Kim." Wade smiled. "And I've locked onto the tracking signal from the Global Justice aircraft. Current course is straight for Rio de Janeiro."

"You're the best, Wade. Thanks."

Will cleared his throat. "A Global Justice investigative team will be arriving soon. I've arranged for them to get you back to Middleton."

"Middleton? But I want to go where you guys are going to be," Ron protested.

"Hopefully, this will be over long before you could rendezvous with us." Will shrugged.

"Kim?" Ron asked, looking at her.

She nodded slowly. "Will's right, Ron. This is the best way. Trust me."

"I do. It's just..." A rising roar to the east announced the arrival of the aircraft. Ron whistled. "Wade wasn't kidding, was he?"

----

Future Will stepped out into the open as the courier accelerated down the grassy field and lifted into the air. "Thanks for not revealing me," he said.

"Don't thank me," Ron said, turning around to face him. "My best friend is going to try and catch a wacked-out future version of herself, and I can't be there to help. I want to know what's going on, and I want to know NOW."

Will looked at him for several moments before slowly nodding. That's more like the Ron I remember. "All right. I'll tell you."

----

End Chapter Seven

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