Has anyone ever suddenly been bitten on the… well, backside… and surprised by a Plot Bunny? Well, that's what happened here. Hope y'all like the results!
Disclaimer: The Kim Possible characters are not owned by me in any shape or form, and please see other proper credit given at the end of this story.
Feed Me Tara!
Not long after the failed attack of the Lowardians, Tara King was walking down a recently repaired street of Middleton. There were a few shops here and there that were open for business, but one in particular caught her eye. It was a florist.
Walking in not really sure what she was looking for, the owner suddenly came out of the back. It was an older lady, with long stringy white hair, and she wore a plastic apron over the front of her clothes.
The old lady wiped dirt from her hands. "May I help you find something?"
The blonde girl was only mildly surprised. "Oh… I'm not really looking for anything specific… just wanting to find something that says… 'Thank-you', I guess."
The old woman seemed a little nonplussed at first. "You're not sure… Oh I think I know what you mean Deary. You want to express your… feelings for someone that may have just… oh I don't know… saved the world?"
A small gasp escaped Tara's lips. "How did you…"
"I could see it in your eyes my dear. I think I have the perfect plant for you." With a wink that made Tara feel a little nervous, the old woman disappeared into the backroom once again, and then returned a moment later carrying a very odd looking potted plant.
"What… what is that?" Tara asked while stepping closer, her curiosity getting the better of her. It was a green colored plant, like most others, but all it had was what looked like a large oval-shaped bud with a slit that went across the top of the bud and about half way down each side, sitting on a single stem. "That plant seems so… odd, yet unique. What's it called?"
"Actually my dear, it doesn't even have a name. It's a new species, as far as I can tell. It just kind of… showed up not long after that dreadful alien attack." She set the plant down on the counter. "So… would you like it?"
Tara looked at the old woman out the side of her eye. "You haven't even told me how much."
The old shopkeeper stood a little straighter. "Tell you what my dear. I'll give it to you for free. How's that?"
"For… free? I couldn't do that." Tara then started to scrounge through her pockets for the few bills she had with her.
Suddenly the old woman was right beside Tara with a hand on her shoulder. It took the blonde girl by surprise, and she found that she couldn't move, even if she wanted to. The old woman's voice hissed into her ear. "I insist."
"I… I'll call it… Ronnie II" A stunned Tara said to herself.
…x x x x…
The next thing the blonde cheerleader knew, she was back home in her bedroom, looking at this strange plant as it sat on her mirrored dresser. She could tell that it must need water or something, since the large oval shaped bulb was drooping. So she went down the hall, and brought a cup of water back to pour it into the soil.
Tara brought the cup to the plant, and it literally shied away from the water. "Huh…?"
She brought the water once again near the plant, and again it seemed to shy away from the glass. "OK, now that's weird. I've never seen a plant move away from water."
She set the glass down and looked at the plant with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out what to do next. Then she saw the bulb drop a bit further.
"Here… Let me help you Ronnie II." The young blonde girl placed her hands underneath the bulb and gently lifted up, only to be rewarded by getting pricked on one finger by an unseen thorn. "Ouch!"
Immediately Tara's first reaction was to bring her fingertip to her mouth and suck on it to relieve some of the pain. She then heard a strange sucking sound coming from the plant.
Slowly Tara looked down, and the slit she had seen before now looked a lot like a puckered mouth, and it was imitating her sucking sounds. "Now that's just…" She said while taking a step back.
Tara then tried something that defied all horticulture logic. She brought her bleeding finger over next to the plant, and it seemed to move towards her finger. She moved the appendage side to side, and the plant bulb followed her every move!
"Now what if I…" Tara then took the glass of water with her other hand, and moved it towards the plant. Again it moved away from the water.
"Oh this is just sick." The blonde thought, and then brought her finger over the top of the plant, which now was pointing straight up at her finger. She squeezed the tip a little, letting a single drop of blood fall. In an instant, a mouth opened up on the plant, catching the single drop of blood. It then seemed to literally smile, and Tara would swear that the plant actually grew an inch right before her very eyes!
"Now that's just… eww." But, curiosity once again took hold of the teenager, and she squeezed another drop of blood out. Again the plant opened up and caught the blood, and it seemed to grow another inch.
"Tara!" The young girl's mother called out from another part of the house. "Time for dinner!"
"Coming Mom!" Tara replied, and left her room to go eat with her family.
…x x x x…
After dinner was over, Tara and her family had fun playing some board games, and before long it was getting dark outside. Middleton was still in the process of rebuilding after the alien attacks, so to save on electricity while the destroyed power plants were being rebuilt, there was rolling black-outs. Tonight was when one was scheduled for her area.
After returning to her bedroom and lying down, the young blonde fell asleep almost instantly.
…x x x x…
The next morning Tara woke up to en empty house, but this was normal. Her mother was a Head Nurse at the Middleton Hospital and her dad was a Construction Manager, so needless to say both were busy after the alien attacks.
After showering for only 5 minutes (there was water conservation in effect as well), Tara put on a simple outfit of sweat pants and t-shirt and then went to stand in front of her dresser mirror to comb out her blonde locks. Instead of seeing herself in the mirror, she saw a rather large green plant that now covered over half of the mirror.
"Wow, you grow fast Ronnie II!" She said, and slid the plant to one side so she could use the mirror. The weight of the plant wasn't lost on Tara, as it took a bit of strength to move it only a foot and a half.
Then as she started to comb out her hair, Tara heard that same sucking sound again. She looked over at the plant, which stood about 2 feet now, and she could see more detail than she had before. Veins were now showing along the surface of the bud, and the slit now looked a lot like a pair of lips, rather than an opening that a bloom would come out of.
With a heavy sigh Tara, not quite believing that she was doing this, poked one of her fingers with a needle she had stuck in a small stuffed ball nearby. As soon as the blood started to come out of her finger, the plant looked like it smiled, and leaned towards her. This time it took more than a couple drops to satisfy her plant.
Her plant. That's not what Tara had had in mind when she picked up this macabre little thing in the Florist's shop. She had wanted to buy something to say Thank-you to Ron for saving the planet from those 9-foot tall aliens, but there was no way she was going to give him this blood thirsty creature.
Creature? Plants aren't an animal… are they? She thought as she continued to squeeze more blood from her finger until the small wound finally started to heal and would no longer bleed out.
Tara then continued this… 'Ritual'… every morning for a good two weeks, and every morning her little plant grew. By the end of the two weeks, each of her fingers were sore from the blood letting, and the plant was sitting on the floor of her bedroom, standing just a little taller than her.
…x x x x…
The young blonde girl had also been trying to look for a job, so she could help her parents with bills and such, and she finally found a part time position in a nearby Smarty Mart store. It just so happened that it was the very same store that Ron Stoppable, World Saver, also worked. At first she was a little surprised to find that he was still working there, after saving the world and all. But after spending just one short lunch break with him, she found out that he too was just trying to help out his family, even though every once in a while he would need to suddenly leave with Kim to thwart a villain, or crime of some sort.
And every time he left to go defeat another bad guy, Tara King silently wished that he was with her, instead of going off with Kim Possible. After all, she was just a young teenage girl, and the one boy who single handedly saved the entire world worked under the same roof as her.
She wanted her Hero too, but she never told anyone. At least not any other person, since Bonnie had disappeared after the alien attacks, and by now was presumed dead. Without her friend to confide in, almost every night Tara would talk to her plant, and tell it all of her dreams and desires. This way, she figured she would never 'accidentally' spill the beans to another person and tip off anyone about her little crush. She thought it was… harmless.
One particular night, about 2 and a half weeks after purchasing her plant, Tara came home to a dreadful sight. The plant in her bedroom was not looking well at all. The large bud was lying on the floor, not unlike a person's head that had lolled to one side, and it actually looked a little pale. The long tendrils that had also been growing at an alarming rate were lying around the pot with no apparent life to them.
"Oh no!" She yelped, and went immediately to the plant and placed a hand on the surface of the now quite large plant near a frond that had grown in not too long ago. "What… what should I do?" Tears were flowing out of her blue eyes.
She then heard what sounded like a voice coming from Ronnie II. "Feed me." It said weakly.
"…Huh…?"
"Feed me Tara…" By now the young blonde had stepped back a few feet, a little scared that this… plant, had just spoken.
"Did… you just… talk?" Her voice shook with more than just a little fear, and her mind started to gibber at what she had just heard. "I… my fingers need to heal some more before I can…"
"Feed me Blondie…" The plant now raised up and 'looked' at her with the mouth pointed directly at her, and the tendrils were now raised to it's sides also pointing in her general direction. "Feed me NOW!"
"I… I can't…" She said with voice shaking.
"I'm starvin'!"
"Maybe I can…" Tara started to nervously squeeze at her fingers, but of course no blood came out.
"More… more…" Ronnie II said as it leaned closer to her.
"There is no more!" Tara almost yelled. "What do want me to do, slit my wrists?" The plant literally hissed and its mouth smiled an almost evil smile.
"What… what if… I know, there's a steak in the refrigerator!" Tara started out her door, but was stopped by a long vine.
"Must be blood… and it must be freeesshhh."
"No… no…" Tara said while stepping further back from the talking plant. "I… can't do…"
"Feed me, feed me, FEED ME! Feed me Tara, feed me all night long! Ha! That's right girl!" Ronnie II was getting quite aggressive, causing Tara to take another step back, and by now she was up against her closet door. "You can do it! Feed me, Tara… feed me all night long! 'Cause if you feed me, I can grow up big… and strong!"
The young blonde's voice shook. "But… how am I supposed to keep on feeding you? You need blood, and I can't give you more of mine, so what am I supposed to do… go out and kill people?"
"I'll make it worth your while." The plant said with a bit of a sneer.
"What… what do you mean? You… you can't do anything. Y… you're just a plant. An inanimate object." By now Tara had moved along the wall, and bumped into her chair that was sitting by her desk, which she sat down in hard.
Vines from Ronnie II shot out and latched onto the chair pulling Tara to within inches of its mouth. "Does this look inanimate to you, chick? If I can talk, and I can move, who's to say I can't do anything I want?"
"Like… what?" By now Tara's blue eyes were wide with a combination of fear and… and… wonder.
"Would you like to be a big wheel, dinin' out for every meal? I'm the plant that can make it all real! You gonna git it." Tara got up out of the chair and walked away from Ronnie II, and the plant continued to speak to her. "I'm your genie, I'm your friend,
I'm your willing slave. Take a chance and feed me. You know the kinda eats, the kinda red hot treats, the kinda sticky licky sweets that I crave!"
Tara turned around. She was actually starting to… listen to this… plant as it spun its yarn. "So Come on Tara, don't be a putz. Trust me and your life will surely rival King Tut's. Show a little 'nitiative, work up the guts, and you'll git it!"
The young blonde then started to pace in front of Ronnie II. "I… I don't know. I have so many reservations. Should I go out… and perform… mutilations?"
Ronnie II pressed it's opinion. "You didn't have nuttin' 'til you met me. C'mon kid, what will it be? Money? Boys. One par-tic-u-lar boy? How 'bout that Rawwwwwnie? Think it over. There must be someone you can 86 reeeeaal quiet-like. AND GET ME SOME LUNCH!"
"Well, I would like a room at the Ritz, wrapped in velvet and covered in glitz!" By now the blonde teenager was dreaming about a life of luxury. That is, if this plant… err, Ronnie II, could really do what it said it could.
"If you wanna be profound, and you really gotta justify, take a breath and look around. A lot of folks deseeerrrve to die!"
"No!" Tara whipped around pointing a finger at Ronnie II. "That's a terrible thing to say!"
"But it's true, isn't it?"
"I… I don't know anyone that deserves to get chopped up and get fed to a hungry plant!" Tara was indeed still freaking out, not only that she was talking to a plant, but that they were discussing… murder.
"Hmmm… sure you do."
One of the plant's vines then moved over to Tara's bedroom window and easily slid the curtain to one side so she could see out and across the street. There on the opposite side of the road was a house she was all too familiar with… Bonnie's. And through the window she could see her friend's sisters in the house. The sisters that constantly picked on Bonnie, telling her that they were better, and that she was… nothing. Sisters that actually put anyone down that ever dared to even walk up to them. Sisters that didn't even seem to notice that their family member was missing and possibly dead.
Ronnie II gently moved Tara back next to him, who was still looking out her window at Bonnie's sisters Connie and Lonnie. The plant then whispered into her ear, "If you want a rationale, it isn't very hard to see."
Tara then turned to the plant. "The girls sure look like plant food to me. They're dissin' Bonnie's memory and talking so tough. You need blood and they've got more than enough."
Tara continued to look out the window, her eyes narrowing to slits while she devised a plan. Ronnie II whispered one last time into Tara's ear, spurning her on. "So go git it!"
…x x x x…
Early the next morning, Tara silently got together everything she would need, and after her parents left for work, she went across the street to the Rockwallers.
About thirty minutes later, she was back in her bedroom, feeling only a little surprised at how easy that was. A baseball bat to the back of the head had taken out Connie, and a small stun gun to the base of Lonnie's skull took her out as well. The hard part had been getting the bodies back to her house, but she finally took the initiative to use one of the Rockwallers vehicles. None of her neighbors thought anything suspicious, as it was a weekday, and almost everyone was at work.
Now she was sitting on her bed cringing as Ronnie II lifted Connie with two of it's vines and literally dropped her into it's mouth and swallowed her in one deft gulp. The part that really started to get to the young girl, was when Ronnie II hefted up Lonnie.
Just as the plant was about to drop her down it's gullet, she came to in time to see a huge maw open and ready to chow down. Lonnie's reaction was first to scream, but it was cut off just as the plant's teeth gnashed down on her torso. Tara covered her eyes and ears. She and turned away as the lower half of the girl was slurped into Ronnie II's mouth and swallowed.
"Ha ha ha! Now that was gooood!" At this point the young teen, who had witnessed this grisly scene, ran out of her room and into her parents room, where she fell onto her parents bed and curled up into a tight ball. She rocked back and forth with tears rolling down her face until she fell asleep.
…x x x x…
Tara woke up a few hours later, and she had made a final decision. Ronnie II had gone too far. It would have to die, but she needed help. She wanted to call the only two people she knew that could help, but the phone cradle in her parents room was empty, and the only other phone, besides the one in her room, was down the hall and past her own room in the kitchen. This meant she would have to sneak by her room, where Ronnie II was, and get to that other phone.
Quietly opening the door of her parent's room, Tara checked down the hall. Her own door was slightly ajar, so she would have to be very quiet as she walked past.
She slipped out and started the short trek down the hall. As soon as she started past her own door, Tara noticed that some of Ronnie II's vines were now out in the hall. She had to gingerly step over them, but she made it past without any apparent trouble.
She made it to the kitchen and was able to make it to the phone without making any noise. She dialed Kim's number, knowing it by heart, and Kim answered.
"Hello?"
Tara spoke in a whisper. "Kim… I… need some help. I have this giant plant and it's…" Her voice was cut off as a long tendril ripped the phone off the wall disconnecting the call. The same vine then wrapped around her before Tara could run, and it easily pulled her back into her room.
Tara couldn't believe how big the plant had gotten in just a few hours after eating the Rockwaller sisters. Some of the vines now had numerous smaller buds, and now it barely fit in her room. It almost touched the ceiling, and Ronnie II was not happy. "Now who were you callin' Honey? I don't think aaaannyone can help you now. In fact, take a look at the hour. It's almost supper time!" Tara craned her neck to look at the alarm clock sitting next to her bed. It was almost 5 in the afternoon. Her parents would soon be home and… Ronnie II was going to eat both her and her parents! She had to fight!
Tara struggled against the vines, which were now starting to tighten around her. "Y… you can't do very much by… by yourself." She breathed out, feeling the vines constricting.
As Tara continued to struggle, she had had an epiphany. "We're not t… talking about one hungry plant here, are we? We… we're talking about World Conquest!"
"And I wanna thaaaank you!" Ronnie II was looking quite in control, and rightly so.
"You're not going to get a… away with this! You're kind never does!" The vines constricted a little tighter. "Ahhh! I… I don't care what it takes! Only one of us is… is going to get out alive!"
With one Herculean move, Tara was able to twist and slip out of the grasp of Ronnie II, land in a three point stance and then flip backwards away from an attacking vine.
The giant plant would have nothing of it. "You better wait a minute… uhh, you better hold the phone! Better mind your manners, you better change your tone! Don't you threaten me girl, ya gotta a lotta gall! We gonna do things MY way, or we don't do things at all!"
Tara watched almost helplessly as more vines and tendrils broke through what was left of the clay pot Ronnie II was originally in. She could see the roots straining, and finally the pot burst out throwing dirt and pieces of clay everywhere!
Quickly she grabbed anything nearest to her and threw it at the huge monstrous plant, and it just happened to be one of her cheering trophies. The small metal statue just bounced of the surface of Ronnie II as if it were a tennis ball!
The horticultural nightmare was incensed. "Ya don't know what you're messin' with. You got no idea! You don't know what you're lookin' at when you're lookin' here!
Ya don't know what you're up against, no, no way, no how! You don't know what you're messin' with, but I'm gonna tell you now!"
The young blonde teenager flipped again away from two other swinging vines and landed on top of her desk. She then jumped on top of the plant, thinking she could maybe kick it in an eye or something, but she couldn't find anything like that, so she held on for dear life.
All of a sudden all the smaller buds that Tara had seen earlier now popped open with their own mouths, which were lined with teeth just like Ronnie II! "Get this straight! I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and I'm bad! I'm just a mean green mother from outer space, and it looks like you been had! I'm just a mean green mother from outer space, so get off my back 'n get out my face, 'cause I'm mean and green… and I am bad!"
Quickly flipping off before Ronnie II crushed her against the ceiling, Tara landed next to her door. She was hoping to get out of the room, and maybe run for help, maybe get another call out to Kim and Ron.
"Wanna save your skin, girl? You wanna save your hide? You wanna see tomorrow? You better step aside. Better take a tip Hon, you want some good advice?
You better take it easy, 'cause you're walkin' on thin ice!"
Tara blew a lock of hair out of her face. She was getting tired, and she wasn't sure what else she could do here to fight against this plant beast-thing. She only hoped that Ron and Kim got her message and that they would be here soon.
Ronnie II continued ranting just like one of the villains her friends had fought. "Ya don't know what you're dealin' with, no you never did! Ya don't know what you're lookin' at, but that's tough titty, kid! The lion don't sleep tonight, and if you pull his tail he roars! Ya say, 'That ain't fair?' Ya say, 'That ain't nice?' Ya know what I say…?"
At this point Kim and Ron burst through Tara's bedroom window and landed crouched and ready for anything, but they didn't expect a huge talking carnivorous plant.
Ronnie II turned towards the newcomers and said "Up yours!"
The two teen heroes stepped back a bit and mumbled at the same time "What is that?"
"Watch me now!" Two large vines with gnashing smaller versions of Ronnie II came crashing together in an attempt to catch the unwelcome intruders, but just missed as they leaped out of the way. "I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and I'm bad! I'm just a mean green mother, a real disgrace, and you've got me fightin' mad! I'm just a mean green mother from outer space, gonna trash your ass, gonna rock this place! 'Cause I'm mean and green… and I… am… bad!"
After somewhat recovering from shellshock, the two young heroes finally decided to try and turn the tables. "I don't know where you came from, but I'm sure going to send you back!" Kim almost yelled, and pulled out her trusty grappling hook, thinking she could somehow tie this thing up, and Ron tried to pull forth his Monkey Powers so he could back up his partner.
Ronnie II whipped its mouth towards the young heroes. "You know I don't come from no black lagoon, I'm from past the stars and beyond the moon! You can keep The Thing, keep The It, keep The Creature, they don't mean shit!"
"That's it…" The red headed cheerleader growled out as Tara made her next to her friends. "I don't like your language, one little bit!"
The huge plant then started to shoot numerous vines into the walls of the room, destroying everything that got in their way… the head board of the bed, a picture of Tara and her friends, her mirror, even her poster of soccer great David Beckham!
"I got one style, major moves! I got the stuff and I think that proves…You better move it out, nature calls! You got the point?" One last vine shot out directly at Ron, which went between his legs just barely missing… "I'm gonna bust your balls!"
Ron swallowed hard as Kim shot a very worried glance over at her partner/boyfriend, and he responded with a weak "I'm OK." The close call had definitely interrupted him trying to bring forth the Monkey Power.
Then it seemed the entire world started to crash down around them as Ronnie II started to pull on all four corners of the room, making the entire house crack and shudder under the strain. Pieces of ceiling started to fall apart in chunks.
Again, Ronnie II wouldn't shut up as it continued to speak while wood, plaster and metal started to fall all aound three teenagers.! "Here it comes! I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and I'm bad! I'm just a mean green mother, a real hard case… You can't beat this trouble! Man, I'm just a mean green mother from outer space, so just beam him up, It's all over, ace! I'm mean and greeeeennn…! And I… am… BAD!"
Before one last yank from the massive vines, the giant plant laughed while saying, "Bye bye, Team Possible!" With one final grunt Ronnie II literally collapsed the entire corner of the house onto all three would-be heroes, burying them in rubble. All the while Ronnie II's laughter was mixed with the sounds of destruction.
As it continued to laugh at the death of the worlds so-called greatest teen heroes, the giant green plant never noticed a small pink form as it crawled out from underneath the rubble. Rufus grabbed onto a still live power line that had fed electricity to the house, and pressed the bare wire to a nearby vine sending untold amounts of power into Ronnie II.
The electricity crackled and jumped over the entire plant, and just as it built up before the heat caused the plant to explode, two last words were heard from Ronnie II, "OH SHIT!"
Not long after the pieces of charred plant stopped falling like a grotesque rain shower, three separate piles of rubble started to move, and three dirty, disheveled and bruised up teens pulled themselves out from under the rubble of the King's house.
Rufus jumped up on the shoulder of the young blond boy, and looked at him with both paws on his hips. He then jabbed a clawed thumb into his puffed out little chest and squeaked, "Hnk… No, I'M bad!"
The End…
The author of this fic is not responsible if any readers suddenly broke out into song and dance.
I would also like to give credit were credit is due. The original Audrey II plant was voiced by the late-great Levi Stubbs, and "Little Shop of Horrors" was written by Howard Ashman.
