A/N
Chapter 1 is up and running!
It's a brand new story and a brand new set of adventures! If you haven't yet read Changes (20 chapters + Epilogue), I highly suggest you stop now and go back and read it, because events from that story will be referenced quite a bit in this tale. If you have, then let's get down to business. :)
Kim and Ron are less than a month away from college, but one of them still has a major issue to deal with.
While that's going on, someone has a surprise in the works for Team Possible.
Then the final trip to the ruins of the Possible home leads to an unexpected discovery, a little light is shed on an earlier suspicion.
Back home, some unexpected guests have some big news.
And on a group outing, a secret is revealed.
Finally, someone's back, with a whole new way to get revenge on Team Possible.
Ready or not, the new sitch is here and building!
And here is the necessary stuff:
Kim Possible and all related characters are (c) Disney, Bob Schooley, and Mark McCorkle.
Original Characters are my creations, and I would appreciate if you ask before you use them. Thank you.
The red-head was tweaked. No, scratch that, she was ferociously tweaked. And for some reason that was completely unfathomable to her or anyone else, she wanted to be. She wanted to be with everything she had, and yet somehow the object, or rather, person responsible for her foul mood wouldn't let her stay that way. She'd tried everything to be mad at him, and yet somehow all her fury kept evaporating away with one look at that goofy grin of his. Just a single glance at that lopsided smile, and her insides instantly felt warm and melted the icy feeling she wanted to project towards him. It just wasn't fair, she decided.
"Ron, how can you know what you want to major in when I don't even have a single clue?" Kim Possible complained to her boyfriend…scratch that, to her fiancé.
Ron Stoppable merely grinned at his love. "Simple, KP. I go with my strengths, and I don't have that many. At least, not many that are marketable in everyday society."
Ever since the strange sitch that started just after they graduated from Middleton High had come to a happy yet abrupt ending the weekend just before July 4th, the demands of beginning college had been building like a pressure cooker. Prior to that fateful night in May when they met the time-traveling pair of June Stoppable and Xander Lipsky, college had been all that Kim and Ron had been able to think about. But when their future daughter and her boyfriend arrived on the scene bearing warnings of an apocalyptic future, all that talk about furthering their education had seemed so trivial. Now, as they prepared to enter August and found themselves less than a month away from moving on to this next stage of their lives, all that worrying had returned with a sparking vengeance, particularly for Kim.
Shortly after the two time travelers had returned to their own place in history, Kim and Ron had decided to go public with the announcement that they had both chosen to attend Global Vanguard U. in Upperton in the fall. They would have done it sooner, but they both knew that the inevitable media backlash might bring about a lot of questions about Julie Anne and Xander and how Team Possible knew them. And based on their luck, someone would discover the truth, which was the worst possible outcome. Plus, Kim hadn't quite been herself, having been switched over by the Reverse Polarizer to the villainous Lady Kigo, her own counterpart to Ron's alter ego Zorpox, for almost an entire week. So they had waited until everything had settled down to make their announcement to the media.
What they hadn't expected was how quickly the press would jump all over the fact that Kim had absolutely no idea what she wanted to major in at the secretive yet apparently prestigious university. It had come up during that original press conference, and the events that transpired had followed them both ever since.
+++
~~ KP ~~
+++
"Mr. Stoppable, what are you going to be majoring in at G.V.U.?" an eager reporter asked as numerous flashbulbs continued to go off left, right, and center.
"Culinary Arts, with a minor in Business Management," Ron replied calmly.
"And will you be joining the Guardians football program? Coach Devereaux is apparently looking for a replacement after the graduation last year of star Guardian running back Brian Weeks, and with the numerous Colorado state high school records you were able to completely demolish during your senior year with the Middleton High Mad Dogs, and Coach Steve Barkin's glowing recommendation, Devereaux's already stated you would be a welcome addition to the team."
Ron turned to Kim, who winked, and then looked back out at the reporters. "As of this moment, I am leaning towards trying out. However, my studies will come first no matter what. Right now, the most important priority in my life, other than Kim of course, is to prepare for the future that lies ahead of me."
"And Miss Possible, what are your plans for attending G.V.U.?"
Kim smiled sweetly. "Well, I haven't really decided what I'm going to do yet. As far as cheerleading goes, I am tempted to sit out at least Freshman Year until I can get a handle on balancing the world of college with the mission aspect, though I'm still undecided on that.
"And your field of study, Miss Possible?"
"To tell the truth, I'm not even sure what I'm going to study yet. I'm simply keeping as many options open as possible."
+++
~~ KP ~~
+++
Kim's chalkboard quote of a reply had become instant fodder for every newspaper, television show, magazine, and trash rag all over the world, and quite frankly Kim was growing tired of it. It seemed every single media outlet thought the idea that the "great teen hero Kim Possible" didn't know what she wanted to study in college was either the world's biggest joke or the world's biggest cover-up, and they treated it as such in their unrelenting quest for an answer. No matter what kind of press they talked to nowadays, the question kept coming up over and over, even if it was totally unrelated to the story being covered. The only member of the press that hadn't seemed to be after the two teens for a response was Heather Tyler, the reporter they'd given their big interview to back in May—somehow, despite everything Kim and Ron went through, the platinum blonde-haired reporter still saw them as regular people just trying to live their lives, a view they were very grateful for. The rest were like dogs with bones, refusing to give up until they got the "real story" on why Kim wouldn't tell them her major. And the worst part about the whole sitch was that the red head was still no closer to having any sort of answer to give them.
Now, as she and Ron walked through Middleton Park together on the warm afternoon of August 1st, the feelings of resentment towards her boyfriend and his knowing what he wanted to do kept poking at the back of her mind. She knew it wasn't his fault that she didn't know what she wanted to study. But for reasons beyond her grasp. she felt like she wanted to be tweaked at him over it—like she wanted to be mad that for maybe the first time in their academic careers Ron was the one on top of things while she was the one falling behind. But Ron just kept smiling at her, and every single smile melted away the anger and resentment she for some unfathomable reason wanted to feel.
Of course, it wasn't like he was the only person Kim knew who had already settled on what they were going to do with their lives. In fact, most of her close friends in Mad Dog Class of 2006 had already made the decision. Marcella Vaughn would be attending Upperton University, having decided to go through the very same medical program Kim's mother had learned her craft from. Tara Matthews, who had proven just how good she was with a guitar and her very capable, country-styled voice in the Middleton High senior year talent show, would be packing up her pickup truck in just over a week and heading to Nashville to pursue a singing career. Ron's best friend Felix Renton was going for a double major in Robotics and Medicine, though for some unknown reason nobody knew where he was going to be studying, not even his fiancée Zita Flores—at least, if she did know, she hadn't told a soul. For her part, the Hispanic beauty would be rooming with Marcella at Upperton, enrolled in a program for Computer Graphic Design that would allow her to turn her love of video games and art into a career. Everybody knew that Monique was of course apparently going to be going the Fashion Design route, but just like with Felix no one seemed to know where her degree was going to come from—she even refused to tell her BFF Kim, saying she had been sworn to complete secrecy.
It seemed like everyone had a career path in mind except the young woman who lived by the motto of "I can do anything."
"Seriously, Ron, what am I going to do to get them to leave me alone about picking a major?" she complained as they sat down on a park bench to rest.
The young man smiled. "Well, we could always let our other big announcement out of the bag. I know our parents want to."
Kim blew a hair out of her face in annoyance. "Ron, you know the reason we haven't told anyone about our engagement yet is because I want my family to find out from us, not some media outlet. And we haven't yet been able to get in contact with Grandpa and Grandma Carmichael. We know they're okay from my mom's twin sister Laura and her older brother Zach, but we haven't been able to talk to them since a week before my birthday."
Ron patted her hand in her lap. "I still don't see what the big deal about it is. I mean, I understand about not wanting them to find out from the press, but why not pass the message through Z or Aunt Laura? Why do you have to tell them yourself?"
Kim looked at him with a wry smile. "Remember what you told me about your mom's sister Alma and her feelings towards your dad being a Reform Jewish and marrying into their strictly Jewish family. And what that meant about how she was going to react to me and my being Baptist when we see them during fall break this year?"
"Yeah," Ron replied a little nervously.
Kim sighed. "Well unfortunately, my Grandma Dorothy can be almost as obtuse about anyone in the family marrying someone who's not Southern Baptist. I've heard she didn't say too much about my mom and dad since Daddy was a regular Baptist, but evidently the fit she pitched when Aunt Laura agreed to marry Uncle Phillip, a Catholic, was something to behold. Now imagine the ruckus she's going to raise when she finds out you're Reform Jewish?"
Ron was puzzled. "But won't that happen even if we tell them in person?"
Kim shook her head and smiled. "No, or at least not as full blown as it would be. See, Grandma Dorothy may be pretty headstrong about it, but Grandpa Amos tends to be a little bit more relaxed about that sort of thing. I'd almost go so far as to say his rules for accepting people go right along with yours."
Ron smiled, still confused. "But I don't have any rules when it comes to that, Kim. I just normally assume a person's good unless I have a good reason not to. Although there have been exceptions."
Kim smirked. "Like Josh?"
Ron held up his hands defensively. "Hey, that one's unfair and you know it, KP."
She kissed him on the cheek. "Just teasing you, Ronnie."
Kim leaned in to give him another peck on the cheek, but he surprised her, pulling a dip and kiss right there on the park bench. When he righted her a few minutes later after a scorcher of a lip-lock, Kim was on Cloud 9. She was so far into her own world that she didn't even realize they'd started walking again until they got about fifteen yards from the bench and were near the middle of the park. Looking over to her right, she saw a group of men digging the beginnings of what looked to be some sort of fountain or statue. A couple of the workers were leaning on shovels, apparently taking some sort of break, and let loose with a few catcalls as they walked by. Kim's only response was to wrap her arms around Ron's right arm and snuggle closer to him, making it clear to all of them that she was already happily spoken for.
As the two teens turned the corner around a bunch of trees, the foreman came over and accosted his workers. "I hope you guys realize you just made eyes and leers at the people responsible for you having a job right now."
One of the workers tipped his hat up in surprise. "You mean to tell us those two are the ones who are gonna be featured here?"
The foreman nodded. "Yes, Mike. 'Those two,' as you put it, just happened to be Team Possible."
Mike stared at the corner where the two teens had just disappeared. "But Team Possible's just a pair of kids. Those two looked like they were in college."
The foreman smiled. "They are in college, or at least they start on the 21st of this month. Which is why the Mayor wants this to be a rush job. He wants this thing and the surrounding area ready to be presented by the 19th, which is the weekend before and gives us just under two weeks to finish. Now quit standing around and get back to work. This foundation has to be ready by the time that statue arrives on the 14th so we can set it up quickly and cleanly and prepare the surrounding area for the festivities."
While they were driving back through Middleton towards Ron's house, Kim asked if they could make a stop by her house, a request that Ron readily agreed to. Ron's parents had invited Kim and her family to live with them when the Possible house had been demolished at the start of the Lorwardian invasion, and ever since Kim and Ron had been making frequent trips to the site to sift through the rubble for anything they could find. They'd already made several scores, such as the jewelry boxes belonging to Nana Possible and Grandma Carmichael, the trunk containing the family photo albums and wedding clothes of Kim's parents, and Kim's own personal memento box. However, it had become painfully obvious over the past few days and their last few trips that there wasn't much else in salvageable condition left to find. As a result, the bulldozer would come by tomorrow to raze what was left so that her parents could start rebuilding.
It wasn't that the Stoppables were growing tired of having the Possibles in their house; on the contrary, Gene and Jean Stoppable had expressed nothing but further invitations for Kim and her family to stay as long as they needed to. However, James and Anne Possible didn't want to abuse such a wonderful gesture, and had decided that it was time to let the rest of the memories go and start anew. In all actuality, the new house was going to be built pretty much the same as the old one with a few exceptions. Kim's mom had finally made the decree that it was time for Jim and Tim to each have their own room, and James wanted to add in a home office so that he could bring home work from the Middleton Space Center and not have to do it in the basement workshop. Kim had of course offered up her room to become the new office, but her parents wouldn't hear of it, saying that they wanted their daughter to always feel like she had a place in their home. Even with the new additions, they actually hoped the contractors and builders would have it mostly completed, except for the interior, by Thanksgiving, right around the time Kim and Ron came home for fall break.
As Ron pulled the Sloth into the driveway, the only part of the house left undamaged by the mech that destroyed it, Kim stared ahead somewhat vacantly. She didn't even seem to realize they'd stopped until Ron opened her door for her and offered his hand to help her out. He put his arm around her shoulder, and together they walked around the front of the car and leaned back against the hood. Ron could tell she needed him to just be there without saying anything, so that's what he did. After a few minutes of comfortable silence and staring, Kim turned towards her sandy-haired boyfriend.
"Ron, I was wondering about something. Have you gotten any sort of roommate notification yet?"
Ron blinked and shook his head in confusion. "No, not really. Why do you ask?"
Kim turned back towards the remains of the house. "I don't know. I mean, we got the dorm notifications and room assignments already, so I just figured we'd have found out by now who our roommates are going to be. I mean, whoever does end up rooming with us is going to have to be able to deal with our unique way of living. I guess I just don't want to get someone I clash with on every level and fight with all the time."
Ron got a silly little grin. "Hey, we could always ask to room together."
Kim knew he was joking to make her feel better, so she played along. "Oh, sure, and while we're at it we can go ahead and get you fitted for that new space suit."
"Space suit?" Ron said confusedly.
Kim laughed. "Yeah. When Daddy finds out we're roommates, he's gonna push up that black hole probe mission he's had in the works ever since our Junior Prom."
Ron gave her a one-arm hug. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, it's pretty cool that we're gonna be in a co-ed dorm right off the bat. Won't have to worry about signing each other in and out all the time."
She smiled at that. "True, but it also means we'll have to exercise a bit of restraint. I know we both can study a little better when we're around each other, but you know there are going to be times when I'm going to have to lock you out because I have to cram for a test."
Ron grinned. "Yeah, and I know there's gonna come a time or two when I have to retreat into my room to memorize recipes for an exam or two. The G.V.U. Culinary Arts program is supposed to be one of the best there is."
Kim leaned against him. "Well, the college being sponsored by Global Justice doesn't hurt, I'll bet."
Ron nodded, sensing that the subject had reached its end. "Hey, enough about college right now. How about we do one last sweep of this place and see if we can find anything else salvageable?"
Kim took a deep breath and nodded her agreement. "Alright. I do know there's a particular red dress my mom wants us to see if we can find, so I'll check where my parents' room was. Do you think you could check where the Tweebs room was? Dad's still worried they had more secret stores of experimental rocket fuel stashed away."
Ron grinned and gave her a quick kiss. "No problem, KP."
They split up and headed towards their respective search areas. A few minutes later, Kim heard a shout of triumph from Ron, followed by the rattling of several cans. She smiled as she saw him carrying not only a container marked "J-200," but also ones marked "J-300" and "J-100" as well. The Tweebs were going to have some explaining to do, particularly on the J-300 that she knew her dad had warned them specifically not to touch. Turning back towards the pile she was sifting through in the area that had been underneath her parents' bedroom, she noticed what looked like the remains of her mom's old chiffarobe dresser. Her hope rising, she removed a few boards and saw with some delight that it appeared to be in generally good shape. At least, it appeared to have protected whatever its drawers contained; the dresser itself was cracked and damaged so badly it was probably only good for firewood.
Taking a deep breath of anticipation, she reached for the top drawer and pulled it out. Inside were several items that she knew her mom would want saved without Ron seeing them, so Kim silently pushed that one back in until she could find something to cover it up with. The second drawer held what looked like her mom's old high school yearbooks. Smiling, she pulled the one from her mom's senior year out. As she did, it fell open to the page of seniors whose last names began with C's and D's. She immediately saw her mothers and her aunt's pictures near the top of the left page, and grinned when she realized that she looked almost exactly like her mother had at her age. She was about to turn the page when she saw another familiar face on the opposite side, nestled in the D's.
The young brunette girl had an almost glowing smile that Kim had never seen on the woman's face, and her eyes (both of them) held a laughing quality that seemed almost completely out of place. She stared hard for a moment, trying to make sure she was really seeing this. Looking around her, the found a small black string and balled up the middle of it, then placed it over the right eye. Now there was no question in her mind: Kim was looking at the eighteen-year-old face of one Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Director. And that meant that the young man next to her was her twin brother Sheldon Director, a.k.a. Gemini, leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire.
"RON!" Kim yelled, bringing the young man running.
"What's up, KP? Where are they?" he asked, dropping into a defensive stance.
"Amp down, Ron. There's no villain sitch. There's just this," she said as she pointed to the picture of the Global Justice leader as teenager.
Ron squinted at the picture. "Hey, so your mom does know Dr. Director."
Kim shook her head in surprise. "Wait. You knew about this? And you didn't say anything?"
Ron held out his hands. "Hey, theory only. When we had to deal with that media blitz earlier this summer and you basically went into shock, they seemed to know each other better than normal. They even called each other by their full names."
Kim blinked and stared from her mom's picture to Betty's and back again. "Okay, this is just too weird. Why didn't my mom tell me she knew Dr. Director when they were younger?"
Ron scratched his head. "I don't know, KP. Maybe it's some vow of secrecy or something? I mean, we still don't know everything that there is to know about Global Justice. We didn't even know there was someone above Dr. Director until this summer."
Kim cocked her head to the side a bit. "I guess you're right. It still weirds me out a bit, though. Plus, with the way Agent Gerhardt treated us, I'm not too sure how I feel about them right now."
"I hear that," agreed Ron.
Shortly after Kim had been reverted back to good, Ron had filled her in on what had happened after her alter ego Lady Kigo took off from the Caribbean island owned by Andrew Lipsky and Sheila Godfrey, the former Dr. Drakken and Shego. Thanks to his own actions, Ivan Gerhardt had been stripped of his status as a Global Justice operative and placed in one of the spy network's many high-security prisons. As far as Team Possible was concerned, the former "next-in-line for the Director's position" remained locked up. And based on what they knew about him and his brutish tactics and demeanor, they were more than happy to keep him there. Especially considering that if Gerhardt had had his way, they themselves would be the ones under lockup with the key tossed out.
Kim pulled the yearbooks out, intending to have a private, one-on-one with her mother about important information, and began sifting through the drawers of the busted dresser once again. The rest of the drawers didn't contain much, but she pulled them all out anyways, using a sheet she found in the bottom one to cover the stuff in the top one. Then she pulled open the closet portion of the busted chiffarobe, or rather busted the doors off since the hinges were so rusted from the rains that had come through since the invasion. Inside she found not only the red dress her mom had asked for, but a couple others as well. There was one silver one that had picked up a lot of water damage and some mold due to where it hung, but the other five were all in salvageable condition. She even found her mom's version of her own little black dress, and had to hold back a gasp as she realized where exactly on her mother this thing ended. They loaded up all they'd found so far, and turned to take another look at the debris.
"Think we could find anything else?" Ron asked.
Kim thought for a moment. "Well, there is one thing I want to see if I can find before we call off the search," she finally said with a sly smile on her face. "But I need you to wait here so the surprise isn't spoiled."
"Surprise?" Ron asked with a wide-eyed look.
She walked over and planted a warm kiss across his lips intended to leave him in a pleasant daze. It actually worked a little too well, as he fell backwards in the grass much like he'd done in the hallway of Middleton High after the kiss she'd given him during the Moodulator incident. After checking to make sure he was alright, she giggled and headed off towards the area where her room had been. Shortly after he finally recovered his senses and sat up, she came walking up with a bundle hidden behind her back. Ron tried to get a look at it, but Kim stuffed it into the drawer of her mother's she'd told him not to touch under any circumstances.
"C'mon, KP. What's the big secret?" he whined good-naturedly as he climbed into the shotgun seat of the Sloth.
Kim smiled as she slipped into the driver's seat. "I told you it's a surprise. For your birthday, specifically."
Ron sighed. "So I gotta wait a whole month for it?"
Kim winked and nuzzled up against his ear. "I promise you're going to like it, especially with what I plan to do with it."
That sent his male blood on fire, and Kim giggled as she noticed him shifting a little uncomfortably in his seat.
"Do we need to stop by Bueno Nacho for a Slurpster Iceberg?" she teased. The frozen version of the Tex-Mex eatery's drink, in addition to causing monstrous brain freezes, could easily cool off any boiling blood effects of the normal adolescent teenager.
Ron grimaced. "Either that, or you need to block your dad from seeing me until I can get a cold shower."
Kim laughed as she turned on the ignition and backed out of the driveway. "Ron, I hate to tell you this, but I think he'd know just from the look on your face."
"Oh ha ha," quipped Ron as he tried to find a comfortable way to sit. "Just go by Bueno Nacho, then. It's not like we have to pay it."
Kim nodded and turned in the direction of the restaurant. Thanks to an agreement their parents had made with Bueno Nacho, neither teen would ever have to pay to eat at the restaurant again. Also, thanks to Ron's invention of the Naco and Kim's suggestion of the completely vegetarian Hablamos Salad, the fast food chain would now be paying them both royalty checks for the rest of their lives. Of course, neither agreement was in the range of the $99 Million that Ron's first royalty check had been, but they were still going to each receive sizeable sums. In fact, on the night the teens had been informed of the deal, Kim's dad had made the declaration that if they were smart with the money, they would never have to work again. It didn't mean that they weren't going to, but it was still nice to know the money was there. Or at least it would be eventually.
Part of the agreement indicated that the majority of the money was going into trust funds, one for Ron and one for Kim, and that they would only receive stipends out of the accounts until the time they turned 25. If they were married before then they only had to wait until they were 21, but neither of them was in any rush to do that just yet. While they might already be engaged, they both knew the pressures of getting married too young, as well as what could happen if Kim got pregnant before she obtained at least her Bachelor's Degree. Plus, the stipends were actually pretty generous, so they were perfectly happy to wait.
Within a few minutes, they had been through the drive-thru of the restaurant, and Ron was quickly downing the frozen concoction. Just like his seemingly unfillable stomach, his head seemed almost impervious to brain freezes. Whereas only a few sips of an Iceberg easily gave Kim the cold headaches, her partner could easily chug half of a Super Grande-sized 64 oz. and barely even shiver. He'd proved this on many occasions, and this was no different, as the drink was mostly gone by the time they reached the Stoppable household. Kim and Ron were both surprised to see two extra cars there, even though they recognized both vehicles. One was Monique Watson's small light blue Ford Contour, and the other was Felix Renton's black, handicap-modified Dodge Ram van.
Inside, they found not only their two best friends, but also Monique's brother Jamal and Felix's mom, Dr. Maggie Renton. As soon as Kim and Ron entered, everyone turned towards them with smiles.
"Hey, roomie," Monique said with a grin as she gave Kim a hug.
"Roomie?" asked Kim with a puzzled look.
Anne Possible waved a letter from where she sat on the couch. "We got another letters for you two from G.V.U., Kim, and they finally decided on your roommates. You're going to be rooming with Monique, and Ron ended up with Felix."
"Boo Yeah!" exclaimed Ron as he gave his best friend a high-five. "All night zombie bashing parties!"
Felix grinned. "Just hope you can keep up, Ron-man. I recently acquired the new edition to the series, Zombie Mayhem 4, and I've already gotten my guy to level 10. And this one doesn't even have cheat codes yet, so there's no way Wade'll be able to help you do it that way again."
"Aww man," Ron grumped, apparently getting rid of the idea to ask Wade to do just that.
Dr. Renton smiled at her son and his best friend. "Just remember that there are times you need to turn off the video games and do your school work and homework, boys."
"Yeah, Mom," Felix replied.
"Say something, girl," Monique said as she smiled at Kim.
Kim grinned. "I think Ron already said it, Mon. Boo Yeah."
"Oh, and B.T.W., I'm still a little tweaked you waited so long to tell me about your BF's PTQ."
Jamal shook his head in confusion. "Moni, I live with you and I didn't understand that one."
Kim laughed a bit. "Don't worry, Jamal, I understood it. And she's kind of right. Getting engaged is kind of the sort of thing a BFF has the right to know pretty soon after it happens."
Monique smiled. "You better believe it, girl. You just better make sure you remember that when it comes time for your bachelorette."
James stood up. "Now hold on a minute, there. I thought you two had decided to wait until after you graduated from college."
Anne shook her head. "Honestly, dear. Of course Monique's referring to after they graduate. Right, Monique?"
The young woman smiled. "Of course, Dr. P. I'm just warning Kim that I have ample time to get back at her."
Kim rolled her eyes. "Just be sure you don't go overboard, Mon." Then she thought of something. "Umm, Monique, not that I'm complaining about this ferociously positive sitch, but why are you attending the college that's sponsored by Global Justice? Doesn't Fashion Design focus more on the 'out in the open' clothing market and not on the spy one?"
Monique grinned. "Normally yes, but if I go to this school I can learn from all the greats in one place. That's also why I was so stoked to get to design Ron's new mission wear, because it gave me something to present to them in a real-world setting. And judging from the public's reaction to his new duds, I'd say I did a pretty good job."
"Definitely," agreed Kim.
"So, how's this gonna work?" asked Ron. "I mean, I've never had a roommate before."
"Hey!" chirped Rufus as he popped up out the young man's pocket.
"Sorry, buddy," he said as he patted the mole rat's head. "Okay, rephrase. I've never had a human roommate before."
"Uh huh, better," the small mammal replied with a grin, apparently placated.
Felix smiled. "Don't worry about it, Ron-man. We can hammer out the specifics as we go. Just make sure you bring pajamas and plenty of clean towels."
"Definitely, dude. And you don't have to worry. I've already read that book The Naked Roommate and 107 Other Situations. Kim made me read it just after we sent in our acceptance," replied Ron as he ducked to avoid the oncoming good-natured sideswipe Kim made at his head.
Kim of course merely readjusted her pop, catching him on the back of the head instead of on the shoulder like she originally intended to. "I didn't make you read it, I suggested it."
"And threatened to withhold kissing if I refused," he complained.
Gene Stoppable couldn't resist laughing at his son. "Sounds like Kimberly knows how to get you to focus, Ronald." He turned towards his future daughter-in-law. "Feel free to use that method anytime you wish while you two are at G.V.U."
Kim grinned. "Oh, I intend to, Mr. S." Kim still couldn't call Ron's parents by anything but a respectful title, but thankfully they seemed happy that she'd stopped using the full last name.
Monique glanced at her watch. "Whoops, I gotta get going. Gotta get to my shift over at Club Banana. Want me to drop you off, Jamal?"
Her brother shook his head. "Nah. I'd rather walk. Wade's house isn't too far."
Felix glanced at them in confusion. "Wade's?"
Ron suddenly popped his own forehead with his palm. "Oh, that's right; I hadn't passed the word yet. Jamal and Monique were living by themselves before the Lorwardians came through. Their house got destroyed so they've been living over at Wade's house kind of like Kim and her family have been staying here. Though I am kind of surprised Zita hadn't told you yet."
Felix waved his hand absentmindedly. "She probably did. Sometimes find myself getting lost in her beautiful eyes and not hearing everything she says."
Ron grinned as he looked over at Kim with a wink. "I hear that, man. I hear that."
Kim suddenly had a flash. "Hey, why don't we all go out to celebrate this? Invite the whole group. It might be the last time we get to do something like this, especially once Tara leaves."
"Good idea, Kim," replied Felix. He turned towards his mother. "Do you mind, Mom?"
"Not at all, Felix. And don't worry; I'll catch another ride home. Just don't stay out too late. Remember we've got that appointment with Dr. Ottoman tomorrow."
"May I offer that ride?" James offered. "I need to pick up the specs for the new robot for Vivian anyways."
Dr. Renton smiled. "Thank you, James. That means I won't have to swing by tomorrow on my day off."
After they left, Anne turned towards her daughter. "Oh, Kimmie, Dr. Director wants you to call her when you can. She said it wasn't urgent, she just needs to clarify a few things with you about what happened this summer."
Kim sighed. "Okay, Mom. I'll call her first thing tomorrow morning."
That's when she remembered the yearbook.
"By the way, Mom, Ron and I need to have a word with you."
"Sure, Kimmie, what's on your mind?"
The look on her daughter's face, and where the two teens had evidently just come from, gave her a pretty good idea what was up.
"Oh. Right." She turned towards Ron's mother. "Jean, could you watch the boys for a moment and make sure they don't come near Kim's room. There are some things I have to tell Kim and Ron that the twins don't need to hear."
Jean smiled. "Of course, Anne. It won't be any trouble at all."
Kim's mom smiled her thanks, and motioned for Kim and Ron to follow her into the spare bedroom that Kim was using. She also motioned for them to bring the yearbook that Kim was holding. Once they were all three inside, Anne turned the deadbolt on the door.
"Kim, Ron," she said barely above a whisper, "before we begin, I need you to sweep the entire room for any listening devices. If I know Kim's brothers they've been secretly bugging this whole house at times when they've been here alone."
Kim and Ron nodded and scanned the whole room with their wrist Kimmunicators. It was a good thing they did, because they found and deactivated over twenty different microphones that Jim and Tim had placed throughout the area.
"Tweebs," Kim growled through clenched teeth.
Now they'd gotten all the bugs, Anne Possible spoke in a normal voice. "Don't worry, dear, I'll be speaking to them about this momentarily, but first we need to deal with your questions. And based on the fact that you found my high school yearbooks, I've got a pretty good idea what those questions are. Now, I'll tell you what I can, but understand that there are reasons you've never heard about this before."
Kim nodded. "I guess the first question has to be why didn't you tell us you and Aunt Laura went to school with Dr. Director and Gemini?"
Anne cocked an eyebrow. "Gemini? Oh, you mean Betty's twin brother Sheldon. Well, part of that would have to be because, well, your Aunt Laura and Sheldon Director dated at one time."
"Gemini and your aunt? Ewww," Ron exclaimed.
Kim didn't vocalize it, but she felt the same way. However, she was in no way prepared for what came next.
"That's not even the half of it, Ron. I dated Sheldon's best friend, Francis."
Kim stared at her mother open-mouthed. "Don't tell me…that you and…"
Her mother merely smiled. "Open that book up to the senior class in the L's if you don't believe me."
Although she was slightly nauseous at the mere thought, Kim did indeed open up to the L's And there, at the back of the pack just before the M's, was one Francis Luhrman, now known as Frugal Lucre.
"Mom? You and…and Lucre? But he lives with his mom in Philadelphia."
"Moved there after we graduated." Her mother looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, Kim, but your father's not the only one who knew some of your bad guys when he was younger. Although I'm pretty sure Frugal Lucre and Gemini are the only ones I know personally. Other than Drakken through your father of course."
"And what about knowing Dr. Director, Mrs. Dr. P.? Why keep that a secret?" Ron asked with a puzzled look.
Anne sighed. "Honestly, until she showed up this May, I had no idea that's who it was you kept talking about. All I knew about Betty was that she seemed to completely disappear after high school. I didn't even know we went to college in the same state, much less the same town. I simply went to Upperton U. because they had the best neurosurgeon program in the nation."
Kim eyed her mother. "Mom, there's something you're not telling us."
Her mother shook her head. "Sorry, Kimmie, but that's really all I'm allowed to tell you. If you want any other answers about my connection to Dr. Director, you'll have to ask her personally."
Kim gritted her teeth. "Oh, believe me. I intend to do just that."
Later that evening, Kim, Ron, and the group met up at the Middleton Mall. Plans were immediately made to have dinner from the food court and a movie to follow, hopefully something they all wanted to see. So it was that the teens were all gathered around a table in the food court each with a tray of food from the restaurant they'd chosen. In the middle of the table was a newspaper opened up to the showings at the Middleton Mall Multiplex.
"C'mon guys, back me up on this," Felix said through a mouthful and then swallowed his food. "Kim could easily pull off every single one of those stunts done in the Situation Improbable movies with her hands tied behind her back, and the third one's the worst of the bunch. We don't want to go see that."
"I agree," remarked Tara. "Besides, why can't we go see something we'd all enjoy? Like that movie about the Greeks?"
Marcella rolled her eyes. "Tara, you just want to go see 250 because all the soldiers wear barely more than loincloths and helmets for practically the entire movie. How about something funny? Clicker is supposed to be pretty good."
Kim shook her head. "No way. Towel Boy was decent comedy, but I've yet to see anything else with that guy that I thought was even remotely funny. How about Chasing Contentment? It's supposed to be pretty good."
Monique, who it turned out had read the schedule wrong and wasn't working tonight, eyed her BFF with an 'are you kidding' stare. "Girl, that thing has very little plot, and plus it doesn't start for another hour. We need something that starts fairly soon."
Ron scanned the paper. "Hey, the remake of Neptune starts in about fifteen minutes."
Wade shook his head. "Trust me Ron, that thing is so terrible you'll want to claw your eyes out."
Zita agreed. "He's right Ron. That's easily our worst seller right now. People keep saying it's got too much flash and not enough story."
Kim got an idea on how to settle this. "Hey Zita, what are your two top sellers right now?"
Zita thought for a moment. "Well, it would either have to be West Pointe or The Demon Wears Gucci. Both are doing pretty good sales right now. Personally, I'd go for The Demon Wears Gucci, but that's just because I'm not that interested in the other one."
Kim smiled. "Anybody already seen either one of those?"
Tara raised her hand. "Me and Jason Morgan saw the Gucci one when we were dating back before graduation, but I think I missed most of it because he kept trying to do things in the rear of the theater. Absolute last time I agree to a guy's suggestion to sit in the back row. Point is I'd have no problems going to see it again."
Monique let out a wry smile. "That was the date where you called it quits with him wasn't it, T?"
Tara shook her head. "No, but it was a big factor. I gave him one more date to redeem himself, and he came far short of getting the respect line back up to where it needed to be. And I'm not going to be with a guy who doesn't respect boundaries."
Marcella raised her drink in toast. "I second that."
The rest of the girls also raised their cups, followed soon by the boys after three simultaneous elbows. Kim took special notice that Monique was acting with Wade almost the same as she was with Ron and Zita was with Felix.
As they lowered the drinks from the toast, Ron scanned the paper. "Well, Demon Wears Gucci starts in about twenty minutes, so we'd better get going. Need to get prime seats and snackage."
The group dumped their trash, stacked their trays, and started for the theater, Kim hanging back to catch Monique by the arm and pull her off to the side. Wade and Ron started to wait, but the girls waved them to go ahead and get the tickets and concessions. When they were safely out of earshot, Kim turned to her friend.
"Mon, what are you doing? You're acting like Wade zapped you with a Cupid Ray again."
Monique looked down at the floor. "Is it that obvious?"
Kim shook her head. "Wait, he did?"
Monique shook her head. "No, it's not that, but it's almost as bad."
Kim was puzzled. "Monique, what are you talking about?"
Monique looked up at her friend, as well as glancing side to side. "Kim, you can't tell anyone, not even Ron."
Kim crossed her heart. "Promise. Now what's going on?"
Monique sighed. "Girl, I'm in serious trouble here. I've got a crush on a thirteen-year-old."
Kim blinked. "What? Why?"
The young woman shook her head. "I.D.K. I mean, I guess it has something to do with how much he's been there for me this past year or so, particularly these past few months. I mean, part of it has to do with him being a lot closer to my age than my brother, so I feel like I can talk to him a lot easier than I can to Jamal. The other thing is he's not my brother, so I can tell him things that I couldn't otherwise talk about."
Kim smiled, fully understanding. "Monique, I get where you're coming from on this, but you do realize he doesn't even have a driver's license yet, right?"
Monique nodded. "I know Kim. That's part of the reason I never applied to Middleton College like Jamal suggested a hundred times, because I knew I couldn't stay in Middleton or it would get worse. I've known ever since me and Brick Flagg stopped seeing each other that there was something between me and Wade, but I kept brushing it off as just being good friends. Then, after that whole mess around Valentine's, it felt a lot stronger, but I passed that off as a side effect of his Cupid Ray. Now though, these past few months, I can't seem to stop thinking about him. I've even had dreams about him."
Kim couldn't keep the shocked look off her face. "Monique, have you said anything about this to Wade or Jamal?"
Monique shook her head nervously. "No. I couldn't. You're the first one I've said anything about it to."
Kim breathed out a sigh of relief. "Well, I think it's safe to say that you can't mention it to Wade. But I really think you need to talk to your brother about this. He might be able to head off any situations that pop up while you're staying at Wade's house."
Monique nodded. "Thanks, girl. And remember, not a word to Ron. You know your man doesn't have the tightest lips on the planet."
Kim laughed. "Why do you think I've never taken him with me to go shopping for certain things? Things that will be for his eyes only?"
The two girls giggled as they ran to catch up with the rest of the group.
Somewhere deep in the heart of Italy, a black helicopter landed. The occupants quickly disembarked and headed into a non-descript warehouse. The moment they were all inside, the floor they were standing on began to slide down into the earth. As it descended, one of their number turned to the one who was apparently the leader of the rest. When he spoke, his voice was thick with Russian accent, and his dark mustache twitched menacingly.
"Not that I don't appreciate the help in escaping from that prison, but why exactly are you guys helping me?"
"Not really sure," the man replied. "We were just following orders. For some reason, the Boss has taken a real liking to you, and wanted us to bring you around for an interview."
The first man let his mustache twitch a few more times. "So then who are you?"
The second smiled. "You will know soon enough," he replied, then said no more the rest of the way down.
The minute the lift touched down, the mustachioed man would have sworn he was in a Global Justice facility except for one noticeable difference: instead of the standard navy blue, every single person in the room was wearing a uniform of magenta and white. Most had a Greek letter on their chest; the ones that didn't were all doing menial and unimportant tasks. All of them, however, were wearing hoods with goggles on them, much like henchmen normally did.
"Ahh, my guest has arrived," came a relaxed yet cold voice. "Come, please sit."
The mustachioed man stayed standing. "Sorry, but I've heard what happens when you ask someone to take a seat, Gemini."
The short, stocky leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire stepped forward out of the shadows. An eye patch covered his left eye, and cradled in his left arm, as always, was his hyper-sensitive Chihuahua Pepé. His right hand he kept behind him.
"And I know of you, Ivan Gerhardt. Or should I say, my new Agent Alpha," he added with an evil grin.
Gerhardt sneered, his Russian accent coming into full force. "And why would I agree to that, Sheldon?"
Gemini faked a smile. "Ahh, we have a comedian in our midst. But do not be too hasty my friend. For you see, becoming Agent Alpha has its advantages. For example, it will give you the opportunity to get revenge on my younger sister. It will also enable you to assist in the revenge against Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable."
With that, Gemini whirled around and pointed his bionic right hand at a pair of dummies dressed to look like the teens. Instantly a missile fired from each of his five fingertips at the two targets, completely obliterating them.
"So, what do you say, Agent Alpha?"
Gerhardt's mustache began twitching wildly, and his eyes became beady orbs.
"Where do I sign up?"
a/n
Yep, I'm back with a whole new adventure for Team Possible! As always, reviews and comments are more than welcome-they're highly encouraged. :)
