The little bit of light that managed to penetrate the store room of Bueno Nacho HQ bathed it in an almost eerie glow; the fact that he was actually in the headquarters of his all time favorite restaurant should have been a seemingly joyous time for Ron Stoppable. However, it was the circumstances of which both he and Kim had come to be tied up to jumbo sized steel replications of the Tex Mex restaurant's cuisine that cast a serious damper on the mood. Besides, the fact that his neck was killing him after he took that wicked clothesline from Shego didn't help much either! Ron certainly couldn't even begin to imagine how Kim must be feeling, as hard as he might try. Kim! Ron's memory slowly awakened from its groggy state as he looked over to his nearly lifelong friend. She had just beaten Shego when Erik showed up, going on about how much Kim seemed to care; then he revealed his true colors. He was one of Drakken's syntho drones!
Kim had seemed to be 'truly madly' with Erik as much as it hurt Ron to admit it, but now she had just been betrayed in the worst possible way by yet another 'pretty face' in her attempts to stay atop the proverbial "food chain" of Middleton High School that their rival, Bonnie Rockwaller constantly talked about like it was the Holy Grail of all high school life. At that moment, Ron silently thought to himself what he was going to say when Kim came to; he had tried to link his sudden, deeper feelings toward Kim as petty jealousy over the fact that Erik had seemingly been trying to take Kim away from him. But now, however, looking at her prone form, Ron realized that those feelings weren't brought on by jealousy. They were real; 'It's now or never Ron; if you don't tell her how you really feel, you may not get another chance' he thought to himself as Kim stirred.
"KP! I thought you were down for the count!" Ron exclaimed as his friend slowly opened her eyes. "Why couldn't I see that he was a fake? He was too perfect!" Kim groaned, her eyes betraying the pain she was likely in, both mentally and physically. "Yeah it doesn't get much faker than a syntho drone...Eww gross! You kissed a syntho-drone!" Ron said while trying not to vomit at the very thought. "I never kissed him..." Ron smiled slightly for the first time that night "I wanted to kiss him though!" Ron's smile dropped and he suddenly felt sick "OK, too much info; so what's our plan?" He asked as he tried to shake those extremely unpleasant images from his head "Ron, I...I've got nothing" Kim replied, as down trodden as Ron had seen her in quite some time.
That syntho-drone is going to pay for hurting her! I don't care what it takes! Ron thought to himself before speaking up again "That's my line, KP and what's worse, that's quitters' talk!" "It's over Drakken's won; maybe I should've stuck to baby sitting" Kim mumbled, just as downcast as before and it truly broke Ron's heart to see his best friend this way. That syntho-drone is REALLY going to pay! "All right Kim; this pity fiesta is over. Drakken hasn't won, he just played you. Besides, there are better guys out there for you, guys that are real for one" Ron said "You really think there's a guy out there for me?" Kim asked hopefully, not aware of the mental battle that was going on in Ron's mind "Out there, in here..." Ron trailed off, hoping Kim got the hint. 'Is he saying what I think he's saying? Is he telling me that he likes me as more than a friend?' Kim thought to herself 'only one way to find out'. "What are you talking about, Ron?"
"Well, KP, it's like this, you know we've been tight ever since pre-K; we've pretty much been together save for the summer I spent at Wannaweep and in Japan. I thought that these deeper emotions I felt for you were simply because I was jealous of him" Ron said, careful not to use even so much as that fake's name "but the more I thought it over, the more I realized how much you really mean to me. You're the first true friend I've ever had and you've stuck by my side through all the bad times and the good. When I let stupid things like a hairstyle or a ton of money get to my head, you were always there to keep me level headed, no matter how bad I got. You made me see that such things aren't as important as a friend that always has your back. You've always been there for me, you've helped me to be a better person and I can't tell you how thankful I am to have you as my friend. I'm sure that there are married couples that aren't even as close as us and we're only friends...I can't even imagine how my life would have been if I'd never met you...or worse, if I couldn't have you around in my life. I mean it. KP; you really make me the happiest man in the world even if we stay nothing more than friends"
At this point, the tears were flowing freely down Kim's cheeks; Ron had just spilled his heart out to her and he told that her she not only meant the world to him, he didn't even want to imagine living without her. None of her previous boyfriends ever reached that level of emotional insight; not that she had many boyfriends...Josh was more a crush, Brick was just brought along by one of Ron's articles for the school paper. As for Eric, well she wanted to put that as far out of her mind as possible. "Ron, I...can't tell you how much that means to me...to hear you say those things. You've meant so much to me ever since I met you; you stuck by me even when I wouldn't give you the time of day back when I was chasing after Josh, you even risked your life going into the Amazon to get that rare orchid so that you could save mine...you just make my days that much brighter when I'm with you; now let's go stop Drakken!" Kim said while choking back fresh tears.
"No problem, KP...just your daily dose of Ron-Shine; Rufus!" Ron replied as his trusty pet naked mole rat popped out of the pocket of Ron's cargo pants. "Rufus! You can save us! Go into my pack and get out the lipstick" instructed Kim as the rodent scampered down the side of the jumbo chimerito that his owner was tied against and began digging through Kim's backpack, when he came out with lipstick...on his lips? "The other lipstick!" Kim shouted, referring to the laser lipstick that Wade had made for her. A few minutes later, both Kim and Ron were free from their restraints and ready to seriously kick Drakken's butt.
Back in the main control room, several monitors showed the mass of Diablo toys as they prepared to wreak havoc on the world while one Dr. Drakken stood, watching the monitors with an evil smirk on his face. "Nakasumi-San's toy design, dear Daddy Possible's cybertronic technology, add one made to order syntho hottie; soon the world will bow before me!" Drakken proclaimed with an unholy glee in his voice, despite the fact that his hand had very nearly been crushed by the force of said syntho-drone's high five. "Wait, so you weren't making this up as you went?" Shego asked, shocked; this was actually shaping up to be a brilliant plan, one that might actually get Drakken what he wanted...world domination! But something still seemed off to the olive skinned villainess..."What about the slumber parties?" "Ah ahh ah...you questioned my research, but through it all, I managed to find Kim Possible's true weakness" Drakken replied before adopting a high-pitched voice "Boys, boys, boys; who should I take to the prom? It's all so tough!"
"You're right, Drakken, it is tough" said Kim Possible as she burst through the double doors "but this is so easy" she continued while connecting with a vicious right hook on the mad scientist's jaw, sending him crashing into a set of chairs near one of the control panels. "Shego!" Of course, Drakken didn't need to tell Shego what to do, as she was already crouched in a fighting stance, her plasma gloves lighting up with energy. Kim grabbed Shego and sent her flying backwards into the wall before running up the staircase which lead to the main control tower, Erik (or rather Syntho Drone 901) made to chase after her. Ron stopped the fake cold by landing a left hook to the drone's human face; a look of pure rage etched in his eyes. "Syntho dude, you are going down. No one hurts Kim like that, NO ONE!" Ron yelled while unleashing a barrage of rights and lefts to various parts of the syntho-drone's body which to say the least, caught it by surprise.
Drakken simply stood there watching the 'buffoon' go toe to toe with his new and improved syntho drone, his mouth hanging open in shock. Sure, Shego could give these things a good fight, but here was Kim Possible's sidekick; a clumsy boy he had usually seen bumbling and stumbling through their missions, sometimes helping Kim win through dumb luck; yet here he was taking it hard to the syntho drone with a ferocity and determination he didn't think possible from...what was his name again? Number 901 managed to get past Ron long enough to try and lend a hand to Shego, but much to his dismay, Ron was right next to him and not more than a split second later he was continuing to bring the fight to the syntho drone as they climbed up the stairs to the roof. It was a torrential downpour, but Ron didn't notice or care. He was determined to make this abomination pay dearly for the pain he (it) had caused Kim.
Meanwhile on the roof, Kim and Shego were also dishing out vicious blows to the other person while the electro-magnetic scrambler lay on the ground where Shego had knocked out of Kim's hands, momentarily forgotten as two separate battles raged on in a constant downpour that usually happened later on in the summer months around the Tri-Cities area, not in mid-May. "You don't know when to give up!" Shego grunted as Kim landed a kick to the villainess' mid section. "Neither do you!" Kim shot back as she narrowly avoided a right to her jaw. Kim and Shego continued their battle around the roof, trading punches and kicks, neither one managing to get an upper hand on the other. If one were to witness this fight, they would say it was poetry in motion as the two women moved in almost rhythmic fashion.
Meanwhile, a very different fight was occurring not too far away between Ron and Erik. However, instead of a decided stalemate; this match was being thoroughly dominated, by Ron who seemed almost glow with the intensity of his anger toward the thing he was fighting. Indeed, the 'thing' was starting to get frustrated; this should have been easy! Erik thought to himself, not believing that this goof could be such a good fighter; yet, here he was showing no signs of tiring. The drone's momentary lapse of concentration cost him as Ron landed a vicious uppercut that spun the drone's head backwards. Of course, for a syntho drone, this minor setback was no problem as he simply twisted his head back to its normal position which earned a disgusted squeak from Rufus.
Erik knew he had to try and find a way to get some sort of an upper hand against his opponent and seeing the rodent make a break for the weapon that would ultimately destroy Drakken's system, he reached over and grabbed the mole rat before it could do any damage and began to squeeze it ever so slightly; being careful not to crush it just yet. Erik wanted to watch the goof suffer as his pet was slowly having the life squeezed out of it. However, this display was not having the effect he had hoped for; the 'goof' was beyond angry at this point. "You dared to hurt my Kim, the best friend anyone could ask for and now you're trying to kill my naked mole rat!" Ron bellowed angrily as a faint blue light began to envelop him, slowly growing stronger and brighter until out of nowhere, a large sword appeared in his hands: The Lotus Blade. With a sudden movement almost nearly undetectable to the human eye, Syntho Drone 901 was no more than a pile of slime on the rain soaked roof; almost as suddenly, the Lotus Blade disappeared, headed back to its rightful shrine at the Yamanouchi school in Japan.
Shego and Kim continued to battle it out unaware of the intense fight between Ron and Erik, that is until they both heard him bellow out in rage. What both women saw was a sight they would not soon forget; one minute Ron was standing in front of Erik bathed in an intense blue light with a sword in hand, then a split second later (or so it seemed) and a very precise swipe across the drone's mid section, Erik the Syntho Drone was nothing more than a mess on the concrete and gravel.
Almost as suddenly, the sword was gone as though it had never actually been there at all. Kim knew about the Lotus Blade and Ron's abilities to use it along with the Mystical Monkey Power that he had absorbed when fighting Monkey Fist, but to say that she was surprised by Ron's control and coordination not only catching Erik off guard, but slicing through him so quickly and without even putting Rufus in harm's way would be an understatement. Shego, however was in shock; how the buffoon that always lost his pants and generally tripped over his own feet in the heat of battle could have pulled off such a stunning display of raw emotion and power in such a short amount of time was nothing short of amazing. Shego just stood there, slack jawed; clearly, she and Drakken had sorely underestimated Ron Stoppable!
Kim was quick to take advantage of her foe's momentary distraction as she sent a vicious roundhouse kick to the back of Shego's head which knocked her down and out for the count. Seeing the electro-magnetic scrambler lying at Rufus' side, she made a mad dash for the gadget at precisely the same time Drakken attempted to try and retrieve it before his arch-foe. Too bad for Drakken, however that Ron saw this foot race out of the corner of his eye and was able to stick out his foot, tripping up the mad scientist well short of his goal.
That left Kim with as clear a shot at the control tower she was ever going to get; needless to say, the tower was not a hard target to hit and soon, the flying army of giant Diablo toys were raining down from the skies, nothing more than the toys that they were. "OK, maybe she is all that" Drakken admitted, trying to walk away from the scene before he was tripped up yet again. "It's one thing to try and take over the world, but you tried to destroy Bueno Nacho; you will pay!" Ron nearly shouted, which after seeing his display not more than five minutes ago made Drakken visibly cringe; but yet, the buffoon was suddenly so worked up over a fast food chain? "You can't be serious!" Drakken retorted, to which Ron replied by giving a look that would have even killed a zombie all over again. "Please, the name escapes me; I beg of you!" Drakken whined "Say my name! Say it!" Ron growled at the cowering mad scientist. "It's uh, it's...Stoppable!" "Booyah!" Ron crowed in triumph as he made his way downstairs to find the cops.
Moments later, a groggy Shego, a group of henchmen and Drakken were being loaded into the back of a police van to be taken presumably to the most maximum security prison possible, all the while Drakken kept pathetically carrying on with "this isn't over, it can't be over!" To which Ron simply responded with "deal with it dude, it's over!" before slamming the door shut on the villains for what he hoped was a very long time.
Even though he had mostly dominated the syntho drone that was known to Middleton High as Erik, a few well placed punches had been landed around Ron's body which left him feeling quite a bit sore...though he felt surprisingly wonderful considering what had taken place moments ago. He supposed that had to do with a certain red head talking to a police officer, apparently explaining exactly what had gone down; he figured that she'd leave out the part about the sword since she was sworn to secrecy, besides who would believe her anyway? He waited until the police officer shook her hand an sped off to file what would probably be the thickest report ever before approaching her.
"Hey KP, how you feeling?" Ron asked looking directly into those wonderful bright green eyes that he knew he could get lost in. "A little sore, but pretty good otherwise. By the way, those were some way cool moves you had up there; and thanks for distracting Shego." Kim replied looking into those warm brown eyes so full of love and friendship; she wondered why she didn't see it sooner; here she was trying to find a 'hottie', someone who would escalate her to the top of the hypothetical 'food chain' of Middleton High, not even knowing that he was always standing right next to her. Damn the stupid food chain, Bonnie can stick it where the sun doesn't shine! Kim thought to herself as she looked at her watch. It was 12:25 AM, the prom would end at exactly 3 AM; if they hurried, they might be able to show up a little before the last dance. Kim wondered what the reaction would be from her fellow students, excluding Bonnie...only one way to find out!
"You know, Ron...we'd better hurry or we're going to be late" Kim said as she slipped her hand into Ron's, thinking about how good it felt as their fingers intertwined. "Late for what?" asked Ron with an air of ignorance; apparently not getting the hint, subtle as it was from having Kim's hand in his. "You'll see..." was all Kim would say as they walked toward Ron's newly rocket powered scooter.
Ron only feigned ignorance at the hints Kim was dropping and found himself thinking about how nice it felt to be holding Kim's hand, even if she had a death grip on it to suggest that if they didn't hurry Bueno Nacho HQ would blow up and they would be caught in the blast. Mentally shaking such ridiculous thoughts from his head, he helped Kim onto the scooter before getting on himself and hitting the ignition and within the space of twenty minutes, they found themselves in front of Kim's ranch style home.
"Go home and change into your father's old tux and be back here to pick me up in half an hour" Kim said as if reading Ron's mind. "Why? It's one in the morning?" Ron asked, not exactly sure what Kim was playing at; he was exhausted and would've loved to just go home and sleep until noon the next day. "Well, Ronnie; if I'm not mistaken, there's still a prom going on at this moment and I need a date to accompany me don't I?" "You mean, you want to go back to the Prom as my date, my girlfriend?" Ron asked, but was answered in the form of the most mind blowing kiss he had ever received; it was exactly like the one he shared with Kim when she was wearing the moodulators.
It didn't exactly take a rocket scientist to know what the answer to Ron's question was, but he still had another concern. "What about the 'food chain'?" "I don't give a rat's tail about the stupid food chain, Ron. Bonnie can stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Now hurry up; you've got a date to get ready for!" Kim replied, leaning in for another kiss, this time on Ron's cheek before half skipping, half running up the front walk to get ready for their date, their date! "Rufus, I don't know if I'm just dreaming or if that was real; but if it was a dream, I don't ever want to wake up from it!" Ron exclaimed as he touched the spot on his cheeks where Kim's lips had been just seconds ago and sped off to his own home to get ready himself.