A Belt and Two Rings
Author's Note: This is a little one shot I put together in about an hour and a half, so it might be a little rough. But as you know, plot bunnies will out, and this one has been bugging me for quite a while. Now with a slight adaptation for MrDrP (grin).
"Look out, Kim! He's trying to pull away again!"
Kim jerked her head up sharply and saw the red dragster picking up speed, increasing the distance from the Sloth once more. This did not improve her mood one bit. She was already so miffed at the fact she had to 'redo' this all over, starting when Motor Ed managed to break out of jail... ...again! And on top of that, he had gotten sooo random. Kim couldn't figure out exactly what his plan was. As best as she could tell, he was trying to complete his "list of things to do before I croak", and of course, one thing he still hadn't completed was the "cruising across the country at hypersonic speed" thing, ergo her present dilemma. Last time, Kim had Shego to partially thank for him not making it as she had blown him out of the dragster at the end of the chase, making him unable to interfere when Kim finally succeeded in shutting the Keppler drives down. But now, as she drove down the road looking for him a second time, she became more and more annoyed at all of the incredible coincidences that had led up to this bad case of 'Deja Vu all over again', and it kept depressing her mood down like a bad dream.
What aggravated her about it more than anything else was the Keppler itself. After her dad had recovered the Keppler powered dragster, he found that Motor Ed had made so many revisions to the drives that he couldn't use the engines anymore for their original purpose. He went back to the drawing board to redesign the concept and make it better... ...which meant he couldn't do anything else with the dragster... ...which also meant they didn't do anything with the dragster... ...except store it away somewhere under the tightest security so nobody would ever find it... ...and then forgot to disable the drives, too... ...of course...
And... ...of course it made perfectly logical sense when Motor Ed was able to just waltz in and steal it right out from under Middleton Space Center's Security Division's collective noses soon after he escaped from jail.
Wade dutifully informed Kim of the theft immediately after it happened, just as she and Ron were coming home from school. She had finished cheer practice, and he had done a stint in the weight room now that football season was over. Kim groaned loudly in sheer frustration, even though Wade broke the news to her as gently as he could. Then there was no time to complain further about it. They both had to hightail it back home to get dressed in mission gear and go searching for the renegade mechanic.
But that wasn't what was making Kim as supremely aggravated as she had ever been. What drove her nuts more than anything right now was how much Ron had recently been harping on what happened during the last Drakken mission during which she was stricken temporarily by amnesia. 'And now,', she thought angrily, 'He picks this time to push the subject hard!', as they were driving around the roads of Middleton searching for the dragster...
"But, Kim, you did mean it, didn't you?", he said again with the appropriate puppy dog pout.
She was so mad now it wasn't working one bit...
"Not now, Ron!", she groused, 'I'm trying to avoid getting into an accident! We have got to find Motor Ed before he gets out of town!"
"But you said it, Kim. You said you love me."
"I said I think I love you! Not the same!"
"Sounds like the same to me."
"So not!"
Rufus chittered at her, "pht! Chrrrr! Yes, you do... ...uh huh... ...sure thing..."
Growling, Kim swerved quickly onto the next road, following the map Wade had displayed on the LCD screen on the dash. Through the integrated GPS locator system, a blinking red light was pinpointing Motor Ed's exact position. So far he wasn't aware he was being chased and was still cruising at low speed. She hoped she would be able to catch up and stop him before he could ignite the Keppler Drives once more. Silently thankful the twins had finally taken the time to show her how to work the controls of their modifications to the Sloth, she flipped the first switch and engaged the forced air injection carburetor system. Immediately her speed picked up. She was feeling better about catching him until Ron piped up again. 'Why won't he leave this alone?', she fumed, her emotions rubbed raw again...
"Come on, Kim, admit it.", Ron continued, "You meant what you said."
She stared at him, becoming really cranked...
"Ron! I just came out of an amnesiac spell! I didn't know what I was saying at the time! You can't hold me to that! I was saying all sorts of crazy things when I couldn't remember squat!"
"But you did remember, Kim!"
"Only because of the pants thing, Ron! That's what restored my memory!"
"I am so over that, now! You know!", he said, irritated at the retort, "So over!"
"Only because of my half-aversary present!"
He became conciliatory again.
"Well, maybe your memory wasn't quite so accurate about that!"
"Oh, I think so, Ron. But if my memory was not so good, maybe I didn't mean what I said either, huh?"
"But you did mean that, Kim. Didn't you?", he replied pleadingly.
"True", chittered Rufus.
"Arrgghh!", she cried out, losing what little patience she had left, "What is it you want me to say, Ron?!"
"Okay, just to clarify. You're telling me now that you didn't mean what you said. So what you're saying is you don't love me, right?"
Exasperated, Kim replied, "No, Ron! I do love you! You're my best friend, my boyfriend!"
"But you don't love, love me, then?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Then you do love, love me, then? For real?"
"Ron! Why do you have to bring this up now?"
Kim abruptly swerved onto another road leading into more residential areas. They were starting to get towards the edge of town. The blinking red light was getting closer to the center of the screen where the blue dot representing the Sloth was located.
"These things are important, Kim!", Ron said desperately "They have to be clarified!"
"In the middle of a dangerous car chase? You have so got to get your priorities in line!"
"Exactly, Kim! And this is the next priority in line!"
She rolled her eyes, speeding down the thoroughfare, and then finally noticed a blip on the road far ahead. She smiled to herself.
"Got him!", she muttered, and stepped on the gas pedal, maxing out the first gear power transfer to the transmission.
She approached as stealthily as she could behind the red dragster, but somehow Motor Ed spotted her and powered the machine up, changing direction and turning onto the freeway out of town. Kim followed, dogging him closely.
Wade popped up onto the screen and said, "Kim! It looks like he's made some modifications to the power couplings. You won't be able to access it from the panel on the side of the car anymore! You have to get into the driver's seat and deactivate the Keppler Drive there!"
"Loud and clear, Wade!"
The Sloth moved up behind the dragster just as Motor Ed engaged the Keppler Drive. Hearing the familiar whine and the blast of the rockets brought her back to the here and now as Ron warned her he was moving ahead. She shifted into second gear and the rockets ramped up out of the Sloth's trunk compartment, igniting in a loud burst of flame exiting to the rear, suddenly pushing the Sloth quickly into the blind spot behind the dragster. Kim then angled the car to come up alongside it.
"Okay, Ron!", she shouted, preparing to climb out of the seat, "Looks like I'm going to have to jump onto a moving rocket car!... ...again!"
"But, Kim..."
"What!?"", she spat back hotly, getting angrier with Ron than she ever had been.
"I have to know! I really have to know!"
"There's no reason to do this now, Ron! We can talk about it later!"
"No, Kim! This is too important!"
She'd had enough. Her eyes speared him with emerald fire, enough to make him cower.
"That's it, Ron!", she yelled.
"But Kim...", he pleaded, but she cut him off.
"No more! Hold the steering wheel! I've got to go!... ...Now!"
His face despondent, Ron didn't reply and leaned over to grab the wheel.
"Wade!", she shouted at the LCD display, "I need those magno-rings now!"
"Right, Kim! Here they are!", he replied.
The dash compartment opened up and the two golden rings appeared. Kim stepped up onto her seat and pulled her body up into the window as Ron steadied the steering wheel. Kim was about to scoop the rings up and go when she looked at them, pausing.
Frowning, she said, "Wade, did you modify the rings?"
His face scrunched up in confusion as he said, "No... ...Why?"
Kim's eyes went wide and she looked at Ron in shock.
Getting red in the face, Ron said, "Uh... ...yeah... ...this time I did have something to do with it..."
Kim's mouth dropped completely open.
"What!", she cried, almost drowned out by the roar of the Keppler drives as the Sloth pulled up beside it, "Are you crazy? You're asking me to marry you, now?"
"No!... ...No!...", he sputtered, "It's!... ...It's just a promise ring!... ...I swear!"
"With two rings!?", she gasped.
"Uh, well... ...I thought..."
"Ron! These are twenty two carat gold engagement rings by their look! Promise rings? Are you kidding me?"
"Okay!, Okay!", he shouted back at her, distraught, "I just had to know, Kim! Because I do love, love you! I had to know if you really loved, loved me! So yeah! I'm asking you to marry me!"
"Now?", she shouted again, "When I am about to make a dangerous jump onto a speeding rocket car in mid air? You're timing is soooo way off, Ron!"
"It's not my fault!", he groused, "How was I supposed to know you were going to use the magno-rings before I was ready to ask you? I was going to pop them out as a surprise when the time was right!"
She stared at him incredulously, blinking her eyes in shock. Then she shook her head and shouted, "I have got to get you better organized!"
"My organization would be just fine if you wouldn't keep trying to change it up, Kim!"
"But it's a mess!"
"It's my mess!"
She again growled and rolled her eyes, "Fine, Ron! We'll talk about this later! Where are the real magno-rings?"
Pouting and grumbling, Ron reached into his pocket and pulled them out, handing them to her.
"Here...", he muttered.
She took them, still staring in aggravation at him and shouting, "Okay! Keep the car close!"
She donned the magno-rings and jumped out of the Sloth onto the side of the dragster. The Keppler Drive finally hit critical speed and the air began to literally sheer around her as she slowly made her way up to the passenger side. Lamp posts began to bend over in their wake as the Keppler Drives kicked the dragster into high gear and pulled it away from Ron and the Sloth. She could see Motor Ed peering into his side mirror trying to find her on the left side of the car, but she was on the passenger side and he hadn't yet noticed she was coming up that way. The vibrations of the Keppler drives started to shake the dragster heavily as she inched up towards the seats. She was about to jump into the passenger side when she noticed someone was already there. She hesitated and frowned.
'What?', she thought to herself, 'Did Shego come along again?'
Then she looked closer and saw it wasn't a person. A grin came over her face and she started to chuckle to herself when she realized it was a blow-up doll with a black wig. Kim crept up and perched on the back of the passenger seat, laughing.
"What's the matter, Ed?...seriously!...", she shouted mockingly over the noise, "Couldn't get anyone to ride with you again?"
Motor Ed turned in his seat, looking at her in surprise, "Hey! No fair, Red! Seriously! This sweet ride wasn't even being used for anything, and it's my adaptation!"
"But it's still not your property! And what's with the doll? Can't get a date anymore?"
Ed frowned and shouted, "Hey! Babes don't get to criticize a dude's driving or his choices in shotgun partners, Red! Not even you! Seriously!"
"What happened? Shego turn you down again?"
"So she wouldn't take my call! Big deal! Seriously! I can get any number of babes to go riding with me! But I need a babe who won't talk back! And this works! Seriously!"
"Sure it does...", Kim mocked again with a smile, "And it is wrong on soooooo many levels, I can't even begin to list them! Now stop the car!"
"No way!", he yelled as he pulled out a large wrench and swung it at her. Grabbing the back of the passenger seat, she swung backwards on one arm and then grabbed the blow up doll and tossed it out of the car.
Motor Ed's eyes went wide as he yelled, "Stella!..."
An angry grimace overtook his face as he lashed out again with the wrench. Kim jumped around the wild swing and landed into the passenger seat, surprising Ed, who reared back once more to hit her. Kim tucked her legs up onto the seat then turned towards Motor Ed, kicking him completely up off the driver's seat and out of the car. As it happened, they were crossing the bridge over the river... ...again.
"You can't keep doing this to me, Red!", he yelled, "Seriouslyyyyyy!..."
Hearing the splash behind her, Kim slid into the driver's seat and quickly disengaged the Keppler Drives, rapidly slowing the car down. Ron soon pulled up behind her and she gave him a smile with thumbs up. Then she drove the dragster back to the Middleton Space Center as he followed her, beeping Wade to call the police to tell them where to pick Motor Ed up.
Once more, the dragster was locked up again, and this time Kim's father assured her he would disable the drives. Kim then got into the Sloth as Ron slid over to the passenger side. She drove back home in silence, Ron fidgeting all the way. Once they got to her house, they got out and Kim came around the car and faced her boyfriend.
She crossed her arms and looked at him, her face clearly etched with disapproval.
"Now, Ron...", she said in a monotone voice, "About those rings..."
Ron's face reddened and clenched into an embarrassed grimace, "Uh, Kim look. I'm sorry. I just wanted to... ...you know, it's just that... ...well..."
"So you love me?"
He blinked at her, unsure of where she was going, "Uh... ...yeah..."
"You love, love me?..."
"...Yeah..."
"Uh-huh...", she replied, "Give me the rings."
Ron went back to the Sloth and retrieved the two engagement rings and handed them to her.
"Okay...", she said, handing one of the rings back to him, "Take it."
Perplexed, he did as he was told.
Kim took the glove off of her left hand and held it out to him.
"Put it on."
His eyes wide open, Ron meekly placed the ring on her fourth finger.
"Now give me your hand."
Ron took his gloves off and did so, watching numbly as Kim placed the other ring on his left fourth finger. Then she pulled him in close and kissed him as passionately as she ever had.
When she finished, she smiled at him and softly said, "Yes..."
Ron's face shined as he gazed back at her in complete shock, "You mean it?"
"Yes, Ron. I do love, love you."
"Booyah!", he cried, "You'll marry me?!"
"After college!", she then said, sternly.
"Okay! Okay!", he said giddily, "or maybe... ...senior year?..."
Her demeanor lightened again with a chuckle as she said, "We'll see..."
Then Kim giggled even more as she let go and pulled away to go into the house. Ron noticed a tug at his belt and felt it come completely away. Kim had undone the buckle as they were kissing and was now holding the titanium embedded strap in her hands.
"Hey!", he cried out as his pants fell down, "What was that for?"
"You have soooo got to get your timing right!" she said laughing as she went into the house.
Picking up his pants and following her inside, he could only mutter, "Oh... ...man!..."