The Term Paper
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related characters are property of the Disney Channel.
Based on the first three seasons of the television series
FanFiction Rating: T
Pulling off her backpack and throwing it onto the seat, Kim slid into the booth with her nachos and burrito meal across from Ron as he sat munching away on his food, pouring over the papers in front of him. She peeled open the velcro flap and pulled out a similarly voluminous stack of papers she had spent most of the night printing out from the internet. She plopped the pile down on the table as she started unwrapping her burrito. Then, looking at her food, she winced and mused to herself, "I really have to stop eating at fast food restaurants. But I'd never get Ron to agree."
"Hey, K.P.", Ron said, without looking up from his reading.
"Hey. Still going through it, huh?"
"Yeah. I still cannot believe Professor Minter assigned us this term paper. This is so not cool!"
Kim grunted in agreement. Ever since both of them started this senior level writing class at the college, they were regretting it. They should have known better than to take it with their freshman English teacher, but Dr. Minter was the only one available, and the class was necessary to graduate with the English degree they were both pursuing, thus if they were going to graduate from college next May, they had to take the class this term. It made them so apprehensive about it as the man proved to be just as insane as ever with the wacked assignments he would give out, and they rued the day they signed up.
"Got that right, Ron.", she groused, "But there's nothing we can do about it. We might as well get it over and done with."
Ron piped up again, irritated, "Yeah, Kim, but did he have to assign us this topic to write our term paper? I mean, really? We're supposed to write about all the stories that have been written about us? It's so lame!"
"I know. I know. But let's get on with it, okay?"
"Yeah, okay...", he muttered.
"So, you checked out this Fan-Fiction-dot-net website, right?"
"Uh-huh. It seems to have generated the largest number of the stories. I've printed out a lot of them, but I'm not going to read over 3000 different manuscripts."
"Good enough. I checked the rest of the web sites. Not all that much there, but I've printed most of them out. Finished going over about half of them."
"Same here. I cannot believe this, Kim! Where do people come up with this stuff? I have to admit there really is some incredibly imaginative material, but there's one thing..."
She groaned heavily, knowing exactly what he was talking about, "Yeah, I know!... ...the shipping! It's getting to the point of being so nauseating! I mean, how many times are they going to make us suddenly fall in love and start making out?... ...or suddenly fall in love with somebody else and start making out... ...or worse!..."
As if on cue, Ron got a nauseated look on his face and put his burrito down, having lost his appetite.
"Ewwwww!...", he replied miserably with a burp, "And with the violins, the schmaltz, the whole sappiness! I mean, how many different ways can they come up with this 'I can't live without you' thing? It's either, I died or you died, or you left and came back, or I left and came back..."
"...Or I retired and came back as a crime fighting hero... ...or you came back as a crime fighting hero."
"And what is it with their view of Mystical Monkey Power? I mean it's a cartoon, for Pete's sake! They got it going all sorts of crazy ways! It's Sensei this or Sensei that, or Monkey Fist did this, or I did this with the Lotus Blade... ... It's just too much!... ...and don't start me on the Yori thing!"
"As long as I don't hear anything about Eric or Josh!", she riposted back at him.
They sat there silent for a minute, despaired looks on their faces, finding it difficult to continue.
Kim finally said, "You know, I'm just going to have such a hard time trying to write a paper that deals with how other people have been writing about my life. It's just so weird."
"I know...", sighed Ron, "And I haven't even started in on the fusion stories yet... ...or the other pairings."
"Uggghh!", replied Kim, now getting nauseated herself, "I so didn't need to hear that!"
Now completely depressed, they became quiet as they doggedly put their attention back to their reading for the remainder of their meal time, painfully getting the job done. Finally, they did finish eating and reading, put the papers back in their respective backpacks, and left. Outside the restaurant Ron started up his scooter and Kim hitched a ride on the back. As per their usual routine on this day, she had to go to her part time job to which Ron always gave her a ride. But they had to hurry as she was already running a little late due to all the reading they had to do. Fortunately, traffic was light, and Ron soon had her at the building. He parked the scooter and as she got off, she turned to him.
"Thanks, Ron. See you tonight?"
"Yeah, See you then K.P."
She turned to go in but then stopped, suddenly pensive. She looked back at him, a question on her face.
"Uh, Ron..."
"Yeah?"
"We've been best friends for a long time... ...did you ever think about... ...us?..."
Ron appeared thoughtful. They looked into each other's eyes, trying to search each other out.
"Well..."
Something made them think about a more physical connection. As they did, Kim started to lean in closer. His eyes still questioning, Ron simply sat there on his scooter, unsure. She opened her mouth slightly as she approached him, his lips also parting in response...
Both of them thought for a moment, 'Maybe we could go further with our friendship...'
Their lips were about to touch...
Kim's eyes suddenly widened and she stared at Ron, his eyes similarly alarmed.
"Naaaaaaaaawwww!...", they said simultaneously, suddenly pulling away from each other.
"Gee! What were we thinking?", said Ron, somewhat startled, "Still best friends, right Kim?"
Similarly shaken, she smiled at him, "Uh.. ...Right, Ron! Right!..."
They laughed, shaking it off, glad that nothing had changed, then Kim said, "Oh! I just remembered. That library book I borrowed from you? It's on my desk up at work. Want to come up and get it?"
"Sure! Let me park and I'll be right with you."
Moments later, Ron joined Kim as they entered the building. They went through the door and made their way to the elevator where she pressed the button for her floor.
"Now, remind me again...", Ron remarked thoughtfully, "I know you assist a bunch of people who are show writers, but your job description always seems to be changing. What exactly is it you do here?"
Kim looked at him in exasperation, "How come you can never remember what my job is, Ron? Especially since our term paper has so much to do with it?"
"Well, I do know this is the Disney Corporation and that you..."
"I'm an assistant to the script writers for a couple of the shows on Disney Channel." she interrupted, "...but not the one based on me..."
"...and I can't understand why...", she growled further in frustration.
"But you weren't in that job before, right?", Ron asked.
"I was promoted a week ago. Maybe it won't be so long before I can get a chance to write myself."
"Oh... ...I see.", he said, finally understanding, "Well, no wonder I don't remember. Your job description keeps changing."
"Duh! If it wasn't for that tyrant Andrew Lipinsky in Hiring! Just because he's in charge of personnel, the guy thinks he's king of the entire staff!... ...Jerk!"
"I hear you K.P., and that Chinese woman assistant of his..."
"Sheila Go?", Kim groused, "Miss 'Fashion Plate' Disney? The woman couldn't coordinate any two colors outside of green and black to save her life! The loser! The two of them have been trying to get me fired for like... ...forever!"
"Well it's good that other assistant, what's his name?... ...oh yeah, Wade... ...is looking out for you."
"Yeah, he's really been golden... ...saved my butt several times from old Andrew's schemes. Nobody's got the rumor mill wired and connected like that kid."
"He must have some medical condition.", said Ron, "He's sixteen and still looks ten, you know."
"It's never bother me, Ron. I like him. He's a good kid."
"Didn't he try to get your brothers a job or something?"
"Yeah, however the tweebs were 'too young' according to Sheila.", she said mockingly, using air quotes, "But she was so nasty about it... ...Ooh, I just want to make her eat some of that bile she spits out at me!"
"It's sure to be low carb, Kim."
"Yeah, I've got to warn Monique, too. She the assistant on my show now, and I think Sheila's out to get her fired too."
"Why?"
"Just because she's my friend!", Kim said, still aggravated, "You don't know how vindictive that woman is!"
"Tsk. Tsk.", replied Ron, "Office politics. Well, you know that's why I don't work here."
"Yeah, but your freelancing isn't exactly paying the bills for you."
"Oh, I scrape by."
"You wouldn't so cavalier about it if you were in my shoes."
"Well, I can see having a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon in Beverly Hills for parents might make them think you should aim for something a little higher than being a writer for a Disney TV show."
"Hey! There's nothing wrong with it!"
"Not saying there is, K.P. I with you on that."
Kim glared at the elevator, wondering why it was even more late than usual. She was tapping her foot in frustration as the security guard walked by. He smiled and addressed them as they met.
"Good afternoon, Miss Possible! Still enjoying the limelight?"
Just now noticing him, Kim groaned inside as she smiled, saying, "Oh!... ...uh... ...Just fine, Mr. Barkin!... ...Yeah, it's kind of cool to have the TV show based on me and my name."
"I bet you still have those cheerleader moves from when you were in high school."
Kim just snickered and continued smiling, but was feeling more irritated with every passing moment.
"Oh, yeah, Mr. Barkin!", she replied in a tight voice, "I sure do!"
"Did you ever think you might be a crime fighting hero like your TV show character?"
Kim's face became rigid with her pasted on smile. She was so sick of having to answer this question as many times as some reporter or other passerby who recognized her asked it.
"Uh... ...not at all, Mr. Barkin! I'm just a girl trying to become a writer, that's all... ...I'll leave all the hero stuff to the police and... ...uh... ...the military, you know!"
Mr. Barkin continued grinning, remarking paternalistically, "Well, that's good. You two kids take care of yourselves now." and he continued on his rounds.
Kim kept smiling until he disappeared around the corner, then dropped it quickly into a frown.
"He always does that to me...", she said in an irritated, monotone voice.
"Ol' Military Barkin.", Ron replied jovially, "Stevie's just gotta get a life, Kim. He's harmless otherwise."
But that didn't convince her. Her mood even more depressed, Kim just stared down the hallway before glaring back at the elevator door. Then she crossed her arms, just daring the elevator door not to open in the next five seconds.
"Now if I can just write this term paper for 'Professor Di-Minter'... ...I might survive.", she muttered.
"You are so right, K.P.", Ron commented idly, "He is so demented, that guy. You would think Berkeley could hire somebody better."
Somehow, the elevator door seemed to sense her anger. It arrived and opened immediately, only to reveal there were several people already in the car, which made it necessary for Kim and Ron to squeeze in. They rode silently for several floors, stopping along the way and letting some people off and letting others on. In the back were two men who stayed quiet and unobtrusive. Finally, the elevator halted at their floor.
As they got off, Kim remarked, "You know, I never imagined that letting Mr. McCorkle and Mr. Schooley use our names and life stories as a basis for their show could be such a hassle... ...even if it is smash hit."
"Yeah...", replied Ron, "If we had known, we could've gotten a better contract for the rights."
"Straight up...", she groused.
They started walking down the hallway towards Kim's small office as the elevator car emptied out completely behind them.
The two men who had been in the back of the elevator stepped out and stopped, just watching them walk away.
They stood there as they heard Kim say, "Now until some strange green alien woman comes and displaces Shego on the show or something like that... ...Jeez! it can't get any more fantastical, can it?. Where do they get their ideas, I wonder..."
The two men looked at each other.
"Is she okay, Mark?", one asked, "She seems a little angry."
Mark smiled, "She's fine, Bob. She just likes to grouse about things, especially Andrew and Sheila... ...just teenage stuff. But I've been watching her, making sure nothing bad happens."
"Good.", replied Bob, "As many times as Andrew and Sheila have screamed at us to get rid of her and her friends, I have to say I'm glad we still have her. She really is good with her creativity."
"Yeah. They're not a problem. I can handle them. In fact, I think I'll transfer Kim over to us soon and give her a crack at joining the writer's team on the show."
"Well, as much material as she's given us from just watching her over the last three years, she deserves the chance."
"She sure does, Bob. She sure does.", he said chuckling, "You know it's really ironic how everyone says we got the idea for Kim Possible from an idea we tossed back and forth riding in the elevator."
Grinning with him, Bob replied, "And all we had to do was ride the elevator with her and listen to her talk about her life and her friends..."
"Yep... ...and then all we had to do was keep listening to get the inspirations for the rest of the episodes as well."
"Right on. And now that I had Dr. Minter give her that term paper assignment, she'll have even more to talk about. You gotta love how teenage girls like to talk... ...Now what did she just say? Something about some strange green alien woman supplanting Shego?..."
Mark McCorkle looked at his partner Bob Schooley and said, "Hmmm... ...You know, that gives me a great idea for a new episode..."