AUTHOR'S NOTE – First of all, thanks to all the people who read and reviewed my first chapter and gave me such a warm welcome to the world of KP fanfic! Thank you very much: CajunBear73, Kwebs, Flame Swordsman, screaming phoenix & Michael Howard! I really appreciate it! And also thanks to those who put this story on their favorites list already (Erzengel JPL, Flame Swordsman, Katsumara & kety) and others who might have read the story without reviewing. Well, not much more to say, I guess. In case you're wondering where my disclaimer went, I always place it at the top of Chapter One of a fanfic only, but of course, it applies throughout the story. Okay, I'm not gonna babble any more right now. Enjoy Chapter Two! ;)
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Chapter Two: The Ability Transferator
The purple colored car raced across the asphalt into the North. Kim drove at full throttle and would not let herself be distracted by anything or anyone. She was really glad about being able to go to all the missions in her own car now, instead of depending on the rides that Wade used to organize for her. However, driving required fullest concentration from her, especially in her tuned car. That way she never even noticed that Ron was pretty quiet and only looked out of the passenger's window pensively all the time.
The ride from Middleton to Upperton usually took about ten minutes by car. Kim made it in less than four minutes. When she entered the town, she decelerated and glanced at the GPS. Wade had already seen to it that she would easily find the secret lab. After a few junctions, Kim already heard a low alarm sound – it must have been coming from the lab. And a short time later, they arrived at the remote building. It looked just about the same as any other secret lab she had already entered in her life as a teen hero: A great dome with a few smaller building complexes nearby. Kim parked on the roadside in front of the lab. She and Ron got out of the car and procured their entrance into the building with the help of Kim's "hairdryer".
Inside, the alarm was much louder. And as soon as Kim and Ron had slid down a rope through one of the windows, two guards were sent flying towards them, who they were able to evade just in time. Kim looked into the direction from which the defenceless guards had come. With a knowing smile, she shouted: "Nice welcome, Shego! So, what do you have to steal for Drakken this time?"
It really was Shego facing them, and indeed, she was holding a not further defined object in her one hand, in her other hand, the green plasma she had used to throw the guards off their feet seconds ago was still glowing. A few more guards lay unconscious on the floor behind her. "Now, that was a new record, Kimmie!" Shego replied in her typical taunting manner, ignoring the question about her loot. "Too bad I can't stay to chat, but you're just in time to see my exit!"
With that, she fired a green plasma ray in Kim's direction, but Kim anticipated it and evaded by doing a back flip. Then, she whirled around, quickly sliding forward across the floor, extending her leg to knock Shego off her feet. Shego tumbled backwards, but was able to catch herself with her free arm and started kicking around with her feet. Evading her kicks, Kim ran up to pull the stolen device out of Shego's grip with one jump. But Shego leapt into the air, leaving Kim empty-handed. As Kim lifted herself off the floor, Shego ran towards a rope hanging from a hole in the ceiling, through which she probably had broken into the lab.
Now, Ron went into action – or at least he tried. When Shego reached out for the rope, he raced towards her, trying to push her away with his elbow. He hit her in the stomach, which made her twitch at first. But he underestimated Shego's strength that allowed her to hurl him away at the very same moment. Ron landed roughly on the floor with a scream, and Shego fired another plasma ray at him, from which Kim quickly dragged him away. Now, Shego grabbed the rope, which was automatically pulled upwards. Kim jumped after her, trying to get a hold of her foot, but missed it by an inch. She broke her fall, turned around as quick as a flash and fired a grappling hook from her "hairdryer" at the hole in the ceiling, through which Shego was about to escape. But Shego warded off the grappling hook with a well-aimed kick and shouted at Kim from far above in a mocking way: "Later, princess!"
And with that, she was up and away on her flying device. Kim, who was still lying on the floor, with the grappling hook she had fired in vain next to her, grumbled something to herself, like she always did, when the bad guys got away. She picked herself up and brought the grappling hook back into her converted hairdryer by pushing a button on it. Now, Ron joined her and asked: "Everything okay, KP?"
"Yeah, sure… Except for Shego getting away, of course. What about you?"
"Uh, yeah, guess so."
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Only a short time later, the alarm was shut off and the lights in the corridor turned on. Kim and Ron looked up in surprise at first, then in the direction of a large double door, where Dr. Director appeared with a couple of GJ men. "I'm glad you're here, Miss Possible," she said. "Were you able to prevent the robbery?"
"Afraid not, Dr. Director," Kim answered truthfully, yet with a hint of shame in her voice.
"Damn!" Dr. Director cursed. "I almost feared this outpost was not sufficiently secured. And I guess I'm a little late with reinforcements."
"What exactly has been stolen from here?" Kim asked.
"I'm going to explain it to you. Please follow me."
Kim and Ron followed Dr. Director towards a room at the end of the corridor, with a steel door that was originally secured by a scan field. This had been totally destroyed now, and the door had been massively damaged. Through the huge crack in the door caused by this, the three of them entered the small laboratory. In the middle of the room, there was a box made of safety glass standing on a platform, which had been broken as well. The box, of course, was empty.
"What used to be here was the prototype of one of our newest research projects," Dr. Director explained now. "The ability transferator."
"Ability transferator…" Kim repeated in a thoughtful manner.
"Okay…" Ron interfered. "Let's pretend I have no idea what that means..."
Ignoring Ron's comment, Dr. Director went on: "A handy device that can be used to transfer one person's abilities to another person."
"Cool!" Ron exclaimed and added in a lower voice: "… well, …I guess."
Kim inquired: "By that, you mean… physical or mental abilities?"
"Both of them," Dr. Director answered.
"Now, hang on there…" Ron interjected. "So, that means, if I used this thing to, say, transfer my abilities to Rufus… Could he swallow a whole Naco at once, then?"
"As if he couldn't do that already…" Kim retorted dryly.
On clue, Rufus peeked out of Ron's pant pocket and, rubbing his tummy, uttered a cheerful: "Yum, Naco!"
Dr. Director gave Ron and his naked mole rat a nonplussed stare, before she continued: "Our aim was to transfer the physical and mental abilities of our agents, soldiers and guards to new members of Global Justice. That way, we would be able to assemble a strong team within a short time on the one hand – and save us much time and money for their training on the other hand." She had said that last part in a lower voice.
"I see," Kim nodded and asked: "And have you achieved that aim?"
"Unfortunately, there were some problems…" Dr. Director went on. "We could actually transfer abilities using this prototype… but after the transference – contrary to the way we planned –, they were completely taken away from the original ability owner."
"And that means…?" Ron asked, slightly confused.
"It means Drakken can do some pretty bad deeds with this thing…" Kim answered. Then, she turned to Dr. Director once more: "We'll do everything in our power to get that prototype back."
"Thank you very much, Miss Possible."
-xXOXx-
Some time later, Kim and Ron were sitting in the car again. Before driving off, Kim contacted Wade through the built-in kimmunicator system: "Wade, we need all the info you can get on the stolen ability transferator, and Drakken's whereabouts."
"Sure thing," Wade answered. "I'll see what I can find. Too bad you couldn't stop the robbery."
"It wasn't my fault!" Ron shouted all of a sudden. When Wade gave him a strange look, and Kim looked at him in a surprised way as well, he added in a laugh: "Uh, he, he… force of habit."
Then, Kim gently stroke his cheek and said: "It really wasn't your fault." To Wade, she explained: "We just didn't get there in time. Even though I raced as fast as the car allowed me to – without getting a ticket, either."
"Maybe you should've switched to rocket fuel," Ron grinned.
"I did that, Ron."
"Okay…" Wade said after a short pause. "I'll call you back as soon as I know something." With that, he disconnected, and Kim drove off.
On the way back, Kim drove at normal speed. Now, they were no longer in a hurry, she thought. However, she could not help but notice Ron's quietness this time. For the whole ten minutes, he did not make a sound. Kim did not really have an idea what was going on with him, though. Maybe he was just a little disappointed about them not having been able to stop Shego and would be more talkative again later.
-xXOXx-
When they arrived at Ron's house, he really seemed happier again, as he noticed: "Hey, looks like my parents aren't back yet."
"Well, it's still pretty early, I guess. We weren't away for long, either," Kim simply replied.
A moment of silence occurred, when Ron's glance darted around in an uncertain way. Finally, he asked with a little hesitation: "Um, KP… Do you… wanna come in again for a little?"
Kim sighed and said: "I don't know, Ron. Actually, I'm pretty worn out. And… Wade could call back any moment."
"Huh, guess you're right…" Ron agreed in a low voice and thought for a while. "We could just, you know… kick back, watch a movie, …'til my parents come back."
Kim glanced out of the window thoughtfully, then back at Ron who gave her an incredibly cute smile. Kim smiled back, turned off the engine and said: "Okay, convinced."
End of Chapter Two
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AUTHOR'S NOTE – Well, that was Chapter Two. Hope you liked it. Still not very long, I know, but as I said, the chapters will be getting longer, gradually. I hope I did an okay job writing about the fight against Shego. As I said, I'm not that good at writing fight scenes, let alone in English. It was really hard to find words for that, that's why the process of translating was a long one. I also tried to improve it a little, but without changing too much about it.
A little bit of Trivia: It took me a long time to find a name for this fanfic. It wasn't until I wrote Chapter Six (in German) that I came to think of "Perfect Planning" as a title. First, I only used "The Ability Transferator" as a working title. That's why I wanted to keep that as a chapter's title. You'll find out more about this device I made up in the next two chapters. Not so sure how long it'll take me to translate the next chapter, but I'll do my best. Stay tuned and please be patient. See you around! :)
