"AAHHHHHHGH!"
The scream woke everyone still asleep in the Possible household. Kim was the first out of bed, racing towards the guest bathroom, a dozen thoughts of the potentially horrible sitches the scream represented flashing through her mind. When she got there, she saw that the door was open, the light was on, and a young, blond man was standing there, his mouth working in an incoherent mutter as he stared into the mirror. "Wha?" was the most intelligible he muttered as he looked to his right and into Kim's eyes in a pleading manner.
"Yes, Icky," Kim said with a mingled sigh and giggle, "You really got bleached last night."
"Bu-, bu-, bu-…" the teen muttered, trying to form a coherent thought, before finally breaking through his stupor, stepping out into the hallway, "Uhbuh! I wasn't this pale last night!" He paused as Kim raised an eyebrow and stared at him, the corner of her mouth twitching as if trying to keep from laughing at the hapless fellow teen.
"Hmph!" Icky grunted, as he glanced to Kim's right to see a chuckling Kitpup, who was coming from the guest room, and a laughing Kgs who walked around the corner from the kitchen. "It's not funny! I wasn't this bad last night!"
"Yeah, you were!" Neo and Amers called out together as they ambled up from the same direction as Kit, bleary eyed as if still waking up.
"I wasn't, was I?" Icky pleaded to Kgs and Kit, his eyes going wide and looking as if he was about to start crying if they disagreed with him.
"Worse, actually," Kgs added between guffaws, stepping aside as Amers sped up, her destination obvious, "The re-hydration and sleep helped some, though."
Icky stared at his smirking, laughing and still waking up friends, an indignant expression taking over his features, "It's not funny! I look like walking ghost!"
"But you're a cute walking ghost!" Amers giggled as she ruffled his hair and pushed past him into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
"I am cute!" Icky agreed, his face breaking out briefly into a happy smile, before falling once again into indignant glare at the bathroom door, "But I don't WANT to look like a ghost!"
"Is breakfast ready?" Neo interrupted in a strident, yet cutely complaining tone, drawing everyone's attention to her, "And hurry up, Amers, I gotta go too!"
"Mom's making bacon, eggs and trying a new waffle recipe that Kgs and Ron brainstormed," Kim answered with a smile, "And they look so good!"
"Yup!" Kgs commented, "But Kim got kicked out when she asked to help mix the bat-…"
"Hey!" Kim cried in protest, giving him a glare that promised imminent pain if he continued, "I'm not that bad in the kitchen!"
"If you say so," Kit said with a roll of her eyes, continuing under her breath, "Considering that you managed to make toast burst into flames like a gas soaked rag last night…"
"I didn't know the Tweebs had modified the toaster, either!" Kim defended herself in seeming futility.
"Be nice, guys," Amers laughed as she opened the bathroom door, "Anyone else would've done that too, if they hadn't known about it…"
"True," Kgs conceded, still smiling as if he wanted to continue but dropping it, "Anyway, breakfast should be ready in a few…"
"Good!" Amers said she stepped out of the bathroom, making room as Neo pushed past her into the bathroom and slammed the door, a sound of great relief echoing from the room as everyone turned towards the kitchen, "I'm starving!"
"Yeah," Kgs continued, draping an arm casually over his fiancée's shoulders, "And after that, we work on delivering the Holo Stages to everyone that needs 'em…"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Icky cried, turning towards the bathroom and knocking, "Neo, hurry up, I haven't gone yet and I was here first!"
KPFA KPFA KPFA KPFA
"This," Icky said with a happy smile, looking up at the dome that stretched over the Possible's rear yard, "Is awesome!"
"What's that, Icky?" Kgs called out as he bent forward to make an adjustment to the Holo Stage Control Center.
"The super-thin plastic dome they have!" he pointed out, making a sweep of the dome and the warm, snow free back yard, "It's almost perfectly clear, snow doesn't stick to it, and it and the space heaters Mr. Dr. Possible talked about makes it like a cool summer day back here!"
"I thought you liked the snow!" Kgs called back facetiously, sitting back and looking up himself. The early afternoon sun shone feebly through the cloud cover, but thankfully only a smattering of flakes flew past the vaguely amber tinted dome overhead.
"I luff snow!" Icky exclaimed, before grinning with unbridled joy, "And the cold, but this is still awesome! A backyard barbecue in the middle of winter!"
"Well," James said from his position on the porch, where he sat with Anne, with Amers, Kim, Ron and Icky clustered at various distances around the grill, "That's one of the first things that Drew got done after the Lowardian invasion. Originally designed it for cold weather greenhouses and quickly erected emergency cooling centers, but he and the company he worked with quickly recognized the market for setups like ours."
"Many people have these?" Kgs asked as he stretched and leaned back to the HSCC.
"Well, in this neighborhood, the Stoppable, Rockwaller, Larsen, and Lopez families got one about the same time we did." Anne supplied helpfully, "And the city put one up over the main play area in Middleton Park…"
"Time to flip the burgers, Mr. Dr. P.!" Ron interrupted as he lifted the cover to the Possible's backyard grill.
"James," Anne said as her husband took up his position at the grill as Ron placed five thick, boneless, lean sirloin steaks that were on the preparation on the grill next to two others that were cooking already. James went to work, making the first flip of the the nine thick, juicy looking hamburgers, and fifteen potatoes in the process of baking, "Why are there six extra helpings? I thought we only had Pojko, Fuzen and Neo to worry about?"
"Neo, Fu and Mr. Pojko are picking up Bonnie from Denver International," Kim supplied with a confused frown, "Although not Junior for some reason, and AbsentiaLuci from the Fannies Committee headquarters downtown."
"Why are they picking her up from there?" James asked absently, flipping the burgers as Ron checked on the steaks.
"Because she's from our world, and that's where the personnel sized dimensional shifter and relocater is." Kit supplied from his position next to one of the Holo Stages, a seemingly innocent smile on his face.
"Now, now," Anne scolded mildly, a loving gaze settling on her husband, "He's distracted by the grill, he'd have trouble remembering to use the restroom, let alone a discussion on quantum mechanics from last night."
"Went before I started, Dear." James said with a chuckle, winking at his wife, "And I remembered the discussion last night as soon as the words left my lips."
"How's the potatoes, Mr. Dr. P.?" Ron asked, being on the other side of the grill from the starchy, delicious looking tubers.
"Almost done, lunch in about fifteen minutes!" James called out, earning appreciative murmurs from everyone in about.
"Schweet! I've heard about you two's grill wizardry, but for obvious reasons, never had a chance to try it!" Wade called out from near Oster, waving the tablet computer in his hands, which he called the Wadecom, at them. The device, essentially an upsized Kimmunicator, offered more features than Kim's mission device, as well as far more processing power.
"I'm happy you came over yourself, Wade!" Kim chirped happily from the porch, before dropping her tone into one of slight admonishment, "It's something you should do more often…"
"I know, Kim, but until I perfected the Wadecom, I wanted to be closer to my terminals in case something came up." He patted the thin, elegant looking device fondly, "This allows me to monitor and communicate with my terminals in real time, so I don't have to be as paranoid about being away."
"Well, bud," Kgs nodded from his position at the HSCC's control board, "It's awesome to have ya here."
"Yeah!" Jim Possible crowed.
"Maybe you can help us…" Tim continued for his twin.
"…Work out some air/fuel issues on the new rocket engines…" Jim picked up again.
"…That we're putting in Kim's Sloth!" Tim finished.
"If we can get this stuff working!" the voice of Oster echoed out from the HSCC, in which he was entombed up to his mid torso. The device had been set up in its entirety, the thin, flexible hologram emitter grid stretching out twenty feet to each side and back from the HSCC's audio-visual processor hub.
"Yeah, love to, if we can get these working. So," Wade said in a drawn out manner, looking over some of the modified blueprints he and Oster had made to the Holo Stage Central Controller and the two dozen slave units, "We'll still have to broadcast?"
"Yes," Oster complained from within the HSCC, his cursing almost inaudible as the speakers mounted to the unit squealed with feedback, "Turn the gain down!"
"Got it," Kgs mumbled as he twisted a knob on the complex looking control system, quickly lessening the sound bouncing back from the rear of the Possible's house. The relative silence drew a sigh of relief from the five people sitting near him helping with the Holo Stages and the HSCC, as well as the six spectators sitting on the Possible's rear porch, "Don't forget the language, dude, two ten year olds and a thirteen year old present. And there we go, got the master gains set to about zero point two dB, so we should at least get some sound for testing…"
"Thank you!" Oster called out, the lower two thirds twitching almost as a dog shaking itself dry would, "As I was saying, we'll have to rebroadcast, but the remote stages will record full audio and holographic information and relay it back here, in real time. From here we'll be able to record and broadcast lifelike images over standard broadcast equipme-…"
Anything else he was about to say was cut off as a loud crackle of static electricity discharged. That was immediately followed by what sounded suspiciously like two sets of knuckles striking the aluminum superstructure of the HSCC. And directly afterwards, Kgs' warning about language was thrown right out the widow as a sustained, vicious stream of curses emanated from the bowels of the device. In all honesty, it sounded less like Oster, and more like a sailor that had been crawling bars for literally days had suddenly teleported into the device.
"Osterman!" Anne, Kit, Amers and, surprisingly, the Tweebs called out sharply, though the Tweebs were giggling at some of the more colorful phrases Oster used. Amazingly, this stopped the stream of curses from the device, even as he was pulled out by the legs, with Amers on one side and Kit on the other.
"I know we went to high school…" Jim said with a giggle, despite the glare the two received from Kim and Anne.
"…But we're still not supposed to listen to those kinds of words!"
"Sorry, Mrs. Dr. P., ladies, Tweebs…" Oster, whose short hair was standing out from his scalp from the shock he'd received, had the decency to look contrite. That was a minor miracle, considering his hands were still in spasm from the shock he'd taken. "I think I almost dislocated each of my thumbs, though."
"I'll get the ice packs!" James, who was fighting laughter of his own along with almost everyone else, walked into the house quicker than the situation or proper decorum might indicate.
"James Timothy Possible," Anne called out in indignation, "This is not a laughing matter!"
"It could be worse, Anne," Kgs said with a chuckle, "It could've been me under there."
"Let's not get into a bigger you-know-what argument, here!" Kit called out firmly, his face set.
"No worries, babe, no worries…" Kgs relented, powering down the device. "Let's take a break, and get some food and liquid in us, 'kay? I know I could use a steak, a baked potato, and a rum 'n' Coke, and I'm sure we'll be able to track down that glitch afterwards…"
"I think…" Jim started, a Cheshire Cat like grin on his face.
"That Oster found part of it!" Tim finished, ignoring the glare that Oster gave them. The older techie then sighed and shook his head, poking the twins in the gut to a bark of laughter from each of them before walking towards the rear deck of the Possible home.
"Hicka bicka boo?" Jim said softly as the older man walked away, holding his hand up in a high-five gesture.
"Hoosha!" Tim agreed, slapping his brother with a high-five, and earning a laugh from everyone else, even Oster.
KPFA KPFA KPFA KPFA
"So who are we getting?" Bonnie asked as she glanced at Neo from the back seat of Kgs' Ford Explorer.
"AbsentiaLuci," Neo supplied, "Or Al, or Lis, either one works."
"Oh, okay," Bonnie said in understanding, "The French-American that wrote the futuristic stuff with Lovecraft demons in it, right?"
"I believe so, but I'm not sure about what she wrote." Poj said in a not completely sure tone, "But she is French-American from what Kit, Neo, Amers, Icarus and Kgs said."
"Yup, she is." Neo said encouragingly, "She wanted to be here quite a bit. She really liked 'Neb."
"I think we all did, anyone that knew him at any rate." Bonnie admitted, a soft smile on her face, "He was so nice, and he handled our fictional selves great as well."
"And is that her?" Fuzen asked with an expression somewhere between uncertain and pleased.
"Yes, it is!" Neo chirped happily as Poj pulled into MaceCo's headquarters parking lot. When he stopped, Neo hopped out and called out to the petite, attractive blonde who was dressed stylishly enough to draw the eye, yet warmly enough not to have her teeth set to chattering as yet. "Hi, Al!"
"Hallo, Neo," Al grunted as Neo gave her a good squeeze, before jumping in the back seat with Bonnie and Fuzen, "Poj, Fu, Bonnie. Where is zee event?" Fu looked about to giggle at her accent, which was noticeable, but not too terribly strong. The near glare that Al leveled at the young girl, however, stifled the giggle in place.
"It's being held at the Possible house for this year." Poj answered as he backed up and pulled towards the exit.
"Yeah, until they finish the Fannies Convention Center, anyway!" Fu continued for him, her bubbly attitude making even Bonnie grin happily despite her jet lag.
"When will zat be done?" the blonde queried with a raised eyebrow.
"Sometime later this month or early next month," Neo replied, "Kit and Kgs are hoping within two weeks, but they're not pushing too hard."
"And zo it won't be held zere zis year. I bet Kgs is probably worried zat zey'll screw it all up if pushed?" Al prodded, earning a nod from Neo and Poj, and rolled eyes from Bonnie and Fuzen.
"Middleton contractors are good, why would he worry about that?" Bonnie scoffed, her face screwed up in confusion.
"Because," Al countered, "Aparently, where 'e lives in Wyoming, most of zee conztruction companies zere canno' get sings done in a timely manner."
"Well," Poj said as he turned the SUV towards the sub-division in which the Possibles resided, "We're just about there. Any stops on the way for anyone?"
"Um, maybe the Mav so I can get a pop?" Bonnie asked, "Just at the end of this street here, left hand side."
"The Possible's have a barbeque going," Poj said helpfully, "James and Ron are cooking, and there should be soda for us when we get there, but we can stop if you want."
"Oh, I'll wait then." Bonnie said with an indulgent smile, "I've had a chance to taste Ron's cooking, and I've heard stories about Mr. Possible's grilling. We should be in for a treat!"
"So long as my steak iz rare, I'll be 'appy" Al said with an evil glint in her eye.
"Oh, don't worry," Fuzen said with a laugh, "Kgs was adamant about who needed rare steaks." Al seemed pleased with this and sat back, relaxing into the surprisingly comfortable rear seat.
"Oh, don't pull down Everson Street!" Bonnie said with a scowl, as they approached said street, "Go down to Patterson, then get to Long…"
"Why not?" Poj asked as he kept going past Everson street.
"Because I want to avoid my mom and dad's place for as long as I can." Bonnie grumped, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"If your family life was half as bad as it was in the series," Fu said understandingly, "I can understand why…"
KPFA KPFA KPFA KPFA
"That," Kgs beamed at the HSCC as the tracking unit of the last Holo Stage blinked green, "Is a beautiful sight to behold!"
"Last one's set up and ready to go?" Oster queried as he leaned over Kgs' shoulder as the older man adjusted a few touch sensitive controls.
"Yup, we're ready to get this going!" Kit muttered in relief as Kgs held his right hand up, balled into a fist, for a tap to the two of them.
"Awesome!" Oster said with a smile. He, Kit and Kgs all shared taps, before Kit walked up to a separate Holo Stage, the HSCC projecting his image for a final series of broadcast tests.
"Ok, are you guys receiving?" Kit said after a few moments.
"Yes, we are!" the director for the broadcast of the Fannies said with a smile, "Mr. Smarty and Mr. Senor will be quite pleased, I think!"
"So what, exactly, do they have to do with this all?" Kim asked, the particulars having never been fully explained to her.
"Well," Kgs drew out in a distracted manner as he made some minute adjustments to the HSCC control panel, "Mr. Smarty owns interest in two satellite providers, and owns Smart Vision Cable fully, while Senor owns the third Satellite provider, and owns another cable provider. Those two got agreements with the other two satellite providers, as well as two other cable providers, to offer broadcast time for the Fannies for those that would normally attend from your world."
"But it's going to be on pay-per-view channels?" Kim asked in a concerned tone.
"Yes, but for free." Kgs smiled, "If someone wants to offer a donation, they can buy the PPV, but they don't have to!"
"That's pretty awesome!" Ron said as he took his seat next to Icky, who sat in one of the surprisingly comfortable seats before the HSCC.
"You sure you want to sit in one of zose?" Al asked from her seated position on the Possible's rear porch. She was giving the chair Ron sat in a dirty look, as if expecting it to snap in two and trap the teen in a death grip.
"They're comfy, though, so why wouldn't we?" Icky asked with a suddenly worried expression.
"Because zey're MaceCo portable, powered beach chairs?" Al said with a cherubic, yet evil grin on her face.
"Hey, now!" Kit yelled from his position on the Holo Stage, "I own the company now and I made sure the bugs were fixed!"
"Sure, sure," Al said with that same grin, "And 'ow do you know zey work?"
"'Cause I'm the poor ba-…" Kgs looked around, almost blushing as he caught himself, "Shmuck that got to test it. 'Sides, Wade found the problem was in the control software and fixed it. They work fine."
"See!" Icky gloated at Al, who arched an elegant eyebrow questioningly at him. He gulped, but held his ground against the implied threat, sticking his tongue out at her and blowing a raspberry.
"I sink I have to commit zome violence," Al said quietly to Kgs as she stood, stretching in a catlike manner. She walked down behind Ron and Icky, glancing back and forth between them. "I sink hyu," She said softly as she placed a hand on Ron's head, "Are Ron and hyu," she said placing a hand on Icky's head, "Are Icky, non?"
"Um, yeah?" Icky and Ron both said nervously.
Al smiled evilly and grabbed Icky's shoulder, holding him in place as she toed the control on Icky's chair, starting it folding in on itself. "Lis, be nice to my buddeh!" Kit called out, his face screwed up in mock outrage.
"But 'e's my chewtoy!" Al protested with a pout, nonetheless stopping the closure of the chair.
"I'msorryma'amI'llbegood!" Icky cried, still held in place by Al's surprisingly strong hands. He looked about in a panic as Al crowed happily and sat down in Icky's lap, toeing the chair back to its original position.
"Quit teasing the poor boy, Lis, or you'll make someone jealous." Kgs snickered as he shook his head.
"Oh, okay." Al pouted, running a finger along Icky's jaw, causing the stricken teen to cast pleading eyes flitting between Ron and Kgs
"Don't look at me, bud…" Kgs smirked, sitting back and sipping at the drink in his hand.
"Me either!" Ron agreed, just succeeding at not looking at the firm derrière that Al not quite accidentally shoved towards him, "Kim would probably tell Al to do the same to me so I didn't cause any trouble!"
"Oh?" Al said in a drawn out fashion, tilting her head at the now platinum blond boy, a truly evil glint in her eyes.
"About the chair! The chair!" Ron screeched, backing up from Al as much as his chair would allow as the older woman leaned ever so slightly towards him.
"What was that, Ronnie?" Kim called out as she emerged from the Possible's kitchen, a soda in each hand for herself and her boyfriend, "And he's not up for grabs, Ms. He's-Surprisingly-Cute-In-Real-Life!" she glared at Al, who stood up and looked the model of innocence, if you ignored the glint still in her eyes. She relented on poor Ron and Icky, by sitting down in the chair behind Icky and relaxing back into it, sipping at her drink.
"He was just saying you have the control in the relationship, Princess. And he does look kinda like Icky, if a bit manlier…" Shego snickered at Icky's protest, carefully setting down what looked like orange juice in one hand, and cola in the other in the cup holders attached to the portable love seat she was planning on sharing with Drew. She took a seat after smoothing out her stylish green accented light charcoal grey dress underneath her backside, "Who mixed these, anyway? They're awesome!"
"Lis mixed the screwdrivers, I mixed the Cap'n 'n' Cokes." Kgs said, glancing at the gorgeous thief, "The Jack 'n' Cokes're James' doin', and," Kgs held up a light purple colored drink that looked much like grape soda, "The Purple Crush is Anne's."
"Ooo, with Chambord?" Shego queried with great intrigue, to which Kgs nodded enthusiastically. "I think I'll have one of those next!" . The former thief added, looking ready to drool. She gave a smirk to Drew as he walked out from the house, a small plate of lemon squares and a cup of cocoa-moo in his hands.
"Are those…" Neo said as she sniffed at the plate, then blushed as she looked up saw who held the plate.
"Yes," Drew said, completely missing the excited almost twitch from Neo and the jealous scowl from both Shego and Kit, "There's more in the kitchen next to the coco-moo I made."
Neo, realizing she was about to squeal like a fangirl, visibly reined in her enthusiasm and darted for the kitchen, a happy giggle emanating from her despite her control.
"Silly girl…" Kgs and Amers said together, although Amers ended up pouting as he slipped his drink away from her, chiding, "Nuh, uh, not 'til after the ceremonies."
"Hey, now," Bonnie stepped in, a frown on her face at Kgs' apparent mean spiritedness, "She's an adult!"
"Yeah!" Amers pouted, her face falling into a good proximity to the Puppy Dog Pout.
"And no chocolate 'til later either!" he added as a seeming non-sequitur, "We don't need her giggling at the slightest thing anyone says."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bonnie and Kim asked, earning a groaning laugh from Kit and Fuzen.
"She gets very…" Kgs paused and looked up with his head tilted slightly, before looking back at Bonnie, "Excitable… When she's tipsy or has chocolate in her system."
"Excitable?" Kim asked, earning a look from several of those surrounding her that screamed 'You're kidding!' After a moment of thought, Kim blushed brightly to below her neckline, her eyes flying wide, "You mean she gets-…"
"Very!" Kit interrupted, "And can we please try and keep the pre-Fannie conversations PG so we don't end up turning into perverts on stage?"
"So I can't ask Ron if he's really hu-…" Icky began, a devilish smile on his face.
"No!" Kgs, Pojko, Fu, Kit, Anne, James, and Amers all called out at once.
"Well, Ron is Jewish, right?" Neo pondered as she walked out of the kitchen, a tall glass of cocoa-moo in one hand, a small plate of lemon squares in another, "Does that mean I can't ask if he's been ci-… Ouch!"
Kit stood behind Neo, the palm of her hand red where he'd just swatted his girlfriend firmly on the rear end. "No, not now, and I don't think later, either!"
Neo pouted, her lower lip jutting out slightly and her eyes going wide and watery as she stared at Kit, "Pweeze?" she whined pitifully.
"No." Kit affirmed, non-plused.
"Wipe that off your face, babe," Kgs smirked, "It won't work on her."
"Could I ask you to ask him for me, Kgs?" Neo pleaded, turning up the intensity of her pout.
"You can do that 'til your face is permanently that way, Neo, won't work." Kgs murmured confidently, "I'm immune, it's a family trait."
"Oh, really?" Kim said, suddenly curious and willing to make the sacrifice to answer Neo's apparently fangirlish question to prove Kgs wrong about his immunity to the Puppy Dog Pout.
"Care to bet on that?" Shego added, smirking evilly, eager to join in.
"That's three, I'll make it four!" Fuzen called out, jumping up and down in place while holding her hand up.
"Try me," Kgs sat back, a borderline cocky grin on his face, "I won't bend."
Suddenly, Wade, Osterman, Ron and Drew dove for cover, covering their faces with their hands, or otherwise trying to avoid the inevitable. Neo's Puppy Dog Pout wasn't as effective as Kim's or Shego's, but it had gotten much better over her year dating Kit. Then Kit, Bonnie and even Icky and Al added their own versions of the PDP into the mix, because they wanted to see if Kgs could, indeed, stand up to the personification of pathetically cute.
"Really, guys," Kgs said as Amers stared on in a nearly drooling state of being, "Try harder." Even Osterman and Wade, both of whom had a nerd's natural resistance to things like the PDP were forced to look away, for fear of what they'd do if affected.
"Why's everyone so qui-…" James began, before turning away with an almost vampire like hiss, "Anne, crazy man on our rear deck!"
Anne Possible walked out, her face confused for a moment as she took in the sight of two teenage girls, two teenage boys, and three twenty-something women giving Kgs the PDP. And the man was just sitting there as if nothing was wrong. "Kgs?" Anne asked, waiting until he turned towards her, before adding her PDP to the mix, her tone dropping into a cutesy, pleading tone that had managed, once upon a time, to break through even James' lack of experience with women, "You really, really think you can remain immune? Hmmm?"
Kgs's lips twitched as Anne's plea finally drew a half chuckle from him, "Honestly, Anne, I'm quite well versed in avoiding the effects of the PDP. Two younger nieces that were disturbingly cute, and dozens of female friends that were devistating with PDPs..." He paused consideringly as Anne poured on a little bit more of her PDP, inclining his head slightly towards the older woman, "Though yours is quite good, if not one of the best! I haven't twitched an eye at one for literally over a decade and a half."
The girls and Icky stopped, and almost everyone was staring at the man in abject shock. "Wow," Shego finally murmured, blinking a couple times, "Oh, no, are you okay, Drew?" she called out in concern.
"No more…" the blue tinted man was sitting down on the porch steps, a dumbfounded look upon his face despite having dove for cover.
"Stop, please…" they all turned to see Ron, despite having covered his face, staring off into space, drooling a little as he muttered quietly to himself.
"I think we broke 'em…" Kgs muttered, intentionally deepening his voice and putting a distinct grating into the tone.
"No 'Crow' references during a KP event!" Osterman, who took a seat next to Kgs, laughed, earning a chuckle from a few of the people around them.
"Hey, 'The Crow ' was good!" Amers said, bapping Kgs on the back of his head.
"Yeah," Shego, who had moved to help a still dazed Drew to their seat, "And Brandon Lee was hot."
"Oh, yeah!" Amers enthused, making a double downward 'Yes!' motion with her fists, "Drool!"
"Hey there, everybody!" a new voice called out from the back door of the Possible's home. Everyone glanced back to see Monique McCoy and Tara Larsen standing there, wearing a matched cut set of blue jeans and blouses, red and purple for Monique, turquoise and a pale yellow for Tara.
"Sorry we're late!" the blonde added, a huge smile on her face as she saw Bonnie sitting near the back of the audience area, "Brick's Expedition got a flat tire and we had to change it before he drove down to Colorado Springs for a family reunion!"
"He's still got that old Ford?" Bonnie asked in a mock disgusted tone. The brunette gave Monique a wink when the black woman huffed in feigned annoyance at Bonnie's taunt. "How's your fiancée doing, M?"
""He's DG-… Er, doing great, how's the hubby?" Monique asked, a touch worried at the, in her opinion, gorgeous Spanish husband of Bonnie's.
"He's doin' good, practicing for the Fa-…" Anything else Bonnie had been about to say was stifled as Tara threw her arms around her best friend to give her a huge hug.
"It'ssogoodtoseeyouomgomgOMG!" Tara squealed, even as Bonnie started turning blue from lack of oxygen.
"Let her breathe, T!" Kim cried out in concern, to which Tara blushed and released her best friend and stood back. Kim laughed as Bonnie took a few deep breaths, giggling instead of exhaling, "And I think you've been around Mo too much, you're using text contractions!"
"Hey!" Monique called out in an ironic tone, "I'm doing better, GF!" She turned to Amers, who was leaning against Kgs while looking lovingly up at him, "And no offense, I'm kinda surprised you're not jealous with your GF acting like that over a hunk from the past, Mr… Kgs, right?"
"Kgs, no mister needed," he smirked, sharing the same look Amers was giving him.
"Besides," Amers sighed, "Except when we both like the girl we're looking at, look but don't touch is our relationship thing. And we've been together for over seventeen years, so…"
"Specifically, since September 21st, 1993 at 3:45 and forty five seconds, PM." Kgs chuckled, kissing Amers knuckles gently.
The two new arrivals had a far away, almost dreamy look in their eyes as the older man pronounced the exact time he started dating his fiancée, and then were even more shocked when Ron chimed in, "May 10th of our Junior year, 8:23 PM and twenty five seconds for KP and me!"
"That's why you looked at the Kimmunicator!" Kim cried, giving her BFBF a playful shove.
"Awww!" Monique and Tara both cried, Monique continuing, "That's so romantic! No wonder you kept ahold of Ron! And no wonder you two're still together!"
"Hey!" Kit called firmly, "Five minutes, guys! And we almost missed it 'cause that PDP staredown on Kgs almost put the broadcast production crew out of commission, both here and in the central broadcast station!"
"Whoops!" Kgs cringed, taking the responsibility and nodding apologetically to Kit, "Shall we, then?"
"Yeah!" Rufus cheered from the arm between Kim and Ron's chairs, holding a fist up in the air.
"Okay, everyone that wants to sit in the audience chairs get your butts in gear!" Anne called out from the deck, leaning against her husband on the comfy wicker love seat set up near the grill to view the proceedings.
Five minutes later, everyone was in place, all of the remote Holo Stages were powered up, and Kit stepped up in front of the HSCC's base unit. He was resplendent in 'steampunk' style formal wear, similar to what he'd worn for the signing over of MaceCo to his name. He had the addition of a set of silver, quite masculine hair ties holding his mid length, curly hair back and a red velvet handkerchief in his vest pocket. The director started his countdown, finally pointing at the petite brunette and giving him a thumbs up.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen!" he intoned seriously, "Welcome to the much delayed, but finally back, Fifth Annual Fannies Awards Ceremony!"
About him, thanks to the HSCC's optical and special effects projectors, the Fannies logo and a brief introduction animation showing various past winners flashed about, finally settling on 'Proudly brought to you by the Kimmunity and MaceCo!' "As you can see, MaceCo is a co-sponsor this year. And before any of you panic, I'm the new owner, president and CEO."
A chuckle rippled through the real audience, as well as the remote Holo Stage nominees, their laughter and a small graphic of them at their various locations flashing next to Kit. "In other words, no worries about everything blowing up in our faces! Although none of his inventions were really dangerous, many of his subcontractors left a lot to be desired!" More laughter, and then Kit sobered slightly as more graphics flitted by his head, two names slowly solidifying over each of his shoulders.
"This year's Fannies are also held in respectful, fond memory of two of our own: Commander Argus, and CPNeb. They both brought so much enjoyment to us all, it's the least we can do for them and the memories that remain with us…"
Silence followed for a moment, before Kit took a deep breath and pushed on. "And on a final note, this year, due to our time constraints, we've had to make a few changes. First off, we won't be performing a reading of final nominees nor will we show brief excerpts from their fics. We do, after all, have to start on the Sixth Annual Fannies as soon as we're done here!"
A ripple of understanding and a few chuckles answered him, and he continued, "After the first announcement, which is after this announcement, we will also be announcing two and sometimes three winners per segment. We hope that you all understand that this is in the interests of brevity, and not due to the Fannies authors inherent laziness or lack of imagination, although it might have a little bit to do with the Christmas holiday overtaking the writers!"
More laughter and a smatterin of applause answered, and Kit brought a Nintendo DSi out and held down at his side. "Our first award is Best Original Character Name…" Kit brought up his DSi and glanced at the results, a smile on his face as he continued, "The winner is: MrDrP and his character, Lyle Lott!"
A brief pause, and with a gesture from Kit, MrDrP appeared next to him in holographic splendor, seeming to actually be there. He smiled to Kit, who stepped aside and gestured to him to start when he was ready.
MrDrP looked out at the cameras and the small audience gathered in the Possible's back yard and smiled thankfully at them. "Thanks to everyone for voting Lyle Lott 'Best Original Character Name.'" He paused to let a smattering of applause pass before continuing, "I'm sure that this name resonated with people because of the alliteration, and not because readers felt that politicians of all stripes are being economical with the truth on an all to regular basis!"
A brief flow of laughter from the audience, and via audio from the remote Holo Stages flowed over him, and he let an ironic smile cross his features, "Okay, I'm not buying that either!"
More laughter followed, and some applause, holding the Golden Rufus up in victory, "Thanks for the award!"
The applause that followed sounded almost like a real, live audience was there, and he bowed, before fading out in a flash of light and a whooshing sound thanks to the HSCC's built in special effects. Kit stepped back up and cleared his throat, "Ok, we'll take a brief break for station ID, and we'll be right back with Kgs presenting the Fannie Awards for Best Original Character and Best Minor Character!"
