Author's notes: There actually is a Middleton Institute of Technology in the cartoon. It was mentioned only once in Ep. 44 at 12:28, so I forgot about it.
Disclaimer: all the characters belong to Disney, no commercial usage intended. The name of the university is used purely as a pun and not as an advertisement.
Thanks to: CajunBear73
Possibilities: Self-esteem
"Welcome everyone to the first game of the season. Today on the field we will see two college teams clashing against each other. From the university of Upperton come the proud and strong Angry Hedgehogs. And from the newly established Middleton Institute of Technology, in their home game, come the Blue Devils," the announcer's voice boomed through the field. However his voice got easily overpowered as the crowd broke out in cheers and applause at the sight of the teams running out. In the first row, on the premium seats reserved for family members and VIPs only, the Stoppable and Possible families sat. Even Kim was able to make it to her boyfriend's first game despite her tight schedule. Her father made a large robotic banner projecting the words "Go, RON!" in the sky above the stadium.
"Ok, Ron, you can do it!" Ron gulped as he said that to himself. Nervously looking at the insanely large words in the sky he gulped again and started shaking a bit. "No pressure Ron, come on. Show the unstoppable power of the Stoppable."
"And now, the word goes to our dear sponsor Mr. Diego Sivil!" Just as the announcer ended his excited presentation the cloud of white smoke appeared in the middle of the field. As it dissipated a tall broad-shouldered figure started appearing. A mere moments later everyone on the stadium was able to witness the live appearance of the guy, who built the school. In life he looked even more impressive than in stone. Despite his age, his hair was onyx black, without a single strand of gray. Together with the pearl white shirt, emerald green necktie and dark gray costume he made quite a sight. He didn't have the cape on, like the statue did, however it made him look even better as everyone could see his perfect stature.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our first game on the fields of Middleton Institute of Technology. Today's game will signalize the beginning of a new age for the world... of football! So let us witness the game worthy of the new age." And with the bright flash of light he disappeared.
"As they say: 'Brevity is the soul of wit', and our sponsor is the living proof of that saying," commented the announcer as everyone got back at least some ability to see. "Now let our game commence!"
And so the game started. Despite his nervousness, Ron was at his best that game. The very first quarter he alone scored four touchdowns. However during the second one, almost every single person from the Hedgehogs put their best at pinning him down, effectively bringing the score back to the equality due to the small but crucial mistakes Devils made in their defense. After the first half, both teams tied at the 28 points each. The announcer kept going on about how the level of the game was already in the NFL league. The crowd was psyched, yelling their teams' chants.
"Shego, how can this be?" anger was disfiguring Dr. Drakken's face as he uttered those words. "I managed to put all of the professional football players from other countries into the Hedgehogs team! And they still can't even manage to win? This is preposterous!" The blue-skinned man turned away from the field and commanded "Bring my Directional Mutiliator."
In a few seconds a thin end of the device appeared right above the announcer's cabin and pointed towards the field.
The third quarter started, and the teams were quite even in their efforts to put the ball into the goal. Both Devils and Hedgehogs struggled to make a run, but as the efforts were equal on both sides, even Ron's running techniques couldn't tip the scales. Same thing was happening in the fourth quarter as well, crowd admiring in awe the epic saves and breakthroughs that both team were attempting. Just a minute before the end of the fourth quarter, the Devils called for a timeout.
"Ronald, you are our ace," whispered the coach into Ron's ear. "In this last minute, I want you to run, like you never did before! Be like a wind, avoid everyone on your way and score us a touchdown, make us proud!"
Ron understood the importance of the mission given to him. And as soon as he got the ball he started running as if his life was on the line. He ran to the side of the field, avoided two tackles and barely evaded the third.
"Now Shego – fire!" The green finger pressed the button and an almost invisible beam hit Ron's head.
The running back spun a few times, lost his orientation for a bit, slammed into the enemy's quarterback, but quickly regained his balance and kept running.
Ron felt, that he must run even faster. He understood that something happened to him, but he had to win the game no matter what. Images started blurring in his eyes, he avoided the players by the hair's breadth. He felt as if the amount of people, who tried to tackle him doubled. Mustering all the power he had, the boy made his last leap and finally landed in the touchdown zone.
Silence covered the stadium. People could not believe what they just saw. Many were frozen in disbelief at the event that just took place. How could the boy do it?
The announcer started yelling in the microphone: "Is this possible? Please tell me I am sleeping, because this just isn't possible! I am going crazy! Ron Stoppable just scored a touchdown in HIS OWN TEAM's zone!" The announcer spent some time regaining his breath before continuing: "And thus, the team Blue Devils' running back brings the victory to the Angry Hedgehogs in the last seconds of the match!" Half of the crowed exploded with cheers and laughter, as the second half started booing and throwing stuff on the stadium. And accidental rock hit Dr. Possible's robotic banner, and the glowing words in the sky flickered and disappeared.
The green and blue faces wreathed in evil smiles as they watched the crestfallen Stoppable quickly leaving the field.
After that game everything changed for Ron. Of course after the game Kim and the families tried to comfort him, saying that such a thing could happen to anyone. But the boy knew, that it wasn't anyone, but him this happened to. His teammates no longer talked to him, at the school no one would even glance towards his side. And the worst part he got invited to a personal talk with a sponsor, aka the chairman of the university.
"Hello Ronald, take a sit." Mr. Diego Sivil rotated in his chair to face Ron. "I assume you know why I asked you to come here today?"
"Yes, Mr. Sivil, because I made our school loose with the humiliating defeat in a football game." Ron sighed heavily.
"Mr. Diego, not Mr. Sivil. Diego is the last name." the man gave a stern look towards the boy. "You made our school look bad in the most critical moment. Now we have to double our efforts to become world renown. I understand, that you have skills. However that is not enough. If you do not produce results, we don't need you." Mr. Diego slammed his fist on the table top. "Give that idea some thought, boy. You are dismissed." And as the door was closing he silently whispered: "For now."
The rest of the semester did not go well for poor Stoppable kid. His classes got much harder, and now he barely balanced on the edge between D and F. His performance in games and practices kept worsening as he was constantly afraid of running the wrong way, spending too much time looking around. Such actions quickly moved him into the rarely used team reserve. Ron's roommates now didn't notice his presence at all. They started to perform international conciliums and won a few research grants from top facilities in the world. He couldn't even connect to Kim, as she was constantly busy with schedules. Every time she planned to come to his game, some villain would commit a crime, ultimately taking her attention away. Plus the meetings with the chairman became a regular occurrence. In those meetings Ron kept hearing about how disappointing he is, and about how big the mistake was made, when giving him a scholarship.
Ron Stoppable started to succumb to the pressure. His obviously lacking results in the studies were greatly worse than his classmates' ones. He could not prove himself on the field anymore, receiving only the angry gazes from his teammates and the couch. The boy started to believe, that his girlfriend avoids him because of the mistake he made. That feeling was greatly enhanced by the sessions with the school's psychologist Dr. Nekkard, who kept telling him, that everyone must stay within their own social group, and not try to bite more than they can chew. According to him and his tests, Ron was from the lower average cast, and thus should associate only with such. The finishing touch for Stoppable's despair was the fact, that he couldn't use the MMP, no matter how much he tried to.
Crushed by his problems, Ron finally failed the semester exams, getting the total GPA of 0.61 as a result. After that he was called to the conclusive meeting with Mr. Diego.
"Ronald Stoppable, hereby you are being expelled from the Middleton Institute of Technology." The fateful words were finally said. "Normally, we would suspend you from your studies for a year, but you proved to be an extreme disgrace for this educational facility, and as such I decided, that you do not belong here. It was a mistake inviting you. You shall pack and leave by the end of the week."
Completely lost, with no words to say, Ron could only nod in silence and slowly leave the room.
He couldn't muster the courage to tell his family about what happened, so for the time being he was just quietly packing his belongings, which did not amount to much. While he was collecting his things the ronnunicator sound alerted him, that Kim was calling. He quickly grabbed the device, as he wasn't able to talk to his girlfriend for such a long time.
"Hey Ron. Guess who made it to the dean's list this semester?" Kim was brimming with excitement.
"I guess... you?" Ron was happy for his beloved, but there was something pressing on his heart. "You shall not bite, what you can't chew. You belong to the lower average cast." Dr. Nekkard's words echoed in his mind.
"Yeees! I got 4.0 GPA, managed to become the cheerleader captain, I am a president of the charity club. Me and Monique even managed to present the new line of clothes to the Club Banana's management, which they totally liked."
Ron could barely hold a smile on his face, so before he would ruin Kim's mood, he decided it would be better to hang up. "Sorry KP, I gotta run, have to... em... uh... do some real important stuff. Catch you later!" And with those words he disconnected. It was time to go home and tell the bad news to his parents.
"See Shego, that is working! I told you my plan was flawless!" Dr. Drakken rubbed his hands as he did his evil grin.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So can I finally stop doing this stupid act?" Shego was obviously annoyed at something.
"Not yet, my faithful sidekick. We need to give out one last performance." Dr. D pointed at the screen with the last details of his plan. "And after that, Kim Possible will finally lose!"
As the semester came to an end, Kim returned back home to meet with her family, and finally spend some quality time with her boyfriend. However it was not meant to happen.
"Hello Mrs. Stoppable, is Ron home?" Kim stood at the doors of Stoppable's house, planning to grab Ron and stop by the Bueno Nachos on the way to the movies. For some reason he did not answer the calls, so the redhead decided to come herself.
"I am sorry, Kimmie, but Ronald asked not to let anyone, especially you, in. He is sulking about him being expelled so much. Poor boy just lays there staring at the ceiling all the time. But please come back later, I am sure he will want to meet you."
Kim could only utter: "Ron was expelled?" as she saw the door closing. She stood there for some time dumbstruck by the news and the thought that Ron didn't want to see "especially" her, only to be surprised by the call from Wade.
"Hey, Wade, what's the sitch?" even the usual words sounded a bit shaky.
"Kim, there are some news on... wait is something wrong?"
"I am not sure, Ron doesn't want to see me, he wouldn't answer the calls as well."
"Then it may be something related to the things you asked me to look into."
"You mean that request about Mr. Diego half a year ago?"
"Well, yeah. There was nothing available on him in the open, and it took me a lot of time to trace his financial operations. But what I learned will not sound good."
"Hit me, Wade" Kim became quite motivated when she heard that the sponsor might have something to do with Ron's current condition.
"It looks like the MIT was built using the funding from Dr. Drakken's, Prof. Dementor's, Duff Killigan's and Senior Senior Senior's personal funds."
"They work together." Kim clenched her fist. Now it became obvious, why the timings of the crimes were so perfect in preventing her from seeing her boyfriend. "They are trying to separate me and Ron! I am going in," proclaiming that she headed towards the Middleton Institute.
"Give up Drakken!" with these words the door to Mr. Diego Sivil's office shattered due to the force of Kim Possible's kick.
The sponsor of the school slowly rotated in his chair with the motion he got so used to with Ron, this time however he was facing his furious girlfriend.
"Its time to end this farce! What have you done to Ron?" The Possible girl was unusually angry.
Mr. Diego smirked from his beard and snapped his fingers. Instantly the secret doors opened in the walls and the floor, releasing a lot of people. Kim was immediately surrounded. Meanwhile Mr. Diego Sivil stood up and pulled on his beard, which tore off with a nasty sound, revealing the face Kim knew all too well.
"Shego..." exhaled Kim with amazement. "I knew I've seen that face before! But you, posing as a man threw me off."
"That's the idea, my dear." replied the green beauty with a smug smile, while ripping the rest of the fake costume off. "You can't imagine for how long I wanted to do this."
"And now we have you captured." Shego waved her hand in the direction of the henchman crowd. "We have Dr. Drakken," A blue skinned guy with disfigured face waved back and made a mock bow. "Prof. Dementor," The short man wearing a helmet stepped out with his hands crossed on his chest and evil grin frozen on his face. "Duff Killigan," accompanied by the bagpipe music, the kilt-wearing villain imitated the winning strike. "Senior Senior Senior with his son" The duo walked from the shadow to the light. "And virtually everyone on this campus, as they all are the legion of our united henchmen. From this situation even you can't escape, and now there is no 'distraction' or someone to save you." The nearest henchman quickly crushed the kimmunicator at those words, leaving the girl with no chance for external help.
Circling around the redhead, six villains finished together: "Now Kim Possible, you will pay."