CHAPTER FOUR
"THE SHAMASH CANDLE"

Ron had been appointed an ad hoc deputy field operative and told to take command of the mission to capture Gemini before he stole the Fear Incapacitator. "Me?" He had argued over doing this kind of thing for years with Kim, but now he discovered it was a relief to let her be in charge of their missions. Yes, Dr. Director had told him, she had complete confidence that he could do this. She added that Agent Will Du would provide backup. "I won't let you down, Dr. Director," said Ron.

Dr. Director asked him if he had any ideas concerning how to accomplish their mission. Ron thought back to when he defeated Gil the Swamp Creature, how he had tricked Gil into thinking he had lost, only to surprise Gil in his own lake. "Do we know anything about W.E.E. operations in Middleton?"

Agent Du stifled his annoyance at being placed under Ron's direction: "As a matter of fact, we know one of Gemini's agents has set up a communication post in an abandoned warehouse off Industrial Boulevard."

"That's so cliché," said Ron. "I mean, why don't the bad guys ever try places like the pizza parlor? No one would ever suspect."

Agent Du rolled his eyes. "Because, amateur, the Criminal Mind Handbook, page 93, paragraph 4, clearly stipulates that when available, criminal organizations are to use empty warehouses when establishing secondary command posts."

"I'm just saying…" Ron said. He noted Du's clenched jaw and decided to move on. "What if we leaked information that we were protecting the machine until, uh, a special Army research team came to pick it up, and, let's see, we'd be in another warehouse near W.E.E.'s warehouse, only when they arrive at our warehouse, we wouldn't be there."

"And where would we be?" asked Agent Du, barely concealing his sarcasm.

"We're going to be…in their warehouse, because they wouldn't be expecting us to ambush them in their secret hideout," Ron answered.

"Excellent," said Dr. Director. Will Du muttered something unintelligible. "Comments or questions, Agent Du?" snapped Dr. Director. It seemed clear she did not expect any. "Then you will arrange all the details and support for Ron's plan. Anything amiss happens, you will be held responsible. Understood?"

"Yes, Dr. Director, I understand," said Du. I understand that you are handing over a critical assignment to a child celebrity and making me the potential scapegoat for when he screws up.

The Middleton High fans were stunned; their Bulldogs lost the championship game in overtime, 28-31, despite the efforts of their star running back and team MVP, Ron Stoppable. In the waning seconds of the 4th quarter, the Bulldogs down 20-28, Ron zigged and zagged for a 95 yard touchdown run on a trick Statue of Liberty play he suggested to Coach Barkin, who thought, "What the heck—why not?" On the next play, Ron dove for the 2 point conversion…tie game. But in overtime, what should have been Ron's winning run to the end zone was called back when a referee whistled the Bulldogs for a penalty on the opposite side of the field. Then the tying field goal bounced off the goal post after the kicker slipped on some mud.

Ron was determined to patch things up as soon as the game was over, but lost sight of Kim as the crowd surrounded him, pushing him towards the locker room like flotsam. Barkin patted him on his shoulder pads, told him he'd played a gutsy game, "like a real man," which was the highest praise a player could get from the coach. "Thanks, Mr. Barkin," Ron said, but his thoughts were on Kim. He had been a jerk the entire week before the championship game, staying away from her locker, pretending not to notice her in the hallway. He still didn't agree with her about the Global Justice issue, but seven days of self-induced lack of Kim Shine was eating away at him. He couldn't sleep. He was so distracted during practice that Barkin had threatened to bench him. He regained his focus during the game by pretending Drakken had tied her to the goalposts with a bomb set to blow up in 60 seconds unless he got to her first.

He showered and dressed quickly, then heard Barkin yell, "Stoppable, over here." Standing beside Barkin were Will Du and another Global Justice agent, both wearing black suits and dark sunglasses. "These two suits want to see you about something, and they tell me it can't wait till tomorrow," said Barkin, who clearly disliked Will Du. "You need some help, Stoppable?"

"I'm OK, Coach," said Ron, touched by Barkin's protectiveness.

"It's time," said Du. "We'll be waiting outside—unless you'd rather console your girlfriend."

At least I've got one, Ron hoped. He almost forgot something. "Um, Mr. Barkin, could you find Kim and give this to her?" He handed Barkin a small gift-wrapped box.

"Do I look like a marriage counselor, Stoppable?" Barkin growled. "All right, I guess you earned this one."

"Thanks, Coach."

An hour after Barkin arrived home, he pulled Ron's box out of his pocket. "Judas Priest, I forgot. I'll drop it off by Possible's place tomorrow morning." He still wondered why Stoppable left with those two goons by himself instead of with Possible. He made a mental note to ask her.

Two black unmarked Fords parked outside an abandoned warehouse in Middleton's industrial district. Ron and five other Global Justice agents wearing their dark blue field operation jumpsuits hid inside a large upstairs office. These uniforms would be so totally cool, Ron thought, if anyone could actually see them…and if Kim were here. "Nope, not going there," he said quietly to himself. Get your head in the game, she constantly reminded him; "time for the Rondo to step it up and fly solo." After an hour of squatting behind a large filing cabinet, Ron felt his legs cramping in the chill, stale air of the warehouse.

A few minutes after midnight, he saw the beam of a flashlight scan the door, then heard the heavy boot steps of several men walking into the office. One large black silhouette stood apart from the rest and said, "I am exceedingly disappointed in your intelligence report, Agent Epsilon. We waited all night at considerable risk of discovery, and yet no Fear Incapacitator. Do you know the price of such a failure, Agent Epsilon?"

"Gemini, I promise, our source was beyond question. There must have been a last minute change of plans," Epsilon whined.

Before Gemini could respond, Will Du yelled, "Freeze, you're under arrest." Chaos erupted. Global Justice agents fired taser watches at their W.E.E. counterparts, who countered with stun pellets. Those not writhing in pain or paralyzed leaped at each other. Ron froze momentarily, his heart pounding. He saw Gemini raise a metallic hand and aim a finger missile at Du.

"Du, move!" A high-pitched monkey-like howl rose above the mayhem. Ron snap kicked Gemini's hand upward, sending the small rocket into the ceiling where the blast created a cloud of plaster chunks and dust. Ron spun Gemini's head sideways with a sweeping roundhouse punch.

Agent Du aimed his taser watch at Gemini and yelled, "stand down!" Gemini wiped the dust off his tunic and raised his hands, followed by his henchmen.

"Booyah!" said Ron, pumping his fist. "The Rondo shoots and scores."

"We meet again, Mr. Stoppable. Your fighting skills are impressive indeed," said Gemini, rubbing his sore jaw. "However," he looked behind Ron, "Agent Delta, please disabuse Mr. Stoppable of his self-congratulations."

Ron turned to see Will Du aiming his taser watch at him. "What's going on," he asked just before electric volts ripped through his body.

Will Du kicked Ron's unconscious body over. "Amateur," he muttered.

"Well done, Agent Delta," said Gemini. He opened the top drawer of the filing cabinet and retrieved the Fear Incapacitator. "I believe we have our first volunteer to test our new toy."

Ron woke up, his body aching. His wrists and ankles were pinned inside steel manacles, chained to a cement wall. The room was a dank, concrete cube. Directly across from Ron on a metal table sat Dr. Bortel's Fear Incapacitator. He guessed he had been taken to some underground dungeon.

He heard the click of a metal door; into the cell block walked Gemini and Will Du. "I trust your accommodations are satisfactory, Mr. Stoppable," said Gemini.

"I missed the breakfast buffet," said Ron. "When's check out?"

"Your humor, like your unusual monkey fu style, is admirable, though futile. We shall find out the strength of mind hiding behind such bravado."

"I'm not the one who should be hiding when my girlfriend shows up any minute now."

"I told you, Gemini, about the arrogance of these amateurs," said Will Du.

Ron's eyes glowered. "I knew you were a candidate for jerk of the year, but I didn't figure you for a double-cross chump."

Will Du replied, "That's Agent Delta to you, at least for the short remaining time of your pathetic existence. I'm not the traitor—Global Justice broke its commitment to hierarchy and correct procedures. Global Justice betrayed me."

"You see, Mr. Stoppable, the Worldwide Evil Empire is an unfortunate nomenclature. We are now the Worldwide Equality Empire. We are dedicated to establishing order and rules to ensure the equality of all who deserve our protection. But to achieve this goal, we must eliminate those like you and Ms. Possible who spread chaos wherever you go," said Gemini.

"Yeah, I can see how that would woo Traitor Du. So how does your filmstrip projector fit into your plans? You intend to bore everyone to death?" Ron asked.

"The Fear Incapacitator, to which you refer, is an integral part of my plans. If we redirect and increase people's fears of undesirables in order to foment disorder, and if we then promise protection from these undesirables, we can establish a safe and equal world order."

"Um, yeah, I read the CliffNotes of Animal Farm, too, in Mr. Barkin's English class. Let me guess, you and Agent Dupe here will be more equal than others in your new world order?"

"You're more intelligent than Agent Delta led me to believe. In any case, we need to test our machine before adapting it for global usage. Dr. Bortel's instructions include warnings, lest it inflict permanent physical trauma, but he had not experimented yet on anyone. You will be our first subject. We will start on level one for one hour, and increase the level and time each evening to determine when physical damage occurs and to what extent."

"Do you expect me to give up?" Ron asked.

"No, Mr. Stoppable, I expect you to die."

"Goldfinger, 1964. Like I was saying, you're not much on originality."

"Then perhaps you recall the following line, 'choose your next witticism carefully—it may be your last.' Please do the honors, Agent Delta." Gemini left the cell.

Will Du strapped Ron's head tightly in a metal brace. He adjusted the angle of the gamma ray beam toward Ron's forehead, set the power level to one and the time setting to sixty minutes. "According to Bortel, the average person can theoretically block the effects of the ray for about ten minutes at most. So I predict five minutes for you. You're Jewish, aren't you? Happy Hanukkah, amateur." He turned on the machine and left Ron alone in the dark. No one heard the screams.

Ron immediately felt a white hot pain behind his forehead. He experienced a waking nightmare of his father telling him that he had a 5 percent chance of surviving more missions with Kim, that there was a 95 percent chance of Kim getting seriously hurt because of Ron's screw-ups. Then his father turned into a giant chimpanzee and swallowed his sister Hannah in one bite. Desperately trying to block the agony, he recalled Will Du's last comment to him, Happy Hanukkah. Ron focused all his energy on visualizing a menorah, four candles on each side of the central candle, the shamash, which was standing slightly above the other candles. He pictured lighting the shamash, then lifting it out of its stand and lighting the first candle on the right. He concentrated on the candle light with everything within him, and silently whispered the following prayer over and over, "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloeinu melech ha-olam… (Praised are You, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe)."

On the second night, the torture commenced again, one level stronger and 30 minutes longer. Again, blocking out the horrific images that threatened to overwhelm his psyche, Ron envisioned the shamash candle, this time lighting the candle to the left of the first one, and then the first candle. He repeated the prayer to himself, "Baruch atah Adonai…" The ordeal continued the third night, the fourth, the fifth… And each night Ron successfully barricaded his sanity with the ceremony and litany of the Lights.

Gemini stared at Ron hanging unconscious on the wall and shook his head in disbelief. He said to Agent Epsilon, "This Mr. Stoppable has been remarkably resistant. But in our new world order, such resistance cannot be tolerated. He will break tonight. Turn the Fear Incapacitator to full strength and leave it on. We'll dispose of the body in the morning."

On the eighth evening, the mind torture began once more. Ron visualized the menorah again, but this time he could not light the shamash candle. He was exhausted; the pain and despair were too much. "I can't do it. I'm sorry…Mom, Dad, Kim. I can't do it." He heard steps coming closer to the menorah.

"Hello, Ron. I'm here to help you." A vague shadow of a man appeared. He held a small flame cupped in his hand, and then carefully lit the shamash. "We can do this together." His hand picked up the candle, and Ron mentally guided it to each of the lower ones, starting on the far left, until all eight candles were lit.

"Who are you?"

"Sing with me."

"I can't…I'm so thirsty."

"Sing with your heart, Ron. You can do it with me. Ma'oz Tzur Y'shu'ati…(O mighty stronghold of my salvation). That was well done. You have a very nice voice."

"Who are you? How do you know those words?"

"I'm just a friend. Hanukkah is one of my favorite holidays, you know, always has been. I've loved that song ever since I was a young boy. The stuff nowadays this time of year, it's always about 'me,' 'me,' me.' I hear you're quite the songwriter, helping out your friend Kim with that Naked Mole Rat Rap." He smiled.

Ron's lips were cracked, barely moving. "Who are you, sir?" he croaked.

"I've been called lots of names, but you can call me Joshua, or Josh for short."

"Josh Mankey?"

"No," the voice chuckled softly, "not that Josh."

"Have we met? Have I seen you before?"

"Well, no, we've not been formally introduced. Have you seen me? There are lots of pictures and paintings, but they never get the eyebrows or the part in my hair right. There is one image of me, though...Do you remember seeing a little barn scene on Rabbi Katz's desk?"

"Yes," said Ron.

"Remember the little wooden baby in the animal feed box?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, there you go. I really like that one," the voice beamed. "Next time you see Rabbi Katz, ask him to show it to you."

"There won't be a next time, Sir. I can't…"

"Yes you can, Ron. Everything will be all right. You've been incredibly brave, and I'm very proud of you. I sent for help—just hold on a little longer."

"Josh, I don't understand. Please, don't leave…."

"Ron?…Ronnie!"