Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or locations from the television series KimPossible, nor do I receive any compensation for their use. I write my stories strictly to pass the time and work my fingers to the bone. I now have ten very bony fingers.
Room Twelve
Chapter 4
Aftermath
"I honestly don't know, Robert," Nancy said for what felt like the hundredth time to Officer Hobble. "As I've told you, it all happened so fast."
"And you, Miss Tesla?" the large police officer turned to Tara again with a heavy sigh. "Are you going to stick to the story that you crawled through the vents only to help your friend, and that you were merely lucky not to get shot?"
"I guess that's what happened," Tara lied with a slight blush. "I mean I had my back to the guy so I don't know what he was aiming at."
"It looked like he wasn't aiming at anything," Officer Hobble howled in disbelief, "except maybe his forehead and heart... and those two entry wounds don't appear to be self-inflicted!"
"I don't know what else we can tell you," Nancy sharply stated. "You'll just have to figure it out. In the meantime, you have about forty-five minutes before the parents start showing up to pick up their kids. I think it would be a good idea if you and your men were finished before they arrive."
"Yes, I think so too," the buff officer said with a nod. "The suspect's car is being towed away as we speak and the investigators are almost finished in the room. What will you tell the parents and kids?" Officer Hobble warily begged.
"We'll leave it up to the parents as to what the children find out," Nancy said with a frown. "They would know better what their child can understand so they should be the ones to tell, or withhold, any information."
"Nancy and I can print up some kind of official statement from the school," Tara suggested as she sat down at a computer terminal and started typing, "stating that the suspect didn't come anywhere near the students and that they had been evacuated before they were put in any danger. We can also add that the police were very helpful, making the children's safety their first priority while isolating the suspect. Then, after the children were safely away from the school, the Police S.W.A.T. Team efficiently took out the bad guy."
"That would be okay," Officer Hobble nodded as he peered over Tara's shoulder and read the words that were appearing on the screen. "As a matter of fact, that will be the official account of what happened here today. May I have a copy when you are done writing?"
"Certainly, Officer Hobble," Tara giggled as she finished with a flourish. She printed out a copy and handed it to the officer.
Officer Hobble nodded and smiled as he read and reread the page. "This is just fine and it'll be the official police statement for the press. The only thing we'll need to add is something about the robbery and how the chase accidentally ended up here."
Xxxxxx
Officer Hobble had been true to his word. Since it was deemed an open and shut case, the investigators had gathered all of the evidence, cleaned up and had left the scene fifteen minutes before the children arrived back at the preschool. The parents started to arrive shortly thereafter. Each child had been given an envelop with the statement Tara had typed up to give to their parents and a few of the adults had even returned from their cars after reading it to thank Tara and Nancy for keeping their child safe.
Mrs. Bertha Tutor, the head of the school, had arrived from her dental appointment just as the last police officer drove off. Nancy and Tara told her what had happened and, while she was a bit stunned over the incident, Mrs. Tutor praised her two teachers for handling it in a professional and conscientious manner.
After the last student was picked up, the teachers, assistants and Mrs. Tutor gathered in the now empty and cleaned up Room Twelve.
"Wow!" Mrs. Bertha Tutor exclaimed as she examined one of the bullet holes in the wall, then turned to Tara and Nancy. "You two were sure lucky not to have been shot!"
"I think it was more than luck," Nancy said, slyly eying the platinum blond standing next to her. "I know that guy was aiming directly at us when the gun went off."
"What are you suggesting?" one of the teacher's assistants curiously begged. "Are you saying that he panicked or was a poor shot?"
"Noooo," Nancy drawled as she remembered what she had seen, and didn't think she could believe her own eyes. "What I recall is seeing the gun aimed directly at us and before he could pull the trigger, a blue... something, surrounded Tara and I. The bullets bounced off the, thing, and we were safe."
"Tara," Bertha said with a bit of annoyance, "would you care to explain what happened?"
"I don't know if I can," Tara squeaked and cringed, unsure if she should tell them about her Mystical Monkey Powers.
"It's okay to tell them," Kim said with a smile as she and Ron entered the room hand-in-hand. "Your MMP isn't really a secret." She turned to the other ladies in the room and said, "We only wish you wouldn't tell anyone what you're about to see."
"So I can tell them everything about our Mystical Monkey Powers?" Tara begged her two friends in astonishment.
"You can tell 'em about the Power," Ron said with a cheesy grin, "but you can't tell 'em about that place in you-know-what-country, and how you got 'em."
It took Tara a few seconds to finally understand Ron's cryptic message and she let out a playful giggle when she did. "Ooooh, I get it now! I can tell them about the Powers but I can't tell anyone about the place where we learned all about them!" She turned to her fellow teachers and laughed. "I'm sorry, guys. I was having a blond moment there for a second."
"You deserved it, Tara," Bertha Tutor lovingly cooed as she wrapped her newest teacher in a warm embrace. "If I'd gone through what you did today, I'd probably be a little rattled myself. Now, what can you tell us about these... Mystic Powers, you claim to have?"
"Well," Tara hedged a bit, not being someone who was used to being in the spotlight. Don't misunderstand. She was okay when she was in a group, like with the cheer squad, but being the sole main attraction was always a bit embarrassing for the usually timid platinum blond.
Kim knew of Tara's unease at being the center of attraction and stepped in. "What Tara, Ron and I have is called Mystical Monkey Powers. We can't really tell you how we got the Powers but we can show you what we can do with them."
Kim let her Powers flow freely and she was immediately surrounded by a glowing blue bubble. "That's exactly what I saw," Nancy gasped in amazement.
Ron stepped up to the sphere and rapped on it as he said to the ladies, "This here shield that we can create can withstand anything up to a Howitzer shell. That's how Tara was able to shrug off the bullets."
"That's amazing," Bertha marveled as she stepped closer and tentatively touched the bubble. Soon all of the other teachers were poking and tapping on the orb. Bertha Tutor walked back over to Tara and queried, "And you can do this too?"
"Yes, I can," Tara giggled, shut her eyes and the blue glow seeped out of her, slowly forming an identical orb. She opened her eyes and laughed, "But I can't do it as quickly as Kim or Ron can."
"That's only because you don't practice enough," Kim playfully chided as her sphere rose in the air, did a quick loop-d-loop and then settled back down to the floor and dissipated.
"We can do a few other things with our Powers," Ron said to the group of ladies, "but I'm sure you all got other things to do right now and we need to get going."
The teachers and assistants looked up to the clock above the door and, realizing what time it was, said a quick good bye and dashed off, leaving Bertha, Nancy, Kim, Ron and Tara in Room Twelve.
Ron pulled out his RonnieCom as he walked to the door and said, "I know a contractor that can get your fence, windows and walls repaired in a jiffy. And don't worry about the bill, I'll cover it." He ducked out the door as he called Wade up.
"I do have one question, Tara," Bertha said as the four women followed Ron out into the hallway.
"What's that, Mrs. Tutor?" Tara queried.
"Well, it bothered me a little after I hired you as a teacher," Bertha said as they slowly made their way up the hall. "I was wondering how you managed to get through high school and college so quickly. I mean you're only seventeen and should be a junior in high school this year. Do your Powers have something to do with that?"
"Yes they do, ma'am," Tara joyfully laughed. "Our MMP let's us learn at an increased pace. We only need to touch a book and we know everything that's in it. Kim and Ron paved the way so that my friend Bonnie and I could get our teaching credentials at Upperton U in only a month."
"That, I'd like to see," Nancy chuckled. She ducked in to the classroom she was in charge of and quickly returned with her tote bag. Nancy pulled a book out of the bag and handed it to Tara as she asked, "Can you read this book using your Powers?"
Tara looked at the cover and saw that the paperback was a romance novel. The hand holding the book glowed blue for a few seconds before the aura disappeared and Tara handed to novel over to Mrs. Tutor.
"Open the book to any page," Tara instructed the Preschool Principal.
"Okay, Tara," Bertha said as she opened the book and found the page number. "How about page one-sixty-one."
"Ooooh, that's a good one," Tara enthused as her whole face lit up in excitement and started to recite, "Marsha ripped John's shirt open, buttons flying in all directions. 'I want you now,' she said in a husky voice before she licked a line from his bare stomach up to his chin.
"'Marsha,' John cooed as he firmly gripped her shoulders and pulled the material of the dress she wore down, down, down.
"'John,' she cried and they fell into a crushing embrace.
"'Marsha.'
"'John.'
"'Marsha.'
"And so on and so forth," Tara said, finishing quoting from the book. "That goes on for about half a page before anything more happens."
"Yes, that's exactly what is on page one-sixty-one," Bertha said with a sly smiling nod as she closed the novel and handed it back to Nancy.
"I got a hold of the contractor," Ron said as he approached the four ladies and stuffed his RonnieCom in his pocket. "He told me he could get a crew out here and get the job done tonight but someone has to be here to let them in the building at around seven."
"I can come back and let them in," Tara immediately volunteered. "I feel a little responsible for the damage and I don't have any plans for this evening."
"You shouldn't feel responsible, Tara," Nancy cooed to her friend. "You had no idea what would happen when you jumped into the room."
"I do anyway," Tara said as she pulled the set of nunchakus from the small of her back. "My plan was to shield you and knock the gun from his hand. I kinda panicked when he turned the gun on us and forgot about the plan."
"You can use that weapon?" Bertha Tutor cried in dismay. "Tara, you know we don't allow weapons of any kind of in the school!"
"Normally, she doesn't carry the Lotus Blossom," Kim said as she held out her hand. The nunchakus disappeared from Tara's hand in a blue flash and reappeared in her hand in the form of a short katana. "I usually keep the Magical Lotus Blade with me." The sword disappeared in another flash and a beautiful necklace appeared around Kim's neck.
"I... you..." Bertha Tutor muttered in utter amazement before her mouth hung open for ten seconds. Nancy seemed to be in the same state of shock. Slowly, Mrs. Tutor reigned in her emotions and said, "Okay, Tara. Take the key for the rear doors with you tonight and let the crew in when they arrive. Just be sure to lock up when they leave and return the key tomorrow morning." She swiftly turned on her heels and walked toward the main office.
"Mrs. Tutor," Ron yelled to get her attention. The woman stopped and turned.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked.
"I told the contractor to paint the room after the repairs had been made but he wanted to know what color you wanted the room!"
Xxxxxx
Tara sat on the counter, reading a dime store novel, behind where she and Nancy had been standing when the shooting had taken place. In front of her, two men were replacing the windows that had been shot out. Two other men were patching the walls where bullets had struck while three other men were already putting roller brush to wall with an azure blue paint. The fence around the building and playground had already been repaired.
Tara smiled as she put her book down and watched the painters, specifically the one who was a teenager. She found out that the teen was only one year older than her and that he was the son of the Contractor.
The lad smiled at Tara as he stopped in mid stroke and said, "Did you know this paint color matches your eyes?"
"Maybe I will find a husband some day," Tara mused in her mind as she coyly winked at the lad.