Chapter 8

"So who is this Dragon guy?" Eric asked. He and I were seated at our table during lunch. He was pushing around Tuesday Tuna Surprise and I was eating homemade pasta.

"Drakken." I corrected. I gestured at him with a forkful of pasta. He took the opportunity to eat the pasta right off my plastic utensil. "Hey!" I giggled.

"What does he want?" Eric asked. The cafeteria was full of students pouring in from classes. Bonnie and Brick walked by Eric and I. Her tray had celery, his had a protein shake and three sandwiches.

"Other than complete power of the world? He wants to destroy me." I told Eric.

"That's not cool. I bet he would like you if he got to know you." Eric said.

"I don't think so. But Shego has some really nice brothers."

"I hate her." Eric muttered.

"What?" I asked. I took another big bite of my pasta.

"Oh, I just mean I hate what I have heard of her."

"I didn't think I had told you about her yet." I noted.

"Ron told me." He explained.

"What about the Ron?" Ron asked from across the table.

"Nothing." Eric and I said at the same time. I pointed another forkful of pasta in his face.

"JYNX!" I said. He smirked and ate my pasta again.

"Fine Eric, but you owe me a soda." I mocked.

"How about I hold to that after school?" He said.

"What?"

"I want to buy you that soda. I found this cool old fashion soda fountain place a town over, I was wondering if you would want to go there with me after school." Eric said coolly.

"KP and I always go to Beuno Nacho after school. Right KP?" Ron said defensively. Had he been listening to our entire conversation?

"Actually Ron, I think I want to check this soda fountain place out." I explained.

"If this is because you can't keep on fronting me the extra money for my Naco Night order I get it! Don't worry KP I've gotten like five more signatures on the petition to bring back Naco Night!" Ron exclaimed.

"No Ron, it's not that." I said.

"Oh, okay…" Ron said quietly. He looked down to his lunch, pushing the slop around with his plastic fork.

*-*0o0o0o*-*

"What's the sitch Wade?" I said.

"It's not good Kim." Wade said through the computer in my locker.

"How not good?" I asked.

"Bad." Wade whispered. I looked around the hallway, but the halls had emptied since the dismissal bell. I did a double take around the corners.

"What's wrong?"

"NASA. They shut me out!" Wade exclaimed. I shook my head.

"Wade! What happened?"

"I said it would take a while to hack into their servers but this was like nothing I have ever seen. My systems almost crashed just working on the first initial log in sequence. The data compressed in that network must be huge. I am talking digital plans and name databases and research notes and double backups."

"English please Wade."

"I couldn't get in."

"Wade!" I shouted. My voice rang in the empty halls. I looked around to see if anyone had heard me.

"Sorry Kim! This isn't as easy a love ray."

"So cybertronics is a dead end?" I asked.

"I wouldn't go that far. I can still browse the online web for something non- classified. Can you guess at what Drakken is planning?" Wade said, beginning to type on his keyboard.

"I don't know… A Japanese toy design and some kind of classified NASA program. I'm stumped." I said, inspecting my shoes. This was not like me. I felt myself slipping away from the case. What if I couldn't crack it in time? There was something not beuno about this plan, but I couldn't put a finger on it.

"Nothing at all? Kim that's not like-" Wade started.

"I know!" I snapped. His face on the video screen looked a little confused and a little more hurt.

"Sorry Wade." I said. "I will talk to you later." I sighed. He nodded and cut the video feed. I closed my locker and looked around the ghostly hallway. I shook my head, trying to get that feeling of uneasiness out of my system. I bet that being with Eric would fix it.

*-*0o0o0o*-*

"So what town is this place in?" Kim asked. Her red hair covered most of her face except for her ivory skin and one green eye. I had trouble believing this girl couldn't woo someone in the school. But I supposed it was too late for that, I had her in my clutch now.

"Upperton." I said as we walked out of the school, side by side. The sun outside shown bright and the sky was the clearest I had seen it in my short time in Middleton. We walked to my motorcycle in silence until I stopped in front of it.

"You have the Ninja SX09110? They only sell this is Japan!" Kim exclaimed, taking a closer look at my wheels.

"You like bikes?" I asked. Girls were not supposed to have knowledge of mechanical things. At least, that was what my studies had told me, but then again Target Number One was the only female I had ever met besides Shego. And from what Father told me, Kim was not normal, not at all.

"My friend Hirotaka had one in lime green. Except he had the wide hood and a larger tank cover." Kim said.

"Wow. Impressive smarts Kim." I said. Fluffing and ego was a quick way to affection.

"No big." Kim giggled. We stood there for a moment. Her emerald eyes hooked onto mine. I suddenly felt off balance. I was the suitor, not her.

"Well… are we going?" I asked. She smiled up at me and nodded. I mounted the bike and handed her my helmet. She got on the bike.

"You only have one helmet?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I figure if anything happened to you, I wouldn't want to live." I said slowly. I heard something like that in the romantic movies Father made me watch for days on end. She sucked in a breath and cocked her head, spinning the helmet in her head.

"I can take care of myself." She finally said. Her eyes locked onto mine and I felt every hair on the back of my neck go pin straight. I saw something in her then. Something not normal at all. Something strong and powerful. Something I would not have expected to see in a teenage girl. I gulped.

"Humor me Kim." I said. I dismounted the bike and took the helmet from her hands. Pushing her red hair behind her ear, I placed the helmet softly on her head. Before her eyes latched onto me again, I snapped the visor shut. We got on the bike in silence. I reached back and took her hands. I gently placed them on my hip and she gingerly let them stay there. I turned to the parking lot, and within seconds we were flying away from the school. My engine's roar ripped the air between us and I felt a loss of breath I could not blame on the speed.