There's Still Fireworks: Part XIV
"Oh great." Kim muttered, staring at the 'bars' of iridescent light. Ron almost reached for them, as if they were actually made of iron, but she jerked him back before his gloved hands could come into contact with them. He managed a sheepish grin as she pondered how they were going to escape.
Her desire to clamp her hands over her ears was renewed as the alarms suddenly changed from something reminiscent of a European police car siren to blaring music with a decidedly marshal overtone.
Dementor apparently had his own theme music!
Kim's mind raced as she tried to figure a way out of their current jam. Her first thought was to call Wade and have him do something to the controls, but that thought was discarded almost as quickly as it had formed. Whatever the amber hued professor was up to, it had completely cut her off from 'technical support.' The nascent couple were on their own.
Another sound made itself known over the blasting music. At first, she expected a squad of rent-a-goons to descend from the skies using their jet-packs, but instead something that looked like a very large snowmobile appeared from the tree-line, pulling to a skidding stop directly across from them.
She made a mental note that the arrival of the umber-colored vehicle was timed to coincide with the climax of the theme music. With a hiss of steam, or perhaps smoke, Dementor made his appearance at the top of the descending staircase, obviously calculating that his position would make it seem like he was towering over the two of them.
He took a moment to cackle with insane laughter before surrendering his vantage point, jumping down to the ground in front of them, glaring upwards at his teenaged foe with as much glee as he had mustered from above. "I see you fell for my gift shop trap!"
Glancing over at her boyfriend, Kim muttered, "Well, one of us did!"
"Okay, fine, blame me. I'm sorry. Now it's time for us to go upside. Rondo came to play!"
"Ron!" She growled, just as her eyes came to rest on a large snow-globe sitting in the middle of the counter. With a slight grin, she grabbed it, ripping it free from the tri-wires attached to its base.
Dementor cocked his head to one side like a curious puppy as she held the glass object right in the path of several 'bars,' deflecting them to the sides, giving the two of them just enough room to slip through. His reverie lasted just long enough for her to hurl it into his stomach, making him double over for just a moment.
"Hahaha! Too late. My men have already unleashed the dachshunds!" He screamed, clutching his midsection.
"Dachshunds? Oh man, you've got to be kidding me!" Ron laughed. "We're supposed to be scared of little wiener dogs?"
He managed to look up just as a larger door on the vehicle opened. It didn't take long for his mind to register exactly why Kim was frozen in her tracks.
Teeth snapped and their breath steamed in the frigid air as the Dachshunds leapt from their confines, dragging helmeted henchmen along with them. Dark brown fur bristled in the moonlight as the enraged canines advanced on the pair.
"Weiner, yes. Little, no." Kim said softly as her hands went up in surrender.
"Did he really have to tie both of us up?" Ron quipped, squirming in his bonds. "You know, since we're stuck together, it's not like I'd be going anywhere if he just tied you up."
"Ron, I don't think he even noticed we're glued together. He's been too busy gloating about capturing me…I mean us, and he's not Doctor Drakken. I think he's too smart to take that kind of chance.
"Well, for just once I wish somebody would. My nose is itching!"
"Quiet, here he comes."
"At least there aren't any monkeys." He muttered
"Shhhh."
" So Kim Possible...and…you! You thought you could sneak in he undetected. Well, your arrival will not deter me from my ultimate goal! Soon the world will tremble before the
awesome might of Professor Dementor! Behold!" He waved his hand toward a small alcove. Kim immediately recognized the stolen device, only it was hooked up to something else. She squinted in the diminished light, trying to decide if it was some sort of genetic splicer, or, being in keeping with Professor Dementor's usual preferences, something that would manipulate energy in some way.
There was a soft ding, making her realize it was nowhere near as nefarious. To her surprise, it was a coffee maker. What's more, it was a relatively cheap automatic drip coffeemaker, instead of a more high-classed expresso machine.
The liquid inside was significantly lighter in color than the dark brew she would have expected. The tantalizing scent of fresh chocolate reached her nose just as a hulking goon added two lumps of sugar to the cup he was preparing for his boss.
Ron, being a bit more in tune with all matters involving food, realized first what it was. "Cocoa? Dude, you stole that kinetic whatchamacallit just to make cocoa?"
"Humph" He grunted, taking a sip from the cup before handing it back to the goon. "It is very good cocoa, but I also plan to bend the world to my will with my Counter Electro-Dynamic Concentrator!" Pudgy yellow fingers swept up, pointing to a large device rising up from the floor.
Kim nodded in satisfaction, "Ah, that's more like it."
"What is?" Ron asked, licking his lips slightly as he watched the goon refill the cup.
"Head in the game, Ron." Kim whispered, as Dementor suddenly got in both their faces, his face awash in red light.
"With this, I will absorb the power from all electronic devices. The world will have to pay me to use their cell phones, TVs, und video games. And there is nothing you can do to stop me, Kim Possible! Nothing!"
'Dude, what's with the flashlight?" Ron asked, fighting back laughter.
"This?" Dementor looked down at what literally was a flashlight with a red lens in his hands. "You don't like my Dramatic Villain Light?"
"It's a flashlight!"
"ENOUGH! Loyal Henchmen, tie them to the central collector!" He wandered off, muttering to himself in German.
It was becoming increasingly clear that Professor Dementor's status as a having a slightly better grip on sanity compared to their other foes was somewhat in error. He always seemed significantly more competent and, well, together than his nearest counterpart, Doctor Drakken. Perhaps the former was actually true, and that might have been a blessing in disguise. They heard a great deal less from him mostly because he took time carefully planning his nefarious capers, meaning he wasn't likely to act on some insane idea and make it up as he went along like the azure tinted supervillain.
Kim and Ron didn't have to discuss any of that amongst themselves as they were tied up to the central collector of his latest invention, the Counter Electro-Dynamic Concentrator. Not, at least, after being captured with the help of giant, mutant Dachshunds, then forced to watch as the height-challenged, jaundiced villain used his stolen technology to power a small coffee maker, making 'very good' hot cocoa with it.
Ron nearly bust a gut when he approached his prisoners holding a red-lensed flashlight to his chin, trying to look dramatically villainous.
"There's something awfully familiar looking about this Counter-Electro-whatchamahooie thingy." Ron observed, trying to crane his neck to see the onion shaped globe that topped it.
"Focus Ron. It doesn't matter what it looks like if we're both going to go poof once he starts it."
"Sorry, KP. I guess I'm sorry about a lot of stuff."
"Like setting off the trap and getting us captured?" She glared at him a moment, but the anger itself was only fleeting. It wasn't the first time, and if they somehow managed to get out of their predicament, it wouldn't be the last.
"No. Well, yeah, I'm sorry about that, but most of all, I'm sorry I haven't been a very good boyfriend to you."
"What are you talking about, Ron?"
"You know." He said dejectedly.
"I know what? You said it yourself, we need to communicate these things."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about, KP. I always figured if the world got turned upside down and I had some kind of chance with you, I'd be…different."
"Ron, you're about as different as they come, but I don't see how that makes you a bad boyfriend."
"Well, I'm not. First chance I got, and I did things that I'm not supposed to, that a gentleman wouldn't do." He hung his head slightly, before looking up at her to gauge her reaction.
"Oh, Ron, we've talked about this already. If I wanted a perfect gentleman as a boyfriend, I don't think I would have picked you…"
"KP."
"I know, that came out wrong. Ron, we're in a pretty freaky sitch right here, and I already told you, there are things that in the right time and place are okay. Get it?"
"I guess. Doesn't help that I feel kinda ashamed about it."
Kim looked at him, at the obvious distress on his face. At one point she had been worried that they might go too far, too fast, that Ron would indeed turn out to be just like any other guy in the world when it came to those things, yet here he was, admitting that he was ashamed for doing those sorts of things. Instead, it was scaring him, both because they were really into unfamiliar territory, and by the fact that he felt it would cause harm to their relationship.
"Ron…maybe we need to take a step back."
His chin drooped all the way to his chest. "I know. We're better as friends than dating. I understand KP."
"No, not that. Ron, you're a spankin boyfriend. We're not breaking up, I just mean we need to take things a little slower. It took us twelve years to get to this point, I don't think it's going to hurt us to take our time getting to the next step, whatever that is. Besides…" She trailed off, willing him to look up at her. "…I like your badical kisses."
"Really?"
"Yeah, now, back to the present. We have to figure out how to…" her words died in her throat as Dementor approached them once more.
"You'll enjoy the show much better from this central operating collector. Think of it as a front-row seat. When the machine is activated, you will both be vaporized! Poof!"
"I think I liked our seat over there better." Ron griped, nodding to the spot they had been tied to previously.
"Too bad, this is the way it is going to be done!" Dementor laughed, grinning at the teens. "Start the charging sequence!" He shouted.
It began with a tinge of ozone in the air, but in an instant it got much worse as static electricity filled the air, arcing from the central collector to anything nearby. Power surged through both their bodies, though it was only just enough to make them uncomfortable. That, and to make their hair stand on end.
"Oh great, this is so not good for my split ends." Kim muttered, looking up at her own mane as little blue sparks flitted around the red tresses.
"You will soon have much more to worry about than a bad hair day, Fräulein Possible!"
"So not the drama. If I can…just get to my…" She squirmed in her bonds, trying to get her hand toward one of the cargo pockets on her leg.
"Looking for this?" Dementor squealed in delight as he held the Kimmunicator up for both of them to see. With his other hand he was once again holding the flashlight, bathing his face in its crimson glow. "See how my villain light works? Effective, no?"
"So not what I wanted to hear." She muttered through gritted teeth as the power surged around them, making them distinctly more than uncomfortable.
"Maybe…Rufus…can…" Ron's teeth were grinding as well as he tried reaching for his little friend's accustomed home.
"Ha! You think your precious little rodent will chew through your bindings? Think again, Sidekick!" With yet another grand gesture, he pointed to a cage sitting on the counter near the kinetic modulator.
A wide grin split Kim's face. Obviously Dementor had sought to keep the little naked mole rat from saving them once more, but he failed to realized one important fact…
…she had seen him chew through a steel grating before, and had even used his ultra-strong buck teeth to turn screws. A tiny bird cage was not going to contain him, especially with his two favorite humans in danger.
It only took him a moment to realize he was not looking at a sad little creature inside a small bird cage, but that same cage with the bars broken and bent outward. A twinkling of an eye later, he realized he wasn't all that far from the cage either!
"Hi-hyah!" Rufus squeaked as he took a text-book perfect flying kick at the modulator, knocking it loose from its connections.
"What have you done?" He screamed, starting toward the rodent. "My Counter Electro-Dynamic Concentrator was sucking up the world's energy!"
Rufus shrugged once before hopping off the counter, bounding across the room before any of the hired goons could do anything to stop him. With the power cut to the concentrator, he could safely chew through the ropes, freeing the pair.
"At least I still have my cocoa maker!" Dementor grabbed it, along with the stolen modulator, making for the nearest door. Whatever tenuous grip he had on sanity was obviously fleeing him, because he didn't see his teen nemesis flipping through the air, despite having her boyfriend attached to her side. The only thing he comprehended was a size seven snow boot connecting with his chest.
The blow connected with such force it sent him cartwheeling backwards. Nobody saw the small globe roll out of his jacket as he plowed into a cluster of his men.
That is, until they were all surrounded by a cloud of weird yellow smoke.
Both Kim and Ron were grinning as the mist cleared, revealing the whole gaggle to be glued together at odd angles.
"Now, Professor, how about you kindly show us the de-bonding agent." She said softly as her fingers twined with Ron's.
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