Jock

XX

Mason Flagg braced himself to keep from losing his balance as the Flanners' car took a sharp turn. He was in the back seat, Ted Flanner was in the passenger side in front front, and Leona was driving. Mason had offered to take the Flanners in his truck, but they had taken one look at the inside of the truck and politely declined. Mason hadn't cleaned it in a while, but he didn't think it was that bad.

The three of them had been watching the news at the Flanner residence all morning, since Mason had been staying over at their house to keep them updated whenever his son called. At first Mason had told them they should all probably stay out of the way, but Ted and Leona had overruled him after seeing the flying creature tear Justine's robot apart after knocking it into the gymnasium building. Mason wasn't going to argue with them. After all, now that Brick had escaped safely from that scientist woman's lair, Mason wanted to see his son again.

The car screeched to a halt as it reached a group of vehicles, and the Flanners leaped out with Mason close behind. He was surprised by the variety of vehicles in the area; there were a couple of humvees parked nearby, several vans, an eighteen-wheeler, a helicopter circling overhead, an ambulance, and numerous police cars farther away. Mason noticed that a number of policemen, aided by some important-looking people in dark uniforms, seemed to be cordoning off the media as well.

Beyond the closest collection of vehicles, the road wound its way up to the front steps of what had once been Middleton High School. If Mason did not already know what the building had been, it would have looked like a nondescript pile of rubble. The remains of Justine's robot lay twisted amidst the ruins. Mason also noticed a flatbed truck was approaching the unconscious creature that had been attacking Justine on television. The creature lay in a field in front of the school, on its back. A massive, mottled stomach gave slow heaves up and down, as if the creature was deep in slumber.

"Dad!"

Mason smiled at the sight of his son waving to him beside a black van. Brick was talking to an athletic-looking woman with a black eye patch. Justine, Kim Possible, and a sandy-haired boy that Mason recognized as Ron Stoppable were also there. Justine and Kim were being checked out by a few paramedics. Mason wondered if it was standard practice to give a person a once-over when they had just finished riding on top of a mutant dinosaur creature. The Flanners raced over to their daughter as Mason approached his son.

"Hey," laughed Mason as a pair of burly arms wrapped around him in a hug. Mason was a large man, but his son was big enough to wind him with a strong embrace. "Glad you're alright, Brick."

The woman with the eye patch approached Mason and shook his hand. "You're Brick's father?"

"Yep. Mason Flagg, nice to meet you."

"I'm Betty. Betty Director."

"That's your last name? Director?"

Betty frowned. "No, I'm the Director of Global Justice. But my name is also Betty."

Mason nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Your son's been a great help. Kim tells me that Brick helped her out quite a bit when they were trying to rescue Ron and Justine. Brick was also the one who came up with the idea of drugging the creature so we could get it back on the ground."

Mason stared at the half-eaten pile of Nacos still laying in the field. "Yeah, I was gonna ask why those were sitting there."

"You have good timing," said Betty. "We only just managed to subdue the creature a few moments ago, in fact. Kim and Justine came a bit close to being crushed underneath it, so we're making sure they're okay."

Leona and Ted approached the group with their daughter in tow, who had finally managed to shoo the paramedics away after convincing them she was fine.

"Justine's parents? Nice to meet the two of you," said Dr. Director as she shook their hands. "So, Justine, I was told that you designed that monkey mech yourself?"

"Sort of. Monkey Fist's henchmen built it off of my schematics, although I would have done some things differently. I did make most of the control system, though."

Betty was impressed. The mech hadn't been able to best the creature, but considering the creature's size, Betty was surprised that the robot had lasted as long as it did. She knew Global Justice did not have anyone on the payroll who could build a mech of that size.

"You know," she told Justine, "if you're interested, we might be able to line up a position for you at Global Justice. Once you finish your education, of course. We might be able to arrange for some kind of scholarship as well, if it would help you out."

Justine raised her eyebrow. She had never given any thought to working for an organization like Global Justice. To be honest, that seemed like something more in Kim's area. But the offer was tempting.

"I'd have to think about it."

Leona squeezed her daughter's shoulder. She was a bit surprised; Leona had always assumed that building robots was just a pastime for Justine, something to do on the side when Justine wasn't busy with physics, but clearly her daughter had a variety of talents. Leona was happy to see that the very important-looking woman with the eye patch recognized that fact as well.

"So why didn't that thing fly away?" asked Ted. "It looked like it was just circling over the high school for a long time."

Dr. Director shrugged. "It would have been a nightmare to have to follow that thing if it left Middleton, so we're glad it stuck around. But we're not really sure why it did."

"If I had to guess," said Kim, "I'd say it was looking for its mother."

The creature was awkwardly hoisted onto the back of the flatbed truck, which looked like it was about to buckle from the added weight. The truck began to struggle onto the road as the creature's bulk spilled over the sides of the flatbed. It didn't look like the most effective transportation strategy, but there did not appear to be any better way to move it.

Mason squeezed his son's shoulder – he was glad Brick was safe, along with Justine and all of his friends. As the flatbed truck left, Mason wondered where they were taking the creature. He had a strange feeling that if he asked the imposing woman with the eyepatch, she would not be giving him an answer.

XX

"I just hope they don't hurt my baby!"

Monkey Fist rolled his eyes. Amy had been blathering on about her Cuddledactyl for the last hour, when she should have been happy to escape from that mess.

After that bizarre fight with Kim Possible's high school teacher, Monkey Fist and Amy had managed to sneak through town and make their way into a bus station while avoiding Global Justice and Middleton police patrols. One of the wall-mounted televisions at the bus station had been playing a newsreel about the scene of destruction from which they had just escaped. Amy began to cry hysterically after seeing her unconscious Cuddledactyl being carted away on a flatbed truck, which was followed by ominous looking unmarked vans.

The newscast had followed the clip with a old stock photo of Monkey Fist – from his days as Montgomery Fiske, archaeologist – beside another photo of Amy. The two photos were topped by the word wanted in large red letters. As numerous people lounging around the bus station had begun to take notice of Amy's crying, Monkey Fist knew they needed to get out of Middleton, fast. Now they were on a bus out of town.

"I'm sure your Cuddledactyl will be fine, Amy. Be thankful we've escaped."

Monkey Fist watched hilly forests pass by outside the bus window as it whizzed along the highway. They would have to lie low for a while, but as far as Monkey Fist was concerned, they had gotten lucky. One wrong move and they both could have been pancaked into the rubble of Middleton High School before they knew what hit them. Monkey Fist could have sworn their plan was foolproof, but everything had backfired. Amy's creature had destroyed her own lab, Justine had managed to turn the robot against him...

That stupid robot. Monkey Fist had to admit he had been excited when Justine finally completed the robot, but now that he thought about it, perhaps mechanical monkeys had been a bad idea all along. This scheme had been a change of pace for him, a foray into new territory. Playing with technology instead of magic, working with a crazed geneticist instead of going solo. Monkey Fist liked to believe he was swinging to new branches, testing himself, further clarifying who he was.

But perhaps the lesson to be learned was that sometimes a person couldn't change. Sometimes it was best to stick to the tried and true. Devices like the Transportulator and the Genetic Zipper - or even the monkey robot - were amusing gimmicks, but when it came down to it, clearly technology could not be trusted compared to a good old fashioned magical monkey talisman.

As Monkey Fist's girlfriend sat on the bus seat beside him and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, he wondered if the time was right to break things off. Amy had served her purpose as his accomplice in evil, and look how that turned out. Besides, Monkey Fist had been tiring of their relationship even before they started this latest scheme. Yes, Monkey Fist thought. Better to do it now, when he was not tied down by any ongoing projects.

"Amy," said Monkey Fist as sweetly he possibly could, which wasn't saying much, "perhaps this whole episode has taught us a valuable lesson."

"What's that, monkey-wunkey?"

Monkey Fist grimaced. "Well, you're a renowned biogeneticist, and I am the undisputed master of monkey kung fu and all things simian. Perhaps we just aren't a good match for each other."

Amy sniffed and stared at her boyfriend. "Monty, what are you saying?"

"This may be a good time for the two of us to take a break, don't you think? After all, you need to figure out how to get your Cuddledactyl back from that mean organization, and I need my space."

For a moment, Amy looked like she was about to cry again, but she broke into a whooping laugh instead. Monkey Fist was taken off guard. Despite being an unwilling passenger on Amy's current emotional roller coaster, he had not expected this unexpected twist in the track.

"Oh Monty, you're so silly! We're not breaking up."

"We're not?"

"Of course not. This is my time of need. And you know what," said Amy as she put her handkerchief away, "I'll miss Cuddledactyl, but I did make him to replace my Cuddlesaurus. Why should I always be stuck in that vicious cycle? Maybe I've lost track of what's really important. I do love my pets, but I can always make replacements. But you know what, Monty?"

Amy leaned closer. Monkey Fist found her expression entirely too ominous. She stared at him expectantly with red-rimmed, wild eyes, reining in the remnants of her crying with a few sniffs.

"What?" asked Monkey Fist.

"I can never replace you!"

Monkey Fist laughed nervously as Amy embraced him. A sinking feeling began to take hold in the pit of his stomach as he took stock of his situation. Oh dear, he thought. I've made a huge mistake.

XX

Mason waved as Brick left with his friends. He would have preferred to spend some time with his son at home, seeing as Brick had just been in mortal danger, but Ron had convinced the group to go to Bueno Nacho for lunch since they hadn't eaten in a long time. As long as he got to spend some time with Brick later, Mason didn't mind them leaving for just a little while.

As the teens walked down the road, Mason noticed Brick's football coach walking across the now empty field where the pile of Nacos and the flying creature had been sprawled out. Steve Barkin had been talking to some Global Justice operatives, who were now trying to load the remains of the monkey robot onto yet another flatbed truck, but it looked like their conversation had ended.

"Hey, Steve Barkin," Mason shouted. "How's it going?"

Steve walked over to Mason and gave him a handshake. "Could be better."

"Oh, yeah. The school and all."

Mason coughed. Perhaps it had been a stupid question.

"I was fighting that sick scientist woman and the monkey man, but they got away," said Steve. "Couldn't take the discipline I was dishing out!"

"Ah. Is Global Justice gonna be after them now?"

"I suppose. It didn't seem like they were very interested. Seemed like they were more interested in the monkey robot and that monster."

Mason looked over to the high school gymnasium's pancaked wreckage. The robot was in bad enough shape that Global Justice seemed to be dismantling it and removing it piece by piece. Mason was just glad that Justine had managed to get out of that thing safely.

A crash rang out from the school's ruins as the small crane that had been brought in to help lift pieces of the robot accidentally dropped a metallic arm. Mason watched as a plume of dust rose up, sending Global Justice operatives staggering back and coughing. Justine and that creature had really done a number on the school building, Mason thought. They'd probably have to just tear the rest of it down and rebuild it entirely. As he stared at the wreckage, an idea popped into Mason's mind.

"You know, I've got some contacts in the construction industry," he told Steve. "I'd be happy to help you out when it comes to getting that place rebuilt. Cut through some red tape, maybe."

Steve nodded. "That sounds good. I don't know why we don't already have a long-term relationship with a construction company set up, what with how much damage Middleton takes."

Steve sighed and brushed the remaining dust and debris from himself. He had been rooting through his office to try to retrieve some paperwork, but it looked like most of it was damaged beyond repair. Still, if those teens thought they were going to get a free pass on the rest of the year, they were sadly mistaken. Steve and the rest of Middleton High School's faculty – those who were not out sick or injured - would figure something out.

"Well, how about we exchange some information and talk about things later?" asked Mason.

"Sure."

Steve followed Mason as he walked to his truck to get some paper and a pencil.

"By the way, Mr. Flagg, can I get a ride home? My car is a little bit crushed."

XX

Bonnie glanced around furtively from her vantage point amongst some bushes. No one was walking by, and there was a lapse in the traffic driving across the street in front of her; the coast was clear. Now was as good a time as any. Bonnie raced across the road and burst through the comic shop's doors before any passersby could see her.

Especially not in her new outfit.

"Greetings, Queen Bonnie of Rockwallia! You're just in time to-"

Larry cut off abruptly at the sight of Bonnie's outfit. Bonnie smirked at the sight of his slack-jawed expression, which most of the other players sitting around the card table were mimicking. Her outfit had exactly the effect that she had been hoping for.

"Hi guys," said Bonnie as she flounced across the room and took a seat at the table between Charlotte and Larry.

Bonnie was just as pleased by Charlotte's peeved expression as she was by the boys' reactions. After hearing the news that Middleton High School classes were indefinitely canceled, Bonnie had called Larry to see what his plans were for the afternoon. Tabletop gaming was exactly the answer Bonnie was hoping for. Before leaving for the shop, she had put the finishing touches on her outfit. It was meant to be Queen Bonnie of Rockwallia's royal outfit and regalia.

Bonnie reached up and carefully adjusted the outfit's most important accessory: the crown. She also wore a purple skirt and a metal breastplate – she was a warrior queen, after all – but neither the skirt nor the breastplate left much to the imagination. It certainly wasn't armor that one would wear into battle. But then, Queen Bonnie of Rockwallia had flunkies to do most of the battle for her. Flunkies who were currently staring at her with mouths that could catch flies.

"I like the changes that you're made to your, um – the skirt. Breastplate?" Larry's thoughts seemed to be derailing. "The outfit. It is most definitely queen. Fit for a queen, I mean. What were we doing?"

"Hopefully not starting without me," purred Bonnie.

"Oh no, of course not!"

Charlotte coughed loudly and took out the notes from the previous game. "Where were we last time... oh yes. Traveling through the dungeons of Vorgok. We were being attacked by a band of wild underground Vorgs."

Bonnie noticed the gaming group had set up a small portable television in the middle of the table, which was tuned to a news station. They were listening to the reporter, Summer Gale, recapping the recent battle that had destroyed Middleton High School. Bonnie frowned as stock footage began to play, showing Kim Possible with her insufferably gorgeous hair riding on top of that flying beast.

"After which," reported Gale, "according to eyewitness reports, Kim Possible wrestled the beast to the ground and saved Middleton in yet another addition to an unbeatable track record as world-saving hero!"

"That's my cousin," said Larry. "She's like a real life Queen Bonnie of-" he stopped after noticing Bonnie's piercing glare. "Er, she's good at freak fighting. That's what you called it, right Bonnie?"

"That's right. That's not even what happened anyway. I called Brick earlier, he and Ron were the ones that came up with how to take the creature down."

Bonnie watched the news report, feeling her annoyance rising as she pouted and petulantly crossed her arms. "Riding on the back of a giant reptile bat monster. K always has to hog the spotlight."

The other players at the table sat in awkward silence until Larry decided to begin the game where they had left off last time.

"Let's see here. The first Vorg attacks Queen Bonnie of Rockwallia for 2d12, which makes..." Larry rolled a pair of dice across the table. Even Charlotte winced at the result. "Um, 24 damage."

Bonnie glared at the dice. "Larry, are you sure that's what it was?"

"Indeed."

"I think it was more like four damage."

Larry adjusted his glasses for a moment, peering at the sides of the dice that were facing up. "But I don't think that-"

"Four damage, Larry."

Larry decided it was best to reconsider his results. "You're right. Four damage it is!"

"By the way, Larry, I'm kind of hungry. Do you think you could go over to that corner store and buy me a snack and a soda?"

"But Bonnie, we just started the game."

"Please, Larry?"

Bonnie reached over and gave Larry's leg a squeeze. The table was deathly silent for several moments, other than a muffled cough from one of the other players. Larry looked down at the tanned hand on his leg, the immaculate fingernails. He felt like he was being used, like he was a piece of meat. Nothing but Bonnie's pudgy lackey. Maybe even her slave.

And he loved it.

"Yes Bonnie. Never fear everyone, I'll be quick!"

The other players smiled dutifully at Bonnie as Larry rushed out of the store. Bonnie smiled back as she absently stroked her crown. The game was on pause, and the news reporter was droning on about how great Possible was, but Bonnie was already beginning to feel better. Let Kim have her day, as usual, thought Bonnie. Possible might be a teen hero and technical head of the cheerleading team, but here in the shop? Bonnie was queen.

XX

Brick walked up to the Bueno Nacho's front counters and nodded at the uniformed boy behind the register.

"Hey Ned, how's it going?"

"Oh, you know," Ned replied, "just carrying out my official Bueno Nacho duties! I was hoping I could play a game of Crypts and Creatures over at the comic shop with Larry and Bonnie and everybody, but my coworker called in sick, and since there's no school today I was chosen to replace him."

"That sucks, dude."

Ned had to agree, but as a Bueno Nacho employee, it was his job to put on a smile for the customer. "Yes, but such is life, Brick. Duty calls. It was an exciting morning, at least! But you know that, of course."

Brick nodded with a yawn. "Yeah, I'd like to just go home and fall asleep, but Ron and Rufus dragged all of us to Bueno Nacho to celebrate not getting eaten by eating stuff." Brick thought about Ron's insatiable appetite. "I guess Ron never runs out of energy when it comes to Nacos. Even if he was almost monster chow just hours ago."

Brick was about to make his order when something that Ned had said a moment ago sunk in. "Hey, wait a minute, did you say Bonnie is at the comic shop?"

"Not exactly. Queen Bonnie of Rockwallia is there."

Brick had to think for a moment, but he was fairly sure it was some kind of a nickname. "What's, uh, Bonnie of Rockwallia doing there?"

"Playing a game of with the rest of the shop's denizens, of course!"

"Hmm."

Brick tried to imagine Bonnie in a comic shop in the middle of a role playing game, but he simply couldn't form the image. First robots, and now games. Brick wondered if Bonnie was branching out a little as well. He'd have to strike up a conversation with her when he got the chance – she did say she wanted to have some space for a while, but Brick thought things could smooth out between them eventually.

After Ned finished getting his orders, Brick returned to the booth with a tray of food balanced in each hand. Ron and Rufus both leaped on the trays, grabbing their orders and probably a little extra on the side. Brick didn't mind; he wasn't that hungry anyway, and Kim looked about as tired as he was.

"Hey Monique!" Brick noticed the black-haired teen had appeared in their booth at some point while he was off ordering food. "What are you doing here?"

"Ron called me. I just had to get over here so I could get the B.S. on what happened at the school!"

"Uh, B.S?" asked Brick.

"The Big Story."

"Oooh. Yeah, that's what I thought it meant."

"Why, you unhappy to see me or something, Brickie?"

"Not at all!"

Brick unwrapped his Naco and fended off Rufus as best he could, who had already gone through his own order. "It was just the usual for Kim and Ron I guess. Kim got buried under a mountain, we helped her escape but then we got caught in this crazy geneticist lady's mad science lab, then Justine got into a giant robot and had to fight the crazy lady's genetic hybrid monster and they both got warped out over the high school and destroyed everything." Brick glanced at Kim. "That right?"

"Huh?"

Brick smiled at the sight of Kim jerking her head up after almost nodding off. "Definitely, that's what happened."

Kim looked at her salad order for a moment, but then gradually sank down into her chair as she began to nod off again. Her head ended up resting on Ron's shoulder. Brick gave Ron a wink, which was returned by a goofy grin.

"Oh, and guess what!" said Brick. "Justine got an offer to work for Global Justice!"

Monique raised an eyebrow and high-fived Justine. "Nice one, girl! You gonna take them up on that?"

"I'm not sure yet," said Justine. "I'd still want to go to college, so that's a long way from now. I don't know what I want to do in the next week, much less what I'd want to do that far in the future."

"Fair enough." Monique nudged Brick in the shoulder. "So how about you, huh? What is this, like the second time you've been on a mission with Kim? You thinking of being a teen hero too?"

"He could be," said Justine. "You should have seen him fighting in the laboratory. He was sacking people left and right! And Kim said he helped a lot when he and Wade were trying to rescue her from the cave-in at Mount Middleton, right Kim?"

"Hnngh," mumbled Kim as she drooled just a little bit on Ron's shoulder. Ron did not look like he minded.

Monique nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

Brick smiled and took a bite of his Naco. He wondered what would happen now that Middleton High School was destroyed. Perhaps they'd just be shuttled over to Upperton High School. Or, worst of all, Lowerton High School. Brick imagined that taking classes there would be awkward after the debacle at the last football game. At least Brick hadn't been responsible for that loss. If he had still been quarterback, Brick told himself, the Mad Dogs would have been knocking the Lemurs all over the field.

"Hey Ron," said Brick.

Ron looked up from a mouthful of Naco that was clearly too big for his mouth. "Whmpth?"

"You should really try out for the Middleton Mad Dogs, dude. I think you might have a chance with your running skills. I saw you down there in the laboratory."

"You think so?" asked Ron after swallowing. "I dunno, Brick."

"Sure, I don't think Steve Farley is long for the team. He didn't look like he was digging it out there in the field much."

"I don't think Eddie Jackson is long for the team, either," Monique pointed out. "So that means there's still two positions that would be open. Ron can only fill one of them."

Brick nodded slowly. He wasn't sure if Eddie Jackson would quit the team – if anything, he might just go back to his old position and someone would would be promoted to quarterback – but perhaps Monique had a point.

Brick had quit the team because he wanted to expand his horizons, and he had done exactly that. Justine had helped him focus more on academics, even if she was a bit overbearing for a while, and she had introduced him to the fascinating world of robotics. Kim and Ron had given him a taste of adventure, of fighting for the cause of justice. That could also be fun, although Brick wasn't sure if he had any interest in dong it full time. Especially not if facing off against giant robots and flying monsters was a regular occurrence for the two teen heroes.

All in all, the more Brick tried new things and branched out, the more he realized that he had been letting his insecurities get to him. Letting other people define him. Going out with Justine had shaken up his self-image. Dating someone like her had forced Brick to ask himself who he really was.

Most of his classmates always seemed to assume that Brick was a bit on the dumb side. Going out with Justine had convinced Brick that he would never be a genius on her level, but at the same time, he felt more comfortable about his own intelligence. He knew that he just hadn't been applying himself enough. Brick didn't mind if he never got a PhD in physics or made a groundbreaking invention. He doubted he would be interested in doing those things in the first place.

Brick's classmates had always pegged him as a jock, too. On that count, perhaps they were not not so far off. After being off the team for so long, Brick was realizing just how much he loved and missed football. It didn't make much sense to stop doing something he loved just because he felt like it was pigeonholing him. Football didn't pigeonhole him, after all – his classmates did. And if they wanted to assume he was just a jock, let them.

Brick was a jock, after all. But not just a jock. As he shooed Rufus away and took a bite out of his Naco, Brick wondered what else he was. He could only come to one conclusion.

He was Brick Flagg.

XX

Notes:

This could technically be the end of the story - the last few lines were about what I had in mind as an ending for a while now.

However, I wanted to address a couple things a little bit more, and I felt like I wanted a little more interaction between the characters, so I've also got an epilogue chapter coming up soon, and then that will be it. Oh, and I hope somebody recognizes the Arrested Development reference in this chapter, hehe.

Hope you guys have enjoyed the story! One chapter to go!