Disney owns KP stuff, someone else owns the other stuff.
XXX
37. Intense Kissee.
"Yorii-i. Spill!" Monique cried out. Walking next to her to their next class.
"What is it, that you want me to, umm ...spill. Monique-san?" Yori asked, and she kept walking on.
"You... You and Ron, so.. how was it?! Spill, girl!" Monique practically begged the asian beauty.
"Ah, that. Well, it was ..intense."
Kim was all ears, once she came out of a coma in the caf. And she followed them to the same class.
"Arrgh! Girl, gimme something! What you did to him... I mean, good god! There is blood on his shirt!" Monique practically shouted outside the classroom.
Yori stopped, and Monique plowed straight into her at the entrance.
"Oh, some of that was just a shower this morning, Monique-san." Yori deadpanned.
"Say what?!"
"As I said earlier. Intense." Yori stated, entering the classroom and heading to her desk. Completely ignoring the silent classroom listening in.
"Ugghh, Yori!" Monique started, then stopped. Looking at an almost filled classroom, she pointed at her, then sat down.
…
"Ron, put this on, dude." Ron stopped when a shirt hit him on the back of his head.
"No. I'm good, man." He protested.
"Dude, the evidence of your little tryst is scarring small mammals for life." Rex said, gesturing at him.
"Wha? Oh." Ron tried to look at his back, spinning in a little circle.
"Just put the damn shirt on, Ron." Mac said.
…
Bonnie paused a moment, when she spotted the retreating back of Rex Loki. Tara nudged her and waggled her eyebrows. Bonnie stuck her tongue out at her friend.
Rounding the corner, then both stopped and stared.
They got a gushing, overly excited account from a few different sources already on what they have missed after they left. They, pretty much, written off the whole thing as a massive exaggeration.
Ron Stoppable, with his books propped against a locker with his leg, was shaking out a shirt...
Bonnie and Tara looked at each other open-mouthed. Not all that exaggerated after all, it seems. Putting it on, he just continued to class. They followed.
"When it rains, it pours." Bonnie mumbled.
"No shit." Tara replied. "And yet..."
"Yeah?" Bonnie prodded.
"You are still wear-r-ring the r-r-ribbon, Bonnie..." Tara raised an eyebrow at her friend.
Bonnie grinned back.
"Yes. Yes, I am, Tara."
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, Bon-Bon."
XX
"I dunno about this, Jack."
"Come on, Maggie. Talk to the kids. They got their heads screwed on straight, I know for a fact. They will help you."
"Yeah, but what can some kids do, really?" she asked him skeptically.
"Those? Hah! You'd be surprised. Look at how they set me up."
"Yeah, but you where retired, they cut you in. This is my place, Jack. I've worked all my life to build it."
"Yeah, and now your options are as follows:
one; deal with greedy assholes in suits, who don't give a flying fuck. You already have, I suspect. And I can imagine how well that went." Margaret frowned in disgust.
"Right." Jack went on. "Or, two: look for alternatives. Unless you want to pack up and leave, Maggie. That's three."
Margaret sighed.
"You say they will not screw me over?"
"No way. They are on the level. Good people, those kids."
Margaret sighed again.
"Alright. I'll trust your word on this one, Jack."
"I'll let them know." Jack smiled at her. "It will be alright, Maggie. If it can be done, they will manage." He added, patting her hand.
Maggie's was struggling. Same scenario of large chains trying to choke out local business. The local shops are more popular as a rule, so it took a lot of effort on the part of the big guys to push them out. However, it's always an uphill battle for the small shop owners, and as a rule they lose in the end.
Even with a very solid clientele Maggie's had a weak spot: The bank.
When the local Lowerton bank got bought out by a much larger one, the sweetheart deal was struck. Margaret 's interest went up to the point of unmanageable. Add regular suppliers increasing her prices, Maggie's was finished, and soon. She received a politely worded, but insultingly low ball offers to be bought out, just to speed up the process. She was stuck.
She mentioned her situation to Jack, when he stopped by. She heard of his new place, with a strange setup with the school and such. She also knew about Chez Ronalde a while back, never got a chance to visit before it was shut down. Now it was back, and Jack one involved into this in some way.
When Jack laid out the picture in front of her, she was skeptical to say the least. It seemed simple enough, but added a level of complexity in a strange manner. Jack was quite happy with the arrangement. She even stopped by, just to see for herself. Her situation, however, was different. But her options were few. She knew Jack for a long time. He would not steer her wrong.
XX
An old beat-up pickup pulled into the lot right in front of the diner. Two men paused inside, arranging themselves, then briskly walked inside.
"NOBODY MOVE!" came a shout, as one of them came right up and pointed a gun at the cashier.
A small hand suddenly seized the top of the 9mm and pulled the slide right off. The man stared at the remnants of his weapon just a the same hand smashed him in the face with the same slide. A kick to the knee and a knee to the solar plexus forced him to double over on the floor with a cry. And huddled there, curled in a ball.
The guy covering the entrance was still confused, looking at what was happening, when his gun arm was grabbed and twisted with a pop. He dropped his gun on the floor with a scream, when his wrist was wrenched at an impossible angle. A blow to his jaw sent him the the floor, unconscious.
It all happened so fast, the diner inhabitants had no time to react to either event. So most sat and stared.
Not all. Some already called 911, and some phones have cameras in them... nobody has ever accused a human of having too much common sense after all. There was a smokey flavor in the air, coming off the two teens, that just disabled the robbers.
"No cutting in line, you..." a young man at the entrance starter to say. When a gasp interrupted him. He turned toward it.
"Mad Dog!" Came an excited squeal.
Next thing he knew, he was catching a human missile, launching herself at him.
Ron let out an "Oof!" And backpedaled, as the girl landed herself onto him. Now, perched awkwardly against the counter and trying to find purchase on the flat surface, while trying to support a body on top of him. The girl stamped her lips onto his almost painfully, straddling and squirming on top of him, while he groped helplessly on the counter surface for something to hold onto.
A metal 'CLANG' startled the girl into pulling her lips off Ron with a pop. She quickly looked to where a hand just slammed the pistol's slide onto the counter surface. Then at Yori's face.
Yori raised a finger, then opened her hand in a single motion. Girl swallowed hard, hastily climbed off Ron and started backing up, face beat-red.
Yori, expression unchanging, kept tracking the retreating girl. Until she bumped into the table at the booth she just exploded from. Then she looked at Ron, still hanging onto the counter and looking a little disoriented.
Door opened. Mac walked in, stopped just past the doorway looking around. Trailing in by Kim and Rex., adding to the smokey smells.
"Uh, huh. So, what's going on here? And why are you not right, Ron?" Mac asked.
…
The inhabitants began to hastily comparing their notes against the people, that just walked in. And the people they saw on live news, less then an hour ago.
…
Ron gotten his bearings back and stood up finally.
Yori smirked a little.
"Hey! I was the Kissee here!" He protested, finally registering her presence.
"Indeed." She drawled out.
"Yori! You couldn't.." Kim jumped in. Stopped at Yori shaking her head, cutting off Kim's tirade.
"It was not me." She said.
Kim looked at her in confusion.
Yori inclined her head in tables' direction.
Rex slapped his hands together. Cutting off both.
"Who cares." He said. "The police are here, by the way." He indicated the cruisers pulling in outside with lights flashing.
…
As cops were bagging the miscreants, Kim walked a couple steps toward the Lemurs' table.
"Lowerton." She signed loudly. "Watch your boyfriends, wallets … and other miscellaneous valuables." She grinned at them.
"Bah, Possible! Some of your Middleton one's... Y'all can have it."
Kim raised her eyebrows at the Lemur cheerleader.
"You know, what we mean, Kim. You've been there also" Another said with inflection.
Kim frowned with distaste, recognizing one on the Little Black Book girls.
"Yeah..." she sighed. "Do watch your step with some, though." She pointed outside, where Ron and Yori were talking to the cops. Then pointed at the girl, who glomped onto Ron earlier. "Tina."
"I know, Kim. I know, just got excited... Ya know..." Tina said distractedly, looking longingly out the window.
"Treading on dangerous ground here, Tina." Kim admonished, following her gaze.
"Oh. I am fully aware, believe you me. My life flashed before my eyes back there for a moment. When she looked at me. What is her name again? I was having a heart attack at the time..."
"Yori." Kim clarified.
The Little Black Book girl snorted "Figures. Wait, Rex warned monkey about eying a dangerous chick … is this her?"
"Hmm, could be, dunno. Not exactly looking for any clarifications from that quarter, you understand." Kim said.
Girl nodded her agreement.
"Speaking of.." Another one added, eating the two guys little further up with her eyes. "Any availability there?" she gestured to where Mac and Rex where standing.
"Short of being set with dates for friday. Wide open, as far as I know."
"Reeaaally? Introductions, Kim?"
"You are on your own there. I can't make heads of tails of which way they are going there. And i'm not exactly one to ask for any advise either, considering." She made a little gesture between them.
Girl looked a question at her.
"They did not even pay any attention to the dance. Until Hope asked Rex to take her." Kim elaborated.
"Mac is taking Monique. And ..." she preempted the next ones, gesturing out the window.
Several sighs went around the table.
"I don't know, i'm still figuring this out. They are all great, don't get me wrong, just very offbeat. They carry that aloofness, that ..." Kim started, and stopped speaking suddenly. Stared into nothing, then got up, walked outside, and leaned her back against one of the windows, looking distant.
Lemurs were looking really confused now.
…
Yori walked back in. Ron paused at the entrance, looking back at Kim leaning against the window. He said something, she just waved him in.
"Thank you!" Margaret gushed excitedly, when Yori gotten close enough. She ran up and hugged her, then ran past her to Ron and hugged him also. "Thank you, both."
Ron gave Maggie a little smile, Yori bowed her head.
"It could have been just terrible, just everything." she went on. "Thank goodness you where here."
"Actually, madame. It's was a very fortunate happenstance, that we arrived, when we did. I'd say you should thank Jack for the coincidence." Rex interrupted smoothly.
"Jack?! How?" Maggie questioned.
"He said, that we should discuss business matters. And that you would be expecting us."
Maggie stared at Rex, then Yori, then Ron, then the TV hanging in the corner. Back at Rex.
"You..." She pointed at the TV , and then circled a finger at the young people before her. "You, and Jack. You where the partners Jack was talking about?" she asked incredulously.
"That would be about the size of it, madame. He said, that we should talk."
"I knew this would be as weird as that Chez Ronalde thing." Margaret muttered.
Rex chuckled. Maggie looked at him.
"Well, according to Ronalde himself." He said, inclining his head in Ron's direction. "Being normal is overrated."
XX
"So there is is, Rex." Jack was saying. As they both sat at the table in Jack's. "She is between the rock and a hard place right now. Realistically, I don't even see how anything can be done, man. Frankly, nothing I can think of, too many things are lined up against her."
"Hm, well, you are right. It will heavily depend on her situation. And I mean, her exact situation. It would matter a great deal, but you think we should look into it, never the less?"
"Yeah, she is pretty much in the same boat as I was, in the nutshell. Just she is in worse position, so it makes her more vulnerable this way."
"I see, but you think it is worth salvaging, if it can be done. In general." Rex stated.
"If it can be done, yes." Jack said.
"Very well. We'll go talk to her."
"You're so sure of the rest?"
"Positive. This is something we do together, like here." Rex gestured around.
…
"What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim answered her beeping device. As they headed toward Lowerton.
"Sup Kim. Just wanted to let you guys know, they have a three alarm going on, directly in your path. Local FD already called in for all available support. They are afraid it might spread, if they can not contain it."
"Will they be able to?" Kim asked.
"No idea. But apparently they have some people trapped in the upper stories. Fire did not get to them yet, there is awful a lot of smoke though." The Kimmunicator's screen swapped to a view from a traffic cam for a moment. Smoke was billowing out of the windows already from that angle and some figures were visible. "They are pulling people out, but it looks like they might not be able to contain and pull people at the same time." Wade went on.
"We don't have a fire engine, Wade" Ron's voice came on the line.
"No, but we got rescue qualifications. They got the fire engine, and you are the closest one's. Others will not show up for probably upwards to half an hour after you guys, maybe longer."
"Will they take us? I mean, this is kinda FD business." Mac asked doubtfully.
"Yes, Mac. All available support, means anyone qualified within reach. We are on the list, so we got it also. Anyway, what do I reply?" Wade asked.
"We're going." Kim said. A chorus of accents followed.
"Ok. Here is the map. Reply sent. Be careful, guys." Wade signed off.
…
The entire eastern side of the tree story building was already afire. Hoses where not even aimed at it anymore, tried to keep the flames from spreading further, and losing ground rapidly.
"Holy..." Ron said, pulling his helmet off.
"I can see why hauling mission pack around everywhere is a good idea." Rex said, tossing Ron's pack at him.
"Chief ?"
The bedraggled FD Battalion Chief turned from supervising his crew to the voice.
"Ah! Miss Possible! I was told you guys where coming. Just in time also!"
"How can we help?" Asked Kim.
"The west side of the building. Some residents are trapped on that end. We are trying to contain the flames, but having real trouble here, we can not even get to the one's on the far end yet. Pulling the closest one's out first." Battalion Chief said, pointing the the window, where firefighters where helping people climb down the ladders.
"Alright. So you want us to start working on the furthest one's then?"
"Yes, if you could. Dispatch said it will be close to an hour before more trucks show up. We are running out of time here. Fire's spreading too fast."
…
"Yes. We are already here and shooting." Helen had her phone to the ear. Looking up at the people scampering up and down ladders leading to the windows. "Probably, but not for a while. Surely not while FD is in the middle of dealing with this mess. Ok, will do. Bye."
Helen hung up he phone and looked up again. Firefighters where repositioning to the next set people.
"Looks like we got ourselves a standard fire thing going." Sam commented.
"Yeah, we already doing the live part in a minute. Boss just said to babysit it now, just in case." Helen said, walking a few steps and looking around the corner. "Hello..."
"Hm?" Sam asked walking up to her.
Helen looked on as a much quieter version of the rescue was talking place. She gestured to Sam to start shooting.
She stood in front of the camera and began her comment.
"This is Helen Times, reporting live fro..." Just as the windows on the first story of the building blew outward, interrupting her.
XXX
Author's note: Continuing on forward with my previous thoughts... I forgot what I was doing. So the rest is more improv. Once I remembered what I was trying to do, it no longer fit. Oh well, next time.
-RA
Mr.A – thanks
ST103 – I agree. Your own way is really the only way.
CB73 – I'm still not sure what to do there.