Required Disclaimer: Fan Fiction. Not for Profit of any kind. Author has no rights to the source material. Just havin' a little fun…
Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Wealth of Possibilities
The DVD had been delivered in a plain brown wrapper sometime during the night and wasn't discovered by Mrs. Rockwaller until she checked the mailbox later that morning.
After calling her husband and the police—who said that the kidnapping was out of their jurisdiction…and the FBI who said that the apparent location made it an international crime and outside of their jurisdiction—Global Justice was contacted.
And that's when her mother finally decided to call Bonnie.
Betty and Ron started the DVD over again and began studying the images on a slow, frame-by-frame scan while Mrs. Rockwaller went to mix her and her husband another drink and Bonnie excused herself to go upstairs.
"Well, it's obviously a tropical island," Ron observed, "but is it the same tropical island where they're demanding the money drop?"
"Does it matter?" Mr. Rockwaller groaned. "Five million dollars each! Even if I had a month to liquidate all of my assets at the most favorable rates, I wouldn't be able to ransom even one of my daughters, much less two."
"Hmmm," Dr. Director pondered. "A professional would have access to that kind of information in the planning stage of the crime. So we're either dealing with some rank amateurs or the Rockwallers have something else they'll pretend to renegotiate for…"
"Or it's a trap," Ron finished.
"That doesn't narrow down our list of suspects much," Betty said. "The list of international criminals and terrorists who bear GJ serious grudges is old and long."
"If the trap is for Global Justice."
"You're thinking…?"
"Well…me," Ron answered. "This is a kidnapping. Not the sort of operational response where fifty commandos storm the beach and can be seen coming from miles away. A couple of low-key operatives sneaking in the back door would be far more effective. Just the sort of thing I've done dozens of times before—"
"You and Kim Possible," Betty amended.
Ron shrugged. "If you say so. Anyway, Bonnie is my friend—"
"Boy, your memory really has been tampered with!"
He sighed. "I know she and I have a checkered past. But here, now, in the present, she's acted as my friend, and until she gives me reason to think otherwise, I'll consider her such. If this is a trap, it's as likely as not that they're counting on my friendship with Bonnie to guarantee my involvement."
"So the smart thing to do is for you to stay here and let Global Justice handle this one."
He shook his head. "If I was invested in doing what you characterize as the 'smart thing,' I wouldn't have spent the last five or six years running around the globe on school nights to help other people in trouble. I'd like to think I've got a pretty good feel for this stuff by now."
"Well, you're not going in alone," Betty countered.
"He won't be," Bonnie stated as she came back down the stairs. She was wearing a pair of khaki hip huggers and a black top, cropped to bare her torso. "I'm going with him. I'll have his back."
Now it was Betty's turn to shake her head. "I'm sorry, Miss Rockwaller, but you have neither the experience nor the qualifications for field operations."
"The hell I don't," she snapped. "Never mind that you've been trying to recruit me for your Possibilities Project; I went on a mission with Kim a couple of years ago and we were successful even though we were handicapped by being stuck together at the time. And then there was the time when—"
"You met Junior," Ron said, finishing her sentence.
"Junior!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"That's what I said," Ron said.
"Junior?" she shrieked.
This time Ron turned, following Bonnie's line of sight to her front door.
It was open. And, standing in its frame was Señor Senior Junior.
"Bonnie, my love!" he exclaimed. "I came as soon as I heard! How may I be of service in your time of great emotional need?"
"You could loan her ten million dollars," Ron suggested as the top-heavy Spaniard rushed past to gather his ex-girlfriend into his ridiculously muscular arms.
Ron expected the spoiled playboy to utterly ignore him but, to his surprise, Junior turned back toward him and regarded Ron with an expression of ardent admiration.
"Ah! You are that Ron-person whose last name seems to escape me! You are here to help with my Bonita! You and the Kim Possible are going to try and rescue her sisters! I will join with you and together we will bring them home!"
To say that everyone else was stunned by Junior's unexpected appearance—and even more unexpected announcement—would be an understatement. In the silence that followed he got a better look at the young woman he was embracing. "Bonnie, my sweet; why are you dressed like the Kim Possible?"
"Because I'm going with Ron to rescue my sisters," she said, pushing herself out of his arms. "Kim's not available for this mission."
"Oh yes she is!" exclaimed a new voice.
RSVP
Kyoko Yoshiko was in a foul mood.
Ron Stoppable was headed out on a mission while she was stuck back at the hotel, babysitting a toddler. A rather remarkable toddler, considering, but still a toddler.
And still babysitting.
She had had quite enough of that on her previous assignment when she was undercover as Mr. Nakasumi's personal assistant.
She was itching for more action.
More like aching!
And the thought of Ron Stoppable going into danger without adequate back up upset her more than she expected.
Both Ron and Betty had been adamant, however: her mission was to safeguard Hana. So she would stay back at the hotel while their new quarters were under construction.
Putting her little charge down for a nap, the tall Asian woman began moving the furniture around in the room to create a larger, open area.
RSVP
Dressed only in her bra and panties, Dr. Vivian Porter, moved about the open area of her room with a speed and intensity that was both challenging and invigorating.
While she was a regular practitioner of Muay Thai, the katas that she was attempting to emulate were unfamiliar and she was mirroring them in real time as she tried to focus on the screen of her laptop.
Although Global Justice had believed themselves to be discrete in installing the pin-cams of the various rooms of the Bilkmore's penthouse suite, Dr. Porter had discovered their transmit frequency as she set up her wireless connection to her computers back at the Middleton Space Agency. From there, it had been no big job to hack into the security network and pull up any of the camera feeds.
As she was doing right now.
As she watched Hana's bodyguard/nanny seemingly dance through a veritable ballet of kicks, spins, punches, and blocks on her laptop screen, she attempted to match the GJ agent, move for move.
Vivian was in good shape—better than most young women in their early to mid-twenties. While there were no official or standardized levels—"belts"—in the combat sport from Thailand, her instructor had told her that she could compete against most practitioners in the ring if she wanted.
But that hadn't interested her.
Until now.
She was beginning to think that there might come an occasion where Ron Stoppable could use her talents in the field. Not just her scientific acumen but her martial arts skills, as well. She wanted to be ready if and when that day came.
Also, it might be good to have the measure of any competition at home should the situation arise. She rewound the feed of Yoshi's katas and renewed her study of the Japanese woman.
RSVP
Hope warily circled Marcella hoping that she wouldn't make a fool of herself in her uncle's dojo.
She had worked for him weekends and summers since she was ten and was now proficient in a variety of styles: Karate, Kung Fu, Silat, Taekwando... She had spent the last four years working variants of each into her studies of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do thanks to the eclectic moves she was learning as a Middleton Mad Dog Cheerleader. Normally, she could kick anyone's butt in the dojo—except her uncle's, of course. Although another year or two…
Unfortunately, Marcella didn't train at her uncle's dojo and didn't practice any of the Asian martial arts. She had an aunt who had married a former Spetsnaz officer who had introduced Hope's friend to the Russian schools of Sambo and Systema.
Shortly after the revelation that Bonnie's sisters had been kidnapped and shortly before the party had broken up, they had compared notes about their training and expertise in the martial arts and whether they might have a place in the Global Justice Possibilities Project.
Which had led to this little contest at her uncle's dojo.
Hope guessed that her training and experience well outweighed Marcella's. But she also knew that she tended to lack Marcella's aggressive streak and the Russian forms were a big unknown to her at this point.
Marcella ducked a sudden punch, rolled on the mat and sprung back up with a devilish grin.
What?
Marcella had not tied her obi-belt properly and the lapels of her uwa-gi were gaping open.
OMG, she wasn't wearing a sports bra!
Hope never saw the return punch coming.
RSVP
Dr. Drakken had been driving around the Colorado foothills for hours, leaving the gravel and then the dirt roads behind, finally committed to off-road four-wheeling in search of one of his old lairs.
There were many problems with his search. Most of his lairs had been confiscated by Global Justice following the Lowardian invasion and Drakken's renunciation of his old ways. Shego had kept one of the newer lairs for her own, personal use and had changed the security codes so he couldn't get in. The one he was looking for was extremely remote and he hadn't been there in years so his memory (such as it was in even the best of circumstances) was further undermined by the passage of a decade and at least a dozen other "addresses" since then. Since Shego was his navigator and map reader, he was completely "at sea" driving around solo.
And, of course, there was the fact that he was off-road, four-wheeling, in an antiquated, rear-axel sedan with bad shocks and a broken spring.
By the time he found a familiar landmark the car had all but given up the ghost. Drakken got out and walked the last two miles, all the while muttering imprecations and curses with his former partner's name liberally sprinkled throughout.
RSVP
They sat through the end credits of the movie as the rest of the audience got up and left the theater. It was only when the lights came up that the elderly couple rose from their seats and made their way to the lobby.
The theater workers were all young. No one took any notice of the grey-haired woman and the silver-haired man who paused before the giant poster of The Ferret Rises featuring the costumed visage of the actor from the Bricks of Fury franchise.
"Punks…" the old man muttered under his breath.
The woman laid a hand on his arm. "Our time has passed," she told him gently. "A new generation comes along and retells the old stories in their language and style."
"You call blowing everything up and spraying thousands of bullets 'style'," he groused. "In my day, we captured the bad guys and brought them to justice." He smacked his right hand into his wrinkled left palm. "And we did it without destroying acres of real estate."
"You miss it, don't you?"
He flashed her a wry grin. "What? The psychosis when I thought I really was The Fearless Ferret? Or the years when my acting career was on fire?" He shook his head. And then continued thoughtfully. "I miss my youth. Oh, not the strength and vitality—well, yes, I miss that, too. But I miss the innocence of that time. The blacks and whites without all the shades of grey. It was a simpler time."
"But no less dangerous," his companion noted. "And trust me, I would know."
He patted her arm, in turn. "I know you do. I feel like such a pretender next to you." He looked down. "I miss being relevant."
She sighed. "I know what you mean. The only way to make a difference at our ages seems to be through others. If they'll let us. My sons are too old and too full of their own intellect to imagine that I still might know more than them. And my grandchildren are getting to the age when grandmothers are nice old ladies who have no relevance to their lives."
"Yes," her companion nodded. "But I met a young man a couple of years back who actually made me feel young again. Called himself a Sunshine Spreader. Truth be told, I needed all of the sunshine I could get back then. He probably saved my life. And yet, he was the one who was grateful to me…"
"Ferret Fan?" she asked with a smirk.
"Yes, well, that's beside the point. He really was a ray of sunshine—or Ronshine, as he liked to say."
The old woman blinked. "You're not talking about Ron Stoppable are you? He's my granddaughter's partner in the world-saving business!"
"I don't know about that but he actually put on my Ferret costume a few times and did a decent job at fighting crime. Of course, that was before he stepped up and…well…you know…"
"Saved the world? Oh Timothy, Ronald was in a class all his own before that. But even my Kimberly couldn't see it until it was almost too late." She looked down but he could see that her eyes were suddenly wet with tears.
"Look, Nan," he said, caressing her cheek and lifting her face to his. "I know Florida is great and you've made friends here but why don't you come back to Colorado with me. That's where your family is. And that's where you should be right now!"
She shook her head slowly and produced a lace handkerchief to dab at her eyes. "I'd just be underfoot."
"Not if you stayed with me," he said softly.
"With you?"
"Why not? I live in this huge mansion all by myself. I have more room—and more rooms—than I know what to do with. And, Nan…" He paused. And when he spoke again there was a quiver in his voice.
"I'm lonely."
RSVP
"T-two Kim Possibles? I am not believing my eyes," Junior moaned.
He wasn't the only one: standing just inside the doorway were two redheaded Possible women in traditional KP mission garb.
"Just one, Junior," Anne Possible explained. Gesturing to her companion she said: "Allow me to introduce my cousin Joss Possible."
"Just Possible?" Junior said, sounding bewildered—a somewhat familiar condition for him.
"We heard the chatter on the Global Justice communication bands," Joss said, stepping forward. "Aun—and—er—Kim here decided that we should git here as soon as we could for the mission briefing…"
"So what's the sitch?" Anne demanded, adopting a take-charge tone.
"I was just telling Miss Rockwaller that this was a Global Justice operation and that she wasn't going," Betty said, trying to figure out how to address the problem of two more amateurs entering the mix.
"Oh, no!" Bonnie planted her fists on her hips. "You can't stop me from going and let them!"
"Bon Bon," Junior pleaded, "perhaps you should let the Kim and the Ron persons handle this! It is what they do and they have been doing it many times for the years. She is even—" his eyes darted back to the twenty-five year-old figure of Anne Possible. "—looking more mature and capable, now." He scratched his head. "Did she have the growth spurt or something?"
Joss cleared her throat. "Uh, Dr. Director? You asked me and some others who had even less field experience to try out fer your Possibilities Project. I've been trainin' and my—uh—cousin, here, helped me wipe the mats with your trainers. I think the Possible motto remains in effect: she—thet is, we—kin do anything!"
Betty looked at Ron with help me! written all over her face.
"You know," he said after a moment's pause, "if you're in charge and Shego tags along, I'm sure it would be safe enough for—uh—Kim, here, to take Joss and Bonnie under her wings and show them the ropes…" He winked at Joss who felt a warm, syrupy feeling slide through her (bare) stomach.
"Rooooon," Anne whined, "why are you splitting up The Team? We've always worked together!"
"Well, uh…" he rubbed the back of his neck and all of the ladies seemed to lean in to catch his answer. "We shouldn't be selfish. It's not just you and me on this mission but some new, potential talents that would benefit from us mentoring them in separate groups."
"But…but…" Anne thrust her lower lip out and looked at Ron out of the corner of her big blue eyes.
The air grew thick with expectation.
"Um…what are you doing?" Ron asked after a moment.
Anne was crestfallen. "The puppy-dog pout! It didn't work! Why doesn't the puppy-dog pout work any more?"
"Maybe because we're not kids, any more," Ron answered with a slow smile. "Hey…you know what?"
"What?" all of the women in the room asked.
Ron shot the rest of them a stay-out-of-it look. "Now that we're grown up and not kids any more, let's start some new traditions. Make a break with the old."
"Like what, Ronnie?"
"Like not calling me Ronnie any more."
"What should I call you?"
"Just Ron. It's more grown up. You know how Shego used to get under your skin by calling you Kimmie?"
"Yeah. So I should just be Kim. Right?"
"Welllll…"
"What?"
"Here's something I've been thinking about and I really, really like it." One again he shot the others a warning look. "In fact, I think it's kind of sexy…"
"What? What?" Kim's mother asked breathlessly.
"I've always been fond of your middle name, Kimberly Ann Possible. Except, I never get to say it unless I use your first and last names on either side of it. I'd like to start calling you…Ann."
"Ann?"
He nodded, shooting glances at everyone else in the room. "Yes. Ann. Or I could sometimes call you 'A.P.'"
"I-I don't—"
"Oh!" Joss exclaimed, finally getting where Ron was headed with this. "That is so cool!" She grabbed her aunt's hands. "Ann! Can I call you that, too? It makes you seem more grown up! Isn't that right, Dr. Director?"
"What? Oh yes. Yes! Ann! Of course! That's…brilliant! Bonnie?"
The brunette folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah. Ann. Got it."
"I don't know…" Anne was waffling.
"Well, I think it makes you seem more grown up. More…sexy…" Ron said.
"You know, it must be true," Junior remarked. "She seems much more grown up and with the breasts and such." He gestured.
Bonnie shot him a look. "Really? You're talking about another woman's breasts in front of me?"
"I apologize, my sweet. Your breasts are magnificent, as always—"
"And now you're talking about my breasts in front of my parents!"
"—it is just that the Kimberly Ann Possible breasts have always been so small and pointy…like the school hats I used to have to wear…and now they are so…so…"
Anne glared at Bonnie. "Is your boyfriend saying my breasts are 'so-so'?"
"Not at al—" was all that Junior was able to get out as Bonnie clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Not my boyfriend any more, Ann!" Bonnie snarled as Joss forced her way into the middle of the circle.
"Can we please stop talking about breasts!" she demanded with her hands on her hips, her legs planted apart and her chest defiantly thrust out—calling attention to the fact that, on the subject of bosoms, she was well out in front of everyone else.
"I agree," Ron said, stepping next to Anne and whispering in her ear: "I like calling you Ann. I think Bonnie hates it. Two birds with one stone?"
"I…agree," "Ann(e) said softly.
RSVP
He couldn't tell if someone had changed the security combination or he had simply forgotten the codes from so long ago.
In any event, the lair was no longer "abandoned." The underground facilities were powered up and humming away according to the readings on the camouflaged power junction box a few meters away. He would just have to wait until whoever had set up housekeeping decided to go in or out.
Dr. Drakken set about gathering brush to crawl into as a windbreak and hoped it wouldn't be too long a wait. The nights could turned very cold up in the mountains even in late Spring…
RSVP
Shego set the hovercraft down on the Rockwaller front lawn and then gaped as Ron and Betty emerged from the house followed by Bonnie, Anne, and Joss, the last three dressed in black cropped-tops and khaki pants. As soon as they were all aboard, she steered for the airport, casting what-the-hell looks at Ron every time she could catch his eye.
In the mean time, Bonnie fumed over the increased size of the mission force. She had hoped to prove herself a worthy partner in Ron's eyes by assisting in the rescue of her sisters. Spending time alone with him on a tropical island might have produced some other opportunities as well. But then Junior had turned up, followed by the Possible girls! And Bitch Betty was going to take the lead. Honestly, could it get any worse?
Junior sat in the back, furiously texting on his cell phone: Slight change of plans. I will have a brunette girl next to me at all times. She is not to be harmed. Tell your men to shoot around her just as they are to shoot around me. All others are expendable. If you can capture a Kim Possible, fine. Otherwise, she or they is to be killed along with everyone else, including the hostages. Especially the Ron person. Will text further information when we are closer.
SSJr.
ABOUT THE TITLE: "A Wealth of Possibilities" is a subtle (or maybe not-so-subtle) reference to the two Possible ladies in the mix, here.
Authors/Notes:
I sometimes worry that I'm writing Ron as OOC in his new levels of competency. That being said, let me lay out again the reasons that I feel justified in the new-and-improved Ron Stoppable.
1) The four seasons of Kim Possible were really an arc of growth and development for Ron. I'm not sure how much Kim changed from the beginning to the "end" but along the way we discovered hidden depths in Ron: his cooking talents, multi-talented talent show winner, ability to communicate with animals, the Ron factor, master mask maker, Zorpox, master of the mystical monkey power, and The Chosen One—culminating in him saving Kim and the planet in the final episode.
2) Passing through the crucible in the first three chapters, the attack of syntho-kim, the murder of Rufus, marrying Yori, and again being put to the test with her death and the aftermath of the quake and tsunami in Japan have tempered him and grown him up in a year in ways that others might take a decade or more to catch up in.
3) The attempts on his life and the deaths of his parents, yet another stage in that growing up process.
4) And, finally, while Ron has learned much from playing "second banana" to Kim over the years and deferring to her Type-A personality, now that she's "gone" he has to (and is allowed to) step up and put that training (unconscious as it may be) to good use, now.
So, given the timeline and subsequent events, I can justify—intellectually—this more mature and focused Ron. But does it work "emotionally"?
What say you, dear readers?
REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER 37
Thank you for your reviews and responses, especially the "RSVP Regulars." 'Twould be nice to hear from the silent majority out there—or is "majority" a wishful thought?
EnterpriseCV-6 9/14/11 . chapter 37
I would KILL SSJ right about NOW I had figured he was a rat he deserves to DIE also I hope somebody sees this and kicks his sorry ass
I take it as a complement that my story has aroused so much passion in you! R~13
critic 9/14/11 . chapter 37
It's not that it's becoming unsustainable or going over the top, it's that there are just too many bloody characters now. Which in some cases is fine but when they all share a single dimension i.e. going after Ron, it makes it more of the same and waters down all the other possibilities by 'oversaturating the market' to put it into business terms. I've already given up on trying to understand or even read about Crystal and one of the other cheerleaders because I simply couldn't keep track of more of the same. If there was significant differences or a notable subplot like with Drakken it would be a whole new ball game, but right now I'm skipping the occasional paragraph or section. That being said it's still a great story and easily one of the top two KP Fanfics that is being updated.
My first take on your phrase "bloody characters" was that there were too many people with violent agendas in the story. Then I interpreted it from the British euphemism to understand that you were emphasizing how the vast number of characters has watered down the overall storytelling. I'll concede the point: I've already taken a number of characters off the board and the plot is going to bring some of the others together in a more consolidated setting in future chapters. But, I'll throw out the question to the readership in general…
Which plot threads/characters would you like to see eliminated to streamline the story? (When I say "eliminate" I don't necessarily mean "kill off"—though I've used the option before and may use it again). And which plot threads/characters do you want to see brought to the fore? Remember, I've said from the beginning that reader input will influence parts of the story. R~13
Pavelius 9/15/11 . chapter 37
Really, SSJ? "Shoot around me and the brunette!" ?... no wonder his father is so disappointed with him... high class retard on the lose..
Anyway, nice trick from Ron to bring back Ann(e)... at least in the name...
Lets see who has occupied Drakkens lair (my guess is Mastermind) and how the "rescue" will work out (i sense some disturbance in the force)...
Keep it up
Pavel
What kind of disturbance in the force? (Come to the Dark Side: we have cookies!) R~13
CajunBear73 9/15/11 . chapter 37
Surprises all around here.
Methinks Drakken's found a site that GJ and Ron will be very interested in knowing about. That is if he isn't 'captured' or turned...
The mission to free Bonnie's sisters seems to have included a snake in the hen house...
And Ron seems to be staging things well with the women surrounding him. But for Shego and Bonnie.. Oh boy.
CB73
Let me know if you ever want to Beta…but I'm afraid you might need therapy before I'm done. ;-) R~13
Sentinel103 2/29/12 . chapter 37
Boy is Junior sly or what...OK or what.
Something tells me that Ron has something up his sleeve. You know I wonder where he put that sword that seems to change shape all the time.
Larry (Sentinel 103)
I can confidently promise that the Lotus Blade will return down the road—though there will be some twists along the way… R~13
Uberscribbler 12/15/12 . chapter 37
Um...what? Exactly when did Junior get this devious? Is Junior even capable of getting this devious?
Good interplay on getting Anne's name inserted back into the conversation. Clever old Ron.
So, what's next?
Another major revelation regarding SSJ awaits—but not right away. Look for it in RSVP II: The Two Powers! R~13
Some Dude 8/29/13 . chapter 37
This is a disaster waiting to happen...
Disaster? Yes. Waiting? Not so much. ;-) R~13
BartWLewis chapter 37 . 7/23/14
Ron, Shego, Ann, Joss and Bonnie sre going to save her sister, while Junior is going to be a punk and try to stop them...sounds about right.
It could be worse: he could be attacking them with karaoke! R~13
PyroNagus chapter 37 . 10/1/14
Ahh, senior senior junior. Man, throughout the chap I've have had rollercoaster-ish feelings towards him. Firstly when he made his poetic entry just happening to know of the kidnapping, I was like "Aghh dude, really? You know what? Hands up, you're under arrest just because I feel like it." Then, he gladly accepted the help from everyone. Which stumped me. Why would he do that? Doesn't he know a hostage sitch is better when it's simple? Heh, maybe he had nothing to do with it. Then he tried to help out with the Ann issue(of cource he messed it up) at that moment I was like "Aww, he's just trying to help out." BUT THEN he texted the orders to just casually kill off almost everyone. At first I was gonna be angry at him but then I thought "I feel sorry for you kid, YOU JUST MADE YOUR FRICKIN DEATH WISH, dumbbutt. Even if you do make I through this, how can you possibly woo Bonnie after killing off half of her family and her friends? That being you don't even know about Bonnie's crush on Ron. I simply pity you."
Would it spoil things if I told you that Junior will finally find true love?
On another note I'm not sure if speed aging Joss makes that pairing morally legit with the more delicate readers we have here. She's still a kid in the mind so you know... Wait sec how was she before the accident?
Underage. And Anne is not...herself. Both are a moral conundrum in terms of where a relationship might go. Trust me, I'm well aware of the delicacy of the situation...
Granted, you have come up with some pretty creative solutions to make the pairings work. I.E. The timpus simia. Takes a lotta Witt to think of that particular solution. I'm impressed.
Hope you're still impressed by the end. R~13