I do not own Kim Possible, any of the other characters in that series, or those from other media I may reference.
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Of course, anyone knowing Kim Possible would know that she would be extremely(well, a bit) displeased by what either Shego or Motor Ed intended for Vinnie Wheeler. She instead, though with some reluctance, suggested Shego accompany Ed and find out what Drakken wanted, and leave the current sitch to the rest of the team.
The rebel in Shego that never liked to be told, or even 'suggested' for that matter, warred with her curiosity about whatever Drakken wanted and her not inconsiderable desire to not to cause friction with Kim. The rebel quickly waved a white flag and she departed, but not without a slightly upturned nose and aggrieved sniff as a parting gesture.
Bonnie and Monique watched Kim with interest, expecting her to immediately spring into action, but to their consternation she simply resumed her seat. JJ wandered closer to look at the more impressive display of the game, though to tell the truth the upstairs TV wasn't exactly small, it just paled by comparison.
After a moment, though, she asked the question everyone wanted to. "So, Kim, how do we handle Mr. Wheeler?" Then she jumped when Charley's voice came over the comm.
"Already done, the way I should have thought of in the first place! But I kind of hope it doesn't happen until after they try and implement their plan, a bit curious to see how they play it! Will continue to listen in on the conspirators, want me to relay it to you, Kim?"
"Please and Thank You, but only when they make their move! I think I'd like to see it, too, but only if we're sure we can counter it!" The girl replied, now stretched out on the couch where Shego had been.
"Pretty sure we can, Kim, no way is this guy going to cause Ron grief!" Charley replied with significant vehemence. Kim smiled, Ron was sure lucky to now have two strong-willed females looking out for him!
As it turned out, it would take nearly to the end of the first half before the villains' opportunity arose. The game was still scoreless, though the Engineers had now pounced on a fumble at the Gladiators' 7-yard line. Kim practically growled in annoyance when Ron still wasn't put in the game, and appeared to be vindicated when Tech was held on fourth-and-goal at the one-yard line! Though her logical mind reminded her that Ron's performance in High School football didn't necessarily mena he'd do as well at the college level, said logic quailed before her passionate support of her BF4L!
There remained 18 seconds in the half, and with both teams out of time-outs(Two for GCU because Frank Contreras had disagreed with the play sent to the huddle!)everyone expected GCU to run the ball once into the line and end the half. But Monique noticed that the huddle ran a bit long, and Contreras had a word with his best friend as they broke the huddle. "That boy changed the play, I'll bet anything on it!"
"No bet!" Bonnie replied, "This is the difference between having a quarterback with no ego, like Brick, and one with too much like this guy!" Then she shrugged, "I mean, Brick had an ego, but he always ran the play the coaches called unless he saw a problem, which was very rare...that he noticed one, that is!" Then she frowned. "Don't think he actually changed the play, just added a small wrinkle involving his buddy, on the lines of 'Go Deep'!" Monique scowled and nodded agreement.
Kim sat up as the ball was snapped. After a poor fake hand-off, Contreras began a deep roll-out to his right, eyes locked on his receiver shooting down the sideline. He was once again double-covered, which may have assured the success of a run, yet at the same time they had given Contreras an excellent opportunity to make some yards on a keeper. But he was committed to his play. So committed that he failed to notice when the defenders abruptly stopped chasing him.
"OH! He didn't!" Monique exclaimed. At that moment the pass was thrown.
Bonnie just nodded. "Yep, he did!" The pass was right on target, and the receiver actually managed to catch it despite the coverage just past the fifty in Engineer territory, then fell out of bounds.
Contreras jumped in the air, clapped his hands together, fist-pumped, all in the ten seconds or so before he realized that his teammates, at least those looking in his direction, wore expressions of acute hostility. Puzzled, he looked around to see the referee standing with both hands pressed palm-to-palm above his head, indicating a safety.
The outraged quarterback was immediately in the official's face, who after enduring the tirade for a few seconds, pointed towards the end line. The view shifted to a sideline camera which was focused on the spot the referee was indicating, which clearly showed not one, but three clear marks made by the quarterback's feet where he had actually stepped across the end line while focused downfield rather too much!
As the stunned signal-caller left the field, there was still time for the free kick, and possibly a field goal attempt if they were lucky. And then words Kim had been waiting for all game came from the set. "Going in to receive the kick are number 45, Don Arkwright, and number 37, Ron Stoppable..."
"Let's hope our boy gives Vinnie the opportunity to hang himself." JJ spoke eagerly. Kim nodded agreement, but kept her eyes fixed on the screen. After exchanging a few words, the two returners split and took position on the hashmarks to await the kick.
The Gladiators punter did the honors and continued a pattern of kicking high but not particularly deep. Ron moved up to his own 45 to take the kick with the coverage closing in, but then spun and faked a pitch to Arkwright, which caused a brief hesitation by some of the coverage men. Ron came out of the spin angling for the sideline as if aiming to take the ball out of bounds as far inside Gladiator territory as possible to make the field goal attempt a possibility.
But then as two of the cover men turned to cut him off, they ran straight into Harmon Barkin, who leveled both of them with a crushing block to allow Ron to cut upfield and dash down the sidelines. He actually managed to fake the punter, his last obstacle, with his empty hand, then dashed cleanly into the end zone.
Kim shot to her feet, a huge smile on her face, as the other girls also expressed there own joy. Then Bonnie hiccupped, and tried to hide a big smile. "Um, girls, it may be safe for me and Mon to cheer this, but remember, they just scored on your school's team!" Before startled Kim or JJ could decide on an answer, they were interrupted by Vinnie Wheeler's voice coming from the comm system.
"...perfect! Now go into your act, and make it good! Remember that five thou, plus a bonus!"
Kim sobered immediately, just as Charley's voice came over the comm. "And we will now go into ours, Mister Wheeler!" For a brief moment Kim wondered if Charley was actually addressing Wheeler in a way he could actually hear her, but quickly decided that that was highly unlikely.
Knowing the cameras were unlikely to pick up what was about to occur, other events having priority, she resumed her seat and tried to simply enjoy Ron's triumph. Only to immediately bolt upright and pull out her cellphone to bring up the 'Skull's Eye' App, as Ron had named it.
Then Bonnie cleared her throat, and pointed to their personal baby monitor. In a moment, all four girls' eyes were fixed on the screen. But they were disappointed when none of the views they paged through showed them what they wanted to see.
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Milton Cathcart Martin, the true name of Vinnie Wheeler's accomplice, did indeed go into his act. He had been thinking about how to go about it, which bits in what he considered his vast repertoire to use, and frankly hadn't made any headway at all. So, he just went with an old standard. After all, he wanted his share of the five thousand, despite it being a low-end payoff for him.
As Ron crossed the goal line and Vincent urged him on, he held his right hand out, tilted up as if he was scanning with his palm. He tilted his head back while closing his eyes, and made an exaggerated inhalation. "Wait! I sense...I feel...Yes! There is definitely some mystic..." And then he was interrupted by a finger tapping him rather firmly on the shoulder.
He spun around, intense irritation on his face. Then it was replaced with alarm as he beheld two rather stern individuals, a man and a woman, bothh with badges visible on their belts. It was the woman who had tapped him, and now addressed him.
"Milton Martin? Alias at least two score other names? I'm Detective Graebe, Go City Fraud Squad, and this is my partner Detective Lewes. I understand there are several outstanding warrants for you in this country and several European ones, and I'm sure our DA is going to love refereeing the competition as to which you are extradited to first!"
Milton was doing a decent goldfish impersonation, mouth gaping and closing as he tried to think of a way out. Then Detective Lewes caused his eyes to bulge.
"Hey, Milty, Marty, whatever? What's this about your partner telling you the payoff is five grand? We heard the boosters behind this offered him twenty-five to pull it off! Now, don't answer until you've heard your rights, okay? You have the right to remain silent..."
Behind Milton, the GCU head coach shook his head and turned back towards the field. Damn boosters were going to get them all in trouble with stupid stunts like that! But for now, he turned his attention back to Contreras, who was listening raptly to the exchange between a now-outraged Milton and the detectives. "Bet he's hoping he can come up with something to deflect my displeasure somewhere else! Well, he has another think coming!"
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In a rented room overlooking Gold Bluff Park, outside of which Hego had met his fate, Vinnie Wheeler's eyes were glued to the television screen, wondering what was going on. The view was of the Engineers celebrating Ron's touchdown, so he didn't see the arrest taking place(In fact that was not incidental, the network had been informed something might happen on the Gladiators sideline, but asked not to broadcast it until they went to their halftime studio report).
Now he wondered how long it was going to take for the claim of cheating to take effect and the play called back. The communication system he was using to talk to Milton was the push-to-talk type, and he could hardly expect his partner to be holding the button down while doing his act! But his irritation at the delay was still mounting steadily, though as yet he wasn't taking the possibility that something had gone terribly wrong seriously. There was, after all, some 17 thousand dollars waiting for him(Detective Lewes inflammatory statement to Milton Martin having been a guess as to amount, but also due to it being a standard part of his MO for Vinnie to cheat partners!)
And then a sharp knock on the apartment door sent him all the way to the opposite mindset.
"Vincent Wheeler! GCPD, we're coming in!" But Vinnie was already moving, snatching his never unpacked suitcase up and heading for the window and the fire escape. Flinging the window open, he stuck his head out to see at least four uniformed cops waiting on the street below. Without hesitation he flung himself out on the escape and started upwards even as a command to halt sounded behind him. "Cops must have had a key! Knew I should have put the chain on, but after that time in Madrid when I had to get out fast through the door and was nearly caught fumbling with the damn chain..."
His thought broke off when he clearly saw two heads looking down on him from the roof with police caps on their heads. But he didn't stop his ascent. He had also rented the room above the one just vacated, and if the rest of his escape plan worked, he felt sure he'd slip these guys...
Hurling his case through the open window, he dove straight after it, managing to regain his footing after a bruising impact with the thin carpeting and rolling upright...to find three obvious detectives waiting for him, two with amused looks on their faces, the third that of a lawman who missed the days when a handy gallows was usually at hand.
"Are you quite finished, Wheeler?" He addressed the conman in a very serious tone.
And even tricky Vinnie had to admit that yes, he was.
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To put it mildly, both Bonnie and Monique were disappointed at the lack of an action-packed finish after all the build-up. But of course Charley had done the smart thing and simply called the police to inform them what was going on. It was highly unlikely that any case regarding the day's scam would make it through court, but that didn't matter with all the warrants in circulation for Milton and Vinnie, the GCPD was only too happy to make the arrests. Which was of course also how Kim had preferred it.
JJ sighed and spoke up. "My idea was to have Saul be in the guy's face if he did the fake trance bit and then opened his eyes, but Charley pointed out that other then possibly giving the guy a heart attack, the GCU staff might have wondered if the Boys were spying on them!"
Kim snorted. "Imagine being accused of spying on our own team! But Bonnie was right in a way too when she pointed out that we shouldn't have been so happy about Ron's score! Some minor conflict of interest, there!"
With halftime underway, the girls took turns visiting the bathroom while the others monitored the broadcast. Only near the end of the break was the scam brought up, stating that the GCPD had made two arrests of known confidence men who had attempted to influence the game's outcome, though they also stated that there was no indication that the pair were connected to any professional gambling operation.
When the teams came back, the GCU head coach admitted that one of those arrested had been on his sidelines only because he himself had had no say regarding his presence, and he was not surprised that the whole thing was part of some fraudulent scheme. Only then was film showed of Milton Martin's arrest, but that was cut off by the last spate of commercials on the local stations.
JJ headed back upstairs to watch with the upstairs crew, while Charley in turn came down to talk to Kim about how things had turned out with Ron and also to speculate about Shego's mysterious departure. The lack of success in that discussion just increased Kim's frustration. Then the second half began and both of them devoted their attention to that.
Apparently Frank Contreras had been benched, which surprised few, though the analysts on the television wondered if giving up on him with only a nine-point deficit was all that smart. But even the guy arguing in the quarterback's favor didn't truly sound enthusiastic.
The replacement showed that the switch might be a good idea as he used the running game to move the ball inside the Engineers' ten, but they failed to push it across and settled for a field goal. And that was all to be said for the third quarter.
But as the fourth opened, Tech's coach put Ron in. Who was promptly thrown for a five yard loss. But after a pass completion of twelve yards to Harmon Barkin, Ron made the first down with three yards to spare. He contributed 30 yards total on the possession, which was sabotaged by two major penalties and resulted in a field goal.
The Gladiators matched that on their next possession, then added another after having a touchdown on an interception called back. Then they seemed to be favored again when a penalty on the kickoff pinned the Engineers at their own five.
Only for Tech to burn up eight full minutes driving 95 yards to their second touchdown. Ron gained 50 on the ground and added a pass reception for 12. His roommate scored the touchdown on a five-yard pass to give them a ten-point lead with a minute and a half left in the game.
Knowing his back-up quarterback's limits as a passer, GCU's Head Coach put Contreras back in, but only after giving him a serious talking to accompanied by many emphatic gestures, some of which seemed to be specifically forbidding deep bombs.
And Frank actually exercised restraint...for one play. The accurate sideline throw was good for 14 yards and seemed to vindicate his reinstatement. But then he reverted to form. Rolling out to his right, he made a feeble pump-fake towards the sidelines and then fired deep, and of course it was his favorite receiver he was expecting to be there. But that worthy had instead run the pattern the coach had called, and the pass came back to earth without a soul within fifteen yards of it.
This lead to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the loss of a time out(In this half the Gladiators had managed to hang on to all three). After another stern lecture, and realizing that even his own friend had gotten fed up with his antics, Contreras actually managed to move his team to the Tech 17 with 48 seconds left.
On the next play the defensive back covering his target tried to jump for the ball and misjudged, allowing the receiver to make the catch and dash into the end zone. But an attempt at two points failed.
So it came down to the onside kick. Which Ron recovered for his final contribution of the day, allowing the Engineers to run out the clock and leave with a four point victory, 19-15.
"Okay, say your 'Yays' for Ron, then you have to look downcast, ladies!" Monique addressed Charley and Kim, and received two dark looks in return which only made her grin widen.
Kim stood up and stretched, then looked to see how much soda was left in the ice tub. And her eyes widened. "We couldn't...we didn't?" Bonnie and Monique also looked and were shocked to see a single two-liter bottle left. Charley just shook her head.
"You'd think after being around Ron so long, both before and after his ninja training, you might have spotted JJ 'ninjaing' a couple on her way out." She observed while picking up her glass to finish hers. Kim blushed slightly, since that was the sort of thing she thought she was good at, while Monique assumed a look of mild outrage.
Bonnie meanwhile turned her attention back to the TV, where she watched Ron heading off the field, looking tired but happy. Then again, he'd crammed a lot of activity into the final quarter. "Looks like Ron may have worn himself out!" She commented.
"I hope not!" Charley replied just as she put the straw in her mouth and began to take a pull. Then she froze as she noted three sets of eyes suddenly focusing on her. As her cheeks began to redden, she couldn't even decide to swallow for a moment, then gulped it all down at once, with some taking a detour. As she started to hack and cough, only Kim showed any sympathy, the other pair grinning slyly. But they refrained from comment until Charley had her airway clear.
But before the teasing could start, Kim sighed aloud. "Well, that's over with, at least for this year, I wonder whether we'll have the same kind of drama next year?" She then looked around their viewing area. "Time to start clearing up, and hope we haven't completely spoiled our appetites! We had better have some food ready when Ron gets here, I don't want him to have to cook it himself!"
A pair of groans resulted, but Charley immediately started in on clearing the table. After a moment, however, she froze and her eyes became unfocused. Kim noticed and was beginning to show some apprehension when Charley suddenly snorted derisively. Then she noticed Kim's face and grinned. "Nothing to worry about, a couple of the Gamma Libra girls tried to give George the slip and accidently ducked into the men's room on one level, and are trying to explain themselves to Stadium Security!"
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Several hours later an interesting collection of people was gathered in a country house about seventy miles from Go City. Outside, a number of Global Justice agents in civilian dress mingled uneasily with HenchCo private security guards to form a perimeter.
Inside, Jack Hench presided over the meeting, which included Doctor Director, Abby Hogan, Doctor Drakken, Motor Ed Lipsky and Shego most prominently. Also present from GJ was Betty's resident psychologist, Emma Prior, a slender brunette currently engrossed in studying the contents of a manila folder through her bifocals. A gentleman of the same profession who Betty recognized sat next to Hench.
Doctor Director was still reviewing her own actions in this matter. She had received an invitation to a meeting on neutral ground hosted by Jack Hench from Drakken, and had accepted rather hastily. But the whole thing had been so bizarre it might have thrown her judgment off. And she really should have invited Graham Shield's replacement as Internal Affairs officer for her base because of the nature of the meeting, but didn't know him very well yet, so chose Abby to watch her back if it became necessary.
She was now watching Doctor Prior with mild impatience, though she could see that the doctor was on the last page and nodding slightly to herself. Then she closed the report and looked up, pushing her glasses back into place. "Not a classic case, but if all this information is accurate, then I agree with the diagnosis completely!"
Betty turned to the rest of the assemblage. "So, what you're saying is that my brother's psychosis has gone beyond a desire to conquer the world to a genuine case of mental instability, multiple person..." She grimaced as Hench's expert opened his mouth, "...or rather, Dissociative Identity Disorder, as it is now known! But how reliable is your information, Mister Hench?"
"Well, it comes from sources inside both WWEE, and the unnamed organization that has been trying to prune my client list." Hench replied smoothly, "And I was willing to host this meeting based on it, so what does that tell you?"
Betty had to concede that point to herself. Hench was a clever businessman, and did scheme at times, but only to increase his profits. Something he was not getting out of this other then protect his client list. And possibly gain some credit for helping eradicate the threat, if he chose to start some rumors to that effect.
Outwardly she maintained a dubious façade. "All right, but how often has he shifted personalities, and does he have only two?"
Hench's expert, apparently miffed he couldn't correct Betty earlier, now spoke rather petulantly at first, but soon shifted to a lecturing tone. "Well, we are almost certain that he was 'Gemini' at the time of the aborted attack on your facility that tried to take advantage of the fake WWEE attack earlier. And that might explain his knowledge of the attack in the first place if he ordered it himself in his other persona!"
Betty nodded neutrally. While actually happy to have that question answered, if it was the right answer, there was one objection to it. "Except that he was not actually in charge at that time if our previous information was correct, General Dray was. Unless he was acting in a subordinate role, and I find it dubious that Sheldon would have tolerated such a state of affairs for long!"
"I'm afraid I have to agree." Doctor Drakken spoke up for the first time, "On both points. However, we have no idea how this alternate persona first manifested, and just how different it is to his 'normal' mindset?"
"The death of the remote pilot for the bomber seems to indicate he is short-tempered in both personas, as well as ruthless." Doctor Prior observed. "Perhaps his 'mindset' remains the same, which is not impossible, and only his motivation changes with the shifts." Her opposite number nodded a grudging agreement.
Betty meanwhile found herself distracted by other thoughts, some of which she should have had before. Drakken knew the whole truth about Dray, had he shared it with anyone else in the criminal world? Admittedly telling tales of Time Lords and other extraterrestrials might have made people doubt his sanity, but such concerns had never bothered him before. But she suspected he had kept silent for his own purposes, and wondered what they might be? Not necessarily sinister, but still...then she realized she had missed an exchange between Emma Prior and Hench's expert, but she'd wait and ask Abby later if she'd missed anything important(She hadn't).
"For once his villain name is highly appropriate." Drakken observed, "Since we apparently have 'Evil' Gemini and...almost 'good' Gemini. And I do wish we can more firmly establish when this 'good' persona first appeared!" He paused thoughtfully. "And we believe that the Reverend Willward brought him into the organization? How and when did they meet, I wonder?"
"Well, it's unlikely that Willward will be answering that question any time soon, based on the most recent reports on his mental health." Emma Prior observed. "Perhaps someone else in his Ministry might know?"
"They've scattered to the four winds since the revelation of the various scandals involving that organization." Betty remarked. She did so in an offhand manner because she'd seen clear sign that something had occurred to Abby. She failed to catch a thoughtful frown which flickered across Shego's face, but as Abby leaned over to whisper in her ear, she saw Shego do the same with Drakken, and as an expert lip reader, knew that the thief was echoing Abby. "Monkeyfist might have learned something when he 'interrogated' Willward, Betts!"
Betty nodded, that was worth following up, if difficult. And she recognized that Drakken would have a significant edge in that race! So she bit the bullet and addressed the six-hundred pound gorilla in the room. "Can we get to the reason for this meeting? It was surely not just to inform me of my brother's new form of mental instability, so I assume you would like to make some sort of arrangement to pool our efforts to bring him down?"
Hench smiled a smile that almost made Betty ill. "Our efforts, and our resources, Doctor Director!" He declared in his best business style.
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Ron Stoppable was stretched out comfortably on a sofa in the Legacy House's living room, happily tired after an eventful day. Except for a few bruises from the game, everything was just fine in Ron World. Well, except he wasn't sure he had the strength to make it back to his own apartment!
After the game he had done a very brief interview with a local sports reporter, celebrated briefly with the team, then begged off to head for here. And found a fresh delivery of Bueno Nacho's best waiting for him! He had briefly wondered about the timing, before remembering the Boys. Of course Charley knew when he'd be on his way! He did wonder briefly about how that was going to work out in the long run, but decided he'd simply never do anything that he had to keep secret from her! And snorted at his own conceit.
Rufus had kept an eye on Harmon at Ron's request, at least until Teri Lensco had shown up, now that her relief had taken over monitoring the antics of the Gamma Libra sisters. Leaving Harmon in her presumably capable hands, Rufus had headed back to the apartment to catch up on a few things, or so he informed Ron.
Ron meanwhile wondered about Harmon and Teri. If she was a Global Justice Agent, she was almost certainly older then him...which didn't matter, Ron decided, as long as they were both okay with it. IF, that is, she had told him her true age. Her cover was as a student, so maybe...Ron dismissed those thoughts as none of his business.
He could hear the sound of an enthusiastic game of Texas Hold'em taking place in the dining room involving all the girls except Kim and Charley. Kim was working out, and probably distracting herself from thinking about Shego, over in Thundagirl's base. As for Charley...well, she had disappeared after dinner, possibly to try and find some things out on the internet about where Shego might have gone.
Ron shook his head as he thought about Vinnie Wheeler's scam. Inspector Ball himself had called during dinner to thank them for the tip about the two con artists, it was turning out to be even more profitable then they had thought, information wise. And Ron of course was wishing things had come to a more dramatic conclusion there, but realized that it was not their place to right all wrongs, which was a bummer in his imagination.
He sighed and stretched out. "I may have to stay here all night, don't think I have the energy to move!" He said aloud to the empty room.
"Oh, really, Ron!" Came Charley's voice from above him. His eyes immediately tracked to the source, where his girlfriend leaned on the railing overlooking the living room. And his eyes popped very wide at her current state of undress! "No energy at all? That's too bad, really it is!" And she stood and sauntered off in the direction of her room.
She didn't even reach the door before Ron caught up to her...
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Well, after another long delay, here is a fresh chapter. Definitely not keeping the pace I once did, but the next may not be too far behind this one, actually wrote half of it before I started this one!
Please Read and Review