A/N: I hope everyone is staying healthy throughout this virus. If anyone knows any of the first responders or is family with one of the first responders working on defeating this virulent virus, I applaud and commend you. God bless each and every person. This is the last chapter to New Ron, which means the episode is done. As a reminder to everyone, in case you have not seen the message, some healthy lifestyle tips:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds and/or use hand sanitizer (if there is any available).
- Avoid close contact with those who are sick
- Keep your hands away from your nose, eyes, and mouth (insanely difficult and really easy to break, especially if you're like me)
- Eat well, sleep well, go out for walks and exercise
- Get the Flu Shot
And if you are sick:
- Stay home and get better.
- Stay calm and keep up to date with the virus (not mandatory, but helpful)
- Use disinfectant wipes to clean counters and regularly used surfaces one every 2-3 days.
- No sharing foods and drinks with someone who is sick
Onwards, as they say.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, just the OCs.
Note: I realized the mistake as soon as I posted it. I came back and added an extra scene or two to this.
That night at dinner, Kim Possible sat explaining her latest mission to her brothers, Jim and Tim. The two were disappointed that Kim did not beat up the guy who was using too much power. Kim told them that she left pamphlets, which prompted Mr. Dr. Possible to comment that their family could stand to turn off a few lights. Jim and Tim, for the most part, thought that turning off a few lights was useless, as most of their inventions they made needed exposure to light.
Mrs. Dr. Possible arrived at the table with a grin on her face. "Dinner! Tada!"
Kim held back the vomit that rose to her mouth at the sight of a human brain on a dinner plate. "Mom! What is that?"
"Brain! Cool!" Jim said.
"I want a lobe!" Tim said.
Mr. Dr. Possible gave the twins stern looks. "Boys, please."
The boys realized they were not going to get any brain that way, so they used their manners. Kim shook her head in dismay, disappointed at how today's events were playing out. "First Ron, then my family. Has everyone – " Kim held in her vomit as Mrs. Dr. Possible began to cut the human brain. "That is so gross."
"Kimmy, it's just meatloaf," Mrs. Dr. Possible reassured. "I'm making it for the neurosurgeon potluck. Thought I'd try it on you guys first."
Mr. Dr. Possible chuckled. "Kudos on the realism. It's uncanny." He turned to Kim next and asked, "So uh, what's up with you and Ronald? Something you wanna talk about?"
"Yeah, but I guess I should be talking to him about it," Kim said. Looking to her mom, she asked, "May I be excused?"
Mrs. Dr. Possible promised to save Kim a slice and then turned to the boys and inquired which hemisphere each boy wanted. Kim headed into her bedroom, grabbed the phone on her nightstand, and dialed Ron's home phone number. The author cuts to Ron's empty bedroom for a brief moment and the answering machine beeped.
"Hey, hey, you've reached the home of Ron Stoppable and his fierce new haircut. Leave a message."
Kim frowned. "How can Ron not be home right now? Ok, better page him."
At the Middleton Mall, Ron was trying on clothes and was unhappy with the choices the sales associate was making. "I am beyond not feeling this shirt. Look at the hair. You've got to key off the hair."Down below, Rufus held up the pager, but Ron never saw it, as he threw down the shirt he was wearing over Rufus.
Back at Kim's room, Mr. Dr. Possible climbed up the steps to check on his daughter. "You and Ronald all squared away?"
"Not. I can't even reach him." Kim paused and then looked to her dad, wondering if he had any advice that might rectify her situation. "Dad, did you ever try to change a friend, to make him better?"
"Well, not a human, but back in grad school, there was this lab rat. Pinky Joe Curly Tail I called him. The poor little guy was always running mazes for those site majors. How I hated them…" Mr. Dr. Possible's eyes grew dark at that last statement.
"Dad, what does this have to do with me?"
"Well, it seemed to me that Pinky Joe Curly Tail was just so helpless. I constructed a very tiny cybertronic battle suit."
Kim straightened herself up at that statement. "For the rat?!"
A smile appeared on Mr. Dr. Possible's face as he said, "No more mazes for him! Ah, in retrospect, giving him a working plasma blaster probably went too far. Blew up half the science building, rampaged across campus. Ah, Pinky Joe." With that, Mr. Dr. Possible lackadaisically headed downstairs while Mrs. Dr. Possible climbed up the stairs with a dinner plate for her daughter.
"So this "creating a monster" thing runs in the family," Kim commented dryly.
"Saved you some brainloaf, Kimmy," Mrs. Dr. Possible greeted and sat down with the plate on Kim's bed.
"If I said the Ron trouble is rising, would you come back with a story about a psycho rat?"
"No." Mrs. Dr. Possible folded her arms and smiled. "But I might work in an, "I told you so."
Ron Stoppable entered the Middleton Mall with a mission. The primary mission involved getting a new wardrobe. The secondary mission, which Ron was sure would happen because he had specifically instructed he show up, involved meeting Andrew Lipsky for the first time since their battle against Kim the Yono. He approached the first sales associate and asked to be fitted with clothes that worked well with his hair. The sales associate nodded and left the room to grab a selection of clothes.
While the sales associate was gone, Ron glanced around the mall to search for females that had their eyes out for him. To his disappointment, everyone seemed to be in his or her own little world, oblivious to the Mad Dog's eyes.
"So this is where the infamous Ron Stoppable hangs out," a masculine voice greeted.
Even though his back was turned, a smile crossed Ron's face before he gave a 180 and hugged the person who helped to make all of this possible. No pun intended. Andrew Lipsky, or Andrew Walters at present, smile as he hugged Ron back, not at all worried if he was hugging too tight, as he knew of Ron's Mystical Monkey Power.
"So glad to see you. Did you get here okay? Oh, I almost forgot." Ron reached into his pocket and introduced Rufus to Andrew and vice versa.
Both Rufus and Andrew rubbed their chin and stared at each other in perplexity. "That looks like a hairless rat," Andrew decided.
Rufus heard the comment and chattered gibberish at Andrew, shaking his tiny fist at him before the naked mole rat buried itself in the comfort of Ron's pants pocket. Ron informed Andrew that Rufus was a naked mole rat and that he thought Andrew should get to know his pet.
Andrew recalled from his mother who Rufus was and his part on Kim Possible's team. He promised that he would try his best to get to know Rufus. At that moment, the sales associate that Ron had sent on a mission for clothes returned and introduced his presence. Ron greeted the sales associate and told him he would be there in a minute.
As soon as the associate left, Ron turned to Andrew and informed him that he was off to try on clothes. "Do you have any other clothes with you? On second thought, don't answer that. Buy whatever you like and I'll pay you for it."
Andrew folded his arms, unimpressed my Ron's grand gesture but unaware the offer was legit. "With what money? You aren't a millionaire."
"I have a huge Savings Account," Ron exaggerated. It was true. Yesterday, Ron took the initiative and dealt with the Naco Royalties check and deposited a fraction of his wealth in a separate account. He then phoned around and bingo-bango, Ron had a credit card with 200 Gs. Compared to the millions that Ron was making, 200 Gs was chump change.
Andrew mumbled an okay and took the time to walk around. In the meantime, Ron played hardball and passed down a good eighty percent of the clothes offered. The first few clothes the manager handed Ron were to get Ron's amount and the rest...well, Ron wanted to follow the timeline.
As it was, by the time the cashier finished scanning the massive load, courtesy of Ron and Andrew's clothing for the next year, the two had spent over $1000 on just shirts and pants, not including tax.
"That will be $1301.31," the cashier said.
Ron opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as people whooped and cheered at the amount of money Ron had spent. One person even cut through the line and shook hands with Ron. Once what Ron deemed to be foolishness finished, Ron paid for the ample amount and headed off with Andrew and Rufus to the food court.
"So," Andrew began as he attempted to gather his thoughts. Andrew Lipsky wore the same shirt and pants that Ron had seen him in shortly before the two traveled back in time.
"Dude, you smell like [censored]," Ron interrupted as he set aside his nachos for Rufus to devour. "No one is going to approach us now. If you smelled nicer, then maybe I could bag one."
Andrew snorted. "Didn't I recall your only popular year being the one where you were the – "
Ron cut Andrew off from finishing the sentence, fearing that someone would overhear the conversation and continued to eat. Ron was munching on a pretzel when an alarm bell went off in his head and he stopped moving. Andrew opened his mouth, but Ron cut him off for the second time in as many minutes. Using some advanced mind-calming techniques, Ron felt the same presence that he felt when the ninjas were over at Kim's house. There were ninjas in the mall!
"Should be concerned?" Andrew inquired, having sensed the ninja's presence as well.
Ron knew the rest of the question that was unspoken and shook his head before taking a huge bite out of a pretzel. "No, they're just school buddies. The secret, hidden kind."
"Well, we get to rest easy then," Andrew joked, knowing that if anything dangerous did happen, Ron's school buddies had it handled.
Ron nodded as he slurped his soda. Turning to his friend, Ron asked, "There are things we need to do before you meet Kim, but that begs a stimulating question. So, are you going to be like every other horndog jock or are you going to be skater boy?"
"I want to be a jock but I don't want to be a so-called horndog. I assume that's what it sounds like. Given who my parents were, I could be a nerd I suppose. Oh, I'll the nerdy jock! Score!" He and Ron slammed their hands together in an overly loud hand slap.
"Okay, there's one, maybe two more stops I want to make and then I'll give you a ride home," Ron stated as he finished the rest of his soda.
"What else do you have to buy?" Andrew asked, eyes wide in wonder. "You spent all that money. You're telling me you have more?"
"I have about 200 in total. There's still another 198 or so left." Ron finished his food posthaste and threw everything in the trash. "Come on. Let's finish this up." Kneeling down, Ron managed to collect all the bags. "Some trousers for me. That is, well, actually we don't need a sleeping bag. I'll take the couch and you can take my bedroom. We'll figure it out." Ron smacked Andrew on the shoulder and then ran off in the direction of the sportswear store.
XXX
Ron Stoppable entered Middleton High with a new look and people noticed. Everywhere he went, females noticed him. Even males. As he approached Kim's locker, Ron casually laid a hand on the locker and said, "What's happening, Mama?"
Kim Possible didn't look up as she looked at her homework and said, "Hey, where were you last night? I paged and – Woah!" Ron Stoppable looked completely different than he normally did. The normally red sweatshirt he wore was replaced with a tight-fitting leather blue shirt that clung to his body. In addition, Ron wore leather black pants with no pockets and a pair of black boots. Rufus sat perched on his shoulder. "What happened to you?"
Glad that he received Kim's attention, Ron informed Kim that Ron Stoppable had arrived. He then turned to Tara. "Tara, babe, let's lunch." [1]
A blush crept up on Tara's cheek as she said okay and left. Kim sighed as Ron and Tara walked away."Oh, Pinky Joe."
Kim left the classroom concerned for her best friend and went to wander the halls. It wasn't until she spotted a small, pink rodent on the ground did Kim find a place to go. She managed to pick up the rodent right before he got squashed under someone's shoes.
"Rufus! What are you doing out here? Come on, let's get you to Ron's locker."
As it turns out, Ron wasn't there. Kim found Ron in the cafeteria with a bunch of girls fixated on his every word. Kim swiftly moved forward and grabbed Ron. "Excuse me, Ron." She led Ron out of the cafeteria and waited a moment before she whirled and faced him. "What is with you?"
Even though he knew he should follow the timeline, Ron frowned. "What do you mean?"
Kim threw her hands up and then folded them across her chest. "The haircut, the popularity, this isn't the old you! What happened to your never be normal attitude?"
"It's still there," Ron informed.
"Really? The old Ron," Kim reached into her pocket and pulled out Rufus. "Would have never left Rufus on the floor. He was almost Hallway Roadkill!"
Ron opened his mouth tho say he didn't care, that Rufus would eventually die anyway, but he knew that Kim wouldn't buy the answer. He sighed and let his guard drop. "Rufus, you've got to be careful! What if something happened to you?"
"Aww," Rufus said. He prepared to jump at Ron, but Ron grabbed him before Rufus landed on him.
"Easy there, buddy. Don't mess with the hair."
Not to Ron's surprise, Kim took this way out of perspective and leaned into Ron's face. "So there's no room for Rufus in your life?"
"Yes there is, just not in my new pants," Ron confessed. Out of the corner of his eye, Ron heard Amelia ask him if he wanted to go to lunch. Ron accepted and left, leaving a disappointed Kim and Rufus behind.
Rufus sighed in disappointment over not going with his owner. Feeling sorry for the naked mole-rat, Kim said Rufus could live in her locker for a while and placed him in her pants pocket. The naked mole-rat sighed in content, already comfortable in his owner's best friend's pocket.
Kim reached her locker and opened it to reveal pictures of her and Ron. Rufus let loose a sad sigh as he thought about the memories he and Ron shared. Kim confessed she liked Ron that way as well.
Wade's face popped up on the screen and warned Kim and Rufus that they've got trouble. Big time trouble.
"What's the damage, Wade?" Kim pressed, hoping it wasn't too big but knowing she would be ready if it was.
"The damage is Senor Senior Senior. I thought you said he was harmless."
Kim perked up at that name. She knew Senor Senior Senior and his son sucked the power out of Europe. He didn't seem like trouble. "Yeah, rich but harmless."
"He sucked out all the power of Western Europe."
Kim raised her eyebrows and refrained from making a comment about rich people. "Ok, I'll go back and make sure he turns off some of his lights," Kim said, not understanding the situation well enough.
"It's going to take more than that, Kim. Senor Senior Senior is taking Europe's power on purpose. Here, check it out." Wade pressed a button and a video image popped up.
"My evil vow is this. I will send Europe back into the dark ages unless the Euro Alliance gives me [chuckles] their nice little islands."
"Nice little islands?" Kim repeated in disbelief. In her head, she thought Senor Senior Senior was a moron for a villain. However, because they were new, Kim knew she needed to be careful.
"With warm beach days and the hot disco nights!" Senor Senior Junior said over the video as he did a little dance.
Wade buried his head in his hands and shook his head. "They are obviously new at the whole villain thing."
"That's what worries me," Kim confessed. "I'll get Ron. We've got to save Europe."
