=All-Purpose Disclaimer=
Kim Possible is a registered trademark of Disney Inc. All characters, locations and themes are used without permission. However, profit margins for this fictional endeavor are comparable to the results of my latest date. The idea of a boneless pink pet was taken from Randy of Something Positive (www.somethingpositive.net).
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Kim Possible
The Power of Love
by Cyberwraith9
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Kim cringed in disgust at the sight of pure, savage bestiality set before her. Try as she might, she could not turn away or even avert her eyes. The raw ballad of primitive beauty, of awesome brutality was unnaturally compelling. It reminded Kim of a train wreck; gruesome and terrible, but somehow spellbinding.
Ron looked up from his bowl of nachos. "Oh, sorry KP," he mumbled around a mouthful of oozing corn chips, "Did you want some?" His hands and face were covered in cheese, dripping down onto the reddish-brown Bueno Nacho booth table.
She cringed, taking a drink from her soda to force the bile back down her throat. After a hard day of buying books for classes that started the next day, the last thing she needed to do was share a bucket of nachos that Ron's face had been in. "That's okay…Really. I'm good."
Her own burrito lay before her, unopened. To make her point, she unwrapped the tube, only to find that it was wriggling on its own. Her disgust grew as she recoiled with a squawk, abandoning the burrito. The Mexican wrap burst open, devoid of any of the standard ingredients. Instead, her bare tortilla gave way to reveal a small, bucktoothed pink blob.
"Aw," Ron reached over, nuzzling his buddy under the chin with a cheesy finger as Kim shuddered. "Y'know, I'm really glad those longevity treatments Wade developed for Rufus worked. I don't know what I'd do without my little chimmarito amigo."
Rufus' outline blurred as he began to stretch and undulate, morphing forward onto Ron's hand with a disgusting slurp. The boy's fingers were quickly covered with a burbling pink coat of rodent.
"Yearg." Kim pointed a finger down her throat as Rufus gurgled over Ron's hand. "Yeah," she snorted, "Except it turned him into an amorphous blob with no bones."
"A minor side effect," Ron giggled. "Hey, that tickles!"
"Ha-ha-ha-murr!" Rufus' face resurfaced on the blob, chuckling with Ron.
"Oh look," a voice next to them chuckled, "Rufus is doing his Jell-O impression."
Kim and Ron turned, harmonizing with pleasant surprise. "Monique!"
The dark-skinned beauty grinned, lifting her tray of Tex-Mex delights. "Mind if I join you?"
Kim slid out, leaning on the table as Monique took her spot. "Hop in. I think we'll be needing more food." She looked back at Ron, who was still playing around with Rufus. "Pair of nacos for the boys?"
Ron instantly brightened, sliding towards her on the slick seat cover. "I got it, KP!" He was halfway out of his seat when Kim stopped him.
"No big," she smiled, "This one's on me." She bounded over to the line, just in time to miss Ron's wistful sigh.
He heard a snicker coming from Monique, drawing his attention away from Kim's sashaying hair. Looking back at his other fem friend, he gave her a questioning look as he pulled Rufus from his hand. "Care to share?" he asked as the naked mole blob snapped off of his fingers.
"You." she chuckled, watching intently as Rufus congealed back into a rodent shape. "All this time, after three whole months away," her eyebrows waggled as she bit into her burrito. She let him stew for a second while she swallowed the enormous bite. "…and you're still crushing on your best friend."
Ron made a big show out of scoffing and waving his hands in front of him like some kind of barrier. "Whoa, ease off on the Diablo sauce, Mon. It's giving you a case of heat stroke."
She simply smirked at him, taking another bite.
"I'm serious!" he insisted, slapping the dull booth table. He glanced back, catching Kim's eye. They traded waves before she reached the order register. "What if Kim heard you talking like that? She might-"
"Agree with me?" Monique suggested playfully. "Agree with you? Finally tell you that she's been pining away for you, that she longs to hold you close on those long winter nights ahead?" She took a long slurp of her soda, watching his face go through several different stages of horror. His mouth flapped open and closed, but his voice wasn't cooperating. "Yes?" she asked, twirling a lock of her hair coyly.
Defeated, Ron slumped forward. Rufus tried to comfort him, but gave up as the smell of Monique's other burrito became too alluring. "Hit the nail on the head, girlfriend."
"Just call me Hammer." She smiled, then slapped Rufus' paws away from her food. "Hey! Can't touch this!" Ron let his head bounce against the table. "Hey," she softened, rubbing his arm. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah," Ron's voice escaped from the nook he made with his arms. "I'm just sitting over here, eating at my favorite restaurant, pining away for the friend I've known since before I liked girls…" He groaned, looking up at Monique with large, sad eyes. "I'm peachy."
"Well, who could blame you?" Monique's eyes suddenly became devilish as she directed Ron's gaze over to Kim. The teen superhero was waiting patiently for their order. "That gorgeous hair, that killer bod…She's got it goin' on almost as much as me."
"Not to mention she's kind, sweet, she laughs at my jokes…some of the time." A bitter breath shot past his lips. "She'd never see anything in a guy like me. She's practically perfect!"
"Who's practically perfect?"
Ron and Rufus let out simultaneous yelps as Kim appeared from nowhere at their side, carrying a tray of south-of-the-border delights. She slid in next to Ron, tossing him a naco. "Here you go. And one for Blobula," she added, tossing a wrapped naco to Rufus.
Waves of nervous tension poured off of Ron as he laughed uneasily, unwrapping his naco. Rufus chattered his hanks before engulfing his own treat, pouring himself over it and absorbing it via osmosis.
Ron tried to ignore Kim's none-too-subtle scrutiny as he mumbled his thanks, raising his naco to his mouth. A deft hand swept the tortilla away from his teeth just before he could bite into it. "Hey!"
Kim held the food away from him, dancing it about just out of his reach. "I knew it!" she grinned. "You did meet a girl, didn't you?"
"Kim!" Ron cried out, lunging for the naco. "C'mon," he pleaded, "There's nothing to tell!"
"What's she like?" she countered.
"I'm hungry!"
"Is she cute?"
"There's no-"
"Short? You always liked them shorter than you," she laughed, continuing to torment him.
"I didn't meet a-"
"Funny? Irresistible?"
"KIM!"
Satisfied that he had suffered enough, she handed him the naco once more. He caught it and began to devour it before she could take the food from him again. "Really, KP," he chewed loudly, lamenting around a mouthful of nachos and flour shell, "There's nothing to tell."
A look of disappointment settled over Kim's joyous features. "Oh," she said sadly, "Nothing?" Even Monique seemed interested in his story, though she had an insider's perspective into parts of Ron's secrets.
His chewing stopped momentarily as he reflected inward, swallowing the wad of pointy chips and cheese. He would have liked nothing more than to tell Kim and Mon about his adventures at the Ninja Academy in Japan; about how he had learned to hone the power and skill his exposure to Mystic Monkey Magic had bestowed upon him; about how he had become a skilled fighter; how he had pulled himself together, honing his clumsy, soft body into a powerful weapon…and all for Kim. It hadn't been just to impress her (he wasn't that vain), but to make sure that the next time they were on a mission, he could help protect her. He was tired of being a distraction or impedance. He desperately wanted to prove himself to her, and to himself.
But, like before, his Sensei had sworn him to secrecy to preserve the sanctity of the school. So Ron decided that a half-truth would serve in place of the real story. "Well…" he admitted with a pained look, "There 'was' someone. But things didn't really go anywhere." It was mostly true: He 'had' met Yori at the academy again, but nothing had happened during the course of their training…mostly because Ron's thoughts and affections were half a globe away. "Age old story, KP," he added, "I like her, she doesn't like me…"
"Sounds like just another old repeat to me."
Pity (self and otherwise) made way at the table for extreme irritation as the three teens and their rodent friend turned to the cold-hearted speaker. Standing at their booth was none other than Bonnie Rockwaller, clad in designer jeans and sporting a brand new State U jacket.
"Bonnie…" Kim gnashed her teeth, resisting the urge to tackle the prim Donna bodily.
"Kim," Bonnie smirked. "Ron…Other friend…Rodent…" She went around the table with a curt nod for each of them, receiving sharp looks of annoyance from Monique and Rufus. Then she focused back on Kim, flipping her perfectly tousled hair over her shoulder. "Sorry you didn't get a chance to compete for the cheerleading scholarship, Kimmie." She flashed a patch on her arm to the table, a cheery piece of fabric in the shape of a pom-pom. "But don't worry," she added sweetly, "It went to good use."
Ron's hand clamped down on Kim's shoulder, keeping her in the booth. It was a good thing, too. Otherwise she would have torn Bonnie apart with her bare hands. "I was busy," she growled.
"Oh, right," Bonnie pretended to have forgotten. "You were off fighting evil, or whatever it is you do." Her smile grew. "How thoughtful of you."
"It was Chile," Kim forced between taught lips, "There was an earthquake."
"We got peppers in a thank-you basket." Ron offered cheerfully, feeling Kim strain against his grip.
"Uh…yeah." Bonnie didn't care in the least. She threw Ron and his rodent a contemptuous look before tossing a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm going to go somewhere where the dork population isn't quite so high. Ciao, Kimmie!"
Kim watched her saunter off. The heroine was seething so badly that Ron could have used her forehead for a naco reheat (if he hadn't already eaten his). "Oh…" Kim shuddered with barely-contained fury, "She is the most…the worst…the absolute…!"
A series of musical tones interrupted Kim's fuming. Stifling the rest of her rant, she plunged a hand into her cargo pockets, yanking out a sleek blue device.
"Saved by the bell," Monique exchanged amused looks with Ron as they waited for the news.
Kim ignored them both, thumbing the Kimmunicator's main switch. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked as the small monitor flickered to life.
The dark round features of their technical and information manager smiled at her from the tiny screen. "We've got a live one, Kim." Wade said cheerily enough for someone about to tear her away from quality time with her friends. "Major hit!"
Ron leaned over, putting himself into the device's camera field. "Military? Commercial?" he asked.
"Oh, hey Ron!" Wade waved at the other half of Team Possible in greeting. "How was Japan?"
"Could we focus?" Kim interrupted, still irritated from her confrontation with Bonnie.
"Sorry. Actually, it's from your dad."
"At the Space Center?" She was puzzled; What could her dad need with her that he needed to contact Wade?
Wade nodded. "He and a bunch of other scientists are being held hostage by-"
"Let me guess," she cut him off with a smirk, "Doctor Drakken."
"How'd you know?"
She shrugged. "Who else would be incompetent enough to let his hostages have free access to a phone or computer?"
"Too true." Ron agreed. "It's definitely his M-O."
"We're on it, Wade." she was already standing up, brushing away the crumbs. "Got a ride for us?"
He frowned as his fingers danced across the keyboard. "Could take a minute."
Ron stood up, tilting the Kimmunicator in his direction. "No time and no need, Wade." he told the computer junkie, scooping up Rufus and putting him in his pocket. "I'll get us there."
"Oh-kay…" Wade raised an eyebrow, but shrugged the weirdness off. "Good luck."
Wade's odd look wasn't the only one Ron got as Kim put the Kimmunicator in her pocket. "You're going to get us there? What, on your moped?"
Monique joined in the fun with her own digs. "That would almost make it worthwhile to tag along," she grinned, slurping on her soda. At Kim and Ron's surprised glances, she waved them off hurriedly. "I said almost. Almost!" She shoed them away eagerly, saying, "Go do your hero thing, your dad's in trouble!"
Ron led the way outside, ignoring the rude snickering coming from Bonnie's table. He even held the door for Kim, though she smirked at his gentlemanly bow. "So," she grinned, "Did you give the old 'Ronmobile' a tune-up?"
"Nope," he grinned as he slid between the parked cars of the campus' Bueno Nacho parking lot, "I gave it the ol' heave-ho, and made a trade-in to boot." Reaching the other side of the building, Ron moved to a row of motorcycle parking. "Ta-da!"
Kim glanced at the bike Ron revealed. Then she blinked and rubbed her eyes, not quite believing them. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, scooting forward to run a hand along the sleek lines of a black Kawasaki number. It looked fast, and was probably even faster than it looked. With a bit of chagrin, Kim couldn't help but think about how un-Ron-like it was…almost like the essence of cool paired off with…well, with Ron.
"Yup," Ron's smile threatened to split his face as Kim appreciably fondled his bike. He flipped open the rear cargo compartment, rummaging inside. "Picked up a rice burner in Japan before I left."
She was impressed, but tried to hide it. "Compensating for anything?" she smirked.
"Ha-ha." He tossed her a sleek black helmet with red racing stripes before taking a gold-striped one for himself. "Care to take a ride with me on a bicycle built for two, Daisy?"
She noted with another smirk that he had monogrammed her initials on the back of her helmet as she slipped it on. "That's it," she grinned, flipping the visor of her helmet down over her face, "You're telling me everything."
"Nothing to tell, KP," he insisted, mounting the bike. A small wave of excitement rushed through him when her arms wrapped around his waist as she climbed on behind him. "Now, should we go save your dad?"
"Let's turn down the drama and amp up the trauma." she said over her shoulder, pointing him forward as Ron revved the motor. Together, they sped off in a cloud of dust, rushing to save the day.
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"Let me tell you something, little missy," Doctor Possible's face pressed up against the plate glass, "You aren't going to get away with this!"
Shego sneered at him from the other side of the office door. "Yeah, why don't you file that away?" she quipped as she broke the doorknob off, trapping him and the other scientists in the tiny room. Blowing a kiss, she stalked over to the computer terminal Doctor Drakken was hunched over. "Dr. D, how we doing?"
"Hmm…" Drakken scanned the available equipment at the Space Center. He and Shego stood suspended on an enormous platform in the main launch bay of the Center, overlooking most of that equipment on Drakken's screen. Behind them in the enormous, towering room rested a cornucopia of space-worthy vehicles, including the Center's pride and joy, an enormous booster rocket that overshadowed everything else.
"So?" Shego pressed impatiently, "Can we use this titanic firecracker or not?"
"I don't think so," he watched the screen scroll by. "The rocket would require extensive modification before it could be used to our purposes…"
"Besides," a familiar voice interrupted their discussion, "I think people would talk, don't you?"
Drakken and Shego knew who it was bursting their bubble before they even turned around. "KIM POSSIBLE!" Drakken roared, pointing a tiny finger indignantly.
Kim and Ron blocked the villain's only escape route, a large set of double-doors leading off of the platform and back into the Center's main facility. Each of the teens had taken one of the doors to guard, standing with arms folded and smiling faces.
"Stealing a giant rocket?" Ron laughed, elbowing his best friend. "See, now 'that's' compensating for something."
The villainous duo exchanged glares, their rage growing. "Do I really need to say it?" Drakken asked. Then, with a shrug, he began to calm down; the situation could still be salvaged. "Well, just for tradition's sake, I suppose…SHEGO! GET THEM!"
Shego leered, leaping forward with several hand-flips and landing in front of the teens in a dangerous pose. "Finally," she snapped over her shoulder, "Something out of your mouth that makes sense." Her eyes were venomous, locked on Kim's throat and shining with anticipation as she lunged forward.
Without warning, Ron stepped between the two, forcing Shego to come to a screeching halt. The teens hadn't had time to change into their mission gear before intercepting Drakken at the Center. As such, the sniveling sidekick wearing his old long-sleeved red pullover seemed even more ridiculous in Shego's eyes.
"Um, what are you doing?" Shego demanded sarcastically.
Amazingly, Kim found herself agreeing with the villainess. "Yeah, Ron," she scratched her head, "What are you doing?" Even Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pocket and gave him a questioning chitter.
"I figured you were getting tired of fighting Shego after all these years," Ron turned back with a wink. "Besides, this fits; sidekick against sidekick, right?"
"I guess…" Kim wasn't quite convinced. She had watched Ron take on a room of kids their own age…blindfolded to boot! But this was a real fight, with the very real possibility of getting hurt.
"Playtime is over, loser." Shego took a swipe at Ron, smirking as she tried to shove the sidekick aside. "Go find a jungle gym!"
Ron leaned to the left, avoiding the swipe with ease.
Shego blinked in surprise. She reached out to clamp onto Ron's pale neck, claws flexing anxiously. "C'mere you little bug!"
His arm shot up, lazily deflecting the blow so she missed his neck entirely.
Growling, Shego's hands crackled as they clenched into fists. "You," she grumbled, "Are starting to annoy me!" She swung a vicious haymaker at Ron's head so powerful it actually spun her around. By the time she was able to look again, he had completely vanished.
A finger tapped her on the shoulder as Ron's voice whispered in her ear from behind. "Slick moves," he murmured cheerfully. "Wanna see mine?"
Shego's growl grew into a frenzied roar as she leapt at Ron, teeth bared and snapping. Kim watched them go at it for a moment, then used Ron's interesting 'distraction' to take the initiative. A few handsprings in the right direction soon pitted her against the merciless Doctor Drakken.
"All right, Drakken," Kim scowled as she landed next to the demented scientist with her hands raised and ready. "Get ready for a…" She paused, unable to get Drakken's attention. The blue buffoon's eyes were locked on Ron and Shego, dumbfounded by the sidekicks' battle. "Hello?" Kim demanded, stamping her foot.
"Hmm?" he asked distractedly. It was almost as if he hadn't noticed Kim's entrance at all until that moment. "Oh, sorry. It's just so…" he gestured helplessly at the fight, searching for the right words. "Well, just look!"
Hero and villain watched the ensuing fight between Ron and Shego. The villainess had ignited her Power Gloves, swiping at the blonde with glowing green death at her fingertips. But for every lethal blow she tried to land, Ron was nothing more than a shadow.
"Hold still, you little dufus!" she snarled.
Ron ducked his head to the side, feeling the heat from the green plasma against his cheek as her fist passed over his shoulder. "Hey," he grinned, "Remember when I couldn't beat you in a fight? Those were good times…"
"RARGH! KILL YOU!" was the response as Shego took a flying leap, kicking over his head as he ducked with expert speed.
Kim was held captivated by the fight. "Is this what it looks like when Shego and I fight?" she asked, watching the dancing trails of green energy chase after her best friend.
"Pretty much," Drakken nodded. "Kind of cool, really."
She leaned against the computer terminal as they watched Ron lead Shego across the platform, trading blows here an there as they went. "So," Kim said offhandedly, "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for rockets," Drakken replied, equally as distracted. He chucked a thumb in the office's direction. "Your father and the others are locked up in there, if you were curious."
"You realize that with Ron keeping Shego busy, I'm free and clear to kick your butt."
"Only if you get through my henchmen first." Drakken smirked.
"Henchmen?" Kim's eyebrow quirked. "What-?" A burly, black-gloved hand enclosed her shoulder, giving her pause. Turning, she saw three tall, burly, dumpy white thugs in crimson suits leaning over her with sickening grins. "Oh." was all she could think to say.
Ron was left oblivious to Kim's troubles as she began battling the trio of thugs. His own plate was full with Shego trying to kill him, which, despite all appearances, wasn't nearly as easy to avoid as he made it look. There were already a few long, red welts on his arms where her Power Gloves had come too close for comfort.
"You can't keep dancing forever, Blondie!" Shego barked, clawing and kicking.
He ducked, sliding beneath her legs and, as an afterthought, gave her a humiliating slap on the backside. "I've always wondered," he called as she yelped and fumed, "How do you get your hands to do that glowing thing?"
Shego's rage tripled as he watched in satisfaction. It was just as Sensei had said; 'The wildest tornado possesses very little direction.' He wasn't sure if that applied here, but Shego was getting sloppier the angrier Ron made her, and that was good enough.
Kim, in the meantime, was proving that just because Ron had come back with some wicked bad skills didn't mean that she had let her own talents slip. The three inept lackeys were tripping over one another as Kim weaved between them, slapping them around like Stooges.
Shoving the largest of the three into his friends, she dismissed the pile of henchmen onto the Center's cold steel floor. "Now, Drakken," she smirked, her breath still coming in an even tempo after the brief fight. "Why don't we finish what we started?"
Drakken backed away from the teen heroine, a pained look crossing his features. "I'd love to stay and fight, Kim Possible," he said, twiddling a small computer data stick between his fingers, "But I had Cajun for lunch." His other hand prestidigitated a small silver orb as he said, "And Cajun always gives me GAS!"
He hurled the small sphere to the ground with a sharp laugh. The ball exploded into an expanding wave of smoke that quickly cloaked the mad doctor, sweeping out faster than Kim could escape it.
The smokescreen soon grew to reach Shego and Ron. The blonde saw a grin of malice flash on her pale face before she vanished behind the gray curtain. Then he was wracked with fits of coughing, unable to do anything but listen to Kim as she too hacked away the vile smoke from her own lungs. Lucky for the both of them, the screen dissipated swiftly. When it did, the teens looked about in confusion to find themselves the only remaining force on the now-empty battlefield.
Ron took Rufus out of his pocket, patting his buddy on the back to help clear the smoke from his tiny lungs. "What just happened?" he asked Kim, looking around with puzzlement.
With a final cough, Kim groaned, "Drakken got away. He had some kind of disk."
"Downloading games off of a government computer?" Ron quipped, placing Rufus on his shoulder as he joined Kim by the console.
Kim looked at him with something between amusement and annoyance. Ron always called it her 'Ron-You're-Being-An-Idiot-But-I-Tolerate-You-Anyway-But-Shut-Up-For-Your-Own-Safety' look. He claimed to be trying to build the name into some kind of acronym, but with little luck so far. "C'mon," she said, giving him a push, "Let's just go free my dad."
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Hours later, Kim led the way up the stairs of her new dorm, speaking to Wade on the Kimmunicator. Ron followed close, eyeing the grungy gray walls of Haus Hall, Kim's new home.
It was a far cry from the apartment he had rented near campus from his Uncle, but it did have its advantages; For one thing, she didn't need to worry about finding a roommate by the end of the month. He couldn't afford to live alone, but being away for the summer had meant putting a roommate search on hold.
Now he had just enough cash to make it through to the end of September. If only he had possessed the cahones to ask Kim to move in with him before she had applied to the dorms. 'Not in a perverted way!' he told himself quickly, 'Just…' But that was a road he didn't need to go down anymore.
Squeezing past a group of lollygaggers, Kim slipped her key in the lock of a squalid-looking door. "Thanks, Wade." she said, flipping the Kimmunicator off as she kicked the door open. Together, the two teens and their micro-sized friend entered Kim's tiny single room.
The Possible family had tried their best to make the room more livable. Her father had brought in a bunch of space-age appliances left over from Nasa beta-tests (Kim had yet to work up the bravery to try out her microwave, which had more controls than a seven-forty-seven's cockpit). Her mother had picked out a bright, cheery yellow bedspread, with curtains and a table cozy to match for her window and desk. Even Jim and Tim had helped, plastering her cracked, pasty walls with colorful posters. But it didn't change the fact that the room was tiny, miserable, and ugly.
"So what did Wade dig up?" Ron asked as Kim replaced her tiny computer in her pocket with a sigh. "Any info? A lead on his latest digs?"
"No." she grimaced. "Wade's still looking through the Center's files, but there's no real way to be sure what he took." Disgusted, she flopped down onto her bed. "This is heinous!"
"Don't fret, KP," he pulled up her desk chair, straddling it backwards. "We'll get Doctor Dorkken before anything nasty happens."
"No," she moaned, looking up at the cracked plaster ceiling. "I mean this place!" A puff from her lips pushed her bangs back as she sat up, scowling at the room. "Bonnie's over in athletic housing with the rest of the cheer squad, yukking it up with her full-ride scholarship, and…and…"
"Hey, c'mon Kim," Ron sounded sympathetic, leaning forward. Rufus leapt from his pocket, jumping onto Kim's leg and giving her a pat. "Things aren't 'that' bad here."
Kim gave her friend a reassuring smile, petting Rufus. The amorphous mole rat rippled under her touch as Ron smiled back. However, that smile disappeared as a sharp crack emanated from Ron's seat. Kim's smile similarly vanished as the dorm-provided chair crumpled beneath Ron, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"You were saying?" she said flatly.
"Okay," he pulled himself out of the ruins of her chair, dusting himself off. "I know it looks bleak, but think about this: You and I both know you have way more talent than Bonnie. And," he added pointedly, "I happen to remember a bunch of people from Down Under who appreciated the help with that earthquake."
She gave him a funny look. "Ron, 'Down Under' is Australia."
"Nu-uh," he shook his head. "I think you're confused. The earthquake was in Chile, remember? We were nowhere near Australia."
A smile blossomed where her scowl had been so deeply rooted as she leaned forward, ruffling his hair. He really 'was' the same ol' Ron, no matter how much he had changed outside. "Thanks Ron. Still," she sighed, "It would have been nice…y'know?"
"Actually," a deep, confident voice spoke from her partially-opened door, "I believe I can give you a better option, Ms. Possible."
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Kim Possible is a registered trademark of Disney Inc. All characters, locations and themes are used without permission. However, profit margins for this fictional endeavor are comparable to the results of my latest date. The idea of a boneless pink pet was taken from Randy of Something Positive (www.somethingpositive.net).
===============================================================
Kim Possible
The Power of Love
by Cyberwraith9
===============================================================
Kim cringed in disgust at the sight of pure, savage bestiality set before her. Try as she might, she could not turn away or even avert her eyes. The raw ballad of primitive beauty, of awesome brutality was unnaturally compelling. It reminded Kim of a train wreck; gruesome and terrible, but somehow spellbinding.
Ron looked up from his bowl of nachos. "Oh, sorry KP," he mumbled around a mouthful of oozing corn chips, "Did you want some?" His hands and face were covered in cheese, dripping down onto the reddish-brown Bueno Nacho booth table.
She cringed, taking a drink from her soda to force the bile back down her throat. After a hard day of buying books for classes that started the next day, the last thing she needed to do was share a bucket of nachos that Ron's face had been in. "That's okay…Really. I'm good."
Her own burrito lay before her, unopened. To make her point, she unwrapped the tube, only to find that it was wriggling on its own. Her disgust grew as she recoiled with a squawk, abandoning the burrito. The Mexican wrap burst open, devoid of any of the standard ingredients. Instead, her bare tortilla gave way to reveal a small, bucktoothed pink blob.
"Aw," Ron reached over, nuzzling his buddy under the chin with a cheesy finger as Kim shuddered. "Y'know, I'm really glad those longevity treatments Wade developed for Rufus worked. I don't know what I'd do without my little chimmarito amigo."
Rufus' outline blurred as he began to stretch and undulate, morphing forward onto Ron's hand with a disgusting slurp. The boy's fingers were quickly covered with a burbling pink coat of rodent.
"Yearg." Kim pointed a finger down her throat as Rufus gurgled over Ron's hand. "Yeah," she snorted, "Except it turned him into an amorphous blob with no bones."
"A minor side effect," Ron giggled. "Hey, that tickles!"
"Ha-ha-ha-murr!" Rufus' face resurfaced on the blob, chuckling with Ron.
"Oh look," a voice next to them chuckled, "Rufus is doing his Jell-O impression."
Kim and Ron turned, harmonizing with pleasant surprise. "Monique!"
The dark-skinned beauty grinned, lifting her tray of Tex-Mex delights. "Mind if I join you?"
Kim slid out, leaning on the table as Monique took her spot. "Hop in. I think we'll be needing more food." She looked back at Ron, who was still playing around with Rufus. "Pair of nacos for the boys?"
Ron instantly brightened, sliding towards her on the slick seat cover. "I got it, KP!" He was halfway out of his seat when Kim stopped him.
"No big," she smiled, "This one's on me." She bounded over to the line, just in time to miss Ron's wistful sigh.
He heard a snicker coming from Monique, drawing his attention away from Kim's sashaying hair. Looking back at his other fem friend, he gave her a questioning look as he pulled Rufus from his hand. "Care to share?" he asked as the naked mole blob snapped off of his fingers.
"You." she chuckled, watching intently as Rufus congealed back into a rodent shape. "All this time, after three whole months away," her eyebrows waggled as she bit into her burrito. She let him stew for a second while she swallowed the enormous bite. "…and you're still crushing on your best friend."
Ron made a big show out of scoffing and waving his hands in front of him like some kind of barrier. "Whoa, ease off on the Diablo sauce, Mon. It's giving you a case of heat stroke."
She simply smirked at him, taking another bite.
"I'm serious!" he insisted, slapping the dull booth table. He glanced back, catching Kim's eye. They traded waves before she reached the order register. "What if Kim heard you talking like that? She might-"
"Agree with me?" Monique suggested playfully. "Agree with you? Finally tell you that she's been pining away for you, that she longs to hold you close on those long winter nights ahead?" She took a long slurp of her soda, watching his face go through several different stages of horror. His mouth flapped open and closed, but his voice wasn't cooperating. "Yes?" she asked, twirling a lock of her hair coyly.
Defeated, Ron slumped forward. Rufus tried to comfort him, but gave up as the smell of Monique's other burrito became too alluring. "Hit the nail on the head, girlfriend."
"Just call me Hammer." She smiled, then slapped Rufus' paws away from her food. "Hey! Can't touch this!" Ron let his head bounce against the table. "Hey," she softened, rubbing his arm. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah," Ron's voice escaped from the nook he made with his arms. "I'm just sitting over here, eating at my favorite restaurant, pining away for the friend I've known since before I liked girls…" He groaned, looking up at Monique with large, sad eyes. "I'm peachy."
"Well, who could blame you?" Monique's eyes suddenly became devilish as she directed Ron's gaze over to Kim. The teen superhero was waiting patiently for their order. "That gorgeous hair, that killer bod…She's got it goin' on almost as much as me."
"Not to mention she's kind, sweet, she laughs at my jokes…some of the time." A bitter breath shot past his lips. "She'd never see anything in a guy like me. She's practically perfect!"
"Who's practically perfect?"
Ron and Rufus let out simultaneous yelps as Kim appeared from nowhere at their side, carrying a tray of south-of-the-border delights. She slid in next to Ron, tossing him a naco. "Here you go. And one for Blobula," she added, tossing a wrapped naco to Rufus.
Waves of nervous tension poured off of Ron as he laughed uneasily, unwrapping his naco. Rufus chattered his hanks before engulfing his own treat, pouring himself over it and absorbing it via osmosis.
Ron tried to ignore Kim's none-too-subtle scrutiny as he mumbled his thanks, raising his naco to his mouth. A deft hand swept the tortilla away from his teeth just before he could bite into it. "Hey!"
Kim held the food away from him, dancing it about just out of his reach. "I knew it!" she grinned. "You did meet a girl, didn't you?"
"Kim!" Ron cried out, lunging for the naco. "C'mon," he pleaded, "There's nothing to tell!"
"What's she like?" she countered.
"I'm hungry!"
"Is she cute?"
"There's no-"
"Short? You always liked them shorter than you," she laughed, continuing to torment him.
"I didn't meet a-"
"Funny? Irresistible?"
"KIM!"
Satisfied that he had suffered enough, she handed him the naco once more. He caught it and began to devour it before she could take the food from him again. "Really, KP," he chewed loudly, lamenting around a mouthful of nachos and flour shell, "There's nothing to tell."
A look of disappointment settled over Kim's joyous features. "Oh," she said sadly, "Nothing?" Even Monique seemed interested in his story, though she had an insider's perspective into parts of Ron's secrets.
His chewing stopped momentarily as he reflected inward, swallowing the wad of pointy chips and cheese. He would have liked nothing more than to tell Kim and Mon about his adventures at the Ninja Academy in Japan; about how he had learned to hone the power and skill his exposure to Mystic Monkey Magic had bestowed upon him; about how he had become a skilled fighter; how he had pulled himself together, honing his clumsy, soft body into a powerful weapon…and all for Kim. It hadn't been just to impress her (he wasn't that vain), but to make sure that the next time they were on a mission, he could help protect her. He was tired of being a distraction or impedance. He desperately wanted to prove himself to her, and to himself.
But, like before, his Sensei had sworn him to secrecy to preserve the sanctity of the school. So Ron decided that a half-truth would serve in place of the real story. "Well…" he admitted with a pained look, "There 'was' someone. But things didn't really go anywhere." It was mostly true: He 'had' met Yori at the academy again, but nothing had happened during the course of their training…mostly because Ron's thoughts and affections were half a globe away. "Age old story, KP," he added, "I like her, she doesn't like me…"
"Sounds like just another old repeat to me."
Pity (self and otherwise) made way at the table for extreme irritation as the three teens and their rodent friend turned to the cold-hearted speaker. Standing at their booth was none other than Bonnie Rockwaller, clad in designer jeans and sporting a brand new State U jacket.
"Bonnie…" Kim gnashed her teeth, resisting the urge to tackle the prim Donna bodily.
"Kim," Bonnie smirked. "Ron…Other friend…Rodent…" She went around the table with a curt nod for each of them, receiving sharp looks of annoyance from Monique and Rufus. Then she focused back on Kim, flipping her perfectly tousled hair over her shoulder. "Sorry you didn't get a chance to compete for the cheerleading scholarship, Kimmie." She flashed a patch on her arm to the table, a cheery piece of fabric in the shape of a pom-pom. "But don't worry," she added sweetly, "It went to good use."
Ron's hand clamped down on Kim's shoulder, keeping her in the booth. It was a good thing, too. Otherwise she would have torn Bonnie apart with her bare hands. "I was busy," she growled.
"Oh, right," Bonnie pretended to have forgotten. "You were off fighting evil, or whatever it is you do." Her smile grew. "How thoughtful of you."
"It was Chile," Kim forced between taught lips, "There was an earthquake."
"We got peppers in a thank-you basket." Ron offered cheerfully, feeling Kim strain against his grip.
"Uh…yeah." Bonnie didn't care in the least. She threw Ron and his rodent a contemptuous look before tossing a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm going to go somewhere where the dork population isn't quite so high. Ciao, Kimmie!"
Kim watched her saunter off. The heroine was seething so badly that Ron could have used her forehead for a naco reheat (if he hadn't already eaten his). "Oh…" Kim shuddered with barely-contained fury, "She is the most…the worst…the absolute…!"
A series of musical tones interrupted Kim's fuming. Stifling the rest of her rant, she plunged a hand into her cargo pockets, yanking out a sleek blue device.
"Saved by the bell," Monique exchanged amused looks with Ron as they waited for the news.
Kim ignored them both, thumbing the Kimmunicator's main switch. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked as the small monitor flickered to life.
The dark round features of their technical and information manager smiled at her from the tiny screen. "We've got a live one, Kim." Wade said cheerily enough for someone about to tear her away from quality time with her friends. "Major hit!"
Ron leaned over, putting himself into the device's camera field. "Military? Commercial?" he asked.
"Oh, hey Ron!" Wade waved at the other half of Team Possible in greeting. "How was Japan?"
"Could we focus?" Kim interrupted, still irritated from her confrontation with Bonnie.
"Sorry. Actually, it's from your dad."
"At the Space Center?" She was puzzled; What could her dad need with her that he needed to contact Wade?
Wade nodded. "He and a bunch of other scientists are being held hostage by-"
"Let me guess," she cut him off with a smirk, "Doctor Drakken."
"How'd you know?"
She shrugged. "Who else would be incompetent enough to let his hostages have free access to a phone or computer?"
"Too true." Ron agreed. "It's definitely his M-O."
"We're on it, Wade." she was already standing up, brushing away the crumbs. "Got a ride for us?"
He frowned as his fingers danced across the keyboard. "Could take a minute."
Ron stood up, tilting the Kimmunicator in his direction. "No time and no need, Wade." he told the computer junkie, scooping up Rufus and putting him in his pocket. "I'll get us there."
"Oh-kay…" Wade raised an eyebrow, but shrugged the weirdness off. "Good luck."
Wade's odd look wasn't the only one Ron got as Kim put the Kimmunicator in her pocket. "You're going to get us there? What, on your moped?"
Monique joined in the fun with her own digs. "That would almost make it worthwhile to tag along," she grinned, slurping on her soda. At Kim and Ron's surprised glances, she waved them off hurriedly. "I said almost. Almost!" She shoed them away eagerly, saying, "Go do your hero thing, your dad's in trouble!"
Ron led the way outside, ignoring the rude snickering coming from Bonnie's table. He even held the door for Kim, though she smirked at his gentlemanly bow. "So," she grinned, "Did you give the old 'Ronmobile' a tune-up?"
"Nope," he grinned as he slid between the parked cars of the campus' Bueno Nacho parking lot, "I gave it the ol' heave-ho, and made a trade-in to boot." Reaching the other side of the building, Ron moved to a row of motorcycle parking. "Ta-da!"
Kim glanced at the bike Ron revealed. Then she blinked and rubbed her eyes, not quite believing them. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, scooting forward to run a hand along the sleek lines of a black Kawasaki number. It looked fast, and was probably even faster than it looked. With a bit of chagrin, Kim couldn't help but think about how un-Ron-like it was…almost like the essence of cool paired off with…well, with Ron.
"Yup," Ron's smile threatened to split his face as Kim appreciably fondled his bike. He flipped open the rear cargo compartment, rummaging inside. "Picked up a rice burner in Japan before I left."
She was impressed, but tried to hide it. "Compensating for anything?" she smirked.
"Ha-ha." He tossed her a sleek black helmet with red racing stripes before taking a gold-striped one for himself. "Care to take a ride with me on a bicycle built for two, Daisy?"
She noted with another smirk that he had monogrammed her initials on the back of her helmet as she slipped it on. "That's it," she grinned, flipping the visor of her helmet down over her face, "You're telling me everything."
"Nothing to tell, KP," he insisted, mounting the bike. A small wave of excitement rushed through him when her arms wrapped around his waist as she climbed on behind him. "Now, should we go save your dad?"
"Let's turn down the drama and amp up the trauma." she said over her shoulder, pointing him forward as Ron revved the motor. Together, they sped off in a cloud of dust, rushing to save the day.
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"Let me tell you something, little missy," Doctor Possible's face pressed up against the plate glass, "You aren't going to get away with this!"
Shego sneered at him from the other side of the office door. "Yeah, why don't you file that away?" she quipped as she broke the doorknob off, trapping him and the other scientists in the tiny room. Blowing a kiss, she stalked over to the computer terminal Doctor Drakken was hunched over. "Dr. D, how we doing?"
"Hmm…" Drakken scanned the available equipment at the Space Center. He and Shego stood suspended on an enormous platform in the main launch bay of the Center, overlooking most of that equipment on Drakken's screen. Behind them in the enormous, towering room rested a cornucopia of space-worthy vehicles, including the Center's pride and joy, an enormous booster rocket that overshadowed everything else.
"So?" Shego pressed impatiently, "Can we use this titanic firecracker or not?"
"I don't think so," he watched the screen scroll by. "The rocket would require extensive modification before it could be used to our purposes…"
"Besides," a familiar voice interrupted their discussion, "I think people would talk, don't you?"
Drakken and Shego knew who it was bursting their bubble before they even turned around. "KIM POSSIBLE!" Drakken roared, pointing a tiny finger indignantly.
Kim and Ron blocked the villain's only escape route, a large set of double-doors leading off of the platform and back into the Center's main facility. Each of the teens had taken one of the doors to guard, standing with arms folded and smiling faces.
"Stealing a giant rocket?" Ron laughed, elbowing his best friend. "See, now 'that's' compensating for something."
The villainous duo exchanged glares, their rage growing. "Do I really need to say it?" Drakken asked. Then, with a shrug, he began to calm down; the situation could still be salvaged. "Well, just for tradition's sake, I suppose…SHEGO! GET THEM!"
Shego leered, leaping forward with several hand-flips and landing in front of the teens in a dangerous pose. "Finally," she snapped over her shoulder, "Something out of your mouth that makes sense." Her eyes were venomous, locked on Kim's throat and shining with anticipation as she lunged forward.
Without warning, Ron stepped between the two, forcing Shego to come to a screeching halt. The teens hadn't had time to change into their mission gear before intercepting Drakken at the Center. As such, the sniveling sidekick wearing his old long-sleeved red pullover seemed even more ridiculous in Shego's eyes.
"Um, what are you doing?" Shego demanded sarcastically.
Amazingly, Kim found herself agreeing with the villainess. "Yeah, Ron," she scratched her head, "What are you doing?" Even Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pocket and gave him a questioning chitter.
"I figured you were getting tired of fighting Shego after all these years," Ron turned back with a wink. "Besides, this fits; sidekick against sidekick, right?"
"I guess…" Kim wasn't quite convinced. She had watched Ron take on a room of kids their own age…blindfolded to boot! But this was a real fight, with the very real possibility of getting hurt.
"Playtime is over, loser." Shego took a swipe at Ron, smirking as she tried to shove the sidekick aside. "Go find a jungle gym!"
Ron leaned to the left, avoiding the swipe with ease.
Shego blinked in surprise. She reached out to clamp onto Ron's pale neck, claws flexing anxiously. "C'mere you little bug!"
His arm shot up, lazily deflecting the blow so she missed his neck entirely.
Growling, Shego's hands crackled as they clenched into fists. "You," she grumbled, "Are starting to annoy me!" She swung a vicious haymaker at Ron's head so powerful it actually spun her around. By the time she was able to look again, he had completely vanished.
A finger tapped her on the shoulder as Ron's voice whispered in her ear from behind. "Slick moves," he murmured cheerfully. "Wanna see mine?"
Shego's growl grew into a frenzied roar as she leapt at Ron, teeth bared and snapping. Kim watched them go at it for a moment, then used Ron's interesting 'distraction' to take the initiative. A few handsprings in the right direction soon pitted her against the merciless Doctor Drakken.
"All right, Drakken," Kim scowled as she landed next to the demented scientist with her hands raised and ready. "Get ready for a…" She paused, unable to get Drakken's attention. The blue buffoon's eyes were locked on Ron and Shego, dumbfounded by the sidekicks' battle. "Hello?" Kim demanded, stamping her foot.
"Hmm?" he asked distractedly. It was almost as if he hadn't noticed Kim's entrance at all until that moment. "Oh, sorry. It's just so…" he gestured helplessly at the fight, searching for the right words. "Well, just look!"
Hero and villain watched the ensuing fight between Ron and Shego. The villainess had ignited her Power Gloves, swiping at the blonde with glowing green death at her fingertips. But for every lethal blow she tried to land, Ron was nothing more than a shadow.
"Hold still, you little dufus!" she snarled.
Ron ducked his head to the side, feeling the heat from the green plasma against his cheek as her fist passed over his shoulder. "Hey," he grinned, "Remember when I couldn't beat you in a fight? Those were good times…"
"RARGH! KILL YOU!" was the response as Shego took a flying leap, kicking over his head as he ducked with expert speed.
Kim was held captivated by the fight. "Is this what it looks like when Shego and I fight?" she asked, watching the dancing trails of green energy chase after her best friend.
"Pretty much," Drakken nodded. "Kind of cool, really."
She leaned against the computer terminal as they watched Ron lead Shego across the platform, trading blows here an there as they went. "So," Kim said offhandedly, "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for rockets," Drakken replied, equally as distracted. He chucked a thumb in the office's direction. "Your father and the others are locked up in there, if you were curious."
"You realize that with Ron keeping Shego busy, I'm free and clear to kick your butt."
"Only if you get through my henchmen first." Drakken smirked.
"Henchmen?" Kim's eyebrow quirked. "What-?" A burly, black-gloved hand enclosed her shoulder, giving her pause. Turning, she saw three tall, burly, dumpy white thugs in crimson suits leaning over her with sickening grins. "Oh." was all she could think to say.
Ron was left oblivious to Kim's troubles as she began battling the trio of thugs. His own plate was full with Shego trying to kill him, which, despite all appearances, wasn't nearly as easy to avoid as he made it look. There were already a few long, red welts on his arms where her Power Gloves had come too close for comfort.
"You can't keep dancing forever, Blondie!" Shego barked, clawing and kicking.
He ducked, sliding beneath her legs and, as an afterthought, gave her a humiliating slap on the backside. "I've always wondered," he called as she yelped and fumed, "How do you get your hands to do that glowing thing?"
Shego's rage tripled as he watched in satisfaction. It was just as Sensei had said; 'The wildest tornado possesses very little direction.' He wasn't sure if that applied here, but Shego was getting sloppier the angrier Ron made her, and that was good enough.
Kim, in the meantime, was proving that just because Ron had come back with some wicked bad skills didn't mean that she had let her own talents slip. The three inept lackeys were tripping over one another as Kim weaved between them, slapping them around like Stooges.
Shoving the largest of the three into his friends, she dismissed the pile of henchmen onto the Center's cold steel floor. "Now, Drakken," she smirked, her breath still coming in an even tempo after the brief fight. "Why don't we finish what we started?"
Drakken backed away from the teen heroine, a pained look crossing his features. "I'd love to stay and fight, Kim Possible," he said, twiddling a small computer data stick between his fingers, "But I had Cajun for lunch." His other hand prestidigitated a small silver orb as he said, "And Cajun always gives me GAS!"
He hurled the small sphere to the ground with a sharp laugh. The ball exploded into an expanding wave of smoke that quickly cloaked the mad doctor, sweeping out faster than Kim could escape it.
The smokescreen soon grew to reach Shego and Ron. The blonde saw a grin of malice flash on her pale face before she vanished behind the gray curtain. Then he was wracked with fits of coughing, unable to do anything but listen to Kim as she too hacked away the vile smoke from her own lungs. Lucky for the both of them, the screen dissipated swiftly. When it did, the teens looked about in confusion to find themselves the only remaining force on the now-empty battlefield.
Ron took Rufus out of his pocket, patting his buddy on the back to help clear the smoke from his tiny lungs. "What just happened?" he asked Kim, looking around with puzzlement.
With a final cough, Kim groaned, "Drakken got away. He had some kind of disk."
"Downloading games off of a government computer?" Ron quipped, placing Rufus on his shoulder as he joined Kim by the console.
Kim looked at him with something between amusement and annoyance. Ron always called it her 'Ron-You're-Being-An-Idiot-But-I-Tolerate-You-Anyway-But-Shut-Up-For-Your-Own-Safety' look. He claimed to be trying to build the name into some kind of acronym, but with little luck so far. "C'mon," she said, giving him a push, "Let's just go free my dad."
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Hours later, Kim led the way up the stairs of her new dorm, speaking to Wade on the Kimmunicator. Ron followed close, eyeing the grungy gray walls of Haus Hall, Kim's new home.
It was a far cry from the apartment he had rented near campus from his Uncle, but it did have its advantages; For one thing, she didn't need to worry about finding a roommate by the end of the month. He couldn't afford to live alone, but being away for the summer had meant putting a roommate search on hold.
Now he had just enough cash to make it through to the end of September. If only he had possessed the cahones to ask Kim to move in with him before she had applied to the dorms. 'Not in a perverted way!' he told himself quickly, 'Just…' But that was a road he didn't need to go down anymore.
Squeezing past a group of lollygaggers, Kim slipped her key in the lock of a squalid-looking door. "Thanks, Wade." she said, flipping the Kimmunicator off as she kicked the door open. Together, the two teens and their micro-sized friend entered Kim's tiny single room.
The Possible family had tried their best to make the room more livable. Her father had brought in a bunch of space-age appliances left over from Nasa beta-tests (Kim had yet to work up the bravery to try out her microwave, which had more controls than a seven-forty-seven's cockpit). Her mother had picked out a bright, cheery yellow bedspread, with curtains and a table cozy to match for her window and desk. Even Jim and Tim had helped, plastering her cracked, pasty walls with colorful posters. But it didn't change the fact that the room was tiny, miserable, and ugly.
"So what did Wade dig up?" Ron asked as Kim replaced her tiny computer in her pocket with a sigh. "Any info? A lead on his latest digs?"
"No." she grimaced. "Wade's still looking through the Center's files, but there's no real way to be sure what he took." Disgusted, she flopped down onto her bed. "This is heinous!"
"Don't fret, KP," he pulled up her desk chair, straddling it backwards. "We'll get Doctor Dorkken before anything nasty happens."
"No," she moaned, looking up at the cracked plaster ceiling. "I mean this place!" A puff from her lips pushed her bangs back as she sat up, scowling at the room. "Bonnie's over in athletic housing with the rest of the cheer squad, yukking it up with her full-ride scholarship, and…and…"
"Hey, c'mon Kim," Ron sounded sympathetic, leaning forward. Rufus leapt from his pocket, jumping onto Kim's leg and giving her a pat. "Things aren't 'that' bad here."
Kim gave her friend a reassuring smile, petting Rufus. The amorphous mole rat rippled under her touch as Ron smiled back. However, that smile disappeared as a sharp crack emanated from Ron's seat. Kim's smile similarly vanished as the dorm-provided chair crumpled beneath Ron, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"You were saying?" she said flatly.
"Okay," he pulled himself out of the ruins of her chair, dusting himself off. "I know it looks bleak, but think about this: You and I both know you have way more talent than Bonnie. And," he added pointedly, "I happen to remember a bunch of people from Down Under who appreciated the help with that earthquake."
She gave him a funny look. "Ron, 'Down Under' is Australia."
"Nu-uh," he shook his head. "I think you're confused. The earthquake was in Chile, remember? We were nowhere near Australia."
A smile blossomed where her scowl had been so deeply rooted as she leaned forward, ruffling his hair. He really 'was' the same ol' Ron, no matter how much he had changed outside. "Thanks Ron. Still," she sighed, "It would have been nice…y'know?"
"Actually," a deep, confident voice spoke from her partially-opened door, "I believe I can give you a better option, Ms. Possible."
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