=All Purpose Disclaimer=
Kim Possible is a team of trained seals in the employment of Disneyworld and Disneyland. All usage of her and her oceanic entertainment troupe are without permission, but the actors were compensated with a large bucket of salty, smelly fish…and one naco. Go figure.
===============================================================================
Kim Possible
The Power of Love
by Cyberwraith9
===============================================================================
'I think I'm actually starting to get used to this thing,' she thought to herself, tugging on her collar once more as she took the copilot's seat for her own. 'How scary is that?'
Kim made a few adjustments to her GJ uniform as the hoverjet prepared itself for takeoff. Outside of the view port, their warehouse's vehicle bay spun in a half-circle, coming to rest with the nose of the hoverjet aimed squarely at a long, dark tunnel which, in moments, would take them to the surface and beyond.
Her hands tugged at the midsection of her stretchy uniform, snapping at the black fabric with irritation. 'I wonder if they'd let me cut the middle out,' she mused to herself. Functional or not, she still preferred to have a little ventilation in her uniforms. A nice breeze at the belly felt good when she was swinging from skyscrapers or duking it out with dastardly fiends.
The doors to the rear compartment parted behind her, allowing Will access to the cockpit. "We launch in one minute," he said crisply.
With a mission before them, he had reverted to all business, which was how she was used to seeing him anyway. The tiny glimpses of the person he was beneath the hard, cold surface, the ones he had let slip earlier in the week, were gone now. With each day, Kim understood Will a little better, but she would still have felt better if he cracked a smile or a joke, at least to ease the tension.
However, she kept the comment to herself as she snapped her flight harness into place, tugging at the straps to ensure their security. "And we're going to Hong Kong…why?" Global Justice hadn't been very specific when they had called upon her as she was on her way to Physics. Her only instructions were to suit up and report in to Will. She hoped Ron would share his notes with her later…
"Information leak." Will said as he checked over the instrumentation. Everything seemed to be in order, as it always was, but that never kept him from checking. It was in the rules, after all. "Global Justice got word of a Drakken heist being pulled on a technology consortium down there."
"What's the damage?"
"If he gets away with it?" Will glanced over at her, looking as serious as he always did. "The lab contains some of the world's most advanced weaponry. They've come up with things our government scientists can only dream about…and they sell to the highest bidder."
Kim adopted an equal attitude, her eyes narrowing. "Only Drakken isn't willing to bid." She turned, her muscles already tensed for takeoff as she nodded in the direction of the runway/tunnel. "Then let's punch it."
"Powering up engines." Will droned, flipping a pair of switches. The craft immediately began to vibrate as a soft, constant hum filled their ears.
Hoping to lighten the mood a little, Kim gave him an encouraging smile. "Let's hope there aren't any more surprises." she quipped, thinking back to the evil alliance Drakken now commanded. At least this time, they were ready.
"Don't worry," he responded cryptically, "There won't be."
"Huh?"
Without looking at her, he continued to explain as he finished up the preflight check. "I've contacted the FAA, and they've cleared the airspace around the area we'll be landing in. I also took the liberty of deploying a GJ anti-interference net. Agents will keep the area cleared, so we won't be receiving any 'outside' anomalies."
Outside anomalies. It didn't take a genius to figure out who that meant. "Oh," was all she could think to say. She felt a small sliver of disappointment at the thought of leaving Ron behind, for real this time. 'Then again,' she reminded herself, 'Maybe it's all for the best…' Sooner or later, she was going to have to accept the fact that Team Possible was behind her. She couldn't afford to let personal feelings get in the way anymore; she was an agent of Global Justice.
"Sit back," Will warned her, reaching for the throttle. "We're taking off." He pushed the lever forward slowly, increasing the whine of the engines as the craft began to roll forward. The hoverjet taxied down the dark tunnel, building up speed before the ramp took a sharp turn upward, sending them hurtling out of the secret hatch hidden in an abandoned lot several miles away and up into the sky.
Had Will waited an extra half-second, he and Kim might have heard a sharp, metallic ping echo from beneath their craft…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was nighttime in Hong Kong. The heart of the bustling metropolis never slept, as was proof as the sleek, shadowy hoverjet touched down softly on the rooftop of the city's tallest skyscraper. Far below them, the lights and sounds of the nocturnal life buzzed, beeped and shouted, creating a background din that helped to mask their arrival.
Will guided the craft onto the black tar top of the building with practiced grace, barely giving them a bump as the hoverjet settled onto the surface. Between that, the surrounding noise of the city, and the hoverjet's own stealth capabilities, it was a good bet that they would get the drop on their quarry, should the leak prove to be accurate.
"Let's go." Will said crisply, tossing his harness over his head and marching quickly towards the back. Kim scrambled to follow him into the rear compartment. Silently, he offered her a multitude of weapons, which she declined with a wave. Instead, she took a single grapple gun and a cutting laser, in addition to her standard GJ equipment belt. Will seemed to accept this, but took a sidearm of his own nonetheless.
The rear ramp lowered with a slow, ominous whisper, settling onto the ground with a soft thud. Will was already halfway down before the hatch finished cycling, with Kim close behind. He swept his firearm across the roof, clearing their entrance. Satisfied, he started to holster his weapons, then froze. His eyes narrowed as he looked back, scanning the shadowy, expansive rooftop and beneath the jet.
Kim noticed his edginess, and immediately tensed. "What is it?" she hissed, her senses alive and focused.
"It's…" he started to murmur. His search revealed no trace of sentry, intruder (besides them), or even automated defenses. "It's nothing." He grudgingly slid the weapon back into its holster as he motioned for Kim to follow him.
Together, they crept across the rooftop and made their way to a central air system vent located conveniently in the center. Kim made good use of her laser cutter, slicing the bolts from the vent cover silently. Taking great care, they lowered the metal grate to the ground without a peep, then slid one by one into the vent, creeping down towards the lab in question.
The very instant they were gone, a large, black bundle dropped from the bottom of the hoverjet, landing with a muffled thud onto the tar paper roof. The mass of black fabric wheezed and panted, struggling with itself until its folds were torn aside to reveal a young man gasping for breath.
Half frozen and possessing magnetic cups on his hands and knees, Ron Stoppable groaned as his muscles screamed in protest at the three-hour supersonic flight from Upperton. The thermal blanket had been the only thing to keep him from becoming a Roncicle, and the breather mask hanging around his neck had supplied him with just enough oxygen to not die. The lack of a second, rodent-sized mask meant that Rufus would have to sit this mission out; he was sulking back at the apartment.
"Whoa."
Ron coughed, forcing his lungs to slow down before he made enough noise to tip off the two GJ agents in the air duct. With a groan, he rolled over, silently giving thanks to his Sensei for training him so well; without his mental and physical conditioning, he was fairly certain he would have dropped off the side of the plane somewhere over the ocean.
With another cough, he unhooked the magnetic cups and tossed them into the lumpy blanket. "Well," he sighed, finally starting to feel recovered, "That sucked. Now, let's get to work."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The interior of the lab was dark and heavy, with shadows cast from huge pieces of mysterious equipment. An expansive space, the lab sprawled across the better part of an entire floor of the skyscraper. Each experiment was afforded its own space to work within, but despite the open attitude of the architecture, the sheer number of different experiments left the place with a distinctly cluttered feel to it.
…which is probably why it was only a matter of time before someone tripped over something.
A sharp, meek cry came to Shego's attentive ears from behind as she led her 'team' in silence across the floor. With an irritated hiss, she turned back with a ready glare. Surprise was the last thing on her mind as she found that it was the tail end of their train causing the problem. "Lucre!" she growled.
He hopped up and down, clutching one of his feet as he grimaced in pain. "I can't help it," he retorted loudly, "It's too dark in here!"
"Please to be excusing me," Junior tapped his chin thoughtfully (or at least what passed for thought in his cavernous skull), "But is not crime an activity best executed while in darkness?" He looked past his hairy cohorts in front of him to gaze questioningly at Shego. "I seem to recall something like that in your lessons."
She groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a pained expression. "Shut up. Just…just shut up." she half-pleaded, half-snarled.
Monkey Fist growled softly, testing the air with his feral snout. The atmosphere in the lab was heavy with the after-aroma of knock-out gas, and stung at his delicate senses. "I don't see what all the secrecy is for anyway," he complained bitterly.
"Aye," Killigan agreed, shouldering his driver as he looked about the darkened room. "I's no' like there's anyone left awake in the building after we dropped the gas canisters int' the ventilation system."
"Fine," she growled back, "Go find a light switch or something, I don't' care. Amateurs," she snapped softly as Lucre hobbled off to find some light. He waddled slowly, weighed down by something large, boxy and metallic strapped to his back. "Don't even know why Drakken sent you anyway."
Monkey Fist's sharp ears picked up the dig with no problems, despite her hushed mumbling. "We're here in case you screw things up, Side-kick." He accented her title heavily, grinning at her with sharp fangs of sarcasm. His grin soon faded as a balled fist of green flame stopped inches beneath his chin, singeing his fur.
"Don't push me, Monkey Bars." she glared at him, extinguishing the flame and pulling her hand back slowly. Before Killigan could add anything, she beat him to the punch. "And you, McDoof…Same goes for you and your tacky skirt."
"I's a KILT!" he spat back with venom in his eyes.
Lucre, in the meantime, had managed to stumble over to the wall without further incident. Searching across the wide surface, he finally managed to find a set of switches near one of the doors. "Aha! Found it!" he cried gleefully, glad to be rid of the dark. He flicked the light switch-
-and promptly screamed like a three-year-old girl.
"What's the matter, Lucre?" Kim Possible asked nonchalantly, leaning against the wall not three feet from where the low-budget villain shrieked, "Afraid of the dark?" He had not seen her, for the shadows had cloaked her even more effectively than they had Shego's motley crew. Next to her, Will Du stood ready, his eyes narrowed and fists cocked.
"Kim POSSIBLE!" Monkey Fist snarled, his argument with Shego forgotten for the moment as his feisty teen nemesis made herself known.
Killigan jabbed his driver in her partner's direction, adding, "And tha' other one, Will Someth'n-or-Another!"
"Du-
"We don't care," Shego snapped, lighting her hands as she stomped towards the pair.
"No," Will amended, "I meant, Du you give up?"
"Clever," she smiled back at Will before taking off after the rapidly retreating Lucre. She grabbed him by the collar, yanking him off of his feet before he could get far. "So tell me," she asked him, "Wha'cha up to?"
"Stay back!" Lucre yanked the straps from his body, slinging the apparatus on his back into his waiting arms. Whatever it was, it had a barrel aimed straight at Kim…and smelled of old tuna. "Or taste my wrath!"
"Is…" Kim stared at the device; it appeared to be a poor conglomeration of random household stuffs. She noticed several blue wrappers stuck to the haphazard metal that comprised its bulk, as well as the old glass tube serving as its barrel. "Is that a gun?"
"State of the art in laser technology!" he assured her with an evil grin as he cohorts closed in.
"It looks homemade…" She gave the gun a disgusted appraisal that dissolved into a smirk. "Badly, too."
"Advanced weaponry at a fraction of the cost," Lucre insisted, patting the side of the gun. He didn't seem to mind when one of the buttons fell off at his touch, though it didn't escape Kim's notice. "With retail, you're mostly paying for the labor, anyway." He pulled the trigger with a malicious grin, but received only a small puff of smoke from the end of the gun.
Standing nearby, Will watched with hidden fear as Shego, Junior, Fist and Killigan all closed in on him. They looked hungry for blood, and did not appear particular at which of the teens they tore apart first. "Um, excuse me?" he threw in Kim's direction uncertainly.
"Oh, right." She turned back to Lucre with an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I have to run. You stay right here, and we'll arrest you in a sec, 'kay?"
"Well, I-oof!" Lucre couldn't help but wheeze as Kim drove her knuckles into his solar plexus, driving the wind right out of him as he fell to his knees. The jostling knocked more tiny components from his homemade laser gun, but neither noticed as he gasped for breath, and Kim rushed to join her partner.
Shego led the pack, which had Will cornered by the door. "I was hoping to tear apart Kimmie's little blonde friend," she sneered at the defiant GJ agent, "But I suppose you'll 'Du' for an appetizer."
"Let's just skip to the main course!" Kim leapt in, catching Shego off-guard with a flying side kick that knocked her clean off her feet. The two tumbled to the ground in a full-out catfight that served not only to entertain, but also to distract the villainous men.
"I did not realize that could bend in such a manner…" Junior watched with curiosity and intrigue at the hair-pulling, clawing, biting, kicking and punching between the two women.
Using the commotion to its fullest, Will leapt forward. What he lacked in witty rejoinders, he made up for in martial-arts prowess. A few well-placed kicks scattered the men quickly, putting them on the defensive. Now it was up to Will to keep them that way.
Monkey Fist backed away with several handsprings, landing on his fingered feet as Junior took the brunt of Will's attack. "Killigan!" he shouted to the hairy Scotsman, "Find the Detonator! We'll keep this stand-in busy."
"Watch who yer givin' orders to, yeh baboon!" Killigan shot as he backed away from the fight. He swept across the floor, inspecting the equipment present quickly as Monkey Fist leapt back into the fight. "Le's see," he muttered, passing up several devices, cannons, robots and gadgets. "I don' see it here…"
"What are you looking 'fore'?"
"Ach, tha's the oldest golf joke on the planet," he grumbled at the new voice, turning around. Then he gasped, nearly dropping his putter at the sight of a new body on the playing field. "I's YOU!"
"That's right," Ron said smugly, leaning against the side of what appeared to be a gigantic battle-robot frame. "I's me. Ten points if you remember my name!"
"The buffoon is HERE!" Killigan bellowed, raising his club high in the air as he charged the sidekick, ready to take his head off.
Ron shrugged. "Close enough, I guess." He leaned further back, sticking out his foot as he avoided the swinging club by mere centimeters. Killigan's stride caught on the edge of the boy's heel, sending the rogue golfer tumbling end over end as he lost his club. With a casual catch, Ron took hold of the driver, hefting its weight appreciably.
Kim took notice of Killigan's cry instantly, looking up from her fierce battle with Shego. "Ron?" her head snapped up as she straddled Shego's trapped form, ready to lay into the criminal face with her fists. It was Shego's turn to use distraction as she shoved Kim aside, rolling easily to her feet to loom over her fallen foe.
"Too bad he can't help, Kimmie!" she sneered, raising a glowing green fist to deliver the finishing blow. She would have, too, except the soaring driver that struck her hand knocked her off-target, and the force of the blow drove her fist deep into the floor, wedging it painfully in the tile and cement.
"Who says I can't?" Ron rushed up as Shego tugged furiously on her arm. He took a flying leap, flipping in mid-air to land gracefully on Shego's spine. The villainess grunted in pain as his feet pounded against her back, driving her onto the floor and knocking her senseless for the moment.
Kim stared up incredulously as Ron bowed at the waist, offering her a hand up with a smile. "Hey KP," he greeted her casually, "Thought you could use a hand."
"Stoppable!" Will barked, ducking beneath Monkey Fist's hairy strike as he drove his foot into Junior's stomach. "That's impossible!"
"I know who she is," Ron called back as he hauled his best friend to her feet. He gave her a smile and a wink. "Like I wouldn't know who Kim Possible is…"
"That's not what I-"
"Could we focus here?" Kim asked, glad to see Ron, but still exasperated with the both of them. Honestly, was it something on the Y-chromosome that made boys totally lose sight of the real problems? Or maybe all that testosterone just made them fight with one another for no good reason. "We're in a fight, remember?" she glared at the both of them.
"You got it, KP." Ron gave her a rakish salute before back-flipping away. He couldn't resist showing off as he jumped into Will's fight, landing back-to-back with the senior agent to face off against Monkey Fist. "So…" he said casually, "How we doing?"
"You shouldn't be here," Will hissed over his shoulder as Junior picked himself back up, wiping a thin trail of saliva from the corner of his mouth. The next generation of villainy was severely ticked at the boot print Will had placed on his yellow designer shirt, and seemed anxious to even the score.
"You know," Ron said irritably as he and Monkey Fist began to circle one another, "You're really territorial about this whole hero thing, aren't you?"
"It's all a game to you, isn't it Stoppable?" Will shot back without looking, keeping his eyes glued to Junior.
Ron snorted. "Sorry I don't have a stick up 'my' butt about saving the world." he snapped, flexing his fingers as he watched Monkey Fist size him up. "I prefer to find some joy in my work."
"I was enjoying my job just fine before you showed up."
"Well excuse m-"
Monkey Fist couldn't take it anymore. He leapt forward, putting his face just inches from Ron's as he growled, "Excuse me, ladies? Could we please save the chatter for the sewing circle?"
"Yes," Junior agreed readily, "All this nattering is giving me a headache…" He rubbed his temples as if to prove the point. "This is worse than when father has business guests over for dinner. All the constant talking and talking about nothing at all…it's very bad for digestion."
"Chew on this." Will lunged, driving his fist into Junior's ill-prepared mouth. The bad son's head snapped back with the force of the blow, dazing him worse than any other had so far in the fight.
"Now you're getting it," Ron said enthusiastically at Will's quip. He put his new proximity to the hairy Kung Fu master to good use, driving his knee deep into the pit of the Englishman's stomach. "Keep practicing, and you'll be as good as me someday."
"The day I aspire to become you," Will grunted, slipping in close to the insensate Junior and tossing him at the hip with an expert judo throw, "Is the day I turn in my hoverjet for a Volvo."
"I hear those have great safety features." Ron replied as he slipped his heel behind Fist's, knocking the breathless baddie onto his butt with little effort.
Kim observed the boys fight for a moment, shaking her head with worry and disbelief. "And their gender rules the world…"
"I know," Shego, freshly released from her concrete cuff, managed to wrap an arm around Kim's neck from behind. Kim felt the villain's jumpsuit pressed up against her own as she struggled against Shego's superior grip, gagging and choking.
Will and Ron stopped in mid-fight, just as they had their respective foes on the ropes. "Kim!" they shouted in unison, turning to where the emerald enemy held their redheaded ally as a hostage.
"No one moves," Shego said angrily, allowing a spark of green to manifest near Kim's throat. Try as she might, the heroine couldn't budge Shego's arm away from her neck, though the plasma fire was a wonderful added incentive. "Killigan, get back up and grab the Detonator. Junior, Monkey, grab 'Fragile' Lucre over there," she gestured to where the frail, pasty man was sitting on the ground, clutching at his stomach. "I want us gone in five minutes."
Ron fumed silently as Shego's orders were carried out. He and Will remained absolutely still, unable to do anything so long as Shego held Kim. It was an unusual situation for Ron; he was usually the bad guys' leverage against Kim, and not the other way around. "You'll never get away with this, Shego."
"Blah, blah, blah." Junior flapped his hands as his simian cohort hauled Lucre, crappy laser and all, up onto his feet. The accountant's fake beard was askew, but beyond that he seemed all right. "Must you heroes constantly rely on those tired clichés?"
Kim was suddenly struck with inspiration. "Yeah, Ron…" Kim grunted, her arms still tugging uselessly against Shego's grip. "Can't you be more original…like a couple years back in San Francisco?"
Will could only tilt his head in confusion, but Ron knew exactly what to do in a heartbeat. His feet carried him slowly, moving carefully so as not to upset Shego. He drifted to the left, towards Will…or more importantly, to the utility belt strapped around his waist. It took only a moment's examination to find what he needed. "I can't take credit for that, KP…" he shrugged, playing along. "It was your idea."
"What are you two talking about?" Will growled, gnashing his teeth as Ron drew ever closer. "You're at death's door. Is this really the time for reminiscence?"
Reaching into his pocket, Ron casually drew out his cell phone. It wouldn't be of much help as far as communication (he hadn't used it since Kim had given him the Kimmunicator anyway), but spying the light switch just a few yards from where he stood, he figured it had just the right heft.
"Ah found it!" Killigan cried from down the row of experimental equipment. He hefted a small rectangular box of circuitry and wiring that looked barely large enough to house a pair of shoes. If it was in this lab, though, it had to have been exceedingly dangerous. "Can we go now?"
Kim looked to Ron, clamping down on a small, excited gasp as his hand reached into his pack from behind, pulling out her old grappling gun. Normally the sight of Ron with a grapple gun would only instill fear (or the possible anticipation of comedy, depending on how funny she found Ron's boxers at any given moment). But if Ron got the plan right, it would turn the score around for the good guys. "I think it's time to go," she replied before Shego could. "Wha'cha think, Ron?"
"Couldn't agree more, KP." Ron's hands acted as one, moving in total synchronization. With his left, he hurled his cell phone at the light switch, not bothering to see if it hit: He knew it would. His right tossed the grapple gun in a long, wide arc that ended perfectly in Kim's waiting hand.
The lights went out as Ron's cell phone struck the switch, plunging the room into total darkness just as Killigan was running forward with the mysterious 'detonator' that they had come to retrieve. In the initial instant of confusion, Ron reached over to Will's utility belt, ripping off a standard issue GJ flash grenade. He silently gave thanks to Will's unyielding, freakish adherence to standard procedure as he ripped the pin from the grenade, hurling it high into the air.
In once instant, the room had been comfortably lit. In the next, there was total darkness. Now, in the third instant of Ron and Kim's slapdash plan, the entire lab was filled with a painful explosion of light as Will's flash-bang went off over their heads, searing the retinas of anyone who didn't happen to be blinking at just the right second. Both Kim and Ron had closed their eyes tightly, retaining a modicum of sight. Then, just as planned, Ron rushed forward to rescue Kim from Shego's deadly arms.
Unfortunately for their plan, Will had not been privy to any of it. In fact, he had been looking right at the spot where the flash-bang had gone off, following his grenade's arc in confusion after Ron had thrown it up. He groaned as the painful light seared his retinas, moaning in time with the rest of Shego's band as he stumbled about-
-and stuck his foot right in Ron's path.
For the second time in as many missions, Ron's feet failed him and sent him stumbling forward with no control. He careened towards Kim and Shego, yelping as he tried to regain his balance in time.
Kim had forgotten Shego for the moment, who was too busy rubbing her eyes to threaten her life. Using their reaction to the flash-bang as cover, she took aim at Killigan with the grapple gun, targeting his bare, hairy legs to tangle him up before he could escape with the device.
A large, dark blur barreled into her just as she was squeezing the trigger, knocking her, Shego and her unknown assailant to the ground. Her aim went wide, sending the grapple too far to the right-
-and straight into Lucre.
Frugal Lucre took the grappling hook square in the breadbasket, causing him to exhale so violently that he blew his own goatee right off his face. He doubled over, inadvertently dropping his homemade laser cannon. The crappy, do-it-yourself machine was jostled internally and externally and, through some miracle of the fall, decided that 'now' was the right time to start working.
The fragile barrel of the haphazard weapon spewed forth a crimson beam of death that swept across the floor, cutting a swath of destruction greater than the combined forces of the villains could possibly have mustered. Experiments, computers, and machinery of all types were sliced apart. Killigan, Monkey Fist and Junior, who had just recovered somewhat from the flash grenade, were quick enough to dive to the floor as the laser passed over them. The great bay windows of the lab melted and shattered beneath the awesome might of Lucre's less-than-awesome laser as it destroyed thousands of work-hours and billions of dollars worth of equipment. Engines of destruction or hope, it didn't matter; none were spared.
Dazed and confused, Ron doubled over on the ground as a sharp, feminine foot plunged into his stomach. "Sorry to run," she smirked down at him, giving him another kick for good measure, "But I think we've found what we came for." Her smugness was tempered with worry as she saw Kim Possible collecting herself a few feet away. "Let's go, boys!"
"Yet another victory for the Legion of Villainous Evil!" Junior cried as they exited the lab together in triumph.
Killigan was the last to leave, spreading a wave of explosive golf balls behind them to cover their escape as he carried the detonator under one arm. "Be seein' ya!" he cackled as the balls exploded, leaving a haze of smoke and flames that they vanished into. By the time the air had cleared, they were gone, leaving only the swinging doors of the lab in their wake.
Kim groaned, picking herself up off of the ground. She tossed the now-useless grapple gun aside with a groan. Nearby, Ron sat up with a fitful cough, and beyond him Will stumbled about, still blinded by his own grenade.
"What happened?" he asked blindly, waving his arms in front of him as he stumbled about. "Where are they? Kim?"
"Oh man…" Ron wheezed, clutching his stomach. He rubbed his aching head, looking up at his best friend as she approached him. "We blew it?" he asked in a small voice. The five villains combined hadn't worried him in the least, but he would have given anything to avoid the look Kim had on her face then and there.
"Yeah…" she grunted, looking as annoyed as Ron had ever seen her. "We did."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hong Kong police, who had responded extremely slow in Kim's opinion, finished up with her official statement as they all gathered at the bottom of the towering skyscraper. Bits of glass and flotsam still littered the street from Lucre's final laser barrage, but thankfully the streets below had been deserted enough to avoid anyone getting injured. It was one of the few things Kim was thankful for at the moment.
She leaned against the Hong Kong squad car, sighing with relief as the insistent officer finally backed off and took his notepad elsewhere. Nearby, she saw Ron sitting in the open door of another squad car, graciously accepting a cup of coffee from one of their 'rescuers'.
"Something has to be done." came a gruff, no-nonsense voice from behind her. She didn't even have to turn around to know it was Will…and she didn't even have to ask to know what he was talking about.
With a sigh, she turned to her new partner, flipping a stray lock of copper hair from her face. "He only came because he was worried about me," she insisted gently.
Will's stony resolve remained so. "And because of him," he said, "Drakken's henchmen have gotten away with another piece of what can only be an insidious plot for world conquest."
"That's not true!" Kim said indignantly, stamping her foot as she crossed her arms in defiance. "We don't…I mean, it's not like he…" She searched desperately, trying to come up with a spin on the scenario where it wasn't Ron's fault. But in the end, even the girl who could do anything couldn't come up with a lie convincing enough to fool herself.
Sensing her acceptance, Will reached forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. For the first time since she had known him, he seemed truly apologetic. "I'll go talk to him." he said, starting to pull away. But she caught his hand before he could get far.
"No." she shook her head. "I'll do it." Gathering her courage, she began walking purposefully towards Ron's seat, balling her hands into fists and shoving the miserable pocket of anxiety deep inside of her.
Ron only made things worse. "Hey KP!" he said brightly, giving her a tiny wave. He started to take a sip of coffee, then thought better of it and offered it to her first. "You want?"
"No…thanks." she said uneasily. "Listen, Ron-"
"Nasty stuff with those guys…" Ron muttered, shaking his head. He looked himself over, noting a dozen new bruises and tears in his mission clothes that would need attention. "What do you think they took?"
"We don't know yet. Ron…" she started again, but was quickly cut off.
"Y'know, I bet if Rufus were here, we really could have stuck it to them. I'll have to figure out a way of smuggling him along underneath your jet next time." He seemed amused by the admission, as if adhering to government aircraft was just an everyday occurrence for him.
"Ron." Kim said at last, fearing she would never get what she had to say out. It was hard enough, what with him being…well, being Ron.
He sensed her discomfort immediately, and wondered why he hadn't picked up on it sooner. "KP? Everything okay?" He suddenly stood up, taking her hand in his. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked in a mild panic, checking her pulse at her wrist. His other hand pressed up against her forehead as he took her temperature, fussing over her in a ridiculous, embarrassing scene. "We can get an ambulance, don't worry! Somebody, CALL AN-"
"RON!" she cried, ripping his hand from her head. "Will you just listen for a minute?" She was both glad and miserable that she had his full attention now, watching him calm down as he looked at her with those big brown eyes that worked on her just as her puppy-dog pout worked on him. "Listen, Ron…I…I don't want you coming on any more missions."
The effect would have been the same if she had taken a white-hot poker and jammed it into his heart. "Wh…what?" he murmured, blinking heavily. He stumbled back, catching himself against the squad car lest he fall to the ground.
"Look, Ron…" she rubbed the back of her neck, looking down and away. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but a quick glance in Will's direction strengthened her resolve a bit. "Things are different now…a lot different. I have this whole new life, and-"
Some of the shock was starting to wear off, and unfortunately Ron's mind had chosen to replace it with bitter feelings. "Yeah," he said softly, but with increasing strength, "You have a big, bright life now…Too much to do to spend time with ol' Ron."
"What?" It was her turn to be shocked at his tone.
"You heard me," he insisted with a slight scowl on his brow. "You've been ditching me, avoiding me, and now you kick me off the team just because there's a new model on the showroom floor!"
"Ex-cuse me!" she responded back, feeding off of some of his ire and returning it in kind. "I don't know if you recall, but 'you' were the one who pushed me to take this 'big, bright life', and now you're complaining that I'm a little busy?"
"Little busy?" he shot back. "KP, I haven't seen you all week!"
"So?" she threw her arms up in the air. "I went three whole MONTHS without you! You don't think that was tough?"
He blinked again at that, taken aback at the shot. "That…that was different…" he insisted weakly.
"Yeah, real different. Just like you, Ron!" Her hands were on her hips now as she leaned in, glaring at the one person she had never thought she would be so mad at. "You come back a completely different person after that whole 'summer school' thing in Japan, and whenever I try to ask you about it, you give me the brush-off!"
Some of the flame returned to Ron's eyes as he stood up again, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Brush-off?" he demanded, finding his voice once more. "You mean like the runaround you've given me all week? At least I wrote you letters from Japan, Kim. You can't even be bothered to pick up a phone anymore! And you say that 'I'm' the one that's changed?"
"Yeah!" Kim's voice had reached a full shout now, just to be heard over Ron's as she hollered back her retort. "The old Ron wouldn't have showboated on a mission like some fool Jackie Chan wannabe! He wouldn't have screwed up our missions as much as you have, either!"
There are moments in life when we say things we wish we hadn't, either because of embarrassment or lamentation. Then there are moments when we say things that we would pay dearly to erase. But above those exist the moments in life, the little phrases or quips that we would give absolutely anything to take back. And as Kim saw the hurt flood Ron's eyes, the twitch that clenched at his jaw, she realized just what it was to experience that moment of ultimate regret.
A tic had overrun Ron's right eye, twitching wildly as if he were holding back a great something. "V…Very well, 'Agent Possible'," he said, stressing the formality of her new title. "I'll leave you to your work." He turned away, stalking off with confident steps, his head held high and fists clenched at his sides.
With a start, Kim almost chased after him. "Ron…wait!" she called. She watched him stop stiffly, but he did not turn around. With a sigh, she said, "At least let us give you a ride-"
"Thank you, Agent Possible…" he said with his back turned, "But I'll find my 'own' way home." With that, he continued off, weaving in between the various police vehicles and reporter vans gathered around the crime scene. She saw him pull out the Kimmunicator and put in a call to Wade, though he was too far away for her to hear.
"Well…well fine!" she called, angry that he had slapped her offer back at her so coldly. Though in reality, part of her could hardly blame him. She staggered back, falling into the seat he had occupied as she watched him vanish into the crowds of onlookers and reporters and police officers. And as he disappeared, she wondered why the world suddenly looked so blurry, and why her face felt warm and wet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim Possible is a team of trained seals in the employment of Disneyworld and Disneyland. All usage of her and her oceanic entertainment troupe are without permission, but the actors were compensated with a large bucket of salty, smelly fish…and one naco. Go figure.
===============================================================================
Kim Possible
The Power of Love
by Cyberwraith9
===============================================================================
'I think I'm actually starting to get used to this thing,' she thought to herself, tugging on her collar once more as she took the copilot's seat for her own. 'How scary is that?'
Kim made a few adjustments to her GJ uniform as the hoverjet prepared itself for takeoff. Outside of the view port, their warehouse's vehicle bay spun in a half-circle, coming to rest with the nose of the hoverjet aimed squarely at a long, dark tunnel which, in moments, would take them to the surface and beyond.
Her hands tugged at the midsection of her stretchy uniform, snapping at the black fabric with irritation. 'I wonder if they'd let me cut the middle out,' she mused to herself. Functional or not, she still preferred to have a little ventilation in her uniforms. A nice breeze at the belly felt good when she was swinging from skyscrapers or duking it out with dastardly fiends.
The doors to the rear compartment parted behind her, allowing Will access to the cockpit. "We launch in one minute," he said crisply.
With a mission before them, he had reverted to all business, which was how she was used to seeing him anyway. The tiny glimpses of the person he was beneath the hard, cold surface, the ones he had let slip earlier in the week, were gone now. With each day, Kim understood Will a little better, but she would still have felt better if he cracked a smile or a joke, at least to ease the tension.
However, she kept the comment to herself as she snapped her flight harness into place, tugging at the straps to ensure their security. "And we're going to Hong Kong…why?" Global Justice hadn't been very specific when they had called upon her as she was on her way to Physics. Her only instructions were to suit up and report in to Will. She hoped Ron would share his notes with her later…
"Information leak." Will said as he checked over the instrumentation. Everything seemed to be in order, as it always was, but that never kept him from checking. It was in the rules, after all. "Global Justice got word of a Drakken heist being pulled on a technology consortium down there."
"What's the damage?"
"If he gets away with it?" Will glanced over at her, looking as serious as he always did. "The lab contains some of the world's most advanced weaponry. They've come up with things our government scientists can only dream about…and they sell to the highest bidder."
Kim adopted an equal attitude, her eyes narrowing. "Only Drakken isn't willing to bid." She turned, her muscles already tensed for takeoff as she nodded in the direction of the runway/tunnel. "Then let's punch it."
"Powering up engines." Will droned, flipping a pair of switches. The craft immediately began to vibrate as a soft, constant hum filled their ears.
Hoping to lighten the mood a little, Kim gave him an encouraging smile. "Let's hope there aren't any more surprises." she quipped, thinking back to the evil alliance Drakken now commanded. At least this time, they were ready.
"Don't worry," he responded cryptically, "There won't be."
"Huh?"
Without looking at her, he continued to explain as he finished up the preflight check. "I've contacted the FAA, and they've cleared the airspace around the area we'll be landing in. I also took the liberty of deploying a GJ anti-interference net. Agents will keep the area cleared, so we won't be receiving any 'outside' anomalies."
Outside anomalies. It didn't take a genius to figure out who that meant. "Oh," was all she could think to say. She felt a small sliver of disappointment at the thought of leaving Ron behind, for real this time. 'Then again,' she reminded herself, 'Maybe it's all for the best…' Sooner or later, she was going to have to accept the fact that Team Possible was behind her. She couldn't afford to let personal feelings get in the way anymore; she was an agent of Global Justice.
"Sit back," Will warned her, reaching for the throttle. "We're taking off." He pushed the lever forward slowly, increasing the whine of the engines as the craft began to roll forward. The hoverjet taxied down the dark tunnel, building up speed before the ramp took a sharp turn upward, sending them hurtling out of the secret hatch hidden in an abandoned lot several miles away and up into the sky.
Had Will waited an extra half-second, he and Kim might have heard a sharp, metallic ping echo from beneath their craft…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was nighttime in Hong Kong. The heart of the bustling metropolis never slept, as was proof as the sleek, shadowy hoverjet touched down softly on the rooftop of the city's tallest skyscraper. Far below them, the lights and sounds of the nocturnal life buzzed, beeped and shouted, creating a background din that helped to mask their arrival.
Will guided the craft onto the black tar top of the building with practiced grace, barely giving them a bump as the hoverjet settled onto the surface. Between that, the surrounding noise of the city, and the hoverjet's own stealth capabilities, it was a good bet that they would get the drop on their quarry, should the leak prove to be accurate.
"Let's go." Will said crisply, tossing his harness over his head and marching quickly towards the back. Kim scrambled to follow him into the rear compartment. Silently, he offered her a multitude of weapons, which she declined with a wave. Instead, she took a single grapple gun and a cutting laser, in addition to her standard GJ equipment belt. Will seemed to accept this, but took a sidearm of his own nonetheless.
The rear ramp lowered with a slow, ominous whisper, settling onto the ground with a soft thud. Will was already halfway down before the hatch finished cycling, with Kim close behind. He swept his firearm across the roof, clearing their entrance. Satisfied, he started to holster his weapons, then froze. His eyes narrowed as he looked back, scanning the shadowy, expansive rooftop and beneath the jet.
Kim noticed his edginess, and immediately tensed. "What is it?" she hissed, her senses alive and focused.
"It's…" he started to murmur. His search revealed no trace of sentry, intruder (besides them), or even automated defenses. "It's nothing." He grudgingly slid the weapon back into its holster as he motioned for Kim to follow him.
Together, they crept across the rooftop and made their way to a central air system vent located conveniently in the center. Kim made good use of her laser cutter, slicing the bolts from the vent cover silently. Taking great care, they lowered the metal grate to the ground without a peep, then slid one by one into the vent, creeping down towards the lab in question.
The very instant they were gone, a large, black bundle dropped from the bottom of the hoverjet, landing with a muffled thud onto the tar paper roof. The mass of black fabric wheezed and panted, struggling with itself until its folds were torn aside to reveal a young man gasping for breath.
Half frozen and possessing magnetic cups on his hands and knees, Ron Stoppable groaned as his muscles screamed in protest at the three-hour supersonic flight from Upperton. The thermal blanket had been the only thing to keep him from becoming a Roncicle, and the breather mask hanging around his neck had supplied him with just enough oxygen to not die. The lack of a second, rodent-sized mask meant that Rufus would have to sit this mission out; he was sulking back at the apartment.
"Whoa."
Ron coughed, forcing his lungs to slow down before he made enough noise to tip off the two GJ agents in the air duct. With a groan, he rolled over, silently giving thanks to his Sensei for training him so well; without his mental and physical conditioning, he was fairly certain he would have dropped off the side of the plane somewhere over the ocean.
With another cough, he unhooked the magnetic cups and tossed them into the lumpy blanket. "Well," he sighed, finally starting to feel recovered, "That sucked. Now, let's get to work."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The interior of the lab was dark and heavy, with shadows cast from huge pieces of mysterious equipment. An expansive space, the lab sprawled across the better part of an entire floor of the skyscraper. Each experiment was afforded its own space to work within, but despite the open attitude of the architecture, the sheer number of different experiments left the place with a distinctly cluttered feel to it.
…which is probably why it was only a matter of time before someone tripped over something.
A sharp, meek cry came to Shego's attentive ears from behind as she led her 'team' in silence across the floor. With an irritated hiss, she turned back with a ready glare. Surprise was the last thing on her mind as she found that it was the tail end of their train causing the problem. "Lucre!" she growled.
He hopped up and down, clutching one of his feet as he grimaced in pain. "I can't help it," he retorted loudly, "It's too dark in here!"
"Please to be excusing me," Junior tapped his chin thoughtfully (or at least what passed for thought in his cavernous skull), "But is not crime an activity best executed while in darkness?" He looked past his hairy cohorts in front of him to gaze questioningly at Shego. "I seem to recall something like that in your lessons."
She groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a pained expression. "Shut up. Just…just shut up." she half-pleaded, half-snarled.
Monkey Fist growled softly, testing the air with his feral snout. The atmosphere in the lab was heavy with the after-aroma of knock-out gas, and stung at his delicate senses. "I don't see what all the secrecy is for anyway," he complained bitterly.
"Aye," Killigan agreed, shouldering his driver as he looked about the darkened room. "I's no' like there's anyone left awake in the building after we dropped the gas canisters int' the ventilation system."
"Fine," she growled back, "Go find a light switch or something, I don't' care. Amateurs," she snapped softly as Lucre hobbled off to find some light. He waddled slowly, weighed down by something large, boxy and metallic strapped to his back. "Don't even know why Drakken sent you anyway."
Monkey Fist's sharp ears picked up the dig with no problems, despite her hushed mumbling. "We're here in case you screw things up, Side-kick." He accented her title heavily, grinning at her with sharp fangs of sarcasm. His grin soon faded as a balled fist of green flame stopped inches beneath his chin, singeing his fur.
"Don't push me, Monkey Bars." she glared at him, extinguishing the flame and pulling her hand back slowly. Before Killigan could add anything, she beat him to the punch. "And you, McDoof…Same goes for you and your tacky skirt."
"I's a KILT!" he spat back with venom in his eyes.
Lucre, in the meantime, had managed to stumble over to the wall without further incident. Searching across the wide surface, he finally managed to find a set of switches near one of the doors. "Aha! Found it!" he cried gleefully, glad to be rid of the dark. He flicked the light switch-
-and promptly screamed like a three-year-old girl.
"What's the matter, Lucre?" Kim Possible asked nonchalantly, leaning against the wall not three feet from where the low-budget villain shrieked, "Afraid of the dark?" He had not seen her, for the shadows had cloaked her even more effectively than they had Shego's motley crew. Next to her, Will Du stood ready, his eyes narrowed and fists cocked.
"Kim POSSIBLE!" Monkey Fist snarled, his argument with Shego forgotten for the moment as his feisty teen nemesis made herself known.
Killigan jabbed his driver in her partner's direction, adding, "And tha' other one, Will Someth'n-or-Another!"
"Du-
"We don't care," Shego snapped, lighting her hands as she stomped towards the pair.
"No," Will amended, "I meant, Du you give up?"
"Clever," she smiled back at Will before taking off after the rapidly retreating Lucre. She grabbed him by the collar, yanking him off of his feet before he could get far. "So tell me," she asked him, "Wha'cha up to?"
"Stay back!" Lucre yanked the straps from his body, slinging the apparatus on his back into his waiting arms. Whatever it was, it had a barrel aimed straight at Kim…and smelled of old tuna. "Or taste my wrath!"
"Is…" Kim stared at the device; it appeared to be a poor conglomeration of random household stuffs. She noticed several blue wrappers stuck to the haphazard metal that comprised its bulk, as well as the old glass tube serving as its barrel. "Is that a gun?"
"State of the art in laser technology!" he assured her with an evil grin as he cohorts closed in.
"It looks homemade…" She gave the gun a disgusted appraisal that dissolved into a smirk. "Badly, too."
"Advanced weaponry at a fraction of the cost," Lucre insisted, patting the side of the gun. He didn't seem to mind when one of the buttons fell off at his touch, though it didn't escape Kim's notice. "With retail, you're mostly paying for the labor, anyway." He pulled the trigger with a malicious grin, but received only a small puff of smoke from the end of the gun.
Standing nearby, Will watched with hidden fear as Shego, Junior, Fist and Killigan all closed in on him. They looked hungry for blood, and did not appear particular at which of the teens they tore apart first. "Um, excuse me?" he threw in Kim's direction uncertainly.
"Oh, right." She turned back to Lucre with an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I have to run. You stay right here, and we'll arrest you in a sec, 'kay?"
"Well, I-oof!" Lucre couldn't help but wheeze as Kim drove her knuckles into his solar plexus, driving the wind right out of him as he fell to his knees. The jostling knocked more tiny components from his homemade laser gun, but neither noticed as he gasped for breath, and Kim rushed to join her partner.
Shego led the pack, which had Will cornered by the door. "I was hoping to tear apart Kimmie's little blonde friend," she sneered at the defiant GJ agent, "But I suppose you'll 'Du' for an appetizer."
"Let's just skip to the main course!" Kim leapt in, catching Shego off-guard with a flying side kick that knocked her clean off her feet. The two tumbled to the ground in a full-out catfight that served not only to entertain, but also to distract the villainous men.
"I did not realize that could bend in such a manner…" Junior watched with curiosity and intrigue at the hair-pulling, clawing, biting, kicking and punching between the two women.
Using the commotion to its fullest, Will leapt forward. What he lacked in witty rejoinders, he made up for in martial-arts prowess. A few well-placed kicks scattered the men quickly, putting them on the defensive. Now it was up to Will to keep them that way.
Monkey Fist backed away with several handsprings, landing on his fingered feet as Junior took the brunt of Will's attack. "Killigan!" he shouted to the hairy Scotsman, "Find the Detonator! We'll keep this stand-in busy."
"Watch who yer givin' orders to, yeh baboon!" Killigan shot as he backed away from the fight. He swept across the floor, inspecting the equipment present quickly as Monkey Fist leapt back into the fight. "Le's see," he muttered, passing up several devices, cannons, robots and gadgets. "I don' see it here…"
"What are you looking 'fore'?"
"Ach, tha's the oldest golf joke on the planet," he grumbled at the new voice, turning around. Then he gasped, nearly dropping his putter at the sight of a new body on the playing field. "I's YOU!"
"That's right," Ron said smugly, leaning against the side of what appeared to be a gigantic battle-robot frame. "I's me. Ten points if you remember my name!"
"The buffoon is HERE!" Killigan bellowed, raising his club high in the air as he charged the sidekick, ready to take his head off.
Ron shrugged. "Close enough, I guess." He leaned further back, sticking out his foot as he avoided the swinging club by mere centimeters. Killigan's stride caught on the edge of the boy's heel, sending the rogue golfer tumbling end over end as he lost his club. With a casual catch, Ron took hold of the driver, hefting its weight appreciably.
Kim took notice of Killigan's cry instantly, looking up from her fierce battle with Shego. "Ron?" her head snapped up as she straddled Shego's trapped form, ready to lay into the criminal face with her fists. It was Shego's turn to use distraction as she shoved Kim aside, rolling easily to her feet to loom over her fallen foe.
"Too bad he can't help, Kimmie!" she sneered, raising a glowing green fist to deliver the finishing blow. She would have, too, except the soaring driver that struck her hand knocked her off-target, and the force of the blow drove her fist deep into the floor, wedging it painfully in the tile and cement.
"Who says I can't?" Ron rushed up as Shego tugged furiously on her arm. He took a flying leap, flipping in mid-air to land gracefully on Shego's spine. The villainess grunted in pain as his feet pounded against her back, driving her onto the floor and knocking her senseless for the moment.
Kim stared up incredulously as Ron bowed at the waist, offering her a hand up with a smile. "Hey KP," he greeted her casually, "Thought you could use a hand."
"Stoppable!" Will barked, ducking beneath Monkey Fist's hairy strike as he drove his foot into Junior's stomach. "That's impossible!"
"I know who she is," Ron called back as he hauled his best friend to her feet. He gave her a smile and a wink. "Like I wouldn't know who Kim Possible is…"
"That's not what I-"
"Could we focus here?" Kim asked, glad to see Ron, but still exasperated with the both of them. Honestly, was it something on the Y-chromosome that made boys totally lose sight of the real problems? Or maybe all that testosterone just made them fight with one another for no good reason. "We're in a fight, remember?" she glared at the both of them.
"You got it, KP." Ron gave her a rakish salute before back-flipping away. He couldn't resist showing off as he jumped into Will's fight, landing back-to-back with the senior agent to face off against Monkey Fist. "So…" he said casually, "How we doing?"
"You shouldn't be here," Will hissed over his shoulder as Junior picked himself back up, wiping a thin trail of saliva from the corner of his mouth. The next generation of villainy was severely ticked at the boot print Will had placed on his yellow designer shirt, and seemed anxious to even the score.
"You know," Ron said irritably as he and Monkey Fist began to circle one another, "You're really territorial about this whole hero thing, aren't you?"
"It's all a game to you, isn't it Stoppable?" Will shot back without looking, keeping his eyes glued to Junior.
Ron snorted. "Sorry I don't have a stick up 'my' butt about saving the world." he snapped, flexing his fingers as he watched Monkey Fist size him up. "I prefer to find some joy in my work."
"I was enjoying my job just fine before you showed up."
"Well excuse m-"
Monkey Fist couldn't take it anymore. He leapt forward, putting his face just inches from Ron's as he growled, "Excuse me, ladies? Could we please save the chatter for the sewing circle?"
"Yes," Junior agreed readily, "All this nattering is giving me a headache…" He rubbed his temples as if to prove the point. "This is worse than when father has business guests over for dinner. All the constant talking and talking about nothing at all…it's very bad for digestion."
"Chew on this." Will lunged, driving his fist into Junior's ill-prepared mouth. The bad son's head snapped back with the force of the blow, dazing him worse than any other had so far in the fight.
"Now you're getting it," Ron said enthusiastically at Will's quip. He put his new proximity to the hairy Kung Fu master to good use, driving his knee deep into the pit of the Englishman's stomach. "Keep practicing, and you'll be as good as me someday."
"The day I aspire to become you," Will grunted, slipping in close to the insensate Junior and tossing him at the hip with an expert judo throw, "Is the day I turn in my hoverjet for a Volvo."
"I hear those have great safety features." Ron replied as he slipped his heel behind Fist's, knocking the breathless baddie onto his butt with little effort.
Kim observed the boys fight for a moment, shaking her head with worry and disbelief. "And their gender rules the world…"
"I know," Shego, freshly released from her concrete cuff, managed to wrap an arm around Kim's neck from behind. Kim felt the villain's jumpsuit pressed up against her own as she struggled against Shego's superior grip, gagging and choking.
Will and Ron stopped in mid-fight, just as they had their respective foes on the ropes. "Kim!" they shouted in unison, turning to where the emerald enemy held their redheaded ally as a hostage.
"No one moves," Shego said angrily, allowing a spark of green to manifest near Kim's throat. Try as she might, the heroine couldn't budge Shego's arm away from her neck, though the plasma fire was a wonderful added incentive. "Killigan, get back up and grab the Detonator. Junior, Monkey, grab 'Fragile' Lucre over there," she gestured to where the frail, pasty man was sitting on the ground, clutching at his stomach. "I want us gone in five minutes."
Ron fumed silently as Shego's orders were carried out. He and Will remained absolutely still, unable to do anything so long as Shego held Kim. It was an unusual situation for Ron; he was usually the bad guys' leverage against Kim, and not the other way around. "You'll never get away with this, Shego."
"Blah, blah, blah." Junior flapped his hands as his simian cohort hauled Lucre, crappy laser and all, up onto his feet. The accountant's fake beard was askew, but beyond that he seemed all right. "Must you heroes constantly rely on those tired clichés?"
Kim was suddenly struck with inspiration. "Yeah, Ron…" Kim grunted, her arms still tugging uselessly against Shego's grip. "Can't you be more original…like a couple years back in San Francisco?"
Will could only tilt his head in confusion, but Ron knew exactly what to do in a heartbeat. His feet carried him slowly, moving carefully so as not to upset Shego. He drifted to the left, towards Will…or more importantly, to the utility belt strapped around his waist. It took only a moment's examination to find what he needed. "I can't take credit for that, KP…" he shrugged, playing along. "It was your idea."
"What are you two talking about?" Will growled, gnashing his teeth as Ron drew ever closer. "You're at death's door. Is this really the time for reminiscence?"
Reaching into his pocket, Ron casually drew out his cell phone. It wouldn't be of much help as far as communication (he hadn't used it since Kim had given him the Kimmunicator anyway), but spying the light switch just a few yards from where he stood, he figured it had just the right heft.
"Ah found it!" Killigan cried from down the row of experimental equipment. He hefted a small rectangular box of circuitry and wiring that looked barely large enough to house a pair of shoes. If it was in this lab, though, it had to have been exceedingly dangerous. "Can we go now?"
Kim looked to Ron, clamping down on a small, excited gasp as his hand reached into his pack from behind, pulling out her old grappling gun. Normally the sight of Ron with a grapple gun would only instill fear (or the possible anticipation of comedy, depending on how funny she found Ron's boxers at any given moment). But if Ron got the plan right, it would turn the score around for the good guys. "I think it's time to go," she replied before Shego could. "Wha'cha think, Ron?"
"Couldn't agree more, KP." Ron's hands acted as one, moving in total synchronization. With his left, he hurled his cell phone at the light switch, not bothering to see if it hit: He knew it would. His right tossed the grapple gun in a long, wide arc that ended perfectly in Kim's waiting hand.
The lights went out as Ron's cell phone struck the switch, plunging the room into total darkness just as Killigan was running forward with the mysterious 'detonator' that they had come to retrieve. In the initial instant of confusion, Ron reached over to Will's utility belt, ripping off a standard issue GJ flash grenade. He silently gave thanks to Will's unyielding, freakish adherence to standard procedure as he ripped the pin from the grenade, hurling it high into the air.
In once instant, the room had been comfortably lit. In the next, there was total darkness. Now, in the third instant of Ron and Kim's slapdash plan, the entire lab was filled with a painful explosion of light as Will's flash-bang went off over their heads, searing the retinas of anyone who didn't happen to be blinking at just the right second. Both Kim and Ron had closed their eyes tightly, retaining a modicum of sight. Then, just as planned, Ron rushed forward to rescue Kim from Shego's deadly arms.
Unfortunately for their plan, Will had not been privy to any of it. In fact, he had been looking right at the spot where the flash-bang had gone off, following his grenade's arc in confusion after Ron had thrown it up. He groaned as the painful light seared his retinas, moaning in time with the rest of Shego's band as he stumbled about-
-and stuck his foot right in Ron's path.
For the second time in as many missions, Ron's feet failed him and sent him stumbling forward with no control. He careened towards Kim and Shego, yelping as he tried to regain his balance in time.
Kim had forgotten Shego for the moment, who was too busy rubbing her eyes to threaten her life. Using their reaction to the flash-bang as cover, she took aim at Killigan with the grapple gun, targeting his bare, hairy legs to tangle him up before he could escape with the device.
A large, dark blur barreled into her just as she was squeezing the trigger, knocking her, Shego and her unknown assailant to the ground. Her aim went wide, sending the grapple too far to the right-
-and straight into Lucre.
Frugal Lucre took the grappling hook square in the breadbasket, causing him to exhale so violently that he blew his own goatee right off his face. He doubled over, inadvertently dropping his homemade laser cannon. The crappy, do-it-yourself machine was jostled internally and externally and, through some miracle of the fall, decided that 'now' was the right time to start working.
The fragile barrel of the haphazard weapon spewed forth a crimson beam of death that swept across the floor, cutting a swath of destruction greater than the combined forces of the villains could possibly have mustered. Experiments, computers, and machinery of all types were sliced apart. Killigan, Monkey Fist and Junior, who had just recovered somewhat from the flash grenade, were quick enough to dive to the floor as the laser passed over them. The great bay windows of the lab melted and shattered beneath the awesome might of Lucre's less-than-awesome laser as it destroyed thousands of work-hours and billions of dollars worth of equipment. Engines of destruction or hope, it didn't matter; none were spared.
Dazed and confused, Ron doubled over on the ground as a sharp, feminine foot plunged into his stomach. "Sorry to run," she smirked down at him, giving him another kick for good measure, "But I think we've found what we came for." Her smugness was tempered with worry as she saw Kim Possible collecting herself a few feet away. "Let's go, boys!"
"Yet another victory for the Legion of Villainous Evil!" Junior cried as they exited the lab together in triumph.
Killigan was the last to leave, spreading a wave of explosive golf balls behind them to cover their escape as he carried the detonator under one arm. "Be seein' ya!" he cackled as the balls exploded, leaving a haze of smoke and flames that they vanished into. By the time the air had cleared, they were gone, leaving only the swinging doors of the lab in their wake.
Kim groaned, picking herself up off of the ground. She tossed the now-useless grapple gun aside with a groan. Nearby, Ron sat up with a fitful cough, and beyond him Will stumbled about, still blinded by his own grenade.
"What happened?" he asked blindly, waving his arms in front of him as he stumbled about. "Where are they? Kim?"
"Oh man…" Ron wheezed, clutching his stomach. He rubbed his aching head, looking up at his best friend as she approached him. "We blew it?" he asked in a small voice. The five villains combined hadn't worried him in the least, but he would have given anything to avoid the look Kim had on her face then and there.
"Yeah…" she grunted, looking as annoyed as Ron had ever seen her. "We did."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hong Kong police, who had responded extremely slow in Kim's opinion, finished up with her official statement as they all gathered at the bottom of the towering skyscraper. Bits of glass and flotsam still littered the street from Lucre's final laser barrage, but thankfully the streets below had been deserted enough to avoid anyone getting injured. It was one of the few things Kim was thankful for at the moment.
She leaned against the Hong Kong squad car, sighing with relief as the insistent officer finally backed off and took his notepad elsewhere. Nearby, she saw Ron sitting in the open door of another squad car, graciously accepting a cup of coffee from one of their 'rescuers'.
"Something has to be done." came a gruff, no-nonsense voice from behind her. She didn't even have to turn around to know it was Will…and she didn't even have to ask to know what he was talking about.
With a sigh, she turned to her new partner, flipping a stray lock of copper hair from her face. "He only came because he was worried about me," she insisted gently.
Will's stony resolve remained so. "And because of him," he said, "Drakken's henchmen have gotten away with another piece of what can only be an insidious plot for world conquest."
"That's not true!" Kim said indignantly, stamping her foot as she crossed her arms in defiance. "We don't…I mean, it's not like he…" She searched desperately, trying to come up with a spin on the scenario where it wasn't Ron's fault. But in the end, even the girl who could do anything couldn't come up with a lie convincing enough to fool herself.
Sensing her acceptance, Will reached forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. For the first time since she had known him, he seemed truly apologetic. "I'll go talk to him." he said, starting to pull away. But she caught his hand before he could get far.
"No." she shook her head. "I'll do it." Gathering her courage, she began walking purposefully towards Ron's seat, balling her hands into fists and shoving the miserable pocket of anxiety deep inside of her.
Ron only made things worse. "Hey KP!" he said brightly, giving her a tiny wave. He started to take a sip of coffee, then thought better of it and offered it to her first. "You want?"
"No…thanks." she said uneasily. "Listen, Ron-"
"Nasty stuff with those guys…" Ron muttered, shaking his head. He looked himself over, noting a dozen new bruises and tears in his mission clothes that would need attention. "What do you think they took?"
"We don't know yet. Ron…" she started again, but was quickly cut off.
"Y'know, I bet if Rufus were here, we really could have stuck it to them. I'll have to figure out a way of smuggling him along underneath your jet next time." He seemed amused by the admission, as if adhering to government aircraft was just an everyday occurrence for him.
"Ron." Kim said at last, fearing she would never get what she had to say out. It was hard enough, what with him being…well, being Ron.
He sensed her discomfort immediately, and wondered why he hadn't picked up on it sooner. "KP? Everything okay?" He suddenly stood up, taking her hand in his. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked in a mild panic, checking her pulse at her wrist. His other hand pressed up against her forehead as he took her temperature, fussing over her in a ridiculous, embarrassing scene. "We can get an ambulance, don't worry! Somebody, CALL AN-"
"RON!" she cried, ripping his hand from her head. "Will you just listen for a minute?" She was both glad and miserable that she had his full attention now, watching him calm down as he looked at her with those big brown eyes that worked on her just as her puppy-dog pout worked on him. "Listen, Ron…I…I don't want you coming on any more missions."
The effect would have been the same if she had taken a white-hot poker and jammed it into his heart. "Wh…what?" he murmured, blinking heavily. He stumbled back, catching himself against the squad car lest he fall to the ground.
"Look, Ron…" she rubbed the back of her neck, looking down and away. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but a quick glance in Will's direction strengthened her resolve a bit. "Things are different now…a lot different. I have this whole new life, and-"
Some of the shock was starting to wear off, and unfortunately Ron's mind had chosen to replace it with bitter feelings. "Yeah," he said softly, but with increasing strength, "You have a big, bright life now…Too much to do to spend time with ol' Ron."
"What?" It was her turn to be shocked at his tone.
"You heard me," he insisted with a slight scowl on his brow. "You've been ditching me, avoiding me, and now you kick me off the team just because there's a new model on the showroom floor!"
"Ex-cuse me!" she responded back, feeding off of some of his ire and returning it in kind. "I don't know if you recall, but 'you' were the one who pushed me to take this 'big, bright life', and now you're complaining that I'm a little busy?"
"Little busy?" he shot back. "KP, I haven't seen you all week!"
"So?" she threw her arms up in the air. "I went three whole MONTHS without you! You don't think that was tough?"
He blinked again at that, taken aback at the shot. "That…that was different…" he insisted weakly.
"Yeah, real different. Just like you, Ron!" Her hands were on her hips now as she leaned in, glaring at the one person she had never thought she would be so mad at. "You come back a completely different person after that whole 'summer school' thing in Japan, and whenever I try to ask you about it, you give me the brush-off!"
Some of the flame returned to Ron's eyes as he stood up again, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Brush-off?" he demanded, finding his voice once more. "You mean like the runaround you've given me all week? At least I wrote you letters from Japan, Kim. You can't even be bothered to pick up a phone anymore! And you say that 'I'm' the one that's changed?"
"Yeah!" Kim's voice had reached a full shout now, just to be heard over Ron's as she hollered back her retort. "The old Ron wouldn't have showboated on a mission like some fool Jackie Chan wannabe! He wouldn't have screwed up our missions as much as you have, either!"
There are moments in life when we say things we wish we hadn't, either because of embarrassment or lamentation. Then there are moments when we say things that we would pay dearly to erase. But above those exist the moments in life, the little phrases or quips that we would give absolutely anything to take back. And as Kim saw the hurt flood Ron's eyes, the twitch that clenched at his jaw, she realized just what it was to experience that moment of ultimate regret.
A tic had overrun Ron's right eye, twitching wildly as if he were holding back a great something. "V…Very well, 'Agent Possible'," he said, stressing the formality of her new title. "I'll leave you to your work." He turned away, stalking off with confident steps, his head held high and fists clenched at his sides.
With a start, Kim almost chased after him. "Ron…wait!" she called. She watched him stop stiffly, but he did not turn around. With a sigh, she said, "At least let us give you a ride-"
"Thank you, Agent Possible…" he said with his back turned, "But I'll find my 'own' way home." With that, he continued off, weaving in between the various police vehicles and reporter vans gathered around the crime scene. She saw him pull out the Kimmunicator and put in a call to Wade, though he was too far away for her to hear.
"Well…well fine!" she called, angry that he had slapped her offer back at her so coldly. Though in reality, part of her could hardly blame him. She staggered back, falling into the seat he had occupied as she watched him vanish into the crowds of onlookers and reporters and police officers. And as he disappeared, she wondered why the world suddenly looked so blurry, and why her face felt warm and wet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------