Chapter 1
The Shot Heard Round The World
Kim and Ron were on their way to the parking lot of Middleton High School, as seniors, they had the privlige of being able to drive to school, and both of them owned cars, Kim had a car that fit her personality, so did Ron. Kim owned a green Mini Cooper, while Ron had a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, complete with a hemi engine, and blower, 'the fastest sled in Middleton,' as Ron liked to call it, and in several cases, he was right, having beat Brick Flagg on more than one occasion in a quarter mile race, as well as Josh Mankey, who owned a Corvette ZR-1, Josh was once quoted as saying,
"If I ever have to race against Ron Stoppable again, it'll be too soon."
Tonight, Kim and Ron were to meet at Bueno Nacho, both driving in their own cars, Ron had asked Kim why, she said,
"I got some things I need to do tonight, and I'm going to need my own car for it, Ron."
Even though Ron was not at all thrilled at her response, he let it drop, but inside, his mind exploded with thoughts,
'She's probably going out with Mankey, they'll be found at some Italian restaurant, sucking face in a quiet corner.'
"Hola, Amigo, what can I get you?" the man at the counter asked when they walked up to place their orders,
"Chimmerito combo, grande sized." Ron said, smiling,
"Give me a burrito combo, and a side of nachos." Kim said, making Ron's head whip around so fast, it scared her,
"Woah, you could be a stunt double for 'The Exorcist,' Ron." Kim said, her eyes wide,
"I thought you and Josh were going on a date tonight." Ron responded, still looking at Kim through slitted eyes,
"I never said that." Kim replied, looking at Ron in the same manner,
"Sorry, I guess I jumped to conclusions." Ron said, his face turning a deep red,
"And, as usual, you come up with the wrong conclusion." Kim said, chuckling slightly, this was one of the things Kim loved about Ron, his ability to make a tense situation seem funny,
"Sorry, Kim." Ron said, his face still not meeting her eyes,
"Hey, no big," Kim said, "I'm just going shopping later, besides, I asked Monique to save me a pair of those new capri pants at Club Banana, she said they're selling out faster than they can stock them."
"Yeah, speaking of that, I gotta stop by the mens store at the mall tomorrow, Mom wants me sized for a new suit." Ron said,
"Why, what's wrong with the one you got?" Kim asked,
"She says it's too formal, so she wants me sized for another, tailor made, can you believe it, me, in a tailor made suit, never happen, no one's gonna get me into it." Ron replied, his face showing total disgust at the prospect of spending hours on end standing on a stool, being sized for a new suit,
"Why not?" Kim asked, using her famous 'puppy dog pout,' the same look that made Ron melt whenever he saw it,
"NO! DON'T DO THIS TO ME, KIM!" Ron replied, looking at Kim, but it was too late, Ron caved in like a weak beam,
"I'm gonna get you for this, KP." Ron replied,
"It'll be so cute to see you in it for the spring dance." Kim said, a huge smile playing on her face,
'Uh-oh, there she goes again.' Ron thought, looking at the face Kim was wearing,
"Uh, I gotta get going, KP, I promised Mom that I'd be home before ten." Ron said, looking at the clock behind the counter,
"Wait up." Kim said, grabbing Ron's wrist, when her skin made contact with his, it sent a shiver up her spine, these days, her touching Ron had that effect on her,
"What's up, Kim?" Ron asked, looking back at his best friend, who seemed lost in her own little world, "Earth, to Kim, I'm waiting?"
"Sorry about that, my mind was wondering, here." Kim said, handing Ron a small package, he opened it, and found a Kimmunicator inside,
"Why are you giving me this?" Ron asked, somewhat scared,
"You've earned it." Kim replied, still smiling,
"Boo-yah!" Ron said, walking for the door with a little more bounce in his step.
Later that evening:
Kim arrived at Middleton Mall just about an hour before closing time, she quickly ran to Club Banana, where she was supposed to meet up with Josh, tonight was the night she was going to break it off with Josh, and tomorrow, she was going to ask Ron out on their first official date. As she approached Club Banana, she noticed that Monique was working the counter,
"Monique." Kim sais, walking up to the beautiful African-American girl,
"What's up, girlfriend?" Monique asked as soon as she saw it was Kim,
"Not much, did you get those capri's you were telling me about?" Kim asked,
"Girlfriend, you know me too well." Monique said, pulling a pair of the pants from behind the counter,
"How much?" Kim asked,
"Fifty bucks." Monique replied,
"Cool." Kim said, handing over the money,
"By the way, Kim, you and Josh Mankey need to find another place to meet, come on, girl, the service alley, you got to be kidding me." Monique said,
"What?" Kim asked,
"Yeah, Josh stopped in here a few minutes ago, asked me to tell you to meet him in the service alley out back." Monique said,
"Thanks, Monique, gotta go." Kim said, clutching her most recent purchase under her arm, and walking out of the store.
As she got to the parking lot, she acted fast, dropping off her package in her car, and walking to the gated service alley that ran behind the mall, and a vacant field, she got about halfway down the alley, and stopped,
'I don't like this.' she thought, turning around,
"Josh, Josh, JOSH! WHERE ARE YOU?" Kim called out in a loud, strong voice.
Those would be the last words she would hear, just as she turned to go back the way she came from, a loud BANG pierced the air, almost like a car backfire, and Kim hit the ground, her long red hair covering her face, and the blood oozing from a wound in her abdomen, near the left side.
At the Stoppable home, located about a block away from Middleton Mall:
Ron was looking out of his bedroom window at the parking lot of Middleton Mall, using the telescope that Kim had bought him for his birthday last year, he had spotted Kim's car quickly, he watched, as Kim threw a Club Banana bag into her car, then, she crawled through a small opening in the fence near the gate that led to the service alley behind the mall, she couldn't have been gone for more than a few seconds, when a loud noise, almost like a firecracker sounded from the same direction,
'That wasn't no car backfire!' Ron thought, as he reached for the Kimmunicator that Kim had given him earlier that day, he punched the button to activate it, and Wade's face appeared on the screen,
"Hey, Ron, I see that Kim gave it to you." Wade said, when he saw Ron's face,
"Yeah, listen, Wade, can you trace the Kimmunicator's signal, I think something's happened to Kim." Ron said,
"What makes you think that?" Wade asked,
"Well, let me see, she went into the service alley behind the mall, and a few seconds later, I heard a loud pop, and it wasn't a car backfiring, I'm telling you, Wade, it was a gunshot." Ron said, his voice becoming more, and more panicked,
"Amp down, Ron, I'll see what I can find out, by the way, I thought that the service alley was gated, and fenced in a few months ago." Wade said, punching a few keys on the computer in front of him, he then turned back to Ron,
"It was, Wade, to keep teenagers from using the field as a make out spot." Ron replied,
"She's not answering." Wade said,
"Check her vitals, Wade, I'm going down there." Ron said,
"On it." Wade said, punching up a few more keys on his computer, he looked back at Ron, his face almost drained of color,
"Uh, Ron, her heartbeat, and blood pressure are dropping, you'd better hurry." Wade said, that was all Ron needed to hear.
He ran down the stairs at top speed, and didn't even say goodbye to his parents as he bolted out the door, and to his car, where he fastened his seatbelt, and fired up the engine, making the car roar to life, he pressed in on the clutch, dropped the car into gear, and stomped on the accelerator, in a squealing of tires, and a pall of acrid smelling smoke, the car was taking off down the road, destination, Middleton Mall.
In the service alley:
Ron practically tore the gate off it's hinges in his mad dash to get into the service alley, he walked about halfway, when he tripped over something, when he stood up, his clothes were soaked but it hadn't rained in four days, he reached into his pants pocket for his penlight, and pushed in the switch, illuminating the area, as soon as he did, he wished he didn't, he had found Kim, her hair was concealing her face, there was blood on the ground, most of it pooled around her abdomen, somewhere near the waistline, and she was as white as a piece of chalk,
"Wade, get an ambulance, and EMT's, Kim's been hurt, bad!" Ron said, his voice trembling.
Uh-oh, not good, what happens next, well, Bonnie finds out not to deal with Ron when Kim's not around to keep him in line, and Ron gets a break in the case, what is it? You'll have to read, and find out.
For those of you who are wondering about the title for this chapter, time for a little history lesson from yours truly.
If you think American History, it referrs to the first shot fired during the American Revolutionary War, it got the tag 'The Shot Heard Round The World, primarly because of the fact that the regining King of Britian, George III, declared it an act of war, no one ever found out who fired the shot, the British say it wasn't them, and the Americans say it wasn't them, it was unclear who fired the first shot.
If you are looking at sports, it referrs to baseball, in particular, to the 1951 National League Championship Series, between The New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bobby Thompson, the Giants center fielder, came up with one man on base, and proceeded to hit a homerun over the left center field wall, that homerun got the tag, 'The Shot Heard Round The World,' because of the fact that the Korean War was going on at the time, and the game was brodcast on Armed Forces Radio, also, because theDodgers were the heavy favorites going into the game, some interesting facts about this chapter title, and I figured that the world will find out about Kim Possible getting shot by an unknown assailiant, so, why not name the chapter after an event that got the same name, sounded doable to me at the time.
And as for the cars they drive, I wanted something that would suit their personalities, Kim being subtle, and somewhat conservative, would drive something that would save her on gas mileage, so, I settled on a Mini Cooper, while Ron is loud, boisterious, and somewhat fast, he would have a car that would suit his personality, thus, a 1968 hemi 'Cuda, with a full blown engine, the paint job, btw, is black, with a green flame job, why green, to match the colors of Team Possible, of course, and if you think about it for a second, sometimes, the vechicles we drive tell people about the kind of person we are, in a little way.
Keep the reviews coming,
Doug