A Glitch in Time

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 18:

"Man, this tanks," grumbled Ron.

"Are you starting with Kim going off without you again?" Cindy asked him. "Or is it that you never stopped?" Thus far their vigil had been uneventful and Ron had been pacing restlessly ever since Kim, Jimmy, and Shego's departure. "Personally, the less that happens while we're waiting for the others to get back, the better."

"Actually, I was thinking about food," he answered. "I mean, we're stuck here and there's absolutely nothing to eat. No nacos, no chimiritos, no guacamacos…nothing! Next time I'll be sure to bring a Grande Grab Bonanza Bag whenever I'm infiltrating someone's lair. But now that you brought it up…"

Cindy looked alarmed and tried to fend off where the conversation was headed. "I didn't bring it up!" she protested. "I was just -"

"Okay," Ron went on, ignoring Cindy's objection. "Kim can do anything. And maybe that means I don't have to be there. But we're more than a team now. We're supposed to be an item. That kind of implies being together…a lot…you know?"

"It also means listening more than talking, sometimes," Cindy hinted.

"Absolutely," Ron agreed, nodding his head vigorously. "And I appreciate that you're listening. Now, we can both see how things are from Kim's side. So try to see it from my side, now. I mean, you're a girl, right?"

Cindy's wordless glare was answer enough for Ron.

"Oh, right. Right! You are. Not that I didn't notice that you weren't a girl…I mean that you were a girl…that is…" He trailed off in his fumbling attempts to pacify Cindy. "Hey, it was a retractable question, okay?"

"You mean 'rhetorical'," Cindy stonily corrected him.

"Okay…yeah…I should know that word…" Ron thought for a few moments and Cindy let him, glad of the silence. "Would it have anything to do with that butler in Gone With the Wind?"

This seemed like a good opening to Cindy to stop the diatribe. "Frankly, Ron," she answered, "I don't give a -"

"Right. You are so right. Not important right now," Ron went on, and Cindy dropped against the platform's control panel in defeat. She was used to dealing with Jimmy and, clueless as he often was, he was smart enough recognize her warning signs. Ron was not. "The thing is, even before we were an item we were a team. Doesn't my trying to measure up to her show that I'm serious about it? Shouldn't Kim appreciate that a little more?"

Since she couldn't avoid it Cindy decided that she might as well participate in the discussion. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, she went with it because it was working out the way it was and that you didn't need to change that way? That maybe how you were is how she wants you to be, mostly?"

"Mostly?"

"Well, my mom is always telling my dad something about leaving the seat up. But did you ever think that she wants you because of who you were all those years?"

Ron considered that. "Not really. If that's what she really wanted, why did it take her so long to realize it? Why go through all the Josh Mankeys and Eriks and who knows who else if I wasn't her last choice? She only decided that we should get together when she decided that maybe there wasn't anyone else and I told her how I felt. I don't want to go through this just because there was no one else. I want to be her first choice, not her last chance."

"Well, if you felt that way about her, why did you take so long to say something?"

Ron looked miserable. "Because she was my friend. My best friend. I wanted her to be happy. And she was happy with other guys."

"So it was other guys she was best friends with all those years? Going on missions around the world? Spending time hanging out in Buenas Noches?"

"'Bueno Nacho'," Ron corrected her.

"Whatever. Look, Ron, just because it took Kim a while to come around doesn't mean that you weren't what she wanted. All it means is that maybe she needed to understand what was really important to her. When you come right down to it, any successful relationship is the last choice someone makes, whether it's with the first person they picked, or the hundredth."

Ron's face became uncharacteristically thoughtful, and Cindy saw that she might have gotten her point across. Before she or Ron could say anything more there was a loud, dull thud and the floor beneath them shook slightly. "Did you drop something?" Ron asked.

Cindy shook her head. "Aside from a few hints to get you to stop ranting and raving, no."

"Funny. That sounded like something heavy hitting something. Kind of like a -"

The thud came again and this time there was no mistaking where it had come from. The door to the room they were in shook heavily and bent inward slightly.

"A battering ram?" Cindy finished. She looked worried. "It looks like we're going to have some company in here real soon."

"Maybe we should contact the others?"

Cindy glanced at the microwave antennae and shook her head. "They have their own problems. We can handle this." Like I'm really going to call Neutron for help, she thought. She looked about for something to improvise as a weapon.

Ron was also searching for something with which to defend themselves and settled on two metal rods, about an inch in diameter and the length of baseball bats. He tossed one to Cindy who hefted it, twirled it, and tested its balance. She had had very little training with weapons but decided that using the rod was still better than fighting unarmed. She and Ron deployed to either side of the door to flank the intruders and force whoever it was to split their forces when they entered.

"Bring it on," said Ron, spinning the rod easily. "Kim-mando Ron is ready."

A couple more heavy impacts hit the door and it burst open to reveal the two Shego drones, hefting a large beam between them. Now that the door was smashed and hanging open, they dropped the heavy metal member to the ground with a metallic clang and advanced menacingly on the defenders. "Intruders located," the drones announced simultaneously. "Commence termination."

"You sure you don't want them to wait a few more minutes, Ron?" Cindy called out as she backed away.

Ron didn't reply, instead vaulting forward and swinging fiercely on his opponent as it darted to one side. He tucked into a ball, rolled lightly to his feet, and brought the rod up in time to parry the drone's glowing green swipe at him. He counter-attacked, forcing the drone backwards with lunges and swings of the rod. "Man, this is awesome!" he exulted.

"Glad to hear it!" Cindy called in annoyance. Thus far her size, agility, and improvised weapon assisted with a heavy dose of adrenalin had allowed her to hold her own against the syntha-drone, but any offensive moves were out of the question. "Maybe if I had a super suit too I'd feel the same way!"

It was definitely not the thing to say. The drone confronting Ron paused and the cold green eyes scanned over him as if assessing the situation in light of the new information. "Opponent's combat abilities enhanced by cyber-augmentation suit. Adjusting primary target from Ron Stoppable to augmentation suit."

"Hey! Hey!" Ron spluttered as the drone adjusted its stance slightly. "It's called a Kim-mando suit and it's supposed to be a secret!" He rolled aside to dodge a blow. "And it's just a loaner! I'm not even sure if it's washable!"

Ron now found himself on the defensive, as the drone launched a series of determined attacks designed not to incapacitate Ron, but to damage the suit he was wearing. In a desperate attempt to keep his wondrous costume from harm Ron concentrated entirely on avoiding his adversary's attacks rather than initiating any offensive moves of his own. Seeming to realize this, the drone manipulated Ron with a number of feints, punches, and kicks that opened his guard and left him vulnerable to a final, devastating strike. A glowing hand slashed across his chest like the talons of some monstrous predator to lay open the intricate mesh of fabric and circuitry, even though through some miracle Ron himself was spared any injury. Sparks sputtered and fizzled from the gash as Ron felt the suit go limp on his form.

The drone's face, although emotionless, seemed to show some hint of triumphant pride. "I know your parameters, Ron Stoppable," it said. "I can anticipate your every move. You cannot win."

She's right, Ron thought as he backed away in trepidation from the advancing syntha-drone. Without the suit, I'm nothing. I'm just…

"Ron Stoppable," a voice called.

Ron looked about, feeling as though he were falling asleep, or perhaps waking up. The voice seemed familiar, but he could place neither it nor its source. In the midst of this he felt mildly surprised to see that his artificial opponent was not moving. Neither were Cindy and her adversary near the temporal complosion platform. "Who's that?"

"Ron Stoppable," the voice repeated. "The world is in peril. Once again, we at the Yamanouchi School depend upon you to save us."

"Master Sensei?" Ron asked. "Hey, I'd like to help, but I'm kind of busy right now."

"We know. We have sensed the great disturbance in the time stream. There is not much time left to stop the catastrophe that is coming. If you fail now, all is lost."

"But Master, I can't beat this thing!"

"If you fail now, all is lost," the voice repeated. "Your friends will never return, and existence itself will crumble."

"If the suit were working, I'd have a chance," Ron protested. "Or maybe if I had the Lotus Blade. I don't suppose you could loan it to me, maybe?" he added hopefully.

"You have studied here," the voice remonstrated him. "The victory is in the hand, not the blade."

Ron shook his head. "But I'm not good at this!" He hung his head. "Kim was right. She's the hero, not me. Without her, I'm nothing."

The voice became stern. "The virtue of the arrow is not in the strength of the bow. It finds the mark in being true to itself. So must it be with you. Embrace the essence of Ron Stoppable."

"I don't understand!" Ron wailed.

"Know your enemy, and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will never know defeat."

Ron blinked. "Huh?"

The voice was almost a sigh as it faded away. "The way to true victory lies within. I have faith in you, Ron-san…"

The realization of the speaker's identity hit Ron like a proverbial sack of bricks. "Yori?" Ron stood motionless as those around him, confused at what he had heard. Know your enemy, and know yourself? As he pondered this he became aware that his surroundings were once again coming to life, like an old movie slowly starting up. He faced his opponent, still puzzled by what the voice had been trying to tell him, but no longer afraid. Come what may, Ron decided he would not be a coward. Calling upon the mystical monkey force with which he had been imbued he swung and spun his rod in a dizzying sequence of moves intended to distract and confuse his opponent. His maneuvers worked, for the Shego-drone slowed its approach but adjusted its stance in anticipation of his impending attack.

Know your enemy...

In a move that was as much inspiration as desperation Ron sprang forward and whirled about, bringing the rod around in a great, two-handed arc towards the drone. The syntha-drone, analyzing his attack, anticipated his intent and timed its own counterstrike to knock the rod from Ron's arm as he completed his swing and then deliver a final blow to Ron himself.

…and know yourself…

The drone's first blow, meant to disarm Ron, met only air. In the last second Ron had passed the rod from his right hand to his left, bringing his right arm around to finish the arc he had begun. As the drone's swipe missed the empty hand by scant inches, Ron used his left hand to drive the rod into the drone's chest with all the force he could put behind it.

…and in a hundred battles you will never know defeat.

The rod ripped through the outer sheath of the drone, passing through it and tearing a second gaping hole in its back. The drone convulsed and began to shrivel as the blue She-goo, no longer contained, poured through the holes. With a final shudder it settled into a shapeless mass on the floor, leaving Ron panting but victorious.

"Boo-yah!" he exulted. "Now that's what I'm talking about! I guess there are some things about Ron Stoppable that can't be anticipated, aren't there?" He turned to assist Cindy, but saw that it wasn't necessary.

Cindy, in the meantime, had been battling her opponent, neither of whom had been able to obtain a clear advantage. But Cindy knew that it was only a matter of time before one of the drone's energy blasts or carefully delivered punches found its mark, or she would succumb to fatigue. She had been able to hit the drone with her rod several times, but each time the blow seemed to have no effect on the syntha-drone's tough outer covering. To make matters worse, over the din of battle, she thought she could hear Kim's voice calling over the microwave link. Perhaps Ron had been right to signal the others. At the least they might have some idea.

As she thought it over a wild idea of her own came to her. Keeping a careful eye on the location of the platform's control panel, she deliberately gave way before the onslaught of the drone and worked her way around the platform to put the drone between herself and the panel. She fell back a few more steps, and then, with a loud yell, rushed forward and flipped up and over the drone to land next to the panel.

"A foolish manuever," the syntha-drone observed as Cindy straightened. "You waste your energy on useless acrobatics rather than in a constructive attack. You do not know the rudiments of combat."

"Maybe not," Cindy agreed as the drone approached her, "but I do know what happens to a hot dog in a microwave." Just when the drone reached the critical spot Cindy spun the power dial for the microwave link all the way over, boosting the power to maximum.

What happened next was both gratifying and unsettling. The syntha-drone began to jerk and twitch uncontrollably as the powerful electromagnetic energy passed through its body and disrupted its complex control systems. At the same time, its form began to swell and distend as that energy, absorbed by the She-goo and converted to heat, caused the substance inside expand as it changed first to a liquid and then a gas. Sounds of bubbling and hissing came from the ballooning figure until, without warning, it exploded and scattered azure bits of She-goo over most of the lab just as Ron turned to assist her.

"That was totally nasty," commented Ron, wiping some of the mess off his face.

Cindy nodded. "But worth it." She turned to the control panel. "I think Kim was trying to call. I think they might be ready to come back. Or maybe they're in trouble and need help."

Ron was sniffing. "Do you smell something burning?"

"You mean like syntha-drone Shego?"

"No. I mean like…I dunno…wiring or something."

Aghast, Cindy spun the power dial back down to its original setting. "This might be bad," she confessed. "I didn't stop to think about what would happen to the transceiver circuit at maximum power. I might have burned out the microwave link." Panicked, she pressed the transmit switch and called, "Kim? This is Cindy. Are you there? Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was no answer. In response to Cindy's bleak stare, Ron asked the obvious question. "So now what?"

After considering the various alternatives Cindy found herself giving him the obvious answer. "I don't know," she admitted. She looked at her watch and saw that the hour was nearly up. "And we're almost out of time."

End of Chapter 18

Author's Notes:

A couple readers have asked if I'm associated with D.N.A. Productions or otherwise involved with the official production of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron. As much as that would be a dream job for me, I'm not. I'm just another fan fiction author who loves the premise of the show enough to want to put out a quality story from time to time. Apparently I sometimes succeed although I can't please everyone.

For those who don't really like the stories I have to say that my viewpoint of the show differs somewhat from the opinions of others. Jimmy is a genius, but that this is more of a springboard to finding out more about him and the other characters through their reactions to each other and the situations his genius gets them into and out of. The same is true of Kim and Ron. In this story I wanted to give the "second stringers" a chance to really show what they were capable of on their own, even if it was behind the scenes while the main characters were handling the main crisis, and use that to help define how they really stood with their counterparts. Hopefully by this point no one will be surprised to find that Shego is one of those "second stringers". I've always thought that, as a henchman, she didn't get the sort of recognition she really merited. Anyone who can personally go toe-to-toe and mano a mano with Kim Possible time and again has to be top drawer to stay in the game.