Chapter 10 - Surprise!

(...the Mankey home...minutes later...)

Facing each other, Lila and Tara sit on the living room couch.

"Tell me, do you have any plans for college?", the coed inquires.

"Hmmm. Not really. I figured I might try community college first, and then, who knows?"

"Well, if you ever need a reference, look me up, all right?"

"You got it."

(...outside the Mankey home...)

Mason continues to look at the dwelling through his binoculars. A beeping noise cuts through the silence.

He checks his watch. It reads 10:00pm. He sets the binoculars down and glances at the cell phone in the passenger seat. He waits a few seconds. It lays on the leather...stagnant.

A smile slowly creeps upon his face.

He gets out of the car. Whipping out the keys, he walks to the trunk. He opens it and pulls out a suitcase.

"Showtime!" He strides across the street, case in hand.

(...the Mankey home...)

"Oh, man."

"What is it, Tara?"

"I'm hungry. I was so worried about Josh, I haven't eaten all day."

"Well, I'm sure he won't mind you grabbing a bite."

Tara gets up and heads for the kitchen. She opens the refrigerator. There's quite a bit to eat, but... "Man, I don't know what I want." Her pretty little head pops up from the chill.

"You want anything?", she calls.

"Thanks, no."

Tara returns to her culinary challenge. She looks at the top shelf. Orange juice, lemonade, milk... She glances downward. Her eyes fix on some carrot sticks. She takes the baggie of veggies, closes the door and takes a walk outside.

Lila waits for her to return. "Find what you want?" She turns around, but there's no one there. She gets up from her seat and goes to the kitchen. Meanwhile, a figure crawls into the open window.

(...the streets of Middleton...)

A yellow cab rides down the paved roads. Its occupants are a woman and three teenagers, all looking like they've returned from a fancy dinner.

"It was nice for Mr. Denny to help us get home", Josh states.

"It's a good thing he doesn't hold a grudge."

"Yeah." Ron joins in. "Even with the being knocked out, he says he still had a good time."

"Well, that's how it was in my younger days. Whatever we had to do to get the job done, it was done."

(...the Mankey home...)

Lila is in the kitchen. The cupboards have been left open, and given that she's standing in front of the fridge, her journey has been less than successful.

She opens the icebox and sticks her head inside. The coed does a sweep of the containment. Nothing of interest.

She closes the door. She turns around and standing right there is Mason, one hand behind his back. "Hello."

A surprised gasp escapes her lips. He covers her mouth with his left hand. He pushes her backwards, her hands flailing about. She loses her footing and falls to the tiled floor.

He stands over her with a menacing glare.

"What do you want?" Lila makes no attempt to hide the fear in her voice.

"Simple...to watch you die."

He reveals his right hand. It's holding a gun with a silencer attached to the barrel. Lila's eyes widen. He raises his weapon. Tara walks back inside, unaware to either assassin or target.

The blonde cheerleader finishes munching on a carrot stick. "Lila, there sure are a lot of grasshoppers in..." She notices the man with the gun. "...your yard." She drops the bag of carrots. "Tara, run!" The assassin sets the gun on the table.

Before she can react, Mason lunges at her and starts choking her. With as much strength as she can muster, Tara raises her hands and gouges his eyes with her thumbs. Lila gets up from the floor. He rears back and covers his eyes.

Lila, taking advantage of the distraction, grabs the gun and trains it on Mason. He regains his vision and catches sight of the young woman holding his gun. Tara kneels on the floor trying to catch her breath.

"You okay, Tara?"

"I'll be fine", she states between breaths.

She focuses on her would-be killer. "Now, who do you think you are to come here and try to kill me?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it, especially with the likes of you."

Lila aims the gun at the floor and shoots between Mason's feet.

"Whoa!"

"Damn right, 'whoa!' Now start talking...because the next one won't miss." She raises the gun and aims at his crotch.

"All right. It's this guy your mom used to work with. He wanted me to come here and off you and your brother if she didn't do as she was told."

Lila lowers the gun a little, mainly out of confusion. "What about Mom?"

Mason takes advantage of her lapse in concentration and rushes her. The two struggle for the gun. It goes off.

The young man hits the floor, a bullet wound in his foot. He screams out.

Lila raises the gun at her assailant once more. Not taking her eyes or the weapon off of him, she moves near Tara. She extends her arm. The blonde takes it and stands to her feet.

"Tara, call the cops."

"Right." She runs for the living room.

(...outside the Mankey home...fifteen minutes later...)

The cab pulls up outside the house. Kim and Ron had already been dropped off at their homes. Sally looks in amazement from inside. Police cars are in front of her house. Neighbors are swarming all around. A man hobbles his way into a police car followed by officers. The cab stops. The doors open.

Out steps Josh. He can't help but stare at the unfolding hoopla. His eyes find... "Tara." She meets his gaze. The two of them run to each other. They embrace.

He breaks away somewhat and looks to Lila. "You'll never guess who I found."

The coed's attention shifts from the departing police cars to the cab, from which emerges Sally.

Their eyes dart around for a few moments before finally meeting each other's. Lila smiles, and her mother returns the gesture.

"Hi, Mom."

Sally chokes up. "Hi, Sally."

The two of them hug each other, both crying at what they've regained. Looking at them from afar are the two high-schoolers.

Josh looks at Tara. "I hope I didn't miss anything good."

"You didn't miss too much. Just a couple of friends getting together."

(...the halls of Middleton High...the next morning...)

Kim and Ron walk down the corridors of the school.

"That was some mission."

"Yeah...it was."

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, yeah. It got pretty hairy last night. I was kind of afraid that something might've happened to you."

"Ron, I would've been fine."

"But you were hanging from a balcony ten floors--"

"Eleven."

"Thank you. Eleven floors up. I don't know what I'd do if..."

Kim looks at her friend intently. "You know, I get the feeling you want to tell me something..."

"Kind of."

"...but you're not sure how to tell me, and even less sure of how I might react."

"Pretty much."

"And you think that this 'something' may change things, but you're afraid of the way things may change."

Ron raises his arms. "Exactly." She leans over and kisses him on the cheek. He looks at her as she walks past.

"Love you, too." She giggles a little.

There was a feeling of uncertainty growing in Ron, and for once, he liked it. He turns toward the redhead and runs off.

"Wait up, KP. That means what I think it does, right?"

"One way to find out!"

The End

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A/N: I must admit that I had an ulterior motive in writing this story. This story was a knee-jerk reaction to all the smack talked about one Josh Mankey. I've always found it rather inexplicable that he's so reviled. It occurs to me that he gets this because he (supposedly) stands in the way of K/R. Well, there's that and...um...well...did I mention he stands in the way of K/R? Talk about a poor reason to dislike a character. And it's not even exclusive to this show; this sort of trait is, sadly, present in several animation fandoms (hint: the name Lila was not plucked from thin air!).

Not that the show was much help in the matter. In "Blush" and "The Full Monkey" (episodes rife with problems independent of this one), there seemed to be (in my opinion) a number of little bits that felt like the writers were saying, "Don't worry, folks. We don't like him much, either." Also, one should consider that the creators said that K/R was planned from the beginning. One soon gets the sense that there were no such plans to develop Josh beyond merely being Kim's crush...something I find more than a little sad.

It's kind of a pity that so many fanfics are littered with these arbitrary slams at him. However, if one condescends to put some effort into it, an anti-Josh fanfic can make for a compelling read ("Paragon", "Betrayal"). Still, there are those authors out there willing to take the high road and make him a well-rounded character (captainkodak1, take a bow).

When I originally started this story, it was my intention to make a dark KP fic. It's safe to say that I may have punked out on this as the story wound down, but I like to think that I did a fine job, overall. Creating these new characters was a lot of fun, especially Josh's family members. As I mentioned, the show had no plans to develop him, so I pretty much gave myself carte blanche here.

As for the true identity of Sheila...well, wasn't it obvious?

Again, thanks for reviewing, look for the references and have a nice day.