Food court level of the Fashion Show Mall, Las Vegas.
It was still only the second day of their vacation, and already Kim and Ron had been forced through one incredible situation after another, culminating in something that Kim actually found herself adjusting to very well… She wasn't changing after all! According to Ron, he was trying to change the Bebes instead, and as she sipped her hot coffee, she only had to think a question at him to get his attention. "So, since when did you become such an expert on conformity, Mr Never-Be-Normal?" Taken entirely by surprise when the strange cyber-telepathy buzzed in his brain, Ron managed to spill the contents of half a breakfast Naco in his lap. Or at least, he saw the mass of cheesy scrambled eggs, peppers and chopped steak fall somewhere. From beneath the table, a tiny belch solved that mystery right away…
"Kim," he sighed, clearly more comfortable with plain ol' primitive verbal communication, "This isn't conformity…" Pausing to take another bite of his breakfast while Kim gave him that coy little half-smile, he was about to finish his sentence when he noticed something. She wasn't half-Bebe any more! Did they actually respect his wishes and undo the physical alterations they had performed? Deciding to save the worrying until much later, he swallowed down that bite of his first Naco of the day to add the punch line to his statement with a grin. "It's not conformity, this is Ron-formity."
"Cute. Were you working on that line all night?" Kim asked as she idly drummed her fingers on the tabletop. The only thing that looked out of place was the unmistakable silver gleam on her fingernails, and she noticed the way Ron looked at them before he gave his response.
"No, I got to bed at around half past two-ish. How'd you sleep?" Playing with him a little, Kim leaned back and casually remarked, "Standing upright with my hands fixed by my side and a cable jacked into my skull. It was quite pleasant, actually…" Rufus had emerged from under the table to inspect Kim's hands for himself, blinking in confusion as her words reached his tiny ears and keen intellect. Ron just took this little comment in and looked down at his breakfast again, lightly nodding as he raised his cup to his lips. Glancing down to Rufus, Kim knew exactly what was coming as she counted off, "One, two, three," under her breath.
The Bueno Nacho Corporation was fiercely proud of its top-secret coffee blend, a potent mix of guarana with espresso-strength Colombian slow-roasted beans. What nobody had bothered to tell them was that, when expelled under extreme pressure, the jet of coffee began to exhibit properties more in line with anti-matter than tasty beverage. Rivulets of molten glass trickled down the window of the dark-for-darkness'-sake store sandwiched between two Starbucks locations, Kim raising an eyebrow in typical sardonic fashion.
"Was that really necessary, Ron? You know I was just kidding, right?" Ron looked around with a sheepish grin, meeting Kim's look as the melting window bubbled and steamed.
"Sure, of course I know you're joking! Hey, 'sides, there's one of these stores on either side of the food court, right?" Ron wiped his mouth and stood up, ready to have a good look around the mall as Kim joined him. Peering through the glowing orange halo surrounding the thermic lance of coffee, Kim's face contorted in disgust at the sight of olive-green cargo pants and black midriff tops with three-quarter length sleeves. Her look was starting to fill the racks at Hot Topic? Grabbing Ron to show him the horrifying sight, she could actually feel his flesh creeping at the very sight of "ironic" retro '80s (and even retro '90s already!) T-shirts, Happy Bunny wallet chains and mountains of that confusing Napoleon Dynamite crap.
"So, did you maybe want to hit Club Banana? Or are you gonna start doing all your shopping at B- ", Ron started to ask before Kim pressed one of her immaculate fingers to his lips, his eyes drawn once again to the shimmering chrome sheen of her nails.
"Ron, don't even…" She didn't need any cyber-telepathic link to see that one coming. Lightly shaking her head, she let Ron see the small pinprick scars from where the metal plates had begun to seep into her flesh, explaining, "Yes, Ron. I had to ask them to remove the, um, enhancements they had made to me on the outside…" Inside, however, she was very different. The mental link with Ron, for example, could be very advantageous during a mission when they needed to coordinate their actions. "I really should call home. Mom and Dad must be going nuts worrying about…" Pausing as her hand slid down to her hip pocket, Kim's eyes dilated in shock before her voice took on that small, frightened tone again. Guessing what was up, Ron began rummaging in his pockets for his phone, Kim's eyes lighting up at the sight of the small device. To Ron's horror, they really lit up, the surface of her eyes clouding over with a pearlescent sheen, lit from within by an angry red glow.
A prisoner inside her own body, Kim desperately struggled to take back control from the collective will of the Bebe hive even as the vicious silvery claws that were once her own fingers made a grab for Ron's hair. It was like the Middleton Days festival all over again, Ron thought to himself as Rufus scampered down his arm to the phone. The evil glow in Kim's eyes was still there, although totally focusing on Ron rather than the phone in his hand while Rufus began to pry his owner's fingers open.
"Look, Kim. It's me. It's Ron Stoppable, don't you remember?" Nervously, the young man laughed and reached up to let his empty hand caress the warm, perfectly human face of the thing he hoped was still Kim Possible, and in that instant there was a blinding flash. Neurons fired in two brains simultaneously, shared memories and experiences replaying themselves in crystal clarity and explicit detail with the assistance of the Bebe hive-mind…
Ron's first summer at Camp WannaWeep, 1994.
Seven year-old Ron Stoppable sat outside the counsellor's cabin, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth in a state of constant anxiety, repeating "She's gonna come, she's gonna come…" to himself. As a familiar car pulled into the lot beyond the gates of this accursed and evil place, Ron's teary eyes lifted toward the face of the driver and his spirit soared. She may not have been his mother, but the red-haired, blue-eyed woman was definitely the next best thing, smiling as she handed her pass to the counsellor and explained who she was here to pick up. Winding down the window, little Kim Possible flashed a dazzling grin at her best friend, the sunlight gleaming on her braces as the sound of Andrea's favourite driving music, We Built This City by Starship, filled the air.
"Ron, it's okay! We got your message an' came to pick you up, right away. I got an invite to the new girl's birthday party and she said you could come too!" As Ron threw down the faux-coonskin cap from his messy blonde hair, he ran from the cabin to leap into the back of the Possible family's station wagon and try to hide himself behind Kim, whimpering.
"Thanks for coming to rescue me, Kim. It took me a while to find your number until I remembered I had it inside the bottom of my shoe like always," he said with a smile as the car pulled away from the horrible camp.
"It's no big, Ron," Kim started to explain before Ron gave her a funny look. "Oh, that's what this new girl Bonnie always says, you'd like her…" And with that, she reached over to give him a big friendly hug, which he gratefully returned.
The shared experience came to an end slowly, Ron gazing into Kim's vacant glowing eyes and softly smiling as he watched her tears falling. Leaning closer to rest against her cheek-to-cheek, he let his own tears flow into hers, trickling down both their faces in one stream. "That's right, KP. I couldn't have gotten out of there if it wasn't for you. My life's in your hands and I couldn't think of a safer place for it…" Looking down to Rufus guarding the phone on the floor, Kim disengaged from the warm embrace and began to crouch down, reaching to pet the little rodent as her eyes regained their spark of humanity.
"Come on, Rufus… I promise it's really me, li'l buddy!" Rufus chuckled as Kim's delicate fingers tickled him, handing over Ron's phone a little hesitantly, twitching his whiskered nose. Comforting her, Ron let his arm slide around her waist as Rufus looked down the list of contact numbers, each grouped in order of importance. Trembling fingers slid over the "call" button as Kim ignored the tremendous pressure on her mind to surrender control to the hive again, and she could hear her mother's own phone ringing halfway across the country. Taking in a breath and letting it out again slowly, Kim was all prepared to give her parents the good news. The voice on the other end of the line was that of the most wildly inappropriate human being, the most unlikely to ever be anywhere near Kim's mother…
"Good morning! Well, if it isn't little Kimberly Anne? How's the weather down there, hmm?" Dr. Drakken's voice grated against Kim's ears, Ron leaning in to listen as he watched Kim's reaction.
"KP, isn't that…?" Ron was shushed almost into oblivion by Rufus as the voice on the other end of the line cackled maniacally.
"Drakken, where's my mother? Answer me now…" Staying by his best friend's side, Ron squeezed her hand lightly and tried to cheer her up a little even as the villain and his sidekick mocked them from across the country. At least, it sounded like mocking to Ron, and since when were the bad guys ever sincere about anything?
"Come, come, Miss Possible. We wouldn't want to disturb your mother while she's driving, would we? After all, it's quite illegal to operate a mobile telephone and drive at the same time." He seemed serious enough, and Kim's trained ears could definitely pick out the sounds of driving until her father interjected.
"He's right, Kimmie-cub," Jonathan paused as his daughter rolled her eyes skywards and began to whine.
"Dad, please… Not in front of the super-villain!" Ron had already taken Rufus back over to the food court to get something to drink, keeping an eye on Kim at all times until the dull buzzing noise in the back of his head had subsided down to nothing. Silently, Kim listened while her father and Drakken both tried to explain themselves simultaneously while Shego could be heard enjoying a laugh entirely at Kim's expense. Ron had returned to her side with drinks, giving a shout-out to Kim's folks, and on the other end of the line, Drakken had turned around in his seat to look at his sidekick's unusually pleasant smile…
The drive-thru window at the Middleton Bueno Nacho never knew what hit it, Assistant Manager Ned Pendlebury finding himself face-to-face with Shego, the pale and interesting girl regarding him coolly as she barked an order at him.
"Coffees. Four, make'm hot, cream and sugar, and could you see your way clear to givin' me a bag of those cinnamon twists?" Choking back his fear, Ned adjusted his ever-present clip-on tie and silently signalled to the morning shift while Shego argued with her employer over how they were going to split the money as he drifted into a sort of reverie. The Possibles gave Drakken a suspicious glance, Jonathan laughing at something his wife whispered to him as they took their steaming cups.
"Hey, look at this on the menu, Doc. They take a soft taco, put some nacho chips into it and pour hot cheese sauce on the chips. I thought I was the only person that did that," Shego mumbled around half a mouthful of cinnamon twists before Andrea put her car in gear again and pulled out, telling Shego and Drakken, "Actually, it's officially on the menu now because of Ron. When he's not practically living with us, he practically lives here." Not interested, Drakken reached past Shego's hand to take some of her deep-fried crunchy sweet snacks, the image of the giant fibreglass taco sign still firmly lodged in the mind of the evil genius…
The world-famous Las Vegas Strip.
People were staying out of his way, and the way Kim had been taken over so easily back in the food court was really starting to give Ron second thoughts about this whole Bebe business. Leaving Rufus with Kim, he asked his little naked buddy to keep a close eye on her while she shopped; he had some other things on his mind at the moment that needed sorting out… Reaching inward, the normally callow youth closed his eyes and spoke to the hive mind of the Bebes, requesting one of them to speak for her "sisters" as a representative. Obeying his desire, a lone Bebe unit broke away from the group of three that accompanied Kim and Ron to the mall in the first place, her eyes taking on a softer green glow to signify the mood she was in.
"Ron Stoppable, you seem troubled. Uncertain. Worried. Do you wish to speak with Kim Possible?"
"No thanks. This isn't about Kim, it's me. I just don't know if I'm fit to be your leader." Watching her eyes glow, Ron didn't expect the robot to understand him, but she cocked her head to one side, sort of like Rufus did when Ron asked him a pretty tough question. The glow in her eyes flickered, the drone moving a hand up to run chrome fingers through her long blonde hair in an imitation of humanity, and then she gave her response.
"You are perhaps familiar with Henry IV, Ron Stoppable?" Kim had come outside to join him, setting Rufus on her shoulder and discreetly hiding her Club Banana bag from view. Laughing a little nervously and then wincing at the sensation of metal fingers caressing his healing facial scar, Ron fired back a quip playfully.
"Oh yeah, that's the one where the big Russian beats Apollo Creed so badly that he dies in the ring, isn't it?" Giving him that signature "not-amused" look, Kim slid onto the bench next to her lifelong companion to correct him.
"Ron, she said Henry, not Rocky. And I think I know what she's referring to…" Listening to Rufus squeak and jabber, Ron nodded along slowly as the Bebe drone grappled with the unfamiliar notion of comedy.
"I totally get it now, yeah… Uneasy is the head that wears the crown. With great power; there must also come great responsibility. Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot…" He got there in the end, bless 'im, and Kim offered her thumb for Rufus to grasp in his front paws and shake in celebration. The meaning of the lines wasn't lost on Ron in the slightest, and he grinned brightly, looking up and shading his eyes. "Man, is it ever bright this morning. Sure wish I'd brought my…" There was a sudden rush of wind as the Bebe drone vanished from her place by her "king's" side, and distant screams of terror. The fem-bot reappeared before Kim and Ron as quickly as she had sped away, and she was dragging a stall behind her, the marquee promising "DESIGNER SHADES AT LOW, LOW PRICES!" as Ron deadpanned his way to the end of his sentence, "Sunglasses."
Bonnie's birthday party at J.P. Bearymore's, 1994.
Bonnie Rockwaller, freshly moved to Middleton from its twin town in Colorado, was like a princess, or so Ron thought when he laid eyes on her for the first time. Reaching to take her hand in greeting while Kim had wandered off to tell another friend something, Ron gave her his most prize-winning grin and introduced himself.
"That's your name? What kind of idiot goes through life with a name like Ron Stoppable?" Bonnie began to shake with laughter, doubling up and screaming hysterically as she pointed at Ron. Taking their cue from the birthday girl, other kids joined in the pointing and laughing until the insecure little boy turned on his heels and fled in tears. Confronting Bonnie immediately, Kim started telling her off and it appeared to be sinking in too…
"Bonnie, you're a mean little cow and everybody else only likes you 'cause your birthday's at the coolest place in Middleton. Why couldn't you just be nice to Ron like you were to me?" Bonnie's lower lip quivered dangerously…
"Moooooooooommy! Kim Possible is swearing," she yelled at the top of her lungs, turning her finger on Kim and smiling a self-congratulatory little evil grin as the redheaded girl was dragged out of the restaurant to be left outside with Ron.
"I'm sorry, Kim. You got shut out because you stuck up for me," Ron sniffled as his best friend took hold of his hands.
"Don't be, Ron. It was her fault…" And then, with a smile, Kim gave Ron a playful little kiss on the cheek…
This chapter is dedicated to Kirsten Storms. Without her we wouldn't have Bonnie, and without Bonnie none of the major events of this fanfic would ever happen.
