Thanks to everyone for reading. A special nod of the head to WhiteLadyoftheRing, campy, KPR, mattb3671, charizardag, springboy, and warprince2000 for your reviews and suggestions.
Disclaimer: All KP characters belong, alas, to the Walt Disney Corp. The Hinckleys are derived from characters created by Sherwood Schwartz.
I.
Beeeep beep be beep
Kim looked at Ron, who stood before her holding two plates of risotto, her expression one of frustration and disappointment. Ron had put so much effort into the evening and she'd been enjoying herself so much. And now the Kimmunicator was ringing.
Beeeep beep be beep.
"Answer it," Ron said with a sigh.
"Are you sure?" Kim asked. "You've worked so hard on this meal, Ron, and this is supposed to be our special evening …"
"I know KP, but you should answer it," Ron said with a sigh. "Look, it's what you do. You save the world."
"Ron, put down the plates." After he did, she took his hands, then said in a tone that would brook no dissent, "Don't you ever forget: I don't save the world. We save the world. I can't do this without you." She then smiled and continued, "And I wouldn't want to."
Ron grinned, then said with resignation, "I just wish the bad guys could take week-ends off like everyone else."
Kim arched an eyebrow and responded, "You and me both."
She retrieved the Kimmunicator as Ron brought the food back into the kitchen. With a sigh of her own, she said, "What's the sitch Wade?"
Wade could tell that Kim was distracted. "Did I get you at a bad time?"
"Bad time? You know how long it takes to make risotto?" Ron, who had returned to the dining room, complained to Wade.
"Risotto? Ron? Kim?" Wade paused. He noticed that his two friends were both dressed up. "Heyyyy, you two weren't on a … Whooaaa. And no moodulator!"
"Wade," Kim said with a bit of pique, "Ron made me a lovely dinner which is now getting cold while I get hungry. Talk."
"Sorry," he said. "The site just got a hit from a Professor Mary Ann Hinckley at Middleton College. Her pocket cold fusion generator was stolen this evening. She was quite upset and said she had no one else to turn to."
"Okay, Wade, tell her we're on our way," Ron said. Kim looked at Ron, who said, "I know how lucky I am to have someone I can turn to. We gotta help her."
Kim looked at Ron with pride. She was disappointed about the interruption to their plans and knew Ron was, too. But he didn't hesitate to do the right thing. "Ron, you rock. And I promise I'll make this up to you," she said.
"And how are you going to do that? You gonna make a new batch of risotto?" he asked before thinking, Oh oh. What did I just suggest?
"I wouldn't dream of it. But I do have other ways, Mr. Stoppable," Kim said before planting a kiss on his lips. At that a prolonged "ewwww" emanated from the Kimmunicator. This was definitely too much for Wade.
II.
"Where did Wade tell you we'd find Prof. Hinckley's lab?" Ron called back to Kim as they drove onto the Middleton College campus.
"Howell Hall," Kim replied. "It's on the other side of the campus."
Ron drove through the grounds, passing Georgian brick buildings and stately old trees. Then, on their right, completely out of keeping with the setting, was a hideous 1960s era Brutalist-style monstrosity of a lab. So, Ron thought, why is it that ugly buildings like this are never destroyed by Drakken's robots or Dementor's death rays?
They pulled up in front of the building, found the Hinckley name on the directory and made their way to the professor's lab.
Waiting for them was a distraught, petite woman with gray hair who appeared to be in her late 60s.
"Kim Possible?" she asked with a worried voice.
"And my partner …" Kim began to say.
"Ron Stoppable!" the professor exclaimed, as a smile spread across her face.
"Uh, you know me?" he asked, surprised to be recognized.
"Know you? My grandsons love you. They can't stop singing that "Naked Mole Rap" song you performed on American Starmaker." The professor extended her hand to Ron, "It's so nice to meet you."
Kim beamed. It was nice to see Ron be the celebrity for once.
"Back 'atcha, Prof. Now, what's the deal?" Why does she look so familiar? Ron wondered.
"I've been working on a pocket cold fusion generator. I'd pretty much finished it, and was working out some bugs. I'd been working all day and finally got hungry, so I stepped out to get something to eat in the cafeteria. When I came back, it was missing.
Kim began looking around. The place looked undisturbed. It was obvious to her that whoever stole the device knew what he was looking for and where he would find it.
Ron, meanwhile, had taken Rufus out of his pocket. "Okay buddy, ready to look for some clues?"
"Uh huh!" squeaked the naked mole rat. Rufus was thrilled about the new state of affairs between Ron and Kim and he respected their need for alone time. But he was delighted to be back in the field with his friends.
Kim turned to the professor and asked if she had any suspicions regarding the identity of the culprits. "Not really," she said. "I haven't told anyone about my research because of the implications should it actually work."
Ron scratched his head and looked like he was lost in thought. Kim was waiting for Ron to say something llike, "And what would those implications be, just in case I didn't know." Instead, much to her surprise, he said, "Cold Fusion. Endless supply of cheap, clean energy. Pretty badical!" Ron paused, then continued. "Hmmm. Didn't a couple of scientists in Colorado claim to make that happen in a glass of water on top of a desk back around 1990?"
Kim stared at Ron and thought, That's the second time I underestimated you tonight, Ron. My bad! As if reading Kim's mind, Ron turned to her and said, "Science Fraud Channel. Cable TV. A cornucopia of useful information!"
"Ron's right," the professor said. "Their results could never be reproduced. That's another reason anybody doing work in this area is pretty quiet about their efforts. Bad press isn't helpful when you're looking for grant money."
Rufus, meanwhile, had been scurrying around the lab when he found something. He jumped up and down, squeaking at Ron.
"What is it buddy?" Ron asked.
Rufus proudly held the clue he'd found, which Ron took. It was a motorcycle keychain. Kim knew not to judge people by their appearances, but she strongly doubted that a 60-something-year old professor would be a member of the Lowerton Hog Wild Biker's Sty. "Professor, this has all the appearance of an inside job. Are you sure nobody knew what was going on here," Kim asked. "Whoever stole your generator must have been familiar with this space, since nothing else seems to have been disturbed."
"No, the only person other than me who had access to this lab was the janitor," she replied.
"The janitor," she wondered. "What can you tell us about him?"
"Eddie? He seemed nice enough, though I'll admit that his penchant for saying "seriously" every other word was annoying."
Kim and Ron looked at each other. Seriously. No way. It so can't be … Kim thought.
"Big dude, blond hair, mullet, likes to play air guitar?" Ron asked.
"Uh, yes," said the professor, clearly surprised.
"Motor Ed," Kim and Ron said in unison.
"You know him?"
"Our paths have crossed before, professor," Kim said. She then turned to Ron, "Let's go."
As they left the lab, Ron looked intently at the professor. Then, a look of recognition crossed his face. "Hey, I've seen you on TV! …"
Kim couldn't imagine that Prof. Hinckley had performed on American Starmaker and surely she hadn't been featured on the Science Fraud Channel. She wondered whether Ron also been watching the Knowing Channel? If he was learning something from TV, perhaps the cable hook-up in the Stoppable household wasn't all bad after all.
"… You were on the Desert Island Network!" Ron exclaimed.
Kim rolled her eyes. Now she was glad that she and Ron had decided to start dating if only because her initial instincts were sound: he needed to be saved from the clutches of cable television.
Ron continued, "… You and a bunch of other people were stranded on an island in the Sixties, weren't you?"
"Yes, we were. It was a surreal experience. But I met my husband Roy there and made some very special friends. You know, Roy sparked my love of science; I'd always seen myself as just a Kansas farm-girl, but he saw something more. He's always been my inspiration. We were married for more than 36 years before he died last year," Prof. Hinckley said wistfully with a warm smile and a faraway look in her eyes.
"Hey, sorry to hear he passed away," Ron said quietly. Though he'd been dating Kim for less than 24 hours, they'd been best friends for more than 12 years. He couldn't imagine life without her and didn't want to imagine what it would be like to lose a partner of nearly four decades.
"Don't be. We had a great life together," she said smiling. "I hope every couple can be as happy as we were." And I think you two can, she mused. I remember how Roy and I looked at each other the way you to look at each other.
Turning to leave again, Ron reached out his hand to the professor. "Prof, don't worry, we'll find that fusion thingie for you. And for Roy."
III.
"Geez, Motor Ed!" Ron grumbled as they walked to the scooter. "Our first dinner date interrupted by a b-list villain; it couldn't even be someone from the A team! That really burns me!"
"Ron," Kim interrupted her boyfriend's rant.
"Yeah, KP?" Ron replied still looking cross.
"You were good in there. The questions you asked, the things you noticed. And I think you brought back some happy memories for a worried, lonely woman." Kim looked into Ron's eyes. She was feeling especially close to him now.
"Well, I," Ron began to say as Kim hugged him.
"Shhh," she said. "Shhh."
They enjoyed holding each other in the cool spring air for a few moments. Then, as determined as she'd been gentle moments ago, Kim said, "Okay, time to get our heads in the game."
Kim and Ron climbed onto the scooter and headed off campus. "So where to, KP? You think Motor Ed will be back at the junk yard?"
"It's as good a place as any to look …" Kim was saying as the Kimmunicator chirped.
"What's the sitch, Wade?"
"There's been a disturbance at the Monster Truck Rally at the Tri-City Convention Center …" Wade said.
"Let me guess," Kim said wearily. "A supercharged truck of some kind is on a rampage?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Wade asked.
"Motor Ed appears to have stolen the pocket fusion generator. Drakken or Dementor would already be using it to power some take-over-the-world machine. Motor Ed? He'd use an inexhaustible energy source to power a truck. We're on it." Kim turned off the Kimmunicator, and leaned forward into boyfriend and partner. "Let's go, Ron. It's time for us to get down and dirty in the bog."
"Boo-yah!" Ron cried exuberantly.
IV.
As both Kim and Ron expected, people were fleeing the convention center in a panic when they arrived. They hopped off the scooter and ran inside, having to push their way past screaming monster truck fans.
Inside the scene was chaos. All of the monster trucks save one had already been destroyed. The one remaining vehicle, a cross-over SUV/pickup, was doing donuts in the middle of the arena. In the truck's cargo bed was a large, mulleted man blasting away at random with a rather nasty looking laser cannon. Kim and Ron couldn't help but look at each other and roll their eyes. They both thought Ed would have learned something after the Doom-Vee escapade with Drakken. Then again, Motor Ed was definitely not the fastest car in the lot, despite his engineering credentials.
"Okay, KP, what's the plan?" Kim might tell Ron that he was her partner, but as far as he was concerned, she was the leader. She'd earned that role long ago.
"Hmm. We've got to disable the truck and take out Motor Ed." Kim thought for a moment, then said to Ron, "Okay, here's what we're going to do …"
V.
Kim and Ron ran back outside the Convention Center to the scooter, donned their helmets and hopped on the machine. Ron revved up the bike and roared through the main doors into the building.
I know Ron would rather be having dinner with me, but something tells me that he's having a blast right now, Kim thought with a smile. She was sure that he was enjoying some kind of teen male fantasy, remembering some of the impressive driving moves he'd pulled off the previous night.
Ron drove straight down the main concourse, then turned into the arena, and began speeding down the steps to the floor.
The scooter was rapidly approaching the arena floor when Motor Ed saw it. He pointed the laser cannon at the oncoming bike and began firing. Fortunately for Kim and Ron, Motor Ed's accuracy was severely impaired by the movement of his truck.
Despite Motor Ed's poorly aimed shots, having seats blow up on either side of them was unnerving, and Ron had to concentrate to maintain control of the bike. He popped the front wheel of the scooter; then Rufus made his way backwards and slapped the rockets, igniting the turbo boosters and launching the bike into the arena itself. Swerving around debris, Ron avoided the wrecked vehicles surrounding him.
He pulled closer to the truck. "You ready, Kim?" he called over the roar of the engines.
"As ready as ever, Ron. Let's get this over with. I'm getting hungry!"
Ron pulled even with the truck and Kim stood up, putting one foot, then the other, onto the seat, looking like she was surfing the scooter. She balanced herself, timed the movement of the vehicles and launched herself into a somersault, landing neatly on her feet in the truck bed. Kim had surprised Motor Ed, who clearly did not expect her to make a perfect jump.
"Red!" he exclaimed.
"Don't call me that," Kim growled.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously," Kim snapped.
"Hey, Red, you don't have to be so amped."
"Seriously? I had to leave a special meal made just for me because of you!"
Kim pivoted on her right leg and thrust out her left leg in a kick which Ed parried; Kim then dropped to the truck bed and rolled. I've got to get that gun from him. She was actually relieved by the firepower of the weapon; Ed couldn't blast her without blowing off the rear of his vehicle. Staying on the floor, she rolled and kicked out both feet, knocking Ed off balance and causing her opponent to drop the laser cannon, which fell and skittered away from him. Kim then jumped to her feet and assumed a fighting position.
"Red, you seem all wound up," Ed taunted. "That must have been a seriously hot date you were on."
"Actually, I'm still on it," she retorted.
"Whoa, with the sidekick dude?"
"He's not my sidekick. He's my partner."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously," Kim growled.
Kim and Ed circled each other, warily eyeing one another. Then the truck, which was careering wildly around the arena, drove over a crushed vehicle, throwing them both to the cargo bed. The weapon slid back to Ed, who, to Kim's horror, quickly got up, and, not wanting to turn his back on Kim, pointed the cannon over his shoulder in the direction of Ron, who was still keeping pace on his rocket-powered scooter. Kim, still lying on the cargo bed, retrieved her grappler and fired at the gun, but not in time.
Ed fired first.
As the grappling hook yanked the cannon from Ed's hands, a fireball erupted next to the truck.
Motor Ed exclaimed "Wicked! Direct hit!" and dropped into a crouch and played his air guitar. "Look's like your date's seriously over, Red!"
"Ron! NO!" Kim screamed.
TBC …