Chapter 4: Ron the Stud

By the time Leila's speedster jerked to a stop inside the Bueno Nacho parking lot, Kim was slowly beginning to accept the situation that she'd found herself in. Blue and Leila had saved her from Drakken and Shego. And for all their...quirks, she'd met people with worse attitudes. Being friends with them would add more excitement (and danger) to her life, if nothing else. Kim didn't like to admit that it was there, but the action junkie deep inside her wanted to see Leila as a friendly rival. The girl who could do anything versus the girl who did everything. It would be quite a story, for any reporter brave or foolish enough to cover it.

Anyway, Monique seemed to be getting along famously with Leila, and Blue apparently liked anyone his owner did.

"I think you're going to like our friend Ron," Monique said as she lifted Leila out of the car.

"Is he as cool as you two?" Leila asked hopefully.

"Ron...tends to have his own brand of cool," Kim replied, sharing an amused look with Monique. "But you'll never go hungry around him."

"I like him already," Leila decided at once.

None of them had any way of knowing that would be the understatement of the year.

Ron Stoppable was, in certain circles, not all that important. This was simply not the case, as far as the fast food industry was concerned. Among them, Ron Stoppable was a visionary.

Since the invention of the naco, Bueno Nacho's sales had increased phenomenally. And even though they'd cut Ron a hefty royalty check in the past, they still found small, less noticeable ways to repay him.

Ron was still under the assumption that his favorite booth would be taken if he didn't show up early enough after school. He had no way of knowing that there was almost always a "Reserved" sign on said booth before he or any of his friends arrived. (There was even a newly installed VIP poster bearing Ron, Kim, and Monique's faces) Nor did he ever stop to think on the occasional extra packet of taco sauce or double order of fries. He merely assumed that Bueno Nacho did these things randomly for all its customers, which was why they were so successful.

He was enjoying yet another of these "random" upgrades when he first laid eyes on Leila Hawkaloogi. If anything, he noticed her dog more than he did her, at first (but then, that was a very common reaction).

Leila stopped short when she saw him, and in the next instant, she was beside him in the booth, staring up at him with adoring eyes.

Ron blinked and swallowed the last of his fries. "Um...hey there, little lady."

"Hi," Lelia said dreamily, propping her head in her hands as she gazed at him.

Kim and Monique traded suppressed grins of laughter as they filled in the other side of the booth.

"Ron, I'd like you to meet our new friend, Leila Hawkaloogi," Monique said. "Leila, this is Ron Stoppable, inventor of the naco, standard best friend, and all-around nice guy."

"Anyone ever tell you that you have an interesting name?" Ron asked.

"All the time," Leila sighed, never taking her eyes off of him.

Monique seemed eager to keep the conversation going. "So. Leila just saved Kim's life."

Ron looked at Monique, then at Leila, and finally at Kim. "Seriously? How?"

"Shego and Drakken grabbed me," Kim admitted, flushing in shame. "Leila shot their hovercraft down...with her dog." Without really thinking about it, she reached down and scratched behind Blue's ears, and was more than a little surprised when he leaned into her fingers.

"That is one tough dog," Ron mused.

"He went by 'El Indestructerado' when he was with the circus," Leila pointed out, shooting Blue a quick glance of pride before turning back to Ron. "But he quit for me. We're a great team. He's the brains and the brawn, and I'm the public relations specialist. He wasn't always so good with people."

"So...what kind of dog is he?" Ron asked.

"Blue-Furred Ectoplasmic Detection," Leila replied. "Very rare. Legend says they were used by ancient Egyptians in the underworld."

Ron smiled. "So how did he make it to this world, huh?"

Leila shrugged. "He probably broke something important, and they kicked him out. But I'm glad they did. He's my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Well, KP is my best friend," Ron said, "so it looks like I owe you something for saving her. Just name it."

"Anything?" Leila asked eagerly. "Would you go out with me?"

Kim's eyes widened, and Monique just stared.

Ron looked to his friends for help, but they were obviously too stunned to do much. "Um...okay. Yeah. We could do that." He nodded, looking a little surer of himself. "We could definitely do that. It's definitely doable."

"Really?" Leila asked, her eyes shining with joy.

"I don't see why not." Ron casually draped an arm around her. "I'm single and foxy, so are you. No reason two single, foxy people shouldn't get together and just act natural."

"I like the way you think, Ron." She leaned into his side and sighed happily.

Monique was just about to comment when she noticed that Kim had grown unusually pale. "Uh, Kim? You okay, girl?"

"I think I need to lay down again," Kim whispered.

"So, Bonnie, when are we going to the salon again?"

"Salons aren't really my thing anymore, Tara," Bonnie said into her cell phone, leaning back in her armchair. "I don't really trust them with my hair anymore."

"So what do you do when you want it cut, then?"

"I know somebody," Bonnie replied. "Maybe I'll introduce you to her sometime. She's usually booked solid for months at a time, though, so it might be a while."

"Oh," Tara said, sounding disappointed. "Well, let me know when she's got an opening?"

"I'll think about it," Bonnie answered airily. "Might even put in a good word for you."

"You're the best, Bonnie!"

"You know it," Bonnie said, hanging up. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Okay, furball. Do your thing."

Instantly, what a yellowish blur surrounded her head, filling the air with a sound very similar to scissors cutting. In a few seconds, Bonnie opened her eyes and checked her reflection in the mirror, patting her hair gently.

"Perfect, as usual. Who would've thought the best haircuts would be free?"

There was a contented trilling in her ear, and she absently reached up run her fingers through some of the softest hair she'd ever felt.

"Don't get too full of yourself, though. That's my job."

Tara pouted as she hung up the phone. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Bonnie was avoiding me." She turned to the birdcage on her dresser. "What do you think, Presley?"

The violet bird seemed to shrug its wings, and offered little soothing chirps.

Smiling, Tara opened the cage and let the bird step onto her finger, raising it to her face. "Thanks, Presley. You always know how to cheer me up."

Presley hopped onto Tara's shoulder and gave her an affectionate peck on the cheek, before bursting into its own rendition of what sounded strangely like "Blue Suede Shoes."

Kim walked into her room and collapsed across her bed, moaning in frustration.

Leila hadn't stopped talking about her upcoming date with Ron ever since they'd left Bueno Nacho. Kim had never claimed to have any romantic feelings for Ron, but just the thought of him even going on a pretend date with Leila was horrifying. She was starting to wonder if Wade had been right about Leila doing everything. She was certainly doing a good job of stealing Kim's best friends.

Kim sighed and lifted her head, only to find Chewie staring at her curiously. She smiled faintly and reached over to scratch his head. "Don't worry, Chewie, I'm not sick. I just feel that way." She sighed and shook her head. "Why did Ron say yes? What was he thinking? And am I really jealous that he's supposedly doing this because Leila saved my life?" She groaned and pulled a pillow over her head. "Why couldn't he just buy her a chimmerito combo? Why does she have to make eyes at my best friend? Why do I care so much?"

Chewie stared at his owner for a long moment. Finally, he let out a small sigh and patted her forehead. "Because you should care, Kimmie."

There was a long pause. Slowly, Kim removed the pillow and stared up at him with wide eyes. "...Chewie? Did I just hear you just talk to me?"

He frowned. "I hope so. I'd hate to think I just exposed myself when you weren't even listening."

Kim blinked several times and sat up, looking at him warily. "You're not really a koala, are you?" she asked bluntly.

"If anyone else asks? Yes. Since you're asking, though, no."

"And I'm supposed to be okay with this?"

Chewie looked offended. "You were okay with it when you brought me home yesterday."

"I didn't know you could talk then!"

"You knew I wasn't a koala. Or you had your doubts, I could tell from the way you looked at me."

Kim stared at him defiantly. "I was hoping you were just a slightly mutated one. That, I could handle."

"Yeah, sure." He sighed and ran a paw over his face. "Knew I should've kept my big mouth shut a little longer. But you just had to come in looking all sad, and I'd feel like a total creep if I hadn't said something."

"You mean you only talked to make me feel better?" Kim asked slowly.

"Well, it's the least I could do. You're giving me room and board here. Or you were, at least."

"I won't kick you out yet...so long as you tell me the truth. Starting with what you are."

Chewie shot her a suspicious glance, but she looked serious enough. "Okay, fine. I'm one of over six hundred and twenty plus illegal genetic experiments created by Jumba Jukeeba. He's your standard mad scientist, I'm sure you know the type. Long story short, he hit the jackpot at number 626, his ultimate experiment. Only it kinda got loose."

"Where?" Kim asked.

"Outer space, but it escaped to Hawaii."

"...you're from outer space."

"Technically, I'm from an illegal genetics lab, but it was probably IN outer space at some point, yeah."

Kim stared at him hard.

He shrugged. "Hey, you wanted the truth. What can I do if you don't believe it?"

Something clicked in Kim's mind. "Wait. You said Hawaii."

Chewie smirked. "Same place your new little friends are from, right?"

"You know Leila and Blue?" Kim asked.

He snorted. "I know enough to know those aren't their real names, but I can see why they'd change them to come here."

"So are they from Hawaii or not?"

"In that she's lived there her whole life and adopted him, yeah, they are. But that's pretty much where the truth ends. You're dealing with Lilo and Stitch, a.k.a. genetic experiment 626." He tilted his head slightly. "You can't tell me you thought for a second he was really a dog?"

Kim blushed. "The tweebs said he was in several accidents..."

Chewie actually laughed. "I got news for you, princess. He was in those accidents, and probably caused most of them, but he always looks like that. When he's posing as an ugly dog, anyway."

"So why are they here?"

"I'm guessing they're looking for more experiments. That's their thing. He sniffs 'em out, she finds the one true place where they belong, or seals them in pod form if they're too destructive."

"How destructive are we talking?"

"Jumba designed most of us to have military applications, Kimmie. How destructive do you think?"

"Then what can you do?" Kim demanded.

Chewie shook his head. "All I ever do is make sandwiches. Never was into the whole 'living weapon' thing."

"So…if someone barged into my room and started shooting plasma beams?"

"I'd be under the bed," he confessed.

"And if they threatened to kill me?" Kim asked.

For a moment, Chewie didn't say anything. Finally, he leaped off of the bed and crawled under it.

Kim let out an undignified squawk as the bed itself suddenly raised about two feet into the air. "Okay, okay!"

The bed lowered, and Chewie crawled back out. "I don't like to do that," he muttered. "Last thing I want is to end up back in some lab. Or worse, to be forced onto a battlefield. I just want to be left alone. I'm sick of fighting."

"But you'd do it for me?" Kim asked softly, picking him up.

He turned bright red. "Well, yeah. I owe you. Never got to sleep in a house before. Or had a real ohana."

Kim narrowed her eyes.

Chewie shrugged. "Sorry. You pick it up, they say it so much."

"So what's your real name?"

"Experiment 625," he replied. "You can see why I prefer the name you gave me."

"Definitely." Kim stared at Chewie thoughtfully. "So. Tell me more about Jumba, Lilo, and these...experiments."

Next Chapter: Kim runs into her first rogue experiment...the Middleton Mad Dog?

Endnote: Before anyone says I made a mistake with 625, consider this. Jumba's experiments don't always work the way he expects (usually due to their personalities), but I have yet to see one that doesn't work, period. So if Jumba designed 625 to have all of Stitch's powers, I say he has them, even if he has been unwilling to use them for so long. Maybe he just needed to be befriended by a nice girl, too.

Reviews!

Widow Shark

Hi, I'm glad you updated. Also, thanks so much for the clarification. Your story makes a lot more sense now : ). Anyways, these were a great couple of chapters. "Leila" sure taught Drakken and Shego a thing or two, lol. I love Ron...so the next chapter should be rather interesting.

Tootles,

Widow Shark

PS: Keep writing and keep smiling :).

I don't like for my readers to be confused unless that's my specific intent in the story, which it wasn't here. So if you don't get something, please ask, and I will explain it in the next update.

gargoylesama

The story seems to be going well so far. I am almost afraid of getting Jumba and Wade together. Though I can see Drakken trying to steal some equipment from Jumba already. Very good meld of the series so far.

Lilo, herself, is not a walking weapon of mass destruction; she just seems to attract trouble, and destruction, and chaos... Has anyone checked her for a golden apple?

Of course WE know Lilo isn't destructive (with Stitch around, she doesn't NEED to be). But Wade doesn't. And considering he works with the girl that can do anything on a daily basis, I think he's more likely to believe that Lilo is the mastermind responsible for the disasters, not her dog. He might even be insulted by the thought of a dog that thinks faster than a supercomputer...well, without having been brain switched first, anyway.

Actually, it's Drakken's equipment that's going to cause some trouble later on, but he will have some help from Stitch's enemies…

Eternal Sidekick

This is a very enjoyable take on both series. I'm thinking that "Leila" may have had some say in choosing her new last name. It was good to see that "Chewie" (formerly "Earl" and always knows as 625) was happy to be living in the Possible home. I'm kind of surprised that he hasn't been introduced to Rufus yet. They would probably get along famously. Keep up the terrific work. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes from here.

Yes, "Leila" chose her name (again, thought it was obvious). It's my opinion that if 625 had been adopted by Lilo, he would've turned out a lot like the other experiments and Jumba: relatively tame (Pleakley was arguably already tame). All he really wants to do is make sandwiches, and there's plenty of places where that would be a welcome skill. He and Rufus met off screen, but had some interaction at Bueno Nacho. They get along just fine, so long as there's plenty of food to go around.