Chapter 4: Stepping Into The Future
Kim glanced to the stands of the High School gym and saw her parents, brothers, Mr. Wayne, Ron and 'that girl'.
'Blonde dingbat,' Kim thought to herself, giving a faint snort, 'Probably a little weakling and letting Ron do every little thing for her. Ha!'
"AND FOR THE THIRD TIME!" Mr. Barkin said loudly, "The Class Valedictorian: Possible, Kimberly A. will say a FEW WORDS! POSSIBLE! FRONT AND CENTER!"
Kim jumped in her seat as she realized every eye in the place was on her, and Bonnie was on the verge of falling in the floor laughing. Kim blushed crimson but stood, adjusted her gown, and walked up to the stage. She stood before the podium and locked eyes with Ron for a moment, a faint pink reappearing across the bridge of her nose as Ron gave a smile and nod.
Kim took a deep breath, forcing down the little voice calling herself a hypocrite, and glanced around her gathered classmates.
"Fellow soon-to-be graduates of Middleton High," Kim spoke up clearly, "The future is now, right here waiting for us to step out into it. Some of us will part ways and may never see each other again until the ten-year reunion, while others will stay in contact for as long as they humanly can. We've fought hard to get here. Through all the joy and pain, we've made it to this day, and today is …"
"Not your day!" A voice spoke from the back of the gym.
"Sorry, Kim Possible," Dr. Drakken laughed walking in, "We seem to have lost our invitation to your graduation."
"Must have gotten lost in the mail," Shego smirked at the blue skinned mad scientist's side.
"What do you want?" Kim asked, sliding out of her cap and gown, and kicking off her heels, leaving her in her skirt and blouse.
"Oh the simple things," Shego said letting her hands begin to glow, "A nice sexy man, a house on the beach, you humiliated in front of your friends and family on your big day."
We get to see Kim kick Shego's butt!" one of the twins chimed, as Kim hopped off the stage and approached the green skinned woman.
"This is gonna be cool!" the other responded before turning to Ron's now empty seat, "You going to go down and … Ron?"
"I'm going to help," Cassie said, starting to stand, but Bruce's hand rested on her shoulder and pushed her back down.
"No," Bruce said in a cold voice, but a smirk played on his lips, "Let him show off what he's learned."
Cassie sat back down but smiled in spite of herself, "This should be good."
A group of Drakken's men approached Kim and surrounded her along with Shego. "This all you brought with you, Drakken?" Kim asked, cocking an eyebrow to the mad man.
"Nonsense, Ms. Possible," Drakken smiled, before whistling, "I brought fifty more where those came from! C'mon in, boys!" Drakken turned to the two doors at the end of the Gym. "I SAID! COME ON BOYS!" yet again nothing.
Drakken then slung his arms up in frustration, "Oh, for the love of!" Drakken yelled before stomping out the way he came.
"He'll be back in a sec, Kimmie, then we'll have our fun." Shego smiled. The two waited several moments, and the crowd began to chant 'boring' while others just seemed to have started conversations among themselves.
"Time out," Shego said, making a T with her hands and then turned to stomp toward the exit.
Shego walked out, and then walked back in a moment later with a puzzled look on her face, "Where'd they go?"
A moment later, Shego felt intense pain to her face and ribs before a sharp hit to her stomach sent her tumbling across the floor.
"What the, who's got the death wish?" Shego growled, glancing up to see the crouching Boy Wonder glaring down at her through the intimidating white eye-covers. "Oh God …"
Kim stared awestruck as the caped crusader stood to his full height. His black cloak-like cape wrapped around his torso and he turned his attention to the henchmen. A moment later, a silver bo-staff shot from his cape and he spun it around his body, hitting three of the henchmen in its path, before leaping into the air to kick two in the face at the same time.
Robin watched to make sure none of the Henchmen would get back up before turning his looming gaze back to the green skinned woman, who was still on the floor staring. Robin stalked toward her, but what happened next was the last he ever expected. "J-Jason?" Shego asked timidly, "Jason, is that you? Please, are you really ok?"
Robin was taken back, but didn't let that show at all, "I don't know any Jason." he growled.
"Then … you're not Jason?" Shego asked, a strange sadness appeared in her eyes.
"He's dead, I'm … sorry," Robin replied in a deep voice.
"LIAR!" Shego screamed, diving at Robin, who would have easily dodged the attack. But instead Kim jumped, meeting Shego in the air, punching her face, but getting clawed in the arm.
"Kim!" Robin called out in surprise, before kicking Shego off the teen hero.
Shego jumped to her feet and ran out of the gym, Kim hot on her heels.
"Damn it," Robin cursed running after them both.
Kim tailed Shego to the very top of the school building where she found the escape craft warmed and waiting. Shego had already gotten onboard and started to take off. Kim leapt to the side of the saucer-shaped craft and hang on as it rose to the air at breakneck speeds.
Robin made it to the roof and looked up at the rapidly escaping ship, "Reckless little …" he growled, drawing his grappling gun from his utility belt and shot into the tail of the hovership.
Robin retracted the wire and climbed up beside Kim, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" He hissed, grabbing her arm.
"What's it look like, Cape-Boy?" Kim retorted, jerking her arm away, "Trying to stop Shego."
"No," Robin replied, "You're trying to get yourself killed."
"No, I'm doing what I've always done," Kim shot back before trying to climb to the cockpit. She finally made it, but the cockpit hatch was violently pushed open by Shego, hitting her directly in the chin and sending her flying clear off the hovercraft.
"KP!" Robin called out, watching Kim tumble toward the ground, only to be scooped up by the flying Wondergirl.
"KP?" Shego questioned, her green eyes shining with realization, "Now this IS interesting."
"Don't worry, Stoppable," Shego grinned smiling at the masked teen, "I won't say a word, wouldn't want Old Man Wayne on my ass. Better go see 'bout your girlfriend," Shego grinned before slashing at Robin, making him lose his grip and fall as well.
Robin tumbled toward the city streets, but fired his grapple at the last second swinging to a rooftop. The Boy Wonder glared at the escaping criminal, "Me and the old man are going to have a chat on the way home."
---
"You ok?" Cassie asked as she flew down to the ground on a street corner in downtown Middleton around a quarter a mile from the high school.
"You can fly?" Kim asked dumbfounded.
"Yeah, thought Ron would have told you he was dating Wondergirl by now," Cassie said boastfully.
"Wonder … girl?" Kim asked, growing pale. 'How in the blue hell did Ron get with … Wonder Woman's sidekick?' Kim thought, taking in the girl as if for the first time.
"You," Robin's voice growled from behind them, and Kim turned to see the murderous gaze of the Dark Squire as he seemed to float toward her. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was …"
"Shut up and listen," Robin snapped, causing Kim to subconsciously snap her mouth shut with a 'pop'. "I have seen you fight for longer than you realize, and you know what, little girl, you're far, far too reckless. What would have happened if Wonder Girl weren't here with Stoppable today? Huh?" Kim glanced away, but Robin's hand roughly grabbed her cheek and turned her back to face him, "I said listen. I know what would have happened: you would have been splattered all over the street. Any idea how selfish you were? Answer me."
"I …"
"Do you think Stoppable hasn't lost enough? How about your parents, think they'd like to see their baby girl go splat? And your brothers, oh yeah, I'm sure they'd LOVE to watch your bucket get lowered in a grave." Robin sneered.
"Robin …" Wondergirl started as the tears began to form in Kim's eyes.
"THINK before you ACT, Kimberly. Of course, you can do anything, but that includes getting your ass killed." Robin snapped, "If you don't want to take this serious and fight right, then get the hell out of the way and let the ones who do take on Shego and the rest of the monsters, Understood?" Kim stared with fear that Ron had never seen filling her green eyes, but Robin refused to break … yet, "Understood?"
"Y...ye...understood," Kim whimpered with a sniff.
Robin finally let go of her face and she turned away for a moment to wipe her eyes, but turned back to slap him, only to find her and the blonde-haired girl alone.
"Where'd he go?" Kim asked, looking around.
"That's Robin for you," Wondergirl shrugged, "Don't be too upset with him, that's just his way to show he cares. If he didn't, he'd probably just would have grunted about that."
Kim couldn't help catching a hint of jealousy in the girl's blue eyes. Was something going on behind Ron's back between Wondergirl and the jerk? 'Maybe Ron would like to know about this …' She thought when a familiar voice called from the corner, "KP!"
Kim turned just in time to be embraced in a smothering yet soothing embrace. "KP, I saw you fall; you scared the crap out of me!" Ron said pulling back, gingerly touching the cheek Robin grabbed, "I'm sorry."
"I'm ok, Ron," Kim smiled, placing her hand over his still on her cheek. "Why are you sorry?"
"I … for not being there for you like I should have been. I said we'd still be partners, heh, some partner I turned out to be, huh?" Ron smiled sheepishly.
Wondergirl cleared her throat, causing the two to jump apart. "Finished?" She asked irritatedly, "Good, I believe you still have to graduate high school, right, 'KP'?" Cassie asked angrily.
"Ron's the only one allowed to call me that," Kim replied, narrowing her eyes.
"Isn't that sweet," Cassie replied, stepping toward Kim.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Kim sneered glaring at the girl, "How long have you know, Ron, a few months? You don't know him at all."
"Oh, I know more than you do, Kimmie," Cassie replied, looking down her nose at Kim confidently, "I know every … last … inch … all seven and a half actually." She said, winking at the last part.
"Why you little …" Kim started toward her, but Ron stepped in between.
"We really do need to get back," Ron said pleadingly.
"Fine," the girls snapped, glared at each other, and then looked away and proceeded to walk on either side of Ron.
---
"Finally out of High School, huh, KP, what now?" Ron asked. He, Bruce, Cassie, Josh, and the Possibles all sat at one of the fanciest restaurants in Upperton.
"Well," Kim smiled, "I'm definitely going on to college."
"Oh? Where to? Upperton State is a nice school," Bruce stated, "Several of my higher ups in Wayne Enterprises went there."
"Actually I was thinking about Gotham University," Kim stated, and Ron dropped his fork.
"That's a ways off, any particular reason?" Bruce asked, his eyes drawn to the shocked Ron.
"Well, Middleton really doesn't need me as much as it used to," Kim stated, her eyes glazing over in thought, "I took Monkey Fist, DNAmy, and Duff Killagan down some time ago and it's incredibly unlikely they'll be back for a long, long time, and Drakken and Shego do more global stuff these days. Plus, I'd like to see a new part of the world, you know, break out on my own."
"You sure that's all you're coming to Gotham for?" Cassie asked sarcastically.
"Well, if my best friend can't come home," Kim stated, glaring at Cassie challengingly, "I'll go to him."
"Or are you planning on moving up the Superhero ladder?" Cassie snorted, "I'm sorry, Kimmie, but a little glory hog like you will be eaten up and spit back out, especially by the Bat."
"Well, then, how about you, Joshua?" Bruce said changing the subject before a fight broke out.
"Well, I'll probably stay around here, got a full basketball scholarship at Upperton," Josh said proudly.
"What about you and Kim?" Mrs. Possible questioned, "Long distance relationships are rough."
"Way Kim travels, it would be long distance if she stayed in Middleton," Josh laughed.
"True enough," Mr. Possible laughed.
"Well, Kim, if you'd like to check out Gotham University, I could put in some calls for you when ever you wanted," Bruce said, looking to the redhead.
"That sounds like a good idea," Mrs. Possible smiled, "As soon as we get home I'll look into hotel reservations, take a family vacation, what do you say, Kimmie?"
Kim started to answer when, Bruce spoke up, "Hotel? Nonsense, there's plenty of unused rooms in the manor. We're old friends, right, Andy? And I'm sure Kim would like to meet Diana. She comes over regularly."
"Diana?" Kim blinked, not noticing her mother stiffen.
"She also goes by the name Wonder Woman, I'm sure you've heard of her?" Bruce started, smirking at Kim's slowly lowering jaw.
'So that's how Ron met Wonderbitch,' Kim mused, "Sure that sounds good to me …"
Mrs. Possible started to speak up when her husband spoke before her, "We all could use a vacation."
"So we get to stay in a mansion for a while?" The twins chimed in unison, "HOO-SHA!"
Mrs. Possible hung her head in defeat, "When do we leave?"
"You coming too, Josh?" Ron asked turning toward his old friend.
"I think I'll pass, going to check out Upperton while you're away," Josh smiled.
"Well then, once we finish here, we'll go pack, and your mother and I are already on a week's vacation from work so that's taken care of as well," Mr. Possible grinned, clamping a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
---
Meanwhile, below Middleton, Will Du stepped through the halls of Global Justice Headquarters. He felt a strange uneasiness at the seemingly empty halls that usually were crowded with GJ Agents. "Something's not right …" Agent Du said to himself as he approached Dr. Director's office.
"Dr. Director, ma'am, what's going on, where is everyone?" Will asked as he entered the GJ Commander's office.
"Hello, Agent Du, how do you do?" a chuckling male voice said from the Doctor's desk, the chair turned a way from the door hiding its occupant.
"Who are you?" Du said, drawing his gun, "Where's Dr. Director?"
"Oh, the one-eyed babe? She was fun. She just died laughing at my jokes." the man laughed, still not looking Will's way.
"What did you do to her?" Will growled, stepping toward the desk, "Turn around, hands in the air!"
"Don't shoot!" the man's porcelain-white, grinning face turned towards Will, "Just a everyday, friendly, old clown! With a funny little flower…" Joker said as the flower on the breast of his jacket sprayed a steaming, yellow fluid on Will's face.
Will screamed as his face burned as if it was splashed with acid and fell to the ground, his own screams drowned out by the Joker's demonic laughter.
----
The flight to Gotham was taking longer than Kim expected. She glanced around, noticing the only ones still awake on the private jet were herself and Mr. Wayne. She easily noticed that the billionaire seemed to be studying her. "There a problem, Mr. Wayne?"
"You remind me of your mother," Bruce nodded, his piercing blue eyes seemingly to be digging into Kim's soul.
"I was wondering about that," Kim pressed on, not intimidated by Bruce's presence or glare. "You and Mom seemed pretty chummy."
"You could say that," Bruce smirked.
"So what's your history?" Kim cocked an eyebrow.
"Just that, history, best not to worry about it, Kim," Bruce looked away, "History while sometimes good to know, can some times destroy you."
"But …"
"If you want to know, ask your mother, she could tell you better than I," Bruce said, giving Kim a look that easily read 'drop it'.
Kim nodded, as the 'fasten seatbelt' light came on, indicating the private jet was about to land at Gotham International Airport.
"I might just do that …"
---
Kim, the twins, her parents, Cassie, and Bruce walked up the steps into the Manor, and Kim was blown away by the sheer size of the mansion. "This is awesome, Ron," Tim Possible beamed as they looked around.
"Yeah, it's great," Ron grunted as he walked behind them piled down with suitcases looking a lot like a pack mule. He glanced over to Alfred who had a single suitcase.
"You know, Master Ronald, you can take more than one trip?" Alfred said, his eyes dancing with silent laughter.
A massive breeze shot past them, making Kim fall on her backside, and Ron suddenly found his load had shrunk by half.
He blinked and the Possibles were surprised to see a green pygmy donkey trotting toward Ron.
"NeedahandRon?" A boy around Kim's age with unkempt brown hair and bright, energetic eyes literally appeared beside the donkey, then glanced down, "AlwaysknewyouwereanassGar!"
Kim gasped as the donkey morphed into a tall green skinned boy who seemed a few years older than her and Ron who bopped the hyper teen in the head.
"These losers bothering you?" another voice called from the doorway, and Kim instantly swooned. A tall, dark haired young man, maybe a year or so older than her, wearing a blue jeans and a black shirt with a red 'Superman' symbol on his chest stood before them. "Hey, Cass," he said smiling at Wonder Girl, then turned to Ron, and grunted "Blondie."
They all turned to the Possibles, especially Kim, "Wow, you must be Kim Possible," The green teenager grinned, walking over and grabbing her hand in a handshake.
"SoyourethechickRonsaidhadabutttodiefor?" The hyper one grinned walking over to her as well, "Nicetomeetya!"
"What?" Kim blinked, completely confused at the situation.
"NOTHIN!" Bart said fearfully, looking behind Kim where Ron was 'bat-glaring' him, "Illbeinside!'
"That live wire was Kid Flash, and this here's Beast Boy; we call him BB for short or just Gar since his real name is Garfield. Don't get me started on the cat jokes," Ron introduced with a chuckle, he then nodded toward the taller boy in the door, "And that's Superboy."
"Wow, the real Teen Titans?" Kim blushed slightly, looking over Beast Boy and Superboy.
"Last we checked, Rad Red," Beast Boy winked, "We just thought we'd welcome our boy back," he continued, slapping Ron on the back, "By the way, Dick, Star, and Cy are inside too, Cy's trying to hack the satellite for the WWE Pay-Per-View tonight."
"You know I could have just paid for that?" Ron asked, grinning at his friends.
"I HEARD THAT!" A man's voice called from inside, "I WILL NOT LET THIS SILLY LITTLE BOX BEAT ME!"
"Cyborg, you better not screw up my satellite!" Ron dashed in with Cassie, Superboy and Beast Boy close behind.
Kim watched them go with a far-away look in her eyes. "You ok, Kimmie?" Mrs. Possible asked worriedly.
"Yeah … yeah I'm ok," Kim said, but the sad, abandoned look never left her emerald orbs.
"Alfred will show you to your rooms," Bruce said walking into the manor.
Kim followed her family and the butler into the manor. She stopped to look into the crowded living room. Ron was arguing with a man with half of his body covered in metal. On the couch was a older man in his late twenties seated next to a strange looking woman with long, red hair, orange skin, and luminous green eyes, as well as Beast Boy, Kid Flash and Superboy chatting with Wondergirl.
Kim continued toward her room with tears threatening the corners of her eyes.
Alfred showed Kim's room, she quickly entered and shut the door behind her. She sat her suitcase beside her bed and sat down on the large four-poster bed. Kim quickly pulled her knees to her chest and let out a loud sigh. It wasn't supposed to be like this, Team Possible was supposed to be together for good.
She couldn't blame him; he was given a new lot on life. Didn't make it hurt any less though. Her best friend had moved on without her, and now for the first time, she was scared. She was stepping into the future and now she knew, she was doing it alone.
To Be Continued …
A/N: What's the connection between Shego and the late Jason Todd? Has Ron really abandoned Kim like she thinks? Can the Manor survive being populated by the full Teen Titans team? Find out next 'issue' of Knights!