Author's Notes!

Hey there!

Hmm... I think the story's finally gathering steam for the main pairing, and I hope I make things right this time. I do want to point out that I'll be out of the city for three weeks starting the day after this chapter is posted, so updates will be on hold for the meantime. Don't worry, though, since I won't be abandoning the site. All I'm saying is for the next three weeks, my updates will be stalled until I find time to post them. Got that? All right. Now, onward with the story! I am kmtdiccion and this is...


"Possible's Pure Love Road"
by: kmtdiccion


Chapter Eight:
"An Unlikely Tandem: Part One"


"Thank you kindly for volunteering." Gratitude flowed through the vice-president's words when the freckled blonde presented himself to take the responsibility of the posters. Ron Stoppable, on the other hand, just smiled at the girl and replied "Oh no, it's no problem."

As expected, no other person had taken the job other than him. The student council was deeply concerned about it and they were supposed to draw someone from the representatives by a lottery system, similar to the one they used from picking them in the first place, but it seems that it wasn't even needed. The second-in-command took out the log book from the drawer and listed it out on its pages "So the posters will be done by class 2-1... Oh my, your partner is Kim Possible. I totally forgot! Will you be okay?"

The boy waved her concern with a smile and a wave of his hand "Yes, I'll be fine." Although she's dubious about his answer, she still gave him the stack of the Pickleworks posters. The council can't be choosers as of this moment. Things will turn hectic the following week, and so they need to finish these first before it comes. Ron closed the door of the room and went back to his home, a smile plastered on his face. Exiting the area through the iron gates, Ron thought about the vice-president and what her thoughts are about the delinquent leader.

"She must be really thinking something like 'Is it really okay? Kim Possible's just going to skip it anyway.'..." He let out a chuckle at that thought. "I wonder what kind of face she'd make if she knew that Kim was going to help." He went past the stores with renewed vigor flowing on his veins. Truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction, and while greeting the vendors with his usual smile, Ron agreed to that statement more than ever.

He reached his house afterwards, and his sister seemed to got home earlier than anticipated. Ron saw her, still on her working clothes, lounging on the sofa like she usually do, holding a can of beer on one hand and the remote control on the other. She gave out a lazy greeting before returning to the television. After changing into his more comfortable clothes, he went down to the den and sat on the chair on the opposite side of the sofa, and started texting his plans regarding tomorrow.

Now, Adrena's brow raised in question with Ron's current activity. Although they've had their phones since time immemorial, she never really saw him really into it until today. It had been almost an hour since he arrived and all he did was to stare in front of the phone's screen. Placing the can of her alcoholic drink on the table, she asked the freckled teen "Ron? What are you staring at your phone for? You're smiling like an idiot for the entire time, you know."

"No, nothing." He blushed lightly and let out his embarrassed response. He didn't even realize he was smiling like a deranged person. "I made plans to go out tomorrow with someone, and I'm waiting for them to get back to me."

The older sister relaxed for a bit. It seemed like her brother hasn't lost it, yet. "Is it Josh?" The boy shook his head as his response. That made her a bit dubious. As far as she can remember, the ones he really hangs out with is with the blonde pretty boy. Although he had some friends in school, Ron never really went outside, unless it was necessary. So, him actively making plans is a rare occurrence for her. She chuckled for a bit and said "Fufu~ It's not a girl, is it?"

"Yeah it is." He simply gave her a nod and delivered his simple answer faster than she could even blink.

It took her a while before she could regain her sense of touch, and the first thing she did is laugh. She stood up from the sofa and went to her room, muttering "Huh, well that's a change of pace." The door closed with a light thump, thus making the blonde boy let out a small sigh. He mused that she took the news rather well, considering her whimsical nature, but his thoughts were cut short when the very same door was banged open. With a pale face which looked like she saw a ghost, she screeched out in disbelief "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt!?"

"Wait, what? A girl? You made plans to go somewhere with a girl!?" By now, words are now starting to fail her. Ron can't help but let out a sigh, this time with resignation. He should've expected this antic coming from her. "Yeah, what are you so surprised about?"

"Oh, uh, ah, y-you're right. It's totally normal." Adrena tried to compose herself as hard as she can "Hahhhh... Hahhhhh... Calm down, Adrena... Recite the entire value of pi and calm down. 3.1415926535..." Her counting was interrupted, however, when she heard him hum. As far as she's concerned, Ron only hums whenever he's on an extremely good mood. The fact that he's still staring at his phone while humming made things even more ridiculous to her. "H-He's humming!"

Her entire body is now starting to shake. "C-C-C-Calm down, calm down, calm down! He usually hums when he's in a particularly good mood in general. He's pretty much worn out his nostrils from humming while thinking about me... Ahem." She let out a cough, taking the boy's eyes away from the device for a moment. When she finally took hold of her body, she let out a smile and said to her younger brother "R-Ronnie, I'm kinda hungry~ Could you please make some dinner now?"

"Wait a minute. I'm still waiting for her to reply." Ron replied before returning to his phone.

Adrena let out a glare towards the blonde and seethed under her breath "He just doesn't care... Calm down, Adrena. Count off the prime numbers and calm down. Bust 33. Waist 21. Hips 32..." She took a peek at her brother and saw he didn't even budge an inch from her three sizes. "He's completely ignoring me."

"I hope she replies soon..." On the other hand, Ron was in complete bliss from thinking about the redhead, unaware of his impeding danger in the form of his older sister. And before he began to took notice of the growls emanating from her lips, it was already too late. "You know, I have a disease where my stomach explodes when I get too hungry." The blonde teen raised his hand and begged to her "Wait a little longer."

And faster than he could return in his wait, Adrena leaped towards him and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug. She wailed while clinging to him like a slug "Waaaah! I told you, I'm gonna explode~" The two landed on the carpet floor with a loud thud. Her arms quickly tightened and slowly choked him into submission. While Ron was waving his arms, searching for air, the older sister glared at him and gave him an order "Hurry up and make dinner! Is your cellphone really that important to you!? Is another woman really that important!?"

Ron saw her hands slowly slinking towards his carotid. He needed to make a quick escape or else he's totally screwed. So, he tapped the floor and wheeze out his surrender "Ogeeeeehh... I get it, I get it!" He puts his phone inside his pocket. When Adrena saw that, she let go of him and went back to the sofa, her stare still in place on him. She let out a sigh of relief and nodded to herself "Phew... Thank God... That's right, that's right! Of course this is how it ends. As if you would put another woman before me."

He raised his brow, which made the elder girl laugh out in response. "Hehe. You love your sister, right Ron?" That didn't really explain anything to him, and so he responded slowly "Yeah... I don't really get what you're trying to say, but how could I hate you? You're my sister."

"I'm so touched! I knew you loved me, Ron!" She stood up and was about to give him a hug, this time with as much tenderness as she can muster, but before she could get near him, the phone on his pocket suddenly went on. He expertly dodged her advances and took a look on his mail. "Roger. My posters are ready as well" -Kim Possible. The boy's smile grew wider at that, making the older sister to glare at him vehemently. He started to type out his reply which goes something like this:

"Let's pick up a time, then. I'm planning on going in the morning. What time would you be free to meet up?"

He pressed send and is waiting once again for her reply with a stupid grin on his face. Adrena was not a happy camper, at all, and now she's trembling in unbridled rage. "I'm sure I told you when you were young that kids that don't treasure their older sisters get their souls ripped out of them by Hades, right?" Ron recalled the memory and blushed while muttering "Yeah, I said that to Josh once. It was pretty embarrassing, if you- Oh, sorry. Hold on for a second."

His phone vibrated once again, but it played a different tune. Her reply is not in the form of text this time, but through a call. He answered it and placed the phone on his ear, greeting "Yes, hello?"

"Stoppable? Sorry, I'm not too used to sending texts. It's a pain, so I decided to call." Thoughts about her sister were instantly vanished when he heard the girl's voice. Ron's smile went wide open, much to Adrena's ire, and started talking to the girl on the other line "Maybe 10 o'clock? I need to go to a lot of places. Is it okay? You can come later if you want..." The redhead let out a giggle from his concern and agreed to his proposal "You're the one helping me out here. The hell's the point if I'm not there. Let's meet up somewhere at 10, then."

The thought of spending the entire day with the redhead made him feel both nervous and excited. "Okay, since were posting them on the old shopping district first, let's meet on the entrance, under the arch, I guess?"

"Got it. That'll work great. There aren't many Middleton High people around there." Ron simply nodded. The two fell into silence for a few moments, however. Ron could feel the awkwardness radiating from him. Fortunately for him, Kim managed to speak out first "Ron... Thanks... I'm... Well, you know things are usually are for me. There's a lot I can't do. But, I'm the one who picked this life so I figure that's just how it goes... But, I'm really grateful."

Her sudden confession melted his heart in an instant. He can't help but smile at what she said. It even took him a while before he could hear her again, this time concern wafted from the receiver "Stoppable? Are you still there?" Ron sputtered out his quick reply "Wha? Oh, sorry about that. It was just..."

His heart is still pounding, and every second their silence goes on, his senses were getting a bit heavier. The blonde was slightly thankful that she said that over the phone, because he can't even picture himself right now, although a part of him was curious about her own expression while saying those words. The silence didn't even help the situation either, and so, Ron thought up of something else to talk about, just to get out of the rather awkward stop.

"So... How's the cat doing?" He asked out of the blue.


Possible residence...

On the other side of the line, Kim was sitting on her bed with her back pressed against the wall, while idly petting the cat on her lap. The boy's query about the stray feline made her smile a bit. "Mm? Oh. It's right here. Come on, say hi." She puts the phone in front of the cat, who is now curious about the rectangular device that is glowing in front of it. It let out a cute mewl and placed its paw on top of the screen, causing the redhead to giggle before returning it to her ear.

"Haha, I can hear it." Hearing him laugh made her smile wider. She brought out the toy he gave her earlier and let the ball on the other end dangle in front of it. The feline raises its limbs and try to swing it by pawing it. And like a baby who just received some candy, Kim let out a girlish giggle while smiling with youthful abandon, a complete polar opposite of the cool and collected persona she has created in front of the public. "Look, Ron, the cat likes the cat toy you gave me. Here!"

The furry animal was meowing happily while toying with the rubber ball. "I'm glad the cat likes it." Ron said while also trying to contain his laughter. "Sounds like it's doing better. It's voice is clearer than before."

Confusion rose in her head and she asked him what he meant, to which he responded "I did tell you before that I met the cat last Wednesday. I first saw it in the morning... Haha, I really should've just picked it up as soon as I saw it. Hindsight is 20/20. That's why I thought you were incredible. You picked it up right away, after I didn't."

Her face started to go beet red for the umpteenth time this day, once again felt like she was in the middle of a crossroad because of him. "Th-The hell are you saying!? I just did it because it was staring at me looking all sad."

"And so you decided to help it out right away. That's really incredible." Kim tried to find any signs of dishonesty from his words, but she found none. She had her fair share of patronizing compliments from various delinquents, hoping that one day she may favor them, much to her displeasure. However, the things the blonde boy were saying to her felt really genuine, almost blinding her from how sincere he is with his fascination to her, and that made her already stirred emotions inside stronger. "Uh... Stop it, idiot."

He let out a laugh from that. "And besides, everything worked out fine because you didn't pick the cat up in the morning. Now, I can play with this guy... and also... I became friends with you." Kim could feel her body temperature rising with her words. The other line went silent, and the redhead was curious about his reaction before she received his reply "Y-Yeah... I mean, it's badical that I became friends with you, too... I-I'm going to need to hang up now, alright? See you tomorrow."

She bid him farewell before he could cut the line. She swept the sweat that formed on her forehead and tried to fan herself. The entire conversation was totally nerve-wracking, and if it wasn't for the cat, who is now sleeping soundly on her lap, the extreme roller coaster of emotions she felt would've made her jump out of the mattress. Kim smiled softly while eyeing the cat with the toy it was clutching. "You really love that toy, huh? You... What should we do about your name?"

She continued petting the feline while thinking about a suitable name for it. The first thing that pops out of her mind was 'Love', but she quickly discarded it away. She mused that it needed to be short and simple. So far into her sea of thoughts, she didn't realize that her mother was leaning on the door frame, a knowing smirk on her face. "What's this, Kimmie? You made plans with a boy?"

Kim's entire body involuntarily shoots upward, causing the cat to wake up from its slumber and leaped out of harm's way. "Fueh!? D-Don't listen in, Mom." The short-haired matriarch of the Possible family just stares in deadpan and replied "I could hear you clearly even if I didn't want to. Next time, try to at least close the door and lower your voice... You do make some cute voices, though." If she felt embarrassed before during her conversation with Ron, right at this moment, the teen redhead wished she could just roll over and die from it. She gritted her teeth in annoyance, causing Anne to laugh.

"So, you were talking with a boy? That's rare... Come to think of it, isn't this the first time?" Her mother asked while settling down on the side of her bed. When her daughter didn't say anything back to her, she continue to prod on, asking "You seem pretty animated while talking to him. What are you two talking about?"

"The cat. He says he'll help me find a new owner." Kim caught the cat from the floor and placed it back inside the basket as its makeshift bed. The elder of the two stared at the cat while letting out a soft sigh. "I see... I'm sorry. I wish we could keep it, but you know your father's got his allergies."

The younger one nodded her head while whispering softly "Yeah. It's a shame dad likes animals, too."

Dr. Anne smiled at that, saying "Right. If he saw the cat, I feel like he'd play with it regardless of how bad his allergies get." Kim chuckled at the thought of his father playing with the cat, his entire body already hyperventilating. She placed the plastic toy beside the cat and murmured "Yeah, I'll try to find someone to take it in tomorrow. Also..." She stopped herself for a moment and looked over to her mom, who is now intrigued of her sudden silence, and asked "You're excited about the Pickleworks, right?"

The elder redhead smiled softly and nodded in affirmation "Yes. It's where I first met James, after all. Why do you ask?"

Kim just shook her head sideways as her answer. The matriarch then went back to their earlier discussion and asked about the recent caller "Anyway, who was that boy you were talking to? What's he like?" The teen girl thought about the freckled boy and let out a soft smile, not unnoticed by the mother. It took her a while before she gave her answer. "Huh?... He's a normal guy." When she saw her raised brows, Kim's emerald orbs furrowed a bit "He's normal, mom. He's just your usual neighborhood student out of my world's reach."

"This really is out of character for you. Do you like him?" The sudden question made her balk for the second time. Sputtering like a mess, Kim tried to come up with an answer "W-Wha!? Of course not! Today was the first time we ever had an actual conversation... But..." Anne watched as the almost frantic start of her tirade softens while a blush formed on her cheeks "I know he's a good guy. He's got guts and he's considerate of others... Though, he could be a bit weird at times."

The older female watched with amused expression her own daughter, who unconsciously sports a gentle smile of a gentle maiden, the polar opposite of the fearsome delinquent. It had been a while since she last saw her wear that smile. Chuckling with mirth filling her voice, Anne pats her shoulder and said "I see... Fufu~ You're still pretty straightforward, so I can see you actually end up falling for someone like him pretty easily."

Kim glared at her and vehemently denied her assumption "What are you saying? Of course I wouldn't!" Anne shook her head and pressed on, saying "You never know. That's how it was for me and James." And although the young redhead admits talking to the boy felt very refreshing, considering the world she lives in, she felt that deep down in her, she can't see him staying close to her. Their worlds were complete polar opposites. She let out a sigh and muttered softly to her mom:

"I-It'll never happen. We're not a good match... He doesn't live a dangerous life like I do."

The teenage girl brought the sheets over her and bid her mother goodnight, thoughts of the blonde boy still fresh on her mind. She closed her eyes and settled down to drift to dreamland. Meanwhile, a couple of blocks from their home, a faint masculine shout could be heard emanating from the Stoppable household.

"DANGER! DANGER! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ouch! SIS! THAT SERIOUSLY HURTS! SOMEBODY SAVE MEEEEE!"


Old shopping district, the next day...

Although she's known as a delinquent, Kim hated being late. She went towards the district's entrance, under the concrete arch ten minutes earlier than their schedule. The sun is already high up, so there's already people coming in and out of the area. She could already smell the scrumptious aroma of freshly-baked breads from a nearby bakery. Good thing she had breakfast earlier, or else she would be a watering mess. Five minutes later, she saw the freckled teen approaching.

"Hey, Ron... Uh, Why are you covered in bruises?" Her greeting died down when she noticed his hand and neck full of pinch marks. A wave of concern washed her, but the blonde boy shakes his hand and diffuses it. By the moment he takes a good look at her, however, he stopped for a moment and just basked in her appearance. As far as he's concerned, he never saw her in her casual clothes. "Her stylish pants does accentuate her legs... Oh, no. Stop it, Stoppable!"

He smacked himself for staring too much and went straight to business. "S-Sorry if I made you wait. Anyway, did you bring the posters for the cat?" The girl brought out the posters from the bag and handed them to the blonde boy. The amount was more than necessary and the weight when it was given to him could almost drag him towards the ground. He wobbled for a bit before staring at the stack of posters, then back to her, calling out her name slowly "K-Kim... There's over a hundred posters. Putting these all up might be difficult."

Her eyes went rounder and an embarrassed sigh rolls out of her mouth. She pouted slightly and sheepishly apologized "Uuu... Really? I'm sorry."

Now Ron felt bad. He felt like he just kicked a kitten, and the face Kim was unconsciously making didn't help things either. He rubbed the back of his head and tried to console her with a slight compromise "Well... let's just put up as many as we can. We can start with..." His sentence trailed off when he looked at the design of her posters carefully. It was pretty simple. There's a photo of the cat under the words 'Adopt a kitten', Listed below that are her contact details and an address.

All of them looked normal except for the bottom corner of the poster, where a cutely drawn cat face drawn with a speech bubble saying 'Please!'. Ron stared at the cat, and almost let out a chuckle on how absurd the difference of her usual persona to this... cute drawing she created. The redhead noticed him slip and started frowning at him "W-What are you laughing for?"

"Did you draw the cat?" He asked with a slight amusement on his face. The teasing made her flush with red. Gritting her teeth from the embarrassment, she went on the defensive and replied "Got a problem with it? This'll make people remember it easier." He pedaled back a bit while laughing and explained "No, no, I'm sorry. It was just really unexpected of you."

His chuckles only made her more flushed than a ripe tomato. "Don't laugh, dammit!" Although slightly annoyed, Kim just trudged along with the goofy blonde teen and started walking through the somewhat sparsely populated streets of the old shopping district. All they have to do is go to the stores that have agreed to it beforehand and put up the Pickleworks posters, while asking them if they could put up Kim Possible's cat poster alongside. The redhead watched in fascination as Ron starts talking to the store owners with complete ease.

"Excuse meee... We're from Middleton High and we're gonna put up the Pickleworks posters... And oh, would it be okay if we also put up one of these posters as well? We're trying to find this cat's new owner... Oh, really? Thank you so much!" Ron placed the posters on the front and bid the owner farewell before going to the next one. The time went by like the breeze that swept throughout the suburb, and Kim smiled lightly while watching the freckled teen. After placing the posters on the twenty-fifth store, the two decided to take a quick break.

After drinking from her bottle the two bought from a convenience store, she then said to the blonde boy "Looks like it's going well." He looks over the stacks of posters, which has dwindled considerably, and nodded to her. "Yeah... Things went pretty... Hmm? Wait a minute..."

Ron went towards the recently parked truck and greeted the driver. "Hmm? Oh, Ronald! Gahahahahaha! Don't really see you much 'round, eh." The blonde just laughed and continued the amicable conversation "I know. Good thing you came back here just in time for the Pickleworks festival. You heard about it, right? I'll be hanging these posters."

The conversation didn't last long, and after handing him two posters, he went back to the redhead, who is now sporting an amused expression on her face. "You know, Ron, you sure know a lot of people." The teen boy just smiled and replied "Yeah, because I do my shopping here pretty often."

"But, I feel like people really seem to like you." Kim muttered while eyeing the flower shop across them that recently opened. Ron was curious at first and looked over the shop the redhead was staring before an idea popped inside his head. "Hmm... Oh, I know. Do you want to try the next one?"

Ron knew she wanted to help out with the Pickleworks preparations, but he'd been the only one actually putting up the posters, and so he decided to let her do some of the work. The offer, meanwhile, stunned the girl for a moment before nodding her head and accepted the posters. They threw the bottles in the trash bin and started crossing the street. Judging by her slightly shaking hands, Ron realized that the girl is somewhat nervous. "I just ask the store employee, right?" Kim asked him, eyeing the store intently.

The boy nodded his head. "Yeah, just ask them if it's okay to put the posters up." Things should be simple, and so Ron thought of watching over her. Kim grabbed the handle of the door and let out a deep sigh. She was preparing herself for the dangerous mission of talking to normal people. When she parted the door, she could hear the bell ringing, causing the young woman in front of the desk to look at her expectantly. The words she chose to speak next definitely wasn't what Ron has expected.

"I BESEECH THEE!"

And without wasting another second, Ron dashed towards the redhead and quickly silenced her "Stop, Kim. Stop." The girl was surprised and backpedaled a bit before asking "W-Was that wrong?" The freckled teen stared at her in incredulity and said in a deadpan voice "That sounded like something out of the Middle Ages. Try to be more casual like 'excuse me' or something..." Kim thought about his advice and nodded her head. For the second time, she took a deep breath, and tried to greet the stupefied woman on the counter for the second time.

"PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR MY BEHAVIOR!"

This time, the employee just scratched her head in confusion, making the blonde boy to smack his forehead with the palm of his hand. Right now, Kim let out a sigh and furrowed her brows in slight annoyance. Ron stopped her once again and asked her in a frank tone "So you're the type to get nervous in situations like this?" Her shoulders sagged lower and admitted to him "I'm not really too used to dealing with normal people, you see."

The freckled teen shook his head and tried to part another advice to her "Don't say it like that. Be more natural next time."Kim went silent for a moment before muttering "G-Got it. Natural... I'll act like how I always do." And with that, she went near the counter, her somewhat nervous aura instantly vanished. But, before she could utter her confusion, the redhead leveled her with a glare and smirked sadistically "I'm Kim Possible from Middleton High."

"Hiiih!" The clerk yelped in fear from the menacing look she's now sporting. Furrowing her brows tighter, she spoke with threat oozing from her voice "I've come to borrow your shop a little. You should've already heard. I'll be needing to take up a decent amount of space..." The employee, too scared to tick her off, tried her best to be as amicable as she can. But, when she was about to ask her what she meant, Kim gave an even worse look and practically growled "You got a problem with that!?"

The young woman took a few steps back until her back is pressed against the wall, wailing in fear. "Hiieeeeeh! Manager~!" She stumbled for a bit, but she managed to get the door beside her open and went inside the room, probably reporting to the person in charge of the store. Ron took this chance to make the redhead stop. He ran towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders, and told her with a frantic tone "Okay, Kim. We're switching!"

Confusion rose on her face and asked him "Did I screw something up?" The blonde boy really wanted to lay it thick to her, but her lost look seemed genuine, and so he conceded to a sigh and patted her shoulder "It was you first time, after all. You did your best."

Just in time, the two saw the clerk together with a middle-aged man. His face was all scrunched up and was looking for the reason for his employee's hyperventilating crying. Meanwhile, Kim decided to leave the store and wait for Ron to settle things with the manager. Waiting beside the fire hydrant, an old man went towards the redhead and suddenly shouted in a boisterous voice "Oh, well if it ain't Anne's daughter, Kim Possible!"

Kim shifted her sight towards the man and she easily recognize him. He was one of her mother's friends while she's young, and he now works for a newspaper company. She waved her hands and greeted back "Oh... Old man, hello."

"Haven't been coming around since I've been swarmed with assignments out in the tropics! How's you and your mom?" He asked while rubbing the fat on his belly. The teen girl shrugs her shoulders and answered his query "Mom's been at home since she's finished with her latest neurosurgery paper. Meanwhile, I'm busy with school... oh, I think he's done." The older man raised his brow and followed towards the direction she's looking to and saw the blonde boy exiting the flower shop while letting out a big breath.

His eyes were now sparkling in interest from this development "Hmm? You know him, Kim?" The female teenager nodded and said "Yeah, we're classmates. You know him, too?" He let out a bellow of laughter and smiled widely in confirmation "Wouldn't say I know him exactly. He always say good morning to me every time I sit in front of our newspaper outlet. He's a good kid." Kim smiled softly at that while watching him cross the street.

"Kim! Kim! Let's put them up together. I'll do the cat poster. Sounds good?" His eager smile proved to be electrifying and infectious, as she is now mirroring his wide grin and nodded enthusiastically. The old man watched in amusement as the two teenagers were now going back to the store and hang up the posters they were carrying. The infamous Bloody Fox smiling is truly a rare experience, and it was truly a sight to behold. The old man let out a light chuckle and went on his way.


Inside one of Food Chain's hideouts...

"Watch out, I'm gonna break your bones."

The leader of the newly-formed gang 'Deadtime' is now screaming in agony, mixing with the cheerful giggles from the platinum blonde girl, who put the him and nine others on a tight leash. Tara puts pressure on his wrist, eliciting another round of guttural noises and unpleasant noises. Meanwhile, Bonnie continues her watch over the torture session. The brunette has no love on inflicting pain, but she firmly believes on using all possible ways to fulfill a task, and so, she kept her watch in stoic silence amidst the cries of the captured delinquents.

"Aaaaaagh! Please have mercy!" His shouts in agony, making some of the members of the Food Chain wince in phantom pain. Tara was clearly enjoying her sadistic streak this past few days, and before she could inflict further damage, the gang's leader stood up and called her "That's enough, Tara. It'll have an opposite effect if you overdo it." The girl pouted for a moment before relenting to her orders. She releases the brutish man from her hold and fixed her slightly wrinkled coat.

The leader went limp to the floor, cradling his limbs to check whether it is still working or not. The rest of the captured gang, however, just gasped on the sheer size and brutality Food Chain is. One of them spoke up and muttered in a frightened tone "Gh... So this is Food Chain. They took down the Middleton Mad Dogs... Not your average group for sure."

Bonnie smirked from his comment and said in her ever haughty tone "Looks like you've already figured out the difference in ability. I'll have you join our ranks starting today. We could use your manpower right now." She let out a light laugh at the end, making it seem sinister to the rest of Deadtime. The leader, who had slightly recovered from the injury, stared incredulously at the brunette and asked "150 people still isn't enough? How far are you gonna go?"

"Of course, it's not enough." The Queen B spoke with a wicked grin on her face "We wanna control every delinquent in Middleton!"

It didn't take long until the group formally surrendered and joined the growing army of Food Chain. Bonnie let them rest for a bit before starting their initiation rites, and so she went out of the hideout and into the busy streets of the Rockwaller commercial area for fresh air, with Tara following suit. They sat on an empty bench not far from the entrance and let out a tired sigh. Bonnie faced her confidante and asked "Phew... How many was that now?"

Tara brought her finger to her chin and counted "That was 'Deadtime'. It's a decent gang with decent talent. I think their ten members is a somewhat good boost... Adding in 'A Hell', the group Emmie and Brick is assigned to, our total numbers could pass the 200 mark before this day is finished. That is, if A Hell didn't have any reinforcements. I can bet that as of this moment, they're probably in the middle of 'convincing' them."

Meanwhile, another of Food Chain's generals, Jennie, also went out of the hideout and joined in the conversation. She spoke with her boisterous tone "All right! Getting Food Chain over 200 members is easy peasy at this rate! We'll be able to get them by today or tomorrow, y'know."

"There's strength in numbers, after all. We'll keep growing, so we can go up against Kim Possible." Bonnie spat out her name in distaste in the end. She remembered how humiliated she was last time they met. Clearing up the bad memories, she let out a big sigh and continued. "Though, things would be smoother if the Angel of Destruction is around. She said she had something to do. It's a shame. Getting small fry to join would be easier with someone well-known like her here."

Tara also remembered their defeat and voiced out her concerns as well "Though I dunno if just getting more numbers is gonna mean much~" The brunette just shook her head and said "Either way, now's a good time to pick up new recruits. We've got the momentum on our side after beating Mad Dogs. Weak gangs will cower just from that momentum alone."

"I get it. It's more of that organization management philosophy stuff." The blonde girl's eyes shone a bit from understanding her leader more. Jennie added her own two cents with a wide grin "Ahahahah! We just need to get people to have already joined by the time word spreads that we lost to Possible."

Her smile wasn't permanent, however, when she felt a fist blow behind her head. "Shut up already, moron!" Bonnie shouted in annoyance while giving her head a mean knuckle. Jennie went to the concrete floor, clutching her head. This has been a normal occurrence for the blonde girl, so she didn't need to worry about her. Apparently, she's hard-headed, both literally and figuratively, just like her twin. And so she paid the short girl no mind,

"We'll have all of Middleton's teams under our banner eventually. It's just a matter of how long it's gonna take. No one loses if the end result is the same regardless." Bonnie murmured while looking over the entrance, where a handful of Food Chain members were happily lollygagging around the empty expanse of the old warehouse. For Tara, moments like these are the reason she followed her friend to the delinquent world. She was set apart from the usual street thugs because of her wit and intellect.

"I see... Yeah, this kinda organization stuff is really what you're good at, B." The compliment made the brunette let out a small, yet genuine smile. Bonnie trusted Tara like she's her sister in anything but blood, and she thanked that she had a friend like her in her life. Meanwhile, Jennie stood up and slightly recovered, and said "We may have lost to Kim Possible, but this kinda stuff is Bon-bon's hat!"

The smile on her face cracked a bit as a tick mark formed on her face. Bonnie let out a groan and exasperatedly shouted "The first part's unnecessary!" A few moments later, the members of Deadtime went out of the warehouse and went towards the brunette, inquiring about their duties as fresh new members of the gang. Tara and Jennie took the reins of explaining the basics that lasted no longer than a few minutes. When everything was settled, the group nodded and went back inside, except for the leader, who asked "I just want to ask... are numbers really going to be enough to win against the Bloody Fox?"

Queen B just chuckled at that and explained to him "Numbers aren't my only strategy against Possible. I've got people keeping an eye on her and her surroundings right now. If she has a weakness, we'll find it." Bonnie pointed at the small group huddling behind the tree at the far back, and noticed their almost silent movements to start their surveillance. The hooligan was clearly impressed and let out an amazed sigh "W-Wow, you're really doing stuff like that?"

"Bon-bon's amazing, isn't she? She's the leader of a group of 150 delinquents, but she's totally fine using cheap tactics like that, y'know." Jennie let out a smirk, much to the brunette's shock. Bonnie gritted her teeth and snarled at the short girl "Call them efficient, dammit! Anyway, we need to do as much as we can to strengthen Food Chain by this weekend. And if things go well, we'll get Possible when she's vulnerable. You all better be ready!"

Tara, Jennie, and a handful of Food Chain members let out a round of roars in approval. Bonnie smirked at their reaction and went back inside the warehouse, not uttering anything else, followed by the bluenette, who continues to lightly pester her leader in good fun. All that's left outside is the platinum blonde and the leader of Deadtime. When he was about to re-enter the building, he was stopped by the hand of the blonde girl on his shoulder.

"Before that... Bonnie may not care about this stuff, but I;m a stickler myself. It's a little something to celebrate you joining us." Her beautiful smiling face elicited something deep within him, and it wasn't arousal. He was starting to shake just like the time she single-handedly put him in a lock that nearly tore his arms. But before he could sputter out his question, her eyes narrowed while raising her hand, palms up, infront of him "Hand everything in your wallet."

He wanted to argue but she easily beat him to it and started to place him under her lock. The pain he received earlier came back in full force and his voice almost cracked. Her smile never wavering, she pressed on about his belongings, to which he quickly conceded. "F-Fine! I get it! I'll hand it over!"

Tara let out a giggle that unnerved the hooligan to no end and releases him from her hold. She took the wallet from his hands and started counting the bills inside "One big, one medium... Hmm... $150? Broke are we?" The delinquent flushed red with embarrassment but didn't say anything. She took the paper money and handed the now empty wallet to him. "Well, I guess it's enough for dinner today. Thank you!" She smiled at the stupefied male before entering the warehouse.


Meanwhile, on a small park, Riverside...

On the other side of the spectrum, a pale green Go Academy student is currently napping on a bench under the tree of a small park on the riverside. Since she's far from the bustling avenue, she had a complete fitful of slumber. She stretched her arms up in the air and let out a yawn "Kuaah... Ah, man. I slept too much since there's no school today." When she tried to sit up straight, she felt her butt contract from sleeping in a hard surface. She yelped lightly and muttered "Ugh, my ass hurts! Sleeping on cement sucks."

She tried to massage her tight muscles on her buttocks until it completely relaxed. When she could freely sit on the bench, she noticed a brown paper bag beside , she took it and inside was three triangular ham sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes and a note that says: "I made sandwiches for breakfast today. Please feel free to have some. -Stoppable."

Shego let out a soft smile at the note. "It's already lunchtime, though." She brought out the sandwich and started eating it, enjoying Ron's culinary prowess through his simple made, yet mouth-watering scrumptious meals he always prepare.


Inside a restaurant, old shopping district...

The stacks of posters were significantly reduced, and the duo decided to take their well-deserved lunch break. Kim chose a fusion restaurant, which showcases both western and eastern cuisine with a modern twist. "This place has variety, not to mention it's all good, too." The redhead gave her commendation while looking over the menu. When the waiter shows up, Kim ordered a Persian Chicken salad while Ron opt for pizza toast and coffee.

When their food had arrived, the two quickly dived in and took a bite. The seasoning was nice, not too strong for the blonde's taste, but not too bland. "This is good. The toast's crispy and fluffy on the inside." Ron smiled and gave his compliments on the food, to which Kim nodded and added her own thoughts "They apparently make the bread here. Same goes with my salad. They have a private farm so their vegetables are always fresh."

Growing up with his grandfather for half a month, Ron appreciated home-grown foodstuff, so he enjoyed his food even more. After taking another forkful of her salad, Kim asked him "So... about our plans after this... About how much more do we have to do?"

"We've done more than half so far. We're finished with the old shopping district, so after this we're going to the my neighborhood just south from here." Kim nodded and took another forkful of her food. They've been working for more than three hours now and things were moving smoothly. After this, they'll go to Ron's neighborhood and towards Middleton High, putting up posters to the stores along the way. They are pretty spread out, unlike the shopping center where they are concentrated, but still Ron deduced that they'll be finished before evening kicks in.

He finished up his toast not long after and enjoyed the rest of his coffee in comfortable silence, until a thought run through his head "Oh. right. We're going to be heading towards the school, so maybe it'd be better for me to do that on my own?"

Ron remembered that she didn't want to be seen actively helping the preparations, and so he offered to take care of the remaining duties left. He expected to accept it easily, but Kim just went silent for a moment. After a few moments, she suddenly spoke and answered him with an unexpected answer "Hmm... Well... No, I'll go, too. Let me help until the end." He tried to ask her but she puts her hand up and shook her head "It's fine. I'm not Kim Possible, delinquent leader of Middleton High. Today I am Kim Possible, your classmate."

Her smile disarmed him completely and accepted her answer. Although he still wondered if it'll really be okay since they agreed to not let anyone see her, but it seems like she already decided to do this. And today, the blonde teen learned another new fact about the redhead: When Kim decides to do something, she will zero in on that decision and will not stop at anything until her task is finish. "I guess you could call her earnest, and I think that's a good thing." Ron mused to himself.

"But, still, it might be hard finding someone to take the cat in within the day." Her eyes shifted towards the floor and her face went somber at the thought of her own plans regarding the cat. Ron can't help but nod with her at that. They've put up numerous posters all around the district, and yet no one's calling. Add the fact that there had been no signs of one of the stores we had asked being interested, either, despite their quiet hopes. Kim went silent while sipping on her drink, which made the freckled boy concerned. "Is something the matter?"

Kim shook out of her reverie and muttered an apology "My bad. I was just thinking lately. I know it's rough, but I was just thinking about now I'd get to play with the cat for another night if things keep up this way... No, sorry. I know it was stupid to say stuff like that after I've asked you to help me..." Ron was sure that she really does want to find an owner for the feline, but there's no doubt in his mind that she had become attached to the animal.

The blonde teen just let out a smile, making the redhead to mirror it. Ron felt like he was back at the rooftop, seeing her pearly whites in a blinding smile for the first time. "She's really cute whenever she does that..." He mused while enjoying the view. The two shared a laugh and enjoyed their newfound friendship for a moment, and the two wished for it to last longer. But, fate had other plans for them. And before the boy could sip on his coffee, a bang on the table beside them interrupted their shared silence.

BANG!

The sound made him jump a little. On the other hand, Kim became tense and clenched her fist while eyeing the one intruding their lunch. A woman with tattoo marks all over her back and neck wearing a bandanna on her head let out a vicious grin and mocked the irritated redhead "Well, well, well, well. If it isn't Middleton High's Little Miss Bloody Fox~"


A/N's: Yepp, I end it right there. This part of the novel is pretty long so I decided to cut it up to two parts. Anyway, like what I said earlier, I'll be gone for a few weeks, but I will try my hardest if I were given a chance and some good internet (Because God knows how shitty connection in the Philippines is! XD) Don't forget to put me and this story in your favorite and alert lists so you can be updated.

Oh, and don't forget to vote for this year's Fannie Awards! Here's the list of finalists (topic/329/172143661/1/Finalists-for-the-13th-Fannies-Awards). Send your votes via email or PM to the official KP Fannie Committee profile (u/2622561/KP-Fannie-Committee). Deadline for votes in on August 16th. Just add the fanfiction dot net url and attach it before the links. Thanks for reading!

'Til next time!
-kmtdiccion :)