Chapter 41: Prom Night, Part 1

Ron checked his watch as Rufus straightened his tie for him. It was 7:45, time to walk to the Gym and meet Monique. He had to snort out a laugh at his situation. His parent's were out of town again; his dad had a factory to survey and his mother had accompanied him. As a result, Monique wasn't allowed to come to his home and since he didn't have a driver's license he couldn't borrow his mom's car and drive to hers. He didn't even dare suggest that they ride on his scooter. Instead they would meet just before eight, in the Gym Lobby. He chuckled; a normal date just wasn't in the cards for the Ronster.

He was in a surprisingly good mood. Kim and he were getting along better again. They had walked to and from school both Thursday and Friday and had put in sparring sessions both of those days. She still hung with Eric at lunchtime and probably after their training, but Kim was back to being his friend again, something Ron could accept. Wade hadn't been able to uncover anything else on what Drakken might be up to but Ron decided that he should just be a teenager tonight, enjoy the dance, and worry about saving the world on Monday.

The doorbell interrupted his thoughts. He set Rufus down on his dresser and ambled downstairs to answer the door. He opened the door to see a fuming Dessie, wearing a formal, green dress with a matching handbag. She barged straight past him without giving him a chance to speak. Ron was shocked. She had seemed a little mad at him on Thursday, when he told her he was going to the Prom with Monique, but she had simply told him that she would see him there. Ron had deliberately avoided her on Friday, waiting for Wade to dig up more information.

"Ron Stoppable!" She declared, "you have some explaining to do!"

"Dessie, I'm not allowed to have girls over when my folk's aren't here and I'm just getting ready to le-"

"I DON'T CARE! Why aren't you going to the Prom with me? I thought we were putting something together!"

"We might be, but I've only known you for a few days and I don't know anything about you and I-"

"I thought you said I was pretty!"

"You are."

"Prettier than Monique?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so, its just-"

Her mouth pressing against his interrupted his words. Her hands were behind his neck, not letting him go. He closed his eyes. Almost against his will, his arms wrapped around her. Her tongue…

Ron pushed away from her. "Dessie, what are you doing? I'm about to go to the Prom with Monique and you're-. What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you? Why don't we both just skip the Prom? We could stay here, Ron, together! It will be wonderful! Can't you see that I love you? "

"Love me? Dessie, we don't even know each other! I don't know anything about you! When I had a friend try to track your background he couldn't find any-." Oh, snap! What did I just let out?

"Ron, you didn't." Dessie seemed on the verge of tears. When Ron didn't deny his actions she pulled a small device out of her bag, touched a button and spoke into it. "Subject two has initiated a background check."

Ron was really confused now. "Dessie, what are y-"

"SHUT UP, RON!" She held the device to her ear, a look of concentration on her face. After a moment, she spoke into it again. "Confirmed, will comply." She turned back to him. "Why Ron? Why couldn't you have just been normal? "

"Dessie, I'm sorry but what-"

"SHUT UP RON! Do you know how we gain our personalities? We're imprinted from real people, then altered slightly. Do you know why I fell for you? BECAUSE I WAS SUPPOSED TO! I WAS MADE TO! Why couldn't you have fallen for me right back?"

She looked around and stared at the open picture window for a second. Then she reached out, grabbed a thoroughly confused Ron Stoppable by the collar and dragged him into the kitchen with surprising strength.

"Dessie, what's happen-"

"I SAID SHUT UP RON! Do you know how long I have to live? The longest any of us have ever lived is eight weeks! Eight weeks and I've already used up three! Why couldn't you have just gone along with it? You would have enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it. All of the unpleasantness would have been over in another week. The time I had left would have been happy, with you. Father isn't unreasonable! He doesn't want to hurt you if he doesn't need to! But because of you, we have to move up the schedule and do this tonight."

"Do what? Dessie I don't under-"

"CAN'T YOU JUST BE QUIET?" She pinned him up against the wall. "Now, here's what we're going to do. We are going to Bueno Nacho. We're going to go to the service entrance and then straight to the storeroom. We will stay there for the next four hours. The dangerous part will be over by then. We can be together for those four hours, father has told me that I have to watch you but it doesn't have to be unpleasant. After it's all over, who knows? I'm still a real girl in almost every respect and I love you. Maybe we can be together for as long as I have left."

Ron's brain was running about a half-minute behind current events. "Dessie, no! I'm going to the Prom with Mon-"

She nailed him with a right cross that bounced his head off of the wall and set lights flashing in his eyes. He slid down the wall, dazed, until she caught him and pinned him up against the wall again.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, RON! IF YOU HAD JUST FALLEN IN LOVE WITH ME LIKE A NORMAL BOY, THIS WOULDN'T BE HAPPENING! Because of you, the only choice you have is to either come with me, quietly, or have me carry your unconscious body there. It's up to you, Ron."

"NO!" Ron couldn't bring himself to hit her, but he wasn't going to be kidnapped. He clamped a thumblock on her left hand and twisted. This broke him free but the move didn't force her down like it should have. Her whole arm just rotated as if she had no bones.

"So this is the way it's going to be?" She lashed out with her right hand again and Ron barely managed to dodge. Her fist broke into the kitchen wall. Her left hand snapped up around Ron's throat and clamped down. He couldn't pry her fingers off.

"I'm not going to kill you Ron. Please don't fight me. Once you're out, I'll take you to Bueno Nacho. It won't be unpleasant there if you don't fight me." Ron answered by curling himself up and ramming both feet, hard, into her face.

She released him and flew back against the counter. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS SO HARD? I only wa…AAAAAHHHHH!" She looked down, drawing Ron's eyes with hers to where Rufus had just bitten her foot. A strange, yellowish-green fluid spurted out of the wound.

"YOU MISERALBE RAT, I'LL…" She raised her foot, preparing to stomp on Ron's friend.

"NOOOOO!" Ron came up off of the floor, threw himself forward and tackled her. They fell to the ground in a wild jumble of limbs, a grotesque mockery of making out. One of her flailing hands caught him straight on the mouth, although she didn't have much behind the blow. As his weight came down on her, the fluid gushed from her foot. Ron flinched back as she seemed to flatten beneath him. Her beautiful face became hollow as her entire body sagged towards the floor. Her voice weakened even as she struggled to say…

"Ron…why…couldn't…you…have…been…norm…"

Ron could only sit there, staring in horrified awe at what looked like a deflated balloon. Even as he watched, the empty skin of what had, moments before, been a lovely young woman began to dissolve. A few minutes later nothing was left but a puddle of fluid and the device she had spoken into earlier. Not even her clothing and accessories remained. Ron's brain was functioning enough to recognize that the device must be some form of communication equipment, and that it might be transmitting even now. He crushed the device and lurched to his feet.

Dessie was a synthodrone? How would he explain the mess to his mother? How could he explain her being here to Monique and his folks? He was soaked with the fluid; he was never getting the deposit back on the tux.

Wait a minute, a SYNTHODRONE! If someone was planning on neutralizing him that must mean…

KIM!

He grabbed the kitchen phone, called Wade, and made the most coherent report that he could manage. Wade was stunned.

"Ron, are you sure?" Wade flinched at his own question.

"You can come see the mess if you don't believe me."

"Sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to sound like I didn't believe you but this really caught me off guard! What's your call?"

"Get in touch with Kim. If someone tried to eliminate me, then they have to have a plan for her as well."

"You don't suppose Eric…"

"I don't know Wade, but I've learned to never get between her and her boyfriend. Go ahead and run a background check on him, I'll take the heat for it. But first, contact Kim, tell her what happened here and tell her to be on guard. Oh, and ask her to apologize to Monique, for me, for standing her up."

"Ron, where are you going?"

"Des…the synthodrone was going to take me to Bueno Nacho. I'm heading there to see if I can scare something up. I don't have time to wait for Kim; the drone contacted someone and agreed to take me there. I've got to get there before they realize something's wrong." Ron heard some furious keyboard tapping.

"Okay Ron, I'm getting some broad-spectrum satellite surveillance on Bueno Nacho and I'm hacking into monitoring systems for all of its utilities. I'll be able to monitor any reactions to your arrival. But Ron, you can't just barge in there! They're expecting you to show up as a prisoner of…that thing!"

"I've got a plan Wade, trust me and good luck." Ron hung up the phone and ran up the stairs, pulling off his tux as he went. I hope the neighbors don't see me carrying that thing, I hope the guys never hear about this and I hope mom doesn't kill me for what I'm about to do.