Disclaimer: All Kim Possible characters are the copyright of Walt Disney Corporation. I'm just borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. All other characters in my stories, that Disney doesn't own, are mine. :)
A cookie and naco go to campy for once more proving he's a great proofreader by providing beta/proofreading for this chapter. Thanks! (big grin)
Big thanks go to all who read and left reviews for Chapter 13: Zaratan, Goinghome, AtomicFire, Bubbahotek, John Steppenwolf, continental-line Etherelemental, zafnak, ZK Chromedragozoid, Mr. Average, romantic-cancer, and Leon.
And thanks go to all who read Chapter 13. :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Bond of Honor
Chapter 14 – First Time Impressions
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)
For many people in the Tri-City area, they were most fortunate to be indoors. The black clouds that rolled in during the day were sure signs of the thunderstorms that were about to plague the region. Some, however, were unfortunate to be outdoors – utility workers, police patrols, road repair crews, etc. Yet no one would have thought that a bunch of high school students would be outdoors in such weather.
That was precisely what was happening. One unfortunate Middleton High class found themselves sitting on the football field bleachers wondering why they were there as the winds blew their hair about. They should be indoors and not outside in a storm.
Posing an intimidating look, their teacher, unfazed by the weather, looked up at his pupils from a podium on the ground. Given he was an ex-Marine, no one was surprised one bit that being in such weather was nothing new to him. "All right, people. Per your request, we are having class outside today."
Many groaned and again wondered why they even bothered to be outside today. Yet one blond boy, sitting at the top row between a Japanese girl and a redheaded girl, raised his hand. "Er… Mr. B? Yeah, I think that request was made last week. Y'know, when it was nice out."
Steve Barkin growled. He was not in a mood for arguments. "Do you have any idea… The bureaucratic nightmare entailed to having class outside! Feel lucky we're doin' it at all!" he shouted. It was perfect timing that Mother Nature enforced his words with lightning and the start of a heavy downpour, which drenched everyone in seconds. All except Barkin, who immediately opened an umbrella.
Feeling soaked with wet hair hanging over her face, Kim raised a hand to move aside the wet tresses so she could see. "We are such lucky ducks," she groused. She just couldn't believe Barkin would choose today, of all days, to grant their request.
Ron, hair and clothes wet as well, pointed to the football field. "No, they are." Sure enough, a group of ducks came down out of the sky to swim in the growing puddles on the field.
Smoothing back her wet black mane, Yori chuckled. "It's not so bad, Possible-san. Think of it as taking a shower. Almost no difference."
Kim almost snarled as she turned to face the amused Japanese teen. "Yori… We do not take a shower wearing our clothes and especially not outdoors in the middle of a thunderstorm." Her green eyes could see Yori was not perturbed and kept her amused expression. Kim almost mentally cursed the other girl for her ninja training, which no doubt gave her resilience in almost all types of weather, so a thunderstorm, like this one, wouldn't faze her.
Barkin's words gained the three teenagers' attention again. "Reminder, your creative writing assignment is due in two weeks. I trust everyone used the four weeks and will use the next two wisely."
A faraway look came to Ron's face as his mind went back to what he had been doing in the past three weeks when it came to doing the assignment, and all he could think was lazily hanging out in the kitchen.
Seeing his expression, Yori placed a hand on his arm. "Ron-kun?" Even Kim noticed her best friend's look.
Coming out of his mental state, the blond produced a small sheepish chuckle. "Heh. I was… busy with other things. Did you start yours, KP?"
Kim frowned, for she knew what Ron really was covering up. "Um, Ron. I finished it. Three and a half weeks ago."
"Aw, man," whined Ron. "I don't even have a topic."
Removing her hand, Yori was puzzled. "Surely, Ron-kun, you have some ideas by now."
Even Kim was baffled. "Well, it's supposed to be autobiographical. Pretty simple."
"Yeah, I know," Ron mentioned. "I kept waiting for it to write itself." Both girls looked at him like he was crazy.
"That's not what the auto…" Kim shook her head and waved a dismissing hand. "Never mind." Even Yori shook her head, yet managed a small grin for her boyfriend, for she was a bit amused at his clueless behavior at times.
Looking at Yori, Ron leaned over to whisper. "I thought of maybe writing about my trip to Japan when I first met you, but I know I can't. It would have been badical. Just too bad I can't."
Yori softly whispered back, still grinning. "Hai, you can't. Think of something else. I know you can."
Despite the low tone, Kim actually heard their quiet conversation. She admitted that it would have been a good topic for Ron to write about his experience during the one-week student exchange with him going to Japan. Just too bad, as Ron said, he couldn't due to keeping the truth about Yamanouchi a secret.
As Ron once more faced forward, his face suddenly perked up, and both girls knew he had struck on another idea. "I know, I'll write about our first mission, KP."
Kim's eyes went wide for a moment before she placed a hand on her chest. "That's what mine's about."
Raising both index fingers up with a huge smile on his face, Ron was quite pleased. "Cool!"
Green eyes half closed and arms crossed, showing her irritation, "You can't copy it."
"Ron-kun!" Yori was shocked as she too narrowed her eyes, slightly aggravated.
Remembering his promise to his girlfriend, Ron nervously chuckled, as he looked at both ladies. "What? I didn't say anything about copying, did I?"
Kim and Yori, still irked with narrow eyes, eyed each other briefly before turning as one back to the blond boy.
"You still can't copy my assignment, Ronald," Kim grated.
"Nor will I allow it, Stoppable-san," Yori followed. "You will find another topic and do your work properly. If you do not, I will stop any further 'First Base' studying with you."
"Aw, man," Ron groaned and placed his face in his hands. It was bad enough to have one of his two special girls peeved at him, but both were beyond his ability to escape. Besides, he wondered how long he could hold out without those sweet kisses and concluded that he might not even last a day knowing his GF was ticked at him.
Unknown to the chagrined boy, the lips of the two girls slowly formed into knowing smirks. They didn't need to read Ron's mind to know he was cornered, thus he would do as they instructed.
Rufus, hearing the commotion, popped his head out of Ron's right pants pocket and noticed it was raining. He took out a mini-umbrella and grinned.
Feeling his little buddy emerge, Ron looked down at his pet. It was then his mind came up with yet another idea. "Hey, buddy, that's it!" he exclaimed with glee just as the wind blew Rufus's umbrella away and he immediately went back down into the shelter of the pocket.
Yori and Kim were confused. "What's it?" the redhead asked.
"My topic," Ron explained, still grinning, "how Ron met Rufus!"
"Didn't you just get him on sale at Smarty Mart?" Kim asked, not convinced the topic had much to write about.
Even Yori frowned at the choice of topic. "I have some misgivings, Ron-kun. I'm not being disrespectful to Rufus-san, but the topic doesn't seem to have much to write a story."
Unperturbed, Ron felt confident as he raised a finger. "Ladies, it's creative writing. I'll spice it up. No prob."
Kim couldn't help but grin in amusement. "I have no doubt," she said as she heard Yori giggle. Both ladies knew this was what made Ron be Ron.
It was then they heard the familiar four-ring tone from Kim's pocket. Beep-beep-be-beep
After taking out her Kimmunicator, Kim activated it to show the face of her team's tech wizard. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked as a duck came down to land on her head, much to Ron and Yori's amusement.
Wade couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Are you sitting in the rain?"
"Class outside. Don't ask," Kim replied as she waved the feathered fowl off her head. Giggling, Yori watched the bird fly off.
The pre-teen boy almost laughed himself but managed to only grin. "Well, as long as you're already soaked, I have our first mission for the new Team Possible. Drakken's got a new hoverlair in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."
While Ron was busily catching raindrops on his tongue, Yori was paying attention to the conversation. Kim, upon hearing the destination, nearly sulked. "More water? Swell."
Yori chuckled. "As Wade-san already mentioned, Possible-san, we're already wet. It will not make any difference."
"Says you, Yori," Kim grumbled. Ron and Yori eyed each other bewildered, while Wade was surprised at Kim's rude remark.
Shaking off his astonishment, the super genius continued. "Anyway, for your ride, I set you up with—"
Suddenly a shadow came over the entire class and everyone gazed up to see a hoverjet above them, blocking the rain. It was clear to Kim and Ron the jet was from an organization they knew well.
With a grin, Kim focused on her Kimmunicator again. "Global Justice?" she inquired smugly.
"Hmm… They made good time," Wade admitted before pressing a keyboard button to sign off.
A rope ladder came out from the bottom of the hoverjet down to Team Possible's level. Kim stood up and gestured to the aircraft. "Come on, you two, we have a mission to do." With that said, Kim climbed up the ladder.
Yori immediately followed, but Ron, as he stood up, grinned down at his teacher. "Sorry, Mr. B, but duty calls. The world needs to be saved once more from the forces of evil, and –."
"Come on, Ron-kun!" Yori interrupted as she reached down and grabbed the back of her boyfriend's shirt. With a yelp, the blond boy was pulled up into the waiting jet before the bottom hatch closed.
As the jet took off, Mr. Barkin shook his head as he once again focused on the remaining students, who looked almost jealous that three of them luckily escaped the rain. Yet for the ex-Marine, he mentally wished his three students luck on their mission.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since Global Justice started to work with Team Possible during the mission against Duff Killigan, Dr. Director had issued orders that all GJ hoverjets be equipped with the mission uniforms and gear of the teenage team, just in case. It was fortunate it saved time if Team Possible was to be immediately picked-up with no time to spare to stop by their homes to change.
Thus it was a relief to Kim to take out her mission clothes, for she didn't like to stay in her wet clothes a minute longer. Of course, she knew there still was a chance she would get wet since they were going to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The redhead watched her new team member take out her uniform from the cabinet. GJ must have quickly stocked Yori's uniform once they were informed of her being on Team Possible. Yet it amazed Kim that GJ was this swift in getting Yori's uniform stocked on all GJ jets.
Kim gave a teasing grin at Ron as she realized there were only two bathrooms on board. "Seems you have to wait your turn, Ron. I'm taking first dibs on changing in one bathroom."
"And I'm taking the other," Yori proclaimed with a grin before strolling into the other bathroom to change. Kim, with a smirk, walked into hers, leaving a drenched blond boy outside.
Ron couldn't care less. "No prob with me, ladies," he spoke to the closed doors with a grin. "I'll just hang out here, dripping water on the floor."
Rufus, once Ron had entered the aircraft, vacated the wet cargo pants pocket for dryer conditions. He stood on the floor away from his human boy, not wanting to get water dripped onto him. "Change quickly!" he chirped.
Looking down at his little friend, Ron thumbed toward the two bathrooms, which stood side-by-side. "Well, we'll see how long it takes for Yori and Kim to change first. I'm not doing it out here. They might take a while."
Sure enough, it took the girls quite some time to change, for Yori appeared first in her new uniform followed by Kim five minutes later. Ron noticed that their hair was dry. "They have hairdryers in there?"
"Well, duh," Kim gently berated. "It's normal equipment for GJ to have them in stock."
Taking his uniform, Ron couldn't help but make fun of the girls as he walked pass them to enter the bathroom Yori emerged from. "No wonder it took you ladies so long to change. It must have taken a lot of time to dry your hair." He closed the door with a sly smirk on his face.
Kim rolled her eyes while Yori giggled. "Ron-kun, you can see there are also some towels. I do not think it would be wise to drape dry clothes over wet skin, especially if we are going to be facing battle. It's not just our hair that Possible-san and I dried."
"Yori's right, Ron," Kim agreed. "I for one do not want to go fighting Drakken and Shego feeling all wet and sticky."
"Yeah, yeah," Ron's reply came from behind the door. "Least my hair will not take so long to dry compared to yours, KP." A snort of a laugh escaped Kim, and she could see Yori once more produced a giggle.
For Kim, she wouldn't want her red hair any other way. She was lucky her gorgeous mane was easy to maintain despite the length, for she just couldn't imagine what she might look like with short hair. Images of her looking like her mother just keep popping into her brain whenever she did consider cutting her hair, and that pretty much quenched immediately any notions of trimming her tresses.
Looking at Yori, Kim mentally frowned. The Japanese girl was beautiful with her short raven hair, and it was easy to see she would no doubt be gorgeous if she grew her hair to Kim's length. Even in the hair department, it seemed the other girl has an advantage over her. Was there anything that Yori couldn't do but she could?
A few moments later, Ron came out, all dried up and in his mission clothes. Rufus hopped into the pants pocket, happy that it was dry and comfortable.
Seeing everyone was ready, Kim gestured to her teammates to follow her. "Come on. Let's check with the pilot. We should be approaching the area Wade mentioned where Drakken's hoverlair should be."
All three made way toward the cockpit, where they saw a disappointed GJ pilot at the controls.
"Found the lair yet?" Kim asked as all three teens and one mole rat peered outside at the ocean below them.
The pilot shook his head. "I'm telling you, Miss Possible. Global Justice has searched and scanned this whole area. Dr. Drakken is not here. All the other jets have already called off the search for this area."
Kim shook her head and gave a confident grin. "Wade says he's here. That's good enough for us." Feeling a slight doubt, Team Possible's leader pulled out her Kimmunicator and pressed a button to get her tech man online. "You sure about this, Wade?"
Looking quite positive, Wade crossed his arms. "Absolutely. I had a solid lock on his hoverlair… Until, y'know, it vanished."
"Stealth technology?" Yori asked. Kim and Ron raised their eyebrows at this.
Wade nodded. "Possible." He returned to tapping keys on his keyboard. "I have stealth tech installed on the Wadebot, so it's likely that Drakken would able to get his hands on the same technology if he wants his hoverlair to not be detected."
After a moment's thought, Kim led her team toward the rear of the jet. "Better get a closer look," she said as they approached a couple of water jet crafts. She grabbed a helmet off one craft to place it on.
Ron however had picked up a cup of soda to take with him. Both Yori and Kim frowned at this. "Ron-kun, I do not think you can drive and drink that soda at the same time."
Kim couldn't agree more with the Japanese ninja. Much to their embarrassment, Ron had made the pilot stop by Bueno Nacho for a quick grab of a soda before heading out to the Atlantic. "You better drive the jet ski then, Yori," she mentioned while pointing to the second watercraft.
As Ron put on his helmet and Kim mounted her jet ski, Yori sadly sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid, Possible-san, that Ron-kun has to drive. I have no knowledge of how to operate this vehicle."
Kim and Ron were floored. Even Rufus popped his astonished head out of Ron's pocket to look up at his owner's girlfriend.
"Yori," Ron spoke first, "you have all those fancy ninja moves and stuff, and you're saying you can't drive a jet ski?"
Yori nodded sheepishly. "Hai. My training at Yamanouchi was mostly on ninjitsu with only a couple of courses on underwater diving at nearby beaches and skydiving. Students learn how to drive and pilot vehicles during their stays at their chosen branch they wish to serve. While I'm here in America, I will eventually learn how to drive and if I choose, pilot aircrafts."
A skeptical expression came to Kim's face as she watched Yori pick up her helmet and place it on. "I find that hard to believe, Yori. You have pilots to fly your helicopters, and I did notice Hirotaka is able to drive a motorcycle."
After shaking her head for a moment, Yori started to explain. "Hirotaka-san has taken private lessons during school vacations between semesters, thus why he is able to drive. Our pilots are trained at Japanese government airbases after they finish their training at Yamanouchi. Given Japan has a reliable mass-transit system, not everyone at Yamanouchi knows how to drive or pilot vehicles, Possible-san. Sensei himself has not driven or piloted a vehicle in his entire life."
Blinking at this revelation about Yamanouchi's master teacher, Kim had to admit that what Yori said made sense. At Yamanouchi, everyone was taught how to be ninjas along with a high school education for their teenage students, and given the school was on top of a mountain, there was little time for them to learn how to drive or fly, not to mention there were no roads for cars to drive on. It was better for them to learn how to handle moving vehicles after they graduated from Yamanouchi, either in Japan or at any of Yamanouchi's branches.
Ron gave a sympathetic and supporting smile for his girlfriend. "Well, how about a quick lesson on 'Driving a Jet Ski 101' by Professor Stoppable." As he predicated, his humor made Yori burst out a giggle. "It's simple really." He pointed to the handlebars. "You turn the handlebars forward to drive it forward. The further you turn the handlebars, the faster the jet ski goes. You let the handlebars return to normal position to stop it. Since it doesn't go backwards, you just turn it anywhere you need to go while driving forward. Simple."
A grin came to Yori's face as she nodded in understanding. "It does seem simple, Ron-kun." Her grin became a reluctant one. "Yet I think you should drive it for now." With that said, she mounted the jet ski leaving room for Ron to sit in front of her and face the controls.
Giving a shrug and an understanding smile as Rufus again went down into the pocket, Ron mounted the jet ski, much to Kim's relief and impatience.
"Okay, lesson time is over," Kim pointed to the other two as Yori placed her hands around Ron's waist. "We're wasting time here. Ready, guys?" she asked as Ron took a sip of his soda.
"Hai!" Yori replied, eager to get on with the mission.
Ron nodded once. "Sure." His face became confused. "What're we doing again?"
Kim scowled at him before quickly pressing a red button on her jet ski's console.
Suddenly the hatch under the jet skis open from under, allowing the two jet skis to fall onto the ocean water below the hoverjet. Kim immediately revved her jet ski to full power. Yet as Ron revved his ski up, he lost hold of his soda cup and it fell away from him as the jet ski zoomed away.
"AWWWW, MAN!" Ron cried out at the loss of his soda as he and his ninja girlfriend watched the soda.
For the teenage couple, they expected the soda cup to eventually fall into the water, however, it hit some invisible solid object, causing it to splatter all over the place to reveal a metal door. Yori and Ron knew right away what they were seeing.
"Possible-san!" Yori called out as she turned her head to face the redhead, driving her jet ski to her left.
"KP, my soda!" Ron yelled just after Yori, thumbing over his shoulder toward the revealed object.
Kim rolled her eyes. "We'll get you a refill later," she replied, thinking Ron was complaining he ran out of soda.
Both Ron and Yori spoke and acted as one. "No! Look!" They both pointed behind them.
Looking at where her teammates were pointing, Kim looked behind her to see the soda-covered metal door, appearing to be hovering in the air. A wide grin spread across her face. "Way to go, Ron!" she praised as she pumped a fist.
Leading the way, Kim turned her jet ski around to head toward the exposed door, and Ron and Yori followed suit right behind her.
A few moments later, all three teens were standing on the ledge in front of the door. Yet before either girl could say or do anything, their blond companion reached up to knock on the door. "Knock, knock!"
With a chuckle, Rufus emerged from Ron's pocket. "Who's there?"
Kim thumbed to the door. "Invisible lair."
Ron, caught up into thinking she was in the joke, didn't pay attention. "Invisible lair who?"
"Invisible lair right in front of us," Kim grinned before smacking a fist into her other opened palm. "Let's bust the bad guys."
Giving some thought, Ron shook his head. "I'm not really sure that works."
Yori giggled and shook her head. "Oh, Ron-kun." She waved a hand at him in dismiss. "You and your American jokes. Possible-san was referring that our foes has made their entire hoverlair invisible, using stealth technology as we presumed." Using her hands, she turned the wheel on the door, and a minute later, the steel door opened up.
Kim quickly entered the lair and took off her helmet. Ron followed her, and Yori took up the rear. The corridor seemed to look like what the interior of a navy ship would look like, full of piping and machinery.
As the threesome searched out the place, the Japanese ninja frowned upon thinking of something. "I find it odd that this Drakken designed a hoverlair with a door that anyone could easily open."
Her boyfriend gave a shrug and waved her question away. "That's Drakken. He's cheap when it comes to defense," he grinned. "He's just spends way too much money on big ray guns and rockets and such." His brown eyes narrowed as he frowned a bit. "I mean does he ever build anything else than just ray guns and rockets?"
Rolling her green orbs, Kim countered. "Ron… He does build other things than ray guns and rockets."
"KP," Ron raised a finger, "Drakken has no sense of originality. It's always," he ticked off each item on his fingers, "rockets, ray guns, and robots." He spread out his hands. "Come on! What about some creativity, like the Spinning Tops of Doom, and –"
"RON!" Kim interrupted him with a glare and finger pointed into his face. "What did I tell you long ago about giving ideas to our arch foes? It bad enough you gave Senor Senior, Senior that idea for the Spinning Tops of Doom." With that said, she returned to leading the team through the maze of corridors to find a way to the top.
Yori was staring at Ron in glaring disbelief. "Ron-kun… You helped a villain with ideas for weapons?"
Feeling the intensity of his girlfriend's dark eyes boring into him, Ron began rubbing the back of his head. "He wasn't even a villain at the time, Yori. He has so much money he doesn't know what do with it. I only mentioned his home looked like a lair, and from there, I gave him some suggestions. How would I know he would take my word and take up villainy for a hobby? He could have taken up a safer hobby, like knitting! No missiles involved!"
"Missiles?" Yori cried out in shock, and Ron knew he'd spoken the wrong words. "You gave this bad man the idea to use missiles?"
"Yes, he did!" Kim answered as they continued their search.
Ron felt like crawling to some corner to die as the anger of both girls was at full intensity on him. "Come on! It was not my fault! I learned my lesson!"
Yori brushed past him and pointed at him. "Make sure you do that, Ron-kun. It will not do you any good if the evil people win over us due to you helping them." With that said, she stalked off after Kim with a huff.
The blond just couldn't believe his misfortune with getting his two favorite girls irritated at him for something that happened long ago. "It was not my fault!" he whined again with his hands spread out in helplessness.
Rufus popped out of Ron's pants pocket and crossed his arms. "Your fault!" he chirped.
His hand came up to slap his face before rubbing down it, and when he removed the hand, Ron had a mild annoyed look on his face. "You're not helping, buddy," he groused as he sped his walking to catch up with the two ticked-off females.
It was by luck that upon opening a door, Kim came across a bizarre-looking rocket. Even Yori found the funny-shaped missile strange.
Ron on the other hand immediately spoke out the first thing on his mind upon seeing the rocket. "What did I tell ya?" He pointed up to the contraption. "It's always ray guns, rockets, or robots. No originality."
"And it should stay that way, Ron," Kim snarled. "It makes Drakken predictable." She began to climb up the rocket to the opening at the top. After giving a slight glare at her BF, Yori too began climbing up the rocket.
With a sigh, Ron followed his ladies. He hoped their anger at him would blow over by day's end.
As he climbed the strange machine, the teenage boy slipped at one point. One hand reached out to take hold of an exposed grip, while the other wrapped onto a round object. The object snapped off its housing into his hand. Looking at the strange funny round object, Ron wondered what it was.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking behind several seated henchmen as they watched over the monitors, the blue-skinned man couldn't help but feel gleeful. He was always like that whenever he thought his plans would come to fruition. Of course, most of the henchmen and one particular woman knew that he was odd at times, for this was how Dr. Drakken, aka Andrew Lipsky, acted.
For the past few years, Drakken had time and time again come up with plans to take over the world or a part of it, and yet every time he tried, he was foiled time and time again. No one knew exactly why he actually became a villain. Some theories, talked among the international villains' rumor mill (via the Internet), suggested he was picked on and bullied extensively when he was a youngster and he finally snapped. Another was he couldn't take being treated like a child all the time by his mommy. Of course, some simply said he just was power hungry.
Regardless of the reasons, Drakken wanted to take over the world, and presently, he was about to launch his latest attempt.
Drakken smiled as he read the data seen on one monitor. "I presume that we continue to elude Global Justice's search parties. In stealth mode, we are completely undetectable. Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
Nearby, a young woman, with green-tinted raven hair and wearing a tight green/black jumpsuit, rolled her green eyes. After spending several years as a paid mercenary under Drakken, she definitely thought her employer was loonier than a monkey at times. It made her question again, for maybe the millionth time, why did she even bother to stay under his wing, and for the millionth time, she always came up with the same conclusion – she couldn't find a better employer to fit her desires and needs.
For Shego, Drakken fitted what she wanted. She just loved being evil, which Drakken was. He wanted to take over the world, which she desired. He paid well with benefits, and the challenges he gave were indeed challenging. No other villain could match. Monkey Fist only cared for being a crazy monkey king. Duff Killigan didn't pay well, and despite he was a Scotsman, she just didn't dig men in skirts regardless if they were called kilts. Dementor didn't seem to be much in presenting challenges. Gemini had a stupid dress code that his minions had to wear those stupid uniforms bearing a Greek alphabet letter, and she much wanted to keep her favorite green jumpsuit. The Seniors were just too nice to be true evil villains, although she did admit that Senor Senior Junior was a cutie and had thoughts of jumping his bones. Nope, it seemed Drakken was her only option, though she marveled whether she could do a better job than any villain could.
However, Shego had to confess that one villain did, for a time, far outdo Drakken. It was just too bad Zorpox was the result of Henchmen, Inc.'s Attitudinator device changing a geeky loser goodie teenage boy to become evil. If Zorpox had been a real deal instead of made by accident, Shego wouldn't have minded at all being under his wing, given he was smarter than Drakken and came closer to conquering the world than Drakken ever did. Not to mention, his evilness just made her want to jump his bones more than she ever did with Junior.
"Looks like one Global Justice skycraft hasn't given up the search," said the henchman watching over the monitor Drakken had read.
Drakken scowled. "What a buffoon!"
A familiar voice spoke behind him. "Hey! I thought I was the buffoon!" Drakken and Shego turned around to see two faces they loathed – Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible.
Shego immediately went into action. "I'd say so!" she answered to Ron's question, agreeing that he was a buffoon, before leaping at her long time rival and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with her.
While Kim fought Shego, Ron smugly waved a scolding finger at Drakken. "Don't think of launching that… Uhhhhh… Whatever that thing is, dude." He pointed toward the opening where the rocket was held.
"Ha!" Drakken smirked at the sidekick of his archrival. "What can you do to stop me, buffoon? And for your information, that thing is my Hypertronic Devastator Drone!"
Not even fazed, Ron shrugged. "Whatever it is called, and I'm not the one who is going to stop you. She will."
Before Drakken could say or do anything, a figure leaped out from the missile silo over Kim Possible's sidekick and landed in front of him. He barely had enough time to see it was a Japanese woman before she kicked him in the gut right into the consoles. The henchmen on the seats rose and turned to grab the girl but were kicked, punched, and thrown around easily by the newcomer. Drakken knew this girl was no pushover, and his eyes went wide when her hands grabbed two objects off her belt, unfolded them to show the items were Japanese style fans, and quickly slashed the consoles with them with ease and no damage to the fans.
Leaping out of the Japanese girl's way as more henchmen came forward to battle her, Drakken called out to his helper. "Shego! Get her!" he pointed toward the Japanese girl, who was leaping, dodging, kicking, and punching the charging bad guys like it was a simple walk in the park.
Shego, busy fighting Kim Possible and unaware of the new threat, grunted and glared. "Can you see I am trying to get her?" She gave a side kick to her rival, which Kim blocked.
Drakken kept pointing to the Japanese girl. "Not Kim Possible, Shego! HER!"
Leaping over Kim and turning toward her employer, Shego finally saw what Drakken was raving about before blocking a few kicks and swipes from the redhead. Her green-tinted lips curled up slyly at her opponent. "Getting soft, Princess, that you need to hire outside help? I'm shocked."
Kim growled as she dodged a roundhouse kick. "She's a member of my team, Shego. She's not a hired hand like you." She went for an uppercut toward Shego's face.
The villainess easily blocked the punch, and her face showed she was intrigued. "Really?" Her face became mischievous as she dodged and fought several more moves. "I always wanted to meet new people, Kimmie. Excuse me as I go introduce myself to your new friend." Shego kicked Kim in the gut, sending the redhead flying away, before she leaped into the air with a foot extended out as she flew toward the new intruder.
Ron saw what was heading toward his teammate. "Yori! Watch out!" he shouted.
The Japanese girl, after punching another henchman out of her way, swiftly turned to see the fast approaching threat and quickly leaped out of the way as Shego landed before her and started to attack. The international villainess kicked and punched the newcomer, and after a minute or so was impressed at this girl's performance of not only dodging and blocking but also in striking back.
"Not bad," Shego teased after being kicked in the chest but back flipped to use the momentum to counter the kick. She swiped a side punch to the other girl's head and she blocked it. "Yori is your name, uh?" The two continued to fight as she talked. "Kimmie truly must be going soft, if she has you fighting along side her."
Yori glared back at her foe. "Possible-san is still capable of defeating you, Shego." Lips formed a smirk after blocking a kick. "If she is going soft, how come she has defeated you time and time again? I think you're going soft, not her."
Shego produced a small growl. "That's because she's a pain in the neck." Her green eyes saw Kim was about to put some serious smackdown on Drakken, and she mentally cursed that she couldn't fight both teenage girls at the same time. If she went after Kimmie, Yori would be able to stop Drakken. If she stayed to fight Yori, Kim would get Drakken. Yet an idea came to her that might solve the problem, and her lips again became devilish. "Well, I have to hand it to you, Yori," she spoke loud enough to reach Kim's ears. "You're better than Kimmie. Maybe you should lead her team and not her."
"WHAT!" Kim twisted her head toward the fighting pair just as she was going to smack one on Drakken. She jumped to aim a flying kick at Shego's head, and soon two girls were fighting the evil woman. Shego couldn't help but smirk in success at getting Kimmie to come to her.
After seeing what had happened, Yori knew that Drakken was now free, and knowing Possible-san had fallen to Shego's trap, no one was able to stop the bad man from doing something. The Japanese ninja was about to leap away from the battle with Shego until she heard words that told her she was too late.
"You're too late!" Drakken cackled with a raised finger. "While Shego keeps you two girls busy, I shall launch my Hypertronic Devastator Drone!" He opened a panel door in the wall and pulled down a lever. The rocket flew upward out of the ceiling opening and into the sky. "Ha! Always keep back-ups!"
Kim couldn't believe it. "Wait! No countdown?" she screamed as she fought Shego alone now as Yori was shocked that the missile was launched as she looked at Drakken.
Shego chuckled. "No, no, he's actually learning. For a change."
"That's right!" Drakken gloated with an evil smile. "During the time it takes a computer to count backwards from ten, you always manage to defeat me, Kim Possible. Not anymore!"
Feeling someone tapping his shoulder, Drakken turned to come face to face with Kim's sidekick. "Err… Dude, is this important?" He held up the small device in hand.
Eyes going wide, the blue-skinned villain grabbed the device out of Ron's hand. "The gyroscopic control unit! Where did you get this?"
Ron grinned. "Yeah. Well, we actually snuck in by climbing up your…" He frowned. "What's it called again?"
Drakken glared at the blond boy. "Hypertronic Devastator Drone!"
"Yes," he smiled again and pointed both index fingers at the man. "Well, I slipped, and I had to kinda grab on to something and…" Ron pointed to the device. "Yeah, that kinda snapped off."
Shaking his hands with the device, Drakken started to panic. "But without the gyroscopic control unit, the drone will…" He looked up to see the missile was coming back right at them. "Instantly crash." He snarled angrily at Ron. "YOU BUFFOON!"
Unfazed by the angry insult, Ron gave a grinning sigh. "I do what I can."
Seeing that the rocket was getting closer and closer, Yori ran into action. "Possible-san, Ron-kun," she shouted just before grabbing Ron by the arm to get him to run at her pace with a yelp, "we must go!" The two teenagers ran out of sight as they hurried toward the exit.
Both Shego and Kim looked up to see the approaching missile.
"She has a point," Kim mentioned. "We should get out of here." The redhead swiftly ran after her two teammates as henchmen started to run every which way.
"Good point," Shego replied before following her rival.
Blinking at Shego's retreating form, Drakken again looked up and realized again that his Hypertronic Devastator Drone was about to devastate his hoverlair. "AAAAAAHHHHH!" he screamed at he ran after his hired sidekick with arms waving around in fright.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fear of being blown away by an approaching missile was enough to get everyone in the hoverlair to quickly abandon it as they all jumped into the ocean and frantically swam away to a safe distance. It was amazing the fear of dying could do to a person in order to survive.
Yori and Ron were a good distance away when the rocket smashed into the flying lair, producing an explosion that exposed the place to the naked eye. A moment later, the hoverlair crashed into the ocean before exploding entirely into millions of pieces.
Smoothing back her wet hair, Yori worriedly gazed toward the flaming ship. "Possible-san!" she shouted out.
"KP!" Ron called out with Rufus on his shoulder, for the little guy came out of his pocket home to avoid being drowned.
"I'm here!" Kim cried back, and both Yori and Ron turned toward the voice to see the redheaded girl swimming toward them. Upon reaching her companions, Team Possible's leader could see they were okay but she wanted to make sure. "Are you all right?"
Yori gave a reassuring grin. "Hai. I'm fine."
Ron also produced an assuring expression. "Rufus and I are a-okay, KP."
"Uh, uh," Rufus said as he gave a thumb-up.
Looking around her, Kim narrowed her eyes to see further. "Have either of you seen Drakken and Shego? They were just behind me when we jumped off."
Yori, Ron, and Rufus gazed about as they joined Kim in searching for the two villains. They could make out many of the henchmen, but there was no sight of the two leaders.
"It appears they are not here, Possible-san," Yori spoke out what they all could see.
Kim growled before reaching into her cargo pants pocket to take out her Kimmunicator, which Wade made quite water-proof, knowing there would be times Kim might be swimming in water for missions. Her finger pressed a button before she talked into the device. "Possible to Global Justice Hoverjet 46," she said as she looked up at the hoverjet flying high above the wreckage of the destroyed lair.
"I hear you, Miss Possible," the pilot responded.
"Call for back-up to pick up the bad guys, and my team and I need a pick-up as well." Kim knew now the two jet skis were perhaps taken by a couple of henchmen, given they were nowhere in sight when she, Drakken and Shego emerged from the hoverlair. She had first thought Yori and Ron took the jet skies, but since they were swimming in the ocean, it was a forgone conclusion that henchmen took the watercrafts.
"I'm coming around to pick you up now," the reply came, "and I already placed a call to all the other units to return to this area to retrieve and arrest the criminals."
"Be on the look out for Drakken and Shego," Kim instructed. "I know they escaped the hoverlair before it was destroyed."
"I copy that, Miss Possible. I'll inform the other GJ units. GJ Hoverjet 46 out."
With the transmission cut, Team Possible watched as the jet came about and headed toward their direction, and just when the jet was hovering down to let them come aboard through the side hatch, several other GJ jets appeared and began operations immediately to arrest Drakken's men.
As Team Possible climbed aboard, Kim, standing at the threshold, turned around to once again visually scan the area for the two ringleaders. Her emerald orbs narrowed in frustration that the two villains were nowhere in sight.
"Possible-san," an understanding Yori said as she placed a hand on Kim's shoulder, "Drakken and Shego couldn't have gotten very far. Eventually they will be caught. For now, there is nothing we can do. We've done our job."
Kim had almost flinched when Yori placed the hand on her shoulder. She was a bit uncomfortable with the other girl, especially still thinking whether the Japanese ninja was up to something. Yet Team Possible's leader couldn't dispute that Yori was correct. Presently, there was nothing they could do, and it was now up to Global Justice to find the two villains.
"You're right, Yori," Kim agreed. She turned to enter the jet, and Yori followed suit. "Let's go home."
After the hatch closed and the jet took off toward North America, Kim frowned. "I hope they are caught. It would not make my day if those two got away."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"WHAT?" Kim shouted incredulously at her Kimmunicator in hand as she walked down the stairs of her home with Ron and Yori just behind her. Wade, seen on the screen of the PDA, cringed from her voice.
An hour ago, Team Possible had arrived back in Middleton and Kim's home just as the sun was setting. Kim was glad to change for the second time that day out of wet clothes into dry ones, so she opted to wear a green crop t-shirt and tan cargos, while Ron, always having spare clothes at the Possibles', changed into his usual red-jersey outfit. Mrs. Possible kindly and swiftly dried Yori's only civvies in the dryer before the Japanese girl was able to even leave the guest bedroom, for Yori had only a terrycloth robe to wear and even she would not let Ron-kun see her until she was back in her civilian clothes she wore at school today – black slacks, slipper shoes, and a short-sleeved, red/pinkish blouse. Wade had called just when all three teens were coming down the staircase to the first floor, and he unfortunately brought bad news.
"I still can't believe it!" Kim ticked as they entered the family room and flopped onto the couch. "How'd we let Drakken and Shego get away?"
Wade gave a tiny shrug for he could not answer that question. "On the upside, GJ did capture all the henchmen."
Ron, standing next to Yori as they stood in front of Kim, raised a victorious finger. "And Drakken was foiled, not captured, but foiled."
"Yay!" Rufus cheered as he popped out of his owner's pants pocket.
Yori frowned at her suitor. "I agree with Possible-san. To let the leaders get away is akin to half a victory. They are free to again cause chaos to others."
Still grinning, Ron waggled a finger at his girlfriend. "KP and I always capture our arch foes the next time around, Yori." He lowered his hand. "It's like chess. Lose some pieces but we win in the end."
Amused, Yori raised an eyebrow. "You play chess, Ron-kun?" She knew he was a big video game fan, but she didn't know he played chess.
His grin became sheepish. "Only once." The grin disappeared into a glum expression. "I lost in less than seven moves." Yori was mildly surprised.
Kim snorted a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Ron… That game was six years ago against Danny Cage, and no one then even knew he would eventually become Middleton High's current chess captain."
With a gentle grin, Yori placed a hand on Ron's arm. "I'm sure you would do better now than six years ago. You're older and wiser than you were at ten years old, Ron-kun."
Ron simply smiled back, having no words to say for the moment.
Suppressing the urge to scowl at the Japanese girl, Team Possible's leader voiced what she and her team knew now. "Well, it seems we have to wait till Drakken's next 'take over the world' scheme to capture them." This time she allowed a scowl to escape her but for a different reason. "I still can't believe they got away right from under GJ's noses."
The three heard a feminine chuckle, and they turned to see Mrs. Possible approaching from the dining room. "I'm sure you'll eventually capture him, Kimmie," she assured her daughter with a grin.
Yori smiled and bowed toward the Possible matriarch. "I again thank you for drying my clothes, Possible-sensei. Arigato."
With one hand, Anne Possible slightly waved the thanks away with a grin. "You do not have to thank me all the time, Yori. I certainly do not think you should be going home still all wet and soggy. Thankfully, the storm passed," she indicated to the clear night sky outside the windows, "so you shouldn't have to worry about getting wet again on your way home."
"Hai," Yori replied, still grinning. "I will also do as you suggested. It makes sense given I'm now part of Possible-san's team."
Her words have gotten Kim's attention. "What suggestion is that?"
"I suggested to Yori," Kim's mother answered, "now that she's part of your team, Kimmie, that she have some spare clothes here and at Ronald's house, so the next time she returns from a mission all wet or covered in dirt, she least have clean clothes to change."
"Your mom is right, Kim," Wade agreed. "It was not like we didn't plan it, given we've only gotten Yori's mission clothes yesterday. Yet Yori will have to leave some spare clothes at your and Ron's homes. You know that you and Ron at times have to change coming back from certain missions."
Releasing a sigh, Kim couldn't dispute it anymore than the fact Yori should have a set of her mission clothes here at her home, at Ron's home, Yori's home, and at school. It was the same with her and Ron, so Yori should be no different. "True."
Yori nodded. "I'll bring some clothes over on Wednesday, Possible-san, as well as some to leave at Ron-kun's house."
Wade spoke up to get Kim' attention again. "I'll be signing off now. I'll keep you informed if I find anything more on Drakken and Shego, Kim."
"Thanks, Wade," Kim grinned at her younger friend, who nodded with a smile before his image blipped off the PDA.
A satisfied grin came to Mrs. Possible's face. "Well, now that we settled that, how about dinner? I'll add two additional places for you two," she said facing Ron and Yori.
"Actually, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron began with an apologetic grin, "Yori and I have to pass on that. Tonight, Yori will be eating dinner at my place with my 'rents for the first time. Mom and Dad want to meet her and she them."
Both Possible women blinked in surprise at this. "Ron," Kim started, "are you saying that Yori and your 'rents have yet to meet each other after ten days since you and her started dating?"
"It's the timing, KP," Ron explained with a frown. "Whenever Yori is over, they're away for some reason, and Yori couldn't come over when they're home. Tonight is our first chance for her to meet Mom and Dad. You know how often my 'rents are away at some business trip or something at times. Even last night, it was bad timing that when Yori and I stopped by my place to pick up Rufus before coming over here, we found Mom and Dad had gone out shopping."
"Hai," Yori agreed. "I want to meet them. Ron-kun told me this morning that tonight his parents would be home. Giving our schedules, we have no idea when the next opportunity might come up."
Mrs. Possible was the first to break out of her shock and produced an understanding grin. Kim however still was a bit astounded that bad timing had prevented Ron's mother and father from meeting their son's girlfriend for ten days after their son started dating Yori. The redheaded girl also wondered whether they would approve of Yori or not. It was not like Ron needed his parent's approval in dating girls, just knowing Ron, he would rather have his family get along with any girl he dated than have bad blood much like what happened to Romeo and Juliet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shego couldn't believe what she was seeing. Several hours ago, Drakken and she managed to escape being caught by Global Justice after the destruction of the hoverlair, and now, back in one of their other lairs, Drakken didn't look like he was ranting over losing again to Kim Possible.
"Um, hello there, Dr. D," Shego mentioned as she watched the blue scientist walk over to the windows to gaze down into the experiment area, where one of the henchmen was nearly naked and was going into a shower. "How come you're not crying your eyes out over the lost of a several million dollar hoverlair?"
Drakken continued to show that evil smile of his. "Ah, don't worry about it, Shego. That was nothing compared to my next brilliant plan. Next time, Kim Possible will not foil my plans."
Placing hands on her hips, Shego was not convinced. "Yeah, yeah. That's what you said last time." The green-tinted villainess raised a hand to point it at her employer. "Also should we least be checking up on any information on Kimmie's new ally?"
Catching his attention, Drakken turned a puzzled face toward his evil partner. "Come again, Shego? What ally?"
Shego rolled her eyes. "Hello! The Japanese girl that fought along side Possible and the buffoon today?" She crossed her arms. "The Princess I could handle, but that Yori girl was also good. If they had fought together against me, I don't think I could have stood a chance even with my plasma powers."
Drakken dismissed Shego's concerns with a wave of the hand. "Don't be concern about that now, Shego. It would not matter once I set my new plan in motion." He turned back to look down into the experiment room with his usual evil grin. "Excellent, Lutz. Now take the shampoo and lather."
The henchman was a bit nervous. "But I already showered this morning before I left the house."
Rolling her green eyes again as she shook her head, Shego left the room.
A few minutes later, Drakken was laughing evilly at the success of his brainwashing shampoo and cranium rinse. "It worked! Yes! All we have to do, Shego, is put Dr. D's brainwashing shampoo and cranium rinse in every store and the world will soon be my pawn! Hahahaha! Isn't that... Shego?" He looked around to see the villainess was no longer there, making him gruff in annoyance. "She has no respect for my evil genius." His face fell into a mild sad pose and raised a finger. "Can she least respect me just once?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entering a room with a computer inside, Shego mentally grumbled. Drakken may be smart at times, but she wondered who really was running this outfit. Heck, Drakken kept losing to her in chess anyway.
Sitting down in front of the computer, the raven-haired woman began typing away. Unlike Drakken, she knew it was best to know your opponents in order to defeat them.
Her lips curled into a smirk as the complex hacking software, bought from Hench, Inc., managed easily to gain access to the Middleton High School computer systems through the website. It seemed some dolts there didn't think it was necessary to have top-level firewalls installed.
Looking through the school's student roster, it was not hard to find info on the person Shego was looking for, for she knew it was unlikely another girl in the school had the same first name.
"Yori Takana…" the villainess mused as she read the file.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TBC (End of Chapter 14)
A/N:
1) The following are my responses to John Steppenwolf, Leon, and zafnak's reviews of Chapter 13:
- To tell the truth, John, after reading some Naruto fics, the –sensei honorary could be use even for Barkin when he's teaching classes. I also learned there are the –dono and –senpai honoraries, but I'm going to just stick with the ones I'm using in story for now. Adding any more will just be too much for me to handle for the time being.
- Yori? Evil? Nooooooo! Stay away from my Yori-chan! If she becomes evil because of you, Leon, I'll tell Sensei and he'll smack you one! Just kidding! (Big grin)
Nah, I'll not ever write Yori being evil like Eric. She's my sweet Japanese angel. Now being a mischief tease toward Ron… XD
- zafnak, it is a shame Yori doesn't have a category. I noticed in the Naruto fanfic section that they have categories for characters that are only seen once or twice. Felix has a category of his own, and he only appeared the same number of episodes as Yori, yet he is not paired often as much as Yori anyway in fics, nevertheless Brick.
Hmm… Maybe we should all just write to the administration and ask for a category for Yori. It doesn't hurt to try if everyone (who supports this) writes to ask for a Yori category in the search engine for the KP fanfic section. :)
2) As everyone can tell, this chapter is the start of the AU version of "Rappin' Drakken." Since there is a large amount of time between the beginning and ending of the episode, I can place in-between filler chapters of Kim, Ron, and Yori doing their every day activities. Also I will not be writing every scene in the episode, for some scenes will be the same, thus will not require for me to retell them, for I will only write scenes that I know would be different than shown in the episode due to Yori now being in the picture.
3) Yes, I'm aware that in the episode Barkin said the writing assignment was due in one week. Yet, given certain clues in the episode, I figure it was best to extend the deadline to two weeks. It would fit the Friday karaoke night, the amount of time it takes for Drakken's shampoo to hit the market, etc. One week, IMO, is just not enough time for all these events to occur. Besides, it would give me the opportunity to insert in-between chapters. ;)
4) I want to thank Kris from the RonStoppable-dot-Net board for providing me a transcript of the episode so I can write up this chapter and future chapters involving the episode. Thanks! (big grin)