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. :)
As always, my deepest thanks goes to campy for the wonderful proofreading work he's providing for me. You're the man, camp! (big grin)
Big thanks go to all who read and left reviews for Chapter 21: Bubbahotek, Joe Stoppinghem, ZK Chromedragozoid, zafnak, warlord-xana, reviewer not a writer, Kitsune6, AtomicFire, my guardian HaruHara, The Mad shoe1, GhostWhiter, Etherelemental, Mr. Average, and Goinghome.
And thanks go to all who read Chapter 21. :)
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A Bond of Honor
Chapter 22 – Opening Visions
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)
"What do you think?" a teenage boy said to his male friend. "I say he should move the Knight and promote it."
"Are you crazy?" the sarcastic reply came. "I say move the Rook to guard the Silver General."
"Nah. If Dan did that, he'll leave it open for Fred to get a piece promoted."
All around the table, almost the same conversations were taking place as the members of the Middleton High Chess Club and one visitor watched a game of Shogi take place between their Club President Daniel Cage and Vice-President Fredrick Fickleson. The talks were low in volume so neither player could hear and perhaps pick up ideas for moves, yet it didn't deter the excitement the game was producing, for no one in the club, with the exception of their guest, had ever seen such intensity in a chess game.
Face firm, Danny made his move, causing new rounds of dialogues to erupt around the round cafeteria table.
"Man, that leaves it open for Fred to take Dan's Silver General," the same teenage boy analyzed.
"Yea, right into Dan's trap if Fred is not careful to see what lies ahead," the other boy pointed out.
The single guest, sitting between the two chess combatants, couldn't help but grin upon hearing the discussion behind her. There was no doubt to her, from seeing the enthusiastic responses around the table, that Shogi was now a welcome addition to the club, thus she would not be surprised if each of the 17 club members would look up information about the game once they reached home and eventually buy a game set in the future.
Yori had to admit that this certainly was a 180-degree turnaround of views regarding Japanese chess. Nearly an hour and a half ago, when she first arrived for the club meeting as planned, most of the members were quite skeptical about the game, just as Cage-san had voiced at lunch two days ago. Yet after the club had their meeting and played a few rounds of Western Chess, this first game of Shogi started and slowly the viewpoints began to change. The match showed how much of a challenge Shogi was to play compared to Western Chess, and many members now saw the game was not to be taken for granted.
"Hey, Fred!" an impatient male member called out, bringing Yori back to reality. "Make a move! You've been thinking about it for too long!"
"Don't rush me!" Fred growled, his bespectacled eyes still on the game board. "It's not like we're playing a timed competition match, ya know! This is my first time playing this game!"
The Japanese girl suppressed a chuckle. It was more likely that the other members were impatient for the game to conclude so they could have a chance to play. With the exception of a few individuals, most had expressions akin to children with a new toy: eagerness to get their hands on the plaything.
"Yori?" the female voice asked, prompting the oriental teenager to look across the table to Lisa Pierce sitting opposite from her. "Fred's words made me wonder if there are Shogi competitions in Japan and elsewhere. Are there?"
"Hai, Pierce-san, there are," Yori answered with a grin. "Yet they are mostly in Japan given the game is not played world-wide compared to Western Chess. After all, people, regardless of language, could easily recognize the playing pieces in Western Chess, while Shogi has written Japanese on the pieces, thus people have to know which piece is which."
Lisa shook her head a bit sadly. "Too bad. This is quite a challenging game, especially with the 'drop-in' and promotion rules. Yet you're right that it'll take people time to tell the Shogi pieces apart."
"So," Fred shrugged as he made a move, causing murmurs among his fellow chess members about his move, "they can write the pieces in English, so we can tell them apart."
A frown came across Lisa's face as she eyed him. "That would work for us, Fred, but if say you were playing against someone who can only read another language, what good is having the pieces written in English? Yori is right. The pieces of Western Chess can be visually recognized internationally regardless of language. Shogi can not."
Again Fred shrugged. "So, make the pieces into visually recognized ones."
This time it was Yori's turn to frown, just as Dan made a move. "It's not Japanese tradition to do that, Fickleson-san, although I understand your point."
After a few more minutes of watching the two players make several more chess moves, the entire group took notice of three people entering the cafeteria heading toward them. Everyone could see who they were, for there was no mistaking the identities of the blond boy, redheaded girl, and platinum-blonde girl from the cheer squad.
"Yo, Yori!" cried out Ron cheerfully as he approached the table with Kim and Tara just behind him.
Since her chair's back was facing the approaching trio, it was easy for the Japanese teen to stand up, pass the standing Chess Club members, and greet her boyfriend with a warm hug. "Ron-kun," she grinned as her arms embraced Ron's frame at the same time she felt his arms wrap around her body.
Ron didn't mind the affectionate hug one bit. Yori had been in a happy, loving mood to him all day, ever since she'd greeted him this morning. Her reasoning for being in this perky frame of mind, which she had explained then, was something he didn't really think was that enormous a deal, but if she really was merry about it, who was he to complain about it?
As everyone gave fond grins at the young embracing couple, they all missed that Kim's lips were half way between a grin and a frown. She still recalled this morning when Yori greeted Ron at his locker.
"Ron-kun!" Yori called out as she strolled toward the young man with his best friend standing to one side of his locker.
"Yori! Good morning!" Ron returned the greeting, smiling at the cheerful look she was giving him. His chocolate eyes also raked in her lithe body in the tight black mini-skirt, black leather boots, and red button-up blouse. She sure looked like she was dressed to kill.
Yet before Kim could say anything in a way of welcome, the pretty Japanese ninja wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck and then proceeded to give him the longest, most soul-feeling kiss anyone ever witnessed between the pair in public. Ron was taken by surprise at first, but his eyes fluttered shut and soon he returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm, his arms around Yori's waist.
Kim stood there with her jaw on the floor just couldn't believing the couple's total lack of respect toward the school's PDA rules. Other students walking by gave hoots, cheers, and words of encouragement to the kissing couple, whom seemed oblivious to everyone around them at the moment. Even Brick Flagg cheered and said, "Stoppable and Takana score again!"
After what seemed to be a long time with Kim looking around expecting Mr. Barkin to suddenly appear and give Hell to the couple for breaking the rules, Ron and Yori came out of their lip-lock, but kept their arms affectionately around each other. The blond quirked a curious grinning expression at the radiant raven-haired girl.
"Not that I'm complaining, Yori," Ron began. "That was the most bon-diggity kiss we ever done yet!" Her smile widened at the compliment, making him do the same. "Just what gives? Why are you so jolly like this?"
With a happy sigh, Yori began clarifying things. "Remember when you told me about Zorpox this past Monday?" He nodded. "Well, Mochizuki-shishou told me that you could have lied instead of telling me the truth, but you told me the truth straight from the start. It conveyed that you trust me, Ron-kun, with the truth, and this meant a lot to me that you placed such trust in me." She leaned forward to set her forehead against his, her sparkling eyes holding his steadily. "Arigatou."
Ron blinked at her reasoning, and still grinning, now a bit sheepishly, he shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't tell ya the truth, Yori. It's no big."
"You speak the truth, Ron-kun, that you wouldn't be a good boyfriend if you didn't tell me the truth," Yori said tenderly. "Yet you did tell me the truth, thus it makes you a very good boyfriend. One I admire more now than before." She inched her lips closer to his. "It's big to me," she whispered before joining her lips together with his for another long soul-churning kiss.
Once more, Ron's brain became mush upon feeling those wonderful lips on his. His mind still couldn't see why it was a big deal that he'd told Yori the truth about Zorpox. Yet he immediately dismissed it for more important matters at hand, like the taste of her lips, the feel of her body under his hands, her hands on his frame, and…
Kim crossed her arms and frowned at the duo. Even Rufus, after popping out of Ron's cargo pants pocket after hearing all the hooting and cheering beforehand, frowned a bit up at Ron and Yori, but he was used to such displays by now.
Looking around, the redheaded cheer squad captain once more wondered when the vice-principal was going to make his appearance and give a month or more of detention for such a display that would have given him a heart attack.
Mind back to the present, Kim watched as the hugging Ron and Yori parted ways. The redhead knew the couple had been lucky Mr. Barkin didn't catch them in the morning as well as during the course of the entire day, for ever since that morning, the young Japanese woman was a bit too affectionate with her paramour by holding hands, side-hugging as they walked together, and doing other PDAs. It seemed the girl was quite smitten Ron had trusted her keenly about his one-time experience of being a villain.
With his right arm still around his GF's waist, Ron eyed the assembly around the table, who were all watching him and Yori. "So," he started as his eyes scoped around the group while pointing at the game board, "what do you think of Shogi?"
"You should hand it to your girlfriend, Stoppable," Fred spoke out. "This Japanese chess sure is challenging." Everyone around the table nodded in consent to their vice-president's words.
"Unless there's a large disapproval," Danny grinned, "I say the Chess Club now has adopted a second version of chess other than Western Chess." Calls of endorsement were heard, causing the club's president to widen his grin.
"Arigatou," Yori thanked the group, her left arm side-hugging Ron a bit more tightly.
The grin still on his face, Danny pointed to the school's newest student. "You're welcome to join our club, Yori. In the fall, we can even consider you joining the Chess Team, if you're good enough."
Yori smiled at the invitation. "Arigatou again, Cage-san. I think I will not mind joining the club, although I'll skip joining the team."
Danny held up a hand with a reassuring grin. "I understand, Yori. Not every member here is a member of the team. Some just want to play without the pressure of competition."
The raven-haired beauty nodded at the chess captain before turning her head to face the blond boy beside her. "Given you are here, Ron-kun, I presume cheer practice went okay?" Her dark orbs took in Ron's typical red jersey outfit, Kim's white pink-heart t-shirt and pink slacks, and Tara's green tank shirt and blue mini-skirt. One didn't need to think much to figure out that cheer practice had concluded since the three cheerleaders were in their civvies and not their cheer uniforms.
"It went smooth like grease in the frying pan," Ron answered, his flat hand went across the air conveying his metaphor. Kim smirked at this, while Yori, Tara, and some of the chess club members chuckled. "KP called practice off early, since we've gotten the routines down pat."
"So we're going to Bueno Nacho?" Yori inquired with a grin, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Yea bet'ya, babe," the blond boy replied with his usual goofy smile. "Just as we plan."
"Cheese ho!" Rufus cheered out from his pocket home. The members of Team Possible amusedly grinned down at their littlest member.
Pointing a finger at the Shogi board, Danny spoke up to catch the Japanese girl's attention. "Yori, do you want your board back?" he asked, knowing she would be leaving soon.
Yori shook her head. "There are plenty of Shogi boards at my home, Cage-san. You can keep this for the club." Dan and the other members grinned at her generosity.
It was then that the Chess Club and Team Possible became aware of the blonde girl walking a few steps to stand beside the table, looking down at the Shogi board.
"Tara-san?" Yori called out, gaining the attention of the cheerleader. "What are you doing here? Are you coming to Bueno Nacho as well?"
Tara shook her head and grinned a bit sheepishly. "No, Yori, I'm not coming. Ron said you were bringing a game to the Chess Club meeting, and I came to finally see this Shogi game you told the squad about." Blue eyes came around to focus again on the Japanese game lying on the table.
Yori bobbed her head once in understanding. Two days ago during gym period, all the girls of the cheer squad, except Kim and Bonnie, and other girls practically were all over her, asking for details on Yori's hickie and other stuff. The conversation flowed into her introducing Ron to Shogi, thus the Japanese teenager had to explain about the game and its rules.
A small smirk came to the young ninja's face. With the exception of Bonnie and Kim, all the girls of the cheer squad long ago had requested Yori to call them by their first names instead of their last. It was always a good sign when a person asked her to call him or her by their first name, for it meant the person truly liked her and would like to be her friend.
The smirk faded from Yori's face as a thought came to her. So far, after nearly three weeks, she had yet to be asked by Possible-san to do the same. She remembered Kim's reaction to the hickie, and now the Japanese girlfriend of Ron Stoppable wondered why such a thing would be shocking to the redhead. Was there something Possible-san disapproved of about her?
Her mind would have pondered the mystery further if it weren't for feeling Ron's right arm pulling her away toward the cafeteria's exit. "Come on, Yori," her boyfriend chirped out with glee, "Bueno Nacho awaits us!"
"Good night, Yori," Danny waved good-bye, "and thanks for the Shogi board." The other members of the club waved as well, expression their thanks as well.
"You're most welcome," Yori grinned back at the brunet boy and his fellow chess players. She waved good-bye, which Ron and Kim followed suit.
Once the three members of Team Possible left, the Chess Club eyed the blonde cheerleader within their midst. Many mentally couldn't believe that the beautiful girl was here among them.
"So you really are curious?" Lisa questioned with skeptical eyes at the other girl. As far as she was concerned, with the exception of Kim, all the girls of the Middleton High Cheer Squad were snobs. They mostly followed Rockwaller's beliefs of what the social ladder of the student population should be. The brown-haired girl had heard that Rockwaller thought the Chess Club was full of dweebs and nerds that weren't worth the cheer squad's time, and that remark was an insult the club couldn't forgive.
Tara nodded as her sapphire eyes looked at Lisa. "Yes. I know of regular chess, but I have not heard of the Japanese version until two days ago." Her focus came back to the Shogi board. "What do you think of it? Is it more difficult to play than regular chess?"
Dan answered Tara's questions. "Well, this is my first time ever playing this game, and I say it does present more challenges than Western Chess. The promotion and drop-in rules do offer variations of strategies and planning one has to think in order to defeat your opponent." The Chess Club's president raised a curious eyebrow at the newcomer. "Do you play chess, Tara?"
As Tara locked her blue eyes with Dan's hazel ones, everyone immediately became intrigued about the cheerleader's answer. They had not ever thought any of the cheer squad ladies were the chess type. Kim maybe, due to her leadership abilities, but none of the other squad girls, particularly Rockwaller.
A small grin graced the blonde girl's face. "I'd played with my grandfather when I was a child. I came to enjoy the time I played with him." The grin faltered a bit. "He died when I was ten, and no one else in my family would play with me. By that time I was twelve, Bonnie told me I should quit playing the game if I wanted to attract the attention of boys."
The answer produced mix reactions in the Chess Club members. They were first surprised that the cheerleader had played chess, for again, they not ever thought any of the cheer squad girls were the chess type. Fondness came next to everyone's minds upon hearing Tara played with her grandfather, and sympathy for the loss of that same man and without him, the girl had no one else to play with. Disapproval was the last emotion everyone felt when hearing Rockwaller influenced the blonde to stop playing altogether. Was Rockwaller really that manipulative to tell Sterling what she could or couldn't do?
Yet despite knowing about Rockwaller's power over Tara, Dan gave a small grin. "Well, if you want, we can play a game."
Everyone's surprise expressions trained on the chess captain. Did they hear correctly what he had offered?
Tara blinked in stupefaction. "Is… Is that okay with you?" she asked, not knowing what else to say at first. "I mean… I'm not a member of your club, so is it okay for me to play with you?"
Dan shrugged. "Yori is not a member of the club, and she was welcomed to join us." His hand indicated his chess associates. "As I told Yori, not everyone here is a member of the Chess Team, given some want to play for fun, not for any competition. Since you said you played before, I offer to play a game with you. Do you want to play?"
Again, Tara blinked, not really sure whether she wanted to play or not. "I… I guess so." She turned her head around to eye the cafeteria's wall clock. "My mom will be picking me up at 5:30 since that was the usual time cheer practice ends." Her head swiveled back to eye the brown-haired boy. "I guess there's time to play one game."
"Then one game we will play!" Dan grinned as he slapped a hand onto the table. He looked across the table to the club's vice-president. "This game between us is over, Fred." He stood up as he spoke. "Anyone else to wants to play Shogi, go ahead."
"I will! I will!" Lisa cried out in excitement holding up her hand, her mind momentarily forgetting about the cheerleader before her. She quickly rose and took a few steps to take Dan's chair just as he stepped aside for her. Sitting down, the brunette girl looked around at her fellow chess players. "Anyone want to play me?"
After another player took Fred's seat and the Shogi pieces were being placed back to their starting positions, Dan led Tara to a nearby table where two Western Chess boards were set up. The pieces on both boards were in various positions, indicating the games had been in mid-play when the players left to watch the Shogi match. The chess captain indicated to a chair for the cheerleader, and after both sat down opposite one chess board, the brown-haired boy reset the pieces to their starting points before eying his pretty opponent.
"You go first, Tara," he friendly grinned. "After all, you're white, so white moves first."
With a grin, Tara moved a pawn thus starting the game between the two. "Forgive me if I'm a bit rusty, Danny. It has been years since I last played."
"No prob with me," Danny shrugged, moving a pawn before eying his game partner. "This is a friendly game, no more. It's not like I expect you to be a chess master."
The blonde girl gave him a grateful smile before moving her next piece, and for a few minutes in comfortable silence, the pair played as they moved pieces around the board. The only noise was the murmuring going on from the other Chess Club members as they watched and discussed the Shogi match being played.
After capturing Tara's bishop, Dan broke the silence with a question. "So, you played with your grandfather?" The blonde nodded with a fond grin on her face. "Did he teach you?"
"Yes, he did," the cheerleader answered before making a move, capturing one of Dan's rooks. "He's not a chess champion or the likes. He learned the game while serving in the navy during World War II."
Dan's curiosity was peaked. "Oh?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the beauty across from him.
Blue orbs locked onto hazel ones, Tara elaborated the story further. "After he turned 18 near the end of 1942, he enlisted in the navy, wanting very much to fight." Her lips produced a chuckle. "He didn't see any action. After some training, he served aboard a navy supply ship in the Pacific far from any fighting. It was dull for him at times." Her amused grin was infectious, making her listener grin as well. "With very little to do in his spare time, grandfather learned to play poker and other card games from the other members of the crew, yet their quartermaster was the one who introduced him to chess. He didn't think much of the game at first, but over time, he grew to enjoy the game. By the time the war ended, he knew some strategies and plays but still he was no wizard."
An amused expression still on her face, Tara looked down at the chessboard before making a move, speaking as she did so. "What about you? Where did you learn to play chess?"
Eyes twinkling, the Chess Club's president didn't mind telling his story in turn, while his eyes held the playing board. "Well, it was certainly not from my grandparents. My grandfather on my father's side saw action in Europe as a foot soldier in World War II. He only played cards, nothing more." His ears heard her soft laugh, making him grin just as his hand moved a game piece to capture one of hers.
After making his move, Dan titled his head up to look at his audience's face before continuing the story. "I picked up chess from my Aunt Jude, my father's sister. She loved the game growing up, and she was quite good in it. Aunt Jude was a three-time chess champion in high school, and she even competed in the nationals. She began teaching me when I was around six, and I played with her often until I reached 11." A shrug came along with a regretful grin. "She moved away then when her husband was offered a university teaching position in California, thus she, also being a teacher, found a job at a high school there.
"As for me, well, by the time Aunt Jude moved away, I already was a member of the Chess Club, so I was able to keep playing."
Tara's lips became sly. "And you ended up becoming Middleton High's chess wizard. I heard the story that not even Mr. Barkin can beat you in chess." Her eyes focused downward to the board, her mind thinking of her next move.
Dan shrugged with a playful, proud grin. "What can I say? Not everyone is good in the game. I know Mr. Barkin is an ex-Marine who went to Annapolis, but that doesn't mean he was great in the game."
Tara giggled. "True," she said before her hand moved a game piece.
So while talking candidly and amiably between them, Dan and Tara carried on their game. Surprisingly, it was not an outright massacre as the chess champion thought it would be after hearing her confession of being rusty. The brunet boy did win as predicted, but not without the blonde girl keeping him at bay for a time.
After making the checkmate against her king, Dan gave her a congratulatory grin. "Not bad, Tara. I think you're not as rusty as you think you are. You lasted ten minutes against me. Most amateurs last three to five minutes against me at most."
"Thank you," Tara grinned warmly at the compliment. "I very much enjoyed this game." Still grinning, Dan nodded, feeling good that she had fun.
Looking at the wall-mounted clock, Tara realized the time before eying the boy across from her. "I have to go," she sighed with an appreciative grin. "I thank you for the game. As I said, I enjoyed it very much."
Dan smiled. "You're welcome."
Giving one last thankful smiling look, Tara rose and was about to say good-bye when Dan spoke out before her. "Tara, if you want, you're welcome to join our club meetings so you can continue to play. Heck, I wouldn't mind spending time after school each day if you want to play more than just once a week."
At first, the bleached blonde blinked in surprise at the boy's boldness, thinking he was coming on to her. Not many boys outside the sports teams ever were daring enough to ask her out on a date, or even talk to her. Oh there were a few boys she knew in and out of classes whom she associated with, but most of the school's teenage male population kept her in the 'off-limits' zone due to her standing as a cheerleader, thinking unless they were jocks, none of them would stand a chance with her.
However, after a moment or two, a warm grin graced her lips. Dan's expression clearly told her that he was not in any way or form making a pass at her, for he was giving her a friendly gift of allowing her a chance to play chess often again as she wanted, as she had done with her grandfather.
"I will love that. Thank you," Tara answered. Her grin became a bit mischievous a moment later. "Just I'll pass on playing every day. I have other obligations, like my schoolwork, the cheer squad, and other things."
Dan chuckled, bobbing his head in understanding to her responsibilities. "Understood. The Chess Club meets every Wednesday after school at three. As I said, you're welcome to join us."
Tara grinned, for she definitely was coming back next Wednesday. On the other hand, her mind made her realize she did not have to wait a week. "How about Friday after school? I have no other commitments then."
"I'll be here at 3'oclock then," Dan grinningly approved to the meeting.
"Thanks! I'll see you then," Tara beamed before she headed toward the exit.
Watching the pretty cheerleader leaving the cafeteria, Middleton High's chess captain felt proud and glad he had helped the girl rediscover the fun and enjoyment of chess. It was sad that her interest had waned after the death of her grandfather, and further degraded thanks to Rockwaller's influence. Yet seeing her pleasant expression was rewarding, thus he wouldn't mind helping her by playing chess with her as much as she wanted within reasonable limits.
Unknown to the brown-haired young man, the other members of the chess club had been listening in on the conversation between their president and the beautiful cheerleader. They had found Tara's story about her grandfather fascinating and felt a pang of sympathy for her knowing her grandfather had died. Danny's story about his grandfather and Aunt Jude was not new to them, given the tale was told to them a long time ago. Yet it was astonishing upon hearing Dan's invitation to Tara to join the club, and more shocking to hear about the Friday afternoon meeting between the two, especially since the cheerleader suggested it.
It seemed for the members of the Chess Club, they might have to reevaluate what they thought about all the girls of the cheer squad, sans Kim, being snobs. Tara Sterling surely didn't behave like one at all.
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Kim frowned. It was kind of odd why she did, though; given it was a mix of two things: her frustration on finding a way to defeat Drakken's latest scheme, and the notion that she would, for the first time since Yori moved to Middleton, be sitting with them in the booth she and Ron had shared since the Middleton Bueno Nacho branch's grand opening years ago.
Time and time again, Kim and her mission team had foiled Drakken, and she knew it was simply due to the fact Drakken had mostly gone with the typical world-domination plan – use of high-tech weaponry or gadgets to conquer the world, etc. It had made it easy to stop him, for all it would take was to drop-in and stop him cold, regularly by blowing up his stuff. Yet the typical mission operation wouldn't work for the mad scientist's latest attempt, for it would not pay to just waltz onto the American Star Maker stage and beat Drakken up, all in front of national television. Another way had to be found.
Yet, as the redhead picked up her tray, containing soft drink and burrito, from the front counter and turned to walk toward her and Ron's booth, her green eyes twitched a bit upon seeing the Japanese girl sitting there just as Ron placed down his tray and sat down beside her. The sight just unnerved her, that she would be sharing this booth with the beautiful ninja.
Since Ron started dating Yori, Kim had not always been eating with Ron whenever he has a Bueno Nacho crave. If it fell on a Tuesday or Thursday, the days Yori was not at school, Kim would mostly be with Ron at the fast food joint. However, if it was on the days Yori attended school, most of the time it was the Japanese girl invited to be with Ron. After all, she was Ron's girlfriend. Yet despite knowing she got some time with her best friend, the crimson-haired girl felt like something sacrilegious was happening when Yori ate at this booth. It just made her want to scream and announce that no one else other than Ron and her could eat at this booth. No one.
As Kim strolled toward the booth, her mind sheepishly amended that not everyone would be banned from eating at the booth, if she did have that power to enforce the rule. Monique and Felix, being good friends of her and Ron, were always welcome, and they had been eating with them before, so banning them was silly. Yori was different, just because the girl grated on her nerves at times. She couldn't explain it, for it was just a feeling.
Kim's ears picked up Ron's voice as she approached the booth. "Here you go, buddy!" he announced to his excited pink, hairless pal. "One burrito and a naco!" he finished, dropping the items in front of Rufus.
"Mmm, naco!" Rufus cried out with joy before diving into the naco and munching away happily. He was out of sight, but the wobble of the naco was a sure sign he was inside eating eagerly.
Yori chuckled while raising a burrito toward her mouth. "It appears the naco stands no chance against Rufus-san and his appetite." She took a bite out of her vegetable burrito, which contained mostly vegetables with some cheese and meat.
Ron grinned goofily. "The Rufman knows good food to chow down like the Ronman," he finished with a hand on his chest before reaching down to pick up his burrito. "This burrito will now face my wrath and meet its doom." As his oriental gal softly laughed, the blond boy took a bite out of his burrito, which was the opposite of Yori's, holding mostly meat and cheese with some vegetables.
Frowning, Kim slid into the booth, sitting on the other side from the two members of her team. "Focus on the deadline, guys," she nearly grated, placing down her tray on the table.
Yori blinked in confusion to what Team Possible's leader was talking about, but Ron casually replied without thought. "I'm working on the writing assignment, okay?" His mouth took another bite of burrito.
Kim rolled her eyes, while Yori grinned disappointedly and shook her head. The Yamanouchi shinobi had heard this morning that her suitor hadn't even started writing the paper as he promised her he would, but since she was just too much in a wonderful mood she didn't feel like berating him.
Picking up her burrito, the green-eyed cheerleader corrected her best friend. "I was talking about Drakken on TV four nights from now, Ron." Her gaze fell on to her newest team member. "Yori, any ideas?"
Sadly shaking her head, Ron's girlfriend frowned. "I'm sorry, Possible-san. I couldn't think of anything short of confronting our foes at the TV studio."
It was not the answer Kim wanted to hear. Yet as she gave a grim look of disappointment while taking a bite of her burrito, Ron spoke out with a positive expression. "Well, that's really the one thing we can do, Yori." His chocolate eyes held the emerald ones of his best friend next. "You need to go on that show and win, KP. Beat Drakken at his own game."
Swallowing her food, Kim couldn't help but feel skeptical about that plan, while Yori looked perplexed. "That's the only thing we can do, huh?" the redhead asked, not believing it was the only way to beat her arch-foe.
With a confident, smug grin, Ron clarified his idea. "Think about it, KP. You blew them away at last year's talent show. Admittedly, I won," his right hand came up lay on his chest for a moment before pointing a finger at the red-haired cheerleader, "but you were a very strong second."
A grinning Rufus popped his head out of the naco and bobbed his head in agreement with his owner. "Uh-huh, uh-huh."
"Nani?" Yori inquired in surprise, looking at the boy sitting besides her. "You and Possible-san participated in a talent show, and you won, Ron-kun?"
Kim smirked sarcastically. "Oh, I participated all right, Yori." Her eyes narrowed at Ron. "That was because Ron signed me up for it without my permission."
A condemning eyebrow raised on the Yamanouchi ninja's face as she turned her head to face her suitor, who had the grace to look bashful. "Eh, eh. Well, it came out okay in the end there, KP." His face became confident again. "We also stopped Drakken and Dementor at the same time."
So between Kim and Ron, Yori was told the story about how Drakken tricked Team Possible into stealing a telephone teleportation device from Dementor and delivering it to his hand. Of course, once Drakken's 'digital' disguise of Wade was exposed, Kim opted to solo retrieve the device from Drakken while Ron had to cover her at the talent show. Once the redhead reacquired the teleporter, she phoned herself back to Middleton High where she sang a song for her talent show presentation. She won second place next to Ron, who won first.
After the tale was told, Team Possible's Japanese member smiled in amazement and pride at her boyfriend. "You do have a wide range of talent, Ron-kun. You will go far." While Ron smiled proudly at her, Yori turned her head to face her team leader. "Ron-kun has a point that if you were able to sing well at the talent show, it should be no problem for you to sing this time to defeat Drakken."
The expression of Kim's face suddenly became frightened and her voice frantic. "But this is on national television, you guys, and the judge is so mean," she finished with her body shaking.
Two pairs of human eyes and one mole rat stared at the scared girl in disbelief. "Kim," Ron began, "you foil super freaks on a daily basis, and you're worried about some snarky TV pretty boy? Eh?"
Looking down, Kim, upon hearing her friend's words, became quite sheepish. "Well, yeah, pretty much."
Blinking in astonishment, Yori couldn't believe this was Kim Possible in front of her. As Ron-kun stated, Possible-san was capable of defeating villains with no fear. A trait many in the world admired about the teenage heroine. Yet the notion of facing one judge of a televised singing competition had placed terror in the redheaded girl. It was something that the ninja couldn't understand.
Yet after reviewing what she remembered from the past Sunday night, Yori had to admit that Possible-san may have a point about the judge.
"As much as I agree with Ron-kun," the raven-haired girl sighed, "Possible-san does have a point about the judge." Ron and Rufus together trained gawking eyes at the ninja, not believing she was agreeing with Kim, and Yori immediately explained upon seeing her beau's face. "There are different levels of evil, and the judge does have an attitude that is quite cruel."
Ron frowned. "It's not like he's really evil, Yori. KP can handle it." Both he and his girlfriend turned their heads to look at their leader across the table.
Working up the courage, Kim took a deep breath. "Ron is right. I'll have to handle it if we're going to defeat Drakken. Unless…" Green eyes locked onto the dark ones of Yori. "Can you sing, Yori?"
Seeing right away what Kim was thinking, Yori gave a sorry grin and shook her head slightly. "Gomen, Possible-san. I do not sing, and since you already know how to sing, it is better you take up the task than wasting time finding out whether I can sing."
Kim deflated, her hopes that her newest team member could take her place were shot down. Now she knew it was really up to her to win the contest in order to stop Drakken cold. "Okay. We have a plan now. After we eat, we'll contact Wade and begin preparations. He'll get my name onto the contestants' list, so we can gain easy assess to the studio without problems."
Yori was already resuming eating her burrito just as Ron picked up his and spoke out. "You'll need to practice, KP, not to mention you'll have to come up with a song to sing."
"Not to mention," Yori added, "you'll need a costume." She took another bite at the same time Ron took a bite of his burrito. Rufus resumed eating his naco, seeing his human friends had a plan now.
Taking a bite of her food, Kim talked out of the corner of her mouth as she chewed. "It's no big. I'll sing the song I played at the talent show last year." After swallowing, a smirk appeared on her face. "I'll ask Monique to help me with the costume. As for practice…" She gave a look that was hard and brooked no objections. "I am definitely not practicing at my home. We'll do so in your garage, Ron."
Ron nodded, knowing better than to disagree with her. It was clear his best friend didn't want her 'rents nor her brothers to know about her singing. She had been somewhat embarrassed singing in front of them during last year's talent show.
After taking a sip of soda, Yori offered an idea. "You can practice at my home as well, Possible-san." Ron and Kim both raised their eyebrows at her. "I'm sure Master Mochizuki would understand the situation and cut Ron-kun's training time this Saturday in order for us to finalize the plan."
The two more experienced Team Possible members smiled at their newest one. "Good idea, Yori," Kim said. "We'll have our final practice section at your place, before we leave Sunday morning for the TV studio in California."
With that said, all three teens returned to their meals, knowing they had a plan in motion now.
As she ate, Kim was determined to make this plan work. It was the most bizarre mission Team Possible had yet undergone and seemed it would not likely to work. Yet she knew it had to work, if they were to have any chance to defeat her arch-foe's latest plot to take over the world.
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TBC (End of Chapter 22)
A/Ns:
1) The following is my response to zafnak's review of Chapter 21:
- Oh, I love Zorpox as well! "Bad Boy" is one of my favs, and I just still couldn't help but laugh at the image of Zorpox scaring Shego. He knows how to keep her in line. LOL!
2) Okay, now. I'm aware that what I've written in this chapter is a major departure from what was known in the episode. Kim didn't wear her pink-heart outfit at Bueno Nacho, and she did say Drakken's appearance in American Star Maker was 'tomorrow night'. I made the changes in order to fit things better in perspective to what I think would make logical sense of the timeline the entire episode should take place.
Given KP is a fun animation series, it is easy to just forgo logic when it comes to certain things – gadgets, science, the way some things work, etc. Yet everything I saw in "Rappin' Drakken" seemed to have taken place in only a few days when logically, two weeks seemed to be the better outlook for everything to have taken place.
So if I wrote the locker scene to take place on Monday, I figure it would take a few days for the Bueno Nacho scene to take place in order for Team Possible to figure out a way to defeat Drakken. Yet given Kim already wore her gold-shirt outfit, I can't see her wearing it again two days later. I know most high school girls don't intend to wear the same outfit twice in a given school week, and Kim, being the clothes freak she is, would no doubt not wear the same outfit twice in a week. So thus I changed her outfit in the Bueno Nacho scene.
And instead of 'tomorrow night', I made a four days difference in order for the team to prepare themselves, especially Kim if she was to sing onstage.
So there you have my reasons why I made these changes compared to the episode. As I said, given it is a Disney animation, timeframes in episode would most likely be thrown out the window, but I will not do the same when it comes to writing my stories. I like things to make good sense when it comes to the amount of time required for events to happen. :)
3) After I did a Google search for information regarding Shogi competitions, I found I couldn't get any information whether Shogi is widely played worldwide much like Western Chess. Yet as far as I could tell, it seemed Shogi is mostly known in the Far East compared to America, and I do not know enough to judge whether it is widely played in Europe and elsewhere.
So I made up Yori's explanation that Western Chess is played more worldwide compared to Shogi, given the playing pieces are more easily recognizable, which is true, for they are easily recognizable. Also Western Chess is more known compared to Shogi. Again true, for until recently, I had not ever heard of Shogi, since I grew up with Western Chess. So I presumed if I have not heard of Japanese chess, most Americans wouldn't have heard of it either.
If anyone knows otherwise the truth regarding how well known Shogi is worldwide compared to Western Chess, let me know. The sites I'd visited were vague in giving me any information to judge how much Western Chess is played compared to Shogi in order to know whether Shogi competitions are just as numerous and known as Western Chess competitions.
4) For anyone's information, 'gomen' is Japanese for 'I'm sorry' or something similar. Once again, I took the word from Naruto fanfics, knowing it has to be correct given the placement of the word in sentences where a character was apologizing.
5) I'm sure most of you know by now, but for those who still do not know, the 2nd Annual Fannies Awards is now taking in nominations for the best KP fanfics for 2006! Zaratan will be receiving and counting the votes until the end of January 2007, so if you have not voted yet, what are you waiting for? Head over to Fannies Awards website and cast your vote! (big grin)
Oh, while you're considering which stories to nominate, remember yours truly in your considerations, especially regarding "A Bond of Honor" and any of my other stories I've written in 2006. :)
The Fannies website can be found at http:// intbike. com / fannie2. html
6) Last but not least, I want to dedicate this chapter to my proofreader, campy. His story "Mind Games" and his other stories inspired me to take a similar approach to how Tara and the other girls of the cheer squad view the whole 'food chain' stuff. In other words, by the time the prom in "StD" comes around, things will be different from what we knew in the episode. ;)