Ruinous
Author's note. Chapter 2 of Ruinous is up, obviously, seeing as you're reading it. This one has a bit more vulgarity in it than most of my work, so if that's offensive to you, well you've been warned. Disclaimer: not mine, for more on that news breaking story see chptr 1's disclaimer. And on a personal note, I've noticed that I have trouble writing Rufus. I love the little guy, don't get me wrong, but I always forget to put him in till that last moment. A shame.
Khorne
I glance left, and then right, desperately searching for an exit. The chase had been long, furious, and desperate, but finally, my crafty adversaries had cornered me. A trickle of sweat dripped down my brow as I backed away, my eyes desperately shifting for the last elusive avenue of exit. This is it, crunch time, if only they missed something, just one hole, one egress, and I'm gone. With dawning horror, I realize that there is no escape. Their attack pattern was perfect, no doubt from long practice. We've done this dance before, and as slow as they are, at long last they had learned from their mistakes and could now anticipate my moves, read all my feeble attempts.
I was trapped. With a desperate glance I looked for someone to help, someone to come to my aide.
Instead I met with the snickering of the rest of the hall way as the D-hall thugs finally cornered me.
Man. And they were serving double cheese cardboard…I mean pizza… today at the cafeteria too!
I'd never gotten their names. They'd never been too interested in talking, no matter how much I'd try to engage them in negotiations. And try I had. Alas, to some the lost art of diplomacy remains just that, lost.
"Hey loser," the tall one, with a thuggish appearance and simian brow said, drawling out the 'hey' and doing his absolute best to appear intimidating. You know, if I didn't come into regular contact with death rays, mutants, and monkeys (shudder!) it might almost be as unnerving as he no doubt intended, but hey it probably has a nice effect on the other kids these two wannabe gangstas extort from.
"Wha'cho thinking about, walking down D-hall like you own the place? Everyone knows we be the ones who be ownin' the place!" the other one couldn't pull of intimidating if he was rabid and carrying a machete. Mainly because the machete would be bigger than him. I mean, jeesz, he's a senior by now! Why oh why hadn't the little guy had a growth spurt that would at least get him higher than my waist?
The dreaded D-hall bullies. What a great way to start the day.
"Hey guys," I give them a weak grin. "Great weather we've been having isn't it? Nothing says the start of summer like a lovely day, right?"
"It's been raining for the last three days and the weather report says it's gonna rain for another three more," the small one snorts. The tall one cracks one of his shoulders. It's a move that looks vaguely painful to watch, but he thought it made him look tough, so it was virtually trademarked to the ape. Seriously, there must be some kind of monkey in this guys recent family tree. Maybe Monkey Fist got a little frisky with this guys mom a while back, and this poor bastard is the result? Could be. I'll mention it to the super villain next time we're duking it out. Strange word, 'duking'. Wonder where it came from…
"Hey, loser," the possible love child of my arch-foe says, "don't you got something for us?"
Sighing, I dig into my pocket for my decoy money. This two aren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the bunch, so they've never really correlated that I keep enough change in my pocket to buy a soda with, and use it to buy them off. I don't think these two are even bright enough to figure out that if I'm giving them all my money every day, why is it I still eat like a prince every lunch anyway? Honestly, I'm willing to give them the damn fifty cents everyday just so they screw off afterwards. I consider it asshole tax. A tax I'm perfectly willing to pay, if only to get these two throwbacks to go the hell away and brighten my day with their absence. Though, they might try to be clever afterwards and throw me into the girl's locker room in an attempt to humiliate me. Ha! Like having a valid excuse to stare at a bunch of half dressed chicks is in some way humiliating or degrading? Hell, half the girls there actually feel sorry for me! These two have given me more sympathy points with the female population of this school than they could ever realize! I just have to look flushed and embarrassed while it's occurring, and in return I get an eyeful of the goods! A Boo. A Yah.
The amusing part is that throughout all of this, traffic continues to march in D-hall. The steady stream of students gives nothing more than an amused glance from most, and a sympathetic one from the rest. This is almost a tradition in Middleton High, and one that just about everyone is aware of. I think some of the science clubs actually use it to set their watches too. They swear it's almost as regular as atomic decomposition or something. Felix actually gives me a nod as he hums by in his chair, stopping at a locker no more than six feet away and opening it like nothing is going on. Monique is by his side, and she waves, all the while chatting up a storm with the wheel bound fellow. I give them a nod, even as I dig into my pockets.
The only one who doesn't treat this so sanguinely is Kim. It's been a few days since the Stephanie incident, and for the last few she's been treating me differently. It's like she's been keeping an eye on me, studying me like a specimen in a beaker. I know how much it shook her up, to find out something like that about me, and how much that she once had taken for granted that she's now studying hard, trying to find other things about me she misread. It's been affecting her so much that it's actually cut through her previously impenetrable 'hottie haze': the complete and all consuming euphoria and obsession that always accompanies her crushes on whatever sweet, sensitive, good looking, and 'golden' boy she's currently making doe eyes at. Oh, she's still crushing hardcore, but now I get maybe a fourth of her time.
At least Eric is taking the sudden cut in his couple time well. He seems to understand that there are things the two of them being an item can't eclipse, and no matter how poor the showing was at first. Me and Kim's friendship is one of those things that just isn't going to disappear or be outshone. He even had a chance to shine through with his good-guy-ness by inviting me along with her on a few outings. None of the romantic ones, but we have all bonded together over a couple of movies. I think all three of us laughed ourselves silly on opening night of "Brickening 7, The Advent of the Pueblo", and then gorged ourselves silly on nacos afterwards. The two of them still do private stuff together, and I make sure to give them their space when it happens. I think Kim realizes just how awesome I've always been about giving her space in regards to dating, now that she knows just how hard it is not to stick your nose into it. She actually thanked me for it flat out a day or two ago. It was at her house, in the wreckage that was Possible Pizza Night, shortly after Eric had excused himself for the night. The tweebs had moaned about cooties, Mr. Dr. P had been a bit puzzled by the comment, and Mrs. Dr. P had beamed. I think Mrs. Dr. P had been the only one to truly appreciate just what that innocuous statement had been about. I have a feeling that Mrs. Dr. P had a great deal of knowledge about the situation, no doubt due to Kim always going to her when it came to boy advice. I just hope they had done it in person, and not via speaker phone whilst amidst a surgery. Eesh, the things Mrs. Dr. P's colleagues no doubt knew about me and Kim…
Anyway, like I was saying. Kim's down the hallway, in full cheer regalia and midst conversation which is no doubt as trying as my own situation with Bonnie, when she glances over and sees me in the middle of shake down. Her eyes narrow and I see her straighten up even as she continues her debate with the queen bee herself. In the past, she would have just brushed this off, shaking her head at the no doubt amusing to the female gender antics of those of us who contain more testosterone then common sense. Now though, she's feeling her previous lack of attention to my person more keenly than in the past. That part of her that has always been complacent and confident in our status quo had been pricked, and suddenly something that had been almost common place and laughable to her is no longer quite so unnoticeable. Kim was no doubt suddenly faced with the realization that her best friend is being mugged in front of her face and she was doing nothing about it. The twitch that hits her after that has as much indignation as shame. She had never done anything about it before, save that one time when she was forced to deal with it herself while we were in the middle of a body/brain crises. Even then, afterwards, she hadn't even given it a second thought. Out of sight, out of mind, even when it was in sight.
Now it's apparently nowhere near out of mind for her.
Still, as I watch her start to build a head of steam, I turn back to hand over my tax to these wannabe no-do-gooders, and I'm suddenly forced to freeze completely.
Oh. Oh shit.
I'm not sure what the two wannabes were thinking when they saw me freeze up while glancing over their shoulders. It's not like I'd never used that tactic before. The whole, 'oh my god what in the world is that!' coupled with a 'run the hell away the moment their back is turned' is a tried and true and very effective tool in my acumen. Unfortunately for them, this time was no ploy.
"Nice try dweeb," short one snorted, shifting about as he spoke. I'm not sure if it's just him getting into the stereotype of the whole 'small but quick' or if he really was just so in love with the bad-guy culture that he was on speed. "Hurry up and cough up the goods." Either way, it wasn't gonna matter for much longer, all things considered.
The large meaty hand that drops down on both of their shoulders is proof enough of that.
The two both jerked, and turned at that. Apparently this is routine enough that the two of them had long since forgone the thought that someone else might actually get involved in this ritualistic transaction. And when they both turn, they turn with a sneer and arrogance, ready to cut down whichever uncool loser had decided to stand up for another uncool loser.
And then they both had to glance up. And up again. And in the case of the midget-wannabe, up two more times after that. I think the monkey guy gulped.
The giant towering over them was the very picture of everything that is behemoth, leviathan, titan, and above all else wrathful. And that giant was currently looking more than a little pissed off.
Once he had the two D-hall thugs full and undivided attention, as well as the attention of a good number of hallway travelers, he shifted his grip to the front of the two would be muggers' shirts, tightened his grip, and lifted both of them off the ground and to eye level with his own giant self. In the case of the short one, that left a good five or six feet between the midget's toes and the ground. It also captured the attention of a great deal more of the hallway traffic.
Finally, the moving landmass in front of me spoke. Well, speaking might be a little generous. It was more like the sound of two boulders grinding against each other and somehow imitating comprehensible speech in the midst of the resulting noise.
"What. The fuck. Do you two. Think you're doing?" And that right there quieted the rest of the hallway. The f-bomb was infrequently dropped in the sacred halls of Middleton High. The dread presence of commodore Barkin ensured that. But then again, the ones who dropped it didn't look like they could take both Steel Toe and Pain King simultaneously and have time to pick their teeth with their enemies' bones afterwards. This guy did have the look of someone who could do aforementioned feet that is.
If I hadn't already run into Stephanie, and hadn't been anticipating the visits by the rest, it would have taken me even longer to figure out just who this was.
"Hey, Jason," I said, waving at him. He glanced away from the prey he was holding, who suddenly realized that, hey, maybe picking on the kid who knew a brute that was roughly the size of a minivan wasn't a good idea, and aforementioned hulk smiled at me.
"Hey Ron. Long time no see." I could interpret his grin as being pleased and happy. I think everyone else in D-hall wasn't quite as capable when it came to figuring out this new guy's mood.
I think a cheerleader or two might have fainted.
The guy who was currently suspending my aggressors looked almost vaguely like the sumo ninja me and Kim had fought a while ago. If that sumo ninja had compressed every spare pound that had once been girth into muscle. Jason, which was his name, had the kind of muscles that you'd expect to find on the guy who killed Batman. They didn't look like corded steel, or the kind of sculpted aesthetics you'd find on a built model. No, the tendons that covered this one looked like hardwood, etched with veins. This was what you'd expect to see on the biggest steroid juicer in the world. Every inch of him was so knotted with hard flesh that it was over the edge of grotesque. This was the kind of ideal you only expect from the most depraved of body builders. His clothing, a pair of tattered and stained jeans topped by an equally stained and tattered wife-beater, all covered, barely, by another, you guessed it, stained and tattered trench coat with the sleeves torn of it to better revealed the pure corded mass which was his arms.
Arms which were currently holding two increasingly nervous juvenile delinquents. Their nervousness only increased as the gargoyle holding them growled and said, "I asked you once: What the fuck do you two think you're doing?" The grin he had given me had faded away by now, and the only thing left on his face could only be accurately described as 'murderous'.
Oh boy. This is gonna get ugly.
The small one spoke up, all bravado. He obviously wasn't the smart one of the two, and seemed to have some kind of assumption going for him that he was invincible. The poor deluded fool. "What the heck you care? We just getting our dues from the loser!"
Oh shit again.
"Jason," I say quickly, "I really don't think you should do what you're about to do…"
I am just as quickly ignored. The bigger one, Monkey Fist's alleged bastard child, only had time for a quick gulp, and than Jason growled. It was the kind of noise you'd expect to hear from junkyard machinery, just before it decimates tons upon tons of steel.
The end result could be compared to that kind of damage. Unfortunately, the poor creatures about to be subjected to it don't have the durability that a car frame in a compactor does.
I think what happens next is another highlight of this schools existence that I was inadvertently a participant off. The first was Stephanie's PDA. This one on the other hand, was pure violence.
Even before I had finished speaking, Jason had reacted. His response was almost eloquent in its simplicity. He slammed both of the two juvenile delinquents faces together with such force that their teeth almost universally shattered against the face of the other. Then, in the sudden horrified silence that ensued, he threw the smaller one to the other side of the hallway. The noise the little guy made as he slammed into the locker echoed like a gunshot through the hallway. There was so much power behind the throw that there was a noticeable dent left in the locker of impact. If one listened hard enough one could make out the sound of what was undoubtedly bones breaking from the impact. Even while the one who had been flung was falling to the ground, the giant had lifted the other one, the monkey guy, off the ground and duplicated the impact dent in the nearer locker, driving the bigger guys frame into the locker nearly four inches by my inexpert opinion.
Silence reigns in the hallway, broken only by gasps of horror and shock.
What had been going on with me earlier was routine. It was the norm. It was obvious, yet understated. It was common.
This was a far, far cry from common. This was brutality, given shape. This was violence given form. It was a train wreck, stretching out before the eyes of a populace whose only experience with brutal depravity like this was the laughable images that appear in movies and on TV. But the reality of it, displayed before them was so much more than anything they were prepared for. The spray of blood that squirted from wounds, the misshapen appearance of broken bones and limbs. All of it added up to paint a portrait a far a great deal askance of the usual view of reality that most of these viewers had ever seen.
It was when Jason dropped ape-boy and moved to kick midget-boy that finally someone reacted. And of course, the first one to have some thought in their head besides blank incomprehension was none other than Kim. Even as Jason reared back to deliver a boot that would no doubt break even more ribs of the poor vertically challenged fellow, another foot intercepted his face.
Kim had charged down the hallway, and leapt, delivering a punishing flying kick to the side of Jason's face. It would have been impressive, if it weren't for science.
See, science has these things. They're called inertia. And mass. And I think science has this other thing about how one can't be overcome by the other unless the other has enough of the first.
Science isn't my strong point. The bottom line is that when Kim's very slim, albeit fast moving form struck Jason's very large albeit stationary form, there just wasn't enough behind that boot to the face to actually move the juggernaut that it had hit. Kim actually bounced of Jason's face, and landed on the ground shakily, trying to recover her composure at the obvious ineffectiveness of her attack.
Jason didn't have that moment of doubt. Even as he tensed to strike, I tensed to interact. I could stand by while he was hitting two people that I admitably didn't like, but if he dared lay a finger on Kim, well then, that was a different matter.
Luckily for all of us, he paused even as he reached the apex of his chambering. His rough face bent down, and peered at Kim, even as the dwarfed cheerleader recollected herself and prepared for combat.
"You." The statement wasn't a question, but an accusation. "You're Kim Possible." When Kim's face betrayed her acknowlgement of that statement, Jason stopped completely. With the ponderous grace of a mountain in motion, the giant stepped back, and released the ruined form of ape-boy from his enormous hands.
"What's it too you, big boy?" Kim challenged. She had obviously gone into full blown mission mode. I don't blame her. This is the kind of thing you'd expect to see on a mission. In all honesty, it is the kind of thing we have seen on missions. Not all of our escapades have ended happy, healthy, and whole for all the participants. We don't just deal with evil villains and diabolical plans. We've had our fair share of natural catastrophes too. And after you've dug poor innocent bystanders out of landsides or tsunamis, and seen just what it is nature can do to a man, than one becomes a little less swayed just by standing near a poor stupid high school punk who pissed off the wrong guy and ended up on the business end of a locker.
Jason decided to answer her. "I fucking hate you." It was short, concise, and to the point. Points for eloquence.
"Awww, and whys that? Because you know that I'm going to put you down?" Oh yeah. Kim isn't seeing a high school drama right now. She's seeing another escapade in the freak brigade. I don't blame her. Jason is, well, he's huge. Not the kind of huge you'd expect from a jock that just happens to have the natural build to play foot ball. This is the kind of huge that calls to mind demi-gods battling in the far reaches of time. This was freaking Hercules huge. This was Gilgamesh huge.
"Because he left us for you!" was Jason's rebuttal. He roared it, while gesturing to me, indicating just who it was that had done the leaving. I think if the audience hadn't already been frozen by the damage done earlier, this little bit of drama would have sent them into paralysis all on its own. Kim didn't quite flinch at that, but she drew back none the less, unable to comprehend just what it was this hulk before her was saying. The behemoth continued, his words a deep growl. "Back in the day, all he would talk about was you. How great you were, how awesome, how amazing. And when he left, he went back to you. And what do you do with that kind of loyalty? You spit on it."
Jason is shaking with repressed rage. He looks like he's about to unleash himself at the slim redhead in front of him. The only reason he doesn't is because I'm standing directly behind her, and when he looks at her he sees me behind her. I'm leaning against the locker, one leg propped up, arms crossed. I'm the very picture of relaxation, giving no sign of anything that might resemble discomfort to being so close to two very damaged bullies or a what promises to be an incredibly brutal battle. The only sign that I'm paying attention is in my eyes, and when he meets them with his own, he knows that I might be willing to let this play out, but not if that involves him assaulting my Kim.
And Jason, for all that his size would inspire the thought of the clichés of dim witted giants, is definitely not an idiot.
"What?" Kim said sharply, reacting to the words as if they were a physical blow.
"You heard me, you bitch. Look at these two," and without taking his eyes of his foe he kicks the downed form of ape-bully. The force of the blow, even from a dead stand, was enough to lift him off the floor and send him six feet down the hallway. "Right in front of you, they're robbing your friend, and what do you do? Ignore it? Just like everyone else?" with this he glares around the rest of the hallway. "Just like all these other pieces of shit. Laughing as my friend get's shook down, and bullied." He snorts, then spits to the side. The glob of phlegm lands on the small bully, who is whimpering in agony and doesn't even notice mark of disdain. "I should show you all just what it feels like." His growl is becoming louder, and his fingers clench, popping audibly in the silence of the hallway. "I should track every last one of you here down. I should find you in the middle of the night, in dark alleys and empty parking lots," his raises, a deep and sepulcher rumbling that brings to minds earthquakes and landslides and all the things that Mother Nature can do to our fragile bodies. "Then we'll see who thinks this is so fucking funny."
"It's not like that!" Kim finally blurts out. What he had said had definitely shook her. Almost as much as when Stephanie had dropped that bomb of hers not to long ago. She glances desperately at me, but then looks away, guiltily not able to deny it even to herself.
I rub the back of my head sheepishly, "Well, it kind of is, but that's not important right now," I mumble, and she flinched again. She definitely didn't want to hear that right now, but it was the truth, and trying to deny it would only make her self-condemnation that much fiercer. Looks like we're going to have another talk soon. I'll take care of that when it's time. I raise my voice and address Jason. "Hey, Jason, maybe you should take a deep breath and a chill pill real quick. I mean, nobody here wants things to get out of hand, now do…"
And right there, in the middle of my calm carefully constructed argument designed to defuse this ticking time bomb before it blows stumbles the worst possible person to show up.
"Stoppable!" Barkin barked, finally managing to find his way to the scene. He eyed me like a dog would eye a big juicy steak. He had heard about me and Stephanie's earlier indiscretion, and I swear he had wept to god afterwards for having missed the chance to land me in detention for the rest of my natural life. Well here's his chance now. His eyes were so focused on me that he didn't notice the other very important element of this sitch till he almost tripped on it. When he looked down to see what ever it was that was trying to impede his time with the Ron-man, his eyes widened at the immobile and broken form of the D-hall bully.
"Cheese and crackers, man! What the in the Sam hey is going on here!" And, like clockwork Barkin did, what to him, what must come naturally. Blamed me. "Stoppable! You better have a darn fine explanation for this…"
Of course, that was probably the worst possible choice of responses. Especially when in the presence of an over protective friend who packed the rough body mass of a rhino and was already half way worked up to a berserk period. Jason slammed one of his ham sized fists into the locker next to him, and his already impressive growl deepened into a full blown snarl.
"This is pathetic! And where was this maggot when he should have been helping one of his students?! Nowhere! He only shows up after he should have been doing his job and stopping these two worms, and the first thing he does is blame the victim!" Barkin's jaw cracks shut at that accusation, and finally notices just who the two laying on the ground are. Jason's accusations are unfair in this case too. Barkin does have a thing for these two. They spend more time in detention than I do, and that's saying a lot, all things considered. Jason either doesn't know this, or doesn't care. He's shaking now, his rage reaching its peak. "You deserve the same as the rest of them! To see what it's like!" There isn't a soul in this hallway now besides me and Jason that isn't scared. This was the kind of frightening you hear about on the news, the kind of breakdown that fuels every media covered horror story about the day a student or employee snaps and takes out their fellow student or employees in an orgy of mayhem and blood.
Alright, talking seems to be out of the question now. There's only one way to calm Jason down when he gets like this.
I kicked off the locker with as much force as I could muster, and slammed the heel of my shoe hard into Jason's shin. The suddenness of my unexpected attack caught him by surprise, and he let out a noise that could most accurately be called 'a startled eep' as his balance was knocked out from under him. In the same motion I caught one of his arms, twisting the grizzled appendage around and behind him, forcing his fall to turn his face to the wall of lockers. And then in the same motion I grabbed the back of his head with one hand, planted my feet and put my entire body behind it.
The resulting impact of his face against the metal echoed through the hallway. The watchers who had just a second ago been inching away in fear could no longer do anything but gape at the sudden turn of the situation. I wasn't finished yet though. I might not know sixteen forms of kung-fu, like some people do, but I do have a smidgen of ninjitsu, and a whole lot of experience in fights. I spun on the ball of my foot, leapt and swung the back of my foot in a tight fast circle that ended with my shoe connecting with the back of Jason's head. His face had already left a dent in the thin metal of the storage container, and the added force of my brutal boot-to-the-head head technique drove it even further. He was now embedded nearly up to his ears in the door, and one of the hinges popped off as the now warped metal put too much strain on it for it to hold its shape.
I slouched back against the locker next to him, ignoring the stunned double take that was almost universally causing everybody who had witnessed my own sudden act of violence as their heads swiveled from the now fallen behemoth to me. They really can't be blamed for that. The only person here who had ever seen me do anything like that was Kim, and even then, it was a rare occurrence. I don't like exerting myself too much. It interferes with my marinating. Kim was the first one to recover from her shock because of that experience, and she was already beginning to grin at my success at stopping more blood from staining the floor. Barkin did nothing but blink, then closed his mouth and quirked his eyebrow, his hands clasped behind his back as he did his best drill instructor posture.
Before either of them could say anything, I had to burst their bubble of pride. I kept my eyes focused on Jason and said, "Amp down honey, you're scaring the kids."
Jason's frame began to shake, and he put his hands up and braced himself against the wall before pushing, and pulling his face out of its new and surprisingly accurate steel mold with an audible clang. His nose was visibly broken, and leaking blood, and as he bent over, cradling it in one hand, he began to shake even harder. I saw Kim gulp, and take up a ready stance again, no doubt anticipating this apparently unstoppable juggernauts rage at being sucker punched like that.
Instead, a sound began to emit from the hunched giant. It took the rest of the hallway a second to identify it, and when they did, it weirded them out even more than they no doubt already were.
Laughter. This stranger had just had his face cave in a solid sheet of steel, and he was laughing! That probably freaked them out almost as much as the two bodies did.
"You sneaky little string bean!" Jason accused me, even as he rumbled with mirth. With one hand, mid sentence, he straightened his nose with an audible pop. "Sucker punching me like that!"
"It was either that or watch you beat up everyone here. I like some of them, so I couldn't exactly let that slide." He reached out, and I clasped his hand with mine. He pulled me into a crushing man hug, clasping his other arm on my shoulder hard enough to rattle my knees. I imitated the gesture, though I doubt it affected him as much.
"You could have just told me which ones to avoid. I could have done that," he protested.
"And you wouldn't have heard me. You were about to go all berserker on them," I reminded him. This seemed to break the rest of the hallway out of their paralysis. Some student's out right fled, while others lingered. Some of the lingerers watched Jason carefully, as though trying to decide if he was really safe to be around now that I had apparently knocked some sense into him. Some of the others were giving medical attention to the two almost forgotten victims from earlier. Some, hovered just out of reach, apparently trying to decide if they should approach me. Most of the ones in this group were people who knew me. And most of them looked ashamed of themselves. Apparently Jason had made an impression earlier, both with his accusations about the others not coming to my aid, and with his promise to deliver to them exactly what I had gotten with interest. Kim was one of these. She stood one arm across her midriff and clutching her other arm's elbow. She was alternating between looking at the ground and looking at me briefly. I could see she wanted to say something, but didn't know what.
Barkin didn't have any hesitation in approaching. "Young man, you need to come with me."
He was addressing Jason, and his attempt at looking intimidating should have looked laughable. Jason towered over him head and shoulders. Barkin didn't let that bother him. He stood resolute and ramrod straight, somehow managing to not be overshadowed by the giant teen in front of him.
"Screw off, old man. I'm not one of these poor little bastards that you can lord over like the wannabe tyrant you are," Jason rumbled back. Without another pause he gave me a look, one I could interpret as 'I'll catch up with you later,' and then turned his back on everyone and made his exit down the hall. On the way he managed to step on the monkey bully with his heavy boots, making the downed boy gasp in response. All of the other students between him and the exit spread out of his way in an instant. Some of the meeker ones pressed themselves fully back against the wall, as though if they somehow ended up to close to this vengeful avatar of violence they might catch his attention and bring his ire down on them too.
Everyone in the crowd watched till he was out of sight, and then as though rehearsed they all turned back to the only one who seemed to have a clue what just happened. I shrugged helplessly. "So. Who's about ready to hit the cafeteria?"
***
"Ugh. What a day," I groaned. An answering, albeit undefined, groan rose from my walking partner. School had finally let out, though there was precious little learning going on after the incident. Most of the day had consisted of called parents, police statements, and loud threatening noises made in my direction. Contrary to what Jason had implied, Barkin had been studious about not blaming this on me. Maybe what Jason had suggested had made an impact on him, or maybe it's just because Barkin holds true to the tough but fair approach. I kind of doubt the latter one, seeing as I'm almost positive that half the reasons I end up with detention from him seem way too minor for them to really be worthy of after hours and I'm almost positive that it's against school regulations in the first place to single out a student just to give them extra homework. Maybe it's just because of who was actually victimized. Barkin does take a sadistic glee in seeing people get what's coming to them sometimes. The thought that maybe this would scare the two miscreants straight might have crossed his mind.
"I can't believe what that officer was trying to imply!" Kim huffed, looking red in the face with anger. She had been more than a little lost right after the incident, no doubt going over Jason's haranguing over and over again, blaming herself for having never done what the big teen had. Although I'm certain that KP would have shown them the error of their way in much more civilized method. Probably wouldn't have had the same effect as this though. She'd probably still be in that funk if the cops hadn't started making noises that maybe it was my fault that this had happened. I think the words, "so why did you call in your thug to brutalize these two innocent and upstanding citizens" didn't even have enough time to fully be spoken before I had a number of voices raised in anger at that accusation. A good number of people had apparently taken Jason's accusations to heart, not just Kim.
"It's no big KP," I try to calm her down. "The cameras will show that I had nothing to do with it, besides driving his head into the wall and all."
"It's so ferociously unfair," she muttered, still not properly appeased. We were half way home by then, passing by a park. The light was getting dim by then, and a cool rustled the trees around us. I led the way, turning into the wooded alcove. I doubt Kim realized the detour, but I figured we had to be out of prying eyes for what no doubt would come next.
"Well, if they try anything, my lawyers will eat them alive and spit out their bones," I assure her. She winced a bit at the somewhat bloodthirsty turn of phrase before rolling her eyes.
"Lawyers," she drawled. "What lawyers?"
"The ones I can hire with my vast fortune amassed," I inform her easily. This made her laugh.
"And how did you get that vast fortune, you goof?" she giggled and nudged me with her hips in a playful fashion.
"Naco royalties," I tell her with a grin.
"The ones you lost?" she reminded me with a pointed look. It looks like the banter was really taking the edge off her melancholy.
"Just the first check. I still get a nickel for every naco sold," I remind her, and caused her to gape. I grinned at her flabergastedness. "I think royalty contracts last for like twenty years or something. My lawyers explained it all, but I wasn't really paying attention. He had this really cool looking snow globe and I kinda spent the entire time shaking it around." Then I sighed and my shoulders drooped. "Till I dropped it and it exploded." A chattering emitted from my pants, and Rufus scrambled up onto my shoulder and patted my head. We both spent a moment in solemn mourning over that snow globe. It really was awesome.
"And if that ain't enough, I'll finish the job," the voice that came from directly behind us made Kim jump up and squeal like a little girl. It was so adorable that I couldn't help but laugh at it. I just turned around. Sure enough, directly behind us, appearing out of nowhere was Jason. Rufus jumped to attention. He had managed to sleep through all the action earlier without a problem. He had really been sore that he missed out on the excitement. Now faced with the titan before him, his eyes widened and he quickly turned around and scampered right back into his pocket, before pulling the pocket lid shut down on his head and chattering loudly while shaking. Really now, I mean, was Jason really that scary?
Well, honestly, if I didn't already know him, I'd probably do the same thing.
"Dude, you're like something straight out of one of those camp-type horror flicks. How the hell does something so big move so quietly?"
"Practice." Now that he'd been noticed, he apparently didn't feel like moving in movie monster mode. I kept on walking, and Jason got into step with me. Well, we both traveled in the same direction and at the same speed. Considering his size that meant he was taking like one step for every two of mine. Kim gaped for a second, and then she sped up to catch up. She looked like she was torn between going all kick-ass mission-mode on the big guy and not provoking the enormous unstoppable juggernaut of destruction that currently didn't seem aggressive. Eventually she decided to follow my lead.
Mostly. "Ron," she hissed, as though Jason couldn't hear us while he was less than two feet away. "What are we doing walking next to this guy? He just sent two people to the hospital, and the cops are looking for him!"
"Talking," Jason rumbled back.
"Huh?" she said, looking at him with a twitch in her eye. He really does look a lot bigger when you're standing next to him and all.
"We have to talk." Jason was apparently much more taciturn when he wasn't about to destroy something fragile. You know, fragile. Like other people.
"About what?" Kim ventured, sounding as though the very thought of being in his presence was more distasteful than giant cockroaches. And Kim hates giant cockroaches.
"Not you. I hate you." Jason fixed his gimlet gaze on me. "You."
"I know why you're here. Go on," I tell him. Kim glanced at me, preparing herself to deliver a lecture about encouraging and comingling with violent maniacs, but then my expression made her pause.
I'm not sure what she thought when she saw it. It was the same expression I wore when I was with Stephanie. I just hope she doesn't jump to the wrong conclusions and think I had sex with Jason too.
I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, if that's what the two people doing it are into. I just have zero interest in, how to put it, exploring my boundaries like that. Actually, my interest in that might just be borderline negative interest.
Especially considering the sheer size difference….
Okay, seriously, enough of this train of thought.
Jason is blunt. It's in his nature to be that way. So he says it straight up. "Come back with me. Come back to us."
I can see Kim's surprise at the offer. The same one that Stephanie had given me. Before she has a chance to properly consider that, Jason continued. "It felt good in there today, didn't it? Striking out, seeing others strike out for you. It felt strong, and powerful, and righteous. Me putting those punks in their place: at your feet. You liked seeing that."
Kim looks disgusted at that, not even able to consider for a second that anyone she knew would be so sadistic as to take pleasure in that kind of brutality. Before she can cut in, I speak.
"Yeah. I did." I can see my admittance shocks her, and she stares at me wide eyed.
"Just like it felt good, stopping me from going over the edge." Jason's chuckle once more brings to mind the moving of rocks. "Stepping in front of your allies, defending them, striking down what was gonna strike them down."
"Yeah. That did too," I admit as well. Kim seems frozen in indecision. This wasn't what she saw happening when she woke up today. She thought she'd spend some time with her BFs, both of them: boy friend and best friend. She thought she'd do a little cheering, hang out with a few friends, and maybe get some school work done. Not that she'd be facing yet another shadow from my past, trying to take me away after displaying some piece of me that she never even suspected was there.
And what a piece it was, my violence. I knew it was there, always. I've even exhibited it a few times, when the situation was right. But my agreeing with what happened today, my admittance of enjoyment at the sight?
Kim just looked lost, staring at me like she'd never seen me before.
"Come with me. We can go back to the others, and we can be like the old times, back before. We can go out and find others like those two, and smash them like the bugs they are. You already do it," Jason was gathering momentum now. "You already go out and smite freaks and monsters. Let's do it together. You can find them, you already do. Only instead of that prissy little red head it'll be you and me and the others. You know I don't care who we fight, just so long as there's blood on the floor afterwards." Jason's grin was feral, and it warped his already knotted and tight face into something even more gruesome. But besides the gruesome, there was something else: a savoring, a remembrance. Just like Stephanie never forgot her lovers, Jason never forgot his foes. Though it has been years since I'd last seen him I'd no doubt there were many, many foes between now and then. Just like Stephanie had had many, many lovers. Just like Stephanie didn't care who her lovers were, I Jason really didn't care who his enemies were. Just so long as there was conflict, battle, a fight that made his blood sing halleluiahs to the heavens, he'd be there.
And with that realization, my blood sang too. Because no matter how much I'd rationalized, or ignored, or forgave, those two whiny little insignificant D-hall punks had pissed me off for a very long time. Their inconsequential swaggers, their mute posturing, their whiny demands, everything! Who the hell did they think they were? They knew I saved the world, and battled freaks so dangerous that no one else but me and KP could stop them, and what do those pathetic little miscreants do when I get back bruised, bleeding, and exhausted? They took advantage of me!
"Those two got what was coming to them," I said. And my own face twisted in distaste as well. Kim's face flinched. And for a second I thought about it. Leaving Middleton behind, hunting down the ones I already hunt down. But this time it'd be different. There'd be no disrespect, no forgetfulness, no humiliation. And we'd make sure that the ones we put down wouldn't get back up. They'd never hurt, or steal, or scare anyone again.
And Kim can see that on my face. She could always read me, just as well as I can read her. And maybe it's because of that desire to hurt, that she looks scared again, just like when Stephanie had propositioned me. I draw a deep breath, and almost shift to take a step, to join walk away from Kim, and beside Jason instead. But then I release a shuddering breath. No. I look up at the towering juggernaut beside me and give him my response. "But no one else in the hallway deserved what almost came to them too." I stop and look Jason dead on. "You've already got plenty of targets. You don't need me to give you more."
Jason didn't flinch. He stopped and met my gaze, looking for something. Weakness I think. Or maybe doubt or hesitation. He'd see it if it was there. He was a combatant, and nine tenths of all combat was figuring out just what the other person was going to do and either doing it better or doing something else first. Finally, he sighed, and his body slumped. He looked tired, maybe even defeated.
It only lasted for a second. Jason was the kind who took defeat easy, and he always recovered.
"Stephanie told me you were stubborn." That was the closest to ever admitting a loss Jason had probably ever come. "You know the others are going to come soon."
It wasn't a question, but I responded anyway. "Yeah. Three left."
"You know those three are going to be a hell of a lot more persuasive than me and Steph." Again, it wasn't a question.
I shudder. Oh gods, do I know it. "Yeah."
With one last nod, Jason gave one last glare at Kim, who had remained silent through the last part of our dialogue. Her face had changed again. Before, she'd been riding the emotional rollercoaster, now she looked closed off. Composed. Like some epiphany had finally made itself known, and she was trying to deal with the sudden insight by not revealing any of it. It was a very good poker face. She should take it to Vegas sometimes. Jason addressed her. "I still hate you."
Then he turned and walked away.
I sighed, closed my eyes, and tried not to think about how my legs were shaking, or how cold the night had become.
Kim said nothing.
***
It was later that night, and I was sitting in front of my TV, not even pretending to know what was going on on whatever station I was watching, when the phone call came for me.
"Hey, Mrs. Dr. P," I murmured, giving her half a mind, the other half lost in dark thoughts and vague fears.
"Ronald," she said, and sounded worried. This brought a whole lot more of my mind into focus on her. I like Mrs. Dr. P. I like all the Possibles. If something was up with them, with any of them, than the gods better clear back because I might just get pissed. "I'm sorry to bother you so late at night…"
I cut her off. "It's never too late at night for the Possible clan!" I declare firmly. "What's the matter? KP try to cook and you need me to straighten things out for you all?" My joke was delivered with a grin that could be heard over the other side of the speaker.
"No, we've managed to keep her out again," Mrs. Dr. P admitted, and I could hear her smile on the other end. It made me feel like the entire day wasn't a failure. "It's just," she trailed off, trying to find a way to explain what was bothering her. "It's just that, well, Kim has been a little off tonight." Wow, that doesn't surprise me in the least. "I know a few things happened at school today, and they really seem to have shaken her up. I don't suppose," and here she hesitated. It was late at night, and I had been a center part of what had probably shaken Kim's world, but then Mrs. Dr. P continued. "I don't suppose you can come by and talk to her?"
I don't hesitate. "No problem, Mrs. Dr. P. I can be over in a few. You can give me the sitch then."
A quick good bye, a few minutes to change, and a brief walk in the night, and I'm cruising through the Casa De Possible like I was born and bred there. Mrs. Dr. P is waiting for me at the door, and she gives me a welcoming hug when I show up in all my goofy glory.
"Evening to you too, Mrs. Dr. P! So what seems to be the problem with our Kimila?" I start heading up towards Kim's room even as I check the circumstances that await me.
"Well, I'm not sure," Kim's mother hedged. "Just very listless. And for some reason she's been looking through all our photo albums most of the night." Huh. Well, that's weird. But is it really weird enough to justify a late night visit by the Ronster in her eyes?
I like Kim's mother. I really do. I like her entire family honestly. They're just so much more, familiar I guess would be the word. Gods know my parents aren't exactly stellar examples of what to do with a child. Their definition of counseling was ignoring it till the situation resolved itself. And don't even get me started about their skills at breaking the news. When they first moved me to the attic, I arrived home to find my old room completely converted in to a den. The two of them were actually gone, and had left a note by the phone saying they'd be gone for two days for a conference. I had no idea where any of my stuff was, or where I was supposed to sleep. I was actually scared that they had decided to get rid of me, probably because I wasn't the perfect son. I had ended up calling up the Possibles, and sharing my fear with Mrs. Dr. P in the kind of hushed and scared voice that only a preteen who has no idea whether his parents loved him or not could manage. She'd instantly invited me over to stay with her and Kim, even going out with me the next day to get me a few outfits. I was serious when I said that everything in my room was moved. I would have probably been forced to wear the same clothes for three days if she hadn't done that for me. And when my parents get back, the only explanation they had given me for the strife was, "This is our way of telling you". And then they had laughed at me when I had mentioned that I had been scared shitless for three days.
Yeah, my parents: not stellar.
"And so you need a touch of the Ronman to fix the situation up?" I pose heroically. "Say no more!"
Kim's mom laughed with me. "Thank you Ron," she said to me with a maternal smile. "I know I can always count on you."
I turned away and rubbed my hand against my neck even as I walked ahead to Kim's room to hide my blush at her statement. Making Mrs. Dr. P proud just might be the best thing I did today.
I stop outside Kim's door, and give it a knock. Always knock on Kim's door, by the way. The one time I didn't and just went on in, well, I have really bad timing apparently. I mean, yeah, we've had to dress in front of each other before, but that's always with a screen between us, or my eyes covered. That's a little different from coming across your oldest friend who happens to be a girl changing her underwear. Yeah, that was awkward in the extreme. "Hola Kim! Got a second to chill with your best friend?"
"Come on in," she answered, sounding muffled by the door, and distant in her thoughts. I don't wait for a second invitation, and let myself in. Kim is sitting cross legged on her bed, and sure enough, just like her mom had said, she was flipping through a photo album splayed across her lap. I cross the room, and flop down next to her on my belly, propping my head up on an arm so I can look past her side and see which pictures she's looking at. She rolls her eyes at my irreverence, but angles the book so I can see more easily. Neither one of us makes a big deal about me being on her bed, or being so close. The familiarity in our friendship had broken down barriers that most people would have in these kinds of social situations. "Make yourself at home," she tells me dryly.
"Don't mind if I do!" I grin up at her, before one of the photos catch my eye. "Hey, I remember that! Halloween, seven years ago!" Ah, good times. Kim had decided, in her tomboy way, that no way was she gonna be a princess! Instead, she had chosen, of all things, Godzilla as her costume. And ever since, the title Kimzilla had come to haunt her at every turn. I was dressed as a chef, though I had decided that all good chefs were Italian, and that all Italians had giant mustaches. And then I had decided that spirit gum just wasn't enough to keep that face mop on, so when my parents hadn't been looking, I had replaced it with super glue. All right, maybe those weren't the best of times. I had nearly lost my lip trying to get the fake facial hair off.
Kim gave me a half grin, and then turned back to the album, lost in her thoughts. I let her stay there for a while, enjoying the comfortable silence between the two of us as I let her fingers turn the pages and guide us back through the nostalgic years.
Mrs. Dr. P was right. Something is eating Kim. I can read her well enough to know that if I just hold tight, I'll find out what soon enough.
"Ron," she finally said.
"Yeah? What's up KP?" here it is. She'd had to build herself up to this, so it's probably pretty big to her. I roll over onto my back, cross my arms behind my head and meet her eyes, encouraging her to go on.
"Stephanie and that other one today, Jason," she begins, and seems to be picking her words pretty carefully. "They both asked you to go back with them."
Ah. So that's what was on her mind. Clever girl, KP, you picked right up on that. I nod, and with a serious face replied. "Yeah, they did, didn't they."
"And they both said that the others would be coming," she continued, pausing afterwards.
Okay, she's obviously trying to work this through in her head, and now I'm just a sounding board for the moment. "Yes, they did."
"And Jason said that the others would be more persuasive then him and Stephanie." This time I just nod, and Kim continues, finally shutting the album completely, and giving me her whole attention. "This is bigger than just a few friends trying to catch up, isn't it?"
"Yeah." I sighed. "Yeah, it kinda is, KP."
"What is it? I mean were you in trouble, or do you think your old friends are going to try and start something, if you don't go back with them?" she asked. Her voice had started out slow, calm, and collected, and had ended fast, worried, and tweaked.
"Go or stay, there's gonna be trouble, KP," I tell her, and I mean it. "What kind of trouble depends on which way I go." Her eyes widened at that. I'd noticed that about her lately. So many of her reactions were so much more exaggerated than what I was used to. This was Kim Possible! She had faced down dangers that most people only dreamed of after bad B movie marathons! Just why was it that this sitch seemed to get her on edge so much lately?
"And do you think you will?" she asked, her voice low.
"Will what?" That question had honestly confused me. Just what was this about? Why was she so tweaked by this?
"Go with them," she answered, whispering.
I started. I looked at Kim, really looked at her. Her eyes were misted, and her lips were trembling. My gods. She's scared: scared of me leaving her. There was a moment when this revelation hit me that my entire universe was vertigo. I knew that fear. It was the same fear that hit me every time she found her zone in the hottie haze. It was the bleak and certain knowledge that came with facing the realization that someday, somehow, someone was going to come between us. I don't think she'd ever felt it before, not like me. I had to watch her again and again with glazed cow eyes staring at whatever flavor of the month it was that had caught her eye, wondering if this was the one that was going to replace me as her companion. But she'd never had the buffers I'd had. She'd never seen me tempted, never seen me with another option before. I'd made sure of that, keeping my liaisons away from all prying eyes, even hers. The experience was new to her, and it had shaken her more deeply than anything that either of my two visitors had said to her.
I sighed, and lowered my eyes, not able to meet her gaze as I pondered this revelation. Finally, I ask her, "And if I did?" She drew into herself when I said that. It sounded like an admission of intent, but I pressed on. I had a point to make to her, one that was a long time coming. "Would it be any different?" This seemed to confuse her, so I elaborated. "Different from you when you were with Josh? Or when you're with Eric?" She shook at that, almost imperceptibly. "KP, we've been friends for so long, but it hasn't been forever." Reaching, out, still laying on the bed, I grasp her hand and take it with both of mine. Her dewing eyes met mine, and her lips shook with repressed sobs. "And we'll be friends for a long time more if I have anything to say with it." I stare her dead in the eyes, trying to impart just how I felt, just how much I cared for her, just how much she meant to me. "But there's no way of knowing if that long time will be forever either. I don't know the future. I don't know what will happen. I do know what I want, though." I smile at her, beaming with all the certainty in me. She was frozen by that, her emotional rollercoaster bottoming out from all the tops and turns it'd been on. "I know I want to be with you for as long as I can before anything can drag me away from you."
She sniffled. Finally turning away from me, almost violently, one arm crept up and surreptitiously rubbed a sleeve against her face. Ah, KP, always being strong. I didn't call her on it. She'd had enough shocks for one day. No need to try and force the issue. I just held her hand with both of mine, rubbing my thumbs across the back of her knuckles. For minutes we stayed like that: me giving her comfort, and her trying to hide just how much she needed that comfort. My KP, always strong before others, and even when she was feeling her moments of weakness, knowing I'd be there to see her through them. Finally, she turned back to me. We both pretended that the last few minutes had never happened. She gave me a watery grin, and I answered back with a heartfelt one.
There was one more thing on her mind though. "Ron. About what that guy today, Jason, said." She sounded hesitant. Now this was a conversation I was expecting. "What he said in the D-hall…" she trailed off, and I waited, letting her get her thoughts together before expressing them. "Have I been a bad friend?" she finally asked, plaintively. She wanted, no needed to know that she hadn't done me wrong for all this time. I know my fearsome Kimzilla. She desperately needed assurance that she hadn't been so caught up in saving the world that she had left saving her best friend on the way side.
And since I'd been expecting this particular train of thought, I was ready with my response.
I got up and walked away. As I left the room, I heard her gasp again, a desperate, sorrowful, catching thing. It was awful to hear.
I was down to the living room, and Kim's mother was waiting for me.
"Ron, did you manage…" was as far she got, almost wringing her hands together in worry. Why that sneaky lady! If I didn't know any better, I'd say she'd been listening in on the whole conversation! Before she got any further though, I raised my hand and stopped her. Turning back to the stair way I'd just walked down, which no doubt held a Kim that was about to go down on herself hard for all her failures, I pause, plant my feet, and take a deep breath.
"KP! SIDEKICK IN TROUBLE!" I bellow at the top of my lungs, nearly scaring poor Mrs. Dr. P out of her wits. Then I started counting down internally.
Somewhere between two second and three since I shouted Kim was down in the living room in full mission protect-my-best-friend-from-anything-and-god-have-mercy-on-the-aggressors-soul-because-I-sure-won't mode. Posture erect, arms in defensive positions, stance set, and with a look of fury that wouldn't have been out of place on an avenging angel Kim swooped down so damn fast I can barely follow her movements, ready to kick ass and take names to keep her goofy and clumsy partner out of harm's way. Of course what greeted herself was a grinning aforementioned sidekick and a surprised mother.
"Where's the bad guy?" Kim demanded, no doubt expecting something nefarious hidden behind the couch or in the corner by the TV, her eyes swinging to and fro trying to find the threat that had caused me to call out.
"No bad guys here, KP," I grin at her. "Just trying to prove a point!" Walking up I put my arm around her, throwing her off balance at the sudden extra weight on her.
"Ron," she dragged out, no doubt feeling the adrenaline coursing through her and having trouble shifting out of mission mode. I continue on, mostly to keep her out of thrash-her-best-friend-for-alarming-her mode.
"KP, no matter how bad things have gotten in the past, you've always been there to bail me out," I tell her. "That right there, that was me proving that to you. Mostly in a way that won't let you doubt it a second afterwards!" I turn her so she can meet my eyes. She's still halfway between beat-up-enemies-for-hurting-her-friend mode, and yell-at-the-sidekick-that-freaked-her-out mode, and I take advantage of the confusion in switching between those modes to take her face and force her eyes to meet mine. "Do you think for a second, that after all that, after all the times you saved my kosher fakin' bacon that you haven't looked out for me? That you haven't been the bestest friend ever in the history of all bestest friends?" She looks a little a little taken aback by my vehemence. I push on. "After all the death rays, and mind controls, and weirdo fights, that I doubted for a second you'd have my back if I asked for it? Heck, after all the weird stuff, a couple of punks at school was normal!" I grinned. "It was almost relaxing! Don't doubt for a second, KP, that if I had really been worried about those two, I wouldn't have asked for help." I grasp her chin and tilt her head up, giving her a full dose of the Ronshine. "I just didn't want you to have to sweat the small stuff after having taken care of all the big stuff."
Though she looked majorly tweaked at the beginning of my little rant, by the end of it, she looked relieved. Her smile just about broke her face, going ear to ear, and she beamed up at me. Right there, she stopped holding herself back and wrapped her arms around me in a rib creaking hug. I let out a whoosh of air as she squeezed me, but then put my arms around her just the same.
"You goof," she muttered, her head buried in my shoulder. "Don't' scare me like that again!"
"Only way to get through the Possible fortress of self-righteousness," I assure her. "If the only way to get through was the big guns, the big guns it is!" She snorted at that, and rubbed her face against me, trying to cover a sniffle or two that had escaped her in the emotional moment. I noticed Mrs. Dr. P in the background, with a hand by her mouth as she smiled her own amazing smile at the scene. If I didn't know any better, I'd say me and KP being so close made her even happier than KP just feeling better alone would have.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, KP drew back, and with another covert eye wipe stood an arm's length away from me. With a little laugh, she told me, "Well, I don't care if it's normal to you! If you ever have any problems with something like that again, you let me know. I won't just stand by and let my best friend get roughed up because that's what supposed to be normal!" She gave me a little mock glare.
"But KP, that would do some serious damage to my street cred," I whined back. With a sniff and a toss of her head, she rebuked me.
"Don't care. I'm your best friend, and I know what's best for you!" she declared, her nose high in the air and with a laughing air about her as she repeated a phrase that had come to be satirical to us since the last time she said it.
Oh, is that right? Challenge met, and challenge matched. Time to do some serious teasing. "Well, you know, it wasn't like it was all bad! I mean, afterwards, they'd throw me into the girls locker room. All those half dressed cheerleaders," I ramble, and KP's eyes widened as she snapped to face me, mouth agape. With a grin I continued innocently. "And all so sympathetic for the poor abused hero!"
"You…"Kim stuttered. "You gigolo!" she snapped and started advancing on me. With a look of horror, I started to back up.
"Now wait a sec Kimila! No need to fly off the handle!" Without another word I turned and bolted. Kim led afterwards in mock-furious pursuit. "No! Not the hair again!"
And as I led the laughing Kim on a furious chase around the room, I caught Mrs. Dr. P's laughing eyes with my own, and gave her a sly wink even as Kim squawked with indignant fury.
Mission accomplished. She's all fired up now!
Now I just gotta hope it holds up for what comes next. Jason wasn't lying when he said that the worst was come.