Stepping Up: On Fire
The music in the gym of Middleton High boomed out a thumping beat, that was pumping, fresh and upbeat. The acoustics in the gymnasium, spread the sound waves around the giant room almost perfectly, with only a slight noise reduction. The Middleton High cheerleaders standing at half-court, started swaying their hips to the beat of the music. As if, their bodies were part of the sound waves vibrating through the atmosphere, the wave moved up and down them like willows swaying in a storm.
The cheerleaders were preparing a routine, they would use in the cheer regionals next month. The last month and a half, since the Wannaweep sitch, the cheer squad had changed a little bit. The biggest change was the squad's attitude and treatment of the Middleton mascot, even Bonnie gave him some respect…
…That first Monday back from Spring Break, was the first day all the cheerleaders were together since the Gill incident. Ron told me, he was going to apologize to them, and offer his resignation. I thought he was being overdramatic, but nothing I said could convince him otherwise.
He walked into the gymnasium with the Mad Dog head, which he built under his arm. Ron walked steadily almost in a military march, he'd asked me to gather the ladies on the gym bleachers, and Ron asked Mr. Barkin to be present. He set the head on the bleachers before stepping in front of them. I was sitting on the first row with my arms crossed, totally against what Ron was about to do. Bonnie, Tara, and Mr. Barkin were on the same row, with the rest on the second and third rows. There was a mixture of infatuation and gratitude on some of the girl's faces, even Bonnie's face looked less nose in the air than normal, when she looked at my best friend and hopefully more soon. Ron being Ron, and a boy, did not notice their looks or if he did he either ignored them or misread them. Ron began pacing back and forth, as if trying to find the right words to start.
Finally, he said, "I'm sorry." looking around discreetly, every eye was either wide with surprise, or narrowed in confusion. "One of my old camp 'buddies' and I use the term loosely laid a trap for my friends, only to get back at me. All of you ran the risk of getting mutated, hurt or worse because of something I did to another person." Ron looked down, if he had kept his eyes up, he would have noticed every eye narrowing at him. Ron stepped over to the costume head, pick it up and return to his previous position. All eyes remained locked upon him, as if he had two heads. "If anything like that ever happened again, if any of you were ever hurt because of me, I would never be able to forgive myself. So, I offer my resignation as Middleton High mascot, it has been an honor and a privilege to serve the office of Mad Dog." While the eyes still squinted, their jaws were firmly set in hard masks.
As one, the Middleton High cheerleaders got to their feet. Ron looked down at the floor unable to look up and see what his fate entailed. We all walked down and surrounded, my best friend in an almost perfect circle.
"You can't quit, Ron, we need you to help us at regionals next month," one of the cheerleaders said.
"I'm sure you'll find a replacement for me by then, I'll even go over my routine with whomever you get to replace me," Ron replied, eyes down.
"You and Kim, go on dangerous missions all the time, you have no idea what's going to happen from one to another, correct," another cheerleader asked?
"That's true, I guess, but Kim and I volunteer for those missions, you were all dragged in against your will," Ron said, still looking down.
"EYES FRONT, STOPPABLE!" barked Steve Barkin, "The least you can do is face their judgment like a man!" Ron's head jerked up like a jack-n-the-box, so cute, "Oh and I might as well put my two bits in while I have your attention. Last week you truly impressed me, you so easily could've run off and gotten help, in fact if you were smart you would have done exactly that. Most of us, me included thought, that was what you were doing, when we heard the motorboat start, only Possible never doubted our mettle, not for an instant." Of course not, I would trust you with my life, without a second thought, Ron Stoppable, I mused. "You didn't abandon us, you took responsibility for our lives, and saved all of us. Did you notice, Stoppable, that I said the word, 'responsibility'," Barkin asked, to Ron's nod, "Answer me, Stoppable, did you notice my use of the word 'responsible'?!"
"Yes, sir, Mr. Barkin, sir!" Ron responded, popping tall.
"Good, because I am going to tell you one thing I have learned in my days from the Corps. Everybody is responsible for their own actions, and choices. Whether right or wrong, nothing we do is ever free of consequence, and failure to take responsibility for your own deeds and choices is the mark of a child," Barkin began walking toward the gym doors, "and so is taking the blame for other people's actions and choices." He reached the doors before turning back, "And, I had begun to think of you as a grownup, Stoppable, you better not prove me wrong!" With that the assistant principal of Middleton High left the cheerleaders to try and talk some sense into my best friend.
The rest of us began to pummel some sense into Ron Stoppable, although I remained quiet for the most part. All my arguments had fallen on deaf ears when he told me about quitting on Saturday while out shopping.
"Correct me if I am wrong, Ron," Tara spoke, using logic, and sounding very much like the lawyer she one day dreamed of becoming. "but did you or did you not warn, Gil about the toxic appearance of the water, while you were at camp with him?"
Ron nodded mutely, "Yes, but…"
"Would you say that you and Gil were friends, while at camp," Tara continued?
"Of course not, he seemed to hate my guts," Ron said looking at Tara, "he called me squeeb, in front of the adults, worse when we were alone."
"So, you weren't friends, and never got along even in front of so-called authority figures," Tara turned her back on him, placed her chin, between her thumb and index as if lost in thought. "Did you intimidate, coerce or scam Gil Abbot into spending all of his time in the water?"
"Of course not, Tara what kind of person do you think I am," Ron asked indignant. "I didn't have to do any of those things, he was almost never out of the water, except to eat or sleep, or when the camp counselors had to flat out order him from the lake?"
"So," Tara exclaimed, turning to grab Ron's shoulders and turning him to look her in the eyes, "you never did anything to force, Gil into spending all his time, in a clearly toxic lake. Going so far as to warn Gil, a person who was not a friend, about the dangers of said toxic lake. Are all the things I just said correct, Ron Stoppable?"
"Yes," he said, "everything was just like that. But, if he hadn't found out I was on the squad, he'd been never have been able to trap us and nearly turn you girls into fish clones."
"Then, maybe you and Kim should both leave the squad, or the school for that matter, Stoppable," A snarky, haughty voice broke in, "with all the enemies you two have made over the last two years, it's a wonder one of them hasn't attacked the school. You both could be putting all our lives in jeopardy, for God's sake." They were not surprised to hear Bonnie's stuck-up voice, attacking Ron and Kim, but what she said next did, "It's like Barkin said, you idiot, there are consequences for everything we do in our lives. The fact of the matter at hand is you offered us your resignation. That means you gave us the right to accept or refuse it, and whatever we decide you must abide by our decision for the rest of the year. Performing all the functions of the mascot, or aid your successor in learning your routine, to the best of your ability, for the rest of the school year, do you agree Ronald Stoppable?"
Ron nodded, "Yes, Bonnie, I will accept the squad's decision, whatever you decide, for the rest of the school year."
I was getting ready to use my 16-styles of kung fu on my fellow cheerleader, when she caught my eye and winked quickly. "As captain of this squad, I call for a vote to accept or deny, the resignation of Ronald Michael Stoppable," I declared.
Bonnie spoke up, "I second this motion."
"Here, here," cried Tara.
"All those in favor of accepting the resignation of Ronald Michael Stoppable as Middleton mascot, raise your hand?" All were surprised when Bonnie did not raise her hand. "All in favor of rejecting Ronald Michael Stoppable's resignation as Middleton mascot?" There was a forest of female arms in the air, before I even finished the question. "The motion is carried, all are witnesses, to the vote. Sorry, to break it to you Ronnie, but you're stuck with us for a while."
"You're such an idiot, Stoppable." Bonnie stalked off muttering something about "wasting her time", before she reached the door she turned back, "Hey, K since when did you start calling the idiot, Ronnie," she asked deliberately so the entire squad could hear her from the gym door? I felt my cheeks start to burn, as I blushed probably as red as my hair. Bonnie did not stick around for the answer. After that day, Bonnie never called Ron a 'loser' again, she started calling him 'the idiot' instead…
…The music rebounded off the walls of the gym. Each lady had her own sequences in the dance, while they are looking separate individually, were in perfect sync if looked upon as a whole. As we were about the come together for the final sequence, Ron walked through the door from the weight room. In addition to kettle bell training, Ron was now strength training using free weights, for targeting certain muscle groups. Ron also began to wear five-pound ankle and wrist weights under his baggy clothes, all day, every day, even while training with the rabbi.
The weights were meant to work his body gradually, and he took a few days to get used to them. Once he did, he was moving like himself, and his training began to get easier. His endurance had increased at a good pace for the last month and a half, so much so that I was thinking of adding the weights, to my own training. Even Rabbi Katz was impressed with his progress, and even said he was advancing slightly faster than many of the soldiers he trained in the past. Ron believed the progress, was due to watching me train over the years, and the fact that he was only being trained only in fighting, not firearms or marching. Ron stopped at the edge of the court and waved the Kimmunicator at me. I nodded but continued with the routine since we were almost finished for the day.
The dance number came to an end, I called the practice to a close, grabbing a towel to wipe myself down, and walked off court to Ron. I held out my hand, but when Ron didn't give the Kimmunicator, I caught him staring at me, with a weird look in his eyes. "Ron," I said, waving my hand in front of his face, "Earth to Ron, come in Ron." Doing that seemed to snap him out of whatever had distracted him, I could swear he was checking me out. I smiled to myself like a cat catching a mouse, and my heart fluttered, hoping he was now realizing that he was a man and I was woman.
Ron shook his head and adjusted his pants subtly, "KP, you'll never guess who's requesting your help," he said handing it to me. I looked and there starring back at me was a man with blue-skin, and an indigo lab coat. He had his hair combed stiff with a small pig tail sticking out behind him. It was Dr. Drakken, one of my biggest pains in the ass, not to mention my arch-enemy, not to mention my dad's old college friend, Drew Lipskey.
"Doctor Drakken," I asked incredulously, "Doctor Drakken needs my help," I asked looking at Ron, who shrugged?
"Actually, ma'am, Ah'm not this Drakken, you speak about," the image of Drew Lipskey replied with a deep southern accent.
"Oh, really," I said my disbelief growing by the second, "then who are you?"
"Lance Corporal, Cleotus T. Dobbs, USMC," he replied, "Ah was abducted from muh barracks last night, buh a woman with green glowing hands."
Ron and Kim looked at the other thinking, the same thing, Shego. I caught myself suddenly noticing the color and depth of Ron's eyes for moment before, jerking myself back to reality. "USMC," Ron asked?
"United States Marine Corps," the image of Drakken replied, "anuhway when we got to the base, Ah was placed in a machine and saw thes strange flashing light and before Ah knew it, Ah was looking at muhself. Please, Mess Possible yeh've got to help meh before the green ladeh that hets…" he suddenly looked off screen, and took on a frightened look, before the picture shutoff. Ron and I looked at each other, in surprise.
They both stared down at the device, I said, "Wade, were you able to get a trace on the signal," I asked our tech guru, and webmaster.
Wade's image came on screen, "Working in it, Kim, I'll get back to you when I have something."
"Please and thank you, Wade, Kim and Ron out," I replied.
Naturally, Wade was able to trace the signal to the Grand Canyon, and we were able to get a guide down to the bottom, from a friend we helped, two years ago, by aiding in the delivery of his donkey, Buttercup's foal. Ron seemed to make friends with the foal he was riding and we made it down the side of the canyon wall without incident. We came to a small shack on a ridge, we entered and there was an old, rickety table for two, a potbellied stove and a fireplace.
We took our time looking things over, but Ron seemed to be studying the stove, more specifically the piping that led to the ceiling. He reached up and twisted the valve that would open or close the pipe, and an elevator opened in the floor of the fireplace. I looked at him for explanation, and he said, "The chimney was on the other side of the cabin outside and the valve looked shiny, when the rest of the stove was rusty at the joins."
We boarded the lift and began to descend, Ron pulled out his grapple gun and fired it up to hook on the lip of the shaft, we came through. He grabbed me, and hit the stop button on the tool, he whispered, "Just in case they have guards watching the tube." I nodded, I could feel the results of his strength training as I held onto his body, it was firm and even though I felt his body every Friday while massaging him, it felt nice pressing against him as he held me in his strong arm. This feels good, pressing my body into him, I am definitely heating up. We slowly began to descend, just above the lift floor, which reached the bottom two minutes before we did. We stopped and I gained a new appreciation for Ron's training as his other arm held both of us up.
Thirty seconds later we saw a big man in a red jump suit peek his head in, Ron looked at me and smirked, which I mimicked as I understood his intentions. I put my arms around his neck more securely, pressing myself firmly into his form, while he grabbed the gun with his other hand. He should definitely feel a couple of points poking into his chest. I looked down between us and calculated the distance to the bottom (23ft.) multiplied by my mass (120 lbs.) times the acceleration of gravity at sea level (32 ft./sec). Letting go of Ron, I plummeted, Drakken's goon felt 120 pounds of cheerleader collide with him from above. I checked his pulse, alive but out like a light. Ron descended slowly and came to a landing right next to us. "You really showed him a good time," he said.
I grinned, my body heating up a little at his smile, but replied, "You'll have to ask him, when he wakes up."
I took out the Kimmunicator and set it to scan for life signs. There were about twelve people in the base other than me and Ron and the goon in the elevator, one was actually brighter than the others probably Shego and another was isolated from the others. We began to make our way close to the isolated life sign hoping it wasn't a trap. It seemed as if they had just moved in, there were crates everywhere most could have held people inside them.
We made our way deeper into the lair, and came across a machine with two helmets with wires leading into a superstructure. "I bet that's the mind switching machine," Ron surmised, "let's not get hit with that."
I smirked, "Totally, I like being a girl, except for once a month."
"I don't like that time of the month either, it's when you get even more b…," he looked at me sheepishly, I quirked an eyebrow daring him to continue, "um, take charge than normal."
We came to the isolated life sign and pried open a crate, to see the Dr. Drakken starring back at us. Reactions born of dozens of fights, had to be overcome to prevent me from slugging the blue face, starring back at me. I held my finger up for quiet to the pseudo-mad scientist. Luckily, the Lance Corporal was recon trained and knew how to move quietly. We moved back to the elevator, the goon I took out earlier was starting to come to, and was raising his head, when Ron said, "You're gonna need some ice when you wake up," and cold-cocked him again. We activated the lift and returned to the surface, tying the unconscious goon to the stove.
Ron contacted Wade and asked him how to disable the lift, now unless there was another way out, Shego and Drakken's goons would be trapped. He contacted Global Justice, and briefed them on the sitch regarding Lance Corporal Dobbs. Ron was given instructions and followed them, GJ was in route. He disabled the camera and handed the Kimmunicator over to Dobbs in Drakken's body, "Contact your command, he may look like you but according to GJ all militaries have protocol's in place to prevent infiltration through disguise. We have Top Secret clearance, but no need to know. You can step outside if you wish." Dobbs took the communication device and left.
Ron pulled out a couple of chairs sat in one backwards facing the room, but leaning back against a wall, and placing the other next to him. I sat close to him and even leaned against him, more than the wall. "KP," he began?
I looked up at his face as he stared straight ahead, he seemed nervous. Which was strange, Ron was never nervous around me. "Yes, Ron?"
"Did anybody ask you to the Spring Fling Dance, yet?"
My breath caught in my throat, when he asked, "Yes, Josh Mankey, asked me," I said, which was true.
"Josh Mankey's a good guy, artist type, pretty boy, and even though his name is only one vowel off from 'monkey'…" Ron began rambling, and I looked into his eyes, those soul deep brown eyes that I knew as well as my own, and saw his heart-breaking, and it brought tears to my own green eyes.
"Ron," I said placing my hand on his, which stopped him mid-ramble, "I turned him down."
Ron looked at me, again I read his emotions like an open book, and a smile bigger than Naco night blazed forth as hope was rekindled. "You did," he asked, and I could only nod, as I stared up at my best friend, "why?"
"Because, there's this other guy that I was hoping would ask me. He's an awesome guy, one of the greatest men, I have ever met, strong in body and character, smarter than me, with deep, soulful brown eyes that make me want to lose myself within them. He's got blonde-wheat colored hair, that makes me think of haystacks and what we could do in one. I want to run my fingers through it," I said in a husky voice, as I leaned up to slide my fingers, through the hair of my best friend, looking him right in the eyes. Ron's eyes were wide for a second, then he smiled. "I've had a crush on him for months now, but he never seemed to notice, since before he even started improving himself," I said coyly.
"Kim, will you go to the Spring Dance, with me," he asked.
"Well, I thought you never ask, Ronald Stoppable, and I would be honored to be your date for this and any future dances, or things of that nature," I said, and slid onto his lap bringing his lips to mine. NOW, I'M ON FIRE.