1Disclaimer: Really doesn't cover anything.
"I'm guessing those aren't our friends," said Bonnie, whose angst had given way to anger to an extent.
"You guessed correctly," said Wade matter-of-factly. "I don't know who they are, but I'd recommend tilting the steering wheel forward...HARD." Bonnie did as he commanded, and the Sloth dove below the surface of the water. The dive threw Kim into the back of the passenger seat. Another volley pierced the waves, but failed to reach the submerged vehicle.
"Bonnie...," Kim started, but she was cut off.
"Please do not distract the driver while the vehicle is in motion," replied Bonnie snippily.
"Maybe you should let the person who has, you know, actually driven this in and on the water..."
"Wade, please tell Kim that this is not the best time for a Chinese Fire Drill."
"Sorry, Kim, it looks like she'll have to be the one to get you out of this," said Wade. Ron and Rufus looked at each other in horror.
"We're doomed," moaned Ron.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Besides, they can't shoot us as long as we're down here." Bonnie did bring up a valid point. Kim responded with an equally valid point.
"We can't stay down here forever. We'll have to surface before they run out of fuel and ammo. Speaking of which, Wade, do you have a better idea about who's up there?"
"I'm working on it," answered Wade with a hint of frustration.
"Apparently they're not especially concerned about the environment," said Bonnie.
"What makes you say that?" asked Ron.
"Looks like they just dropped a barrel of waste right in front of us," Bonnie said, pointing to the drum sinking just ahead of them.
"That's no drum of waste," said Kim. "It's a depth charge! PULL UP!"
"How do I do that?!?" yelled Bonnie.
"Pull the steering wheel down, towards the floor." Bonnie did as Wade directed, and the Sloth shot towards the surface. Kim and Ron were thrown back. Just as the Sloth emerged into the open air, the depth charge detonated, sending some higher waves over the car. Rufus jumped onto a button on the dashboard, and the Tweeb-designed rockets at the back of the Sloth ignited. As the Sloth rose higher and higher above the waves, more bullets flew from the choppers' guns towards their target. This time, a few made contact. Most of them merely dented the Sloth's reinforced exterior, but one lodged in the windshield.
"How do I fire back?" asked Bonnie with hints of urgency, anger and panic.
"We don't have any guns on here!" yelled Kim.
"Brilliant, abso-freaking-lutely brilliant!" said a seething Bonnie, "Did it ever occur to you to, like, defend yourself? No wonder you always have to face the same damn bad guys over and over again. Especially that blue guy and the green chick. I swear, it's like every other time you ditched cheerleading and left me in charge..."
"Which you were always so broken up about," snapped Kim.
"Ladies, can we focus on the fact that there are two helicopters up here TRYING TO SHOOT US?!?" Ron interrupted the bickering. After another volley shot out the taillights, Kim decided that she had had enough.
"Just step on it and let's fight them another time, on our terms," Kim told Bonnie, but she was not the mood to take any more such orders from Kim. No one was going to take away Bonnie's chance to destroy those who had taken so much away from her. She only had the rudiments of her plan formulated, but the part she had come up with did not involve running away from these thugs. She had to show Kim a thing or two.
"Another time? And just how exactly do you know that next time they won't have like, missiles or nukes or some other crap that could blow us up?"
"You remember when we stopped Dementor? Let's just say he was one of the more straightforward of the bad villains I've faced," Kim retorted.
"There's a first time for everything, K. Let's make sure there is no next time." Ron and especially Kim were taken aback by Bonnie's attitude. "You might want to buckle up for this."
Rufus went back into his "cabin" below the passenger seat and strapped himself in, while Kim buckled herself in the middle of the back seat to give her a clear view out the front. Suddenly the car pitched forward and headed for the water at an uncomfortably high speed, drawing screams of sheer terror from Ron and an admonition from Wade.
"This car can take a lot, but let's try to exercise some restraint!" yelled Wade, watching the Sloth's telemetry.
As the vehicle neared the ocean, Bonnie pulled the steering column to the floor so hard Kim was afraid that she would bend or break it. The Sloth responded to Bonnie's input by leveling out and then rising at a higher and higher angle. Kim, Ron and Rufus responded to Bonnie's maneuvers first by being pressed against their restraints, then by being pressed just as hard into their seats. The Sloth was unscathed by the latest volley from the helicopters.
"Now to finish those suckers off," said Bonnie, grinning ear to ear in a way that Ron was all too familiar with and yet somehow not as repulsed by as Kim would probably like him to be. The helicopters were side by side, right in front of the Sloth, and they were on a collision course.
"Bonnie, if this is about me talking Junior into breaking up with you, I can explain," Ron said as he averted his eyes and awaited the inevitable. But the inevitable never came, as Bonnie pulled up just in front of the oncoming choppers. The guns, which had been locked on the Sloth, failed to recognize that there was now something in between them and their target. The rotors on each helicopter were shredded in a matter of seconds, and they began to tumble into the churning waters. Team Possible was stunned and relieved about this turn of events.
"Bonnie...that...was...AMAZING!" Ron finally spat out after finding and using an empty Bueno Nacho bag.
"Hnk, yeah, awesome!" added Rufus.
"I knew you had beaten me in driver's ed, but this was something else!" said Kim, "How did you know what you were doing up there?"
"It's like driving, only in the air and in the water. Once Wade told me how to go up and down, everything else pretty much just made sense." Bonnie calmly explained as she brought the craft back down to the water. They pulled up next to the wreckage. Circling around the flotsam, they looked for a door on one of the helicopters, but could not find one. Upon this discovery, Kim called up Wade.
"Wade, I've got good news and bad news," said Kim.
"Can you tell him while I drive us home?" said Bonnie.
"No, I'd kind like to take the wheel from here. If my parents were to catch you driving this car, they'd start lecturing me about how much they're paying for insurance, and then they'd probably try to get Dr. Director on my case about it as well." Kim's explanation was enough for Bonnie, and they switched places. "Go Wade."
"You're the one who had the news," Wade reminded Kim.
"Oh, right. Anyway, we took care of the mystery guests..."
"I took care of the mystery guests," Bonnie interrupted Kim.
"And nearly made us hork all over this car," added Ron, who was never a big fan of Bonnie one-upping Kim like that.
"Enough from you two. Anyway, I couldn't find any sort of doors on the chopper than hadn't sunk yet. I'm thinking drones. Any idea yet where they may have come from?"
"I've been tracking the source of the command signal," said Wade. "It seems to be emanating from an empty field not really near much of anything."
"Something can't come from nothing," replied Ron.
"I always thought Wade was the brains of the operation, but I guess I was wrong," commented Bonnie from the back seat.
"It must be coming from underground. I'll switch to a larger view to see if there are any tunnels leading towards or away from there. I'll let you know if I find anything."
"Please and thank you," said Kim.
"Let's get back to Middleton." said Bonnie after a long pause. "Sorry about getting your car all shot up. I hope your brothers are up for some body work this weekend."
"I guess there's nothing like dogfighting with two unmanned helicopters to take your mind off a break-up," said Ron.
"And nothing like spending five minutes with my sisters to put my mind back on it," retorted Bonnie with a hint of sadness. Ron wondered whether he had set off the waterworks yet again. He and Rufus braced for impact from the inevitable outburst, cowering for one, two, three minutes before they finally let their guard down.
"Look, if he broke up with me just because of something you said, then he obviously wasn't that into me. The fact that he took anything you said seriously says a lot about his brain capacity." Ron scowled briefly at this shot, recalling a number of times when Bonnie had witnessed his "crazy" theories proved true. "I mean, back when we first got together, I was not looking for a genius; far from it. But I had more enlightening conversations with his Cuddle Buddies."
"Junior was a Cuddler?" interrupted Kim.
"Yes, but that's not important right now. The important thing is that if I have to go back to Middleton, no one can make a big thing out of this. So, Kim, you will keep any talk of this outside of Club Banana." Kim nodded in agreement. Monique was not especially adept at keeping things under wraps.
"Where are you going to stay, Bonnie? I've got family in town, so unless you want to sleep in the garage, my house is out of the question."
"I was planning on crashing at Tara's for tonight. She doesn't make a big deal about break-ups. She's, like, the president-for-life of the BAM club."
"The what?" asked Ron.
"Boyfriend-a-month club," explained Bonnie. "I'm not sure she's ever had anything beyond a second date. It's like she's holding out for someone in particular." Kim looked at Ron a little uneasily. After a tense moment, they realized that they were close to the U.S. mainland, it was nearly sunset, and they didn't have any head or taillights. Fortunately, they came ashore in a decently-sized town with a strip mall that had an auto parts store and a Bueno Nacho, allowing them to stop for dinner as well.
--
It was a long drive back to Middleton. This gave Bonnie a lot of time to think about her situation. She had just had the rest of her life pulled out from under her by the very same forces that had put her on that track to begin with. Her gravy train had jumped the rails, gone off the bridge and exploded. No one got away with taking so much from her, and now she had a way to get back at those who had wronged her. Showing her usefulness to Kim and Ron was vital if this plan were to work, although they didn't know it yet. Patience had never been Bonnie's strong suit, but it was becoming clear to her as she fleshed out the details of her plan that this would not and could not happen overnight. She knew she could not do this alone, but if she played her cards right, no one would ever cross Bonnie Rockwaller again.
A/N: So Bonnie's driving skills translate to flying and submarine piloting skills? I hope that wasn't too much of a reach. Once again, I thank all of my readers and reviewers. I hope to have the next chapter up before this year is out.