Chapter 2: He said what to WHO?!

Walking sedately to his Algebra class (he was already late anyhow, why exert himself...) Ron took a deep breath and opened the door, interrupting the class and gaining the attention of the very irate teacher. Walking in and past said educator, every pair of eyes took in his dishelved appearance as he took the seat that was left last, in front of Mr. Barkin.

"Stoppable!" he yelled, jolting the students into a ramrod straight collective. Except for Ron, who was still sitting comfortably, but alert, in his seat. "Why in the name of all that is HOLY and GOOD are you coming into MY CLASS 10 MINUTES LATE?!" As Mr. Barkin was starting on a roll, the telltale vein in his right temple was bulging and his neck muscles bunched up, swelling his head and neck, as well as turning them red, as his tirade continued unabated.

Ron, to his credit, withstood the verbal onslaught with a stoic look on his features, resigned to the major-league butt chewing that was happening. Mr. Barkin seeing the look on Ron's face, stopped about the quarterway of what was called the punctuality speech and asked the normally cowering teen, "What do you have to say for yourself? Why were you late?!"

Yet the response that came next was baffling to everyone, and with a shrug and a devil may care smile, Ron uttered,

"Because I wanted to be."

You could hear a pin drop in that class. Wanted to be late to any one of Mr. Barkins classes? The generalized thoughts that were popping onto the rest of the class was 'is he insane?' or ' Ron just pushed the Giant red button'. Kim was equally as baffled.

Ron wanting to be late? she thought as she was processing the momentous occasion. Ron knows that being late gets detentions and extra homework, but wanting to be late?! What happened that made Ron flip... Kim's mental gears working to solve her friends mental state.

Mr. Barkin's reaction was not as expected. Instead of a long lecture going into the virtues on punctuality and tact that usually ended with a weekend long assignment, his eyes narrowed and tunnelled into Ron, like boresights on very large caliber weapons.

"So you finally grew a backbone and took responsibility for your self, huh? Good!" Barkin slammed his meaty fist down on the desk that was in front of Stoppable, shaking the already unsturdy frame to the stress point. "It seems that your constant tardiness and general disrespect for authority has left me with one recourse, you are going to be my PT buddy."

That utterance, in the class' mind, was the end of Ron Stoppable. Since being a former Marine, Mr. Barkin took the worst troublemakers in school and PT'd with them until the poor sap was limp as angel hair pasta, or the person gave up and did something that made their mind snap. Ron was a dead man.

"Understood, Mr. B," Ron said. Bristling at the shortening of his name, Mr. Barkin turned around and began the lesson anew. Kim was looking askance at her best friend, thinking that his mind definately snapped. Maybe the fact that it's junior year and his grades mean what colleges he goes to stressed him to the breaking point? she thought. Meanwhile, a sophmore boy was telling his story about Ron and the two bullies, with the students listening in or eavesdropping. One thought was weaving through all of the captive audience, when did Ron stoppable learn to fight?

Lunch at Middleton High was, as usual, a cavalcade of sounds and sights. Bonnie and her pack fully ensconsed at the "cool people" table, even there was nothing denoting that. All the different high school cliques mingling of causing animosity toward one another. Walking in through the double doors, Ron made a beeline to the lunchline, wanting to get in and out as soon as possible.

'well it didn't help that you and Barkin had a tete-a- tete over you being late.' Ron's logical side argued, 'OH, and having a helpless kid getting beat the hell up was a good excuse? Sorry Mr. B, I was late because I was beating the snot of two thugs, yeah that would go over well.'

Ron got his food, (or what passed for food, in his opinion,) and sat down at an unused table. While trying to decipher the contents of the latest abomination from the cafeteria, He didn't notice Kim coming and sitting forcefully in front of him. (Forcefully in the fact that his tableware rattled when she slammed down her books.)

"Did you completely slip a gear?!" Kim hissed, wanting to know what possessed her friend to take action against Barkin, while Ron was snacking on french fries. " Instead of extra work, you now get to suffer physically with Barkin of all people! what has gotten into you?"

Ron shhook his head, swallowed his food and looked at the outside scenery while talking, " Kim, Barkin has had it out for me since the percieved 'weird look' I gave him back in freshman year. I figured since that I was going to be late, I would own up to it." Ron shrugged. Looking back at the food, Ron shot it a disgusted look at it and got up to dispose of it.

Kim, not liking the answer that was given, gathered her stuff and continued to query him. " But what if you get hurt while doing this?" Ron shrugged again, walking out the door, "I'll recover, I always do. I'm your sidekick" With that, Ron strolled out with Kim walking next to him. Kim was still worried about Ron, and frowned about the sidekick comment. He was her partner, not sidekick."

"Well well, I heard your loser friend got Barkin's 'slaughterhouse' session as punishment for once. I hope he brought a box of tissues and a security blanket", a snobbish voice rang out to Kim. Turning around, Kim saw Bonnie and her entoruage walking toward her, haughitly and noses in the air. This grated on Kim, as the Co-captain of the cheer squad decided to brighten Kim's day, like napalm on a battlefield.

"What do you want, B?" Kim said exasperated by Bonnie's continued antics. "Well, K, since Ron is going to be chewed up in Barkin's meatgrinder, He won't be needed this weekend at the competition in Upperton this weekend. "Ron is going to be okay, you'll see." Kim said, but Ron took the wind out of her sails.

"Kim if Bonnie doesn't want me there, she has that choice. I'm not going." Everybody around was shocked silent. Two bombshells in one day, you are on a roll Stoppable. Oh, shut up. Flabbergasted, the two captains watched as Ron nonchalantly walked away. Kim was really worried now. I'm going to call Wade, because seeing Ron acting this way is really out of the norm! Spinning around, Kim glared daggers at Bonnie. " Ron isn't a loser Bonnie, you know that! When we were all trapped by Gill, he was the only one that beat him in his own environment."

"So what Kim?" Bonnie shot back. "He has an absuurd fear of monkies of all sorts, he runs around like an idiot on your 'missions' and is a coward when a garden gnome is placed within eyesight. He only goes with you because you have him by the short and curlies!"

"You don't know what Ron does on missions! He..." Kim was about to argue her point when Bonnie interrupted.

"What, tries to get into your pants?" she jibed, "Please, the constant looks that he gives you, kow-towing to your every whim. Even after Middleton Days, he was still around you like flies on crap." Kim blushed when Bonnie brought up Middleton Days. One of the unknown side effects was that she remembered the entire ordeal, even kissing Ron. She had Wade hack into Dr. Bortel's schematics library to find out anything on the moodulator. Wade told her that all it did was remove the inhibitions of the subject, not overriding them, as he tought previously. Kim and Wade kept that info safely hidden because... well she didn't have a good reason.

To Kim, it felt right to her. But after going beserk on the floats and nearly scaring Ron half to death, she had some issues to work through, thinking chiefly that Ron just wanted to be friends.

"Look, if he survives Barkin he goes with us if I can convince him. If he is dead on his feet, he stays, deal?" Kim asked, knowing that Bonnie would add something for her.

"Only if I can be on top of the pyramid when Ron can't go." Bonnie added.

"Deal" Kim agreed.

"Deal" Bonnie also agreed. As Bonnie was walking away to class, Kim looked back to where her friend was, hoping that he would survive the grueling workout that Barkin was going to subject Ron to.

up next: 1,2,3,4, I love the Marine Corps