Author's notes: Thanks once again to Ghostwhiter for the excellent job done in beta reading. I would also like to thank those of you who left reviews. Don't forget contructive criticisim with the praise if necessary! I'm sorry I have been so long with an update. You can blame King in Yellow and Commander Argus, if it wasn't for their bon diggity stories I would have more time to type. :)
As alway, itailicized text denotes active thought. Now on with the show!
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and related characters are property of Disney
The bruising under his eye was just about gone by Friday. "Let it never be said that Motor Ed can't throw a punch," Ron thought as he examined himself in the locker room mirror after cheer practice. He finished changing and went out in the hallway, leaning back against the wall to wait for Kim. Kim was a bit faster than the other girls though and was out in just a few minutes.
"Hey Ron! So did you decide where we're going to hangout at? Bueno Nacho?"
"Nuh Uh, KP. We're going to Mount Middleton. We haven't had to snowboard on a mission in a while and I want to make sure you aren't getting too rusty," Ron replied with just a hint of a smirk. She raised her eyebrows and gave him a look and he couldn't help but crack a full smile. "Though Bueno Nacho drive through would give us more time on the slopes."
Kim rolled her eyes as they headed out to her car, "Figures. Your snowboard is at my house, you need anything from home before we take off?"
"Yeah, just drop me off and I will pick you up from your house in a little while."
"Your Mom's letting you drive the station wagon?" Kim asked, a bit surprised that they wouldn't be taking her new car.
"Not anymore KP, you'll see," Ron replied with a grin.
"You didn't get a new scooter did you?" she asked with trepidation.
He looked at her with mock sadness, "no, the rents were against another scooter." He broke into a smile again, "They knew the tweebs would just put rocket boosters on it for me again."
Kim pulled up in front of Ron's house. The contractor had already installed the new window and had patched the holes in the walls from the fight with Motor Ed. It was actually beginning to look normal again. With the way he was getting better during their sparring sessions she could see him taking out Motor Ed solo. What she couldn't believe was that Ron had spent Valentine's Day with Shego of all people. "He said they only ate, talked, and watched TV, but I still don't like it. I really should hook him up with someone. I know a few girls that think he's turning into a real hottie," she thought.
"Earth to KP, just passed my house," Ron said lightheartedly. "Whatcha thinking about?"
Kim blushed slightly, "Sorry Ron. Just thinking about how nice it's going to be to go snowboarding without having to chase a villain or run from an avalanche or anything." She backed up looking curiously up the driveway only to find it empty, as usual. "He must have it in the garage." "OK Ron, pick me up in a little while?" she asked as he grabbed his backpack and got out of the car. "I have to grab the snowboards and give Erik a quick call."
"Sure thing KP, I'll be over in a little bit."
Ron pulled into the driveway of clan Possible just as Kim was hauling out their snowboarding gear, the engine of his truck growling mightily. He turned off the engine and hopped out. "So what do you think?" he asked, sweeping his arms grandly in front of his truck.
Kim walked around the truck, looking it over. "Ugh, neon green." "It's great Ron, how did you get it?"
"The judge awarded it to my parents as restitution for the damages to the house. I paid for the damages out of my account and my parents gave me the truck." He grabbed the snowboards and bags and put them in the backseat. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Kim said, climbing into the cab. "Black leather seats, that'll be a bit warm in the summer," she commented."What are all the buttons for?" she asked curiously, pointing at a panel of buttons and switches. It was covered with a clear plastic box which was labeled, "Ron no touchy'.
"Red, this truck is tricked out, seriously," Ron said in his best imitation of Motor Ed's voice.
"Come on Ron, seriously, what are they for?"
"Seriously?" he asked back again.
He began laughing as she swatted at him playfully. "Now you've got me doing it," she stated, exasperated.
He backed out of the driveway and headed towards Bueno Nacho. "Wade just got the truck back to me while we were at school today. I don't know what they all do," Ron began quizzically. "He did mention the he removed the bugs and tracking chips as well as the missile launcher and self destruct mechanism. Wade said he won't unlock the buttons until I study the manual he made up for them and passed a test," he finished gloomily.
Kim popped open the glove box and pulled out the manual Wade had put there to begin reading. Noticing some of the things in the manual, Kim had to agree with Wade. "It's probably for the best, you have enough trouble driving without worrying about nitrous boosters and ejector seats. This is a bench seat too," she added a little apprehensively.
"Yeah, I guess. But it is my truck," Ron stated.
The screen in the middle of the dashboard sprung to life. "You did ask me to make sure it was safe to use," Wade said as his face appeared on the screen. "So how is it driving?"
"Great Wade. Thanks by the way," Ron said, properly admonished.
Kim grabbed the wheel and pulled them back into their lane. "Even better if you'd keep your eyes on the road Ron!" she chided.
"Sorry KP," Ron said chuckling, "you know me and TV." He swiveled the screen to face Kim so he wouldn't be tempted to look.
"No problem Ron, the parts I got from Motor Ed's more dangerous additions more than made up for the cost of removing them." Wade stated, taking another sip of his soda.
"Enough to get a new paint job?" Kim asked with a smirk.
"Sorry Kim, the paint is a special mixture that contains titanium alloys. It would be easier to replace the entire body than to try to strip it and the clear coat is super smooth, it won't hold conventional paint to well."
"These villains always go so overboard," Ron stated thoughtfully. "Can't they ever do anything simple? Hey! What's wrong with the paint job!"
Kim looked at him with raised eyebrows, "Wade?"
"Umm, Ron? You do realize it's green with a black interior. You know, like Shego's suit," Wade asked, a bit of skepticism.
"Oh, I never noticed. Motor Ed does have a bit of a thing for her," Ron replied.
They chatted the rest of the way up to the ski resort and picked up their lift tickets.
"You have reached Professor Dementor's answering machine. I will not be able to answer your call today because I will BE IN MY LAB EXPERIMENTING ALL NIGHT!!! I will return your phone call tomorrow. GOODBYE!!" The answering machine beeped as Dr. Drakken growled. Professor Dementor's habit of finishing each sentence with shouting annoyed him to no end. His fingers danced over the keyboard as he attempted to trace the call. He smiled with glee, rubbing his hands together as the trace completed.
"Oh how obvious!" He groaned. "The time share lair." He grabbed the phone off of the control console and dialed Shego's cell phone number, putting her on speakerphone so he could pace while he ranted.
The line picked up on the other end. "Ello."
"Shego, where are you? I need you here right now."
"You aren't going to try to drag me off to karaoke again are you?" she asked. "If so I'll have to decline."
"Oooo it's Friday?" he asked excited. A few of the henchmen shook their heads.
"Yeah, but you obviously had something else you wanted to talk about," she replied, trying to draw his mind to something, anything, other than singing.
"Oh. Right you are Shego. I have discovered a way to protect ourselves from the sleep ray."
"How so Dr. D.?" she asked curiously.
"A neural shield!" he exclaimed proudly.
"And you made one?" she asked surprised.
"Um, well, no. But I know who has. Professor Dementor. Remember when I tried to zap him with my truth ray at the last Villian's Convention?"
"Yeah, you asked him where he had hidden the plans for his latest doomsday device that he was bragging about." She paused for a few seconds, "Dementor told you that they were in his hotel room under his pillow."
"That's enough Shego," Dr. Drakken warned, moving to turn off the speaker a little too late.
"You snuck into the room that night and tried to get the plans from under the pillow and found out he had given you DNAmy's room number!" She finished chuckling evilly. The henchmen in the room with Drakken broke out into laughter.
"That's not funny!" Dr. Drakken yelled.
"No the funny part was when she woke up and caught you. I never saw you run out of a room so fast. And her pajamas, eww." Shego shuddered on the other end of the phone at the memory. The henchmen were laughing so hard they had tears running down their cheeks.
Dr. Drakken was fuming. "OUT! Get out all of you!" He grabbed a baton from one of the henchmen and chased them out of the room, chucking it down the hall at them. He went to the console and picked up the phone, grumbling. "Shego, how many times do I have to talk to you about undermining my authority?"
"Sorry sport, I couldn't help myself, it's your fault for putting me on speakerphone. So what did you find out about Professor Dementor?"
"He wears a neural shield at all times," Dr. Drakken said flatly, his urge to rant gone.
"You mean that stupid mask he wears?" Shego asked.
"Yes Shego. And I want you to relieve him of it tonight. He will be in the timeshare lair. Bring it to me so I can replicate it."
"Consider it done Dr. D.," she began, "oh, and don't hold up karaoke on my account." Shego flipped her cell phone closed and went to prepare for her mission.
Kim and Ron had snowboarded down a half a dozen times and were having a great time.
"We should get going KP, it's going to get dark soon," Ron said as they removed their snowboards at the bottom of the run. The sun would be setting and it would be getting hard to the dips on the slopes.
Kim used her most powerful weapon, the Puppy Dog Pout. "Just one more time Ron?" she asked playfully.
"Oh, sure thing KP." "I could never say no to you."
BEEP BEEP DE BEEP..
Kim struggled to get the Kimmunicator out from her jacket, answering it on the third ring. "What's the sitch Wade?" she asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "It isn't his fault this always happens when I'm enjoying myself."
"I finally got a location on Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer, Professor Dementor has it," Wade stated excitedly.
"Coolio Wade, who ya got for a ride?" Ron asked with a grin, peering over Kim's shoulder.
"Well, you Ron. He's using the timeshare lair in Upperton."
"Alright Wade, we're on it!" Kim said enthusiastically.
Shego landed the hover car on a rooftop a few buildings down from the timeshare lair. She scanned the location, picking out sentry points she remembered from the last time that Dr. Drakken had been in the place. "Good, no new security features." She heard the rumble of a truck approaching and crouched further into the shadows. "What the hell, Motor Ed? He sure got out of jail fast. What is he doing here?" She was surprised when she saw Ron and Kim get out of the truck and dash into a nearby alley. They popped open a manhole cover and dropped down, pulling it over the hole behind them. "Crap, they have to be after Dementor too. Dr. D. said that he had that Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer again. I have to act fast." She leapt from the roof to land on an overhang and dropped lightly to the ground. She watched the security cameras, knowing that this part had to be timed perfectly. "Just like those times I slipped out for coffee," she thought with a grin. Dr. Drakken insisted that she be present whenever he was nearing a projects implementation. She thought of it as her duty as a villainess to defy his orders. She leapt into action, racing towards the lair as the security camera passed her. She stopped behind the dumpster and began her countdown, waiting for the gap in the security camera's arc before continuing. She reached zero and ran towards the compound, leaping off of a nearby light post to neatly clear the fence. She sprinted to the building, hitting the wall heavily, hoping that she had gotten the timing right. She didn't want to tip off the henchmen to her presence with Kim Possible in the area. They would all flock to her and she'd be busy fighting them off for a few minutes. It would make it impossible for her to get to Dementor before Kim carted off the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer and the diminutive man with it. She let a little bit of her plasma power flow to her fingertips and shoved them into the wall climbing hand over hand to the rooftop. "If Princess doesn't want to sneak in through the HVAC system, I will." Shego used her plasma to cut through a vent tube and slid into the darkness.
The storm drain ran to the parking garage of the timeshare lair. "Don't step into the puddles Ron. I don't think that's regular runoff," Kim stated as she stepped over the bright green pool.
"Ugh! Flashbacks of Camp Wannaweep!" Ron gasped quietly.
"So not the drama, beaver boy," Kim replied with a snicker. "Just be careful."
They made their way to the manhole cover in the parking garage and Ron moved it to the side. He boosted Kim up and pulled himself up afterward, setting the cover back in place as she stood watch. They crept to the doorway to the inside.
"So what's the plan KP? You want me to distract the goons while you get the PDVI?" Ron asked quietly.
Kim shook her head, "You get the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer. Dementor has never been much of a fighter. I'll be the distraction this time."
Ron was flabbergasted, but it was the easier job. He nodded his head in agreement. Kim pulled out her comb and used the fiber optic lock buster to unlock the door. They had been here several times before for the schemes of various villains, and knew about where they could expect the main laboratory to be located. They opened the door noting the layout hadn't changed since the mind-switching incident. There was a long passage lined with tall storage shelves leading up to the main lair. Kim stayed low while Ron clamored to the top of the storage shelves and tried to stay hidden. They both crept towards the open area in the back of the lair. Kim pulled out her Kissy Girl lip-gloss container and used the noxious fumes in it to incapacitate an inattentive guard. They could hear Professor Dementor ranting a little ways ahead. Glancing around to be sure no one was saw her, Kim flashed Ron a hand signal to show she was ready. He pulled out his grapple gun and gave her a nod as he slid back and disappeared into the shadows.
Kim sighed in resignation and pulled a classic Ron Stoppable maneuver as she knocked a pile of boxes over, scattering the contents all over the floor and causing quite the racket.
"Vat are you DOING! Be careful YOU IDIO… KIM POSSIBLE!! LOYAL HENCHMEN, ATTACK!!" shouted a diminutive man in a red button up uniform, sporting his trademark black mask. He pulled out a small metallic ball and pointed at Kim. The henchmen around the room all ran towards Kim as she readied herself for the fight.
Ron looked around quickly, "the sooner I find this thing, the sooner I can help Kim and we can escape." He spotted the PDVI on the table by some other piece of equipment the professor was working on. He grinned as he aimed his grapple gun at a beam on the ceiling halfway to the workbench. He cringed a little as he fired, the sound of the grapple gun could give him away. Luckily something clattered to the floor at that very instant, masking the sound as he swung towards the Professor Dementor and the PDVI. He chanced a glance towards Kim to make sure she was doing OK. He grinned as he saw her use a move that Yori had taught him, and he in turn had taught her.
Seconds earlier, Shego peered down from the vent she was hiding in. She saw Princess take out one of the guards undetected. "Where is Ron? She saw Kimmie look up and noticed Ron on the bookshelves, his grapple gun drawn. Kim knocked over some boxes drawing the attention of the guards. Shego readied herself to strike, a frown spread across her face as Ron aimed his grapple gun. "I didn't want to have to take out Stoppable. Maybe I can beat him to Dementor and make off with the mask before they recover." She kicked out the vent and leapt the short distance to the ground, running full tilt for Dementor. He saw her coming, warned by the sound of the fallen vent cover, and let out a yelp of surprise before turning to run.
Ron looked back to his 'landing zone' and caught a flash of green out the corner of his eye. It was Shego, running at the little man, determination etched upon her face.
"Ut oh." Rufus squeaked, peeking out from Ron's pocket as he saw his pet human on a collision course with the two villains. He dove back in the pocket for cover, clinging tightly to his chewed up nest of biology homework.
Ron gulped as he slammed into Dementor, knocking the little man to the floor and barreling into Shego, landing in a heap. Shego and Ron both sat up, dazed, as the little metallic ball bounced to them and let out a cloud of green mist. Shego leapt to her feet, a somewhat rattled Ron beside her and they each reached out for their goals. Ron scooped up the PDVI off the table and Shego snatched the black mask off of Professor Dementor's head. They were caught quite off guard, however, when they felt a tension pulling them back and they slammed back into each other. They looked down and tried to move apart, but were unable to separate more than an inch.
"What the hell!" Shego yelled, furious.
"Aww snap…" Ron said quietly.