"Big Time"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
The recruitment trilogy wraps up with this chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The characters and places of the TV show 'Kim Possible' do not belong to me. They are property of Disney and the show's creative staff.
Part Eight - Have You, Possible? (04.05.07)
Global Justice Headquarters
22 Hours Until the Senior Class Graduation from Middleton High...
"Do you always try to kill recruits like this?" Ron yelled at Will, grabbing him by the collar with both hands. "That's my Kimmie in there!"
"If you knew your girlfriend any better, Stoppable, you'd know that she can do anything."
All of a sudden, Rufus sounded off, jumping up and down as he pointed down towards the maze course below. Ron and Will peered over the railing and saw that the latch on the top of the chamber had just been pushed open. And Kim, hair drenched and all, emerged from the nearly-filled room.
Will smirked. "See? She can do anything? Congratulations."
He patted Ron on the back, then ran off the observation platform and down to meet Kim. Ron, amazed yet relieved to see his girl alive, followed without hesitation.
By the time Will and Ron had reached Kim, she had already been handed a towel to wrap around her hair. But she was still soaked, dripping water on the floor beneath her. Her state didn't deter Ron's worries of her, though, as he ran up and gave her a hug.
"Kim! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Ron, I'm fine!"
"Look, we'll sue! They tried to kill you!"
"Ron... will you..."
"You just can't stand the competition, can you?" Ron shouted, looking at Will. "So you went and set up this elaborate fake trial thingy just to get her in a position to kill her!"
"RON!"
"Kim, not now!"
"Ron, listen to me!" Kim said, grabbing Ron and turning him around. "They weren't trying to kill me! It was a simple test of teamwork. And you did wonderful!"
"I... I did?"
"I have to admit," Will smirked at Ron, "without your guidance, Kimberly wouldn't have made it to that last harrowing trap."
"And I wouldn't trust my life to anyone else," vouched Kim.
"Wow... that's great! Boo-ya!"
"Don't boo-ya just yet, Stoppable," interrupted Agent Du. "Now the roles are reversed... it's your turn to run the maze."
Ron thought for a second, remembering everything that Kim went through. He then gulped in fear.
"Uh... I don't suppose there's a kiddie-sized version?"
Twenty minutes later, Ron emerged from the same maze. His clothes were soaked, his uniform pants were slightly singed and they had a hole in the backside... revealing the back of Ron's boxer shorts.
"GJ operatives are required to pay for their own replacement uniforms," Will told Ron as he recorded Ron's test results.
"Doesn't nearly burning my butt off count for extra credit?" Ron asked, as Kim tried to hide her own snickering.
Kim and Ron's next test involved answering a series of questions being asked by Will, which they had to respond to by writing the answers on a notepad. But they had to make sure they got the same answer, even though they were separated by a makeshift wall and they couldn't talk to each other.
"First question... two plus three equals?"
Kim and Ron quickly wrote '5' and showed it to Will.
"Okay. How about this... the number of states in the United States is?"
Kim produced an answer almost immediately, holding up '50.' Ron struggled for a few seconds, but then he too ended up writing '50.'
"Who's the 16th President of the United States?"
Once again, Kim came with a fast response, showing 'Lincoln.' Ron was quick too. But he wrote down 'Old guy with an axe.' Will responded by pressing a button on a control panel next to him. A panel in the floor opened up and sprayed both Kim and Ron with milk.
"RON!"
"What? I thought the guy with the axe was 16th!"
"That's George Washington, and he was the 1st!"
"Ahem..." Will coughed. "Next question... what cheat code do you enter to immediately skip to Level 33 of 'Mole Monsters from Planet Jupiter?'"
"What kind of question is THAT?"
The panel opened once again and Kim and Ron were subjected to another does of squirted milk.
"Come on, Kim, we're not supposed to talk! Besides, everyone knows the answer to that one!"
Ron held up, in arrow form, 'left right up up left left right down.' Will responded... by pressing a different button. This time, the panel opened up, and a tomato came flying out... hitting Ron square in the face.
"I thought this was supposed to test how well we knew each other!" Kim shouted at Will. "Not what we knew about pop culture!"
"Any standard GJ operative knows to be prepared for anything, Miss Possible."
Kim seemed miffed as she blew up a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face... before she got pelted with a tomato of her own.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Kim asked Will with worry in her voice.
"Hey, that was my line!" Ron shouted.
Kim and Ron were glancing up at the ceiling as they guided a metal pole through a series of turns and pipes. The goal was to get from one end to the other without having the pole touch anything. That was because the entire course had electricity coursing through it.
Which meant if the pole touched anything in the maze...
ZAP!
Kim and Ron released their grip when they were suddenly shocked after the pole clipped a pipe. Kim growled at Ron as the hair on both of their heads was standing on end, frazzled by the charge.
Another question...
"Which would you rather eat? A garden salad or a bowl of nacos?"
Kim predictably wrote 'bowl of nacos,' because, as much as she disagreed with it, she knew Ron would write the same thing.
That is... until Will pulled out a launcher gun of some sort and pelted her and Ron with Diablo sauce.
"Heh heh..." Ron laughed nervously, unaware of the annoyed look on Kim's face. "You picked nacos, didn't you?"
Kim and Ron were next on a dodgeball court, where it was just them versus five GJ operatives, with three dodgeballs. As Ron screamed his head off in fear, Kim did whatever she had to in order to keep them both 'alive.' Whether it was leaping out of the way, pulling Ron out of harm's way, or catching a ball or two, she was making sure nothing got to her boyfriend.
But when Kim broke away from Ron to grab a loose ball, a member of the opposing team decided to go after her. He tossed it towards Kim's hind leg, and she didn't see it coming.
Luckily, Ron did, as he dived in and caught the ball in the nick of time. As he landed, Kim got to the ball she was chasing and immediately chucked it at the guy who just threw at her. He tried to catch it, but it hit his hands and fell to the floor. Ron then tossed the one he caught up to Kim, who immediately caught the last remaining opponent off-guard, drilling him just above his left foot.
"Game!" Will called, who had been officiating the match.
"Nice save!" Kim complimented Ron.
"Nice throw!" Ron thanked back.
Back to the pole-guiding task, where Kim and Ron were giving it a second go... and they were only a few feet away from completion...
"Easy..." Kim told Ron, "Easy..."
Getting through the last obstacle, they guided the pole across the finish line, thereby passing the test. Kim and Ron celebrated by high-fiving each other.
Back to question matching...
"When did you two first meet?"
Kim and Ron both wrote down 'First Day of Kindergarten.'
"In what city was your first mission?"
The two agreed again, this time answering 'Upperton.'
"Your best moment together?"
The two thought about it for a minute before answering. They both ended up writing 'Our kiss at the Senior Prom.'
"Last one... do you like me as a friend?"
Kim and Ron glanced at each other, even though they couldn't see through the 'wall,' and tried to think of what the other might respond. Kim wrote something down, then closed her eyes in fear as she revealed her answer. A feeling of relief swept over her when she heard Will applauding them.
"You guys really ARE geniuses."
Will then got up from his seat and walked off. Ron jumped up from his and walked over to Kim, holding up his notepad. Kim was still holding hers. Both of them read 'Yes.'
"How'd you know?" asked Ron.
"Eh..." Kim shrugged her shoulders. "Just a hunch."
After a brief rest period, Will led Kim and Ron to their final test, which was being held in Sector C-3.
"We're almost finished," Will said to them. "Just one more test, Kimberly, and we'll have made our decision."
"About time," Kim replied. "Naturally, this is all just a formality..."
"As for you, Stoppable..."
"Yes?"
"You're done."
"What?" Kim and Ron exclaimed simultaneously.
"You don't need to take this last test. We've already made our decision on you."
"You mean he didn't make the cut?"
"But... but..." Ron stuttered, "I did everything you asked of me!"
"That's not my call to make. The higher-ups decide how many tests each recruit should have to take before they pass judgment on who's in and who's out."
"Wait a minute!" Kim remembered. "Ron and I are doing this together! If I make it, he does too! If he doesn't, I'm leaving with him!"
"I never said if Ron was in or out. All I said is that he won't be needed on this final test."
Kim looked at Ron, confused as to what to do. Ron, for once, had realized the truth... and he was going to tell Kim that.
"It all rests on you, Kim! How you do here determines whether we get in or not?"
"But why am I deciding our fate? No offense, but wouldn't they be more worried about you as a GJ agent than me?"
"This is probably some test of leadership or something," deduced Ron. "It's like commanding the cheer squad... piece of cake!"
"Well... if you say so..."
"Kim... I know so! Now.. go in there and pass this for the both of us!"
Kim nodded, then turned towards Will.
"I'm ready."
"Very well," Agent Du said, opening the door heading into C-3. "After you..."
Kim walked inside just as another GJ operative walked out.
"Could you escort Stoppable back to the waiting room?" Agent Du asked of the operative. "Miss Possible will join him once she finishes this exam."
"Of course, Agent Du!" the operative responded before looking at Ron and pointing down the westbound corridor. "This way, please."
Ron nodded and walked away with him. Will then followed the corridor that Kim took, closing the door behind him.
Kim instantly realized why Will didn't want Ron to take this one last test. Given what she was about to do, if she knew about it beforehand, she would've decided to not take it either.
"I suggest you take these," Will told Kim, giving her a pair of goggles and a pair of earplugs.
Will then got his own set and put them on and in. Once Kim did the same, he led her into GJ's firing range, which for the moment was empty save for the lone technician working the controls that moved the targets.
"Are you sure this is necessary?" Kim asked. "I've never seen you use a firearm."
Will touched a panel on the wall to his left, opening up a hidden compartment that had about a dozen or so small guns in it.
"This is a Beretta 92F, standard issue for all GJ operatives. And this is a 15-bullet cartridge of 9mm Luger... also standard issue."
He handed the pistol and the cartridge to her. He then grabbed a set of his own from the compartment. He loaded the cartridge and stepped up to one of the shooting range booths. He prepared to aim at one of the targets when he noticed that Kim hadn't moved an inch since she was handed the gun.
"It figures... you've never held a real gun before. Have you, Possible?"
"Why do we need to know how to use guns? It's not like we're going to get into shootouts with villains and the like."
"True... but it's standard procedure for every operative to know how to use one in the unfortunate event that it's needed."
Kim still seemed very apprehensive of it all.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've never used a gun outside of this shooting range. Have never needed to."
"Well... okay then..."
Kim stepped up to the booth next to Will's and aimed at a bullseye 250 meters away. Her right arm refused to stay steady, as it shook furiously in fear of what Kim was about to do.
"Just relax!" Agent Du told her. "Once you do, the rest will come to you!"
Kim tried to focus on the task ahead as she stared at the target in front of her.
"You're sure this is the place?" Agent Delta asked as he watched two fellow agents set up charges on the ground.
"This is where the intel said Global Justice had an entry port," Agent Charlie replied. "Now, will you let Agent Golf and Agent Juliet do their job?"
"All set!" Agent Golf exclaimed, putting the finishing touches on the device.
He then started running a wire back to Agent Juliet, who was kneeling beside the detonator about 400 meters away. With her were Agent Kilo, Agent Oscar, and Agent Quebec, who were standing by. As Agent Golf and Agent Juliet completed the set up, Agent Charlie and Agent Delta were 400 meters out on the opposite side of where the charges lied, giving a thumbs up signal to them.
"I love the smell of stuff exploding in the day!" proclaimed Agent Juliet.
"Just press the button already!" Agent Golf shouted at her.
"TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!"
She pressed on the detonator, setting off the charges instantly.
Ka-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
To be continued in Part 9 - Coming in two weeks!