Kim, Ron, and all other characters within are owned by the Walt Disney Corporation.
Episode 1: Awkwierd Silence
by Ultimate Naco Topping
A warm morning sun bathed Middleton, USA in a soft glow of peace, tranquility, and springtime. Birds chirped while fluttering about their morning chores. Squirrels left tracks in the morning dew as they went after their breakfast acorns. The citizens, up early for a Saturday morning, went about measuring the blast holes in their roofs and walls before setting off to the local hard ware store. Meanwhile a city garbage truck collected piles upon piles of devilish looking toys. As the truck's driver passed one particular ranch styled home, he wondered how they had repaired their damage so quickly, but realizing stranger things had already happened, he picked up two more of the fast food prizes and continued on his route.
--
In the breakfast nook, Dr. James Timothy Possible sat behind his morning paper looking proudly at the front page. Below the headline of "Kim Possible Foils Diablo Scheme – Dr. Drakken in Custody" was a picture of his teen hero daughter. Beaming confidently next to her was Ron Stoppable, her long-time best friend and sidekick. The pair watched as Drakken, Shego and the rest of his henchmen were hauled away by the authorities. The picture was almost perfect—almost. James was just about to wonder about where that Eric fellow was when…
Kim floated into the room almost on a cloud humming a light but familiar melody.
"Morning, Kimmie-cub," the Possible patriarch said.
"Morning, daddy," she replied giving her father a kiss on the forehead before continuing on to the cereal cabinet. As her father watched her resume humming and take a seat across from him in a love enhanced stupor, James decided no further questions about the previous night were needed. Everything seemed to have turned out all right.
Dr. Angela Possible's first observation upon entering her kitchen was of her daughter merely stirring her cereal around in her bowl. Eating it seemed to be the furthest thing from the young redhead's mind as she continued to hum away. To be young and in love, she thought pouring herself a cup of coffee before joining her husband.
"Good morning, Kimmie," she said. "Sorry we didn't wait up for you last night. How was the rest of the prom with Eric?"
A moment passed before the words registered in Kim's mind, but once they did her body jerked back as she dropped her spoon. A look of deer in headlights terror covered her face. Her parents stared back at her instantly suspicious of such a reaction. Her mind was off to the races Oh no! I completely forgot, she thought. How do I tell them about…?
"Kim, is there something you'd like to tell us?" Her father asked almost menacing. James had set down his paper and Angela had placed her hand on her hip. Worst of all, Kim was now facing every teenager's worst nightmare: the Double-Barreled Eyebrow of Parental Inquisition.
Kim took several quick breathes as her eyes darted around the room desperately avoiding eye contact with her parents. Her mouth tried to form words. Nothing came out, however, except a nervous rasping. She touched her face as her thoughts continued to swirl. Okay, Kim, you can do this. Nothing like good old no thrills honesty to get you through. Kim took one last deep breath, sitting up and straightening her shoulders, she squared her eyes to her parents.
"Okay, here goes. After Ron and I drew the Diablos away from here and shut down the signal at Bueno Nacho, Drakken came over the Kimunicator and he had captured Eric. So we changed to mission mode and went to Bueno Nacho headquarters and got ambushed by Shego and that stupid sumo ninja and I thought we won when I saw Eric and I went to him but he captured me because he was really a synthodrone Drakken made to play me...," the words spilled out of Kim's mouth like water over a breached dam. Her parents tried to follow along picking up just enough to comprehend. Another deep breath and she continued.
"...and when I woke up, Ron and I were tied to giant Tex-mex props and I had given up but Ron as all like, 'Don't give up. You've still got me.' and like basically said that he loved me and I was like 'Of course, how did I miss it?' And then Rufus jumped out and untied us and we totally went to take out Drakken and Shego and Ron was like, fighting Eric and I was taking on Shego and we were on the roof and I was about to take out the signal tower when Eric caught the pulse emitter.
"But Rufus bit his shoe and Eric just turned into an oozy pile and there was a big explosion that took out the control tower and the Diablos returned to normal. Then after the police locked up Drakken and Shego, Ron and I went back to the prom, well, um, together and Bonnie was all like, 'Kim's finally with Ron,' but everyone cheered instead of laughing like she wanted and then we danced and I was thinking 'Am I really slow dancing with Ron?' And I could totally tell he was thinking the same thing but then it just-like-felt so right and we looked into each other's eyes and we knew things were all different and we kissed! And now Ron and I are together!" Kim finished panting.
Speechless, the two parents shot each other sideways glances before returning to their daughter with looks of shock. Most of what Kim had to say was meaningless babble, but the ending contained something far bigger than thwarting an army of giant cybertronic robots – at least in this household.
"You and Ron are together?" they said in unison after a moment of silence.
Kim sank into her chair and let out a nervous laugh. "Hu, ha. Kind of a sitch, huh?"
As the three Possibles all stared at each other letting the incredible news hang in the air, the aforementioned Ron Stoppable strolled in smiling ear to ear just as he had for years wearing the same old red jersey.
"Good morning, Possibles," he said oblivious to the mood of the room. "How'd you guys fix the roof so fast?" His arm snaked around Kim's shoulder as he leaned in and pecked her on the cheek.
When no one replied to his previous inquiry, the blonde was forced to take a closer look at the situation. Kim kept her nervous smile but her eyes screamed in terror. Knowing he probably shouldn't look at Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P., he did anyway just to confirm they too had contorted their faces to new positions of bewilderment. Though he stayed nearly cheek to cheek with Kim, his arm found its way back to his side.
"Kim, please don't tell me that you just now told them," he said almost in a whisper. Kim recoiled from him a bit not wanting to look directly at him. She let out another shaky laugh.
"They've had, well..., a few seconds to let it sink in," came Kim's nervous reply.
Catching Mr. Dr. Possible's confusion morph into an icy stare, Ron winced out, "I'm so getting sent into a black hole."
James Possible loomed arms folded with Mrs. Dr. Possible one hand on her shoulder and the other covering her mouth. Kim leaned as far back as she could but was pinned in her seat. Her hand now held Ron's who had curled himself into a whimpering ball on the ground next to her. Even Rufus felt the need to shield himself in the potted plant behind them.
"Kim, Ron," Mr. Dr. Possible said sternly. "I'll have you know that the Misses and I are very disappointed..."
Kim looked to Ron who was no help at all. "And I leave my vampire, werewolf, and zombie video games to Felix. Rufus? You're in charge of my fossilized cheese collection...," Ron squeaked. Kim gulped as she turned back towards her father.
"Yes, very disappointed," Mr. Dr. Possible continued but his sharp look suddenly softened. "That you two took so long to figure things out."
Kim's look of fear flopped off of her face as concerned confusion took over. Did he just say what I thought he said?
Mrs. Dr. Possible removed her hand to reveal a sly smile. "You two are so cute together," she squealed.
Kim leaned forward a bit a little more confident about the situation. "So, you two are okay with, um, us?" Kim inquired.
"Of course we are. We couldn't be happier," Mrs. Dr. Possible replied.
Kim exhaled and relaxed as the two Dr. Possibles had a laugh. Rufus leaped out from his hiding spot and squeaked a "Boo-yah!" Kim turned to Ron who she found still huddled on the floor mumbling.
"Ron, you can get up now. It's okay," Kim said calmly. But her words did not break Ron out of his terrified rant.
"...and my only regret is that I didn't find the right topping for the Ultimate Naco...," he shakily said.
"Ron!" Kim barked as Ron finally snapped to. "The 'rents are totally cool with us."
Ron jumped to and faced Kim. "Really? They are? Phew. The quest for the Ultimate Naco topping can continue," Ron dutifully stated as if it was his one true mission in life. Kim's parents began to walk out of the kitchen. As Mr. Dr. Possible passed Ron, he leaned in towards the boy.
"And don't worry about all that black hole business. It's just a little father/boyfriend joke--as long as you keep my Kimmie-cub happy," Dr. Possible said eyes narrowing.
Ron cowered a bit with a nervous chuckle but choked out, "You got it, sir."
"You kids have fun today," Mrs. Dr. Possible said as she and her husband adjourned to the other room. Ron rubbed the back of his neck with Kim's hand firmly planted in the other.
"Well, that went pretty well wouldn't you say, K...?" Ron asked but before he could finish, Kim coiled and launched forward planting a firm kiss onto to his unsuspecting lips. As she pulled away, Ron's face was flush red.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ron barely eeped out.
"Looks like we've got a whole day together," Kim said coyly.
Ron got himself a bit more composed, but still sounded uncertain. "So, uh, what do you want to do?"
Kim paused--his question actually caught her off guard. Now, Kim was racked with uncertainty. True they had the whole day together, but what were they supposed to do now?
"I don't know," came her reply. "I guess we could watch some TV."
--
The familiar 'boinks' and 'kablooms' emanated from the television as the Saturday morning cartoons flashed on the screen. The Tweebs sat within a foot of the set on the floor shoveling heaps of cereal into their mouths leaving large puddles of milk on the floor.
Kim and Ron were seated on the couch holding hands, but both careful not to be too close to one another. Ron, who would normally be enthralled by anything on television, kept only a vacant stare on the set. Kim made no such pretense of being interested in the show. She took every instance to look around at other things, especially Ron. With each quick glance at each other, the pair tried to feel out whether they should say something, or do something, or anything. Ron tried to smoothly break the silence.
"So,..., uh" he said barely smooth and barely audible.
"Want to go to the mall?" Kim quickly blurted.
"Sounds great," Ron said as he snapped to his feet dragging Kim up with him forgetting that they were still holding hands.
--
People meandered through the Middleton Mall on the almost perfect Saturday afternoon. Kim strolled hand in hand with Ron looking at shop after shop but still weaving her familiar pattern to Club Banana.
Though their inability to carry a conversation at the moment was making him a bit uncomfortable, Ron was still ecstatic. We're holding hands in public. We're holding hands in public. Ron thought trying to make sure he didn't accidentally yell it out loud. Now if only I could figure out what she was thinking... Ron's mind quipped.
We're holding hands in public. We're holding hands in public. Kim thought joyfully--barely able to focus on anything else. Still, the silence was crushing. Kim and Ron finally made it to Club Banana.
"Oh, my gosh they didn't!" Kim screamed jerking Ron to the middle of the store and the rack of new fashions. She picked up a top with wavy multicolored '70s lines.
"Wow, retro," Ron said.
"Retro is the new black," Kim stated matter-of-factly. Ron took a slightly confused look.
"But I thought that you said that a style can't replace a color, K.P.," Ron stated but quickly regretting it fearful of saying anything to offend.
"It can if 'they' say it can," called a voice from behind. Kim and Ron turned to find Monique sliding up to them with a look of glee on her face.
"Hey, Monique," Kim said as she released Ron's hand to hug her friend.
"You two are so the talk of everyone in town!" Monique exclaimed.
"We are?" Ron asked shocked.
"There isn't a person alive today that doesn't know. Do you know how many betting pools there were on you two? And Bonnie eating it like she did. I swear she was going to combust," Monique continued. "You guys make me so happy I want to cry, but I'll let you two get back to things."
"Thanks, Mon," Kim shyly said as Monique walked away. She turned back to Ron who seemed a bit distressed over Monique's gossip. The whole town was rooting for 'us'? Ron thought. Neither Kim nor Ron could speak, not knowing what to say and still awkwardly looking around. The silence was only interrupted by Ron's stomach making an obnoxiously loud growl.
"I'm hungry too. Let's go!" Kim declared quickly pulling Ron out of the store.
--
Kim and Ron walked with loaded trays to their usual booth at Bueno Nacho. As he seated himself, Ron looked across the table expecting to see Kim, but she wasn't in her spot. Glancing to his left, he saw her patiently waiting for him to make enough room on his side. An awkward tick passed before he pressed himself against the window and Kim slid down next to him. This is new. Ron thought.
Rufus hopped onto the table and immediately began to chart out how he was going to proceed with lunch before diving in. Despite their apparent hunger, Kim and Ron just nibbled at their food.
Kim desperately searched for something, anything to normalize the situation. She took a breath and looked over at Ron.
"So, uh," Kim stuttered. Uh-oh, Kim. Spoke before thinking. Her thoughts stumbled trying to finish her sentence. "...how's...school?" Dumb question, Possible! You asked him about school?
Ron, who'd been holding his naco about half way to his mouth trying to force himself to take a bite, squirmed. For such a simple question, Ron was left dumbfounded. Now his mind stumbled to come up with a reply.
"Wah? School..? Uh, good," Ron said slowly. "Still, um, sitting next to you in all my classes." Ron paused as if to give Kim a chance to respond, but she did not--could not. "So, that's, um, good," he continued.
Despite the apparent frame up of a conversation, the two struggled to look at the other, both squirming as the awckweirdness reached dangerous levels. Suddenly, a familiar sound filled the silence.
Beep-beep. Ba-beep, the Kimunicator chirped.
Kim and Ron immediately pulled themselves out of their defensive slumps and bristled to attention. Ron leaped out of the booth and over the table.
"I'll get our mission gear!" He shouted sprinting to the door before Kim could finish pulling her blue link to Wade out.
"Sitch us, Wade!" She shouted at Wade who was taken back at the overly direct statement.
"Whoa, wound a little tight, eh, love birds?" Wade asked with a smile.
"Wade, give us a mission--NOW!" Kim gritted without moving her clenched teeth.
"Okay, okay, easy. Just poking a little fun. Rumors are flying around that several world leaders are missing, but each of their governments are in full denial mode," Wade said switching back to his normal mission oriented self.
"Is there any evidence to confirm the rumors?" Kim asked a bit more relaxed.
"Not that any casual observer would see, but when I was looking at their travel plans, I found something interesting," Wade stated. Punching a few buttons, the Kimunicator screen flashed to a map of Europe with several animated airplanes floating across. "The flight path of each world leader's planes all crossed over the same spot." Each airplane's trail intersected and that spot became a flashing dot in the Alps.
"Awfully close to a certain Professor Dementor's lair," Kim said eyes focusing into mission mode. "Get us a ride and we're on our way."
"All ready on it, Kim," Wade replied as the transmission ended.
The harsh winter wind howled outside the entrance of a small cave. Two shadowy figures piled a small set of gear at the opening and began to trek deep into the cave's heart. Just as they seemed to be consumed by a never ending darkness, light faintly appeared ahead of them followed by the echoes of a sinister cackle.
Stepping out of the shadows, Kim and Ron crouched behind a towering stalagmite. Rufus was poking out of Ron's pocket, a freshly made snow cone in his paws.
"Hey, where'd you get that?" Ron whispered, hurt that he had not been offered one.
"Ron, sshhh..." Kim breathed out as she placed her hand over his mouth. Rufus stuck his tongue out at his friend and consumed the frozen treat.
In front of them the cave's roof opened and the source of the light and the evil laughter could be seen. Professor Dementor stood in front of a vast screen filling an entire side of the room. On video link was a less than happy Doctor Director in front of the various members of Global Justice.
At a large conference table in the middle of the room, several men and women in suites were restrained to their chairs each uncomfortably squirming and watching Dementor's rant.
"Zhe download of zhe launch codes iz to begin immediately!" Dementor screeched. "Onche all zhe worldz' mizziles are under mine control, I will releaze your leaderz!"
At the table, one man with a decidedly British accent piped up,
"Don't do it Doctor Director. We'll manage. At least give Team Possible a..."
"In caze you were wondering about zhat, each of your chairz haz been wired to be exploded at zhe zite of Kim Possible. All I have to do iz puzh this button," Dementor said cutting off the Brit and revealing a remote control. "Now, do we have an underztading?"
"Gotta hand some points to the Professor. Extortion and blackmail," Ron whispered to Kim.
Doctor Director hung her head, no options available.
"Very well, commence the download," she said resigned. Dementor laughed with glee and began hitting buttons on the control panel. The display switched to show the download's progress.
From behind the rock, Kim pulled out the Kimunicator.
"Wade, Dementor will blow the leaders up the moment he sees us," she said.
"I figured there was a reason GJ didn't contact us. I was kind of counting on something like this. Reach into your backpack," Wade replied.
Kim discreetly reached in her bag and pulled out two wristbands. One said 'HIS', the other said 'HERS'.
"Very cute, Wade. What do they do?" Kim sarcastically quipped to her tech genius who was wearing a pleased smirk. She and Ron put the bracelets on.
"I've adapted my stealth technology from the Wadebot. Check it," Wade said flicking a button on his computer. Kim and Ron vanished--only a stealthy outline could be faintly seen.
"K.P., where'd you go?" Ron asked panicked. "Hey, where did I go?"
"Just be careful. I haven't worked out all the bugs on people yet. Too much contact in battle could short out the stealth circuits," Wade warned.
"Wade...," Kim tried to speak but was cutoff by Wade.
"I know. I rock," Wade stated smugly.
"Come on, we've got to get that controller before we take out Dementor," Kim ordered.
The two stealthy outlines of Kim and Ron came out of hiding and crossed the room and approached a distracted Dementor. The remote control had been placed next to a package of cheese crisps sitting on the computer panel. Kim and Ron were within mere feet of Dementor. As the stealthy silhouette of Kim's hand began to reach for the remote, the aroma of the cheese crisps popped Rufus out of Ron's pocket-his upper body now completely unstealthed. The naked mole rat was completely fixated on the tasty snack and began to coil to make a jump for them.
Out of the corner of Dementor's eye, he saw something that just didn't look right. He turned quickly but froze in shock at the site of half a naked mole rat floating in the air. Kim's hand also froze just above the remote. Dementor broke out of his trance first and swatted at Rufus who leaped to the computer console. Dementor's arm missed and socked the invisible Kim square in the stomach knocking her back into Ron. The pair fell backwards into a heap and their stealthy outlines filled in. They were no longer invisible.
"I zhould have known!" Dementor ranted. "Big miztake!" He grabbed for the remote.
"Rufus, the controller!" Ron hollered.
The tiny mole rat jumped to Dementor's hand as he scooped the remote. With a ferocious bite, Rufus forced the remote to the floor and soon followed after giving it a kick across the floor to Ron's waiting hand.
Kim and Ron jumped up and took battle stances-Kim in the lead.
"Ron, free the hostages. I'll take Dementor," Kim commanded. Ron broke for the table while Kim advanced on Dementor.
"Oh, we'll have to zee about that. Guardz!" the yellowed villain ordered.
Three of his standard looking henchmen formed a ring around Kim who re-centered her battle posture. Each of the henchmen pressed a button on their belt. With a terrifying grumble, each man's muscles swelled and they grew several feet larger with veins popping out of their bulging arms and legs.
"Had them equipped wizsh growth hormone juzt for you, Kim Possible!" Dementor said with another cackle.
Ron had paused his sprint to the table of world leaders and took in the now larger henches.
"Man, he's really got his bases covered on this one," Ron said almost admiring Dementor's work.
"Ron, focus!" Kim barked as she leapt high into the air landing on a lunging henchman trying to grab her but coming up empty. Ron turned back to the table of world leaders but was suddenly cut off by Dementor.
"You haz zomething that belongz to me," Dementor spoke evilly. Ron, unable to stop his momentum, pivoted and spun in what looked like a good move.
"Sike!" Ron yelled too early as Dementor stuck out his leg tripping Ron to the floor. As he the hit ground, his feet tangled with Dementor's taking him down as well. The controller skipped ahead of them several feet.
Kim dodged crushing punches from henchmen. Each time they connected with an object it shattered. Kim was forced to slide under one henchman causing the other's punch to catch him square knocking him back towards Kim. Kim rolled out of the way only to narrowly miss being crunched under the foot of the third henchman. Kim spun her way back to feet and jumped out of the grasp of the henchman and landed on his head. Using the recoil of his body, she bounced onto the cat walk above. Surveying the room, she pushed off into a sprint and vaulted off the catwalk.
Dementor and Ron struggled against each other crawling towards the remote. Their hands reached the remote at the same time and knocked it further away. Dementor turned to Ron and tried to pin him to the ground so he could get up first, but before he could get the upper hand, Rufus landed on his helmet pushing it over his eyes.
"Thanks, buddy," Ron said elated. Quickly kicking Dementor off of him, he scrambled to his feet and scooped up the remote. But before he could get far, Ron slammed into a stack of crates piled much higher than they should have been knocking the remote backward to Dementor. With his helmet back off his eyes, Dementor grabbed the remote and started to run away. The crates still shook and wavered back and forth before the top one toppled down towards Ron who, with a terrified screech, rolled out of the way. The wooden crate burst apart as it hit the ground and hundreds of metal ball bearings raced outward across the floor catching Dementor who slipped and fell flat on his face once again releasing the remote.
Kim soared high over the villain's lair. As she reached the apex of her leap, she rolled and fired her grappling hook into the ceiling. The hooks caught the roof and as the rope pulled tight, Kim swung back towards the three henchmen who turned to face her just in time for her leg to connect square in the chest of the first sending him crashing back into the other two leaving all three sprawled on the floor out for the count. As Kim gracefully flipped into a landing, the remote slid to a rest at her feet.
Dementor pushed himself up in time to see the remote be picked up by Kim. His eyes quickly darted to the large screen as the download ticked from ninety-nine percent to one hundred. Dementor lurched to the controls and quickly pushed a series of buttons and ejected a small disk. The download was quickly replaced by a clock counter reading 1:00m. A booming female voice filled the room.
"Self-destruct sequence activated," reverberated through the lair.
"I'd love to shtay and witnessh you're doom, but I have a world to enzshlave!" Dementor maniacally yelled. He turned and opened a small round door in the cave wall and leaped into the tunnel it hid. The door slammed shut as the first seconds began to tick off the countdown.
Kim stopped at the front of the control panel as Rufus leaped onto her shoulder.
"Have to shut it down or we're toast," she exclaimed. "Rufus, can you jam the circuits?"
The naked mole rat gave a resounding "sure thing" before jumping on the panel. Opening a hatch, Rufus began to play with the exposed wires.
Ron reached the table of leaders. "Don't worry, we're going to get you out of here," Ron stated slightly panicked. He looked around each of the hostages and the surrounding area for some way of releasing them. "Okay, how do we get you out of here?" Ron said stumped.
"You could hit the button marked 'release' on the table," remarked the British leader dryly.
Ron looked down to see the 'RELEASE' button plainly marked in front of him miffed that he had missed it. "Hit the button marked 'release'," Ron mimicked as he pressed it down--the bars trapping the hostages pulled away and each quickly leaped out of their chairs.
Rufus continued to pull wires as Kim watched the countdown clock tick away. Come on, Rufus, only forty-five seconds left. Kim nervously thought. She watched as Rufus grabbed a wire and bite through it. Looking back up, Kim saw the counter switch a scant forty seconds to a whooping ten minutes.
"Good job, Rufus. You bought us some time," Kim praised. "Try to take it out all together."
Rufus, pleased with himself, took another wire and chomped down. Kim gazed at the counter and was horrified. The clock jumped from ten minutes back down to thirty seconds. Rufus managed to squeak an "uh-oh" before Kim grabbed the naked mole rat and made a break for it.
"Everybody out!" Kim yelled. "Head that way!" Kim directed Ron and the freed hostages to the path they had taken to get in. The world leaders scrambled ahead into the darkness with Kim and Ron right behind as the seconds ticked off the self-destruct mechanism. Every person felt like each step wasn't taking them away fast enough and they would be caught in the explosion. As the last few seconds fell off the timer, the leaders spilled out of the cave's entrance. The cave rumbled deep within as the first series of explosions pushed towards the surface. Kim and Ron had a few steps still to cover when the blast's concussion propelled them out the front and into a snow bank.
Smoke billowing from the mouth cave was the only thing that seemed to move on the snowy hillside. One by one, the freed hostages began to stir and stand or sit up. Bursting through the surface of the snow, Kim and Ron shook the powder off of themselves as the Kimunicator beeped.
"Go, Wade," Kim said.
"Kim, Ron, is everyone all right? Sensors detecting Dementor's lair blowing sky high!" Wade exclaimed with concern.
"Everyone's fine," Kim reassured. "But Dementor got away and now he has control over all the world's missile systems."
"I'll get to work trying to track him," Wade replied.
The British leader was still dusting himself off as he approached Kim and Ron. "On a scale of one to ten, I'd give that rescue a five," he groaned.
Ron looked up with a look of dissent. "Nah, more like a four point two," he shot back.
--
Kim laid flat on her back in her bed. Her pandaroo tucked under her arm. She stared long fully at the ceiling. As she recounted the day's events, a sick feeling came over her stomach. Things are just too awckweird with Ron. She shuddered. This isn't how it's supposed to be!
Kim's mom poked her head through the trap door. "Kimmie, you're awfully quiet. Is everything all right?" she asked concerned.
"I don't know," Kim said softly. "Dementor got away…"
Mrs. Dr. Possible climbed the last few steps and joined Kim on her bed as Kim sat up.
"Honey, I don't think this is about Dementor, is it?" the Possible matriarch stated gingerly. Kim attempted to look at her mother like she was crazy, but her defenses quickly faltered.
"It's just so totally different between me and Ron now. We just sit around and look at each other and wonder what we're suppose to do or say. It's so…, so awckeird." Kim let burst from her lips.
"Honey, that's normal," her mom tried to assure.
"Normal? No, normal is laughing and joking and, well, talking," Kim continued. "We've barely said ten words to each other save for on the mission. We just awkwardly hold hands and blank out. What's the point of being more than friends if you can't still act like friends?"
"Kim, you and Ron have a lot of new feelings to adjust to. It can't happen over night," Kim's mom said as she wrapped her arm around her daughter. "Just think about all the things you two have been through together and overcome. This is just another 'mission.' You'll be laughing and talking again in no time and you'll have an even stronger bond than before."
"Really? You think?" Kim asked helplessly.
"I don't think. I know," her mom said giving her daughter a squeeze.
Kim leaned her head to her mom's shoulder. "Thanks, mom."
--
Ron leaned against the pail wall--a confused and tense look on his face.
"K.P. and I have always been so cool around each other," Ron said as Rufus jumped onto his shoulder frantically trying to get his attention, but Ron continued. "But like suddenly we're in new territory and my styles all cramped up. I don't want to loose everything because I can't be myself around her," Ron said as Rufus finally grabbed Ron's eyelids and jerked them down.
Below him on a weight lifting bench, Mr. Barkin struggled with a set off weights that had pinned him to his back. Ron scrambled to offer him assistance and the two got the heavy bar back on the rack.
"Stoppable," Mr. Barkin gasped. "I don't' know how you keep getting into my house or why you keep coming to me for advice, but why don't you try talking to her."
"Talk to her? I just said that was the problem!" Ron said exasperated.
"About your feelings...," Mr. Barkin replied annoyed.
"Oh, those things," Ron said as he realized what his teacher had meant.
"Now, you can get over to her house and level with her, or you can spar a couple rounds with me," Mr. Barkin stated as he leaned towards Ron patting his fist into his open hand.
"Later, Mr. B.," Ron blurted as he shot out of the room. Mr. Barkin chuckled to himself and turned to his punching bag.
"You're about to enter the house of pain!" he grizzled.
--
Ron stood on the ladder to Kim's room just below the opening. Okay, Ronald, you can do this. He reassured himself. With a deep breath, he poked his head up into her room. Kim caught him out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey, Ron," she tried to greet him with enthusiasm, but it still came out scared.
"Hey, K.P.," Ron returned nervously. "Uh,..., can we talk?"
"Yeah, we kinda of need too," Kim replied. Both read the other's nervousness as a bad sign as Ron stepped up into Kim's room.
"K.P., the last coupl...," Ron started but was cutoff.
Beep-beep. Ba-beep, the Kimunicator interrupted. Ron stopped to look at Kim who didn't answer it.
"Probably about Dementor," Ron stated flatly.
"Yeah, should probably answer it," Kim replied as she took the Kimunicator out and flipped it on. "Go, Wade."
"Kim, Dementor's talking over the air waves. Look," Wade said, pushing a couple buttons. His image was quickly replaced by an uncomfortably close shot of Professor Dementor.
"Unlezh zhe world shurenderz to me, I will target and deztroy one world capital an hour," Dementor snarled.
"I've traced the signal to Dr. Drakken's lair," Wade said as his image popped back on the screen. "Apparently, he's lair-sitting for him. Global Justice is already in route to pick you up."
"Thanks, Wade," Kim said as the transmission ended. She turned to Ron. "Well, duty calls."
"Right there with you, K.P.," Ron said. The pair looked somewhat relieved that the conversation had been put on hold, but were also somewhat disappointed.
The Global Justice turbo jet skimmed feet above the water in the near pitch darkness approaching its target.
--
Kim and Ron stood in the cargo bay putting on scuba gear and checking themselves over. Kim held the Kimunicator.
"I've got the stealth bracelets working again, but try not to push them too hard," Wade said over the device. "Dementor closed the network with the missile codes so I can't hack in and changed the targeting coordinates. One of you will have to do it manually."
"Check, Wade," Kim stated. "Ron, when we get in there, you'll need to find the control panel and change the targeting coordinates like Wade said. I'll take out Dementor's henchmen before they have a chance to move."
"They'll never see it coming," Ron said with a smile holding up the sporty new gadget on his wrist.
"Well, that's the whole point, Ron," Kim replied dryly.
Kim and Ron each put their regulators in their mouths as Kim flipped on 'okay' sign to the pilot who responded in kind. The bomb bay doors swung open and the two plunged into the ocean below.
Once in the water, the two made their way to the island rock where Dementor had set up.
--
Creeping in the top entrance and onto the catwalk, Kim and Ron peered down into the massive control room. Dementor stood in front of the monitor displayed a map of the world with bull's eyes on each of the world's major capitals. Kim pointed the targeting control panel to Ron. With a nod, each hit their stealth bracelets and vanished -- their stealthy outlines moving towards their objectives.
Kim dropped down onto an unsuspecting henchman who dropped to the floor with a thud. Kim paused to look around and see if anyone else had noticed. Confident she wasn't heard, she moved on.
Ron dropped down to the targeting control panel that sat in a dark lonely part of the room. Ron looked the unit over and discovered that it was not user friendly. Hundreds of knobs were dialed to hundreds of targets. This is going to take too long. Ron thought. Then he noticed one larger knob at the end of the panel marked 'Master Target'. Ron reached for it and spun it around letting it randomly stop. He was delighted as the hundreds of coordinates all reset themselves to the one the master knob has selected. All right, let's have some fun. Ron slyly thought as he reached for the master knob and selected a new target.
On the screen, Doctor Director, surrounded by the world's leaders, appeared.
"Zho, are you ready to accept my termz?" Dementor stated confident.
Doctor Director looked pained. Why hasn't Team Possible broken through yet? She thought anxiously. She had to stall.
"We are going to do everything in our power to stop you, Dementor," Doctor Director replied confidently.
"I thought you mighz zay zhomething like that. What city zhould go boom first? Tokyo? London? Zydney?" Dementor teased with his finger dangling over each city's launch button. "No, wait. I haven't gone to Zydney yet. Tokyo it is!" Dementor declared moving his finger to the button.
"Stop right there, Dementor," Kim called as she and Ron materialized out of stealth mode.
Dementor spun around and eyed the two teens angrily.
"Again with zhe interupzions. New plan!" Dementor shrieked. He angrily slammed his fist into a much larger button marked 'Launch All.' "I have juzted launched all zhe mizzles! You'll never shtop zhem all!" Dementor roared as he began his maniacal super villain laugh.
"Jokes on you!" Ron exclaimed stepping forward proudly. "I reprogrammed all the missiles."
Dementor stopped his evil laugh and a wave of panic washed over him. He turned to his computer and punched up the missile tracking display and was horrified to watch the path of each missile begin to direct itself to their location.
"You bafoon!" Dementor cried. "You targeted US!"
"How do you like that?" Ron taunted. Almost as soon as he had finished, a booming female voice filled the air.
"Missile impact in two minutes," the computer said coldly.
Kim wanted to be mad at yet another ill advised plan carried out by Ron, but as she watched Ron's cocky grin fade to confusion and then realization as to what he had done, Kim could only smirk. Normal. She thought calmly. Yep, everything is just normal... Snapping to, Kim's eyes darted to Dementor as he ran up the platform to make it to his getaway pod on the roof.
"Let's go!" Kim shouted as she grabbed Ron's hand and pulled him after Dementor.
--
As the two burst through the hatch on the roof, the first missile impacted the side of the lair. Kim and Ron ran directly after Dementor who was almost to his hover jet. Suddenly another missile slammed into the roof between the two teens and Dementor forcing them to stop and cover as debris went flying.
Kim reassessed the situation and eyed the swooping Global Justice jet lowering a ladder to pluck them off the roof. Kim and Ron sprinted but were forced to dodge another missile as it impacted between them and their goal. Kim pivoted and leaped for the ladder and grasped as the jet suddenly jerked to miss a missile. The ladder swung away just as Ron tried to grab it and left him alone with Rufus on the roof.
Kim pulled out her grappling gun and fired at the roof. The hooks latched and Kim used her weight to swing the ladder back to Ron who immediately grabbed on and secured himself. As Kim retracted the gun and the Global Justice began to circle to leave, Kim watched as a missile slammed into Professor Dementor's jet forcing him to pull up. Kim pointed the grappling gun and lined up a shot and fired. The hooks connected right on with Dementor's helmet with a clang.
"Wha...?" was all he could manage as the Global Justice jet applied full power pulling the rope Kim held him with tight--his squeezed head fitting in his helmet ensured that he got yanked from the roof. As the jet rocketed to safety, missile after missile slammed into the complex as a massive explosion rumbled into the sky. Professor Dementor dangled from the bottom of the rope arms folded watching.
"Dr. Drakken iz never going to let me live zhis down," he sighed.
--
Monday morning had greeted Middleton with a beautiful sky and pleasant warmness. Students were bustling into Middleton High excited that the year was almost over and talking about that weekend's prom and all that had happened. A few noticed and stared as Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable approached from their usual path.
Their hands held tightly, both still looked uncomfortable. Ron kept trying to will himself to talk to Kim before they got into the school. As they were about to cross onto to school property, Kim pulled up forcing Ron to take and extra step. He turned and faced her.
"Ron, we still need to talk," Kim said with a slightly fearful look in her eye.
"Uh, yeah, right," Ron nervously returned. Kim looked at him and their eyes locked for a silent moment.
"Listen, we need to still be friends," Kim said. The words hit Ron like a ton of bricks. Kim panicked realizing she may easily be misinterpreted. "I don't mean just friends," she said leaning towards Ron who now looked a little better. "But we still have to be friends. Our friendship is everything. It's what makes us who we are together. We shouldn't have to change anything. We're only adding to it...making it stronger," Kim closed what little distance was left between herself and Ron. Her eyes looked for reciprocation in Ron's as a she tried to smile.
"It's just kind of funny to get use to, K.P.," Ron said trailing off.
"But we'll make it through this sitch. We always do," Kim said
as she pushed just enough to place her lips onto Ron's in a gentle but warm kiss. Ron pushed back a little as if to say, 'You're right.'
The two reluctantly broke and gazed into each other's eyes.
"Come on, let's go," Kim said.
Kim and Ron entered the school grounds hand in hand with no room between them.
"Did you get the answer to number six on the math homework?" Kim inquired.
Ron nervously chuckled. Knew you were forgetting something, Stoppable. He thought. "Well, um, I sorta didn't get the answer to any of them," he said. Kim looked at him a bit disappointed.
"Forgot to do your homework again?" she prodded.
"We spent an entire weekend on a mission!" he objected.
"But I got my homework done," Kim retorted.
"Oh, good, can I look at it?" Ron asked politely.
"Ron...," Kim responded sharply.
"Hey, I'd let you look at mine," he said hurt that she did not answer with an obligatory yes.
"It wouldn't do me any good. It's blank," Kim jabbed.
"Low blow, K.P.," Ron muttered as Kim broke their hands and took a couple steps ahead. "Hey, where are you going?"
"If you want a peek at my homework, you're going to have to earn it," Kim said playfully before bouncing ahead to the front doors.
Ron paused for a moment. A small smile slowly widened. As he started chasing after Kim, all he could think was: Normal. Everything is just normal...and better.
"Have a muy bueno day!" the squeaky-voiced manager said as he slid the tray of food over the counter.
Bonnie Rockwaller barely acknowledged Ned as she quickly grabbed her order and evacuated the area. The weekend had not gone very well for the self-appointed social queen of Middleton High. Possible had showed her up not once but twice at the prom. First with that syntho-hottie Eric, then with that loser sidekick of hers. To make matters worse, everyone cheered the new couple making her look like…, well, bad. Topping it all though was her 'off' status with Brick Flag (again!). The only thing the brunette had to look forward to was indulging in her favorite non-healthy food. She'd never admit it publicly, but Stoppable's 'naco' was something she couldn't get enough of.
Bonnie took her normal booth with a sigh. Had things gotten so rotten that eating fast food was the highlight of her day? Oh, well, it could be worse, the cheerleader thought. As she looked down to forget her troubles in a greasy deep fried meal, she found out that it was…
"Excuse me!" Bonnie seethed as she slammed her tray onto the counter. "Is this some sort of a joke?"
Ned quickly recalled his customer recovery training as he cautiously attended to the irate young woman. Glancing down at the tray he had just served her, he found nothing but crumbs and empty wrappers.
"I, uh," was all he could manage before the girl cut him off.
"I want this fixed, like, now!" she demanded.
"Uh, I'm sorry! I'll get right on it," Ned said flabbergasted at how such a thing could occur. He quickly grabbed replacement items that had been meant for other customers and placed them on a new tray. With a whirl, he handed the new tray to Bonnie.
"It's about time," she scolded before he could offer any further apology. The cheerleader stormed back to her booth as thoughts of raising heck to Bueno Nacho's customer service department swirled through her head. For the second time in as many minutes, Bonnie sat down to go about her lunch and once again…
"RRRRRaaaaaahhhh!"
Kim watched as her chief rival unleashed a verbal tirade on the poor Bueno Nacho assistant manager. Bonnie may have been prone to the drama, but it was obvious she was venting much more than a messed up order. Finally, the brunette marched herself towards the exit shooting Kim an icy glance before sticking her nose in the air and exploding out the front door.
As Kim continued to stare, she noticed an unusual vibration coming from the table. The redhead glanced down just in time to see a bloated naked mole rat materialize out of thin air. With a satisfied belch, Rufus tossed the stealth bracelet off to the side. Kim couldn't help but smile as she quickly figured out what had been going on. She picked up the squishy pink blob and patted it on the head.
"Good little naked mole rat," she cooed.