Chapter 8: Reunions
Ron called Felix, then Oscar. While Felix was all for meeting up that afternoon at the City Park to shoot some hoops Oscar wouldn't be available. He and Cindy had volunteered to escort their church's youth group on an afternoon picnic to Lake Middleton. Ron did, however, agree to start meeting up with Oscar for his evening workouts.
Next, Ron called Kim and wound up interrupting her telephone conversation with Monique. Kim had been on the phone for the better part of a half-hour with her best female friend and Ron was profoundly grateful that they didn't see fit to let him know the topics of their conversation. Ron told the two about Felix and his plans.
"That's great," Monique declared. "I get off work at noon. I can meet the three of you at the park and really pump Felix about what's going on between him and Yori!"
"Ron, you might as well come over here and hang out until then," Kim offered. "I'm outnumbered, with both my 'rents and the tweebs asking questions about Japan. I could really use another person explaining everything, please and thank you."
Ron needed no further encouragement. Letting his father know his plans for the rest of the day, he grabbed the letters Yori had given him to give to Felix and headed for his girlfriend's house. It was a beautiful summer day and he sort of half walked, half jogged the whole way. He was looking forward to getting back together with his friends. Thus, he was rather distracted when he turned onto the Possibles' sidewalk and the assault caught him completely by surprise.
After ending her conversation with Monique and Ron, Kim called Bonnie. Kim, Bonnie, and Tara were scheduled to conduct a two-week cheerleading workshop for interested, Tri-City Middle-School students later that month. Bonnie informed her that over sixty girls had signed up for the workshop and the facilities were ready. The tall brunette also informed her that Tara had arranged to work evenings during those two weeks so that she could help out. Kim was very glad that Tara could make it. While she and Bonnie were very competent cheerleaders, they both tended to loose their patience too easily to be good instructors. Tara, on the other hand, had nearly limitless tolerance, which made her invaluable when it came to instructing the young girls.
Hanging up, Kim thought about Bonnie while she walked downstairs to wait for her BFBF. She couldn't really consider her rival a friend, even though the brunette had stopped the verbal attacks on Ron. Bonnie still had snarky comments about the routines Kim came up with, the clothes that both she and Ron wore, and Kim's overall appearance. On the other hand, she complimented Kim and/or Ron when they did something well, she congratulated them after successful missions, and she had quit calling Ron a loser. The queen of the food chain had apparently decided that Team Possible's love life and missions were off-limits, but everything else remained fair game. Still it was an improvement.
Kim's thoughts were interrupted when she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw her 'rents staring out the picture window, apparently enjoying some spectacle taking place in the front yard. She joined them, took one look at her BFBF fighting for his life and started for the front door. Her mother caught her arm.
"Mom," Kim protested. "I've got to help him."
"Oh, let them be for just a bit," Dr. Anne Possible instructed her daughter. "Your brothers haven't had anybody to roughhouse with while you and Ronald were gone. They've missed him."
'Mom," Kim protested. "It just seems…sick and wrong to just stand here and watch the tweebs mug my boyfriend." Kim couldn't keep from smiling. Neither Josh nor pre-synthodrone Eric would have ever tussled with her brothers like this.
"Oh," her mother deadpanned. "Would you rather be out there rolling on the front yard with him? I'm sure some tabloid photographer would love that scene." The brain surgeon smiled at her daughter's blush. "Just having some fun, Kimmie. You have a nice boyfriend and that's locked Ron in as the twins' big brother."
"Ronald seems to have gotten the better of the twins." Dr. James Possible pointed out. Sure enough, Ron had tossed Jim onto the ground, piled Tim on top of Jim, and now sat on Tim. The two boys were struggling, unsuccessfully, to throw the older teen off of them. Ron had a very smug grin, even with the strain of avoiding putting his full weight on Tim.
"Gotta help my brothers," Kim informed her 'rents. Then the teen heroine was out the front door. She sprinted down the sidewalk and caught her unsuspecting boyfriend with an all-out diving tackle. The two Possible doctors convulsed with laughter upon hearing Ron's shriek of surprised betrayal. Soon, all three Possible children had the blonde on the ground and subjected him to an extended tickling session. James was about to go rescue the boy when Kim declared that her boyfriend had had enough, halted her own attack, and rescued him from the tweebs.
"Hello Mrs. Dr. P, Mr. Dr. P," Ron greeted his girlfriend's parents as he walked in the door. "I hope the entertainment was to your liking." Kim slipped off to her room, giving her 'rents a chance to reacquaint themselves with her BFBF.
"Ronald, it's so good to see you again," Mrs. Possible exclaimed, giving Ron a quick hug. "I swear you've grown another inch in the past month!" Ron could only rub the back of his neck, embarrassed by the compliment.
"You're at that age, Ronald," Mr. Possible said, shaking hands with the young man. "I'm glad you're back. The boys are a lot easier to keep under control when they burn off their energy on you."
"Thanks…I think," Ron offered. "What's this about a meeting between the Possible Clan and the Stoppable Clan this evening? Dad won't say anything more than it's going to take place."
"We won't either," Mr. Dr. Possible informed him. "You kids just have some fun with the rest of the day. We'll all meet tonight and discuss some changes that Drew's actions have caused. Wade will attend, by taking over our entertainment center and the two of you will have a complete briefing."
"Let's get going," Kim instructed him, reappearing with a backpack and a basketball. We can get in a little practice while waiting for Felix and Mo."
"Can we," Jim interrupted, stepping into the house.
"Come too?" Tim completed, right behind his twin.
"I don't see why not," Ron commented. "It it's all right with your parents. Some three-on-three might be fun."
"That sounds wonderful," Anne Possible agreed. "Some fresh air and exercise will do them a world of good."
"Yay!" Both twins exulted, then ran for their room to put on shorts and t-shirts.
Kim was actually a little tweaked by this. While it was a public park and broad daylight, she was hoping to sneak in a little 'couple time' with her boyfriend. Then she realized that Ron was just being Ron, friendly to everyone. Besides that, her father was right; the tweebs were easier to deal with when they burned off their energy. Still, she wished that Ron had checked with her first. Her mother managed to get her off to the side of the room while Ron and Dr. Possible (male) talked.
"Don't be upset with Ronald," her mother informed her. "This wasn't a date, was it?"
"Not exactly," Kim answered. "It's just that…"
"You wanted some alone time," Anne chimed in. "And you knew that Felix and Monique would understand and give you the time. On the other hand, if your brothers catch you kissing Ron, they're going to make a scene and you'll be hearing about it for weeks."
"Well…kinda," Kim offered in a weak voice, sure her face was trying to match her hair's color. Her mother favored her with a knowing smile.
"Kimmie, it wasn't that long ago that I was sixteen," the older redhead informed her daughter. "I can guess what you and Ronald are doing when the two of you have some free time, alone. That's why we had the discussion we did after your make-up prom." Anne Possible eyes grew a little distant and her face shaped itself into a warm smile. "You don't know how long I expected, and hoped, to catch the two of you necking during your 'Kim and Ron' Fridays."
"So that's why you always kept the tweebs away from us?"
"I knew the two of you would make a good match," Anne replied with a nod. "But Ronald always seemed too shy to make a move and you never seemed to think of him that way." She gave her head a quick shake. "But the two of you are together now and you have all summer, if not longer, to find alone time. So have some fun with your brothers and don't be upset with Ronald for including them. He's never had a younger sibling." Now Anne's smile grew sly. "Besides, it's good practice for dealing with children."
"Mom!" Kim protested. She was spared additional conversation when her brothers returned from their room, ready to go to the park.
Before long, she was feeling a little guilty for not wanting the tweebs to come along. When the four of them reached the park, Felix was already waiting. Ron provided a very thick envelope, full of correspondence from Yori, and Felix was soon more interested in reading than playing basketball. It was 'no big' for the other four, since Kim and Tim took on Ron and Jim in some half-court action. After roughly a half-hour of this, with Kim and Tim beating their opponents, Monique showed up. Kim's best female friend heckled Felix into setting his correspondence aside and the three-on-three match was a go.
The six young people played for a little over an hour. At that point, Kim and Ron were showing a great deal of fatigue. Despite the fact that they had gained greater stamina from their month at Yamanouchi, Team Possible had put in a very strenuous day yesterday and hadn't had much sleep last night. Seeing this, Felix and Monique piled everyone into Felix's van and ran to Bueno Nacho for a little refreshment.
"It's just as well that Oscar and Cindy couldn't make it," Felix commented as he drove. "Ron and I didn't have our gloves on."
"Gloves?" Kim asked.
"Latex gloves for handling basketballs," Ron explained. "Oscar says we have to be careful about PTDs."
Kim, Monique, and the twins stared at Ron while Felix chuckled.
"Pumpkin transmitted diseases," Ron clarified.
Kim shook her head, chuckling along with her friends. Oscar seemed to loathe the game of basketball out of principal rather than outright antipathy. The fact of the matter was that he enjoyed playing it; sort of. Yet, as a lifelong, intense wrestler, he felt he had to dislike the sport. He referred to the game as either 'pumpkin-beating' or 'round-balling.' The high school basketball players referred to the wrestlers as 'sweat-mongrels.' Kim's recollections were interrupted by their arrival at Bueno Nacho.
Much to Kim's surprise, the tweebs proved capable of showing something resembling manners when they were out in public. They were also in Ron, Felix, and Rufus's league when it came to devouring junk food. Soon, they were all piled into one booth, with Felix sitting along the outside edge, chowing down and talking.
"So roller-boy," Monique addressed Felix. "Just what's the sitch between you and Yori?"
"We're just exchanging some letters and emails," Felix answered. "We're interested in the same subjects and our cultural differences give us unique views on them. We both enjoy corresponding."
"Yeah, right. I suppose that whole folder Ron gave you is just physics calculations and robotics diagrams."
"There's some personal correspondence in with it," the boy confessed.
"Uh-huh, and what about the lip smacking the two of you did at the airport?"
"She's also incredibly hot," responded Felix, with a decidedly hard glare at both Kim and Ron. Kim looked considerably more guilty than her boyfriend. "By the way, what's the bid deal about the…deal between Yori and I?"
"LUTMR," Monique informed him. She noted five blank stares directed at her. "Living up to my reputation; I won't remain the ultimate gossip broker for very long if I don't have the low-down on an international romance happening right under my nose!"
"Romance?" Both tweebs seemed dismayed by the prospect. Felix, a computer and robotics genius, was one of their role models. The fact that he was dating lowered his standing in their opinion.
"Felix has transpacific cooties?" Tim asked.
"Either that or transarctic cooties." Jim answered.
"How do you figure?" Tim challenged.
"If the shortest distance from Middleton to Japan is north, over the Arctic, then they're transarctic," Jim explained. "If the shortest distance is west, over the Pacific, then they're transpacific."
"That doesn't matter," Tim protested. "Cooties aren't defined by the shortest distance, they're defined by the path of travel!"
"Who made up that rule?"
"You did!" Tim pointed out, triumphantly. "You defined Kim's cooties as 'phone-cooties' after that really long call with Ron! You know, when she was saying…"
"Enough!" Kim, starting to blush at Monique's leer, shut down her brothers' conversation.
"Besides, that was the transmission channel, not the direct path." Jim explained.
"Stop it! Both of you," Kim glared at both of her brothers. "You can argue about cootie adjectives when the two of you are at home, please and thank you. It's embarrassing in public."
"Back to the issue," Monique cut in, staring at Felix. "Are you and Yori an item?"
"Define an item," Felix countered.
"Are you dating?" Monique demanded.
"We've only had one date," Felix informed her. "And that was a rather formal thing."
"Aaarrghh!" Monique lost her patience. "Fine! Are the two of you in love with each other?"
"I think that love is too strong of a term," Felix decided to cut her some slack. "I think the term 'mutual crush' would be more accurate. I'll admit to being attracted to her, very much so, and she seems to be attracted to me. We're just seeing where that attraction takes us."
"That's not a very romantic description," Monique groused.
"In the immortal words of my good friend here," Felix put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "I am what I is."
Everyone laughed a little about that; even the tweebs stopped discussing the implication of 'commercial airline-borne intercontinental cooties' to join in the humor. Felix, however, soon gave Ron a piercing look.
"Ron," he asked his best friend. "Just what's going on at Yamanouchi? It's not just a high school, is it?"
"Why do you say that?" Ron was suddenly nervous.
"I'm looking at the evidence," Felix informed him. "First of all, you weren't exactly ambitious when you left for the place during the school year, but you were suddenly a lot more…focused, when you came back. Then Yori shows up and the two of you vanish with her. Ron's hip is banged up when you come back. Yori comes back again and is able to take out more than a dozen of that super-villain's trained attack monkeys. Finally, the two of you spend a month there and you come back like this."
"Like what?" Ron's eyes had a hunted look to them.
"Don't be coy," Monique took up the interrogation. "Kim here's always been in great shape, so we really can't tell with her, but you…" Monique shook her head. "Your shirt fluttered up a little bit when you were jumping during our game. Those abs of yours look like you're about ready to join some MMA league."
"You've filled out, Ron." Felix concluded.
"Gee, a sixteen year old going through a growth spurt," Ron mused. "That's really unusual." Ron was rather pleased with his explanation.
"This isn't just a growth spurt," Felix insisted. Ron and Kim shared an uncomfortable look.
"Is it something that you can't talk about?" Monique asked. Both Kim and Ron nodded.
"That's cool with me," She assured her friends. "I can respect secrets. BIDMWQTTFO." Everyone looked at her again.
"But it doesn't mean we'll quit trying to find out," she informed them.
Kim and Ron flinched. Keeping secrets from Felix and Monique would be a challenge.
The six young people hung out for the rest of the afternoon, not really doing much of anything. They spent a lot of time at the park and the mall, wasting time and enjoying each other's company. As the evening wore down, Felix dropped Kim, Tim, Jim, and Ron off at the Possibles' home. As Felix drove off to take Monique home, the four went inside to find Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable, as well as the Doctors Possible. Mrs. Stoppable quickly engulfed her son.
"Ronnie, it's so good to have you back," she said, hugging him close. Then she held him at arm's length and looked him up and down. "You're growing so fast."
"It's good to be home, mom." Ron answered, and kissed his mother's cheek.
Soon, James Possible had everyone seated in the den, where the entertainment center came suddenly powered up without anyone turning it on. The TV screen showed a smug looking Wade.
"Hello everyone," the young genius greeted them. I think that this is a good time to get everyone caught up with what's been happening with some of Team Possible's foes. Ron, Kim, I've asked your parents to join in since it might affect them, as well. In fact, it already has."
"We've had to change our telephone number to an unlisted number," Gene Stoppable informed his son. "After that footage of you and Kimberly became public, we were swamped with calls. You also have a couple bushels of mail to go through."
Ron hung his head. He so did not want to be a celebrity.
"Don't feel bad, Ronald," Mr. Possible chimed in. "You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I think it's rather nice that you're getting some recognition."
Kim agreed, whole-heartedly, with her father.
"Anyway, let's get started," Wade got the meeting back on track. "First of all, the various media organizations are getting aggressive when the inquire about your status. I think we need to release a statement to settle them down. What do you suggest I say?"
Kim and Ron looked at each other for a long moment, aware that their parents and the tweebs were very interested in the answer.
"We could tell them that we're dating," Ron suggested.
"Exclusively," Kim added. Ron nodded his agreement.
"Good enough," Wade commented. "Now, let's get started with your briefing. First, Dr. Drakken has made some sort of plea bargain. He's avoided the death penalty in return for life imprisonment and full disclosure of his actions. The UN is holding him in Holland."
"I don't trust him," Kim growled. "He probably has assets hidden all over the world."
"Global Justice and I both agree with you," Wade answered. "That's why the UN has stationed a full infantry regiment around his prison. He will never be allowed to leave that facility and all of his communications are going to be reworded by linguistics experts to make sure he can't send out coded messages. He's probably still up to something but I can't think of a better way of keeping him out of play."
"Next, Motor Ed," Wade continued. "He has also struck a deal. He'll be spending the next two to five years in the Colorado State Penitentiary and he'll be on probation, for all practical purposes, for the rest of his life. He claims he wants to go straight, but then again, doesn't everybody you capture?"
"Usually, at least until they escape," Ron commented. "What about Monty?"
"Fisk's situation has me nervous," Wad admitted. "He's been found mentally incompetent to stand trial and has been moved to the Colorado Human Services Center. Even though he's in the maximum-security wing, it's not as secure as the penitentiary. Both the DA and Fisk's psychiatrist think that he has a fixation on Ron and will attack him again, if he has the opportunity."
"Oh goody," Ron commented.
"What has my Ronnie done to warrant this…death threat?" Mrs. Stoppable demanded.
"He stood up to somebody who needed to be stopped," her husband informed her. "That's what Kimberly and him do. I, for one, am proud of both of them."
"Right," Wade continued. "Anyway, I'm monitoring the facility's outside communications. If anything happens with, to, or about him, I'll know as soon as the facility issues a report. That leaves-"
"Shego," Kim interrupted. "You were saying that she was going to be the troublemaker."
"She's the only major player in the whole drama who's intending to fight her charges," Wade informed them. "Global Justice suspects that she's going to be aggressive and abrasive when she does so."
"Yeah, that's Shego," Kim commented. "What does GJ think she's going to do?"
"Use the Eric situation to play on your emotions," Wade's reply was uncharacteristically blunt.
"How's that going to help her?" James Possible demanded, even as Kim's head dropped in shame. "How will embarrassing Kimmie-cub keep Shego out of prison?"
"That's not the way Shego thinks, dad," Kim murmured. "She would rather get revenge on anybody that bettered her, rather than help herself."
"Actually, there is some method to the madness," Wade informed them. "Kim and Ron are going to be the prosecution's star witnesses, the only ones not on Drakken's payroll who were actually inside the headquarters that night. If she can discredit them, she'll have a good chance at avoiding the more serious charges. The best way to discredit them will be to provoke one, or both of them into an emotional outburst on the witness stand."
Kim felt Ron's arm wrap around her shoulders. She felt his hand slide down her arm, then felt his fingers intertwine with her own. She lifted her head up and forced some iron into her voice.
"Okay Wade," she said. "Let me have it! What does GJ think that her lawyer is going to hit me with? If I can't handle it here, with my family and my boyfriend, I'll never be able to handle it in court."
While the Possibles, Stoppables and Wade discussed the upcoming trials; Lord Montgomery Fisk lounged in his cell at the Colorado Human Services Center. He found his situation most intolerable.
He had to admit that Bates had done his best. In fact, the loyal servant had accomplished a great deal more than Fisk himself would have managed. He was now confined in, to use layman's terms, the loony bin. While this was preferable to incarceration in the penitentiary, it did not address his most pressing problem: He was confined and helpless to act while Stoppable continued to master the Mystical Monkey Power.
Fisk sighed. His confinement and inactivity had given him time to review, carefully and honestly, his latest encounters with young Stoppable. Fisk had come to the painful realization that the boy, the pretender, was actually more formidable than he was. As a result, Fisk faced two, apparently insurmountable, obstacles preventing him from mastering the Mystical Monkey Power.
The first obstacle was his confinement itself. Despite the time he had spent observing his prison, he could not come up with a feasible plan to escape. The only plans that he had come up with required a combination of time, privacy, and assistance from outside the facility; none of which were available to him. Beyond this, he was smart enough to realize that escaping the facility was merely the first step in truly escaping. To remain at large, he would need assistance and resources outside the facility, none of which he had the opportunity to obtain. No, the only realistic way for him to get out was to pretend that the counselor was making progress in his efforts to 'unravel his fabricated reality of mystic powers.' Unfortunately, this could take several months, after which he still faced potential incarceration for his admittedly violent actions in Middleton.
The second obstacle was Stoppable himself. After careful research and contemplation, Fisk realized that the only way to free the Mystical Monkey Power from Stoppable was to dismember the boy while he was actively using this power. Unfortunately, when Stoppable used this power he was more likely to dismember Fisk than the other way around. In addition to Stoppable's own capability, the boy routinely associated with Possible, who was even more capable than the boy was.
Fisk came to the uncomfortable conclusion that in order to achieve his life's goal, he would need to escape from a prison he couldn't escape, then overcome a foe he couldn't defeat. Yet, Lord Fisk had not become a world-renown archeologist, or a master of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar, by giving up. He needed to deal with these issues in order. First, he needed to escape his confinement, then he could acquire resources and come up with a plan for dealing with Stoppable.
He was so intent on his thoughts that he failed to note the slight vibrations emanating from just under his floor. It wasn't until a faint scraping sound, originating from the same point, intruded upon his awareness that he realized that something was out of the ordinary. Lord Montgomery Fisk paced his cell, his bare feet quickly determining where the vibrations were strongest. He quickly retreated as far from that point as he possibly could and prepared himself for any eventuality.
The vibrations stopped but Fisk remained wary and alert. Then, after several minutes of calm, a section of the floor, two feet across collapsed into a hollow beneath it. Fisk was preparing to approach the hole when several odd creatures climbed out. One appeared to be a strange mixture of a badger and an deer-like creature, two looked like a cross between a wolf and some rodent, while the last one looked like a cross between a bear and another type of rodent. Fisk just stood, prepared to defend himself, while the creatures looked at him. He had no doubt as to their origin.
"Monty," the familiar voice emanated from a collar on one of the creatures. "I have a safe place for you. Follow my creations and we can be together again."
Lord Montgomery Fisk considered for all of twelve seconds. Finding the thought of close association with Amy to be moderately less unpleasant than continued incarceration, he leapt into the hole and followed the odd creatures to freedom.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and review. Biggest thanks of all, as always, to Joe Stoppinghem for Beta Reading.