Chapter 36 – Best Story of 2020 Award

All eyes turned to the source of the shriek, where a wide-eyed Amy Hall stood with her hands clasped atop her head in horror. In a split second, two familiar and disheveled silhouettes rose from beneath some seats just in front of Amy, and the two men—one lanky, one portly—began scurrying away toward the nearest exit at top speed.

Back in front of the stage, Rufus hopped on Ron's shoulder and chattered something rapidly before making a gagging sound.

"That's what it looked like to me too, buddy," Ron replied, echoing the sentiment as he grabbed at his own throat.

"Okay, did not need to see that," Wade commented. "That was Monkey Fist and—"

"Helloooooo!" Bonnie interrupted. "Who has my jewels!?"

Wade sighed. "It's—"

Before he could finish a scream of, "Traitor!" rang from DNAmy's lips as she pursued her one-time lover and his new companion.

The theater was soon filled with loud gossip and conversation as Monkey Fist and Duff Killigan fled the auditorium, such that Bonnie's repeated frantic questions couldn't be heard. From within Kim's purse, her Kimmunicator sounded and she hurried to answer Dr. Director's call. But it was too loud around her to make out the urgent communications.

Next to her, Bonnie was near to ringing Wade's neck, and he leaned close to her ear to whisper the name of the purpetrator. Bonnie's eyes flew open and a scowl overtook her features as she glared a short distance down the front row.

"BCB…" Sharper murmured onstage as they watched the spectacle taking place at the rear of the theater, the enraged Dr. Hall still screaming obscenities as she chased after the two fleeing men. "Things are getting way past awkweird…"

"Just…continue the ceremony, we're almost done. We can still get through this!" BCB replied, gesturing to the emcee to flash the blue and green house lights and cut the commercial break short.

The bang of a door was heard as Amy vanished after Duff and Monkey Fist, and as the music was cut and the spotlights turned on the audience began returning to their seats. BCB and Sharper stood side by side at one podium, much as they had when they first appeared to host the beginning of the awards.

"Only two awards to go!" BCB exclaimed in a rush. "It sure has been an…eventful Fannies, wouldn't you say Sharper?"

Sharper tugged at his collar nervously. "I, ah…just cannot believe that four hours have flown by!" he added.

"Time flies at the speed of fun!" BCB read from the prompter with a nervous chuckle. "And it's time to present the award for Best Story of 2020."

"The best story entrances a reader from beginning to end," Sharper read, "and is beloved by many, bound to be a household name in the Kimmunity one day."

"Speaking of household names," BCB said, "remember that because she won this award last year, Gothicthundra's story Random Tales of Drakgo isn't eligible this year."

"Ah, but it will be eligible again next year!" Sharper said with a grin.

"The outstanding stories nominated for the Best Story of 2020 this year are..."

What's the Alma Mater? by MrDrP (excerpt from Ch 50)

She focused on her partner as he spun round and round when a microphone appeared in front of her face. With it was a familiar newscaster.

"Ms. Possible, what's going on?" Tricia Labowski asked.

Kim paused, then replied with confidence, "The Ron Factor."

"The Ron Factor?" the anchor asked in reply.

"You'll see," Kim said with a smirk. "Right about now," she added, as Ron let go of the Wadebot and ballistics took over.

Kim and the others watched as Ron sailed up into the sky tracing a perfect arc — it was Wade, after all, who did the necessary calculations and told him when to let go — before he reached the apogee and then began to fall to earth. The cameramen zoomed in on the figure of the airborne teen, sure they would not see anything this strange for a long time to come.

Kim bit her lip, willing Ron to land safely. Ron, meanwhile, let loose a manly scream of courage, which was cut short by an "oof" as he slammed into the belly of the dinothingy. That, in turn, prompted a tremendous belch from the creature which convulsed and then disgorged the lumpen figure of B.S. Biglee with a tremendous burp. The washed-up TV personality sailed up into the sky, trailing a great stream of dinospit behind him.

"Greechy!" Kim said as she cringed.

"Ew!" Wade agreed.

"I think I'm going to be sick," a suddenly green and humbled Justine muttered.

Even Yori, the ever-unflappable ninja, looked as if she'd just eaten some very bad sushi.

Pandemic by bcbdrums (excerpt from Ch 1)

The villainess jumped at the voice at her shoulder and she whirled around to face her shopping companion. She hoped he wouldn't notice the flush in her cheeks that had resulted from her thoughts.

"What, Junior?"

"You are very distracted today. Is something the matter?"

"Oh... No, it's just that Drakken is in one of his moods. He's going to be obsessed with his new project for days."

"More shopping for us, yes? Or perhaps it is time to take a vacation."

"Maybe..." Shego shrugged, putting the jacket back on the rack. Thinking about the previous evening, she found that a vacation just didn't have the same appeal...

"Would you like to visit my favorite resort overseas? Look, here are pictures from my last trip."

Photos dropped in a long accordion-fold from the wallet Junior held up, and Shego tried to focus on the images of her younger friend in a Speedo on the white beaches. But she couldn't get Drakken out of her mind. Why was he so concerned about something he hadn't even known had existed a day before?

"Sure, that looks great," she said with a half-smile. "You want to come with me?"

"Ah no, I am afraid my father has a slight cold and this demands my attention," he said with an embarrassed cough.

Shego crossed her arms. "Your dad makes you take care of him when he's sick?"

Junior looked affronted. "Of course not! Good heavens, the germs! No no, it is that he is afraid I shall get up to some scheme unworthy of his villainous prowess while he is unable to supervise me. So I will be unable to travel until he is well."

"Uh huh... Yeah...well, enjoy your house arrest. I'll be enjoying the beach away from Drakken's new obsession."

"Please do! Take pictures for me!"

"Sure," Shego said, giving him a half-grin.

And You And I by Niaxi (excerpt from Ch 7)

"As for why I'm here," Monique flashed her a wide smile, "I've come to make sure my best girl actually takes some time off to unwind and enjoy herself."

"I'll have you know I spent a day beside a pool, had a full body massage and went shopping this week!" Kim replied indignantly.

"Yeah, all of which you did by yourself I bet," her friend chastised. "You need to actually spend time with other human beings…"

"Hey, I…" she began but was quickly cut off.

"No, bad guys you beat up don't count! I'm talking about normal people who you can sit and chat, share a drink or even, heavens forbid, dance with."

"For your information I…" Kim stopped abruptly. She had been about to say that she had done all those things last weekend with Shego, but quickly decided against it. She doubted even her best girl would understand why she had willingly spent a social evening with her nemesis. Hell, I still don't fully understand it.

"…haven't been out with your friends all summer, even though they've asked you like a million times!" Monique decided to finish for her. "Face it, you need to get out more and have some fun, Girl."

She huffed at this insinuation but knew she wouldn't win if she chose to argue. She doesn't understand that going out and having fun means something completely different to me. A good time to her constitutes going out to a bar or club with her friends, having a few drinks and maybe meeting some cute guy. But for me…

"That's why you're coming out with me tonight. No arguments!"

It was at that point, on hearing her friend's actual reason for being camped outside her front door, that Kim remembered what she had been planning to do that evening. I can't go out. I've got an experiment to run! Quick, I need to think of an excuse. One came to her immediately. "I'm really sorry, Monique, but I promised mom I'd go round tonight. She's making dinner especially for me."

Her words did not have the desired effect as her best girl gave her a sly smile. "No, you're not. I called your mom earlier, just in case you tried to pull that lil' excuse."

Kim stared at the girl, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"She said to say hi for her and that she'll be cooking dinner for you tomorrow, so to be there for six-thirty at the latest."

"Wait, what!"

"I also had Wade check your calendar, you've got nothing planned. And don't even try pulling that stiff and tired crap tonight. Cos you're standing right in front of me and look fresh as a daisy."

Damn it! She's spoken to both mom and Wade and they've all decided to conspire against me. Ok, options. She had none. At least not any she was willing to use. Yes, she could point blank refuse, go inside and lock the door. But that would only serve to alienate her best girl even more than she already had and she hated the idea of doing that. She'd already lost Ron. She was not willing to lose Monique too.

Snippets of Forever by SuperReneyyy (excerpt from Ch 10)

Tucking a loose strand from her disheveled ponytail behind her ear, Kim thought back on everything that had sent Ron spiraling into his initial panic that evening. He never had been one to under-sell his emotions - that was for sure. But Kim was absolutely certain of her own.

"Remember last week when you said you've never liked any other girl as much as you like me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, ditto, ya' big dork," she joked, turning back around to face him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it sincerely, "I never will."

Ron's smile beamed brighter than the Homecoming disco ball. He never knew it was possible to feel so wanted. Because he did, and he also knew now that nothing else outside of that mattered. Josh didn't matter, and Bonnie didn't matter. The only person that did matter was curled up across from him on his family's couch, still holding onto his hand.

"So... all of that, like, just now was - "

" - Everything I wanted it to be?"

A perfectly content beat of silent reassurance passed between them as Ron traced light circles across Kim's hand with his thumb and he breathed out at her words.

He chuckled again, still in slight disbelief, "Well, I guess it was perfect night then."

"Mm, almost," Kim confirmed, narrowing her eyes at him cheekily.

The frown that fell into his brow was the absolute cutest.

It was true what Kim had told Monique at the dance earlier that night. At the core of everything else, Kim and Ron were still best friends. Their friendship was most important, to both of them. And as long as she still had him for the next hour or so before her curfew, Kim was sure that she was going to remind Ron of that.

"It's only just after ten. Still plenty of time to order a pizza and watch Agony County re-runs?"

Ron's expression lit up like the sun. God, her adored her.

"Boo-yah! Best Homecoming ever!"

With another totally smitten laugh, Kim watched as Ron snatched up the Kimmunicator to place an order through to J.P. Bearymore's. She snuggled up next to him, nestling herself under his arm and subtly re-doing one of his open shirt buttons.

A nervous kind of butterfly tumbled through her tummy then. She almost opened her mouth to speak. But instead, Kim simply stretched upwards and pecked Ron on the cheek.

Best Homecoming ever was such the understatement.

The Company You Keep by split-n-splice (excerpt from Ch 38)

Drawing one more gulp of air into his lungs, Drakken slumped over the counter and let it out in a huge huff. "Report?"

"Well, I'm freezing my ass off," Shego informed with a lilt. "It drizzled for a bit. I followed them around town all day, but all they did was touristy bullcrap. As if this town is even worth touring." Her frustrated groan right in his ear shouldn't have sent a shiver down his spine. "Mostly they windowshopped all afternoon. Now I'm in a tree across the street from their motel room watching her do some gentle stretching over here near the Westinger. I can hear the karaoke from here."

His brow furrowed. "Karaoke? What time is it?" he muttered.

"I'unno. Why don't you tell me?"

A glance to the clock and he bit his cheek. It had been barely noon when he'd sent Shego off to keep an eye on the suspicious woman. It was nearly nine o'clock now. "Stay put. I'll come get you." He tried to sound more commanding than guilty, but he wasn't sure he'd pulled it off.

"Sure thing, Doc," droned Shego in lieu of a goodbye before hanging up.

He grabbed his coat off the back of the couch and within minutes was coasting into town in a van sputtering and threatening to die on him. Beating the dash, berating the automobile, and cursing the henchmen from afar for mechanic skills that left something to be desired certainly didn't help anything, but he had to let out steam somehow before he faced the accomplice he'd given a task he'd nearly forgotten about. Would she have staked out the interloper all night if she hadn't called?

He flicked off the headlights as he approached the sole motel just in sight of the Westinger, searching the barren trees for anything perching in them that didn't belong there. Pulling over, he waited a moment for his accomplice to jump in out of nowhere, but impatience had him cutting the engine and stepping out to take a short walk across a lawn toward the row of elms.

She was better at hiding than he'd expected, because it took something striking the back of his head for him to whirl around and scan the branches above him for a long moment before he caught a glimpse of her. It helped that she moved, popping another milk dud in her mouth. Either she'd gone for a snack or she'd been prepared to wait a while in that tree. She didn't look like she was ready to come down just yet.

Drakken eyeballed the branches, and after a long moment of squinting into the darkness and shadows, considered he might be able to reach one if he jumped as high as he could.

If You Could Read My Mind, Love by sammisue (excerpt from Ch 2)

Drew returned the gesture with an equally enthusiastic "Hey!" as he approached the kitchen counter with his plate of goodies. The scent of the stickies mingled with the savory lasagna and, as James' eager eyes followed the plate, Drew knew that he made the right decision to put down the stack of his students' lab reports to spend some quality time with his oven.

"I see you brought a peace offering."

Drew pushed the plate away from his frame to where the counter and the wall connected, a place that would be out-of-reach for the devious boys.

A simper, soft as it settled into his features, expressed a sort of pleasure at James' frivolous statement.

"I thought you might like it."

Ann, who stood opposed to the two men, lifted her pruned fingertips from the mountain of suds that laid in the kitchen sink.

"Drew, you better not have—"

"Ann, you knew I couldn't resist."

A small sigh. He never listened.

"I told you to bring yourself—"

"And only myself," he finished. Drew tilted his head in her direction, but his crystal eyes remained transfixed on James. The rocket scientist raised a brow at the biochemist, a little baffled at Drew's abrupt demeanor, but he quickly settled back into his corner as a lively glint in his wife's eye told him what he needed to know. Drew and Ann had the same conversation every game night, which ended with the same result—Drew doing the exact opposite of what Ann had instructed. Ann may have held a stronghold over her house, but she could never tame Drew Lipsky—the defiant, son-of-a-bitch who liked to confront Ann's authority. His attitude challenged her morals, yet brought a sense of comfort into her loving home. A mark of a good friendship.

"And you brought your stickies."

"Are you complaining?"

A light chuckle, "The kids won't be, that's for sure."

"Then, you're welcome."

Drew, who relished in his victory, took a slight bow. She glared at him for a moment, her irises nearly penetrating his thick skin, but instead of berating him as she would her children, she simply shook her head, returning her attention to the dishes that piled before her. The grin that slipped past her demeanor mirrored that of her husband's who hid his face behind the newspaper, not wanting to feed into Drew's new sense of ego. Drew knew, though, that the print that stood as a wall between him and his best friend was a front. He couldn't help but crack a grin as well at the foolishness of the conversation.

These two geniuses—the rocket scientist and the brain surgeon—were the first to accept the lonesome biochemist's offer of friendship. A friendship that Drew had never taken for granted.

As Time Goes By by MakeWolfStarGayAgain (excerpt from Ch ?)

Drakken held out a tightly wrapped gift with a green bow on top. "So, Merry Christmas!"

She took it, still eyeing him warily. "Aren't we supposed to open these under the tree and all that?"

"I don't … Wait, you got me something?"

"Well, yeah." Shego set her gift aside and opened the drawer beside her bed. From it, she pulled out a blue and silver box.

"Oh, what is it?" Drakken sat at the edge of her bed.

Shego snorted. "Open it, you dork." He did, and vehemently, tearing into the box and getting paper all over Shego's blankets. Shego rolled her eyes and carefully tore along the edges of the paper until she had opened –

"Oh my God." In her hand she held the receipt for an all expenses paid vacation to Greece, massages and spa days included. "Dr. D –"

"Wow, Shego," Drakken gasped, holding up a grey stone with a slightly red glow. "Is this the part I need for the –"

"Yeah. I stole it, like, a week ago and I thought –"

"This is amazing! I'm so happy I could kiss you."

Shego's heart suddenly skipped a beat. It was such a weird thing to say, but her boss was always a little nuts. Then why did she feel like she wanted him to kiss her, too? "Well, yeah, uh, no problem." He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. "Merry Christmas, Doc."

Tara is the Girl Next Door by JStormRaider7 (excerpt from Ch 2)

"Okay!" Tara raised her hands, knowing what her friend was going to say. Kelsey giggled.

"You're so innocent!" She responded coyly.

"Nympho!"

"Girl scout!"

After a few seconds of a stare-down, the girls both giggled. Kelsey was the first to come to. "Tara, whatever you want to do, I fully support you 100% and wish you luck with him."

Tara's mouth lifted up a little bit. "Thanks.."

"You got it, girl! I have to hop off now. TTYL!" Kelsey brightened.

"See ya." Tara had to laugh at her friend's habitual use of acronyms in conversation.

"Oh, count on it!" Kelsey waved her fingers at the camera before the call ended.

Tara sighed and closed her laptop shut. She set it down next to her on the bed and looked down to see her cat resting on her other side beside her. Tara gently lowered her hand down and began to stroke her back.

"I don't know.. what should I do, Princess?"

She just purred at her owner's ministrations.

"I mean, I just moved here and I don't know anybody so I don't think it would hurt but I don't want to force anything. But there's something about him. I mean, I guess it wouldn't be wrong to just say hi and just have a small conversation.. right?"

Princess yawned and licked her paw. Tara continued to slowly run her hand along her fur.

"Yeah.. you're simple. You got it easy.. you don't have to worry about school, or moving, or boys.. you just get to relax and you know how to just be content with life's simple pleasures.." She smiled, half-heartedly. "Well, if I see him around maybe I'll just say 'hello'. I may go check out the town tomorrow and see what's what." Tara resolved and reached over and turned the knob on her small night-stand lamp resting on the floor next to her bed and moved herself under the covers. Tara's mind thought, again, about the day's events, but one question arose in her mind and one that bothered her to no end.

What is it about you, Ron?

"And the award for Best Story of 2020 goes to..." BCB said before ripping open the envelope.

Before she could finish his sentence, a blood-curdling scream rang out from the venue's hostess in the front row. BCB dropped the card in surprise as Sharper rushed to the edge of the stage.

"Are you all right, my queen?" he addressed Bonnie. But those in the front row could already see what had the heiress climbing upon her seat and shrieking in fear.

A small, luminescent, green creature had rushed from beneath her seat and was followed soon by another of the same size and shape in glowing blue.

Within moments, further of the animals were seen racing from beneath seats, in and out of the rows and aisles, and those of the audience who didn't flee in confusion climbed on their seats as panicked conversation erupted amid the shock and screams.

"No, no no, BCB, no!" Sharper exclaimed as this Fannies ceremony, like so many others, devolved into chaos.

"Just…find the card, keep going!" BCB said as she rushed down the stage stairs to try to do damage control.

"Right, right… The winner is...Niaxi for And You And I!"

Niaxi still sat in the Spritzers row, staring at the four Golden Rufuses in front of him and keeping an eye out for Ru-Ru. After devouring the peanuts and all the remaining snacks, the naked-mole-shark had finally taken note of the figures and with a scowl on his small face, aimed a kick at the nearest one. The author had shooed him away, although he'd been treated to the creature's trademark, "rah-rah-rah!" and a look that told him that the second the awards were left unguarded, Ru-Ru would be back to have his way with them.

So, to that end, Niaxi sat pondering what sort of cabinet he'd need to install in the bar, in order to stop any 'accidents' befalling his awards, pondering it even as chaos began to break loose in the auditorium. He startled when And You And I was read out as the winner of Best Story above the sounds of the panicking crowd.

Niaxi almost fell sideways out of his chair; such was the level of shock he had just gone into. He couldn't believe it... And You And I had just been voted the best story of 2020.

"Holy cow..." he breathed, still utterly stunned at having won one of the two biggest awards of the evening. Both Celi and Charlie had to lift him out of his chair and give him a gentle prod in the direction of the stage in order to get him moving. Mind still blown, he wandered onto the stage to collect the award amid the darting of blue and green glowing creatures at his feet, nearly tripping over one.

Niaxi looked down at the inscription on the award; Best Story 2020: And You And I, and then out over the audience until his gaze came to rest upon the Spritzers row. Though some of his companions were now climbing onto the seats to avoid the swarm of creatures and were less attentive. He cleared his throat and began his speech, nonetheless.

"I can't put into words how much it means to have had my story voted as the best story in the KP fandom for 2020, so I'm not even going to try—"

Niaxi was interrupted as Ron ran past him on the stage, chasing one of the glowing animals. At the back of the auditorium, DNAmy now stood in the open doorway cackling, hands raised in the air in triumph. The small animals were flooding through the doors past her feet.

"It's…rabbits," Kim said, catching Ron's arm as one of the animals eluded him. "Blue and green glowing rabbits."

The little balls of glowing light darted to and fro without agency, gleaming in the dimly lit auditorium where nearly everyone had forgotten the ceremony that was taking place. At the back, the emcee signaled to keep things moving and the author receiving his award cleared his throat as on stage behind him, Ron and two ushers pursued three of the glowing furballs.

"This means the world to me as an author," Niaxi continued, though he was hard to hear over the audience's screams, "and I can only hope that all of my fans keep enjoying And You And I as it continues to unfold. However, I'd like to dedicate this award specifically to the crew from Spritzers, you guys are awesome. So, Charlie, Celi, Miruna, Ella, Luisa, Gade, Kris, Clarissa, Max, Flynn, Sofia, Liz, Shay, Raymond and anyone else who pops into the bar now and then, this one is for you. Thank you all."

He nearly stumbled over a pair of blue and green rabbits that had stopped to do a dirty deed in the aisle as he moved back to his seat, and onstage Tricia Lipowski had quickly taken his place, a gleam in her eyes as the camera focused on her and brought yet another interesting turn to the evening.

"It looks like Dr. Amy Hall may be the latest villain to return to her old ways since the outbreak of the TEVID-20 virus," she said, while the camera cut to where she was no longer in the doorway, but now standing over a cowering Monkey Fist, fury in her eyes as a swarm of glowing rabbits surrounded him, no doubt at her command.

"While it's clear the former DNAmy is responsible for the rabbit invasion, why are they glowing? And why are they all distinctly blue and green?" Tricia said pointedly into camera, which then switched with perfect timing to where Drakken and Shego were sitting with their feet up on their seats, an annoyed frown on the face of the former and a deeper scowl crossing the expression of the latter.

At that moment, the focus of the camera was lost as Kim dashed into frame followed by Wade, pursuing a trail of rabbits that had run into the row and then split up by darting under the chairs.

"A little help would be nice," Kim said to the older couple. "And we're not going to buy that you didn't know about this one!"

Shego opened her mouth to reply, but before she could do so the Kimmunicator sounded again. This time Kim was able to answer Dr. Director's call, though the surrounding screams still made it difficult to hear.

"Kim, you need to apprehend the suspect before she uses this diversion to escape!"

"Right… Ron!"

"Be…ah, right there, KPS!" Ron said, and Kim looked around to finally see Ron lying at the corner of the stage being swarmed by glowing rabbits.

Kim sighed heavily. "Wade?"

"Right behind you, Kim!"

Bonnie was still seated on her chair, shrieking in fear and wringing her hands as rabbits darted around the base of the stage. But upon seeing Kim and Wade approaching, she made efforts to control herself and rose to her feet, still cringing as the small furred animals darted around.

"Are you finally going to get my jewels back?" she asked above the din, the atmosphere becoming more chaotic by the second.

"Just as soon as the suspect is in custody," Wade replied.

"Then allow me," Bonnie said, stepping in front of the two of them authoritatively and startling them both. She set her hands on her hips and squared up in front of the other woman who was cringing in her seat, her voluminous skirts gathered up around her. "Rebecca!"

Rebecca Starlet startled and looked up, her expression darkening and a smug grin finding its way across her features. She released her skirts from the grip she had on them and somehow, amid the rabbits darting around, gracefully rose to her feet.

"Got caught at your ridiculous game?" the oil heiress greeted.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie fumed.

"The insurance scam. Stealing your own jewels to collect on the insurance is pretty clever. I'd rather have my jewels, but my payout was nothing compared to what I'm sure you'll get."

Bonnie's face grew redder with each word Rebecca spoke, but then Wade stepped in.

"It's a clever story, Starlet, but one that just doesn't hold up."

Rebecca crossed her arms and frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Let's go over the evidence," Wade continued with a confident grin. "You haven't signed any new reality show contracts for the next two years, and the B-movie you were signed with dropped you six months ago."

Rebecca's airy expression had hardened, while Bonnie's ire morphed into a smirk as she crossed her arms and harumphed softly.

"You took out an even higher insurance policy on your jewels that came into effect the day before you were robbed," Wade continued, "and of course, there's the fact you've tried to keep hidden that your family cut you off financially after you wasted too much money."

Rebecca stiffened. "Why are you picking on me? Why don't you check into Bonnie's financial records or Britina's or any of them? They all collected pretty big on their insurance too, and Bonnie has the most to gain."

"Don't forget the security footage!"

Ron's familiar voice drew their attention up to the stage, where he was now seated and petting several rabbits as Rufus seemed to have struck up a conversation with one of the glowing creatures.

"That's right," Wade said. "After the lightbulbs were changed we kept a close eye on the ceilings. And we captured footage of a masked cat burglar sneaking out after intermission. We could only see one eye, but facial recognition software identified it as you. I'm sure your former cheer and gymnastics skills helped with that feat."

Rebecca scowled. "That's impossible!"

"And don't forget the biggest proof of all," Kim said as Ron hopped off the stage and joined her, Rufus on his shoulder with arms crossed and looking fierce.

"The napkin," Ron said, pulling a plastic evidence bag from his tuxedo jacket pocket that contained a napkin with a distinctive shade of lipstick, a name and phone number written underneath.

"You set up Game Controller to take the fall. The DNA evidence on this lipstick is yours," Kim said conclusively. "And after he was in custody and everyone's guard was down, you snuck out to steal the jewels."

Rebecca's face had reddened and was puffing up as she clenched her fists in anger.

"This is a pack of lies! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"And then of course, there's the fact that Dr. Director and I had installed tracking devices in every piece of the Rockwaller Family Jewels ahead of the ceremony tonight. And they're all in a safe in the trunk of your limousine," Wade concluded. "Or, at least they were until we had Ken go retrieve them."

Ron spoke into his watch Kimmunicator. "Ken, send the team down to arrest the suspect!"

"Guess your next starring role will be on the nightly news," Bonnie said with a smug grin. "Hope they allow hair and makeup before mugshots, 'cause the way you've aged you're gonna need it."

Rebecca looked near to exploding, but at that moment a loud, electric sizzling sound drew everyone's attention and then the blink of an eye, the power to the opera house went out.