Disclaimer: The Walt Disney Company owns all rights to the characters and situations associated with Kim Possible. I borrow Kim, her family and friends for no monetary gain. I do this only to keep my fingers limber and butt warm.
The Closet II
Chapter 11
Dr. D. Strikes Again
Kim came down for breakfast and upon entering the kitchen saw her mother working at the stove. "Morning mom. Thanks for drying and folding my clothes this morning," she said as she walked over to her mother and gave her a good morning kiss on the cheek. "I found them on the stairs leading up to my room and put them away."
"You're welcome Kimmie, but it was your father who folded your clothes and took them upstairs." Ann hitched a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen table. Kim saw her father and Ron sitting there, talking in a low but very heated way.
"What's the sitch guys?" Kim casually queried as she went over to the table and sat down. "Thanks for folding my clothes and putting them on my staircase daddy."
"You're welcome Kimmie-Cub," James said in a gruff voice as he stared daggers at her boyfriend. "Ronald and I were just discussing his finances. I say, since he's worth big bucks now and has been coming over here almost daily, that Ronald owes me for all the food he's eaten over the years."
"And all I'm saying is your parents are welcome to come over to my house to eat any time they want," Ron countered in the same stern tone of voice while staring at the Possible patriarch.
"How much are you talking about daddy?" Kim queried, trying to diplomatically mediate the situation.
"Well," James leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling as he scratched his chin with a finger in contemplation, "if you figure it at only one meal a day over the last twelve years, and putting the cost of the meals at five dollars each, that would add up to twenty-one thousand, nine hundred dollars Ronald owes me."
"Almost twenty two thou," Ron whistled in shock. "I never knew food could cost so much."
"But you should also factor in how much Ron has done for us over the years," Ann said as she set plates filled with pancakes and bacon in front of Kim, her dad and Ron. "He sometimes helps cook those meals and has keep Kim and the boys entertained; Not to mention all of the meals Kimmie has eaten over at his house. I'd say it's a pretty even tradeoff."
Rufus chose that moment to rouse from his slumber and hop up onto the table. He greedily looked around and squealed, "Breakfast!" The mighty mole rat swooped down on Ron's morning meal and devoured the entire plate full of luscious griddle cakes and bacon in five bites.
"Rufus!" Ron yelled in shock, "haven't we talked about using our table manners?"
"I'd forgotten there are usually two of you who join us at the table," Mr. Dr. Possible sternly said as he glared daggers at the pink blob who was now lying on its back in the middle of the plate, his stomach greatly distended from the meal.
"I guess you're right Dr. P.," Ron laughed and pulled a five dollar bill from his cargo pants pocket. He tossed it onto the table and said, "This'll pay for Rufus' breakfast, I'm not all that hungry. I ate with mom and dad before I came over this morning." Ron picked up the naked mole rat and playfully waggled an accusatory finger at Rufus, "And if I remember right, so did you."
"Sorry," Rufus groaned as he tried to sit up in Ron's hand, his bulging belly preventing him from doing anything more than barely propping himself up on his elbows.
BeepBeepBeBeep
"What's the sitch Wade," Kim questioned after pulling the little blue Kimmunicator from her pocket and thumbing it on with practiced ease.
"A Professor Ramish is missing from the Mount Middleton Observatory," Wade stoically said from the small blue device. "His partner, Professor Chen, just reported it."
"Ramish and Chen?" James Possible gulped in astonishment.
"Do you know them daddy?" Kim questioned her father.
"Why yes, they were my college roommates," Dr. Possible answered and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He produced a picture of three men, dressed in the hip fashion of the early 1980's, and showed it to his daughter.
"Ron and I will get right on it," Kim announced before she turned off the Kimmunicator, headed out of the kitchen followed by her boyfriend and raced up the stairs to dress for the mission.
"I'll drive," James Possible said as he snatched up and pocketed the fiver on the table before he went to the garage to start the car.
xxxxx
Ron, Kim and her father walked in to the observatory and found Professor Chen sitting at the telescope, working. "Hey Chen, how's it hanging?" Dr. Possible jovially asked.
"Possible? Is that really you?" the oriental appearing man in a white lab coat jokingly begged as he stood to shake hands with James. "I didn't expect to see you until our college class reunion this weekend. And who are these two young people with you? Are they your kids?"
"Kim is my daughter," Dr. Possible said pointing first to the redheaded girl then to the blond boy, "and Ronald here sometimes thinks he's part of the family."
"Ron's my fiancée," Kim joyfully stated wrapping her arms around one of Ron's and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"We haven't talked about that just yet Kimmie-Cub," James firmly said to his daughter.
"But if Kim and me are going to buy and own our own house," Ron queried his girlfriend's father in a slight state of confusion, "then shouldn't we get married as soon as possible too?"
Dr. Possible took a deep breath as he raised a finger readying his rebuttal, but Kim quickly cut him off. "You're right dad, we'll need to talk about that subject later, but right now we have a missing person to find first." She turned to Professor Chen and asked, "Why do you think Professor Ramish is missing?"
"Well as you can see there's been a horrendous struggle here," Professor Chen said indicating a single chair that was overturned and two pieces of paper lying on the floor. "I came in this morning and found the place like this."
"It doesn't look like it was too big of a struggle," Ron observed, looking around the almost pristine environment except for the chair and papers. "It's almost as clean as I keep my room."
"This is a disaster area where Ramish is concerned," James Possible stoically stated with a frown. "He's is one of the tidiest persons on the face of the planet."
"If that's the case then it does appear he was taken by force," Kim confirmed with a nod. "Did Professor Ramish have any enemies? Is there anyone who might hold a grudge against him?"
"Ramish may be the tidiest person alive," Chen laughed, "but he's also the most congenial man I've ever met. He doesn't have a single enemy simply because he doesn't make any."
"Well, except for Drew," James Possible lightly chuckled. "I think he was mad at all three of us for laughing at him the way we did."
"But that was twenty years ago back in college," Professor Chen said in astonishment to his former college classmate. "I don't think Drew would hold a grudge for so long."
"Drew who?" Ron questioned.
"Drew Lipski," Dr. Possible clarified with a light laugh as he reminisced. " He was another classmate of ours who dabbled in most of the sciences, never declaring a major. During our Sophomore year he told us he'd get us all dates for the annual science mixer. When Drew arrived, he had four God-awful robots with him."
"The robots were so bad we all laughed long and loud with youthful abandon," Chen said with a chuckle in remembrance. "What ever happened to Lipski?"
"He dropped out of school after the robots got a failing grade in one of his science classes," James informed his college roommate. "The Professor told him that those robots could've been put together by any fifth grade science student. That's why he got an F on that project."
"Primary target, Professor Chen, acquired," the distinctly feminine but mechanical voice intoned aloud as four sets of glowing red eyes appeared in the shadows of the large room.
"Secondary target, Dr. Possible, acquired," the mechanical voice said, coming from another set of red eyes.
"We are BeBe. We come for you," four separate but identical mechanical feminine voices spoke as a quartet of sleek, female metal robots with identical blond beehive hairdos mechanically marched from the shadows toward the group.
"I think we may have a few suspects for Professor Ramish's abduction," Ron calmly stated as he slid into a defensive position between Dr. Chen and the advancing robots.
"You think?" Kim begged in indignation as she too struck a martial arts pose between her father and the metal automatons.
"Kim Possible and sidekick, threat analysis," one of the BeBe robots intoned.
Another BeBe announced, "Threat from sidekick, nonexistent."
At the same time, a third BeBe said, "Threat from Kim Possible, minimal."
"That's harsh," Ron angrily growled as he stood up out of his crouch and firmly planted his fists on his hips. "Kim is a major threat."
"That's ferociously sweet of you to say," Kim lovingly cooed to her boyfriend before she became serious again. "But what about your threat assessment?"
"Hey I like being underrated," Ron happily growled with a wicked grin as he took up his defensive stance again. He reached out his hand and yelled, "Lotus Blade, come to me!" The necklace around Kim's neck vanished in a light blue flash before a blue glowing katana appeared in Ron's upraised hand.
"That's a neat trick," Dr. Possible said, obviously impressed.
"Sidekick threat analysis update," the BeBe robot closest to Ron droned as her eyes glowed brighter. It announced, "Weapon now present. Power signature of unknown variety present. Threat unknown. Course of action… Eliminate possible threat while acquiring targets."
The four BeBe robots began to violently vibrate before three of them swooped in on Kim, Professor Chen and Dr. Possible respectively. The fourth robot attacked Ron. Kim swiped a straight hand chop at the BeBe closest to her but the robot sidestepped the attack with blinding speed and swatted Kim to the other side of the room while the other two BeBe-bots snatched up Chen and James.
Ron faired a whole lot better with the robot he faced off with. When the BeBe attacked, Ron jumped into the air, sweeping the Lotus Blade upward and severed one of the metal arms at the shoulder junction. He spun in his leap only to come down with the blade cutting off the other arm. Continuing his spiraling pirouette, Ron turned around in a three hundred-sixty degree crouching arc and neatly sliced off the legs of the robot just above the knees. It fell to the ground with all of its limbs detached.
"Mission complete," the BeBe robot that had floored Kim said as it turned to the door. "Return to base with targets." The three robots vibrated for a second before they zoomed off with their two captive, Dr. Possible and Professor Chen.
"They got away," Ron groaned in anguish and angrily slashed the Lotus Blade in frustration, neatly severing the head of the BeBe robot at his feet.
"But you were able to take one of them down," Kim said as she got up off the floor, shook her head to regain some composure and walked over to the defeated robot on the floor. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and thumbed it on. "Wade, we just encountered four very impressive robots that abducted my father and Professor Chen. They behaved like they were linked by some kind of hive mind. What do you think?"
"You're correct," Wade said from the little blue device as he banged away on the computer keyboard in front of him. "I'm detecting a cybertonic link through a wireless control network coming from the disassembled robot near Ron's feet. Using that, I'll be able to track the others and find out where they took your father and Professors Chen and Ramish."
"Let's go Ron," Kim said, linking hands with her boyfriend and walking toward the front door of the observatory.
"Kim," Ron begged as he followed his girlfriend out of the building while he changed the lotus Blade back to its jewelry state and willed it around Kim's neck again, "how are we gonna follow them?"
"We'll use my dad's car of course," Kim said as she went to the car, got in behind the wheel and immediately buckled up. (Always remember to drive safely. Click it or ticket!)
"But you only have your learner's permit," Ron reminded his girlfriend as he got in the passenger side of the car and buckled in. "You can't drive unless you have another adult with you in the car."
"Wellll," Kim considered the circumstances for a few seconds as she briefly clutched the blue gem of the necklace in her hand before she came to a decision. Kim handed the Kimmunicator to Ron then started the car. "You'll have to pretend to be the adult and give me direction." She checked her mirrors, put the car in gear and slowly drove away.
xxxxxx
Kim, following Ron's directions which he received from Wade over the Kimmunicator, pulled up to the base of a steep-faced mountain on the outskirts of Middleton that apparently had a old castle built on its craggy peak. She put the car in park before turning off the ignition and got out of the car.
"I didn't know we had castles here in Middleton," Ron marveled as he got out and gazed up at the apparently haunted building on the peak. Lightning occasionally flashed from a lone, ominous, dark cloud that loomed over the structure. Except for the single storm cloud, it was a bright sunny day.
"It's just another one of the many wonders we live with here in the great state of Colorado," Kim said as she shaded her eyes to peer for a way up the mountain. She didn't see any roads leading to the top but she did spot a winding, narrow path heading up the sheer side of the mountain and headed for it. "Come on Ron. We walk from here."
"Aw Maaaaaan!" Ron playfully groused as he followed his girlfriend toward the path. "How come there's never any escalators or a secret elevator when I have'ta climb up a mountain?"
"That would be nice especially since the BeBe robots didn't seem to be too concerned with taking us on, so an elevator would be unguarded," Kim said just before she rounded a big bolder in the path and came to a complete halt. She turned to her boyfriend and chuckled, "You should wonder aloud more often Ron." The blond boy came around the bolder and saw an old mine entrance hewed into the side of the mountain. There was a freshly painted sign pointing into the passageway reading Elevator To Castle.
"Do we dare take it KP?" Ron warily queried as he turned on the flashlight function of the Kimmunicator and tried to look into the dark passage.
"We should if we want to save dad and his college roommates quickly," Kim said as she walked in to the tunnel followed by Ron. "And as I said, those BeBe robots didn't seem too concerned with us so the elevator shouldn't be guarded." They found a fairly modern freight elevator one hundred feet into the passage, entered and hit the up button.
The ride was smooth as butter but it took all of four minutes to get to the top. Fortunately, there was some classic rock Muzak playing in the cage on the way up so the two teens weren't totally bored by the ride. They danced in each other's arms the entire time to the strains of a Mantovani version of Hanna Montana's Best of Both Worlds.
When they reached the top, Kim raised the wooden slat gate and the two teens walked into what could only be described as a villainous lair. There weren't many light on in the large, cavernous room but the two teens could see scientific work stations scattered about under the overly high ceiling and two large lasers that had a few parts missing. There was also the mandatory surveillance monitoring station with a huge screen TV surrounded by a dozen various sized monitors mounted on the wall over in one corner.
"Welcome, Kim Possible!" The two teen heroes heard the familiar voice coming from the shadows beyond one of the workstations. Behind the table, with a huge grin on his blue face, emerged Dr. Drakken. "It's so kind of you to join this little reunion bash I put together."
"Dr. Drakken," both Kim and Ron said at the same time as they readied for action. Kim panned the room for Shego while Ron looked around, trying to locate the henchmen. Both came up negative.
"You wouldn't be here all by yourself Drakken," Kim accused, "so where's Shego?"
"And your Hench-goons," Ron quickly added.
"Shego's on vacation this week and I don't need henchmen this time," the blue-skinned evil scientist gloated as he pulled a large, square remote control from his blue lab coat and pushed the big red button set squarely in the middle of it. The rest of the lights came on in the lair and the two teen heroes could see Dr. Possible and Professors Chen and Ramish were tied up and gagged at a table behind where Drakken had come from. "You see, henchmen are very expensive so I've created my own villainous force to handle you and your sidekick, Kim Possible." Drakken raised his voice and screamed, "BEBES ATTACK!"
The three BeBe robots zoomed in to the room and stopped ten feet from the teens. One BeBe announced, "Kim Possible threat, still minimal."
Another BeBe stated, "Threat analysis of sidekick upgraded to maximum when sword present. Strategy. Capture sidekick before sword becomes present." Two of the robots swiftly zipped over and grabbed Ron's arms, lifting him off the floor, before he could make a move. The third BeBe started to mechanically walk toward Kim.
"Ron!" Kim yelped in despair, seeing her boyfriend captured so quickly.
"Don't worry about me KP," Ron yelled as he struggled to get out of the vice-like grip of the two robots, "use the Lotus Blade!"
"I don't know if I can," the redhead balked as she took a cautious step back from the approaching BeBe. "It's your weapon!"
"You can do it KP," Ron softly spoke as he ceased his struggling and an almost serenity came over him. ""It's a part of you now. It's a part of… Us."
Kim suddenly remembered that she was supposed to have gotten some of Ron's Mystical Monkey Powers after she received the necklace and when that happened, she was supposed to be able to control the Lotus Blade also. They had never tested that theory out but now was as good a time as any. Kim closed her eyes and concentrated for a second before a wicked little smile started to emerge.
"You're right Ron," Kim said with a full-blown smirk as she held out her hand to the side. The blue bejeweled necklace around her neck disappeared in a flash and rematerialized in the form of a katana in her outstretched hand. With a swift, one-handed swing of the blade the advancing robot was cleaved in two. "The Lotus Blade and Mystic Powers just talked to me and it said I could use it anyway I see fit."
"Threat analysis of Kim Possible upgraded to maximum with presence of sword. Must stop," one of the BeBe robots that was holding Ron captive said before it let go of his arm and raced toward Kim.
"That was a big mistake," Ron almost sing-songed as his freed hand grasped onto the head of the BeBe robot that held him. An MMP blue glow encompassed his hand and passed through the metal, invading the robotic brain circuitry. Sparks started to fly from its eyes and mouth as the whole body started to violently tremble. Ron engulfed himself in a blue aura globe just before the robot blew up into a hundred and ninety-three pieces.
Kim sidestepped the incoming robotic hands that were telescoping from its body to grab her and neatly severed the hands from the arms. "I've got your number now," the redhead chided. "You're gonna have to be a whole lot faster than that if you want to catch me."
The robotic arms retracted back into their normal length as the BeBe stopped in its tracks. "BeBe not perfect," the feminine yet mechanical voice intoned as the robot looked at the stumps of her arms. "BeBe must be perfect, but BeBe is not perfect anymore." The robot turbulently shuddered before overload took place and it self-destructed. Kim swiftly transformed the katana into a large round, Medieval shield to protect herself from the flying metal.
"Nghhh," Drakken yelped in shock and anger over his BeBe robots being destroyed so quickly. He turned to the elevator and yelled over his shoulder as he tried to make his escape, "Kim Possible! You think you're all that, but you're not!"
"I got him KP," Ron said, holding out his hand as he ran toward the elevator and yelled, "Lotus Blade!" The glowing shield leapt from Kim and swiftly sailed through the air to Ron's outstretched hand. On the way it transformed into a larriet. Ron snatched the rope out of mid air and twirled the lasso around his head once before letting the loop fly. The lasso flew true and snared Drakken around both feet before tightening and tripping the mad scientist to the floor. The blond boy raced over, quickly hog-tied Drakken then raised his hands in triumph in under four seconds.
"Where did you learn to rope and tie like that?" Kim jovially questioned her partner as she walked over to congratulate him.
"I don't know KP," Ron said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he stood up. "Maybe I got it from that old western movie we watched the other night or maybe I just like to tie up loose ends."
"We're not done yet," Kim said as she grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him over to where her father and the two Professors were tied up. "I hope you're as good at untying knots as you are at tying them."
"This looks like a job for Rufus," Ron announced in a theatrical voice as he pulled the mighty pink mole rat from his pocket. "Rufus buddy, it'll be your honor to release the hostages."
Rufus yawned then looked over the situation for a second before he perked up, saluted and barked, "Okay!" A few chomps later all three men were freed.
"Thanks Kimmie-Cub," Dr. Possible gratefully sighed as he took his daughter in his arms and squeezed her tight. "You don't know what we've been through."
"Did Drakken torture you?" Ron queried as he made sure the two Professors were alright.
"Well, in a way," Professor Ramish said as he rubbed his wrists to get the circulation flowing again in his hands. "He brought us here to reminisce about our college days."
"And to show off his new, improved robots," Chen added, pointing to the demolished piles of metal and blond wigs scattered around the lab. "If he'd turned those in for his class project in college he could've gotten a passing grade."
"Wait," Kim yelped in utter surprise. "My arch foe is your old, college dropout friend?"
"Well he certainly wasn't blue back in college," Dr. Possible chuckled as the three scientists and two teens made their way over to the elevator.
"Oh, but I was blue," Drakken moaned in anguish from his tied up position on the floor. "I turned blue after I was dissed by my posse; My so-called, (heavy gasp) peeps." His anger arose again as he continued, "Well that and my experiment to harness the power of the anil seed and its indigo, blue dye making properties."
"That sounds fascinating Drew," Professor Ramish said as Ron and Kim united Drakken's feet and stood him upright, his hands still secured behind his back by the Lotus Blade rope. "Please tell us about your experiment."
"Well you see," the blue skinned scientist started before Kim or Ron could gag him and stop the belated villainous rant, "I'd just decided to turn evil and had set up my first lair when, during a small experiment, I found that if you soak the seeds of the anil plant in a solution of vinegar, water and a few other chemicals, and then ran a small electrical current through that solution, you could double or even triple the electrical output!"
"The anil plant is common to most subtropical areas around the world," Professor Ramish said as they all got into the elevator for the trip down to street level. "Your experiment could've made electricity cheaper and more plentiful, maybe even supplying power to the whole world. So what happened?"
"Now that's a funny story," Dr. Drakken gloated, even though his hands were still tied behind his back by the Lotus Blade in rope form. "Not funny ha ha but… It was a Tuesday, usually the day I made spaghetti for the Henchmen. I conducted the experiment on the kitchen stove while I was cooking the spaghetti sauce since my lab wasn't set up yet. I only left the kitchen for a moment. When I returned, I tasted my sauce and my skin turned blue."
"Let me guess," Ron chuckled cutting in. "One of your Hench-goons thought the anil seeds were fennel seeds and added it to the spaghetti sauce."
"Yes of course!" Drakken almost yelled. "The henchman saw me turn blue after tasting the spaghetti sauce and he told all the others! Word has got around in the villainous community and now none of the henchmen want to eat anything I cook!"
"Why didn't you sell your experiment to some company?" James Possible asked as he tapped his foot and snapped his fingers to the wonderful, in his mind at least, Muzak playing in the elevator. It was a string quartet playing their version of Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train. "You could've made a fortune from your discovery."
"Because I couldn't remember the formula for the solution I used!" Drakken loudly yelled in utter frustration. "I know it had something to do with water and vinegar but I couldn't remember the other chemicals I put in it!"
"Typical Drew," Chen said with a laugh to Ramish, hitching a thumb in Drakken's direction. "He never did follow proper documentation procedures during his experiments in college."
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Author's disclaimer addendum: I also don't own the rights to any of the music mentioned in this chapter. I receive nothing for mentioning the musical styling's of Mantovani, Hannah and Ozzy. (Now there's three names you'll never hear being linked together in the same sentence ever again!)