Again my thanks go out to both CajunBear73 and Sentinel103 for their soundingboard and Beta work.
Chapter 27 Get Ready, Cause Here I Come
http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=FPE5kWbTPIM
Use the link to find the song
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Kaname was the first to recover inside the house, followed by Barbara. It might have had something to do with the screaming from inside the kitchen. Ayame! Kaname bolted into the other room to see her sister covered by her redheaded teammate. Apparently Kim had either been driven into the wall by the pressure wave from the blast or in her haste to protect the girl, had slammed her own head into the wall, knocking herself unconscious. Ron and Sousuke were nowhere to be seen.
The girls' screams had drawn her father through the smashed patio door. Shunya was about to pull Kim off of her when Kaname jerked him back yelling in Japanese, "Hold on! Kim could be hurt!"
"But Ayame…"
"Is OK! But Kim could have a broken neck! Wait!" Kaname knelt beside the downed girls and grabbed Ayame's frantically thrashing arms, "Ayame-chan, stop it or you could hurt Kim-san!" The younger girl didn't respond at first so Kaname reached out and slapped her across the cheek, "Ayame!"
The slap worked where hollering failed. "Stop it or you could hurt Kim-san! She might have hurt herself. Now hold still!" Ayame was trembling, but she froze. Kaname stood and looked outside to see Ron and Sousuke in a tangle and Mr. Stoppable pulling himself back up to the porch.
Kaname hit the panic button on the Kimmunicator. "WADE!"
The panic button had linked directly to Wade, bypassing the need for him to answer, "Kaname?!"
"We had a bomb at Ron's parents! Sousuke, Kim and Ron are down! We need everything here! NOW!"
Wade started hammering at his keyboard, "EMTs and Fire Department on the way!" More hammering, "Police and GJ responding! Who's hurt how?"
"I don't know, can you give me a scan of Kim first?" A blue beam came from the front of the wrist mounted device and Kaname played it over the other girl.
"She seems to be OK. Just a pretty nasty bump on the head. You should be OK to move her!"
Kaname carefully supported Kim's head as she had her father start to roll the girl off of Ayame. When Ayame was clear they carefully set Kim on her back and Kaname had Barbara keep an eye her and Ayame.
The younger girl was white as a sheet and after what she had been through, Kaname couldn't blame her. If it wasn't for all the explosions she had been exposed to because of Sousuke…….
"Sousuke!?!?" She bolted to the patio followed by her father, calling over the Kimmunicator as she ran, "Wade?"
"Ready when you are!"
She got to the heap of Ron/Sagara tangle to see Dean Stoppable at a loss. She knew how he felt; she was running on training and adrenaline. Inside she was shaking like a leaf. She pointed the Kimmunicator at the two young men and Wade didn't see any broken bones.
Assisted by her father and Dean Stoppable, Kaname gently started pulling the two apart and laying them flat. Sousuke's back was a mass of small cuts and gashes so he was laid on his stomach. Once they were laid out she looked for any obvious cuts and bleeding on the two and other than Sousuke's back there didn't seem to be any other major injuries.
"Wade, EMT's?"
"Two minutes."
Kaname looked around for what else she needed to do, "Blankets? Mr. Stoppable? Blankets? They could go into shock." Dean ran into the house. "Daddy, can you watch them?" Shunya just nodded and knelt beside the two Warriors. Kaname hurried back into the house to check on Kim and Ayame.
Shunya looked down at the welter of small cuts on the back of the boy, no young man, that had pulled him from the room at nearly the expense of his own life. He now had an Honor Debt with nearly every member of the Team his daughter worked with. Ronald for trying to cover the bomb, Kimberly for covering his daughter with her own body and finally, the young man he was kneeling beside who had pulled him from the line of fire.
He blamed none of the Stoppables for what happened. He had seen the Swastika emblazoned on the paper Dean Stoppable had opened seconds before Ron opened the box. And he knew what that meant! Shunya was gripping his hand so hard the tendons were popping. Whoever the enemies Ronald Stoppable faced were, they had just gained another one! He had to call his supervisors to let them know he would be a few days late in returning.
**********
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, there was noise. Not enough to be bothersome. Not even enough to wake him up. But now that he was coming around, it was there.
And light. There was light, bright light! And pain! He ached all over! Arms and shoulders mostly. Ron groaned as his eyes blinked open and he started looking around. "Unnnggggghh!"
"Well, hey there, Sporto!"
Ron looked towards the sound of the voice to see a grinning Shego. Just inside the doorway behind her was a G.J. Agent in full armor, carrying an MP5 submachine gun. The agent's eyes never rested, the door, Shego, the window, Ron, back to the door. Ron didn't know the guy, but he could tell the man was pissed about something.
"I was just coming to check on ya."
Ron was confused. Nothing new there, except, 'Why is Shego in my room? Wait a minute, am I in my room? This ain't my room!' Ron looked to the side to notice the medical equipment stand holding a heart monitor and bag of something, probably saline solution. Ron had been in enough hospital rooms to recognize one when he saw it. He might have even been in this one before.
He felt something different on his left wrist. He raised his arm to look at it and noticed his watch had a new band. A bluish metal band with no fastener or release. The Lotus Blade!
He looked around again and asked, "Shego?"
She started to approach the bed and the Agent was instantly on alert. Shego froze! Any other time she would have been offended. But first she had her unborn child to worry about, secondly was who he was guarding and why. The Agent was in the room because one of G.J.'s own was here, victim of an assassination attempt. It didn't matter that they were technically Reserve Agents, they still carried G.J. Badges. Every Agent she had come across was on the same hair trigger and they were all armed with weapons far more lethal than their usual shock watches and stun batons. In short, the entire Agency was pissed.
Ron seeing the bristling Agent nodded and said, "It's all right."
The Agent settled back into his watchful circuit. Shego stepped closer to the bed and says, "How ya feeling, Sporto?"
"Sporto?"
She was wearing her trademark smirk, "Well, you know me, I'm not happy unless I'm calling people names. And I can't really call ya 'Buffoon' any more. If nothing else, Drew might never forgive me." She looked at him seriously, "Besides, it's not true anymore."
Her normal smirk returned to her mint hued face, "Now let's see if I can play psychic and guess your questions and in what order. First, You, Princess and Soldier-boy were the only ones hurt." At the mention of Kim, Ron started to panic, but Shego rode over him to say, "Princess is OK, she woke up a few hours ago. Nasty goose egg, but she's all right." Ron settled down, he wasn't happy about it, but he was learning that while you may not like some things, you probably had to accept them. He knew he had gone off half-cocked too many times without either hearing or more importantly listening to what people were saying and letting only the worst parts start to rebound in his mind.
"Soldier-boy took the worse of it. From what they can figure, he turned to try and get back inside to you when the bomb blew. You landed on him and rolled him around in the glass from the sliding door. He's alright, bunch a stitches, but he'll be ok."
Ron blinked, "BOMB?!"
"Boy, that hit you took really rattled your cage didn't it! Apparently somebody sent you an exciting Birthday present, complete with a Semtex filler! Your parents and sister, the little girl and her daddy are fine. You, Kimmie, and Sagara are the only ones who wound up in here. They're in the rooms next to yours. I just came from Punkin's room and she was still asleep. Sagara, they have sedated to keep him from tearing himself up any worse then he was."
"Right now all of you have some real serious types like him," Shego used a thumb to indicate the Agent at the door, "both inside and outside your rooms." She chuckled, "Course, I think until I got here, the most dangerous one was your friend Chidori."
"Miss Doberman wasn't hurt. She was the one that got the ball rolling on getting you all taken care of. Since ya all got here, she hasn't left the hospital! She's been outside the rooms you all are in for the last 18 hours. But Bet's called me in and tried to convince her to get some sleep. That was an hour or so ago." Shego chuckled again, "When Cyclops tried to get her to disarm, I thought she was gonna shoot the woman! She finally gave in when the Doc said she could crash in Soldier Boy's room."
"You parents are staying with Possible's parents because their house is now the scene of a 'Federal Hate Crime'. FBI, State Police and the U.S. Justice Department were all butting heads over who got to take the lead on the case until the Prez flat out ordered that since there were four G.J. Agents involved and one of them being the target, Bet's was in charge! Once the house was secure, she unleashed your electro-geek! Nerdlinger's been stalking around your parent's place like a Kodiak bear, armed to the teeth! Since when does he carry a shotgun? He found the note by the way."
"What note?"
"The one that came with the bomb! It had a Swastika on it. Drew's beyond pissed. Ed ain't real happy either. They're both mad enough to chew nails and spit tacks. Humph, one good thing to come out of this. It's got Mullet-head so focused that he don't have time to bother me too much."
Shego glanced at the clock over the door and said, "Look, I'm gonna go check on Sagara, then I'll see about having you taken to Kimmie's room. How's that sound?"
"Uhh, yeah! That'd be great! Thanks Shego!"
"It's not a problem, Sporto!"
**********
Deep in the German Heartland, nearly a hundred meters underground, a short statured, jaundiced man was screaming into a microphone, "VAS IST DAS? YOU HAVE FAILED TO KIELL ZHE UNTERMENSCH! EXPLAIN!"
"Mien Führer, we don't know what happened, the device worked perfectly. Five seconds after the lid was raised it went off. The forensics people are crawling all over the site. As soon as a report is filed, you will have a copy of it minutes after I do."
"You have failed in zhe task I ave given you. Zhe Untermensch iz meant to pay. YOU WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN! IZ ZHAT CLEAR, DU!"
"Jawohl Mien Führer"
**********
The second time she awoke it was to a merely pounding headache instead of the jackhammer inside of her skull that was there before. When she woke up earlier, the doctor hadn't given her many options. If she would lay there quietly and rest, he promised that the nurses would tell her if there was any change with Ron and they would clear her to visit him as soon as they could.
The other option was she would rest in an induced coma until the mild concussion she had suffered had a chance to heal. The doctor had dealt with Team Possible before and knew how stubborn they could be. The coma idea was firmly backed up by her mother. And since the verified concussion legally had her temporarily incapacitated, it gave her mother the right to do just that.
She looked towards the door to see the guard had changed from the last time she woke up. He noticed her looking at him and he grinned. Using his left hand, he pointed to the other side of the bed and she heard a snorting sound coming from her left. It was snoring.
She looked to her side only to see a familiar blond head lying on the bed. She smiled as her breathing hitched, she laid her hand on top of the re-growing blond mop and closed her tearing eyes, drifting back to sleep. He was OK and that was the only thing she needed to know.
**********
She had done this vigil too many times. Waiting for him to awaken from one injury or another. Saying Sousuke was the paranoid type was like saying it was warm in the Sahara at noon. If he didn't see a friendly face or familiar surroundings when he woke up, he was likely to start trying to E&E (Escape and Evade) thinking he had been captured by an enemy. So she turned the chair to face him and slid it close enough to the bed that she could hold his hand. That way she would be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. She knew her man, she was wearing her pistol in plain sight and had even wrote him a note telling him everything was OK in case she was asleep or out of the room.
The doctors had him laying face down to prevent pulling out any of the 60 staples they used to close him back up. None of the cuts had really been life threatening, but there were a lot of them. When Ron landed on him, Sousuke had been driven to the patio and dragged across the deck through the glass from the sliding door. After stitching him up, they had wheeled him into the room and placed him on a light I.V. sedative. Not enough to keep him under, just enough knock the edge off the pain and to keep him from rolling or moving around.
She had been on a hair trigger for hours, adrenaline pouring through her, mind racing, just waiting for the expected attack. But it never came. And a person can only stay at that level of alert for so long before it catches up to them. She had laid her head back to rest her eyes for just a second and she was suddenly asleep.
**********
Years of waking up in hostile territory had deeply ingrained a habit of waking up silently, assessing the situation. Pain across his back in numerous places. Without opening his eyes he could tell he had an I.V. in and was being drugged. 'Not good!' He heard a slight snore. Through slitted eyes, without moving his head, he glanced around. Kaname! He saw her and the fact she was armed. He suddenly relaxed. If she was here and under arms then this must be a legitimate medical facility. She was safe! Right then that was the only thing his drug addled mind wanted to know. Everything else could wait.
**********
All the guards had been briefed to know who was, and more importantly, who was NOT allowed in the rooms. So when a stern face looked in on the Japanese couple, the guard just inside the door acknowledged the father of the girl sleeping next to the bed with a nod, letting him know everything was OK inside the room.
Shunya had watched his daughter stalking the hallways of the floor throughout the night. It reminded him of an angry cougar he had seen in the New York City Zoo. Her hair flipped and twitched in agitation just like the big cats tail.
He watched her questioning the guards occasionally about the stairwells and elevators, when had the roof guards checked in last and whether the plain clothes Agents in the lobby had reported in. It was strange to see these men, who were obviously highly trained, respectfully answering her questions as if she was their superior officer. And his daughter's tactical mindset of guarding the wounded?! Unbelievable!
And when she was finally relieved by the woman with the eye patch and the mint hued young woman, the first thing she did was grab a chair, scribble a quick note and set herself next to the young man that saved his life. She had only stopped to use the bathroom a few times throughout the night, so it wasn't long before she dropped off.
He watched as the young man carefully reached for her hand resting on the arm of the chair, thumb gently tracing swirls on the back of her hand. Between what he had seen two nights ago and throughout the last week, even if he didn't express it well, Shunya knew the young man loved his little Kana-chan as much as he himself did. Maybe more. A talk was needed. Yes, he needed to talk to Sagara man-to-man. Soon.
**********
A pair of faces peered through the door into the room of the redheaded girl. They saw a young man sitting in a chair next to the bed laying his head beside her. Both looked to be sleeping soundly. James was looking at Ron sleeping on the chair next to his daughter with a wistful expression.
Anne noticed it and whispered, "James, they're fine, they just need some rest. Although I'd rather Ron was getting his in a proper bed. When the nurses tried to keep him in his room, he threatened to 'Unleash the Monkey Mojo' if they didn't leave him alone."
"Sounds like Ronald! Bout the only thing that would keep him away from her is probably death. Humph! Knowing him, maybe not even that! What can I say Anne. He sits on a bomb for her and now he's sitting here when he should be in a bed! He's really grown up, hasn't he?"
"They both have, Jimmy."
"When did that happen? I mean, it seems like a few days ago we were dropping her off at pre-school."
"James, that was over 14 years ago!"
"It hasn't been that long, has it? God, I'm getting old!"
"Come on, 'old man'. They're fine, they'll be released in a day or so. Let's go home. I'm sure Gene and Barbara would like to come visit the kids and the Twins won't be able to handle Hana by themselves."
James shuddered, "Here's a frightening thought! Imagine the havoc they could wreak if they get her involved with their experiments!"
Anne shuddered, "Heaven forbid!"
**********
Later that afternoon, Kim had been wheeled out for a series of CAT scans leaving Ron to return to his room. Much to his relief, they had removed the I.V. He really hated IV's because they made him have to use the bathroom without the enjoyment of drinking a soda. He was flipping through the mediocre selection of TV channels when a knock came from the door. No one 'just opened the doors' to the rooms the team was staying in. The guards both inside and outside made sure of that.
The guard opened the door revealing Roger peering around the door jamb looking around the room in mock nervousness. "Is it cool?
Ron smiled at his uncle and said, "Come on in, Uncle Rog."
Roger leaned down by the door and glanced under the bed saying "Ya sure? Last thing I wanna do is walk into your fun time with an IED."
"Ha ha."
"How're ya doing, boy?"
"Arms and shoulders are killing me. Besides that I just wanna get out of here. I hate hospitals!"
Roger took a seat on the bed beside Ron. "You're not the only one. I seen you girlfriend being wheeled down the hall grumbling about how she was fine and didn't need another test to tell her that."
Ron grew despondent at the mention of Kim "I can't believe this happened. Why would somebody want to blow me up? And the worst part was I nearly got everybody else killed."
"Ronnie, you need to relax. I talked to your mom and dad and that Chidori guy. Ronnie, you saved everyone there. You're a hero."
Ron shook his head a little. "I don't feel like a hero."
"I got news for you, boy," Roger said, "most heroes don't."
"But they we're trying to get me, Uncle Roger! It's my fault!" At the word fault, Roger backhanded him. The guard nearly shot him before he realized what Roger was trying to do. Hearing Ron talk like he was made the guard want to do something similar.
"Whoa?!?! Uncle Rog?!"
"Now, have I knocked that shit out of your head yet or do I need to do it again? If I ever hear you saying something like that again I'll show you why I can still kick your ass. You didn't do this. Somebody else did. They were aiming for you and they didn't care who else got in the way. That's Not. Your. Fault!"
Ron was still slumped and Roger said, "Tell ya what. Ya might have a hard time believing me cause I'm family." He looked at the guard and asked, "What about you? Was it his fault?"
'Thank God, now I let the kid have a piece of my mind.' The guard was the senior agent for the detail and had been with GJ since before the Ron Factor tests, He had seen the bouts of self-doubt the boy put himself through. He looked first at Roger, "No Sir."
Then he looked to Ron, "Agent Stoppable, you've got no reason to blame yourself here. I don't know who you've pissed off that they would go to this much trouble to get to ya, but I only hope that I can get an enemy that mad at me one day"
Ron exclaimed, "WHAT?!?!" Even Roger was a little perplexed at the guard's statement.
"We're trying to keep anarchy at bay here. And somebody that would try to blow up your family is just the kind of people we wanna drop into a deep dark hole and put a cement plug on top of it so they never see the light of day again, passing their food and water through a three by nine inch slot."
"And if you've got them that pissed at you, that means these snakes are gonna eventually stick their heads out of their hidey hole far enough and long enough for us to pin 'em to the ground with a forked stick, grab their asses and lock 'em up for the rest lives."
"I've followed the Team Possible mission logs and reports, and as long as they're focused on your team, sooner or later, they're gonna screw up. And when they do, you and your friends are gonna nail 'em to a wall."
"Meantime, we just have to keep our eyes open for the next attack. And now that we know what they're likely to do, it makes it a lot easier to keep an eye out."
**********
The following morning Kim and Ron were released and to the amazement of everybody except Kaname, Sagara signed himself out. "I do not need any pills or drugs, nor do I need additional surgery. Stoppable-sans birthday is in two days, I have things to do prior to then. I will return in ten to fourteen days to have the staples removed. Thank you for your care." He bowed and walked out the door.
Anne and Shunya tried to get Kaname to talk him into staying a few days longer, but she just shook her head, threw her hands up and said, "I watched him pull a 12 and half centimeter (about four and a half inches) piece of steel shrapnel from his own stomach, put a bandage on it and walk ten miles, then go into combat. If he wants to leave there's no force on earth that will stop him. Not even me!"
**********
Two days later, at an abandoned airfield, a transporter box truck, pulling a medium trailer arrived in the middle of the squashed X of the runways. The crew hit the ground running. The first thing they did was park the trailer to one side in the sparse grass growing to one side of the runways. Then they set up a medium sized canopy tent beside the trailer. Once the tent was in place, the transport team carefully rolled a car out of a transporter truck and into the middle of the canopy.
When it was in place, per orders they hid it with the soft sided cover from the trunk. Then they set up some tables on two sides of the area under the canopy. On one side they set up several monitors and computer equipment. On the other side they set up a small buffet. Then they hung up fabric walls to hide the interior of tent. When they were finished, the crew drove to the hangars on the far side of the airfield and waited. They had no problem with that because they were being paid very well for this day's work.
Twenty minutes later, a small convoy consisting three cars and a minivan approached, led by a beat up Ford Ranger. The Ranger parked about 10 meters from the tent, Roger got out of the driver's side and Ron stumbled out of the passenger's side. Roger started directing the rest into a line beside his truck. When a car had parked, people started exiting the vehicles. Kim had driven the Sloth with Kaname and Ayame; Sousuke drove Eleanor with Shunya Chidori in the front, while Wade rode in the back. The Stoppables had brought Hana and Mrs. Possible brought James, Jim and Tim in the minivan.
It had been a long two hours for the younger males in the GTO, because Shunya wanted to 'Talk' to the Soldier. Wade just tried to hunker down in the back seat doing research on his palmtop while Shunya grilled the young NCO on his 'intentions' towards his eldest daughter.
And as much as it galled him, Shunya had to admit, he was more than slightly impressed by the young man his daughter had taken such a shine to. He was intelligent and quick in the uptake. He had some holes in his general social knowledge, but he didn't try to hide it or bluff his way through. He openly admitted his lack of such. And after hearing the history of the Soldier, Shunya understood how the lack of understanding came about.
At the end of the trip he hated to admit it, but Sousuke had proven impervious to any intimidation tactics. He had been impressed at the lengths Sousuke would go to defend others in general and Kaname in particular. His actions four days ago and the GTO they were riding was proof of those lengths.
**********
Most of the people were wearing knowing grins except for Sousuke, Ron and the Tweebs. Sousuke knew what the deal was but wasn't about to let it show. Ron and the Tweebs were the only ones kept out of the loop. The 'rents had decided that the two younger boys wouldn't have been able to keep their mouths shut about what was coming and since this was supposed to be a surprise party for Ron, well, you get the point. That was about to change though.
Everyone was standing around when Ron asked, "Alright, what's going on? I know this is supposed to be a surprise party, but couldn't we have had it back in Middleton, instead of having to drive all the way out here?"
Kim deflected him by saying, "Relax Ron, we're just waiting for a few more people."
"Like who?"
Kim pointed to the East. In the distance Ron saw aircraft inbound. A GJ hoverjet flanked by the hoverjets of Drakken and Senor Senior Senior with a flat black unmarked helicopter in the slot position landed.
Senior bounded out with an agility that would have shocked anyone who didn't know the spry old man. He was followed more sedately by Junior and his girlfriend Bonnie Rockwaller.
Drakken climbed out of his craft and turned to help a visibly irritated, four months pregnant Shego who was harping about having to endure "Mullet heads". Motor Ed trailed at a slight distance, wisps of smoke rising from his trademark mullet.
The GJ hoverjet carried Dr. Director and her newly reinstated to flight status pilot, Will Du.
From the helicopter an ancient man wearing red robes with gold trim approached. To his left and right were Yori and Hirotaka. Master Sensei Toshimaru Ishido had arrived.
Senior asked, "We're not too late for the start are we?"
Betty piped up saying, "I think we seem to be just in time."
Sensei put in his two cents, "Ahh, most excellent, it would be a shame to miss the celebration."
Roger stood in front of the pavilion and asked, "Everyone here? Alright! Ronnie, I'm sure you've guessed that this is your birthday party. But what you didn't know is that a few of us bent the truth a few weeks ago. I had the guys at the paint and upholstery shops exaggerate how long it was going to take to finish. They finished two days ago. You can thank your girlfriend for the idea." He looked to James and Dean who were standing close to the tent, "Gentleman" They pulled the side covers off of the pavilion revealing the covered car.
"Booyah!" Ron hadn't been expecting the car to be finished until around the Thanksgiving break.
Everyone clustered into the tent around the car as Roger led Ron to a spot about 10 feet from the driver's side "Me, your Dad, James, Ed Lipsky and Wade got together and finished assembly. Wade installed the electronics. Senior there bought the airfield. He mentioned something about expanding his operations. Now are you ready to see your handiwork?" Ron had a stupefied goofy grin when he nodded. With a dramatic pause, Roger signaled Dean and James, who pulled the cover off.
And there she stood. Wimbledon White with very light, wispy, blue flames rising from just behind the leg pipes and curled up over the rear wheel wells and onto the trunk lid. The leg pipes started just behind the front wheel wells and opened just short of the rear wheels. Kim had no idea how Roger had found a blue to exactly match the color of Ron's MMP aura, but he had done it. The hood had an MMP blue colored U that enclosed the small hood scoop of the blower with the bottom of the U having a point that started at the very front center of the hood. The arms of the U traveled to the windshield, over the roof. Halfway across the roof they changed to flames matching the one on the sides and passed down to the trunk of the car.
On both of the front fenders, just behind the chrome trim accents, there was a stylized rampaging chimpanzee wearing a black gi. It's face had a snarling expression with bared canines and a blue haze rising from the eyes. Two-handed at its right shoulder, ready to strike, it was holding a katana that was glowing with an MMP blue haze surrounding it. In very fine script below the chimp "Monkey Power Rules" was written in both English and Kanji in a deep Royal Blue. Roger pointed out that it was Sensei's addition. Then he pointed to the rear fenders. In the same Royal Blue color and cursive script as the front fender, it read "Elma Lee". "That one was mine."
All the chrome on the car had been replaced with new parts. All four headlights had been replaced with glittering high intensity halogens. At the rear of the car, the tail lights had been changed to slightly pointed lenses and seemed to really look like a twin engine jet exhaust.
The burnished Crager American SS Classic rims sported huge gloss black-wall 295/60/15s on the rear and smaller 235/60/15s in the front. Ron almost had to tub the rear-end to get the tires under the car.
Roger opened the doors. The interior was white and had blue stripes on the front and backseats as well as the visors and headliner that exactly matched the exterior. The front bench seat had been kept to maintain most of the 'original look'. The carpet was a darker blue that had evidently been chosen for the ability to hide dirt. Every switch and knob in the car had been replaced with new parts. Mounted on the steering column, centered below the speedometer was a tachometer. There was a switch mounted on the top of the tach.
There were only three real indicators inside that the car hadn't been transported by time machine from the 1960's. The first was the stereo sitting mounted in the dash and the tastefully concealed speakers in the front and rear doors, dash and rear deck. It was a Wade special and had more functions than just being a stereo.
The second was the assortment of small, but easily readable gauges that were mounted to the shelf just below the speedometer. These showed various engine functions such as oil pressure and temperature, coolant temperature, alternator volts, and importantly, blower pressure.
The last indicator was the carefully hidden roll bar that provided a place to mount the new shoulder harness and the plush heavy narrow mesh net taking the place of modern headrests behind both driver and passenger seats. They hooked to the roll bar and dropped to hook to the top of the seats by hidden connections.
When Roger demonstrated how the front seat back dropped to meet the rear bench, he mentioned how he had, had a lot of fun in the drive-ins as a younger man. Kim blushed to the roots of her hair and James tried to scowl only to be bopped on the back of the head by Anne.
Ron was floored, the last time he had seen the car before it was sent to the paint shop, it had been the flat primer gray that he had personally applied and wet sanded to the slickness of glass, while the interior was primered and ready to paint, with all the seats and trims being sent to the upholsterers.
As everyone stood there gawking, Roger intruded with, "Now I want everyone here to understand something. Except for the final paint, interior upholstery work, the machine shop work, some of the electrical work and installing the stereo; with a bit of technical help from me and a little bit of muscle from some of the rest of you, Ron did every bit of the work himself. Including installing a new wiring harness throughout the car."
Motor Ed opened the hood and looked inside with a professional tuner's eye. The interior of the engine bay was a matching white with out the high gloss finish of the exterior of the car. The block and heads were painted Ford's engine blue, while all of the attached parts like the water pump, pulleys and timing chain cover were a matte black. The alternator, blower and intake were left a spotless burnished aluminum and the exhaust headers were a flat black down to some kind of Y-splitter.
"Little Dude, this is Righteous! Seriously!"
Roger hit the button on a fob and opened the trunk. Inside it was as spotless as the rest of the car and painted the same white as the engine bay, with new mats and a medium sized tool box, jack and a full sized spare. Nestled up under the rear deck were a couple of boxes that contained the stereo amp and a few other various electronics. There was still enough room to set four full sized tires.
Shego looked inside and comment, "Damn, you got enough room in there for a couple a bodies, Stoppable. Not bad!"
Junior looked to his father and whined, "Father, I want an American car like this!"
"Junior, Ron Stoppable has worked months on this automobile. He had greasy hands and damaged knuckles for weeks. Are you sure you're willing to put the effort forth? Besides, where would you drive it on the island?"
"Well, since you put it that way."
"Still, that's definitely a top of the food chain car." Bonnie interjected.
Roger looked very sincerely at his nephew. "Ronnie, I know we dyno-ed the engine, but the last time she was fired up inside the car was just before Aaron was killed. The keys are in the ignition, I'd be really proud if you'd crank her up."
Ron was stunned speechless. He grabbed his Uncle in a massive hug whispering "Thanks Uncle Rog."
"Don't thank me, boy, you did all the work! Now crank her up."
Ron opened the door and climbed into the car. Taking a moment to gaze around the interior, he looked down at the keys hanging in the dash. He reached down, took a hold of the keys, swallowed, took a deep breath and thought a quick prayer hoping the car would start. He didn't want to be embarrassed by failing with everyone standing around watching him. Ron took a leap of faith and turned the key.
WHOrrrroommmm rumrumrumrumrumrumrum
"A-BOOOYAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Y'all back up." Roger directed the people standing close to the sides of the car, then barked "Ronnie, punch it a couple times!"
WROOOOOOOOMMmummummummum WROOOOOOOOMMmummummummum
Even with the new suspension, the car rocked from the torque the 428 was putting out. Flames came from the leg pipes when Ron let off of the throttle. For those who had been around muscle cars they could tell the leg pipes weren't just there for show, but came directly from the waste-gates set just behind the headers. The other side of the waste-gates led to the dual 'Cherry bomb' exhaust. This was no low-rider. This car was a beast.
"RIGHTEOUS, TOTALLY RIGHTEOUS!!!! SERIOUSLY! Yeaaahhhhhh waaannnnnnwannnnnn" Motor Ed let his opinion be known ending the outburst with his trademark air guitar solo.
Ron looked up at the man who had started him on the journey to recovery after the disaster of graduation, with a huge grin. Roger just smiled through his scruffy, three day old, grey-shot whiskers and said, "Out-fucking-standing!"
Ron bolted from the car and slammed into his Uncle again. Roger patted the young man on the back saying, "Ya done good, boy. Now what say you take her out give her a test run."
Wade was really fighting his agoraphobia right then, but he wasn't about to miss this. He stepped up to Ron, grinning, and said, "Ron, all this equipment is here to monitor the test runs. I installed the sensors while the car was at the paint shop. Dr. Director and Drakken agreed to have the hover-jets follow you and transmit the video back here." The two mentioned stood to one side wearing smug and toothy grins respectively. Wade pointed to the side of the pavilion. "That trailer has enough gas to fill the fuel cell about five times and we have two complete sets of tires ready to go. That way we really see how she's really performing."
Ron looked at the car. He really wanted to take her out. But there was something in the back of his mind. He glanced at Roger, back at the car, to the people standing around and back at his Uncle. He knew what the car meant to the man better than anyone except for his deceased wife and possibly Steve Barkin. He knew Roger believed he would never have another chance to take her for a spin. But the older man stood there smiling at his younger relative.
Ron reached into the car, shut it down and pulled the keys. "Uncle Roger, I want you to take her out."
"No, Ronnie. She yours now."
"I know, but I want you to. Please."
"Why?"
"Because I know what she means to you and you think you'll probably never have a chance again. Please."
"You sure?"
"Yep!"
"Alright Ronnie."
Roger was hustled into one of the Nomex suits and a helmet with a built in boom mic and headset. He had a quick conference with Wade. When he told the genius what he wanted, Wade said it wasn't a problem, but asked him why. "Because it was playing on the radio the first time I picked my wife up for our first date and she always liked the group." Wade quickly loaded the data into the onboard MP3 player and set it to repeat as Roger had asked.
The gearheads of the group got together and laid out a plan for the first test run. Roger would go the end of a runway and head toward the other using the taxiways. When he got there and had a whole runway available he would test the supercharger. Since they had run the engine on the dyno for close to twenty-four hours, there didn't need to be a break-in on the CobraJet. They were free to turn it loose. Once he got ready to return he would test the brakes and anti-locks with a 'panic stop'.
Roger sat in the car and put on the seatbelt as one of the Twins used a short strap to hook the helmet to the roll bar. While this was going on, Will Du and Shego boarded the hover-jets to trail the car during the testing. Everybody else clustered around the monitors to watch the upcoming action.
Once they had the aircraft positioned on either side of the runway at a height of about 50 feet, Roger pulled the car into the noonday sun. He turned to left and smoothly accelerated down the asphalt. With two runways, both nearly 12,000 feet long designed to accommodate former Cold War bombers and the accompanying taxiways; there was more than enough room to "Get Busy" as Drakken would say.
"Get ready" performed by Rare Earth
http://www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=FPE5kWbTPIM
By the time Roger had reached the end of the first runway, he could already tell the car was performing better than it ever had before. Acceleration was smoother and more responsive than he remembered. The suspension was smoother as well; not nearly as harsh as the last time the car had been driven over twenty years ago. The independent rear suspension and Dyna-track rear-end made for a serious improvement.
Never met a girl could make me feel the way that you do.
(You're all right).
Whenever I'm asked what makes-a my dreams real, I tell em you do.
(You're outta sight).
Well tweedle dee, tweedle dum, look out baby 'cause here I come.
Roger drifted onto the left taxiway and maintained most of his speed towards the crossing runway. When he drifted left onto the other strip, he had 12,000 feet, over two miles of almost perfectly flat asphalt in front of him. He reached through the wheel and flicked the switch on the top of the tach. Instantly the blower started shoving nearly three times the air and fuel through the three Carter 400 carburetors. It was only the net behind his head and the harness that hooked his helmet to the roll bar that kept his head facing upright.
(Aaahh) I'm bringin' you a love that's true, (get ready), Get ready, (get ready)
(Aaahh) Stop makin' love to you, (get ready). Get ready.
(Aaahh) Owww, don't ya know I'm coming, (Get ready, cause here I come) on my way. (Get ready, cause here I come)
As he passed the center of the strip and blasted past the pavilion, he was passing 150 MPH with the big block motor screaming. Sensei looked from the monitors to Ron, grinned and said "Most impressive Stoppable-san. Excellent work." Roger forced his hand back through the steering wheel and shut the blower down. He decelerated and made a right at the end of the runway heading to the opposite end of the strip he had started on.
You wanna play hide and seek with love, let me remind ya.
(You're all right).
Lovin' you're gonna miss, and the time it takes to find ya.
(You're outta sight).
Well, Fe Fi Fo Fo Fum, Look out baby now here I come.
By now, Roger had a really good feel for the handling of the large car. It was all coming back to him. Like riding a bike, you never really forget how. When he got close the end of the taxiway, he did something the original designers would have never tried. He accelerated and power over-steered through a right turn, white smoke pouring from the rear tires. Pointing the Galaxie toward the middle of the airfield, he called out over the radio, "Hey Du, Shego, you think you can keep up? Bet I can cross the taxiway before you."
"It's a trivial exercise to maintain pursuit from the air. Our craft are capable of sonic speeds."
"Bring it on, Pops!"
(Aaahh) I'm bringin' you a love that's true, (get ready), Get ready, (get ready)
(Aaahh) Stop makin' love to you, (get ready). Get ready. (get ready).
(Aaahh) Don't ya know I'm coming, (Get ready, cause here I come) on my way. (Get ready, cause here I come)
Just as Roger passed the pavilion, he slammed the brakes. The antilocks kept the car under control as the 11 inch discs brought the car to a screeching halt in less than 200 feet. As soon as the car was stopped Roger hit reverse and powered the car in the other direction.
When the tach touched the redline, Roger let off the gas and whipped wheel to the right slamming the front of the car to the left. Just as the front of the car passed 90 degrees he let go of the wheel, slapped the shifter into drive and floored the pedal. The wheel spun back past the center and Roger continued through the reverse power slide. On the other side he hit the blower again. Even though he was already passing 40 MPH, the rear end of the car was lost in the resulting cloud of white smoke. Elma Lee would probably need new rear tires before Ron drove her home.
He was accelerating so hard, the rear end lifted and the torque from the rear wheels was pulling the front end up. The entire car was shuddering from the stresses Roger was putting on the frame.
WEEELLLLL, If all my friends shouldn't want me to, I think I'll understand
(You're alright)
Hope I get to you before they do cause, that's how I planned it.
(You're outta sight)
Well tweedle dee, now tweedle dum, look out baby 'cause here I come.
In a space of 12 seconds he had reversed course and accelerated past 100 MPH. Will hadn't been expecting anything like it and completely overshot the Galaxie. On the ground, Betty just shook her head. Only her exceptional flying skills and reflexes allowed Shego to stay close by spinning the hoverjet 180 degrees and tilting the craft nose down to use both the lift and thrust to counteract the inertia.
"OH, You sneaky old bastard!" Shego was grinning like a maniac.
"Never said which taxiway, did I? Hobble's dad hated that trick!"
(Aaahh) I'm bringin' you a love that's true, (get ready), Get ready, (get ready)
(Aaahh) Stop makin' love to you, (get ready). Get ready.
(Aaahh) Owww, don't ya know I'm coming, (Get ready, cause here I come) on my way. (Get ready, cause here I come)
Roger reached the taxiway just as Shego caught up. The only reason she was able to get that close was Roger had to slow down to make the turn. 'Top Agent' Will Du had been forced to cut the corner to get back in position. If he had been trying to follow the Galaxie in a city, there was a very good chance Roger would have given him the slip. Roger over-steered left onto the taxiway in the direction of the other runway then turned left towards the pavilion.
He floored the car one more time to feel the acceleration of the 428 CobraJet shove him into the seat. He brought the car to a screeching, shuddering halt in front of the pavilion.
He reached up and unhooked the helmet from the roll bar and climbed out. Pulling off the helmet, he grinned at his beaming nephew. "Ronnie, like I said before. Out-fucking-standing!" He clapped the young man on the back and led him into the pavilion for the rest of the party.
Two days later, Roger was dead when his beat up Ford Ranger erupted in a massive explosion.
**********
AN: This time it's the author that's the bastard :D