Chapter 32 – Parallel Selves
(earlier in the day, Dec. 16, 2017, 11:30am)
The USSN vehicle finally landed behind a billboard next to a highway, about three hours away from Middleton.
"Whoa! That was one bumpy ride!" Ron groaned, holding his head. Rufus was also shaking his head as well to make sure that he wasn't in some sort of deep sleep.
"Where are we?" Ken asked.
"The more appropriate question to ask is when are we!" Kim corrected him before looking at the time circuits, "December of 2017!"
"So this is really the future, huh?" Ron wondered.
"From the looks of it, yeah." Kim replied. They were in the middle of the countryside.
"If this is the future, then where are the robot maids, video chat, talking watches, ultra flat screen TVs, and drones that carry people?" Ron complained.
"What's gotten into the sidekick?" Ken asked with a slight grin on his face.
"He saw some 1960s cartoon about what the future would look like." Kim explained to Ken.
"That pretty much explains it." Ken replied.
"We have to find where Drakken and the villains' company went to, now that they are in the future!" Kim said, observing the pavement.
"First, we need to establish contact with Wade...if we can." Kim insisted, taking out the Kimmunicator.
"Testing, one...two...three! Testing!"
"Kim? Can you read me?" Wade asked through the static.
The sound of Dr. Hephaestus also came to the Kimmunicator as well.
"Miss Possible! Is my machine working?" Hephaestus asked.
"Ummm...yeah, Doctor. But where's Wade?" Kim questioned.
"Then it works! Time travel communication works!" Hephaestus exclaimed. "Excuse my excitement here, Miss Possible. But we have established a link of communication between you in 2017 and us back in 2000. Your tech friend should reply to you with little interference."
"Can you get Wade on screen? He is our only line of communication if we're to catch Drakken and his goons!" Kim insisted.
"Right away, Miss Possible! Here he is now!" Hephaestus replied before Wade took over the screen of the Kimmunicator.
"Hey, Kim? Can ya hear me loud and clear?" Wade asked with a little static.
"A lot less staticy but good!" Kim replied. "Now where is Drakken and the rest of his little party from our position?"
"From the GPS hack on Shego's car, the last track I had was that they were headed down this highway into Middleton." Wade replied.
"Oh no! They must have gotten into town to cause destruction and mayhem!" Ron whined.
"I wouldn't think so, Ron." Wade said. "They've been pretty quiet since they arrived at 5am in the 2017 timeline."
"Then they must be waiting for an opportunity to strike when we least expect it." Kim concluded.
"Exactly. I'd suggest to you to do some surveillance on them." Wade replied while typing.
He also added, "It seems Hephaestus is also warning you about something."
"What?! Put him back on-screen!" Kim insisted.
Hephaestus came back onto the Kimmunicator screen. "Oh, thank you! You have to be warned, Miss Possible." the scientist cautioned. "There are now two of you and Ron here."
"Wait...how is that evenly possible?" Kim wondered, now more confused on the aspects of time travel.
"When you and your friend transported through time, you also went through a parallel dimension." Hephaestus explained, "So you and your friends will encounter a Middleton much more different than yours."
Ron then began to ask a barrage of questions "Whoa! What happens to me and KP? Will we graduate from high school? Will I get to be CEO of Bueno Nacho? Would we end up being..."
But Ken took out a sleeping dart in a tube and shot it at Ron's leg. Ron started to feel groggy.
"Mommy...can you read me a bedtime story...?" Ron sighed before falling asleep on Kim's lap.
"What did you do to him this time, Agent?" Kim asked sternly at Agent Du.
"No one should ask too many questions about their future, Miss Possible." Hephaestus replied. "I suggested Agent Du to take whatever precautions necessary so that the timeline is safe. Your sidekick will be all right once the effects wear off."
"Well, you're the doctor!" Kim admitted.
"So just sit back and enjoy the ride...amateur!" Ken chuckled.
Kim made a grunting sound at him and got out her backpack for the Romeo and Juliet script. She began to read it.
"At least I can get some of this out of the way."
The SUV continued down its way down the highway to Middleton. Ken transformed the color of the SUV to make it less suspicious to beige.
(in Middleton, at noon)
Ubel could feel his stomach just eating away at him. He was in a disguise of blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a black t-shirt with sunglasses and a cap.
"Shego...I'm hungry for some lunch." he whined.
"Stop your bellyaching, Mr. D! Downtown is not more than 5 blocks away." Shego insisted. She was more in a knee-length skirt, a black leather jacket, and a button-down top with black boots. She too had sunglasses and a cap on as well. The black gloves were used to cover the mechanism used to generate her powers.
Following behind the two were the Killer B's. They were all in white pants and yellow t-shirts with sneakers with blue numbers on the back of the shirts to tell them apart.
"Where are we going to get to the food?" KB One asked.
"There's a deli in the downtown area, according to this guide to Middleton that I found in the alleyway." Shego explained while holding the guide. "We can eat and try to recharge. And also contact with Deviotix to see what the next move should be!"
"It's settled then. The deli it is!" Ubel replied.
"And remember...act normal!" Shego insisted.
(10 minutes later)
The gaggle of villains went inside the deli. The building itself was nearly occupied with people that were on their lunch break from their respective areas of work, prepping for the upcoming Fannies and Christmas holidays.
Getting in touch with Deviotix was going to be harder than they thought.
Ubel spoke softly in Shego's ear. "We'll have to get in touch with him after lunch."
Shego nodded her head in agreement as the waitress came up to the group.
"Hello, welcome to the Downtown Deli! How many in your party?" the waitress asked.
"Seven to be exact." Drakken said in a high voice to disguise himself.
"We have a table in the back for your party! Follow me, please!" the waitress replied while grabbing the menus. The group followed behind her, still hiding their identities. Once they got to the booth, they all sat down.
"Would you like anything to drink?"
Ubel replied, "I'll have an iced tea, unsweet and...um...Sheila..." he grinned as to not give away her identity, "...what would you like?"
"I'd prefer unsweet tea as well, thank you very much." Shego replied.
"And for your...friends?" the waitress asked uneasily, looking at the oddly-colored shirts of the Killer B's.
"We would all like water..." all five of the KB's replied in unison.
"Ooookay..." the waitress spoke in a low voice, creeped out by these strange visitors, "I'll be back with your drinks." She left for a moment to get the drinks, a bit weirded out.
Turned to the KB's, he said to them. "Would you try to cut that out?"
"We couldn't help it!" KB One replied, "We have that hive mentality that lets us..."
KB Two added, "...finish our sentences." Then they both spoke, "And allow us to talk at the same time!"
"Well, you're going to have to turn down your voices." Ubel insisted. And to his surprise, a device began to ring from his pocket.
"I'll take the call in the back!" he proclaimed again in a high-pitched voice.
Ubel ran from the table to the back door and exited into an alley so that no one could notice.
Seeing that the coast was clear on both side of the alley, he activated the device.
It was a hologram image of one of the Deviotix board members. His face was covered in shadow.
"Mr. Drakken..." the figure hissed, "...what is your progress report so far?"
"Ah yes, we are now in the future currently after getting away from the all-that teenager." Ubel said, trembling at his feet. "And we are on the very verge of finding the material needed for my Doomsday weather machine to wreak havoc on the National Parks! But we don't know which lab to look for..."
"I see. You will find out that the material is closer than you think." the figure replied, "Mr. Tofoles sent me a reminder that you have to obtain the material by the end of the day...at midnight tonight."
"U...u...understood sir..." Ubel stammered.
-
"And you know what happens when you fail, correct, Mr. Drakken?" the figure fumed.
Ubel shook his head. He did not want Deviotix's legal team on his ass.
"Good!" the figure muttered, "Now after you and your allies have lunch, be on the aggressive hunt for that material, so that we can really see how good your machine is."
Ubel nodded. "I'll get my allies ready."
"Oh..." the figure insisted, "you forgot one other thing..."
"Y..yes?" Ubel wondered at what sort of statement the figure might bring.
"You and Miss Goforth must not run into your other selves. For if you do, the universe will cease to exist!" the figure said. "The same goes for the future versions of both this Kim Possible and her sidekick doofus friend...whose name escapes us..."
"Other selves?" Ubel asked.
"Correct. There are now two of you here and two of Miss Goforth here." the figure replied, "And you are not going to like their fates..."
"I shouldn't guess then." Ubel replied.
"No..." the figure said, "So once you're off your lunch break, you're back on official Deviotix duty! The transmission will end now."
The hologram disappeared from Drakken's device.
Once Ubel came back from the alleyway, he sat down right next to Shego.
"Have we ordered yet?" he wondered.
"Nope..." Shego said, "...but we did get our drinks!"
"Good!" Ubel replied, "Now let's take our ord..."
"Uhhh...is that...Kim Possible and her buffoonish sidekick...holding hands?" Shego asked, dumbfounded.
"What?! Where?!" Ubel exclaimed.
"It can't be...no..." he said, beginning to chuckle.
He looked out the window and saw the 29-year old versions of Kim and Ron. Kim in the one-strap overalls and Ron in the usual outfit. What completely creeped him out was them...with their wedding bands!
"How did she end up with him?!" Ubel exclaimed with laughter. "Their wedding cake must've consisted of trash!"
"Kimmie didn't exactly have the best taste in men." Shego chuckled. "She looks like a rejected 90s pop star!"
"What did she even see in that slacker?" Ubel chuckled, "He smells of expired fruit!"
Then he saw that they were walking towards the deli...with the present Dr. Drew Lipsky and Sheila Goforth Lipsky. Dr. Lipsky was in his early 50s and a well-respected, albeit sometimes absent-minded, inventor while Sheila, now in her mid 30s, was on the school board of the Middleton Unified School District. Sheila was in a green and black pantsuit while Dr. Lipsky was wearing a white lab trenchcoat with khakis and a blue button-down shirt. In terms of their relation with Kim and Ron, it was both friendly and business-related ten years since the invasion. Dr. Lipsky also had provided Global Justice some vital tools needed in their fight against evil, while Sheila also provided some muscle to assist GJ in missions. Dr. Lipsky's skin was now normal and Sheila's skin remained the same.
Child-wise, they had just one daughter born in 2009, Alicia.
Ubel gasped and whispered to Shego and KB One, "Everyone, menus up!"
He, Shego, and the Killer B's all raised up their menus.
"What's the meaning of this?" Shego demanded quietly.
"We cannot run into our other selves...or the future Kim Possible...now Stoppable!" Ubel replied with a whisper. "If we do, the universe will end as we know it!"
"That is so a silly name!" Shego giggled slightly.
"Yeah...yeah..." Ubel replied dismissively. "Just keep your menus up and don't make a single sound!"
Their menus were kept up as Kim, Ron, Dr. Lipsky, and Sheila came into the deli.