Chapter 44 – Best Friendship and Best Action/Adventure
Sentinel said, holding his stomach, "I wish if I could go to the snack table in the lobby, but we can't."
"Not until these next two award winners are announced." Cajunbear admitted.
"I hope next years' installment of the Fannies will be shorter." Sentinel said.
"Then again, nothing out of the ordinary has happened...so far." Cajunbear said, as if he was about to foreshadow something.
When the King's song concluded, the house lights came back up and Sharper resumed his position on the podium for the final segment of the first half of the Fannies ceremony.
"And welcome back, y'all to the final segment before intermission. We've got two more awards to present. So without further ado, I give y'all Sarah, Monique, TemporaryInsanity91, and PhantomDiver of Deviantart."
The audience stood up on its feet as they applauded the four awards presenters coming up on the stage.
Monique was the first to speak, wearing her black leather CCB skinny overalls, bell sleeve white top and booties.
"My friendship with my best friend, Kim, began way back when Cleo's Cargos were so the thing at Club Banana!" the fashionista explained.
"And they were Caesar Green! I remember that!" Kim shouted from the audience.
"Got that right, girlfriend! Ever since then, we've been tight!" Monique explained.
Sarah also added, "Friendship is exactly like that. Lifelong bonds are forged, like when Kim first met Ron at Pre-K!"
Kim and Ron held out their hands and stared into each other eyes while Sarah was squeeing.
"Here she goes again!" Phantom chuckled.
"So very Sarah!" TI quipped.
"These next four nominees define the true meaning of friendship, but only one can win out in the end!" Phantom said.
TI giggled, "You got that off a cereal box, didn't you!"
"They were a part of a balanced breakfast!" Phantom said, laughing. "Anyways...the finalists are:
Ron and Tara – Tara King's Winning Performance by kmtdiccon
Ron was listening to her voice as if his life depends on it. He learned her crush for him when Kim mentioned it before the Moodulator sitch, while she dated Josh Mankey. At first, he was baffled that someone as pretty as her would crush, let alone develop feelings, for him. He didn't believe his best friend and thought it was just a bluff. That's until tonight, when he started to listen to her song. Besides Kim, there are a select few who showed kindness to him, Tara was one of them. He always thought she's sweet, too kind to be like the other cheerleaders and social elites, and shy. But today, everything he learned from her were thrown out of his mind. He never expected for her to have this much feeling to someone like him.
Honestly, he felt very flattered.
She's amazing in his opinion. Anyone would be lucky to have her. He should be grateful. If he learned this sooner, there might be a chance where the two would be something more than acquaintances. But, thinking about that would always make him go back to the one seated beside him. Kim was watching her with equal intensity. She knew what she feels, given that she was the one who shared to him her secret crush, and saw the twinge of sympathy in her eyes. Kim looked at Ron, looking for any sign that he got what she's singing. The blonde boy smiled slightly and nodded, making Kim return the nod and went back to watching. Ron noticed a lone tear forming in the corner of her eye, and said to himself
"What did I do to deserve this from you, Tara?"
Ann and Ron from Ann Credible's Holidays Made Possible by Levi2000a1
"You were listening in, weren't you Ron. Listening to my talk with Kim."
"I...I...I..." He then deflated before admitting what she'd said. "I just wanted to make sure we hadn't hurt your feelings. Kim sometimes glosses over things and doesn't tell me some things. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on any thing to personal. It just happened."
"You didn't really drop that turkey either."
"No. I just said that. I was going to take it down to the Temple where they are setting thing up to cook for the homeless this year, sharing Thanksgiving for them. That's why my folks won't be coming to later today."
It only took Anne a few seconds to make up her mind about what to do. If she declined his offer and they cooked his bird, then that would take away what he was trying to do.
Turning, she started to head out of the room.
"Mrs. Dr. P. Where are you going? You've got dinner to cook."
Turning with a smile on her face, she said, "I'm going upstairs to wake James and the twins. I'm finally going to take him u on his offer. They can take the turkey to your parents and stick around and help out there while 'we' prepare the dinner."
"We?"
"Yes. You, me and Kim. That is if you don't mind me talking and telling a few stories in the process." She said with a bigger smile on her face that didn't want to go away.
Kim and Ron from What's the Alma Mater by MrDrP
"See, Ron? You're a great big brother. And a spankin' BF," Kim said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"And, you're a super son, too," Mr. Stoppable added as he placed a reassuring hand on his boy's shoulder. "Whatever happens, we're all proud of you."
Ron considered all of the affection and support surrounding him and grinned. "Okay, time for the Ronman to step up and see what we've got here." He picked up the overflowing tray and spilled its contents onto the table.
"That's the spirit," Kim said encouragingly with a pump of the fist.
"You want to open some, KP?"
"You sure?"
"Well, there is a lot of mail here," Ron said as he considered the pile in front of him. Steve Barkin had finally submitted Ron's transcript and recommendation and in recent days replies had been coming in with increasing volume, not a surprise given the number of schools to which Ron had ultimately applied.
As Kim waded through the letters, reading rejections along with requests to reapply the next year due to missed deadlines, she understood why Ron was feeling down. This was so unlike her own experience, when all she had received were acceptances, usually accompanied by promises of scholarships and fellowships. She looked up from one of the letters to her BF, whose shoulders sagged as he read yet more bad news. Quickly she got up, went around the table, and standing behind him, draped her arms over his shoulders, and clasped her hands so she was embracing him, before she kissed him on the head.
"What gives? Not that I'm not all about the KP kisses."
"You're buggin'."
"Am not!" he said defensively.
Kim snorted. "I so know what you're thinking," she asserted before giving him another peck on the head. "It's going to be all right. We're going to be all right."
and lastly, Place and Joss from Being More than a Simulacrum by ChrisTheCynic
"So, you've had a taste of what the students here are like," Place said to Joss after the match. "Any new thoughts about the school?"
"I am totally going here if they let me," Joss said.
Place smiled. The enthusiasm was nice. "Well, if you're so sure you might want to start learning Japanese, not to mention learning about Japanese culture."
"I can do that," Joss said.
"I'm sure you can, you've got a couple years to do it in," Place said. "There remains a question of what you'll do until then."
"Whaddya mean?" Joss asked.
"Well, do you wait on the world saving until you get training here, or do you start up right away?" Place said. "You can ask Jim and Tim to join you any time. You don't have to wait." Place paused for a moment. She remembered Montana. Was it seriously only two days ago? "Though there might be good reason to wait."
"Like what?" Joss asked. "If you think I'm ready-"
"I do," Place said. "I was just thinking about water guns."
"Water guns?" Joss was pretty clearly flummoxed.
"Remember the fun we had back at the ranch?" Place asked.
Joss nodded.
"Don't you dare throw that away," Place said. "If you do decide to start getting into the hero business when you're still a kid always make sure you allow yourself to be a kid." Place paused again, this time just to collect her thoughts. "It would be a tragedy if you stopped having fun for the sake of fun because you were in too much of a hurry to do great and notably noble things."
"You think Kim grew up too fast," Joss said.
"I think that shooting you with a squirt gun was the most fun I can remember having," Place said, "and I don't want you to miss out on that kind of fun. I especially don't want you to miss out on that because of something I said or did."
Monique then announced the winner, "The GR, Monique-speak for Golden Rufus, for the Best Friendship story goes to, what a surprise, Joss and Place from Being More Than a Simulacrum by ChrisTheCynic!
Cynic was more than speechless as she racked up her second Golden Rufus for the evening. It was like the stage was meant for her. She got back onto the stage and accepted the Golden Rufus from Sarah.
"I never planned to have friendship be a major part of Being more than a Simulacrum. The story is about someone finding and embracing her identity, and at this point she still has trouble with her own name. (She's trying to think of herself as "Leela" while she does think of herself as "Place".) It's not like I needed another dimension when I have that to work with.
Joss was just supposed to be one of the people Leela Place met at one of her stops. Then the time came to actually write them in the same scene. That changed everything. Now it's a foregone conclusion that any new chapter will have the friendship front and center and be at least as much about that friendship as it is about anything.
It's not just that they ended up having great friend-chemistry. It's also that they're both trying to figure themselves out and they're better at being themselves when they're together.
It's fun to write the two interacting, I'm glad that it's been fun to read, and I thank you for this award."
With that, she, along with the other awards presenters, went back to their seats.
Sharper came back to the podium and announced, "And to present the final award for the first half of tonight's ceremony, please give a round of applause to one of the best Kim Possible fanartists of all time, Hotrod2001!"
Hotrod came alone onto the podium with both the envelope and the Golden Rufus of Best Action/Adventure. "As many of you KP fans understand, the series has been known for a lot of action and adventure, especially its take on the superspy/James Bond type of genre but with a Disney twist to it. The action fights between Kim and Shego are worth it! These six finalists have a lot of action packed almost as much as a normal KP episode!"
The lights dimmed as the finalists were read aloud.
Being More Than A Simulacrum by ChrisTheCynic
Joss stood in the branches above the two rearmost guards, they were obviously annoyed with the delay.
She then saw Leela Place walk into plain view and give a casual greeting to the guards. The response seemed disproportionately rude:
"What do you want, knave?" said with venom and distain.
"Oh . . ." Leela Place said, "forty gold pieces, a hundred and fifty XP, and one live dragon." That threw the guards. Joss made sure not to giggle. "Why, did you think you could help?"
"How do you know of Princess Ening's dragon?" One guard asked.
"Don't mention the dragon!" the other said.
"Can we just skip to the combat already?" Leela Place asked.
Joss didn't watch, her job was different; she moved forward through the trees.
The sound of combat beneath her would doubtless draw additional guards. That was why she was in the trees. She found what she considered a good spot and watched the path ahead. Soon enough six guards appeared rushing toward the fight. They were in heavy armor, full plate armor.
"Dodges and speed," Joss whispered to herself then descended behind the guards.
"Hey!" Joss yelled at the six. "You missed me."
Now six well armed and well armored warriors were headed toward her.
She ducked a longsword from the first and rolled straight into the legs of the second.
That knocked the second into a third and stopped her roll setting her up to lunge at the fourth, which meant that by the time the first was ready to take another swing at her she'd knocked down half of the group and disarmed one of them.
She decided not to keep the sword she'd wrestled from the fourth. It was heavy in her hands and would slow her down. She threw it into the woods then flipped over the next swing from the lead warrior, planted her feet on the warriors' chest-plate, and kicked off hard to flip back into a combat stance.
Only two members of the group hadn't hit the ground and they were the farthest from her.
It was going well, if slowly.
KP Rides Again by (yours truly) Hotrod2001
"Ron we have to split up. We can't go after this guy side-by-side. We have to attack him from different angles to have a chance."
"A chance at what?"
"A chance to see if we can hold him off until Trepid finds a way back into the building,"
"If he finds a way back into the building...and how does he know Bonnie? He asked confused.
"Not sure, we'll have to ask him. In the meantime, MOVE!" she yelled while another massive fist came slamming down close to the pair with them rolling out of the way just in time.
"Here's an idea: Stay on the ground and try to keep him distracted and I'll take the grappling hook and see if I can do anything from the air." Kim said running across the room.
While Kim was thinking out her plan, Ron caught a glimpse of some movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Du's making a run for the mirrors KP!" he exclaimed.
Kim turned her head and saw as well.
"Ron, go stop him. I'll take care of the big guy."
"Kim that's crazy!" he protested "You'll get killed!"
"Ron, do it! He can't get away with the mirrors!"
"But Akuma..."
"Where's Rufus at? She asked.
"In my pocket."
"Give him to me."
Ron consented and pulled Rufus out of his pocket and handed him to his girlfriend.
"Now go stop Du, Rufus and I will try to keep Akuma distracted."
Ron nodded and ran after Du while Kim again barely dodged another swing of Akuma's giant arms.
"KP!"
"Go, Ron! Now!"
While Kim and Ron battled inside the control tower, Ken and Bonnie were hard at work down on the ground floor, desperately trying to regain access into the space center.
Once the mine was set, he armed the device and quickly shimmied back to Bonnie's position. He threw a quarter at it and got on top of Bonnie to protect her from the ensuing blast and as the quarter rolled within the proximity of the mine, the device detonated. The explosion was quick and as planned, warped the grate enough that Ken was able to kick it in enough so that the two of them could crawl through its opening. They continued down the shaft and soon came to the second security grate. Ken once again placed his last proximity mine on the corner of the grate and repeated what he had done with the first, except this time the blast managed to blow the grate off completely, and leaving it on the ground in a twisted heap.
When Hearts Collide by Lhyaran
"I don't care! You're against me! You're all against me!" He leaped back, pointing a finger at Kim. "Now taste defeat, Kim Possible, at the hands of the mighty Dr. Steel! Henchmen, attack!"
Kim turned to look at the henchmen as they grabbed their power staves and headed towards her. And it was just that, a look, yet it conveyed so much more. It promised a world of pain, and blood, and more. One by one they stopped until they had all shuffled to a halt. Big beefy guys brought to a standstill by a simple look.
"Uh, boss… it's Kim Freakin Possible."
"Oh? Yes. Right. Sorry." He gestured at Kim. "You may have saved the world, Kim Possible, but I–" He waved a hand and Kim was almost pulled off her feet as all her equipment flew from her. "I have disarmed you. While you–" He chuckled with insane glee. "You didn't pack your super suit." He glared at his men. "There, she's helpless. Now, get her!"
Unfortunately for the henchmen they were stock standard HenchCo employees. This meant that they were intensely loyal to whoever was paying their bills and not the brightest around. They had been given an order, and all they could see was a lone teenage girl standing against them. It was the same mistake all the villains, terrorists, and evildoers made, never mind Kim's reputation.
She adjusted her stance, watching as the henchmen advanced.
I really hoped we could've done this the easy way. She clenched her fists. Guess it was to much to hope for.
In the old days – well, about a year ago – she would have waited for them to attack first, but she had moved beyond all that. She crouched and leapt, spinning in midair.
A kick to a henchman's head sent him flying into his companions, and before she touched the ground she angled her body and shattered another's knee. She landed and rolled and came at them head on, taking full advantage of their shock and confusion. Her next strike splintered a man's leg, bone ripping through skin, blood spraying across the ground as he dropped.
She tuned out his screams, there was a city to save.
She catapulted over their heads, striking quick and fast, two more henchmen crying out in pain as they dropped. A falling staff became a viable weapon, and she grabbed it. Spinning it around her body she slammed it's charged end into a henchman's face, a satisfying crunch running up her arms as he flew backwards. She danced away then swung the staff in a wide arc before leaping high into the air, her eyes glimmering with excitement. She lived for this, the adrenalin and the adventure. When her life was on the line. It was everything. She landed and darted amongst them, and where she stopped, a henchman fell, moving on before they had even hit the ground.
In reality the battle had been over before it had even begun, and soon she stood victorious over the broken, groaning bodies of her foes. She twirled the staff over her head and slammed it into the ground, leaving it there, and flicking the hair from her face she turned and looked at Dr. Steel.
The Fox and the Mad Dawg by CaptainKodak1
Ron smirked. That was something else about Rodeghan. He could not hit anything. The old saying that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn was almost true. At one time back on the base they were having some gunnery practice. Wallace didn't even come close to hitting the target and blamed everything from the man who took care of the gun to dust in the air getting in his eyes. He was so mad he tried to kick an empty ammo can. He missed and slipped falling into the mud on his back. His immaculate uniform was filthy by the time he got up. Ron had tried to help him up but Wallace slapped his hand away, rolled to his feet himself and stormed off.
Brick's twin 50's started to hammer along with the hammering of the twin guns of the chin turret. Ron kept his eyes open in case any of the fighters flew past them and under the bomber. He turned his guns to the starboard side on the chance he could make a snap shot. A glint of light from his lower right caused him to look down. There were a dozen or so ME-109 coming up from below.
"109's 5 o'clock low."
He brought his guns to bear on one of the fighters and opened fire. The group split apart and attacked the planes on either side of them. Ron watched as three of the fighters concentrated on "Lady Luck" at their 3 o'clock. The ball turret came apart from the cannon fire of the fighters. The rounds tracked across the "Lady Luck" 's bottom and onto the left wing. Fire erupted from the fuselage and the wing. As Ron watched both the engines on the right wing caught fire and ceased spinning. The Lady Luck went into a hard turn to the left as it started to lose altitude. Then in a blink of the eye there was a tremendous flash and bang and all that was left of the "Lady Luck" was a few fireballs that were the fuel tank burning on the way down. At least he hoped they were fuel tanks and not any of the crew members. He called out.
"No chutes, no chutes."
The tail gunner muttered.
"Poor bastards never had a chance."
The plunking of hits on the plane caused Ron to look around. Three more planes were coming up from his left.
"three Focke-wulfs coming up at two o'clock low."
He turned his guns and picked out the fighter in the center of the group. He put his sight on the planes and fired his guns. He watched as his tracers reached out to the oncoming fighter. Small pieces of the plane started to come off was the bullet from the fighter started to hit the Mad Dawg. One bullet hit the edge of the face of his main window and cracked the glass. The fighter rolled out of the way and passed by trailing smoke. He didn't take the time to watch and find out where he went. Ron turned around to find another target. They were still miles away from their target.
Mirror of the Soul by HopefulHusky
The room exploded into action. Trey drew a pair of knives and lunged for the girl. Marcus roared like a lion and charged. Vincent didn't move as he waited on the far side of the table from her.
The girl reached back to grab and toss a bar stool straight into Marcus's path. This forced the huge man to swing wide around the girl buying her a few precious seconds.
Trey feinted a low lunge with knife in his right hand while circling in with a thrust from his left. The girl spun away from the right hand and lashed out with a high heel kick that knocked the knife from his left hand.
Trey altered his grip with the other hand and back slashed across the girls knees as she leapt over the attack. He moved his aim higher on the backswing and the girl caught his arm in an elbow lock. With surprising strength she twisted the arm causing him to turn with it to avoid the pain. This turn opened up his midsection as she kicked him directly in the groin. She followed up the kick with a knuckle shot to the throat causing him to drop the knife and grasp his throat in pain. Grabbing both of his ears in her hands she rammed his head down onto her upraised knee.
A hollow bone breaking crunch and a sorrowful moan followed her strike as Trey's body fell unconscious to the floor.
The girl didn't have time to celebrate as she was bear hugged from behind by Marcus. She cried out in pain as the mammoth man lifted her off the floor in his bone crushing grip.
"How's that feel bitch!" snarled the ruffian as he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. In hindsight, that may not have been the best thing to do.
The girl rammed her head back into his face smashing his nose and causing him to release his grip just enough for her to escape. Without turning around she rammed her high heel into the instep of his right foot and then slammed her right elbow into his abdomen with rib breaking force. Then in an almost unbelievable feet of strength the girl reached back to grab Marcus and fling him over her shoulder onto the bar.
Then she jumped up and came down placing an elbow directly in the center of Marcus's chest. The behemoth only wailed in pain as he lay gasping for breath. Grabbing his enormous belt the girl slid him down the bar until he launched from the end crashing through the large window next to the bar's front door.
Then she turned to Vincent who had slowly walked around the table and, with his self-assured smile, assumed a fighting martial stance.
And lastly, Finding Yourself by RufusPrime54
Kim's mouth hung open while Steve's was in a hard line. Hill's face popped back up on the screen and Steve didn't waste any time.
"How many attacks have there been," he asked.
"Nine," Hill said. "But the public only knows about three."
"What do you need us to do?" Kim asked, regaining composure.
"Find him and end him," Hill said. "He calls himself the Mandarin."
"Who do we have with us?" Steve asked. "Stark?"
"Stark is having issues coping with the aftermath of New York," Hill said. "Banner has requested to be left alone. Thor is currently off planet. Barton?"
"On vacation," Kim replied shortly.
Hill nodded and you could see her shifting some papers around, "President Ellis has commissioned Col. Rhodes into 'Iron Patriot'."
"Iron Patriot?" Steve asked.
Hill pulled up a picture of an Iron Man suit painted red, white, and blue.
"So Ellis basically made a Captain America Iron Man," Kim said.
"Essentially," Hill said. "Rhodes is also working on tracking the Mandarin, but he is under US Government control, not SHIELD."
"So just us then," Steve said. "Shouldn't be too much of a problem."
"We have a preliminary position of the Mandarin, possibly in Iran," Hill said. "We need you to head there and check it out."
Hotrod then opened up the envelope and said, "And the Golden Rufus for Best Action/Adventure goes to Fox and the Mad Dawg by CaptainKodak1!"
The Captain then got up from his seat with warm cheers from everyone in the audience as he came up on the stage and accepted his Golden Rufus.
"Wow, the best action/adventure. I knew this would be a lot of action and adventure in this story. It is World War II. Ron is a gunner in a B-17. Kim is a member of the French Resistance. As in many of my stories I use a lot of historical facts and real people from history. I tried to place Kim and Ron into their lives and the time in which they lived. I have also tried to place some other characters just for fun as in Sgt. Shultz. So far a lot has happened and there is still some story to go. I hope that you continue to follow the story.
I would like to thank all of you who voted for this story. It means a great deal to this old man that what he writes still means something to someone. I hope that my stories continue to entertain and hold your attention. Thank you."
And with that, the Captain left the stage. Sharper got back up and said, "Wow, congrats to both the Cap and Cynic for those two awards. Now, we have come up to the 20-minute intermission period. Light snacks and beverages, alongside with the goodies at the concession stands are set up for y'all. When we return for the second half of the ceremony, we'll present Best Drama and Best One-Shot. So we shall see y'all back now, ya hear!"
BB King's "The Thrill Is Gone" played on the speakers as the doors opened for the intermission period.