Chapter 52 – Fork in the Road (CPNeb Kimmunity Award)

(10:40pm)

The Global Justice jet soared into the sky on that cloudy night. The occupants inside knew when the thunderstorms were going to come.

Kim, Ron, Rufus, Agent Trepid, and Slam were in the holding bay area. Electronique, Wade and Dr. Director stayed behind to watch the rest of the ceremonies.

All five of them were in the standard Global Justice uniforms.

"You know, for a high-tech spy plane, they don't really give out free peanuts." Ron said to Slam.

Rufus chattered, rubbing his stomach "Peanuts!"

"The tiny aircraft you humans have can be...confining sometimes." Slam said.

"Not as bad as that last mission that we were on!" Agent Trepid chuckled. "Packed in like sardines!"

"That was nothing! You should've seen KS stuck in third-class in our senior year of high sch..."

"Would you can it back there? We have to triangulate the correct position on where to sneak into the hidden WEE base!" Kim shouted to the other occupants.

"How far are we to WEE's latest lair?" Kim asked.

"It should be located at least 30 miles to the southwest of Go City." the pilot responded.

"Oooh! Spinny!" Ron exclaimed, playing around with his fidget spinner.

Kim looked at her husband and exclaimed "Ron, put that away! We're in mission mode, remember?"

Ron groaned, putting the spinner away.

"And from Miss Moneybags' mansion?" Kim inquired again.

"We're about 150 miles out from the Rockwaller mansion." the GJ pilot said, "If all goes well in this mission, we should have you back in by midnight!"

"But...by that time, the ceremony would be over and we would miss announcing the...Best...Author...award!" Kim said before pausing at the last three words.

She realized something was amiss. "Wait a minute! I think I figured out Bonnie's plan all along!"

"Wait...let me wrap my head around this, KS! Bonnie had a evil plan?!" Ron exclaimed, trying to make sense of it.

"I wouldn't say exactly take-over-the-world evil!" Kim replied, "It's more in the area of high-school evil, like when I nearly got arrested for stealing the Golden Bone. That would be more her operating style!"

"Agents, we're heading over enemy territory! Prepare for dropoff!" the pilot insisted. "

All the agents grabbed their parachutes. Slam grabbed the largest one because of his size.

"Wait for the green light..."

Kim anticipated the moment in action. She and Ron held each other's hands.

"Ready for this, hubby?" Kim smiled at Ron. Rufus gave a thumbs up of his own.

"As always, KS!" Ron replied. They gave each other a kiss as the signal went to the green light.

"GO! GO! GO!"

Kim and Ron (with Rufus) jumped out the plane first, followed by Agent Trepid and then lastly by Slam.

While in the air, Ron said, "Hey, KS!"

"Yes, Ron?"

"Are we going to make it back in time for us to announce the Best Author award?" Ron asked.

"Oh most defs!" Kim replied, "Saving Sarah, foiling Gemini's evil plan...it'll be no big for us!"

Little did they know that Gemini was watching the entire time from his base, chuckling with glee.

Epsilon 17 asked his boss. "Sir, should we spring the trap for Glo..."

Gemini looked at him sternly and pointed out that Pepe was asleep on his lap. Remembering what the dog's reaction would be when those two words were uttered, he backtracked.

"My apologies! But should we spring the trap for...the enemy agency...at this moment?"

"Not yet, Epsilon 17. We need the signal from Number One first before we proceed!"

_

She and Ron then landed on the ground. Slam and Agent Trepid did the same.

"Wade, how far are we from WEE's lair?" Kim asked.

Wade, from backstage, gave the specs.

"It is about 14 clicks to the northwest of your position." the tech genius said, "You should recognize it by the abundance of Greek symbols that are carved in the trees along the way."

"Duh! That's how Gemini names his henchmen!" Agent Trepid replied.

Kim saw the path that had letters of the Greek alphabet carved into the trees.

"You eco rock, Wade!" Kim said. "Ready to present the next award?"

Wade smiled. He knew what this particular award meant to him...to Joss...and the rest of the Kimmunity.

"Update me when you break into Gemini's base!" Wade said, "We're going on air in a few seconds!"

"On it!"

(10:43pm)

When the song ended, Sharper then came back on the stage.

"And welcome back, everyone! We're down to our last four awards of the evening."

However, the lights then began to dim and a soft piano began to play in the background. Sharper knew that the next award was going to be very emotional for the Kimmunity because of the impact of the certain loss of these authors that they had on the fandom.

"I would like to invite Wade and Joss to come to the stage."

Wade and Joss then stood from their seats and came up to the podium. When they were at Neb's funeral they were only 13 years of age and good friends. Now, they stood at 20 years of age, on the very cusp of adulthood and are a couple.

"Howdy, everyone!" Joss said with that slight Montana accent with a small smile that faded. "Th' next award that we're presentin' is the CPNeb Kimmunity Achievement Award."

Most of the old guard sat solemnly in their seats. The newer authors and fans, however, didn't understand the significance of the award.

So Wade decided to fill in the info for them.

"Ben Francis first came to doing stories for Kim on March 17, 2006. He came to be known to us as CPNeb. Neb was the one who first got me romantically involved with this beautiful young woman here!" Wade said, looking to Joss. "The Great and Powerful Nebmeister, as he was called, eventually created more than 60 stories from September 2006 to April 2010. He also touched the lives of many fanfic authors in the Kimmunity regardless of what ship they were: Kim and Ron, Kigo, Rongo... it didn't matter to him. He saw everyone as equals and had many wonderful conversations with them, whether by PM or by Zaratan's forum."

Wade continued, "However, health issues got to him, for he had multiple sclerosis, or MS, for 17 years and had heart problems. The latter was what took his life on May 10, 2010. It was a very dark day for the fandom. Not since the death of Commander Argus was Kim's fandom ever in such a state of shock, but especially for me and Joss. For those of you who do not know Argus or Screaming Phoenix, the former was a well-respected KP writer and artist who sadly lost his life in October 2008 due to a bike accident against a car. The latter was a respected reviewer who left the world in February of 2011."

Joss, too, shed a few tears.

"So, at the end of the 5th Annual KP Fannies ceremony, the Kimmunity Memorial trophy was created." Wade said as he unveiled the trophy that was on the table.

The memorial stood upon a base of deeply stained mahogany. The bottom half of the memorial statue itself was a gray colored, highly polished granite block. The block was about two feet high, three feet wide and two deep. It had three faces; the first face was about a foot wide, the other two set at about a forty-five degrees angle to the first and continuing front to back. All three faces tapered back about six inches from the bottom to the top.

At the top of the block sat a two foot tall, golden statue of Rufus standing upright and proud, but his head bowed low, his eyes closed and his hands held in front of him, clasped together as if in sorrow. However, despite the sorrow evident in the statue's features, there was a smile on his face, as if remembering fond memories instead of wallowing the sorrow and pain.

Upon the front face of the memorial were three golden name plates. Above the memorial the HSCC displayed a zoomed in view of the plates. Upon the plates were names, one for Commander Argus, Cpneb, and Screaming Phoenix. Underneath the names was the year of each person's birth, the year of their death, and the simple phrase, "You are greatly missed."

Joss came to the mic, now dry of her tears, and said. "Here are tonight's nominees for the award...KPRS4ever...Hotrod2001...SharperTheWriter...ClassicCowboy...Tennente...DrakebyRS...and Classic Cowboy."

"The CPNeb Kimmunity Award goes to... the host of this years' Fannies, Sharper the Writer!

Sharper gasped in surprise, but wasn't in a state of shock. He knew that, for all the accomplishments he had done for the fandom, he was going to win the award sooner or later.

He went to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech.

"First of all, I would like to thank the Man Upstairs for giving me the will to continue on my love and passion for this show. I would also like to thank CajunBear, Jim, and the late Ray aka Nice Old Guy for giving me advice on how to become a better person. The secret to my longetivity here in the Kimmunity is a sense of persistence, a buildup of determination, and a very good support system of fellow Kim Possible fans that have made this award show possible. I also dedicate this award to two other members of the Kimmunity that are no longer with us. As I've mentioned, Ray, whom you many not know because he was exclusively only on the Bonnie Rockwaller forum, was a very good person and especially encouraged the fact that...someday...Kim and Bonnie would become friends. He was also dedicated to the other members on that site, especially to BonnieFanguy, myself, and RCWilliams. Sadly, he passed from this life on Jan. 14, 2014 from a two-year battle with liver cancer. I was the last person to hear him speak the night before he died..." Sharper got a bit emotional...he remembered it well. Recollecting himself, he continued on with the speech, "Even though he's no longer walking with us in this world, he will always exist in my heart. The other member that I dedicate the award and my victory to is Dave Edney, but better known to the Kimmunity as Grandpa RD. For a time, he was one of the head admins of Ron's RNP before the forum went downhill, was the main admin at the Animation Communication Central forum, and was instrumental in setting up the KP 10th Anniversary party. Sadly, he lost a longstanding battle to diabetes on Sept. 26, 2016. This is a fitting tribute to those KP fans that are no longer with us. This award is not just because of my efforts, but it's also because of y'all: the strong-willed fans of KP, for making all of this happen. In conclusion, thanks as always and I accept the award from the bottom of my heart."

With this, Sharper left the stage, the Neb Kimmunity award in his hands. And there was a moment of silence followed by applause.

(10:45pm)

Kim, Ron, Slam, and Ken all came to a fork in the road. Storm clouds began to approach on the horizon, and they were headed to the east.

"It seems like Miss Rockwaller won't be getting her carving in her personal mountain anytime soon!" Kim smirked.

"Yeah...we've got enough stuff with her image on all these ads." Ron replied, ""

"We'll cover more ground if we split up." Kim said, "Slam and I will get the left fork while you, Ron, and Agent Trepid take right. The sooner we get to what Gemini and WEE are up to, the sooner we'll foil it, and the sooner we'll all get back to the ceremony in time for Best Author!"

"What about Rufus?" Ron asked, taking his fellow naked mole rat from his pocket.

"He'll be with me just in case if you two run into any traps...again." Kim said as Rufus climbed onto her shoulder. "We do need a means of escape JIC if the lair has a self-destruct feature...which in 98 cases out of 100 is true."

And so, Kim, Rufus and Slam took the left, while Ron and Ken took the right road.

(2 minutes later, 10:47 pm)

"So all you're inferring is that you want to be an extra guardian angel to prevent Kim from relapsing again?" Ron asked about Agent Trepid.

"Of course, Agent Stoppable. Since that whole incident happened to her in Prague all those years ago, a whole social network banded together to get her on the right track. She did not even touch a drip of alcohol until your wedding with Kim."

"Yeah, I do! I even got rid of the goatee that I had for a few years before bringing it back." Ron said, recalling his facial hair experiences.

"I was talking about the booze, Ron." Ken said, "Of course, you do know GJ's policies on alcohol, right?"

"Correct! No alcohol while on-duty and only beer and wine off-duty." Ron replied. He had read the GJ handbook and known it by heart. "And just to be sure that we're on the same page, you are not going to hit on my wife?" Thunder was beginning to rumble in the skies.

"No, Agent Stoppable. Not even in the remote sense." Agent Trepid said, denying any sort of relationship with Kim, other than work-related. "You and Kim are a thing together! It's just that, as a mentor to her, I want to make sure that she goes the right path so that she can take over the reins of GJ once Dr. Director hangs up her eyepatch."

"Ahh...a plan of succession, Agent Trepid! Very slick! I totally have no probs with it!" Ron said.

"We should be extremely careful, Agent Stoppable, and be sure not to run into any..."

However, Ron's leg was on a laser beam as alarms began to blare. A steel cage came out from under the ground and trapped both Ron and Ken. WEE agents came out of the jungle and surrounded them.

"...booby traps!" Ken muttered.

"Why am I always the one that springs the bad guys' traps?" Ron moaned.

"Because you're sometimes clumsy!" Ken snarked.

"That...Mr. Trepid...is agreed on!" a voice chuckled from the brush.

"The voice..." Ken gasped.

"It has to be..." Ron began before both agent blurted with disgust.

"GEMINI!"

Gemini stepped forward from the brush, petting his Pepe in hand, whom has been sound asleep.

"Ah...two gifts from the...enemy agency." Gemini snickered, as intra-cloud lightning began to flash in the sky. Once again, he was careful never to say GJ's name in front of his dog. "Mr. Kenneth Trepid and Mr. Ronald Stoppable in my cage."

"Say what you want, Gemini...but you'll never win this time!" Ken shouted.

"What have you done with KPRS4ever?" Ron asked about Sarah's whereabouts since her capture.

"Oh, her?" Gemini inquired while sliding a ball into their cage with the thunder rolling, "She's safely in my clutches in my base...for now. In the meantime, gentlemen, why don't you enjoy a little nap."

The ball that he slid into the cage released a sleeping gas. Ron was the first to close his eyes followed by Ken.

Rho 17 asked with thunder rolling in the background, "Sir...what shall we do with the intruders?"

"Wheel their cage into the base." Gemini ordered, "If Agents Stoppable and Trepid know where we are, the enemy agency cannot be far behind!"

"I've got a few surprises for them, now that Operation Tipped Lantern is underway!"