Chapter 10

Kim and Monique took a deep breath and inhaled the sea breeze that emitted from the Gulf of Mexico. The waves were crashing along the crystal sand of the beach as onlookers enjoyed a marvelous Fourth of July with friends and family. It was a cloudless summer blue sky.

"Ah...this is perfect, Monique!" Kim smiled, "The sun is shining...the waves are churning...kids are playing with beach balls!"

"And there's nothing that can interrupt this perfect day!" Monique replied with a positive grin.

However, the Kimmunicator in her beach bag began to beep the four familiar tunes.

"I'll get it!" Kim insisted, turning on the Kimmunicator.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Kim!" Wade exclaimed, "There was a major kidnapping over at the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology! They need you there ASAP!"

Kim immediately remembered, "My dad's old college!"

"Precisely! The person who was kidnapped was Dr. Lawn Green. I'll tell you more along the way!"

"On my way, Wade!" Kim replied, putting the Kimmunicator back in the beach bag and wrapping up her towel.

She turned to her best fashion friend and replied, "Sorry, Monique. I have to cut the beach trip short! You know...missing scientist in apparently another villainous take-over-the-world type of scheme!"

"Okay, Kim! Just be careful out there!" Monique insisted.

"Don't worry, Monique, I'll be back before you can say..."

"Half-off sale at Club Banana?" Monique interrupted.

"Darn, you got me that time!" Kim giggled at the joke.

"Now...to get Ron!"
_

Kim ran up to where Ron was.

"Ron! We have to get back to Middleton! We got a missing scientist from my dad's old college that we gotta rescue and..."

She took one look at Ron and was astounded.

"What...happened to you?!"

Ron, as it turns out, was sunburned in places on his chest, legs, and on his shoulders.

"Um...let's just say that I tried to get some rays and...well...this happened..."

Kim sniffed around and quipped, "Ron, why do you smell like a Thanksgiving Day turkey all of a sudden?"

"It's because of this wonderful smell of this suntan lotion!" Ron grinned, "How do you like that smell?" He took out what appeared to be the lotion with the labels removed.

Kim tool the lotion from Ron's hand and took a single whiff of it.

"Ron, this isn't suntan lotion! It's a suntan lotion pump filled with butter!" she said, unscrewing the top and showing Ron the container of butter inside.

"Oh great! This isn't going to be good..."

And then a pelican flew down on the duo, perching itself on Ron's right shoulder...on his sunburn.

"YEEEEEOOOW!" he screamed, feeling the consequences of not actually bringing any suntan lotion.

Rufus, on the other hand, did manage to find the correct bottle of suntan lotion, this time clearly labeled.

"We don't have time for this! We got to get to the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology ASAP!"

She took Ron's hand and ran as fast as she could and also grabbed her beach bag with Rufus inside.
_

(25 minutes later)

Now in their mission uniforms, which they had packed before they left, Kim and Ron were both in a helicopter en route to the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology.

Wade began to explain a little about Dr. Lawn Green's background.

"Dr. Green has been an employee at MIST for about ten years. He was experimenting on two types of grass. One, a type of grass that could be suitable for the perfect suburban law to mow and two, a type of grass that could restore the disappearing Louisiana wetlands..."

"Okay...that doesn't say 'evil plan' to me and...Green..." Kim pondered on the name. "I seem to recognize it from somewhere before..."

"Not only was he kidnapped, Kim..." Wade continued, "...but also his experiments were stolen as well from the labs!"

"But who would want to steal those formulas for all that grass?" Kim wondered.

"Maybe they want to make green pastures and make it the most boring evil plan in the world..." Ron babbled.

"It's clear that someone wants to make serious use out of it!" Kim countered.

"Someone who has a lot of spare time on their hands!" Wade guessed. "President Chancellor will meet you at the commons of MIST."

"We'll be there in five, Wade."
_

Five minutes later, the helicopter landed on the commons of the Institute. President Chancellor was about 100 feet from where the helicopter was supposed to land.

Once the helicopter made its landing, Kim and Ron got out and made their acquaintances to the President of the college.

"So glad that you can finally come! The name's Dean Chancellor, president of the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology for the past 25 years!"

Dean Chancellor was a man in his mid-fifties. He was about six inches taller than Kim and weighed around 175. He had thinning graying blonde hair and brown eyes. The president was also wearing a carefully-ironed and wrinkle-free business three-piece suit. Chancellor had bought multiple three-piece suits of different colors, but still had the same fashion sense for the quarter-century of his tenure at MIST.

"Kim Possible, world-famous teen crimefighter!"

The two of them shook hands.

"Possible...hmmm...I remember when your father came through these hallowed gates here at MIST!" Chancellor recalled, knowing he had seen one Possible family member before. "He and his mates had a very good four years here. Although the Pinky Jo Curlytail incident set our friendship back a little..."

"Oh, that little lab rat! Is there anything he can't do..." Ron chuckled.

Chancellor continued "That Lipsky fellow, though, was a pain in the neck for me!"

"Lemme guess, you saw my archnemesis..." Kim hypothesized.

"Oh yeah, he was expelled for mooning a statue of our beloved mascot after getting a nervous breakdown on an 'F' on one test! We had to drag him out in his underwear by campus police!"

"And so starts the string of failures by Drakken..." Kim chortled.

"And don't forget me, Ron Stoppable, the distraction!" Ron exclaimed, pointing to himself.

"Sorry...don't know the name..." Chancellor muttered.

"Oh come on! I just said my name, like, three seconds ago!" Ron bemoaned.

"Anyways, President Chancellor, I do need to know what went on and, more importantly, who kidnapped Dr. Green and his experiments!" Kim said to the president. "So can you point to us where Dr. Green's lab is?"

"Of course, Miss Possible!" Chancellor replied, pointing, "It's on the northwestern section of campus. It's quite some distance from her, so we'll take the presidential cart there!"

He pointed to his personal cart with the MIST insignia on the front of it.

"At least it would be better than walking, right, Ron?" Kim said before looking around, "Ron, where are you?"

And then she heard Ron screaming and hopping on one foot in the grass.

"Kim! There are black ants on my shoe! Get them off! Get them off!"

Apparently, he accidentally stepped in an antpile.

Kim groaned, burying her face in her hands.

They climbed aboard the presidential cart as he drove to the northwestern corner of MIST, where Dr. Green's offices were located. Chancellor and Kim were in the front seat while Ron was in the back, trying to brush his shoes and socks off of any remaining black ants.

"So what exactly happened to Dr. Green, President Chancellor?" Kim asked, wanting to get ot the specifics on the case.

President Chancellor began, "It all started about two hours ago, Miss Possible. Dr. Green was experimenting on a type of grass that could help the disappearing Louisiana wetlands. A type of grass that could help against strong hurricanes. More than just the levees that..."

"Wait a minute..." Ron blatantly interrupted, "...were you the guy who played that evil dean in College Crazies?"

"Um, yes, I did..." Chancellor replied, puzzled at Ron's rude behavior.

"Why?! Why did you close down Delta Zeta Chi?! Oh, why?!" Ron screamed in agony.

Kim glared at him and muttered, "Ron, don't make any more references to obscure college comedies!"

Ron kept his mouth shut for the rest of the ride.

"So, continue, Mr. President!" Kim insisted.

Chancellor continued, starting where he had left off, "The oil and seafood industries, which are big around the southern part of Louisiana, laughed at his research. But once Dr. Green proved his theories out in the field that the wetlands can be restored, they started to invest in it. He made a large profit from this necessary benefit to the wetlands. However, a couple of scientists wanted to take all the credit for his work and, more shockingly, to steal his research. And so, for the past year, Dr. Green took necessary precautions. He beefed up security around his lab, including installing cameras around his lab. I think it may be one of his nemesis scientists, Dr. Beaker, that may be behind this."

"Where is Dr. Beaker located?" Kim questioned.

"His residence is not far from campus, on the southwest corner!" Chancellor said. "If he is behind all this, Beaker will be fired on the spot!"

"Well, we'll see once all the evidence is collected! Remember, a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law!" Kim insisted.

The trio entered into Middleton Hall, the botany wing of MIST, at the northwestern corner of campus. The building itself was Art Stucco and three-stories high. Both the Middleton Police Department and the campus police were present, establishing a security perimeter around the area.

Officer Hobble, whom was the lead investigator, saw Kim and Ron and greeted them as they got off the presidential cart.

"So I guess that Dr. Green's research is that important." Kim said to Chancellor.

"Oh yes! Imagine if it fell into the wrong hands!" Chancellor lamented, "It would be very disastrous and a big punch in the eye for the reputation of this prestigious university!"

"We'll get to the bottom of this!" Kim promised, then turned her attention to Ron, "Come on, Ron, we need to talk with Hobble about helping in collecting evidence."

"Glad to see you again, Kim!" Hobble replied through his thick Brogue, "We've got a big case this time!"

"Missing scientist? No big, Officer Hobble, I've seen it all the time!" Kim smiled.

"This one's quite different..." Hobble replied, "...and I gather that you will be collecting evidence..."

"That's what we're here for!" Kim replied.

"Then I'd recommend that you put gloves on!" Hobble suggested.

"Do you have ones that come in naked mole-rat size?" Ron asked.

Hobble smiled and took out a small box of gloves, which fit Rufus' paws.

Kim and Ron both put on the latex gloves as they and Hobble entered into the building.

Once they entered Middleton Hall, Hobble guided them across the extremely-long hallway to where Dr. Green's laboratory was...room 198, at the very end.

Kim, Ron, and Hobble all crawled under the crime scene table where five CSIs were in the room, trying to find any speck of evidence of the perpetrators of the kidnapping.

"We'll try and find some connection to the kidnapping of Dr. Green!" Kim said, taking out her handy evidence kit.

"First stop...the fingerprints."

Kim and Ron began to collect prints on the doorknob. A few identifiable marks were present from the brush she dusted on. She collected the prints with the tape off the knob.

"And next...the start of the struggle..."

She and Ron carefully avoided the broken test tubes and beakers on the floor. The two came up to where Dr. Green and his experiments were taken.

Minute by minute, Kim and Ron carefully observed the damage, trying to find an important clue.

Then something caught Kim's eye...a shard of an ID badge on the counter. It had a part of a picture of an employee but was cut off halfway.

"Looks like someone around this institution was trying to interrupt the good doctor during his work." Kim deducted before turning on the Kimmunicator. Wade came online!

"Hey Kim! I guess you found some evidence at Dr. Green's lab!" Wade said with a grin, typing away.

"Sure did!" came the reply from Kim, showing him the broken ID card, "Wade, I need you to run a scan on this! Comb through the MIST faculty database for anyone who has this card!"

Wade typed on the computer as the Kimmunicator activated one of its features, a red radar scanner. It scanned the partially cut ID card, which had its barcode intact. This made it easy for the tech genius to find the owner of the card.

"And there we go!"

"You found a positive match already, Wade?" Kim smirked.

"Took me only 45 seconds, a personal best!" Wade chortled. He turned his computer screen around and revealed whose ID card it was.

"Dr. Dewar Beaker. Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry for the past 10 years and rival to Dr. Green!"

Hobble looked over Kim's shoulder and saw Dr. Beaker's picture. "Aye...I saw him!"

"You did, Hobble?" Kim asked in amazement.

"Of course, Kim! He was the one whom Green issued a restraining order because he was stalking him!" Hobble explained the tumultuous relationship between the two scientists.

"How did you know?" Kim questioned.

"I was the baliff at Beaker's court hearing!" Hobble said, adjusting his belt.

"Well, that explains a lot!" Wade said. "I'm tracking down his coordinates right now!"

"Do so, Wade! We might have our first suspect in this case!"