This is my entry for Slipgate's Valentine contest. I hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.
An Unstoppable Valentine
Shego was jogging along the road, enjoying the quiet of the early morning. Instead of her usual suit, the green-skinned villainess wore a black and green training suit as she ran.
Even though Shego preferred to sleep in a bit on her free mornings, being a wanted criminal made it a bit more difficult to just run somewhere. And she really needed her training.
It had been several years since her and Drakken's pardon during the aftermath of the Lowardian invasion, and they even managed to remain on the good side of the law for a while, but eventually the lure of villainy became too strong.
Not that it went much easier this time; 'Kimmie' had grown up into Kim and was more than a challenge for Shego, and that was without counting her partner in heroism. Ron was a force in his own league; even though his Mystical Monkey Powers only showed up occasionally, when they did they made sure to run any villainous plot moot.
But most villains had adapted and still managed to start up their plots, even though it required a lot more preparation and training, which led back to Shego's morning jogging session.
As she ran past a desolate part of the road, with only a couple of trees siding it, Shego suddenly got the feeling she was being watched.
Slowing her pace a bit, the villainess looked around, but saw nothing. However, the feeling did not pass.
"Who's there?" she demanded, but got no response.
"I know you are out there," she then said, stopping her run and flaring up her plasma. "Show yourself."
Nothing happened.
Shego looked around one more time, and then decided just to run on. And that was when the attack happened.
She spotted movement from the corner of her eye, barely in time to dodge the small projectile. But before she could determine what had just happened, a blur of red and purple appeared before her.
Shego grinned. "If it isn't princess. What do you want?"
"You," was the only reply before Kim shot something at Shego and everything turned dark.
"Thank you Mr. Barkin, for offering me a ride," Ron said as he sat next to his former High School teacher when they were on the way back from the Upperton Smarty Mart. "I do hope they can fix my car again."
Mr. Barkin said nothing; it was beyond him how anyone could wreck a car so thoroughly without any damage or injury to anything and anyone around. And he certainly did not tell his reason for offering Ron a ride back from the corporate meeting.
For two years now, Ron had surpassed him in the Smarty Mart hierarchy by becoming the store manager of the Middleton Smarty Mart, thus including him in the monthly corporate meeting for the tri-city area.
Mr. Barkin had been aiming for a promotion for years now, but so far he had been unfortunate in that regard. Of course, it may have had to do with his job as a teacher that also demanded a lot of time.
In hope of such a promotion, he had offered to fill in for one of the Upperton store managers during the meeting, showing that he had the capacity to become one as well. It was this decision that had almost gotten him driven over by Ron's car, an unreliable antiquity the young man had inherited from his father when Mr. Stoppable had finally decided on getting a new one.
To make a long story short, Mr. Barkin had earlier overheard that a position for sales manager was opening up at the Middleton location and that Ron had been appointed to look for a suitable candidate. Ever the pragmatist, Mr. Barkin decided that a being little forthcoming would go a long way to his desired promotion, even if it meant listening to Ron's rambling.
In all honesty, Mr. Barkin had to admit that Ron had really stepped up after graduating High School; he managed to combine college, missions with Kim Possible – who was still certainly his girlfriend – and his job at Smarty Mart all with flying colors. But whenever he got the opportunity, he tended to rant and rant and rant… making Mr. Barkin wonder how Kim kept up with it.
In all fairness, Kim did have the clear advantage of good looks, and could render Ron silent with just one teasing look.
Mr. Barkin's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Ron was still talking. "…And now she took the day off, and I don't know what she's up to. And I can't shake the feeling that there is something important coming up."
The Middleton High principal (ever since Mrs. Heartly mistook a student's lunch for a teacher's lunch and had to retire early) sighed. "You do know that Valentine is tomorrow, right?"
For once during the entire drive back to Middleton, Ron was completely silent, even though it was only for a moment. "Oh… oh man, I forgot… again. Why do I keep forgetting this? What is wrong with me?"
"And there he goes again, great work Steve."
When Shego regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that she was in a cage of some sort. The second was that she was not alone; a lot of familiar faces were looking at her
"What is going on here?" she demanded as she saw, amongst others, Drakken, the Seniors and Motor Ed.
"I do not know," Senor Senior Junior said from his cell, "I woke up this morning in this cell… I have missed my morning suntan!"
"Maybe she can indulge us." Gemini answered as he pointed in the direction of the door of the compound that held all the cages; a very familiar redhead was just placing another villain, Monkey Fist by the looks of it, into a cell. This made DNAmy, who was in the next cell, very happy.
"What is going on princess?" Shego all but shouted, trying in vain to burn through the bars.
"Don't bother," Kim said after locking Monkey Fist's cage, "This stuff is made to absorb your plasma."
She glared at a lot of the villains before continuing. "As to why, guess what day tomorrow is."
"Valentine's Day," DNAmy sing-songed.
Kim grinned. "Got it in one."
"So, what's with the lock-up, seriously?" Motor Ed asked. "I can see why you would have the bads for me, but the rest…"
Kim rolled her eyes. "Not in a million years. But for once I want an uninterrupted Valentine's Day with my boyfriend."
"So, what does that have to do with us?" Drakken asked, earning him a scowl from Kim.
She counted off on her fingers. "First time, Junior tried to take over all girls, including me, with Wade's love ray. The year after that, DNAmy tried to free Monkey Fist using a true love's kiss kind of idea…"
"A successful attempt," Amy cut in with a huge smile, making Monkey Fist cringe.
"…Which unleashed the Yono and took Ron everything he's got to deal with," Kim snapped. "And last year, Drakken tried unleashing some sort of pheromone that would make everyone love him and do what he said."
"Which attracted all kinds of frogs to the lair." Shego glared at Drakken, who suddenly felt very lucky to be in a separate cage. "But that had nothing to do with you, princess."
"It did, because Drakken used his Middleton lair, and the restaurant where we were having diner was in the path of the frogs," Kim explained.
"But I didn't do anything, why am I here?" Motor Ed demanded. "I have to be out there, hooking up with the girls, seriously."
"I'm not taking any chances," Kim simply said, "tomorrow is going to be mine and Ron's day, and if that means weeks of tracking you all down and locking you up, that's fine by me. There is food and a place to sleep in each cell, and if you want privacy, you can switch on or off the voice-activated privacy screen."
"You really thought of everything," Shego remarked, "but wouldn't it have been easier to just arrest us?"
Kim huffed. "GJ is like a revolving door to you guys. Now if you excuse me, I have some more villains to catch."
"Thanks again for driving me here," Ron said distractedly as he stepped out of the car at Mr. Barkin's home; from there it would only be a short walk to his own home. "How could I forget about Valentine's Day… again?"
Mr. Barking sighed. "Finally rid of him, no promotion is worth such a ride." But to his consternation Ron walked up to his home and opened the door for him.
Barkin stormed up to the front door and yanked the key out of Ron's hand. "Where did you get my house key?"
Ron looked at him confused. "You gave it to me years ago when you wanted me to pick up the school bus keys when it was pouring with rain."
"Oh, that…" "Why didn't you give them back?"
Ron rubbed his neck. "I guess I kinda forgot."
Mr. Barkin pushed his former student and current superior out of the way. "Don't use my keys anymore."
Grumbling to himself, the big man locked the door and walked up to his bedroom to get some change of clothes ready before taking a shower.
He was more than a little shocked to see Ron sitting on his bed. "But what if she has planned a whole bunch of stuff and I didn't get her anything?"
"How did you get in here?" Mr. Barkin all but screamed.
Ron looked back innocently. "Through the window. You said I couldn't use your keys anymore."
"I…" Mr. Barkin grabbed Ron by his shoulders and pushed him downstairs and out of the house again. "And stay out! Get her some rare collectible for all I care."
As the door closed in his face and he heard several locks click, Ron looked somewhere between zoned out and very thoughtful. "Maybe that's not a bad idea."
Over the rest of the day, Kim brought in several other villains; Duff Killigan, Professor Dementor and Frugal Lucre. The latter practically walked in with her. "I told them all that I was a real super-villain, but would they listen? No! But now they can't deny it."
"Hah!" Drakken called out with a grin toward Dementor. "I bet you captured me first and Dementor last because I was the most dangerous villain."
Kim shrugged. "You were the easiest to catch." Dementor shot the grin right back at Drakken, who scowled and sat back down in his cell.
"What's with Lucre?" Shego asked. "It's not like he will cause trouble."
Kim smirked. "That's punishment for what you did the past years."
Lucre looked around. "Oh, wow! Everyone is here, now we can tell about our successes and improve on the future. I have some great ideas…"
Shego, and most villains with her, groaned and slumped down on the cot the cell provided; when she really wanted to, Kim could be downright devious.
"Well Mr. Peasly? What do you think?"
The fallen millionaire, but still world's greatest cuddle buddy collector, sighed heavily. "It would get me out of my debts, but…"
"Look at it this way, if you can't pay, the debt collectors take away all your cuddle buddies until they think your debt is settled. But if you take my offer, you can keep all of them but one, and that one will be cared for by a fellow collector."
The short man sighed again; his overenthusiastic collecting habit had taken up all his money, and then some. And debt collectors were all but stamping down his door. "I don't think I have a choice."
"You're doing the best thing," Ron ensured the man who had stood at the cradle of Kim Possible's mission work.
"Brought you some dinner, and food for tomorrow," Kim said as she walked in later that day. "Don't eat it all at once, you'll have to live on it until tomorrow evening. By then the time locks will automatically disengage."
Shego looked at the trays of food. Kim had clearly gone out of her way to make the villains at least somewhat comfortable; everyone's favorite foods were on them. How Kim found out, Shego didn't know. But the fact that she had done that gave her an idea. "So, you'll just lock us up, without a warrant and without a real reason."
For a moment, Kim looked very guilt-ridden, but then she looked up again and smiled at her nemesis. "You know, if I told GJ I had the lot of you here, how long would it take for them to get here? You can see this as a holding cell that will fail conveniently enough for all of you, or you can see it as having a few days off."
She passed the trays through one of the horizontal openings between the bars. "It's self heating, just pull the blue strip at the bottom of the plate. And don't bother using the chemicals for anything else, you'll be sure to get only a burn from it."
Shego had already tried to shoot some plasma through the bars in hope of forcing Kim to release her, but apparently the bars also absorbed plasma that was nearby, rendering her really locked up.
The green-skinned villainess sat down with her plate of food as Kim walked off. "So, any of you have an interesting story?"
Kim grinned as she closed the door; sure, she would lose even more popularity amongst the villains, but her day with Ron was so worth that.
When she stepped in her car, her face turned serious again. "Now only the worst left to go."
"Should I make a reservation? Or did KP already make one?" Ron paced around, pondering out loud. "If I don't, and she didn't, we'd have nothing. But if we have a double reservation… at the same restaurant… maybe I should ask Wade to find out… but what if she told him to say nothing?"
"Stoppable! For the last time, get out of my house!" Barkin yelled after he had nearly gotten a heart attack when he found Ron sitting in his TV chair, even after he had locked down every possible entrance to his home… twice.
"But this is important," Ron said. "What should I do?"
"You should get out of my house!"
"I'll make you sales manager," Ron promised without batting an eye.
"You should first ask at the restaurant you usually go to if she already made a reservation," Barkin offered, now in a much friendlier voice. "If she didn't, you make a reservation. You can always cancel it or just not show up."
"Great idea Mr. B," Ron said as he ran out of the house again. "The new tie and batch are ready for you on Monday." He didn't tell his former teacher and principal that the decision for Mr. Barkin as sales manager had already been made during the meeting and that he was only supposed to tell him that.
The next day, Shego woke up to the sound of Kim entering the building. She and the other villains had tried part of the night to break out. But whatever Kim had come up with, it was a lot better than the usual prison or GJ holding cell.
"Whatcha got there Kimmie?" the villainess asked curiously as Kim pushed a small cart toward the only empty cell. That cell had made Shego wonder who would be placed in there; the security in that one was at least triple as what her own cell had and much better entertainment accessibilities.
Most of the other villains woke up too when they heard voices coming from inside the closed cart.
"Let us out…"
"…We will so tell mom about this."
Kim smirked as she let her bothers out of the cart and into the cell. "Do that, and I tell mom what really happened to Nana's cat and your rocket."
That got the twins quiet for a moment. "We told you that it was a valid experiment."
"If monkeys can go in space, so can cats."
"Yeah, right." Kim grinned. "You tweebs just behave. There is enough to last you through the day. And you have enough to entertain yourselves with. Besides, I'll let you keep the games afterwards."
Jim huffed. "Like we haven't downloaded those games ages ago."
"That's right," Tim put in. "Wait… are those the bonus versions?"
Kim allowed herself a genuine smile. "Just a bribe so you two behave." Her words were lost when Jim and Tim already put the game in.
"What's in it for us?" Shego asked with a grin.
Kim's grin matched that of her nemesis. "You'll get out and not arrested. Take it or leave it."
After Kim had left, no doubt to get herself ready for her date, Shego turned to the teens. "So… princess always like this?"
Jim shrugged, already too absorbed in the game. "I guess we pushed a few buttons too many last time."
"We'll get back at her later," Tim added.
Drakken, in the cell across from Shego, sat down and pouted. "Why couldn't we have a videogame?"
"Hey Ron."
"KP!" Ron greeted his girlfriend enthusiastically. "Ready for a bondiggity Valentine's Day for a bondiggity girl?"
Kim smiled. "You bet I am. This is going to be a great day."
Ron nodded in agreement. "Yeah, as long as we don't have any freak villains trying another scheme."
Kim grinned vaguely. "I don't think we will this year."
That seemed to satisfy Ron. He gave Kim a gentle kiss and led her to his mother's car that he had borrowed for the day. "Then let's not waste daylight."
Kim smiled happily; with all the effort of making sure the day was free of disaster, she had not had time to prepare the day itself. But it seemed Ron had taken care of that department.
"Well, since we'll be here all day anyway…" DNAmy shot a sugar-sweet glance at Monkey Fist, "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Why me?" the self-proclaimed monkey master whimpered as he moved even further away from the heavyset woman.
"What's up with you two anyway?" Shego asked. "I think Kimmie said you freed monkey boy?"
"I did," DNAmy beamed. "But he's still so shy. Too bad we couldn't share a cell."
Monkey Fist almost fainted at the mere thought of being locked up with Amy for the whole of Valentine's Day.
Shego smirked. "Oh come on, don't give up that fast, I'm sure he'll cave in eventually."
The other villains were starting to have a laugh at Monkey Fist's expense.
"Why don't yah show that lassie some love?" Duff Killigan asked with a grin. "Ah though you Brits were always such gentlemen."
Monkey Fist drew himself up. "And what would you know about that? You Scots are still nothing but barbarians."
"Ooh, he got you there," Drakken said. He was starting to enjoy this; it was like a villain's convention, but without the risk for him to get hurt.
"Yah just wait 'till we get out of here," Duff growled.
"Hey masterminds!" More villains looked up than Shego would admit fit the title.
Jim and Tim grinned at the group. Apparently at some point during the verbal fight they had put the screen down that had given them some privacy during their game.
"You all taking this out on each other is fun and all, but don't you forget the reason why you are here?"
Drakken's smile faltered. "Kim Possible."
Shego rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we know that." She eyed the boys. "Did you have something in mind?"
Jim grinned. "Well… we do have the expertise here, and the motivation…"
"…Yeah, and I bet you guys could help along as well," Tim added, and grinned when he got a lot of angry glares in his direction.
Drakken huffed. "And how do you suppose we get out of here. I tried everything, it's impossible."
"Not for us…"
"…We're Possibles."
Shego groaned. "Ugh, does the whole family use that?"
"They should," Frugal Lucre chimed in. "They're all Possibles after all."
Shego glared at the second-rate villain. "Just to be able to shoot one tiny bit of plasma through those bars…"
"Shego!" Tim said, "How small a plasma beam can you make?"
"Doesn't matter," Shego replied, "those bars drain everything away."
"Not my question." Shego had to make effort not to wipe that smug grin off the boy's face.
The villainess shrugged. "About as small as a pencil, why?"
Jim answered that question. "Use you plasma to heat the breakfast and dinner plates and roll them up as tight as you can…"
"…They will insulate the plasma absorption when you stick that roll through the bars."
"And it will probably be only your cell that is made plasma-proof."
Shego looked back and forth between the boys during their confusing combined talk, but then a grin spread across her face. "I think we're up for a nice cooperation."
"This is wonderful Ron." Kim smiled happily as she and Ron were having a nice picnic near Lake Middleton.
"And still no interruptions." Ron couldn't help himself knocking on the picnic basket.
Kim laughed at his antics, and then bent over with a devious grin. "I've been taking precautions."
Ron was silent for a moment as he stared back. "Wha…"
"For the villains!" Kim quickly said. "I've been taking precautions for the villains to make sure they won't strike today." She then continued to explain her preparations.
"Wow," Ron said after Kim's admission. "I'm not sure if I should be really flattered or deeply disturbed."
"Oh, come on." Kim gave her best innocent look. "They've been ruining our Valentine's Day since the start. We deserve some slack. And if we have to make sure to that, so be it."
"I think I'll take a bit of both," Ron finally said, but then he smiled at his girlfriend. "I guess we have to make it count then."
A heated make-out session later, Ron took something out of the basket. "Before I forget, happy Valentine's Day."
"Already having that," Kim said with a huge smile, but she accepted the gift and began unwrapping.
"Ron! How… where…" Kim stopped and stared at her boyfriend, and then back at the Flamingoat in her hands.
Ron smiled. "Remember Mr. Peasly? I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
Kim stared. "What?"
It took Ron a moment to hear his own words back. "No! Not like that. You know he has gotten himself in trouble with his cuddle buddy collecting bordering on addiction?"
Kim nodded. "I think I heard some of it in the news."
"Well, he was short quite a lot, and the debt collectors were about to take over his collection. So I offered to buy his Flamingoat for the actual price instead of the super discount the debt collector would put on it."
Kim was still holding on to the extremely rare cuddle buddy. "But where did you get the money for this?"
Ron shrugged. "I sold the KP plane. It was just collecting dust in some hangar and I think this gift suited you a lot better."
Kim smiled and gave Ron a five-alarm kiss. "It does, thank you… and all I got you was that Zombie game."
"Which was great. And you got us a free day, and you got me the greatest girlfriend in the world." Ron smiled. "Why don't we bring that Flamingoat to your collection shelf and head out for dinner?"
"Already?" Kim frowned and looked at her watch. "Isn't that a bit early?"
"We still need to get there," Ron said with a vague smile.
Shego looked at the pipe-like object she had concocted from the dinner plates. "Well, this is the best I can make of it."
She walked over to the wall of her cell and with some effort pushed the pipe halfway through; it was almost too large to fit between the bars. "Now what?"
Shoot your plasma through and use it to open our cell," Jim said.
"Then we can open the other cells," Tim added.
"Why should I trust you?" Shego asked.
"Duh, you can still aim your plasma at us."
"And we can open all cages while you can only aim at half of them."
"Fine." Shego moved the tube so that it could hit Jim and Tim's cell and fired her plasma.
"So, where are we going?" Kim asked curiously as Ron drove them to the location of their dinner.
"You'll see." She had gotten a similar answer for her six earlier and similar questions, and it vexed her that she still had no clue where Ron was headed.
"Come on, tell me." Kim tried her puppy dog pout, but Ron just kept looking at the road.
"Not gonna work KP," he said with a grin, still carefully not looking in her direction. "You'll just have to wait and see."
Kim huffed and tried to figure out where they were going, but apparently Ron had decided to take the long route seeing as he even passed the same crossing twice.
"I will figure it out, you know," Kim said shortly after they had gotten on the interstate.
Ron smiled. "I'm sure you will." His smile grew wider as Kim started to slowly fall asleep; she easily fell asleep in a car when there was no singing involved.
Soon after Kim had completely fallen asleep and was softly snoring, Ron got off the interstate and turned around to head toward his eventual destination.
"Do you think we've been set up?"
After Jim and Tim had been freed, they had told the other villains to wait for about half an hour to an hour while they got their gear to let them out.
"It's been only twenty minutes," Shego said, "We'll give them some more time."
"Why don't you let us out and we'll free you," Drakken suggested.
Shego smirked. "No offense, but I trust those boys more than any of you."
Drakken gasped. "You don't trust me? But we're almost family."
"Yeah right." Shego rolled her eyes. "Let's put it this way, I trust you trying to get me out. But your skill in succeeding… not so much."
Drakken growled and sat down again.
About fifteen minutes later, Kim's brothers walked back in with a confident grin. "We got what we need." Jim pressed a button on a remote he had brought and several bars of each cages moved up to create a doorway.
The villains quickly stepped up, afraid the cages could lock any moment again. "So, what now?"
"We have to figure out where they are…"
"…And then we have everything ready with us."
The villains followed the boys outside and were immediately impressed by the gear they had brought.
Shego grinned. "This should work. Let's get going."
Kim woke up with a start. "Where are we?"
Ron grinned. "Almost at the restaurant."
Kim glared at him. "You got me to fall asleep!"
His grin grew wider. "Yep."
Kim couldn't help but smile as well. "I'll get you for this." But then she saw where they had been going.
Ron chuckled when he noticed his girlfriend's look. "You know, it's always hard to find a place that isn't booked solid yet. So I we had to go out a little further than usual."
"No kidding," Kim said as they entered Go City. "So, which restaurant?"
Ron only smiled. Earning him another glare.
But then Kim smiled too. "You've actually been able to keep a secret for several hours already… from me. I'm impressed."
"I'm all about impressing the ladies," Ron said with a smug grin.
As they stopped at a traffic light, Kim leaned over and gave Ron a five-alarm kiss. "Now can you tell me where the restaurant is, Ronnie-wonnie?"
"Just… hold on… almost there." Kim could see that Ron's defenses were wearing down. "Okay… it's at the end of the street."
Kim looked and her eyes grew wide. "How did you…"
Ron smiled. "Still got a bit of money leftover from selling the plane, couldn't let it go to waste."
"But Ron… I appreciate it, I really do, but that must have cost a lot of money."
Ron shrugged. "Between the Flamingoat and dinner, there is still plenty left. That plane wasn't cheap, you know."
"I figured." Kim shook her head. "I'm really completely in the dark about your financial situation, aren't I?"
"Just as much as me," Ron said, "after the Naco fiasco I handed all the money I could get back from the bling-bling to dad and told him I didn't want it to get to my head again."
Kim smiled. "Wow, you really grew up." Then she frowned. "But I thought Drakken spent about 99 million right after he took all the money from your pockets?"
"Well…" Ron grinned. "Have you ever tried to fit 99 million in the pockets of a normal jacket and pants?"
Kim frowned. "I have been wondering about that."
"Well, I broke the original check iton hundred-thousand dollar checks," Ron explained. "And we managed to block them before Drakken could buy everything… still lost a lot of the money though. So that's why I let dad handle it from then on."
He parked the car at the restaurant parking lot. "Ready for a bondiggity dinner?"
"You sure they're here?" Shego asked as the whole group arrived at Chez Couteaux.
"There is a reservation for the name Stoppable," Jim said as he looked at the reservation chart.
"I can't see them though," Tim said after a short survey.
"Can I help you?" A servant asked.
"Yeah, there is a reservation for 'Stoppable' for tonight," Shego said.
The man looked at the reservations card. "Indeed there is, a table for two." He looked through the group. "And which of you made the reservation?"
"We did," DNAmy said quickly as she dragged Monkey Fist with her. "Can you imagine, now we still have our Valentine's dinner."
"But… what about our revenge?" Monkey Fist whined.
Amy glared at him. "Are you saying you wouldn't 'love' to have dinner with me?"
Monkey Fist gulped as he felt his feet start to change into stone. "No… I would… love to have dinner with you."
Amy was all smiles again. "Good luck with your revenge." She practically danced to the table.
As Monkey Fist followed at a much more reluctant pace, Dementor pulled at his sleeve. "What kind of magic has she wrapped you in?"
"You wouldn't understand." The monkey master sighed. "Be glad you don't understand." He bowed his head in sorrow and followed his 'date.'
Meanwhile, Jim and Tim had made a call to the Stoppable residence. "Seems like Ron had a last-minute change of plans. They're in Go City."
"Great," Shego groaned. "So I can be sure to run into my brothers somehow."
"Wow, this really is different from the usual Bueno Nacho," Kim said with a smile. "Even from Chez Couteaux."
"I asked there first because I was afraid you may have made a reservation already," Ron admitted, "but after I made my reservation there, dad told me about this restaurant."
"Well, 'Go Cuisine' really honors its name," Kim said, "even though the name is a bit tacky."
Ron chuckled. "What would you expect in a city with the name 'Go City.'"
Kim laughed. "You know, I always wondered if Team Go got the name from the city, or if the city adopted the name to honor the team."
"Come on Shego, it's a big city," Drakken said, "What are the odds of you running into your brothers."
"Given my karma, one hundred percent," Shego growled as she fumbled to get her hair under her hat after applying a fake moustache.
"Yes, but this…" Dementor commented as he stared at what could only be described as an uncertain drag queen.
"If you had let me go and get my usual set of disguises, we wouldn't have to do this," Shego snapped, very annoyed with her outfit, but even less willing to face her brothers ever since Hego had gotten the idea that she was ready to join the good side again and used every opportunity to hammer that home.
"Hey!" Jim and Tim chimed in. "We make good disguises."
"That you don't fit them is not our fault."
Shego was about to flare up her plasma when Drakken tapped her shoulder. "Can you check on Killigan? He should be here by now."
Duff Killigan had insisted on using his spare blimp he had hidden in Lowerton. Gemini had chosen to come with him. The Seniors had gone home. Senior felt too honorable for revenge, his attack on the billionaires club conveniently forgotten. And Junior couldn't care less and was desperate for a new dose of Le Goop.
Shego sighed and grabbed her phone. "Duff, where are you? We are ready."
"Yah haf to go without us," Duff shouted from the other side of the line. "It's those crosswinds, they've blown me away from Go City."
Shego sighed. "Could have told you that… I guess it's just us then."
"What about Ed?" Drakken asked.
"He left for some Valentine celebration with the counter lady at the gas station where you had to go to the bathroom… again," Dementor said.
"It's not my fault I have a tiny bladder," Drakken whined.
"I'm still here too," came a voice from the trunk of Drakken's hover car. "I told you we could drive with more people."
Shego frowned. "I thought you were in Ed's trunk?"
"I was," Frugal Lucre said, "but I switched cars. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to be close to someone who just doesn't stop droning on and on about stupid ideas and worthless plans? I mean, how can anyone stand YAAAAH!"
"I think I have," Shego said as she watched Lucre make a beautiful loop into the lake they were driving past. "Good work on the trunk ejector Dr. D."
"I knew it would come in handy," Drakken said with a confident smirk.
"What will you have for your main dish?" Ron asked.
Kim stared at him with a dreamy look. "You… Uh, I mean… I'll have the salmon."
Ron frowned and looked at his girlfriend. "How much wine did you have."
"Just half a glass… on an empty stomach." Kim grinned sheepishly. "Not really used to it."
Ron smiled; they had only turned 21 last year and while his parents had been a little more allowing when concerning alcohol, Kim hadn't had a drip until she turned 21. Combined with her lithe frame, that made her tolerance to alcohol pretty low. "Would you like something lighter to drink?"
"No, I'll just keep it down to one glass." Kim returned the smile. "You'll be a gentleman and keep me in check, right?"
"You know me KP," Ron said. "Besides, I still have to drive home, and I don't do DUI's."
"And that's how it should be," Kim agreed. "Now, what are you having?"
"So they are at Go Cuisine," Shego mumbled, trying to figure out how best to strike there. "That's quite a neat eatery."
"Speaking of which," Drakken said, holding his grumbling stomach. "I haven't had anything to eat for a while now. Could we get something to eat before we strike?"
Shego wanted to ignore Drakken's request, but the blue villain was backed up by Dementor and by Kim's brothers.
"There is a Bueno Nacho nearby." Jim pointed to the building.
"We have plenty of time to eat," Tim said, "They're probably still working on feeding each other bites from their plates."
Shego couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with that Bueno Nacho, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
As it turned out, they could place their orders by themselves and shortly after, all five of them were having some kind of fast food.
Jim, Tim and Drakken had opted for Grande sized, while Dementor decided to try a new German named item that the others were unable to pronounce properly. Shego settled with a salad, not trusting the food enough to risk stomach aches when battling against Kim later.
"Stop right there, fiend!"
"Oh no… Now I remember."
Drakken looked in surprise at Hego, who faced the group with what could only be described as a heroic glare. "So, you think you can stop me, Dr…"
"Huh? No sir," Hego interrupted the villain, "please don't let me disrupt your dinner. It is that man that somehow managed to hide in your company… Professor Dementor."
"Hey!" Drakken snapped angrily. "I'm Dr. Drakken, the most dangerous…"
Hego ignored Drakken and grabbed Dementor as the German villain was too surprised to resist. "You are under arrest. Don't try anything funny."
As Hego dragged Dementor – who was still too stupefied by the hero's appearance to put up resistance – away, Drakken looked at Jim and Tim. "That was weird, and rude… where is Shego?"
"Under the table." Jim pointed with a grin as Shego carefully sat up in her seat again.
Shego glowered at the confused looks of her companions. "You don't know how it is to have him yammer on and on about going back to being a hero, okay?"
Tim shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say… but we did lose another helper."
"At this rate we won't even make it to the restaurant," Jim agreed.
As they were eating dessert, Ron leaned over a bit. "KP, I have a confession to make."
Spoonful of ice cream halfway to her mouth, Kim stopped her action and almost forgot about the dessert until molten ice cream dripped on her hand. "What is it Ron?"
Ron sighed slightly. "Today, this Valentine… I had completely forgotten about it. Everything we did until now was based on a last day's improv."
Kim stared at her boyfriend. "But… you did all this. In just one…?"
Ron chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "You know, I excel at doing things the last possible moment."
He took a moment before continuing. "But there is one thing I have been planning to do for a while, but never got the chance to do. I think now is the best time."
Kim gasped as Ron picked a small box from his jacket and moved off his seat to kneel down in the traditional pose. "KP, we've been friends for as long as I can remember, and we've been together for the better of four years… and if anything, I want that to go on for the rest of our lives… Kimberly Ann Possible, will you marry me?"
Kim felt her heart pound in her chest faster than she had thought possible, and it increased even more during Ron's speech. She couldn't even see the ring he presented her as her eyes filled with happy tears. "YES! Yes Ron! Yes I will marry you." Even before Ron managed to take the ring out of the box to place it on her finger he found himself enveloped in a fierce hug.
The other guests clapped politely and chuckled at the young couple that sat on the floor next to their table, still hugging while the young man tried to place the ring on his fiancée's finger.
Kim laughed, pulled back a bit and held out her hand for Ron to place the ring. "It's beautiful." Ron barely had the chance to put the ring on before he was enveloped in a hug again.
"Wow, looks like the buffoon proposed," Shego remarked as she noticed the couple still sitting on the ground. "And that stone is huge!"
"This is our chance," Drakken said eagerly. "They're too distracted to defend themselves."
Shego held the blue-skinned villain back. "No way you're going to disrupt that. Remember the reason she locked us up? Now imagine what she'll do if we interrupt this."
That got Drakken thinking for a moment. "Maybe you're right… but what about our revenge?"
Shego had already stepped into the restaurant. She got halfway when Kim noticed her and stood up, dragging Ron up with her.
Shego smirked. "Congratulations princess. And that's some nice glitter you got."
Kim took up a half-hearted defensive stance. "Thanks?"
The villainess waved off the redhead's readiness to defend herself. "Never mind that, even I wouldn't rob you of this. Just be ready for when I get back at you."
Kim smirked. "I will." Shego had already turned around and walked out, dragging Drakken behind her.
"But Shego…"
"Forget it Dr. D. Better get ready to take over the world before those two get busy and have kids that are even more annoying."
As she watched the villain duo walk out, Kim noticed her brothers at the entrance of the restaurant. She eyed them warily as they approached with grins on their faces. "Look tweebs, this is pretty much the happiest day of my life, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Don't worry sis." Jim's grin turned into a genuine smile. "Congratulations."
"Yeah, can't wait to tell mom and dad, especially dad." The twins' grins returned after Tim's words. "But we will get back at you. So you'll have to sign this."
Kim frowned at the contract that was laid out in front of her.
"It's a get our revenge free card," Jim explained.
"It's so we can get back at you and you can't do anything about it," Tim added.
Kim eyed the contract and sighed. "I kind of deserve that, don't I? Sorry for locking you up, but I won't sign this."
Jim and Tim frowned and gave the impression they still had a card up their sleeves.
Kim smiled warily. "It will need some changes before I sign. First of all, no data of it is allowed to leak out; pictures, videos, written reports… nothing, okay?"
Jim and Tim shrugged. "We can live with that."
"Okay. Next, no holidays… Christmas, any coming Valentine…"
As Kim and her brothers worked out the treaty, Ron could only shake his head; Hana could be a handful, but it was so much better than teenaged siblings who were out to humiliate you. Even though he knew Kim for close to two decades now, it still made him wonder what he was marrying into.
Later that night, when they were back in Middleton, leaning on the bonnet of the car while looking out over the city from the viewpoint, Kim turned and smiled at her best friend turned boyfriend turned fiancé. "Thank you for today, it was the best."
Ron chuckled. "I can't help but think what could have happened if more villains managed to arrive at the restaurant. Or if you hadn't locked them up."
Kim grinned and leaned over to kiss Ron. "Nothing would have happened. Today was an Unstoppable Valentine."
END