Bonnie held up the top against Tara, eyeing it carefully before putting it back up on the rack. "So what do you all want to do for lunch? I'm getting kind of tired of fair food."
Monique shook her head at the next one that Bonnie grabbed before pointing to one further down. "You know, there is that new Thai place not far from here. We could walk down, walk back, and still have time to do some more shopping before the men-folk finish their testosterone fest."
Tara smiled as she finally found a blouse she wanted, preparing to change into it to see if it fit. "I don't know, isn't Thai supposed to be, like, spicy and stuff. I don't know if I want spicy."
Kim just leaned on a nearby rack, shaking her head slightly. "Wow."
Monique turned to look at her curiously and not without a little eagerness. "What is it girl, find something good?"
"No, it's just..." Kim settled her gaze on Bonnie briefly before turning back to Monique. "If you had told me just two weeks ago that I would be hanging out with Bonnie shopping and getting along... I would have laughed."
Monique chuckled as well. "I know what you mean, though I don't know about the getting along part so much." Kim gave her a glare, causing her to laugh again. "Okay, so your getting along better. Have to admit, girl's not as bad as I figured, once you get past the attitude, and she does love Ron. Gotta give her props for the effort she's putting in."
Kim sighed softly. "I know, and Ron's happy as well. It's still just so... weird."
"Weirder than women lighting their hands on fire and freaks with monkey hands and feet?"
Kim shared a quiet smile with Monique. "Well, when you put it that way..."
"Ok, favorite video game?"
Ron smiled, glad for the subject. "No contest, Zombie Mayhem Two."
Felix frowned briefly before his smile returned. "Um, pause, I hope you meant to say Zombie Mayhem Three?"
"Um, unpause, I was actually referring to the superior second installment of the series."
"For real? Mayhem Two doesn't even have flame throwers." Felix turned his attention over to Josh, who was sitting on his other side. "What about you Josh, which is the better one. Two or Three?"
Josh appeared a bit sheepish as he tried to figure out what they were saying. "Uhh... I don't really play video games, at least not since I was a kid."
Ron and Felix almost appeared stunned. "You don't..."
Felix just smiled, turning back to Ron. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Ron smiled in return. "Zombie Mayhem marathon until we've got the guy hooked so bad he'll wonder why he wasn't playing before?"
"Exactly!" Seeing Josh looking uncomfortable though intrigued, Felix set his sights on anouther topic that interested him. "So that girl Tara... she said she wasn't seeing anyone..."
An exceptionally loud gunning of engines interrupted Felix's thoughts, and everyone in the stands was stunned. Josh watched as a team of motorcyclists sailed over head, with most heading straight for the trucks. One figure remained in front of the stands, watching the rest of the men moved. "Is this part of the show?"
Felix frowned as he watched the men throwing the drivers clear of their trucks. "Not likely."
The figure remaining and watching pulled off his helmet, letting out a long mane of blond hair, as he smiled broadly. "These trucks are property of Motor Ed now, seriously." Before anyone could speak, he had replaced his helmet and was tearing it up across the field. In a spectacular move that took most of the crowd by awe, he leapt from his motorcycle, flying through the air and launching himself through the passenger side window of the one truck that had escaped his men, booting the driver clear in one fell swoop.
Josh was wide-eyed as he watched the whole thing unfolding in front of him. "Oh man, what..."
Ron shook himself from his shock, noticing no one else moving, not the security guards and not the cops. With no Kim there, he knew he'd have to take charge. His stomach churned with fright at the thought, almost as bad as when he took Bonnie with him to Drakken's lair to get the Ray-X back.
He was on his feet quickly, looking below him to the ground. He turned back to Josh, who looked a bit freaked out. "Josh, I need you to give KP a call, tell her what's going on. Maybe get Wade on tracking them in case I lose them." Grabbing the support pole to the stands, he spun around it and landed on the ATV parked below them. He glanced up at Felix, who seemed to be concerned, but looking at Ron questioningly. But where everyone else seemed shocked or scared, Felix was keeping his cool. Without Kim there, he figured he'd need some backup, even if it was just to drive the vehicle if he had to jump off. "Up for a ride?"
Josh just looked incredulous, even as he was dialing his cellphone. Felix just leaned forward and smiled. "Well, it ain't the Disorienter, but I'll give it a shot." Grasping the rail in front of him, he lifted quickly, throwing his lower body clear over the rail and landing himself squarely behind Ron, needing little adjustment to seat himself properly.
Ron just chuckled softly as he handed him the second helmet. "Sweet move dude." Ron gunned the engine and set off after the disappearing thieves before they had gotten too far from the stadium.
Felix clutched tightly to Ron, keeping an eye on the escaping felons. "So... you do this a lot?"
Ron smiled as he continued pursuit. "Oh yeah. Seems like KP and I do this every week."
Monique picked at the food in front of her, still trying to figure out if she liked Thai food or not. "So, I hear there's a new boy in town our age, and that you met him. Spill, I want details."
Kim glanced over at Tara, smirking lightly. "Maybe you should ask Tara. She was getting pretty chummy with him last night."
"KIMMMmmmm!"
Monique saw the instant blush come over Tara and leaned in quickly, eagerly. "Oh, so the new boy's making a play for a cheerleader already. I'm guessing he's pretty cute for you to be blushing like that."
"Nooo..." Tara looked down at the table, fiddling with her fork. "I mean... I guess he's cute. He just gave me a prize he won and we rode a few rides together, that's all."
Monique feigned indifference, hiding a smirk. "Well then, if you're not interested in him, you could always send him my way. After all, if he doesn't care for vanilla, he might like a bit of chocolate."
Tara was wide-eyed while Bonnie sputtered. Even Kim was shocked. "Monique!"
Monique just smiled innocently, a huge grin on her face. "What, a girl can't get her dibs in? Just letting Tara know if she lets this cute guy get away, I might want him for myself."
The Kimmunicator beeped, saving Kim from wondering if she should be motified or amused. "Go Wade, what's the sitch?"
The young tech genius frowned as he saw something looked at something on anouther screen. "Hey Kim. I'm getting some kind of report from the monster truck rally that Ron went to. The police..."
"KIM!"
Kim was startled by the familiar voice that cut in on the open channel. "Josh?"
"Kim, someone just rode in here and stole all the monster trucks. Ron and Felix went after them."
Three other heads moved in closer to hear what was going on, but Kim ignored them. "Monster trucks?" Kim appeared thoughtful for a moment, even as her body was already pushing itself to be ready. "Wade, do you think..."
"The auto parts thief? Possibly."
Josh cut in again quickly, his voice almost frantic. "The guy called himself Motor Ed."
Kim nodded at that, looking at Wade with a serious expression. "Wade, have you..."
"Got a lock on them, they're heading east, out of town. It looks like they might be heading for a small airfield out there, it's the only thing out that way before he would start hitting towns again, and I doubt he'd want to drive those things through anouther town and deal with police. I'm pulling up all my info on Motor Ed as well."
Kim nodded, glancing over at Bonnie. "Good job Wade, then all I need is to get out there. Bonnie, you drove your parent's car out here right? Can I borrow it?"
"No."
Kim had to blink, she was shocked. "What?"
Bonnie was already moving for the door, ignoring the startled looks. "You can't borrow the car, but I will drive you there." She cast a look over her shoulder, smiling wryly. "What, you think I'm not going to help my boyfriend. Now let's hurry before they get away!"
Ron was trying to get closer to the large truck, which he was surprised to find was big enough for several of the monster trucks. Whoever this was, he had sure come prepared to steal those things. And actually watching them drive the monster trucks up the transport truck's ramps while they were moving... these guys were REALLY good.
Of course, the guys driving the motorcycles were good as well. Every time Ron tried to get closer, they'd cut him off and it was all Ron could do not to lose control. So for now, he was just riding along behind, hoping that Kim would arrive soon to deal with these guys.
He was just wondering how much further they would be going when he saw the airport up ahead. His eyes widened as he realized just how these guys were going to get away when his attention was drawn to the VERY large cargo plane.
Felix saw it as well and was concerned. "Is that..."
"Yup. Looks like we're going to have to stop them before they get that thing up in the air."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Umm... I'm still working out all the details."
As they got closer, they saw the plane was already warmed up, with the loading ramp open to accept the truck quickly. Ron gunned the engine of his ATV, knowing he had to speed up to catch them. To his surprise, the two on motorcycles just shot forward, no longer trying to impede his progress, passing on either side of the truck to get by. Ron smiled at this good fortune.
That good fortune disappeared quickly as Ron saw the leader of the group standing at the back of the truck, hanging onto one of the monster truck bumpers, holding what appeared to be a pump. "Hey skinny dude. You gave a good chase, but this is where we give you the slip, seriously."
Ron saw him squeeze the trigger on the pump and a torrent of oil shot forth and onto the road in front of him. He tried to swerve around it, but it was too close and the ATV lost it's grip with the road. Ron let out a scream as the ATV spun with the attempted swerve, and the world around them became a blur. After about seven or eight spins, the ATV came to a stop.
Felix leaned back, a little green around the gills. "Dude... that beat the Disorienter hands down."
Ron nodded, trying to hold down his lunch. "Oh yeah, but it also means that we've lost them. We'll never be able to catch them..."
Ron was cut off as a car flew past them, it's target clear. Felix hadn't caught who it was those, and was stunned for a moment. "Who was that?"
Ron smiled as he gunned the engine, intent on following. "That was my girlfriend's car, and if I'm not mistaken, KP was with her."
"Was that Ron?" Bonnie was trying to look behind her while still keeping up the speed.
Kim looked sharply at Bonnie. "Keep focused, he's fine. He's already heading our way, but we need to catch those guys." She saw the truck was already loading onto the plane, and knew that they didn't have much time. They were still a couple minutes away and it looked like they were ready to go, the plane moving to taxi onto the runway. "Bonnie, pull up as close as you can to them."
Bonnie glanced over at Kim briefly. "What are you going to do, ask them to pull the plane over?"
Kim pulled out her hairdryer grappling hook and smirked. "Something like that."
Bonnie roared onto the tarmac as the plane hit the runway, picking up speed. The ramp at the back of the plane was closing still, but that didn't seem to stop the pilot any. As Bonnie pulled the car up alongside the rapidly accelerating plane, she wondered what Kim was planning to do.
She didn't wonder long as Kim rolled down the window, pulled herself out of the car so that she was basically sitting in the window, and fired her hook through the still closing ramp. With the press of a button, Kim was launched into the air, pulled along with the plane just as it's wheels lifted off the ground, before finally shooting through the closing gap to land deftly inside the plane.
Bonnie could only gape as she took her foot off the accelerator, slowly drifting to a stop. "Whoa."
Kim landed softly on her feet and assessed the situation. The ramp behind her was almost closed, though the wind was still rushing around her. She could see several of the men working to strap down the truck so that it didn't move during flight, including the big guy who looked to be the leader, Motor Ed. None of them had noticed her yet, and Kim decided to take advantage of it.
She didn't like hitting someone from behind, but she was also outnumbered, and she had no idea of their skills. Wade had given her a brief rundown on Motor Ed, but that hadn't included anything about any physical skills, and nothing on his men.
Kim lashed out quickly, catching the first two goons before they had a chance to react. The next two moved to defend themselves but Kim took them out almost as quickly. She paused, taking in the new picture and saw four remaining in total; Motor Ed, a short figure that didn't look like too much trouble, and two of the taller goons.
Motor Ed was not amused. "Whoa... babe, what do you think you're doing, seriously?"
"Just taking out the trash. I'm guessing you're the one behind the car parts thefts?"
Motor Ed just smiled, almost excited. "Oh yeah Red. Those parts are gonna be just sweet for my plans."
Kim looked at him skeptically. "And what plans would those be?"
Motor Ed brushed a hand through his hair, his grin never fading. "I'm gonna build myself the sweetest, most indestructible fleet of killer monster trucks ever seen. Then, I'm gonna crush stuff, and keep on crushin' it until I turn whole world into one humongous rockin' scrap yard. Seriously, it's gonna rock heavy!" The air guitar that followed was just so unexpected, Kim didn't know whether she should laugh or not.
Kim just stared at him incredulously. "THAT is your master plan?"
Now Motor Ed was frowning. "Seriously, what's wrong with my plan. It's a good plan. You're just harshin' my mellow." He pointed at her, looking to his men. "Seriously, get her, get Red."
The first goon ran forward, but Kim just leapt up and kicked off his chest, knocking him back into the second one. The short one flew at her from the right but she knocked him away quickly, turning back to Motor Ed.
It was good timing, as he swung a huge wrench that a moment later would have taken her head off. Kim ducked under it, and then jumped over the back swing, landing on the rig beside one of the monster trucks.
Motor Ed quickly followed, leaping up with her while continuing to swing away with the weapon he had on hand. "Stand still babe so I can squash you."
Kim just smirked, sweeping his legs out from under him. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that then."
Motor Ed smirked as he looked up at her. "I won't have to."
Before Kim could react, she was grabbed from behind. She had failed to note a couple of the goons moving around behind her, and now they gripped her arms firmly, despite how she struggled.
Motor Ed was on his feet, tapping that wrench in his hand while he wondered what he should do. Finally, he smiled. "You know, with all these trucks, we are seriously over our weight limit here. Time to drop some baggage, seriously."
Kim frowned, growling slightly. "That is so low."
Motor Ed threw open the side door to the plane, the wind rushing in. "Not as low as you're gonna be in a couple of minutes."
The small one stepped forward as the other two dragged her to the door. He reached around her, grabbing the hairdryer and her Kimmunicator. He smirked back at his boss. "Don't want her pulling a last minute save with this stuff."
Motor Ed grinned at that. "Good move dude." He stepped aside to allow his men to bring her to the open door, watching as she struggled. "Have a nice fall, seriously."
Without giving her a chance to reply, they tossed her through the door into the open sky. Kim resisted the urge to scream as she turned her body around to look at the plane as it receded in the distance, and then back down to the ground below her that was rapidly getting closer and closer. She patted herself down to see if she had anything on her that might help, but she had been shopping, and hadn't had time to grab any of her gear beyond what she kept with her. As the ground got closer and closer, Kim began to pray for any way to get out of the situation she now found herself in. Nothing came to her.
Author's Notes – I am an evil, evil man. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!