Hey everyone!

first off to all of you who commented! Thank you all!

TigerJacob: Well this one came while I was in the middle of 'don't tell' so I hope that I did improve at least by some margin. well, wait no more! and no prob!

DJ Rodriguez: It's cool man! as long as you enjoy it! that they will, that will be an issue in the future... believe me you are not the only one that wants to see him beat them up! I will!

GodudamaMaker: Wow! thanks a lot, man! glad to know you like them all!

Guest: I know what you mean! glad you like it and here you go the next one!

JadeViper: Happy you like it! Bonbon is my favorite too if that wasn't obvious by this point. well, wait no more! and if you like Bonnie you should check my other fics.

ravenyokai: No pro man! here you go!

Guest: That is a funny story! Mmm... that might be interesting!

biob1: Glad you like it!

Thisisawesome89: Happy you like it, man! and here you go the next one!

Some Dude: Thanks, man! no big man! those are troublesome times we currently have... just gotta keep yourself healthy! I will no worries!

Guest: Of course! I do love to write!

hiraishin101: You are not the only one! That may explain why you like Ron so much, you will have to wait and see! no big!

vanhellsing9000: Glad you liked it! well, the more he spends with the girls he is slowly changing. That, you will have to wait and see! And I will!

snake1980: Appriset it man! And I will!

warprince2000: Happy to hear it, man! and thanks for understanding! I wonder if that will happened...

Jazz0man: I'm happy you like it, man! I see your point, well... wait no more!

Smiling Lemon: That she did! Well, we will have to wait and see!

darkcloud64: Not a bad choice!

campy: That they are! I know what you mean!

Guest: That could be interesting, maybe in the future.

The Hero named Villain: That she is, that we will! It's her first one to be fair. I do hope he remembers to tell them...

bleach1990: I bet it will be pretty soon...

carl9390: I bet it will!

FF8cerberus: I can see why I think you can tell by this point how my mind works right? yeah, he did just show up... you will have to wait and see!

Blaze1992: You will have to see! And I guess it depends on the character.

Karlos1234ify: Happy you liked it!

Sarkes22: Glad to hear you like it! I will try, English is not my first language so it's a bit of a problem. well, here you go!

: Sorry man! the chapters are crazy long and my goal is to make them even longer! so yeah It's taking some time.

Chaosneobreakage: He did say that he used Bonnie's car so yeah, Well Tara blocked her from having her way with Ron. you will find out! glad you liked it!

Bisaster: Wow! thanks a lot! I do love Bonnie!

pay0505: That would be nice to see!

wildbeast1498: Glad you liked the last one, you will see it soon! that is a good reason! I do love my Bonbon! and here you go!

zafnak: I'm happy you liked it! I bet you will like what's to come!

Kyuubi-Titan: Was he? he did finish and so did Tara... of course I'm still writing! I love it! well, wait no more!

cabrera1234: That he is! and I'm happy you liked it!

Adol116: Thanks a lot! Mmm... that is a Possibility!

Dudtheman: Glad to hear it!

Uniquebooks: I'm happy that you liked it! I will and no worries! everyone is having issues at the moment. go for it and her is the next one!

Icarus the Foxkidd: Oh! you mean like one of those comic shows, that could be funny to see!

Abyss Trinity: Thanks, man! and not a problem! I will man!

Vanitas50: Thanks a lot man! She did wait long enough!

Francisco Pereira: Ok! Here you go!

red shoulder85: It was an eventful morning! that they are. you will see it very soon! she has her reasons...

Dragon Rider 66: Mmm... really makes you wonder. That does seem like a nice idea, but Bonnie herself said that she'd reader do instead of just looking from the side. Oh? those two you say?.

Jimmyle311: He is one lucky guy!

qazse: That they did! I wonder what will they do...

Imperial-samaB: That they are! and it's only going to become hotter!

UQJTAk8cx9dpbvEL: Happy to have you on board! hope you like what's to come!

RJay Fame: I'm glad to hear you liked it! I know what you mean... she just gives up after liking him for so long? not on my watch! Well... funny you should mention that...

xXwolfsterXx644: Thanks a lot man! Well, here you go!

Silber D. Wolf: Thanks!

FoxDemon1023: I see your point, but at the same time I feel like if I write their name each time then it will be annoying in a sort of he said she said sort of deal.

And id like to give a HUGE! thanks to 'JRC1700' for agreeing to Beta so the fic will be even better! You are awesome! And extremely fast! Seriously you are the man!

As you guys can probably tell I have to again ask for some help in the cover art department! So if anyone can help with the new fic cover just PM me and let me know! :)

P.S: don't forget to tell me what you guys think about the new chapter! It is awesome to know you like it and it helps me write more :)

Anyway, the chapter as follows.

BTW!

I have created a P a treon . account to help and support my hobby! If you want you can support me or just feeling generous so I can get the chapters out faster and maybe something more if anyone is interested so go and check it out! :) Ps - some new stories over there!.

P a treon . com (slash) blue_eye_white_wing

You will need to close the spaces on the below and write it into your browser.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Hey guys!

Just a quick update on what's been going on on my side so far.

Sad to say that I've gotten sick... NOT WITH CORONA!.

But I have been feeling really weak and have symptoms of a common cold.

I have been taking some days off from work and have started working on a new RWBY fic with my Beta, so look forward to that!

In any case, keep yourselves healthy, unlike my unluck self!

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Chapter 7: Gone and retrieved

After the team had finished their little lunch break, they'd all continued their shopping spree. As soon as everyone had met up again, the blonde sidekick's real challenge had begun. The number of bags he was required to hold had increased significantly. It wasn't even just the sheer quantity of bags. Their different sizes and shapes made it practically impossible for him to walk, not without getting stabbed in the legs by them. Seriously, who had decided that it was a good idea to make hard, pointy bags in the first place?! Especially when your customers were getting at LEAST one of these bloody things, EVERY time they made a purchase!

Ron put his rant aside for the moment, he glanced towards both his sides. He was flanked by Tara and Hope- No, that wasn't right… He was flanked by both of his new girlfriends! That realization still amazed him, he wanted to jump for joy! Not only had both of these beauties told him that they liked him, but he'd also had sex with one of them to boot! And if the looks Hope had been shooting him were any indication, she was still eagerly awaiting her own turn. So, yeah… life was good! Very confusing, but SO good!

However, his newfound good fortune also meant that he had some very 'interesting' conversations ahead of him… With Bonnie, the rest of cheer squad… That wasn't even counting Kim, Wade, or sending a message to Lora. He really needed to tell her that she should stop sending him pictures. Ron really hoped they could still stay friends, despite what had happened up till now.

The blonde boy swiveled his head to stare at the person in front of him. At a very special brunette cheerleader, one that was more confusing to him than ever. Her words earlier still bewildered him.

"My request for you is to not let them hit you, or get hurt at all!" she'd whispered to Ron, right before he'd gotten dragged away by the three jocks.

He could already see the problems that her little request would cause for him from now on. As soon as they'd gotten him to a secluded place, far away from any prying eyes, he'd gotten shoved into a wall. Normally the blonde sidekick would try to minimize his damage, while still appearing weak and unworthy of their time. Either that, or stay near Kim. He was pretty safe with her most of the time, with the obvious exception of their missions.

But at that specific moment there was no Kim, or anybody else in sight, to stop the boys. On top of that, Brick didn't look like his usual calm and easygoing self. He definitely wasn't in the mood to listen to Ron… Complicating thing further, Ron had to follow Bonnie's request. If he failed to, she would probably be able to tell, she'd TOTALLY make him regret it. "Damn it…" Ron hissed. He moved from the wall and glanced away, conflicted on what to do.

"You are going to say a lot more than that, after I'm done with you…" the blonde jock threatened. He started moving closer to the blonde sidekick, his two buddies walking right behind him. They were clearly going to join in the "fun".

"Yeah, about that… How about we all say you got me really good, and instead we just talk about something else?" Ron attempted to placate, his voice calm. He hoped to stop the situation from escalating any further.

"Are you being funny right now?" Brick moved towards the shorter boy. "Trying to talk your way out of a beating, because Kim isn't around?" The blond jock smiled in a cruel fashion that definitely didn't fit him.

"Yes, I am… I mean, come on Brick, you never were one to bully me. So why start now and break that streak, right?" Ron scratched his head and smiled.

To the three boys it looked odd, to say the least. Not only was Ron one of the biggest losers of the school, he was weak in just about every subject there was. Some of the nerds of the school were at least book smart, but him? He wasn't even that! There was no point in bullying him to do their homework. Plus, he was always near Possible. Usually, doing anything to him was more trouble than it was worth. Hell, he'd been known to cower and cave to much weaker guys than them before… So, why the hell did he look so calm right now? Was Kim right around the corner, or something?

"I think I'd much rather break that streak… and rearrange your face along the way" Brick replied ominously. He moved even closer, expecting Ron to look scared. Maybe to keep talking, or even attempt to run away. But what happened instead, was that the smaller boy huffed in annoyance.

"Isn't there anything I can say, to-" Ron closed his eyes and started to ask, before Brick sent his fist flying at Ron's face.

A large, meaty fist was planted at full force against the wall that HAD been behind Ron's face. From the perspective of Brick's friends off to the side, it had looked like a scare tactic. Something to just shut the blonde loser up, or to make him squirm a bit. That was, up until Brick screamed. He jumped back from the wall, cradling his hand like it was broken.

"-make you change your mind?" Ron finished saying, as if nothing unusual had occurred just now.

"What-what just happened?" the two boys wondered, shocked. They just stared at their friend who cursed and swore, all while still holding his hand. "B-Brick? Dude, are you okay-" one of them asked. He looked over at the blonde jock and tried to move closer to him.

"H-Hold him!" Brick ordered, a look of pure hate twisting his features. "I'll teach you to get smart with me!" he shouted. Pain and anger were painted all over his face, a few veins were visible on his forehead.

"Wha- Okay!" one of them agreed. He quickly grabbed Ron by his shoulder, stopping him from trying to flee. After a moment, the second guy grabbed his other side.

Ron still looked the same. His inability to escape from his impending beating did not seem to concern him in the least.

"Come on guys, this is just silly… I don't even know why you're so upset!" He looked at the two holding him in place. "I'll say sorry, but at least let me know what this is all about, so we can stop this now" he continued, the honestly leaking from his voice.

'Was this guy serious?' the two boys thought, they watched Brick move to stand right in front of the Loser. He towered over Ron's smaller frame. 'He's going to get it now!' The blonde jock couldn't miss again, not from that position, especially with Ron being held in place.

"Shut up!" Brick bellowed, before sending another punch. A fist hit its mark dead on, with full force. The blonde quarterback felt the target's nose bend under the pressure, he heard a very satisfying crack thereafter.

"AHH! FUCK! SHIT, BRICK! What the FUCK?!" screamed a familiar voice, but not the Loser's.

To the amazement of the jocks, they saw one of them sprawled out on the floor. He was holding his face. Or, more precisely, his now very clearly bleeding nose.

"Wha- You!" Brick turned to Ron, anger on his face. "What did you do, Loser?!" he asked, enraged.

"Me? I didn't do anything Brick, YOU were the one who punched him" Ron explained, still talking as calmly as before. He didn't even try to run, though one of his arms was free now.

"Shut up already! And stop moving around!" the bigger boy shouted. He sent another punch, it hit his only friend still standing.

"GAAA! Shit, man!" the second boy yelled out, as it hit him in the side of the jaw. But he still held onto Ron's shoulder, even if he was wobbling slightly from the sudden strike.

"Come on guys, why don't we call it quits now? I've learned my lesson already" Ron asked. He sounded almost pleading by this point, despite not getting hit once.

Brick wasn't even thinking anymore. He just rushed forward, his arms outstretched. He intended to tackle the Loser to the floor, from there he'd just wail on him. One moment, Ron was directly in sight. The next, the blonde sidekick had disappeared, replaced by the jock who was still holding him.

The train wreck that followed was painful to even watch. Brick's head impacted his friend's, both of them slamming hard into the tile. The jock's friend hit the back of his skull so hard, he fell unconscious from the sudden impact. Brick was still standing, the only difference being the painful throbbing of his head. That, combined with sheer shock and overwhelming anger, was all directed at the blonde loser.

"Oh man… this is why I asked you to just stop…" The blonde sidekick glanced at the boy slumped on the floor. Ron sat him against the wall and looked him over, just to check if he was okay.

Ron suddenly jerked his head to the side, avoiding a kick from the jock still standing. It would have left quite a nasty mark… if it had hit. "Come on Brick, this is just getting silly now… Your friends are in no shape to-" He moved again, avoiding another attempt to hit him. "Will you just stop and listen to me!" At this point, Ron was getting plainly frustrated. Why didn't Brick want to listen to him? Why continue this?

"I'll only listen after I see you bleeding on the ground, with your head caved in, after I'm done with you!" The bigger boy readied himself to jump on Ron.

"Ah, I think that's going to be an issue at the moment…" The Monkey Master stared at Brick, his face becoming a bit more serious.

"Why? Do you have somewhere to be?" the blonde jock spat out. He moved to pummel the Loser as fast as he could, just to finish with this nonsense.

"No… It's just that I'm not supposed to get hurt…" It was Ron's turn to close the distance between them, sticking his leg out to trip the bigger boy. Just as Brick's momentum had been redirected towards hurtling him towards the ground, Ron grabbed him by the shoulder and adjusted his trajectory.

Brick went flying through the air for a moment, before crashing hard into a service door near where his friends lay. He slumped down, falling unconscious himself in less than a second.

"Damn it…" Ron fumed, overlooking his handiwork. As much as he'd like to say that it had felt good to teach them a lesson… it hadn't. Brick and his friends hadn't done anything that bad, they were- Well, Brick was just mad about something. He'd wanted to resolve it by hitting Ron. They weren't bad guys, not even remotely like the villains that he and Kim fought against… they were just normal kids. Someone that didn't know much about Ron would've probably figured that he would be happy that he'd beaten the jocks, and so easily too. Unfortunately, Ron typically fought against villains and criminals. He'd even shown himself capable of surviving Shego, on occasion. This? This just felt like sandblasting a soup cracker!

He looked the trio over, making sure they were okay. The jock with the broken nose was still cradling his face and whimpering. Ron instructed him to wait until security arrived. Hopefully the guard would be able to get them to a doctor, they all looked pretty banged up.

…

Ron was suddenly pulled from his memory, as he felt someone shift some of the many packages he was carrying. Glancing to his side, he saw Tara staring at him. She was blushing profusely, a bit of shine in her eyes, as the many bags he was carting around hid her holding his hand.

"Ronnie?" she whispered to him, in a suggestive tone that he'd come to know and love. "I can't wait to get home… with you" she added with wink, as if she hadn't made her impure intentions clear enough already.

After her confession in the changing booth, her heart's desires had been laid bare to the blonde boy. 'How in the HELL did I fail to notice her, up till now?!' he cursed himself. All the winking, the smiles, calling him Ronnie, …the kiss she'd gifted him at Camp Wannaweep. All that didn't even include the rendezvous in Bonnie's kitchen (good Lord, exactly how many bases had they rounded that time? In front of nearly the entire team!). Then there was the previous night, when they'd played truth or dare! He couldn't believe it. How had she persevered, in the face of… well, him? Why hadn't she given up, after all this time?! It was maddening! This girl had the patience of a saint!

After all the moments he'd shared with her, Hope had been much easier to understand… It had been clear that she'd wanted something more out of him, but even that was only because it was so God damned obvious.

But that also brought up another issue… His eyes darted forward, to land on Bonnie again. If Tara and Hope felt like that about him, had done all that stuff with him… did that mean that Bonbon also-

"Oh, look over there, Ronnie!" Hope suddenly exclaimed. The entire group stopped, staring in the direction she was pointing.

"Mmm? What is it, Hope- Ah!" The blonde boy was pulled away from the others by Hope. Tara started helping her to do so, after she'd noticed what her fellow lover had spotted.

"What are you two doing?" Jessica asked, curious. She moved closer to her two friends. "Oh, that looks fun!" she shouted, noticing what the two were up to.

"What are they doing?" Crystal asked loudly, she hadn't noticed the new destination.

"How should I know?" Bonnie answered, a bit of frustration in her voice. Something was wrong… Ever since her two friends had rejoined them, they'd been acting differently. Truthfully, it was more Tara than Hope. It seemed like neither of the two cared about the other anymore, that they simply accepted them.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed, noticing that Tara didn't seem all that embarrassed about holding Ron's hand. The brunette felt a sense of dread pass through her… Was her fear coming true? Had she missed something? Was she too late?!

Ron was still being pulled along by his two girls. They arrived at a small picture booth, sitting alongside a wall. He stared at it for a few moments, before glancing at the two girls. They both looked at him, as if expecting something. "D-Do you girls want us to get in?" he asked, Hope and Tara nodding for confirmation. Ron set down the many bags he was carrying next to the entrance, before he was dragged by his hand once more. Hope entered first, pulling Ron in after. Tara entered last, closing the fabric curtain after herself.

Hope inserted money into the machine, pushing some buttons to select what she wanted the pictures to look like.

"Umm… I don't mean to be a party pooper, but do you think it's a good idea to do this when the rest of the team is right out there?" Ron questioned. In response, Hope hugged him close to her body. It was as if she'd forgotten how he felt pressed up against her.

"Well, they better get used to it, Ronnie… Because, they're about to get an eyeful!" the ravenette exclaimed, smiling. She instructed Tara to assume the same pose as her, both girls hugging an arm. They smiled broadly, Hope pressing the button that captured the image.

"Ronnie, you didn't smile!" Tara whined, pouting fiercely. She stared at the resulting image of her blonde boyfriend. Ron looked like a seamless blend of surprise and awkwardness at being sandwiched between them.

"S-Sorry Tara" he apologized, smiling. He just couldn't help himself, drinking in the adorable face she was making.

"It's okay Ronnie, we just have to take another one-" the blonde beauty comforted, when the fabric curtain was suddenly moved aside. Jessica gazed at her teammates, who stared back at her in confusion. They had clearly not expected to be interrupted so quickly.

"Move over, you two!" the new blonde ordered. She entered the booth, without even waiting for her two female friends to respond.

"What-What are you doing, Jessica?" Hope asked. Ron's body pushed her farther inside, as he himself was displaced by the new girl.

"Well, you guys were having fun all by yourselves, I wanted to join you!" Jessica smiled at the two other cheerleaders.

Both of Ron's girlfriends just stared at the blonde, leveling an annoyed look at her. In return, she simply smiled at the camera. Ron looked confused about what was happening.

"Um, Jess? If you don't mind, we kind of wanted to-" Tara attempted to explain, before the curtain parted once more. Another one of the cheerleaders entered inside.

"Room for one more?" Crystal asked rhetorically, entering next. She was followed by Liz, the redhead all too eager to join in, not even bothering to say anything.

"What do you all think you're doing?" asked their unofficial brunette leader, she stared at the smirking girls from the booth's entrance. "Scoot over!" A small smile appeared on Bonnie's lips, she pushed inside as well.

'Okay, what the hell is going on?' both Tara and Hope contemplated. It was pretty odd to see the vast majority of their team so eager to join in anything involving their boyfriend. They did realize that the blonde boy was in a much better place, now that they'd all gotten to know him, but still… Even BONNIE seemed to be having fun. That was concerning… VERY concerning.

The group was all packed tightly into the small booth. Hope and Tara were the closest to Ron, enveloping his arms, having nowhere else to move to. Jessica was in front of him, leaning back to sit on his legs and to keep from blocking him in the photo. Finally, Liz, Bonnie and Crystal were all in the back. Liz was leaning on Ron's head; both of his shoulders were occupied by Bonnie and Crystal.

"Okay, now, all of you smile like you mean it!" Jessica chirped, before smiling innocently at the camera.

"I don't think that this is going to work, with all of us in here…" Hope opined, from her tiny space.

"Oh? Did you want to take one alone, or with someone specific?" Liz teased, smirking from her high spot, she glanced down at her ravenette friend.

"I think she means that there's too many of us here…" Tara added from her own spot. She linked her fingers with Ron's, as soon as she was sure that no one else could see.

Liz looked more than a bit surprised. "I guess… but that would be boring…" her reply came. 'When did you start standing up for Hope? I thought she'd be the first person to jump at a chance to get in between them…' the redhead puzzled. It wasn't exactly a secret to… well, any of them… that Tara had a major crush on Ron. She'd always wanted to use any chance to talk, or get close, to him. She was quite meek about it most of the time, but that had definitely changed during the last few days… If anything, she was more like a jealous wife to the rest of the team. So, why was she backing up Hope now? The girl who was possibly her biggest competitor for him? Well, other than herself, obviously.

"But that makes it more fun!" Jessica whined, she fiddled with something on the screen. "Now stop moving so much back there! I'm being squished over here!" the blonde chastised the three in the back.

"Not much I can do from here" Bonnie said, annoyed. She hugged the blonde boy's shoulder even closer.

"Maybe this wasn't a great idea after all…" Crystal added, glancing at the way they were all mashed-up at the moment.

'This is… not good…' Ron wailed, feeling himself being sandwiched from all directions. Jessica's legs, hips, and ass were press-fit against his front. His new girlfriends were both holding and playing with his hands and fingers, showing him a bit of affection. On his back was Liz, leaning against his spine, her breasts very gently brushing his head and neck. With the stunts she liked to pull, it was highly likely that it was a deliberate ploy on her part. Last were Bonnie and Crystal on his shoulders, Bonnie's breath washing over his ear.

'Actually… on second thought, this is fine…' Ron had a dopey smile on his face, at the moment feeling so very comfortable among the girls.

The girls of the cheer squad kept debating the merits of what they were doing, before agreeing that this wasn't such an amazing idea. They all got out of the stall, one after another.

As the team all exited, they noticed the only one of them that had been standing outside the entire time. She'd been keeping an eye on their bags, she wore a sour look on her face.

"Took you all long enough…" the ravenette reproached, slightly annoyed about something.

"Marcella? Why are you still here?" Ron asked, not exactly surprised that her displeasure appeared to be directed at him. 'Wasn't she… she was out here the entire time?'

"Still here?" Her eyebrow arched, she focused entirely on him. "You forgot about me already, huh?" There was a slight edge to her voice.

"I- No, it's just that-" Ron started to explain, before she cut him off.

"Do I really need to remind you that I asked you to help me with my shopping, and that the rest of the team is just joining us?" the girl pointed out, Ron nodded a few times. "So, then why am I the only one carrying her own stuff?" Marcella questioned in anger.

"Ahh, w-well…" Ron started. Unfortunately, he didn't really HAVE an explanation to give the girl, she did have a point. Had he done this on purpose, in retaliation for her poor opinion of him? Maybe because of the way she'd treated him, up until now? No, that wasn't it… He didn't think he'd ever do something like that, on purpose, to ANYONE. …well, maybe to Josh. But even then, only because of his last name!

Honestly, he'd been too busy to pay attention to her. With everything that was happening at the moment, Tara and Hope… Bonnie and Lora… More interest and consideration over the last few days than he'd had in the rest of his life put together! At the moment, there was just so much on his plate!

He was about to just apologize, to try to make it up to her, before he heard one of the other girls speak up.

"Oh! They did come out good, after all!" Jessica crowed, as she fiddled with the machine.

"What came out?" Hope asked, glancing over her friend's shoulder.

Jessica giggled, before hiding something behind her back and turning to face the rest of the puzzled group. "Oh… it's nothing much, just this!" The blonde cheerleader pulled out a picture from behind her.

The girls stared at it in confusion, they moved in for a closer look.

"You took the pictures?" Liz observed, there were five in total. The first one was of Ron, with Hope and Tara at his sides. Both girls looked annoyed at a sweet-smiling Jessica in the middle.

The second image was of those very same four, with the addition of Liz and Crystal. Liz was making herself comfortable, leaning against Ron's back. The blonde boy's neck was pressed into her breasts, her head poking out from the side next to his own. She'd draped her arms over his chest, smiling broadly as she did so. Crystal was on the blonde boy's other side. She was just staring at his face, an odd smile on her own, as she grasped the free area above his shoulder. Tara and Hope looked more surprised, than anything. Jessica was staring at Crystal with a raised eyebrow, clearly shocked.

The third photograph was with the addition of Bonnie, who was smiling from her spot at Ron's side. An honest-to-God smile, one that made her look genuinely happy.

The last two were of all of them talking to each other, with Ron in the middle.

"Oh… Ron looks so awkward in this one!" Jessica cooed, taking a closer look at the last picture.

"What?! Let me see!" Tara attempted to grab the image, Jessica yanked it out of her reach. "What are you doing, Jess? Let me see it!" she squawked. Again, she tried, only to be denied.

"Oh no! This one is mine… If I let you see it, I'll never get it back!" Jessica shouted, a teasing smile on her face. She was clearly enjoying her impromptu game of keep-away. Suddenly the photos were pulled away by Hope, who had sneaked behind the blonde.

"I believe that I was the one who paid for them… So, technically, they belong to ME!" A victorious smirk adorned Hope's face.

"What? But I was the one who took them! Fine…" Jessica admitted defeat. "I guess I'll just ask Ron to take some with me, alone!" She turned towards the lone boy in the group, only to see empty space. "What? Where did he go?"

"I think I saw Marcella drag him off somewhere… She looked pissed about something" Crystal informed the group.

'What could she possibly be pissed off about?' the girls wondered. They decided to split up again, after Hope claimed that she needed to talk with Tara and Liz about something. She wasn't looking forward to it, but it HAD to be done.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

"Well… that was interesting to see…" opined a still-irritated Marcella.

Ron was a few steps behind her, having some difficulty with the new bags he was now holding. "What is?" the blonde boy asked, rushing forward to walk next to her.

"The rest of the team… and you." She shot him a suspicious look. "I didn't think they were all this comfortable with you… Not to mention the fact that you lied again…"

"Mmm? I guess they just got used to me… People tell me that my personality is pretty out there, so there's that… Also, when did I lie?" Ron had heard (from more than a few individuals) that he was very hard to talk with, or even be around. Something about being too excitable, too odd… not that he minded! Kim had always liked that about him, she'd even assured him that he was one of a kind!

"Please… that's putting it mildly. Not to mention that you lied about before…" the girl replied, still looking ahead and away from him.

"Before?" The boy took a second, to try and remember what she was referring to. "I still don't get what you mean…"

"What I mean is-" she started say, before staring at him for a moment. "You know what? It's nothing… just me being silly, giving you the benefit of a doubt…" she declared, before increasing her pace once more.

Ron wanted nothing more than to understand what was bothering Marcella so much. Did he really do something wrong, had he forgotten something he'd promised her? It was up in the air, just like everything that happened to him involving the volatile ravenette girl. She was always either cool to, or angry with, him… This time, it was pretty easy to figure out which one she was.

It had been his fault the first time, when he'd opened his big mouth and said something inappropriate. It had been just as they'd gotten their first chance to talk alone, everything had been downhill from there.

The blonde sidekick noticed her standing in front of a specific shop. She stared at a few of the mannequins through the clear glass window, before glancing his way for a moment.

"You stay here, don't move. I don't need your opinion, unlike the rest of the girls, just that you carry my stuff… I won't take long" she explained, before walking inside. Not even bothering to wait for his response.

"Um… Okay, I'll just stay- …and, she already left?" He sighed, before moving to stand in a different spot. He preferred not waiting in front of the store, he didn't want to look like a creep. Ron sat down on a small bench off to the side, his eyes wandering towards the entrance of the store. He still couldn't think of a reason for why she was so upset with him. 'Was it because I left her to carry her own stuff, when I went with Tara and Hope? Or, because I didn't pay attention to her before?' Those were easy choices, but he couldn't help but think that he was missing something.

It might be obvious… but not to him. 'Well, at least I have some time to think about it.'

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Three girls from the cheer squad walked off, separating from the group. Hope had dragged them away, insisting that they needed to talk for a bit, assuring her friends that it was important. The ravenette teen glanced at the two next to her.

'Tara…' She'd been Hope's short-lived rival for their mascot's affection, now the blond was her fellow girlfriend to Ron. Tara was the one who'd probably liked him the longest out of all of them, herself included.

'Liz…' Her fellow cheerleader, the girl who loved to have fun with the blonde boy. She'd been Hope's partner in crime, double-teaming him on more than one occasion.

And finally, herself… the only one of them who even knew of the whole story between the three girls and Ron. 'Oh boy… this is going to be a fun little chat!' She already dreaded what was going to happen. It was one of the reasons that she'd wanted to get them away from her blonde boyfriend, just on the off chance that there was going to be some yelling and hair-pulling involved.

The girls arrived at a relatively empty spot near the food court. They grabbed a free table, one that was far from anyone who might try to listen in on them. They didn't order anything, seeing as they'd already eaten earlier, simply sitting down and looking at one another. Tara and Liz sat across from one another at the table, Hope set at the head of it. Hey, even if she didn't want them to take out their anger on Ron, it didn't mean that she was about to be on the receiving end of it herself! Self-preservation was important!

"So… now that we're here, are you gonna tell me why you took me away from my Ronnie?" Tara asked, clearly annoyed. It was obvious that she wasn't a fan of being away from the blonde sidekick, she never had been. That was true more so than ever before, now that she'd finally nabbed him. After all those years of pining, she definitely planned to make up for lost time!

"Hope, I have to agree with Tara on this one. What was so important, that you had to separate us from the group? I had a very important favor to ask of Bonnie" the redheaded teen explained. She smirked at her impending plan to seduce Ron. She'd have ever so much fun with him, all while blowing his mind.

"Oh, that thing that I wanted to tell you two? I'd honestly almost forgot about it, until you reminded me just now!" Hope started laughing sarcastically, as if there was some joke only she was aware of.

"Look, Hope, will you just say it already-" Liz shot back, about to get up, before the girl in question cut her off.

"Tara and I are Ronnie's official girlfriends!" Hope shouted. Liz froze, eyes as wide as plates. She stared at her friend, then at Tara, who just smiled happily.

"Liz and I have had fun with Ronnie, more than once actually!" Hope spelled out for Tara, looking her in the eyes. The blonde's smile dropped the moment the words hit her.

Both Liz and Tara looked more than a little shocked to hear the first and second admission, respectively. It took them a few seconds to processes what they'd heard.

The first one to reply was Liz, she shook her head for a moment. "Hope? Could you please repeat that? I don't think that I heard you right" the redheaded girl stated coldly, her tiny smile indicating anything but amusement.

Hope really doubted that her redheaded friend hadn't heard her the first time, but said it again anyway. "Okay, like I already said, Tara and I are Ronnie's girlf-" the ravenette repeated, before her friend cut her off.

"Now, see? This is what I don't get" there was clear annoyance in Liz's tone. "You said you wanted to talk to me and stuff… I WAS in a good mood. Then, you just started speaking nonsense, just to annoy me, and I don't see why" Liz elaborated.

"And what exactly is this "nonsense" you're talking about?" Hope replied hotly. She crossed her arms, unamused by her teammate's tone.

"That whole bit about you and Tara here being our mascot's girls?" her answer came quickly, the issue becoming clear.

"And why would I lie about something like that? I don't see my so-called motive for it" Hope reasoned.

"Well, obviously to make me back away from Ron. What I don't understand, is why you would use this one over here-" Liz pointed her thumb at Tara. "-to make me back away. It's more believable to just say that you and him are dating. Especially after we came to an agreement!"

"What?!" Tara spoke up, finally snapping out of her temporary funk. "I AM Ronnie's girlfriend!" she responded in anger.

Liz stared at her for over for a second. "Yeah… I don't buy it. I'm sorry Tara, but when it comes to Ron, you are the biggest coward. No offense." She smiled at her own words.

The blonde beauty shot her friend an annoyed look. She didn't appreciate that statement at all, despite (or perhaps, because of) its merit. "While I may have been a bit slow to make my feelings known-" Tara began, before Liz cut her off.

"A bit, huh? You literally sat down in his lap, while you were wearing his shirt, and confessed to him… And yet you STILL managed to muck it up" Liz pointed out, smirking.

Tara ignored her and continued. "But I still confessed to him! AND he's accepted my feelings!" Tara stated proudly, she glanced over to Hope. "Isn't that right, Hope?"

Hope closed her eyes and nodded for confirmation. "It is…" she admitted, her tone odd.

"Hope? I thought we were okay with sharing Ronnie?" Tara asked. She'd already made her peace with the ravenette teen, for the most part.

"We are. It's just that I'm still feeling a bit annoyed about you taking his first time, while I got nothing. Not cool" Hope explained. Tara glanced to the side, cheeks slightly red, remembering how she'd felt at the time.

"W-Wait…" Liz interjected, she looked between the two. "You're-You're serious?" she asked incredulously, both girls nodded at her. The redheaded teen's eyes opened in shock, she leaned back and whistled. "Wow, well, I guess you deserve some congratulations, Tara!" she finished.

Upon hearing Liz's words, Tara smiled proudly. She wanted her friends to know of her and Ron's new relationship, she wasn't going to let it go for anything.

A large, predatory smile sprouted on Liz's face. "So? When do I get to join in?" she asked, without an ounce of shame. The proud smile on Tara's face dropped almost instantly, replaced with an ugly sneer. "What?" Liz shot back, shrugging Tara's reaction off. "I mean, with both you and Hope here sharing him, it's only natural for him to want to complete the set. I'll be more than happy to help!"

Tara was simply too stunned to even respond, just what was she supposed to say in the face of that? "NO!" the blonde girl shrieked, a bit too loudly. She slammed her hands down onto the table that was keeping her and the redheaded cheerleader apart. "Absolutely not! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What? She can join you, but I can't?" Liz scoffed, pointing at Hope. "Some friend you are!" she pouted, her tone childish and accusing.

Tara's mouth fell open, amazement hitting her hard. "W-What the hell! Do you really think I wanted to share MY Ronnie, with anyone, in the first place?!" the blonde cheerleader bit out, her tone pissed off.

"Hey! What gives Tara?!" Hope added, she looked offended at the blonde's words.

"Oh, shut up you! You know damn well that I'd take him for myself, if I could, in a heartbeat!" the blonde beauty responded. "I only agreed, because it was Ronnie AND the fact that you were already a part of this. I'm fine with sharing him with you, for the most part, because I know we both like him."

"And I'M already a part of this TOO. Or are you choosing to ignore the fact that I was with him, just like Hope was?" Liz added in for good measure.

"So?", the blonde teen's eyebrow rose. "Does that make you entitled to join, just because of that? This is not a CLUB!"

"That's not your call to make!" Liz retorted.

"The hell it ISN'T!" Tara shouted in anger. There was no way she was going to budge, to let someone like LIZ into a relationship with her boyfriend.

"Stop!" Hope suddenly called out, both girls looked at her. "This isn't what I had in mind, when I told you that we needed to talk. Just give me a second here, okay?" She got no response, both girls looking away in clear anger. 'I guess that will have to do' Hope sighed. The ravenette teen took a moment, before she started.

"Look," she glanced at Tara first, "I get your point Tara. I really like him too, I don't want to do anything to destroy this…" Tara remained silent, but seemed to be listening closely. "And if… if Ronnie wants to-", Hope thought about how to phrase this. "…add Liz here, then we will have to talk about it with him beforehand…" Tara stared at Hope, disdain clear on her face. But, she seemed to accept Hope's words, upon the mention of the boy she loved.

"And you?" She looked at Liz. "You and I were the first ones with him… I think… But, that doesn't mean that you can just waltz right in, like it's nothing. That's not fair to me, or Tara." Hope witnessed the redheaded cheerleader look away in slight shame. "Plus," Hope added, "we really like him… To us, it's not just about having fun with him."

"B-But, I-" Liz tried to say, before she was cut off.

"You what?" Tara asked. She leveled a skeptical look at the redheaded teen.

"I-I like him too… I think…" Liz answered. The two other girls at the table just stared at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Wow… now that's a convincing argument, if I've ever heard one…" Hope chided. She shook her head from side to side, as if she was disappointed with her friend's weak answer.

"Hey, cut me some slack here! I just found out that the cute, funny guy I've been hanging out with lately has a girlfriend or two… and he didn't say anything about it…" She looked at her friends. "Even if it was only for…" Liz prompted, glancing towards Hope.

"Oh! Um… like, half an hour or so?" the ravenette answered.

"A-Are you kidding me?" the redhead asked in shock.

"No, we are not… Tara here confessed before me. Literally, she just pushed me aside to do her thing. Then, I did the same as well… Like, a second or two after her. So, I feel you on the immediacy" Hope explained, Tara beaming at being the first one to ask him out.

"Then, he just didn't have the time to say anything! It's not like he was hiding it from me, or-" Liz realized, before her blonde teammate cut her off.

"I have no doubt that if he'd had the opportunity, then yes, he would have probably told the rest of the team by now… But, that's not the issue here… Why should we let you join, when not even YOU are sure about your own feelings?" Tara didn't sound angry, but she did want an answer.

"W-Well… I-" she stuttered. What could she say? Liz had been put on the spot so suddenly, too.

"We can give you a little time to think it over, so-" Hope tried to comfort, but she was cut off.

"No, we can't…" Tara declared, serious as a heart attack. "Look, Liz… I'm not sure how everything started between you two and my Ronnie, but I'm putting a stop to it now…" Tara stared at a shocked Liz. "You've always said and done whatever you've wanted, just because it was fun. I'm not going to let someone like that be with him and possibly hurt him, even if she didn't mean to."

"But, I'm not GOING to hurt him! I just want some time, to-" Liz attempted to placate, the blonde scoffed.

"Please, give me a break… You're just having some fun. As soon as you find something else that catches your attention, you'll just lose interest-" Tara continued.

"I won't!" the redhead suddenly declared. "I won't lose interest! And I'm NOT just doing this just because it's FUN! I-I like him… I like Ron too" her tone became a great deal more reserved, as she admitted it for the first time. Not just to Tara and Hope but, more importantly, to herself.

There was a brief silence, before the blonde girl smiled at Liz. "I kinda figured that that'd be your answer… You're so much like Hope, it's not even funny!" Tara started giggling. "Like, really, why can't you two be more honest with your feelings, like me?" Tara even went so far as to shake her head, as if she'd expected more from them.

The two other girls could only glare at the blonde teen, Tara smirking like the cat that ate the canary. "Excuse me? What's all this about being open about your feelings? Isn't it true that the only reason you finally confessed to him was because you were desperate to let him know about your feelings, before you'd be FORCED to give up completely?" Hope pointed out.

"And weren't you the one who's completely fumbled her confessions, up until now?" Liz added for good measure.

On any normal day, the blonde girl would stutter and look away in embarrassment. But not this time, she simply smiled. "And yet, I'm Ronnie's first… In more ways than one…" She licked her lips, recalling the amazing feelings she'd reveled in. Her legs shook from nothing more than the memory, already eagerly anticipating more.

The two girls looked away, slightly annoyed. Liz looked back in confusion, which soon changed to understanding. "Wait… So, are you… okay with me, Tara?" the cheerleader asked optimistically.

In response to her question, the blonde girl nodded for confirmation. "I am, for the most part… Ultimately, it's Ronnie's decision. But, as long as you're serious, I'm not going to object…" the blonde girl explained.

Tara's friends both looked rather surprised. "Then, what was the point of you objecting at the start? Just to mess with her?" Hope questioned.

"Nothing like that. I just wanted our little Liz here to ask herself if she even liked Ronnie that way, lest she jump into something she wasn't ready for… Kinda like you did, Hope." Tara smiled. "Besides… if Ronnie decided that he wanted all three of us later on… I couldn't really object, now could I? So, I just got the inevitable frustration out of my system, while I still could…"

"You are some piece of work…" Hope scoffed, Tara started laughing at her. "You do realize that we need to tell the rest of the team about us, right?"

They all nodded in agreement. Better to let them know now, before any more awkward situations developed. …and to ascertain if anyone else was interested in joining.

"Just… let me ask him myself. I'll do it the first chance I get, okay?" Liz requested. "I'd rather do it alone, just in case he… you know, turns me down…" the redheaded elaborated, the fear of rejection clear in her voice.

'I doubt that he will…' both Tara and Hope thought wryly, before giving Liz a nod for confirmation.

Now, the only thing they needed to do was to find the blonde boy that had been occupying their thoughts. What could possibly be taking Ron and Marcella so long, anyway?

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

The blonde sidekick was still waiting outside the clothing store. The ravenette cheerleader had made it quite clear that she only needed him to carry her bags, not to give her his personal opinion. Unfortunately, he still found Marcella quite confusing.

She'd been the one who'd made this request. At the time, he'd been very happy to get it out of the way. Despite the fact that this was probably the most difficult wish from the girls so far… He didn't mind. He genuinely enjoyed being with the girls, after getting to know them over the last couple of days. And that was without even including his recent bouts of intimacy with some of them… But unfortunately, Marcella still seemed to have something against him. He wasn't sure if it was something personal, or if it was because of something stupid he'd said at some point… Whatever it was, it HAD to be pretty big. Bad enough to warrant her behavior towards him.

He didn't push her about it. Even if he really wanted to know, to try to work things out as best he could. He was now dating two of her friends; things were bound to get uncomfortable, if Tara and Hope needed to choose who to hang out with. He'd had a similar experience in the past, as some people hadn't really cared for him. They'd only wanted to be near to Kim, for obvious reasons. In response to that, his redheaded friend had chosen him. Ron didn't like the idea of being the reason Kim was an outcast. This was despite being told repeatedly that if they wanted to be friends with her, then they needed to accept Kim and her existing friends. The blonde sidekick was genuinely touched, but couldn't shake the feeling that it was his fault that Kim was as isolated as she was.

And now, seeing the same situation about to happen again? He simply refused to let it come to that! He just had to ask the Marcella what the issue was and fix it, no matter what it took!

Glancing at the shop Marcella was in made him think, should he enter and apologize? Or, was it better to try to be more assertive and just ask her what the problem was? 'Going in is a bad idea… She's probably changing, trying new stuff on. She definitely wouldn't appreciate a sudden visit' he mused.

In the end, he decided to wait for her to finish. It was probably smarter to just do what she wanted, for a change. From there, he could see how to fix his relationship with the ravenette… hopefully.

The blonde sidekick had now been waiting outside of the store for several minutes. Ron would have been honestly worried, if he hadn't already experienced this with Kim before. His best friend was usually one to take her time. At least, when it involved fashion.

The boy glanced at his phone for a moment, noticing a message he hadn't seen before. 'Probably because I was too busy with the girls…' He looked at the sender, already recognizing the number. 'Lora?' the boy thought, seeing a message with an attachment.

As soon as Ron registered what exactly he was looking at, his hand moved to cover his face. 'I still haven't told her that I have a girlfriend now…' He was about to blame himself for that, before remembering that he hadn't had any time to do so. "Well… may as well get it done now." He tried to open the message, and not the two attachments, only to realize that she hadn't written anything this time. He looked around, noticing that there were some people walking near him.

The blonde mascot got up and headed to the restroom. 'I better look at this somewhere private…' He quickly entered a free stall and locked the door after himself. He stared at his phone and took a deep breath. 'I'm not cheating… I'm just making sure I understand what she wants, before I tell her…' he convinced himself, even if his logic felt flimsy.

He clicked to open the image, seeing what he feared he would. It was her again, this time standing in a strange room. She was completely bare, with the exception of a set of risqué-looking black lingerie, complete with garter belt. He couldn't see her face, as it was once again cut off… Almost like it had been deliberate, which would make sense. After all, it had happened time and time again. He looked away in embarrassment, even if he had already seen her in far less before.

'Damn! Whoever ends up dating her, is one lucky son of a bitch!' the blonde boy swore. He closed the image, swallowing hard.

'Next…', he pushed the thumbnail of the second picture. He was both scared, and physically excited, of what he was about to witness. "What?" The blonde boy stared in confusion, as the second image looked anything but sexy. The photo was extremely blurry, almost unrecognizable, as something covered almost all of the camera. 'Odd… Did her phone fall over, or something?' he wondered. He sent her a message asking her to call him whenever she got a chance, as he needed to tell her something.

The blonde sidekick quickly exited the restroom, moving back to where he'd been waiting outside the store. 'Thank God, Marcella is still inside…' He hadn't been gone for more than a few minutes, but he'd been a bit worried that she'd come out and chew his head off for making her wait for him again. That wasn't the case this time, luckily!

…

'It's been almost half an hour by now…' the blonde teen worried. He checked the clock on his phone, for the tenth time or so. 'She must REALLY be taking her time. Not even KP was ever this bad!' He got up and stretched for a moment, before moving inside the store. He could at least check to make sure she was okay. That could work as a reason if she got angry with him, right?

Ron quickly looked around the store, even asking a few of the workers he ran into. They had seen her walk around, browsing some items. Then, she'd walked into a changing booth. But, for some reason, she still hadn't come out.

The workers pointed him to the correct one, he now stood in front of it. "Um, Marcella?" he asked, just loud enough for her to hear him inside.

…

There was no response from the stall. He waited a few seconds before asking again, but to no avail.

"Marcella?" he asked once more, moving closer to the stall. He started pushing the fabric curtain very slowly, giving her ample opportunity to stop him or say something. The blonde boy stared into an empty stall. He looked around, but saw nothing. 'She's not here?' he yelped, exiting the booth. The blonde sidekick didn't have any luck with the workers in the store. He asked all of them about Marcella, but they all gave him the same response as before.

"Great!" he fumed to himself, leaving the store. "She must have finished and exited the shop, while I was in the restroom. Just what I needed… her being more annoyed with me…" This was probably the worst thing that could have happened to him at this point, another testament to his questionable luck.

Suddenly his phone started vibrating, he answered almost immediately. "Hello?" he greeted, he didn't recognize the number.

"Buffoon?" came an unfamiliar voice, tone threatening.

"Excuse me?" the blonde boy replied, more confused than anything. "I think you have the wrong number, buddy" he responded casually.

"Oh, I don't think I do… You are the blonde buffoon of Team Possible, are you not?" The voice sounded amused for some reason, as if he knew something the sidekick didn't.

Ron huffed in annoyance. "Look man, Kim's not here at the moment… So, if you want to threaten us - or the world - could you do it in a few days?" Ron asked halfheartedly. "Also, since when do you call us to let us know in advance in the first place? Do you not want your scheme to succeed? Or, is your boss just desperate for attention?" Ron asked. He didn't have the patience to deal with any of the crazies Team Possible usually went up against, even more so at the moment.

"Umm…" there was a definite pause, the voice from the phone became a bit nervous. "I-I… give me a second…" the voice spoke, suddenly elevator-music came from his phone.

"Did… did they just put me on hold?" Ron muttered to himself, before he huffed in annoyance. 'Well, whatever… I may as well get some information out of this nonsense, save Wade the trouble…' Ron started walking, listening to the music. It stopped and the voice returned.

"Hello? Sorry to keep you waiting… now, where were we?" the voice asked, it sounded a bit different than before. Like it was a different person. Or, at least, more confident.

"You wanted to talk to me? About some plot, or something?" Ron reminded, he continued to search for Marcella.

"Ah! Of course, …and I don't have to ask if you are a member of Team Possible, right?" the voice said.

"I am… Now, what is this about-" the blonde member of Team Possible tried to ask, before the voice cut him off again.

"We just wanted to let you know that we…", there was a slight pause, "acquired some of your companions… Your female companions…" the voice informed, Ron clammed up completely. "Ah… I see that I have your attention now. Very good!", he sounded amused.

Ron froze in his spot, his eyes opened wide. "What do you want?" the blonde boy asked, clearly nervous about the situation he'd found himself in.

"Don't worry… we don't intend to hurt them. That is, unless you make us… And they both seem so scared, too… The ravenette one especially" the voice mocked.

The mascot's fist balled in anger. 'Hope!' he thought. The smiling face of his new girlfriend appeared in his mind, a snapshot from the last time he'd seen her.

"The blonde one put up a bit of a struggle, but still came quite easily…" the voice added for good measure.

'Tara!' he thought, feeling both fear and anger equally. It hadn't even been more than a few hours and the identities of Ron's girlfriends were already known to Team Possible's enemies, making the two prime targets.

"I guess I should point out that we have both of your girls in our possession. However, we ARE willing to trade them for you…" the voice offered, snapping Ron from his thoughts.

"If you hurt them-" Ron began, before he was cut off once more.

"Then it would be your fault…" Those words silenced the member of Team Possible. He fervently wished that his partner wasn't on a vacation at the moment, he could really use the help.

"Now, can we both come to an understanding?" the voice asked. They punctuated their words an evil cackle, clearly illustrating that at the moment they held all the cards.

"Y-Yes…" Ron ground out, wanting nothing more than to get his girls back.

"Good… We will contact you again soon concerning the details… I don't believe that I need to point out that it would be a poor idea to get in touch with anyone from your team, OR Global Justice…" The line was cut and Ron was left holding his phone close to his ear, he was too shaken to put it down.

His heart was beating in his chest, the sheer panic he was feeling stronger than it had ever been before. This was all his fault! Tara and Hope had just confessed to him, they'd made it clear that they liked him enough to SHARE his affections. And now look where they were! Captured, and depending on him for their safety… He should have refused to be in this relationship from the start! Instead he'd basked in their affection and kindness, like it was no big deal! He should have known better than to let his ego and feelings get the better of him! Why was he so stupid!?

It was one of the main reasons that Kim had such a hard time dating anyone! If she had to worry about someone else all the time, she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything. Not to mention it was basically like asking them to put a target on their back! Ron was scared! He was worried! But, above all else, he was angry… mostly at himself!

There was nothing he could do, except wait for them to call him again. At the moment, his own thoughts were his worst enemy. The blonde teen couldn't help but imagine the frightened girls.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

In a secret underground lair, far from any prying eyes, distant from any inhabited area, stood a man. He was proud, strong, cunning, and viscous, to an insane degree. People all around the world feared him, as well as what he could do. Governments and operatives would tremble before him, he was too feared to be opposed. All except for Team Possible, and some of Global Justice's top agents.

But that little fact would change, very soon!

The madman stood in front of his huge window, he basked in the majestic view offered by his secret base. It was disguised as a massive rock formation. It was one that was hidden in plain sight, just how he liked it to be. Behind him was a massive screen, divided into a several smaller images. Each of them showed a different person, they all looked seriously annoyed at being interrupted by the one hosting the call.

"What is it now?!" called out a blue-skinned madman. "Who dares to interrupt me, just as I'm about to complete my latest plan!" his voice boomed.

"Aye!" called someone else, in a thick Scottish accent. "Mind keepin' yer trap shut?! I'm in the meddle of the game of a lifetime here!" he replied to the first one.

"Whatever this is, I was in the middle of my afternoon tea, make it quick!" ordered a man with a British accent that was more displeased than angry, he kept an air of class around himself.

The individual who'd place the calls turned to face them, smirk prominent, he started moving forward. "My fellow villains… so happy you could answer my call, on such short notice-" the madman began, before someone cut him off.

"Oh, it's you? What do you want, Dementor?" the blue-skinned man asked, now he looked slightly bored.

"Aye! What's the deal, short-stack? This ha' better be good! Fore!" the man with the accent yelled. His face vanished from the screen for a moment, a loud smack of something being hit filled the room.

"Yes, as much as I hate agreeing with the uncivilized likes of them… I too must inquire what the reason for this interruption is" the third one prompted.

"Well… it's nothing all that impressive. For me, that is…" the madmen preened, pausing briefly before continuing. "But it is something that none of you have had any luck with before… the destruction of Team Possible!" he finished, waiting for the inevitable snarky remarks.

There were none, only shocked expressions from the three other villains.

"You-You-You managed to defeat Kim Possible?!" bellowed the blue-skinned man, before he was knocked out of his seat by a green-skinned beauty.

"What?! You defeated Princess?! I don't believe you!" called the women.

"Shego, get out my seat- Gah!" her boss chastised, before he was shoved aside by his strongest henchwoman.

"It is true that I still haven't defeated that wretched cheerleader. However, thanks to my new strategy, it is only a matter of time…" he spoke proudly.

"So, you didn't beat her?" Shego's earlier interest almost completely evaporated, she cleared the seat for her boss.

"So… if you didn't defeat Kim Possible, or her buffoonish sidekick, pray tell, what did you do?" the now-sitting blue-skinned man asked, eyes narrow.

"The Buffoon?" There was an evil smirk on Dementor's face. "You see, now THAT is my plan…" Dementor responded.

"Oh?" the British man began listening very carefully, at the sound of his arch-nemesis being mentioned.

"Yes, the sidekick is about to arrive here. To make an exchange for something of his… And when I get him-" he explained, before someone cut him off.

"You'll use him to get rid of Princess?" Shego interjected once more, filling in the end of his so-called master scheme.

"Yes, that is the plan! I always knew that you were an intelligent woman, how about coming to work for me? You could be the first to see her downfall…" Dementor cajoled, flashing a charming smile.

"That depends, how much are you paying?" she responded with a smirk.

"Hey! No trying to steal my henchmen!" the blue-skinned man yelled, Shego chuckled.

"You heard the Doctor. Besides… I'm pretty sure it's going to be boring. If you DO manage to pull it off… give me a call!" the green-skinned woman finished, before shutting down the video feed from her side.

"Well, as much as I tend to be against such barbaric ideas… I do find it absolutely grand, seeing Stoppable suffer! I'll be happy to help, please let me know how things turn out" the mad monkey-man requested, getting a nod of confirmation from Dementor, before closing his screen as well.

The short villain looked at the last screen, only to see no one, he could faintly hear another yell coming from it. He pushed a button on his console, ending the call on his side. Looking back out of his window, he smiled in a menacing way. "Now, let's get rid of the Sidekick…" he murmured, before his evil laughter filled the room, he was eager to move onto the next phase of his latest master plan.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

A black-haired cheerleader sat in a small room, wondering just how the hell she'd gotten there. The room itself was dark and cold. There wasn't a single source of light, except for what could shine through a series of bars set near the top of a metal door. There wasn't a chair, or anywhere to sit properly, in the cell she was in. She just rested on the floor, in the very corner of the room. It was completely silent, except for the screeching of metal every few moments. She was afraid, like she'd never been before… Nothing in her life had ever prepared her for this!

She couldn't believe that something like this had happened to someone like her! She'd seen, or heard, about stuff like this. Either on the news, inside some foreign countries, or even in some movies she'd watched, but never this close to home. They'd simply grabbed her out of the store she was in, she'd been knocked out like it was nothing. The next thing she knew she was restrained in a dark and silent room, waiting for whoever it was that had brought her here.

Completely alone, the thoughts whizzed through her mind at a million miles per second. What was going to happen to her? Would she be okay? Were they going to try to ransom her off? …or, even worse, DO something to her? Was she ever going to escape from this unreal situation?

'At least the others are safe…' she conceded. That was perhaps the only thing that kept her mind from diving further into a pit of despair, just why did this have to happen to her?

Suddenly, the darkness of the room was lifted. The door opened, letting light from the outside pour in. The only thing that she could see, from her position on the hard floor, was the man that stood in the doorway. He was big- No, he was huge! He was dressed in an odd bodysuit, one that made him look even more menacing and inhuman. He took a few steps inside, making the ravenette shake in fear at what was about to occur.

'Oh God…' Her eyes noticed another man, dressed in the same fashion, standing behind the first one. He was pushing someone in, someone she was very familiar with.

'What is SHE doing here?! They got her too?!' the ravenette panicked, watching her blonde friend from the cheer squad be pushed in.

"Hey, what gives?!" the blonde teen exclaimed in anger.

"Stay here! We'll come back to get you later…" one of the men spoke, his voice boomed across the room.

"What, really?! Well, too bad for you, I have an appointment in a few minutes! So, if you could just get out of my way and fuck off, that would be great!" the blonde girl yelled, in an angry tone that didn't fit her pretty face.

The first guard glanced towards the second one. "D-Do we-" he started asking, unsure of himself after hearing her.

"No!" the second one cut off, clearly annoyed, "For the last time… No, we're not letting them go, until the boss says so. No matter what they say!" He stared at the blonde girl, anger clear on his face. "Now you better behave, and be quiet like your friend, if you know what's good for you!" he threatened, his voice low.

The blonde cheerleader didn't look frightened at all. If anything, she looked even more pissed off than before. "Oh no! Whatever will you do next?! Kidnap me again?" Her sarcastic tone made both men groan in annoyance.

"This is customer service, all over again…" one of the men muttered. They both exited the room, already dreading having to deal with the blonde teen.

"Hey! Come back here!" The blonde girl quickly moved to the door and started kicking it. "I'm not done with you, fuckface! I want to speak to your manager!" she screamed, until she was sure they were too far away to hear her anymore.

The silent ravenette stared in shock at her blonde teammate from her spot on the floor. Never in her life had she ever expected to hear this sort of thing, out of someone so gentle and kind-looking. Even more so, considering the black-haired girl knew her as someone who'd never cursed before.

"What?" the blonde girl asked, noticing her friend staring at her in shock.

"Why are you antagonizing them like that? Do you WANT them to come back?" The ravenette still on the floor was a bit worried. She glanced at the door, as if it would open and their kidnappers would come back to silence them.

"Please…" her friend scoffed, before giving the door one extra kick for good measure. "Like those assholes would do anything like that…" she groused, as if this was no big deal.

"Y-Y-You don't know that! If you piss them off too much, they may-" the noirette started fretting, before the blonde cut her off.

"I'm positive I do… I overheard them talking on the way here, they need us unharmed for something. For what, I'm not sure…" The blonde girl looked around the room. "So, anything they say is just something to keep us in line and obedient…"

For some reason the words of her teammate calmed the ravenette teen down. She was still worried about what their fate would be, but for now they were safe. She took what comfort she could from that.

"You okay down there?" the blonde asked, staring at her friend.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay…" she answered. "D-Do you happen to know where we are?"

"No, they covered my eyes on the way…" the blonde replied, before she smiled. "On the plus side, I managed to kick one of them in the face! He never saw it coming! So, bonus points!" she finished, glee in her eyes.

The bad joke managed to make the dark-haired girl grin harder, even laughing a bit. It helped her forget their grim situation, at least she wasn't alone in this.

The two could faintly hear the sounds of steps coming closer. The blonde girl sat down next to her friend and started working on freeing her hands, not even caring if she was caught.

The metal door opened again and a different man walked inside. He was wearing the same uniform as the others had, he moved to the side as another girl walked in after him.

'Crystal?!' the two marveled, as they saw their teammate enter as well. She sat down against a wall, well away from them.

Said new teen didn't speak, or even look at them. She was too busy staring at the floor, clearly deep in thought about something.

The man who'd brought her in was still standing in the doorway, before entering inside and stopping in front of her. He looked her over for a moment, before sighing. "Look… I don't know what the situation is…" he admitted. "But you shouldn't feel like you need to do stuff like that, to-" He was cut off by Crystal.

"Stop… Just, stop talking…" she begged, hiding her face even more.

"I just wanted to say-" he attempted to continue.

"Please… you're not helping…" Crystal repeated, she sounded miserable.

"I'm not judging you or anything, but you shouldn't do that kind of-" the man tried again. He was cut off, as a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"What are you still doing here?" asked another man, his face covered in bandages. "The boss is calling us, so, come on already!" the man shouted, eager to get out of the cell.

"You!" The blonde cheerleader looked up from her position on the ground, she pointed at the hurt guard. "Remember me?" she baited, smirking. "Because, my foot sure remembers your face!" There was no mercy in her expression.

His anger was visible, even with as crudely as his face was covered.

"By the way, you owe me a new pair of shoes…" she pushed even further. "You got some blood on these", she went so far as to point down to her feet.

Her words goaded him to start screaming in rage, before he degenerated into pitiful sobbing. He held his injured face with one hand. The crying man was ushered outside by the guard who'd escorted Crystal, leaving the three girls once more.

"So… you okay, Crystal?" the blonde one asked, she glanced at her friend. "Did those fuckers do anything to you?" she clarified.

The girl in question just shook her head for a no, continuing to keep her gaze down. The action seemed to satisfy the blonde cheerleader, she resumed staring at the door.

"I take it you're going to continue this-", the ravenette pointed to her friend, "attitude of yours. Every time they come back, right?"

The blonde smiled. "Hey, I've got to stay in character! Plus… I kind of knocked some teeth loose when they tried to grab me… So, yeah! I'm working my way up!"

That did it, the ravenette started laughing wholeheartedly. She already felt a lot more at ease with her friends, even if Crystal was mumbling something she didn't understand.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

The blonde sidekick was sitting in a huge hovercraft, the trademark transport of the short madman Dementor. Ron had understood who he was dealing with as soon as he'd seen the vehicle that had come to retrieve him. He'd received another call, mere minutes after the first one, with instructions for his pickup.

He was supposed to get to the roof of the mall, then wait there for transport. The goons who'd come for him had assured Ron that the girls wouldn't be harmed, as long as he came quietly. He had, obviously… Even as they'd made sure to cuff his hands, the metal restraints tight on his wrists.

The ride itself was fairly quick. Ron simply sat down in between two goons, three more watched him from the side. The Monkey Master's eyes were closed, simply hoping that the girls were okay. He still blamed himself for them being taken in the first place… It was up to him to get them back, no matter the cost.

"We're here…" one of the goons informed. He stood up, walking towards the blonde sidekick. "You better not try anything… got it?" he clarified again. Ron nodded for confirmation, almost automatically. "All of you, get ready!" the man declared.

…

The blonde boy was escorted out of the flying vehicle by two large goons walking next to him. They even placed their hands on his shoulders, to prevent him from moving or escaping. 'A secret base!' the blonde mascot realized, finally managing to find Dementor's lair in this roundabout way. He was the only villain that kept switching bases voluntarily, he also kept his main ones very secret. A hidden entrance appeared from between the rocks, letting them in.

The boy was led inside the base, until he reached a large room. He recognized someone he saw on a regular basis, standing with his back turned towards Ron. In the middle of the room, was a single metal chair. The boy was almost forcibly sat down, his wrists and ankles shackled to it.

"Well… what do we have here?" the short man's voice boomed in the room, it made him sound far more menacing than his size implied. "The little sidekick that managed to get in my way, so very many times…" Dementor turned to the blonde teen, he had an evil smile on his face, looking pleased with his new prize.

"What do you want, Dementor!?" Ron asked in clear anger, glaring at the short madman with a great deal of hate.

"Oh, so hostile… Despite how much trouble you've caused me…" Dementor started pacing around the room, behind the now-chained-up Ron.

"You kidnapped my friends!" Ron yelled in anger. "What did you do to Tara and Hope?!" the blonde sidekick demanded to know.

"You are in no position to demand anything!" the helmeted villain responded, before he smiled again. "But, I'm in a good mood right now…" He snapped his fingers, a few of the goons moved out of the room.

They returned with their prisoners.

"Here are your… 'friends'", the madman chuckled.

"Here are the three prisoners, boss!" exclaimed one of the goons.

"Right. Now, as I was saying-" The madman stopped talking, processing the information he'd just received. He turned his head towards the goon. "Did you say three?" he questioned.

"Um, yeah boss… the three girls?" the goon repeated, unsure if he'd done something wrong.

"Two, you idiots! Two! There was supposed to be TWO of them! Can't you morons at least count right?!" the short man yelled, before looking the girls over. "I see the blonde, and the ravenette, but who is this one?" He stared at the last one for a moment, before shaking his head. "You know what? It's fine… More chips for me to bargain with."

"Alright, Dementor!" Ron called out, fed up with the midget's games. "You've already got me, so why don't you let them go? They don't matter to Kim, you also won't have to worry about so many people" the blonde boy reasoned, trying to get the girls out of harm's way.

The response from the villain was to laugh loudly. He stood right behind Ron, moving his head closer to the blonde's own. "Yes, about that? I lied…" he admitted, before turning the mascot to face the three prisoners.

Ron's anger and shock changed to confusion, viewing the three girls who were Dementor's prisoners. The first one was indeed a ravenette… But instead of Hope, the girl now standing before him was the one who had an issue with him. "Marcella?" he asked.

The second one was a blonde cheerleader. But, again, it was the wrong one. Instead of Tara, stood a squirming… "Jessica?" Ron's voice blurted out.

The last one, or the "extra" as the madman had called her, was an odd-looking Crystal who shifted nervously. "Crystal?", the sidekick eyed her.

Ron stared at the three girls. Marcella looked afraid… He couldn't really blame her, she didn't have the same fortitude and experience as Kim and himself.

Jessica was the only one who had duck-tape over her mouth. She didn't look afraid, or angry, just amused to see him. It made the situation all the more surreal.

The last one, Crystal, looked embarrassed for some reason. She refused to look at anyone, especially him.

The girls didn't look hurt… just strange.

"What did you do to them?" Ron asked, his tone worried.

"Oh?" Dementor looked amused. "Well, if we go with what my men claim… The ravenette one was so scared for her life, she just clammed up!" Dementor started laughing loudly, clearly taking great pleasure from that fact alone.

Ron frowned in annoyance, his anger directed at the small madman, he wanted nothing more than to shut him up.

"The blonde one was…" The short man took a moment to ponder what he was going to say, before he continued. "Apparently, she knocked some teeth out of one of my men. She insulted the rest, to the point that they want to file a lawsuit against her…" The madman didn't sound amused by what he'd said, as it was serious.

"W-What?" Ron looked at the blonde girl who waved at him innocently, like she always did. 'Jessica did that?' He couldn't believe it! The one girl who never seemed to get angry with anything, or anybody, and was always smiling happily? Dementor had to be lying again, for some reason!

"And that one?" He pointed at Crystal. "My man captured her inside one of the dressing rooms at the mall. She was apparently taking pictures of herself, and…" The villain sighed, he actually sounded embarrassed about this. "…was sending them to her boyfriend, or something…" Dementor didn't say any more, just staring at the last girl. He shook his head in a disappointed manner, like a parent who'd caught his child doing something naughty.

The rest of the girls looked at her with clear surprise. "You have a boyfriend, Crystal?" asked Marcella, obviously interested at the sudden discovery. This was news to her!

The girl shook her head for a no. "I-I don't…" was the only thing she said, she still refused to look at anything but the floor.

Ron's eyes opened wide, the barest outlines of a hunch teasing him, he shook his head for a moment. This issue right now was more important than whatever little revelation he could have claimed. "Alright Dementor, enough of your mind-games! What about Tara and Hope?!" he asked in anger, still not seeing his two girlfriends.

The madman looked genuinely confused for a moment. "Are those names supposed to mean something to me?" he asked.

"Don't play games with me!" The chair that held the boy shook for a moment. "You told me that you took them from the mall, so, where are they?!" the blonde's voice boomed, filling the room. He'd actually made the goons sweat for a moment, they had never expected to her him sound like THAT.

"From the mall?" The short villain smiled. "I never specified any names… All I said was that I took the ravenette, and the blonde girl, you were getting comfortable with. You were the one that thought it was someone else." The madman pointed at the boy. "Why would I invite a group of cheerleaders here?"

"I don't know… you're the mad genius here" Ron spouted, his voice full of sarcasm.

"I am indeed…" Dementor sounded pleased. He'd either failed to detect the sarcasm, or just plain didn't care.

"In any case… I'm here, you don't need them anymore. So, just let them go back home safely…" Ron added for good measure.

"Mmm… I think…" He glanced at the three girls for a moment, before looking back at Ron. "I think I'll keep everyone after all…" the short man spoke, before smiling at the boy. "Why are you so shocked? I AM an evil mastermind! And seeing you so stupidly come to 'save them', just makes them all the more appealing to hold onto! I can use you to deal with Kim Possible! And, on the off-chance that doesn't work, I'll just use them to get a hold of you again!" His smirk became all the more viscous. "That way I can try every plot I can think of, until one sticks for good!"

The short man looked at the girls. "You three better get comfortable… You'll be spending a lot of time with us, from now on." He cackled again, glancing towards his men. "Get them out of here. Keep each of them at a different base, on the off-chance that they try anything!" he declared.

Dementor saw his men nod for confirmation, they started to usher the girls out of the room. Marcella and Crystal tried to resist, but were too scared to put up much of a fight. Jessica, on the other hand, made sure to struggle as much as she could. She kicked wildly at the two goons who attempted to restrain her.

Then, the goons froze completely for some reason. They all stared at their boss in shock, he sighed in annoyance. "What is it now-" His question cut off abruptly, as a metallic sound filled the room.

The sound of screaming metal was almost painful, it sent a chill up the small villain's spine. It sounded like something being bent, or ripped apart. Following that was the noise of something dropping to the floor, then sliding across it.

Dementor felt something bump his leg. Glancing down, he recognized a familiar lump of metal. 'Is that the- Huh?' His thoughts were cut off completely as something hit his helmet. He jumped up in surprise, the short man turning around. To his shock he saw the sidekick of Kim Possible standing next to the chair he'd just been strapped to, staring at him. The metal chair in question was bent completely out of its original shape, making it look like some sort bizarre piece of modern art.

Ron continued to bore holes into the man that seemed so much smaller than he had before. The blonde's eyes were blazing, a dim blue glow visible in them. His anger was clearly written on his face. "I don't believe I heard you correctly just now…" Ron's tone sounded eerie, especially coming from the usually goofy boy that no one took seriously. "You ARE going to let them go… NOW." There was a clear threat in his tone, he definitely wasn't messing around.

Dementor was spared the blonde's eyes, Ron shifting his gaze to the goons standing in the room. "Right?" the blonde Monkey Master prompted. At this point he looked furious, his voice more closely resembling the growl of an angry beast.

The much bigger goons weren't the smartest of guys. They were used mainly as hired muscle, also for intimidating anyone that might attempt to stop them. But even they were bright enough to understand the very clear danger that now stood in front of them. They slowly let go of the girls very gently, before moving away from them, as if to show that they weren't a threat.

"What are you idiots do-" the short villain criticized, before Ron's hand landed on his helmet. Dementor visibly startled, before Ron lifted him up into the air. The sidekick stared at him like he was an annoyance, at best.

"You are GOING to let them GO…" Ron boomed, his words sounding even more threatening than before.

The madman began to struggle, attempting to break free of the blonde's hold. His efforts were to no avail, it was like he was stuck in a vice! Hell, he could faintly hear the sounds of his helmet buckling under Ron's grip. "Just attack him already!" Dementor screamed in rage, clearly not thinking through the situation he now found himself in.

The goons immediately moved to rush the blonde teen, like attack dogs trained to respond to certain commands.

Ron threw Dementor into the air. He crashed into, and stuck in, the ceiling. Ron turned around to face the group of significantly larger men approaching him. He slid forward as the first three moved into range. Ron quickly grabbed the first one's arm, swinging him like an improvised club. He batted the other two aside, before throwing the one he'd grabbed away when he was done with him.

Four more rushed him, stun rods at the ready. They looked much more confident, as their weapons had a far superior reach.
They were certain that Ron would be unable to stop them, before they shocked him into submission. All of them swung towards him at the same time, only to see him vanish before their very eyes. The stun rods slammed into each other, sparks flashing and flying around.

"Where did he-" one of the men began, looking around frantically. He noticed the teen out of the corner of his eye, just standing there like nothing was wrong. "Ahh!" The man moved to hit the boy, the sparking tip of the stun baton contacting the blond. The goon smirked at a job well done, pleased with himself for stopping the blonde threat. His smile quickly turned to confusion, then to horror. Ron had grabbed his baton, like it was nothing. He didn't look like the electricity bothered him, even as it zapped his hand several times.

The blonde sidekick frowned at the sight of the much larger man now cowering in front of him. Ron's grip tightened further, the weapon he was holding breaking like it was a child's toy in an adult's hand.

The goon fell to the floor. He turned around and scurried away from the blonde menace, before Ron got the chance to do the same thing to him.

"You are all useless! Fine, I will do it myself!" the madman, who was still stuck to the ceiling, bellowed. He pushed a small, unobtrusive red button on his belt. Within moments several laser turrets popped out of the walls, targeting the blonde boy. "Now, Sidekick, I will give you one last chance to surrender and come quietly… The only way to stop these guns from filling you full of holes, is for me to push this button right here." He pointed to his belt. The short man started laughing. "It's over, Sidekick! I have the high ground!" His menacing laugh became even more fanatic and crazed.

Ron simply stared at the man. Any hint of mercy inside the teen was extinguished, his gaze darkened even further.

"F-Fine! You asked for this, Sidekick!" Dementor pushed the trigger, making the turrets flare to life.

The first one fired at a moment's notice. The three girls were frantic, they hadn't even been able to warn Ron before the shot reached him.

…

Everyone was speechless, the silence in the room was deafening. They'd expected the blonde boy to simply fall to the ground. Or perhaps run away in terror, like he usually did. What they hadn't even imagined, was for Ron to tilt his head to the side. The laser's shot narrowly missed him, leaving a slightly smoldering hole in the floor.

'Huh?' The villain stared in disbelief at what had happened, he must be imagining all of this.

The turrets started firing again, only this time simultaneously. Shockingly, it didn't help one bit…

Ron just kept dodging repeatedly, it didn't matter how many shots were fired at him. He moved left and right, spinning and ducking, without stopping for a second. He dropped and rolled to the ground, picking up two stun rods that had been left next to him. He quickly threw one of them like a makeshift javelin.

It slammed into one of the turrets, hard. The harsh impact caused the laser's lens to crack, resulting in a rapid explosion.

'What the hell is going on?' the girls thought in amazement, were they dreaming or something? They simply had to be… There was just no way that their blonde mascot had snapped his metal restraints, using only his own strength! Not to mention that he'd beat up a several guys who were much, much bigger than him. They'd even been armed! And, on top of that, he was now dodging and evading laser shots! As if he was Keanu Reeves, in The Matrix! He was still winning, making it look like it was the most natural thing in the world! Even now, his expression was cool and serious. His eyes scanned his surroundings, before he threw the second stun rod he'd picked up. Once again, he hit his mark, another turret exploding.

They were- No, they HAD to be dreaming this! There was no way this was really happening!

The blonde teen continued darting around, backing into one of the room's corners. It seemed like he was retreating, trying to escape. He started jumping from one corner of the room, to the next, ultimately jumping behind the closest turret. A moment later he flew away, just as several shots pierced the very same laser.

He fell to the floor, the height of the drop resulting in a very ungraceful landing. He was completely defenseless, as more shots flew towards him. His legs moved, kicking himself off of a wall and to safety. He hit the floor once more, shooting over to the opposite end of the room. Ron made sure to avoid the three goons that he'd dispatched earlier, they were still down and unable to move.

He was now dangerously close to a wall, getting any closer would just be asking to crash against the barrier like a test dummy. At the last second, he hit the floor. Ron jumped up and soared through the air, before he reached the next turret. With one swift motion, he pulled the unit free from the wall. The sidekick used it as a shield, absorbing a shot, before throwing it across the room. It impacted another turret, breaking it, the hunks of metal falling to the ground.

There was one last turret still firing upon him, but its shots failed to hit their mark as well. Ron walked sedately towards it. One shot came close to him, only for the blonde sidekick to move his hand faster than anyone could see. He deflected the shot, the pulse slamming into the turret that had fired it. The stunned goons in the room could see a bluish light that coated the back of his hand for a moment, before it vanished completely.

…

The room was dead silent, the goons staring in pure shock and amazement at the sight. Their legs shook in fear, which instantly deepened into terror when Ron turned to face them once more. 'He could deflect the shots from the start! Then, why didn't he-' they wondered, before they came to a very unpleasant conclusion. He could have… but he didn't need to. They'd been unable to inflict any damage on the blonde sidekick this whole time, it was likely that they'd never even been capable of touching him against his will.

Ron walked to the middle of the room, moving to stand a foot or so underneath the madman still suspended from his own ceiling. Dementor stared in mute horror at a scene out of his worst nightmares. He could see pieces of plaster begin to rain down around him. At last his helmet broke free, gravity taking its toll on the short villain.

With a quick scream of surprise, Dementor hit the floor and landed on his back. His head was spinning, throbbing in pain. He noticed the blonde boy standing right in front of him, Ron's hand extended forward towards the short man. For someone as blindly petrified as Dementor was, it was probably understandable that the evil genius actually thought the Monkey Master was about to end him.

"AHH!" Dementor quickly covered his face, like a child hiding from the boogeyman. He didn't feel any new pain… After a few seconds, ones that felt like a nightmarish eternity, he removed his hands. He saw the blonde teen press the button on his belt.

The man swallowed hard, never in his life had he been so mind-numbingly terrified.

The blonde sidekick was a storm, one that would destroy anything in its path… Dementor was just a dried-up leaf, one that had ever-so-foolishly stood in its way.

Ron stared at him, as if waiting to see if the villain would try anything else. Ron didn't seem nervous, not worried in the least… only angry. "You will never, NEVER, try to harm my friends EVER again…" the blond boy commanded.

The madman would have liked to argue, or to try to come up with a better plan for next time. But from what he'd seen here today, there was no way for him to stop the blonde monster… If he attempted a scheme like this again, it would probably be his very LAST.

The short man nodded his understanding, his mouth as dry as the Sahara. He couldn't look away from the eyes boring holes into his form. He instructed one of his goons to get a hovercraft and get the four teens away from him.

The sooner, the better!

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Ron sat by himself on one end of the flying machine. He sighed in exhaustion, glancing at the girls for a moment. The three of them were still huddled together, they appeared to be talking about something… Probably about him.

'Great…' the blonde mascot groaned. He glanced out the window next to him, he wasn't sure how to feel about how things had worked out… On the one hand, he HAD saved the girls. Physically, they seemed completely fine. They had suffered no injuries. But that didn't mean that they had escaped their little adventure completely unscathed. The odds of at least one of them being psychologically traumatized by what they'd seen, or what had been done to them, was high. On top of that, they had every right to blame him for getting them involved with the madman (and his merry band of idiots) in the first place.

He couldn't hold the sigh that came out, it made the goon that was driving them jump and glance at him in fear. As if Ron would rush over and end him at a moment's notice, if he so much as felt like it.

The unfortunate sidekick just hoped that the girls wouldn't hate him too much, because of what had happened today. 'Oh man, I'll have to explain this to Tara and Hope… and Bonnie!' Ron was NOT looking forward to that conversation. But he vowed to have it nonetheless, even if the result was that his new friends ended up disliking him as much as they had before.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

The four members of the cheer team had arrived back at the mall. The girls walked a few feet ahead of him, still very busy discussing something he couldn't make out.

He would have liked to ask them what they'd been talking about, or maybe try to interject, but he wasn't sure how to even broach the subject. Should he start by asking them if they were fine? Maybe try apologizing? Crack a joke, hopefully lighten the mood a little? 'No, apologize first!' he concluded, moving forward. The girls stopped as soon as they noticed something blocking their path, right in front of them was the rest of the cheer squad. Their friends looked relived. Or, in Bonnie's case, slightly annoyed.

"There you lot are! We've been searching for you, for the last TWO HOURS!" the brunette cheerleader barked at her teammates. She shot her gaze towards the lone boy of the group. "Where were you?" she demanded to know, her finger pointed at his face.

The blonde sidekick wasn't sure how to answer that one. 'How do I tell them that Jessica, Marcella, and Crystal got kidnapped for being associated with me?' Ron took a moment to think, before the Queen B moved closer to him, she wasn't about to give him time to come up with an excuse. "Ahhhh… well, you see, it was a-" he stammered, before both of his sides were assaulted by two girls he didn't expect.

"You guys were worried about us? Aww… how sweet of you, Bonnie!" Jessica interjected. The blonde girl was hanging on his arm, shooting her unofficial leader a smile. "We were just busy trying on some new stuff, Ron here was kind enough to help us!" She went so far as to pull on his arm, as if to emphasize her point.

"Really?" Bonnie didn't look convinced, glaring at her happy-looking friend.

"It's true…" added Marcella. She was standing next to the blonde boy, on his other side. While she wasn't hugging his hand like Jessica, she was leaning on him.

The rest of the team looked surprised at her words. Tara and Hope looked slightly annoyed at the whole situation. They most definitely didn't like the fact that their new boyfriend had been off with another girl for so long… Well, a few girls, actually. This also seemed very strange, considering just how pissed Marcella had been at the blonde boy less than three hours ago. They could only wonder what could have happened in the intervening time.

Liz, the redheaded teen of the group, stared at the quartet. Her arms were crossed, one eyebrow raised, she wasn't sure what to make of this.

The last one, Bonnie, appeared to be thinking about something. She was unsure of what to say in response to both her teammates' words (and Ron's gibberish).

Ron glanced at both girls next to him, a smile threatened to blossom on his face. 'Oh, thank God…' They'd saved him from getting in trouble with the rest of the team. He just hoped that they would be willing to continue covering for him, at least until he could properly apologize for what had happened.

…

The cheer team had returned to looking around the mall, but things were slightly different than before…

"You know, this really isn't necessary!" Ron attempted for the third time, as he was dragged by the girls to their next destination.

"What we KNOW, is that you've already tried to weasel your way out of it… Just accept it, already" Bonnie answered.

Ron couldn't help but groan quietly at her response, he didn't like the new 'idea' the girls had for him. 'How about we find something for you too?' It had been Liz who'd suggested it, that alone filled him with dread of what was to come.

Carrying stuff until his hands fell off was fine… He could deal with that, no problem! But, ask him to try on some stuff from all these overpriced shops? No, thank you. Sure, he had plenty of money (thanks to a steady stream of Naco royalty checks). But even so, he still saw it as a waste. Especially considering that his normal clothing was so comfortable and practical! And, it was easy to move around in! Wait… was THAT the reason his pants fell off all the time?

His musings were cut short as the blonde girl next to him hugged his arm, pulling him along even faster.

"Come on Ronnie, I'm sure everything will be fine!" The smiling face of Tara, his new girlfriend, was what convinced him. But, why did she looked so amused? He'd have to ask her later.

"Yeah! I bet I could find some really cool stuff for you, Ron!" offered a second, smiling blonde. She was holding onto his other hand, helping to move him along.

'Oh yeah, this is a thing now…' Ron glanced down at the new attachment to his arm, in the form of a smiling Jessica. As soon as they'd gotten the idea of dressing him up, she'd been all for preventing him from escaping (for whatever reason). At least she wasn't upset with him. Or worse, afraid of him. At least, she didn't appear to be.

It still seemed so odd. To think that the gentle, happy girl next to him was as aggressive and fiery as Dementor had claimed she was. Ron just couldn't see it! She was just too cheerful and kind.

"Mmm? What is it, Ron? Is there something on my face?" asked the blonde cheerleader he'd been staring at.

As soon as she'd asked that, the mascot of the cheer squad could feel Tara's hold on his arm tighten. She began pouting, a sickeningly-sweet look that was just too cute for him to bear.

"Huh? No, just thinking about something silly" his answer came. It failed to have the desired effect, as it only made Jessica smile and giggle again. Tara pouted even more fiercely than before.

…

The blonde boy was standing inside a large- No, a very large dressing room. He was currently in a store he and Kim had never visited before. It was definitely one of those high-class places that they both preferred to stay away from. Hell, he couldn't even say the store's name! Not without his tongue getting twisted into a knot.

As soon as they'd entered, one of the salespeople had come over and welcomed them. Apparently, he'd recognized Bonnie as one of their best customers. The employee led them to a private section, one that was reserved for VIP clients only. It was a large room that held several leather couches, all of them facing the dressing room he was currently inside.

Ron glanced at the dozen or so different outfits that he was expected to try on, he grunted in annoyance. "This is TOTALLY not what I signed up for…" he complained quietly to himself.

"Are you okay in there?" yelled Liz, she obviously had no issue with this situation whatsoever.

He groaned again, banging his head against the closest wall. 'Are they expecting me to put on a show, or something?' he worried.

"We paid for a show! So, let's go already!" the same redheaded girl yelled. This was followed by giggling from the girls sitting around her.

'I will get you back for this Liz… mark my words!' the boy promised. The curtain opened, someone walked in. He jumped and looked up, only to see his girlfriend Tara walking in. "Oh, h-hey Tara- MMM" he greeted, the blonde girl jumping him the first chance she got.

Their lip lock was brief, far too quick, really. He wanted nothing more than to let her sink into his embrace, to continue where they'd left off last time.

"Ro-Ronnie… not now" she chided gently, giggling happily. She clearly loved how desperately he wanted her.

'This is my girlfriend?!' He couldn't help but beam at her cute face. "S-Sorry, Tara."

"It's okay, Ronnie. Me, and the rest of the team, just wanted to know if you needed any help." The honesty in her tone helped allay his earlier distress.

"I'm okay, I just have no idea which to try out first…" he admitted, pointing towards his many choices.

"I can help you with that!" the blonde beauty happily chirped, she started picking out a few different sets. "I also… kinda wanted to dress you up… Is that bad?" she asked him. Her voice was so sweet at the end, he couldn't help but blush. Ron thanked his good fortune at Tara liking him in the first place.

…

A little later and Tara had left the room, moving to sit with her friends. They were already tired of waiting, despite her being gone less than five minutes.

"Finally! Took you long enough!" Liz complained, as she watched the blonde girl sit down.

"I was in there for only, like, three minutes Liz…" Tara replied. She sat in her comfy seat, staring at the room her blonde boyfriend was currently occupying.

"Right… So, are you pregnant yet?" the redhead added.

Tara's response was a mix between a cough and a surprised yell. Never had the group ever heard something so undignified come from the blonde teen. "LIZ, WHAT THE HELL?!" Tara yelled in anger.

"What? I was just asking a random question… Although, you are very red right now… Something to share?" The teasing smile never left Liz's face, she was barely holding herself back from laughing at the blonde's reaction too.

"I hate you… So much, right now…" Tara ground out, face red as a tomato. "I NEVER should have agreed…" she whispered.

The girls all giggled as the curtain to the dressing room opened up, their mascot emerged wearing the outfit his blonde girlfriend had picked out for him.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Ron couldn't believe he'd actually done something like that… His face was bright red, walking with several bags in his hands, he refused to look anywhere but the floor. The blonde sidekick was walking with Marcella, the rest of the team was still making some last-minute purchases. Liz had needed to ask Bonnie for something, so currently it was just him and the ravenette that had made this request in the first place.

"You know, it wasn't THAT bad…" Marcella insisted. She walked next to the blonde boy, staring at him from the corner of her eye.

"I feel like a stripper… and not the good kind" Ron stressed, recalling the events a few minutes ago.

"Nobody told you to do it…" she countered. In her opinion, he was just being dramatic.

"Liz and Hope pulled out their phones. Then, they ordered me to start moving around…" the mascot pointed out, as if he needed to remind her.

"I'm sure they were just joking…" her response came quickly. Ron shot her a skeptical look. Marcella glanced away, a bit of red on her cheeks. "I still stand by what I said" she insisted, despite being unable to look at him.

He huffed, before glancing away. "At any rate, at least I'm done with this… Honestly, I'm exhausted" the blonde boy admitted, a short huff coming out from between his lips.

"I-I can only imagine… It's probably enough to make you fall over…" the ravenette added in a quiet, ashamed tone. Her head was pointed down.

"Well, yeah… Forcing me to dress up like that? It'd be torture for anyone…" Ron responded, he shuddered at the thought of ever having to do that again.

"What?", she was confused by his words. "No, I meant the whole kidnapping thing?" the cheerleader responded. "You had to come and save us?" Marcella finished. She stared at his face, waiting on his response.

"Oh, that? It's nothing out of the norm for me and Kim, actually…" Ron sounded conflicted and ashamed about something. "I-I'm really glad that you three are okay… A-And that you didn't tell the rest of the group about it yet… I-If you do, I'll understand… But if you could let me tell them, I-" the blonde sidekick began to request, before she cut him off.

"What are you talking about? You saved us! Why would you think- Wait… do you… do you think we're upset with you, or something?" she asked. 'There is just no way that he can be that-'

"Well… It IS my fault that you got mixed up with Dementor in the first place, so…" he began. Ron trailed off as Marcella started pulling him by his hand towards a free bench, they both sat down.

"A-Are you for real?", she couldn't believe it. "Ron, you saved us from those freaks! I- no, we should be thanking you!" Even as she said it, there was some sort of odd expression on his face.

"B-But, I- Huh?!" the boy began, before two soft hands grabbed his cheeks. His sight was blocked, the only thing visible being Marcella's closed eyes. The soft feeling of her nose brushing up against his own left him too shocked to say a word.

"Ron?" she prompted quietly, making him look at her. "I know that I've been nothing short of a bitch to you… Yet, despite that, you came for me… Even if your intention had been only to help Jessica and Crystal, you still saved me as well-" she elaborated.

"I would have come, even if it was only for you… If it had been for ANY one of you" the boy vowed. He tried to look away from her, finding being so close to her more than a bit awkward. She honestly didn't like him very much, that was clear to him.

The ravenette refused to let him go, merely smiling sweetly. "Somehow, I already knew that…" Marcella released her hold on him, the boy quickly backed away. "I take it you've probably noticed that I had… a problem with you?"

"W-What? No way! I didn't notice anything like that…" the blonde teen attempted. The only thing he got in response from her was a deadpan look, she clearly hadn't bought his lie.

"Ah… well, I DID notice that you seemed to warm up to me a bit slower than the rest of the team… But, come on! I didn't expect any of you to even TALK to me, up until a few days ago" the blonde sidekick admitted, as he recalled what event had kicked this whole thing off in the first place.

Ron took note of Marcella's smiling face. "Wow, even now you don't blame me for that, you really are something… I think I see why Kim likes you so much" she admitted to him.

"Well, she is my best friend for a reason!" he declared with pride. Kim was the one topic that always made him confident, no matter what, even if he couldn't help but think he was missing something.

'Figures that he never noticed about Possible…', she shook her head. "Right, I've decided that you deserve to know why I acted like I did…"

"You don't need to tell me, if you're not-" Ron moved to assure her, before she cut him off.

"No, I do… I want to, you deserve to know…" She took a short breath, before glancing away from him. "I knew that you were a decent guy from the start. But, I though that all of that kindness and attention was reserved for only Kim… I was sure that as soon as she came back, you'd go right back to ignoring us… So, that's why I acted like I did. I didn't see the point…" she explained.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, you've mentioned that before… Oh, also, I ignored you before?"

"Yeah, but that was because you'd left me alone, while having fun with the rest of the girls… Still not cool of me, but you can see my point, right?" He nodded at her words.

He chuckled. "In my defense, I was pulled away by the rest of the team before I could say anything… So, I wasn't trying to ignore you."

"Oh? So, If I pulled you away for some nefarious purpose, you won't object?" she asked, he nodded in confirmation. "S-So, you don't hate m-me?" she asked in a worried tone, this being the burning question that had been lingering in her mind ever since her rescue.

"I may not know anything about these so-called nefarious purposes, but there's no way I could hate you, Marcella…" the sidekick assured. He looked her in the eye, there was no hesitation or deceit that was visible to her.

The ravenette simply stared at him, trying to detect anything off about what he'd told her. After all, the blonde boy was a notoriously bad liar. A smile graced her face. "Well, I don't know about your answer… but you sure know how to turn on the charm. At this point, I'm surprised you're not more popular!" Marcella complimented. She had a lot of experience with smooth-talking guys, ones that could definitely be considered popular. The kind that would shower girls with praise, and charming smiles, to get on their good side. But they would instantly become nervous, or annoyed, if they were confronted about their sycophantic behavior.

Ron's expression was odd, to say the least… He didn't seem worried, or anything like that. He just stared at her with a confused look, one eyebrow raised. "Huh? Me, popular? What are you talking about? You do remember who your talking to, right?" He place the back of his hand against her forehead, as if he was checking her for a fever.

"W-What are you doing?" she asked, slightly embarrassed at the sudden unexpected physical contact.

"I'm just making sure that Dementor didn't do anything to you… He didn't, right?" Ron's voice indicated that he was more than a little worried.

"N-No… I- He didn't…" she assured him, waiting for Ron to remove his hand. He pulled back, a bit too quickly for her liking. "…and what I meant, was-" she began, before someone appeared next to her.

"What are you two doing?" asked a smiling blonde, she stared at Marcella with wonder.

"Wha! J-Jessica! What the hell?" the ravenette cheerleader screeched. She nearly jumped in shock, in response to the sudden appearance of her friend.

"Hey, I tried to call you. But you were too engrossed with our blonde mascot, to pay any attention to me…" the blonde teased, wearing a tiny smile. "…and you're even clinging to him? I wonder what Tara would say, if she saw you two?" Jessica giggled happily.

"I'm not-" Marcella defended, before she glanced down at her own body. She was actually leaning towards him, she'd even encircled one of his arms with her own. In mere moments the ravenette let go of his arm, Marcella got up and started to walk away. She made a point to say absolutely nothing, refusing to look at either of them.

"Was it something I said?" the giggling blonde girl joked.

…

His brief talk with Marcella over, Ron was walking back with the rest of the team. They moved to exit the mall, ready to find their way back home. He couldn't wait to get back to his room. Maybe he should give Kim a call, they had a lot to talk about.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

The Middleton cheer squad, plus their mascot, all walked out of the mall. As they did so, they failed to notice a pair of eyes that stared straight at them with great interest. They'd been followed around the mall for quite some time, until they'd all left.

"Well, that was a thing…" remarked a brown-skinned girl, she stared at the entrance to the shopping center. The girl had been just about to go on a short break in the middle of her shift at Club Banana, when she noticed someone familiar to her. A cheerful blonde boy that she knew very well. He'd been one of the first people she'd really gotten to know around town. That was about the same time she'd gotten introduced to Kim Possible. Kim was probably her best friend, other than the blonde boy himself.

She was shocked at seeing Ron walk around with the girls of the cheer squad. The pretty, popular girls who sat firmly at the top of the food chain. They were the source of many broken hearts among the boys. Only the most popular guys could even so much as talk to them, let alone ask them out.

But it wasn't some pretty, or popular, boy that was walking with them… It was her friend, Ron. And they hadn't acted like they often did during practice, or before class started. When they would make fun of him, for whatever reason they had thought up at the time… No, it looked like they were hanging out together. Similar to what Ron would do with Kim, or herself. Hell, two of the girls had been hanging off his arms, the rest staying quite close to him! They had even been smiling, all while Ron talked about something she couldn't make out.

"Did… did I miss something?" she asked herself, the confusion in her voice clear. Had her blonde friend changed his appearance again? Or, perhaps he'd become a millionaire once more? Why had they walked together, as if they were friends? Kim was away, sure, but Ron was far from their friend. The cheerleaders pretty much hated him, with the obvious exception of Tara and her crush.

She glanced down to her phone, the date and time she saw was fine. There were no inconsistencies from the last time she'd checked. By the looks of things, she wasn't in some weird parallel universe where everything was reversed.

'What is going on?' She opened up her contacts, before pressing a few buttons.

There was a few seconds of silence, before the screen lit up and a familiar voice came through. "Hey Monique! How's it going?" the voice of a younger boy greeted her.

"Hey Wade! Sorry for calling you out of the blue like this" she apologized, this was one of the few times that she'd ever called him.

"Hey, it's no big deal! I like talking to you, Monique!" the boy assured, with just a little too much enthusiasm. He cleared his throat. "S-So, what's up?"

She smiled at his silly antics, before returning to the reason for her call. "Right! I just wanted to ask you, where is Kim right now?"

"What, Kim? She's with her family, on vacation. Didn't she, or Ron, tell you?" he asked. The idea that she wasn't aware of that did seem a bit odd. "She's supposed to be back in a few days…"

"No, they did tell me. …and boy, did Kim complain about it nonstop!" the ravenette chuckled, recalling when they'd informed her. At the time, both Ron and herself had argued that it was a good idea for Kim to take some time off and recharge. Although it had been obvious that the redheaded heroine hadn't seen things the same way. Monique shook her thoughts away, before she continued. "Anyway, you're sure she's not back?"

The boy nodded in confirmation. "I'm positive… Why, did something happen?" the worried boy questioned, he was ready for anything.

"Honestly? I'm not sure…" the ravenette admitted, she explained what she'd seen to the younger boy.

"You mean, you saw someone who looked like Ron walking with the girls from the team?" Wade asked again.

"Come on Wade, do you really think I would mistake a stranger for one of my best friends? It was definitely Ron with them… they left the mall a few minuets ago" the girl assured, she started pacing.

Wade appeared to be thinking for a moment. "That is odd- No… it's very odd! How did he look?"

"If you're asking if he seemed worried about something, then no. He seemed fine- No, better than fine! He was having fun with them. Like he would with Kim, or us!" the girl explained.

"Okay… but, is it that big a deal? I mean, they are on the same team. So… maybe they just decided to hang out together? You know, like teammates?"

"Wade… these are the same girls who've made fun of him, for pretty much everything they could. That, and the fact that he isn't part of that food-chain nonsense… The last time I checked, none of that had changed. Especially over the handful of days since Kim left" she explained, it appeared that the boy finally saw her point.

"So, you think something is going on?" the boy asked, she nodded. "Okay, I'll see what I can find… Do you think we should tell Kim?" the boy asked.

Monique could only imagine just how angry her friend would be, if those girls had done anything to her blonde best friend. It was no secret to her that Kim thought the world of Ron. If only he knew just how much. But… was it really a bad thing that could have happened? After hearing the young hacker's tone, she wasn't so certain anymore.

Sure, the girls of the cheer squad were mean to most people around them. Yes, that had included the blonde boy in the past. But they looked like they were having fun… so, maybe it was okay? And she'd only observed them for a couple of minutes, while she'd been on her break. It wasn't like she could just leave work and follow after her friend, now could she?

But she did need to make a judgment. Wade didn't look like he wanted to call Kim and interrupt her family vacation, but he'd placed his trust in her. That left Monique as the one to decide, she only hoped she'd made the smart choice.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

And that's another chapter done!

I'm not sure if anyone noticed but... each chapter is longer then the last by 2000 words at least! This one is 21,000+ words! You are all very welcome!

Not much to say really... Except for Mmm... I've got a challenge for all of you! I've been working on a new RonX? Fic... Can you guess who is it?

Don't forget to tell me what you think!

-X-

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Chapter uploaded on 6 on august.