“Absolutely terrifying. We thought we were in a horror movie. When the hand came up from the crevasse – the flesh hanging from the bones by nothing but shreds in some places…Gah! Excuse me…”
“Kimmie…”
“What?”
“Oh, Kimmie…”
“What, Shego?” Kim asked, exasperated, putting her cup down on the table in front of her.
At which Shego pounced on her back. “KIMMIE GOT A NOOGIE!” she shouted, delivering the trademark noggin rub to Kim’s head with vicious speed before Kim could block it.
“Ah! Hey! Shego! What-AHH!” Kim struggled as Shego continued, laughing the whole time.
“GET HER, SHEGO! GET HER!” cried Brick Flagg as the women wrestled on the ground.
“C’MON, KIM!” Ron and Monique shot back. “DON’T LET HER GET AWAY WITH THAT!”
Then Kim finally found her chance. Shego lifted her hand up briefly – and Kim broke apart Shego’s legs with her elbows and instantly ducked her body - flipping Shego over top of her, completely surprising the raven-haired woman, - as evidenced by her cry of “WHOAH!” as she fell to the ground.
“YEAH!” Monique cheered, high-fiving Ron - and Rufus, who’d just appeared a few moments before.
Kim locked her legs around Shego’s lower torso and brought herself up against the woman’s back. “Shego got a noogie!” she grinned – and gave Shego her own knuckle-to-scalp punishment.
“Dahh! Okay, okay!” Shego laughed. “Uncle! Uncle!” Kim stopped the noogie, and the lovers just stayed on the ground while they slowly recovered from the lowbrow wrestling match/gigglefest.
“BOOYAH!” cried Ron and Monique, hugging each other. Ron walked over to Brick, who was not only hosting the party, but was using his house for it. “I believe you owe Monique and I some, uh…scratch?” he casually asked the quarterback.
“Aw, see, here’s the problem: I don’t have the money right now, Ron…” Brick started.
“Say what?” Monique was by Ron’s side in an instant.
“You don’t have the money?” asked Ron.
“Nah, man, I was just jokin’. I got yer’ money right here.” Brick pulled out his wallet and handed over to Ron – two one-dollar bills. Monique’s jaw dropped when she saw the greenbacks.
“You only bet two dollars, Ron?” she asked him.
“Well, I was looking at my earnings and calculated that with the Emergency Club Banana Account, and Rufus’ deductions - two dollars was all I could afford to lose – why?” asked Ron.
Monique looked deep into his eyes. Then she hugged him, and they kissed. “You may not seem it sometimes, but you’re a very smart man, Ron Stoppable. And that’s exactly why I love you. I’ma get somethin’ to drink. Want anything?” she asked, flashing her trademark – and beautiful – smile.
Ron was too busy staring at her. “D-uh…Just water, Monique. Just water.”
“Take your time.”
“Sorry, it’s just – anyways, when the hand appeared on the crevasse edge – that torn hand, we were terrified. We didn’t know what the hell was going on. And then the other arm appeared on the edge of the crevasse – blood just running down the slit muscle, the bones just…exposed – grgh – hgghrplfh!”
“Here ‘ya go, Smart Guy,” said Monique, handing Ron the glass of water.
“Thank you, beautiful…” Ron grinned, taking the glass.
“Ron! Hey! Over here, man!” Josh Mankey waved.
“Mankey! S’up?” Ron shook Mankey’s hand.
“Not much. Got accepted into an Arts school on the West Coast. Where you headed after all this?”
“Actually…” Ron looked at Monique – and back at Kim and Shego, who were still lying on the ground. “I gotta stick around here. Monique’s grabbed an apartment in Downtown, and ‘sides – Team Possible wouldn’t be Team Possible without Ron and Rufus, ya’ know?” Rufus, popping up again, nodded.
“Heh - well, good point, dude. Hey, you got your cell phone on ya? I’ll put my number for out there in it so you can call me – anytime you need a house band, unless we’ve broken the big time – we’ll be there.”
Ron fished his cell out and handed it to him. “Thanks man. I’ll miss you.”
“Same here, Ron. Same here. But right now, let’s just enjoy the party.”
“Amen to that!” said Monique.
Ron turned and yelled at the guys standing by the speaker system. “’EY, MUSIC! TURN IT UP!” The two men looked at each other like What the hell, okay… and turned up the volume on the speakers. Ron put his drink down, and proceeded to push back the coffee table – and the furniture, but only a little bit. He stepped out into the space he’d just created and held out his hand to Monique. “Care to dance, madam?” he asked her in his sly voice.
Monique giggled. “Ron, you sly dog, you…” she giggled again, taking his hand.
“No. Not the sly dog.” He spun Monique towards her, catching her against him. He looked right into her eyes. Those deep, dark eyes… “The Mad Dog…” He waggled his eyebrows to emphasize his point. “Now, I must insist, Madam Monique – that you be the one to decide the dancing itinerary for tonight.”
Monique couldn’t stop herself giggling. This was just too cute. Then again, he always was too cute…
“Alright, Mad Dog – if you insist – let’s start out by…”
Nearby, on the floor, Kim and Shego were enjoying the warmth that came from being wrapped up in each other. But the dancers were starting to move into their cuddling territory.
“Go somewhere else, Kimmie?” Shego asked.
“Oh yeah.”
Except when Shego tried to get up, she found Kim wasn’t budging. “C’mon, Pumpkin. You gotta move with me, too. Like they’re doing on the dance floor,” Shego said, pointing at Ron and Monique.
“Nah, you got enough strength, Shego. ‘Sides, if you can stand up, you can gimme a piggyback ride – and when you get done with that, I can turn around and give you a piggyback ride myself.”
“Oh joy.” Shego rolled her eyes. “Fun.”
“Aw, c’mon – didn’t your parents ever give you piggyback rides when you were really little, Shego?”
Shego’s face suddenly dropped.
“Oh! Sorry…sorry, Shego…Sorry.” Kim winced, mentally kicking herself.
“No, Kimmie…” Shego suddenly turned and bear-hugged Kim forcefully – smiling through the tears. She looked up at Kim – directly into her eyes. “Thank you for reminding me about one of the happier moments in my life…” She let Kim lead her to the couch, where Kim laid back and pulled Shego on top of her – re-locking themselves in the position they’d been in on the floor before the dancers moved in.
“But what finally got us to call for help – was when the head and body appeared. We couldn’t believe that whoever it was crawling up out of the crevasse could possibly be alive in the state they were in… Their clothes were pretty much gone, and what shreds were left – and the head. The head…half the face was - was chewed off… You could see the goddamn jawbone. One eye hung from the socket…and the hair… The blood was coming out of every one of their pores, practically. The ground was stained red before we knew it…HRRGLPH!”
Click. The sound seemed to reverberate around the room, despite its quietness.
“Is that…Is that what happened?”
“Yes. At this point, he couldn’t say anything more about what he saw.”
A long pause followed, marked only by an intermittent wheezing.
“And what…What do I get…again?”
“To keep life.”
Another, even longer pause followed, marked only by intermittent wheezing.
“All…Alright.”
He released his hold.
The wheezing slowed as the hand was held out. A short coughing broke the still air.
“So…What happens next?”
He grinned.
“You get some rest. Leave everything up to me.”
--
He walked out of the room.
The eye cautiously followed him – then after a fit of coughing, closed in relief.
--
All bundled up, he left the facility again.
“TAXI!”
END CHAPTER TWO