Ridley Pearson - Power Play

The mother and father looked on as the girl read a plaque, looking for the same clue the boy had earlier. Her father complimented her as she identified the king in question.

“Check the A box,” he said.

“I know , Dad,” the girl complained, a little snotty. “Are you going to let me do it, or not?”

He stepped back and the girl worked the phone. Then she stopped and looked across the room, her curious eyes finally settling on Finn.

She tentatively crossed toward him, her father keeping an eye on her.

“I’ve played this game, like, six times,” she said, addressing Finn shyly, her parents now nearby. “But this is the coolest yet.” She handed Finn the Kim Possible phone. He accepted it reluctantly. She hung her head slightly, embarrassed. “I recognized all but those two,” she said, pointing to Amanda and Jess, “when we came in.” Her parents looked around, not having a clue who the kids were. “I didn’t want to bug you.”

“I…we…all of us appreciate that,” Finn said.

“Is this a friend of yours, dear?” the mother asked skeptically.

“Oh, Mom…come on! These are the Kingdom Keepers. You know…? This is, like, the most awesome Kim Possible ever!”

Philby said, “We’re not actually part of-OWW!” Finn had elbowed him.

The girl pointed to the phone in Finn’s hand. “Read it!”

Finn read the message on the phone’s small screen:

Hand your phone to the nearest Kingdom Keeper! Press “OK” to continue.

Finn reread the message twice. Wayne’s reach inside the Parks never failed to amaze him.

Maybeck came over and read the screen. “What if when you push OK it sends our location to our other friends ?”

“I kinda need my phone back,” the girl said.

Finn pushed OK . The screen changed.

Go to the KP cart in Norway. Tell them you’re my friend.-W

Press “OK” to continue.

Finn pressed OK .

Hand the phone back to the guest.

Press “OK” to continue.

Finn pushed OK and returned the girl’s phone to her. Before leaving she asked everyone to sign her Epcot map. Bounding with excitement, she left with her parents.

When they were alone again, Finn said, “We have to trust it. This is why we’re here.”

“It could just as easily be a trap,” Maybeck warned. “Wayne gave us all phones,” he reminded. “If he wanted to contact us, wouldn’t he just call us or text us? Am I missing something? Why bother with the Kim Possible thing?”

Charlene said, “We won’t know until we try.”

Willa said, “He is always paranoid about the OTs eavesdropping. When he puts us on a quest, it’s to tell us something that no one else could figure out.”

“I volunteer,” Charlene said, raising her hand. “I’ll do it.”

“Amanda and I could do it,” Jess said. “We aren’t Kingdom Keepers. We wouldn’t raise any suspicions.”

“She’s right,” Philby said.

“And if it’s a trap,” Finn said, “then they catch the wrong people and who knows what that means?”

Charlene said, “I thought you were the one trusting it?”

Busted .

“I said, ‘I volunteer,’ ” Charlene reminded.

“I’ll go with you,” Finn said.

“But if they catch you…We can’t let them catch you ,” Amanda said.

Some suppressed smirks. It was the Amanda-and-Finn show. For all to see. Including Charlene, who looked away.

“Finn’s the only one of us that can all-clear with any consistency,” said Charlene.

“I know,” Amanda said. “I’ve seen him do it.”

With Greg Luowski, Finn recalled. He’d suckered Luowski into taking a swing at him, while Finn was briefly transformed into his hologram. No one had explained the science behind how Finn was able to briefly transform himself into pure light-what he and the others called all clear ; he supposed it made him part Fairlie like Jess and Amanda.

He supposed that all clear was a state where mystical, metaphysical elements met the physical sciences. It worked two ways: Finn, as a mortal boy, could on occasion concentrate to where he suddenly turned into a hologram. It only lasted a short amount of time-his record was eighteen seconds-but in that state he could walk through walls or take a punch, because technically he didn’t exist as anything but light. The second way was more difficult for parents and even Wayne to understand: a hologram was nothing but light. When projected or crossed over into the Parks as DHIs, the kids were technically nothing but light. But fear removed their state of purity. If, as a DHI, one of them became afraid, that hologram lost a percentage of data, depending on the level of fear. That resulted in a DHI that was part mortal, part teenager, part hologram, and therefore vulnerable to being wounded or captured. Finn had perfected a kind of visualization-a train coming at him from down a dark tunnel-that helped him achieve all clear , pushed him into that state of invulnerable light. It was a useful, even necessary tool, and one he’d been coaching the others to learn how to do.

“And while you two are out playing games, what are we supposed to do?” Maybeck asked, clearly complaining. “I’m not hanging here. I’m not big on churches.”

“You’ll divide into groups-split up between Norway and Mexico on either side of us,” said Finn. “You watch for crash-test dummies. Text me if you see any. Charlene and I will do the Kim Possible quest and let you know what we find out. Amanda and Jess, stay with us to make us a bigger group. That way it’s less likely we get spotted as Keepers.”

Maybeck said, “You look so stupid, Whitman.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“At least he tried for some kind of disguise,” Willa said.

Philby said, “It’s a good plan. Let’s get going.”

Philby and Willa headed for China. After more discussion, Maybeck went by himself into Mexico.

An announcement filled the loud speakers: the fireworks were set to begin.

A wooden cart sat tucked into a dark corner of the terraced path between Norway and Mexico, pushed against an island of trees and bushes. The Cast Member attending the unmarked cart wore a Kim Possible Adventure T-shirt. Finn, Charlene, and the sisters approached the overweight man, waiting for a small boy and his father to return their Kim Possible phone.

“W sent us,” Finn told the Cast Member.

“Okay.” The man had a gruff voice, unexpected of a Cast Member.

“We’re here to do the adventure,” Charlene said.

“I was told you would have two initials for me,” he said to Finn. This had Wayne’s DNA all over it.

“K.K.”

“Can’t be too careful,” the guy said.

He rifled through some phones in the cart’s drawer and handed one to Finn.

He launched into a memorized explanation of the game. Finn and the other three listened intently. Didn’t miss a thing.

“Any questions?”

“I think we’ve got it,” Finn said, checking with his friends.

“Off you go. Return it here, please. I’d tell you to enjoy yourselves, but I’m not sure that’s appropriate.”

The phone’s screen told Finn to step away from the cart and to press OK .

The crowds for the fireworks clogged the pathway encircling the lake, forty people deep. The Park music charged the air with excitement.

Finn pressed OK .

The cartoon image on the screen of Kim Possible changed to a photograph of a tree. A written message read:

Go to this tree by the bakery café and press “OK.”