Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tri-City International Airport, 1996

Ron Stoppable was not having a good summer. As soon as he was finished with school this year, he was packed off to his grandmother Aurora's in Connecticut. He barely even had time to say, "bye," to his best-friend before his mother took him to the airport and put him on a plane. "I'm sorry, mom, I didn't even know about my chains, until it happened," Ron pleaded, "I didn't mean to break the robot!"

The little boy closed his eyes as he thought back to that day…

… Ron was an unusual boy, he did not see the world the way most boys his age saw it, nor did he interact with it the way other boys did. He would try to make friends with anybody he met, but nobody seemed to be interested in him the way he was in them, nobody except his best-friend, Kim Possible. In fact, she was his only friend, and except for his parents, his own family, the Stoppables, kept him at arm's length, and his eighth birthday was no exception.

It was held at JP Berrymore's Pizza Partitorium, he had invited everybody in his class, but as usual, only Kim and her parents showed-up. Ron was happy that they showed up, and even thanked all of them, her four-year old twin brothers included, with a hug. Ron always felt like the Possibles were a second family to him, and in the Possible's eyes, they had three sons. Despite the lack of attendance at the party, Ron had an absolute blast with Kim and her brothers, he was as protective of Jim and Tim, as Kim was herself. He took them on the same carnival style rides that he went on, as long as they sat on his lap. Another big plus, as far as Ron was concerned, because he had a voracious appetite, was all the free pizza they were going to take home.

It was during the concert that things turned bad. It seems that the JP Berrymore robot had been upgraded so it could walk out among the audience. It was programmed so that when it reached a certain verse in the song it would spring off the stage and begin walking among the audience. Ron's table was the only birthday there that day, the tables were placed lengthwise, perpendicular and, leading away from the stage. Ron, as the birthday boy, was sitting in the place of honor, in a throne-like chair with Kim sitting across from him, and to allow them to see the show better, the twins were sitting in Kim's lap. JP Berrymore had failed to tell their patrons about the upgrade, hoping to give them a nice surprise, but as events unfolded, it would be the pizza partitorium that would get the surprise, and the Stoppables would end up banned from there indefinitely.

Jim and Tim, while extremely intelligent, were still at that stage in their emotional development, where even Santa Claus frightened them, and Ron's first instinct is always to protect his family, which always includes the Possibles. So, as it happened, when JP reached that place in his song and launched himself off the stage, it appeared to Kim and all the boys at the table that the bear-robot was either attacking them or falling on top of them. So, while Kim and the twins flinched away, and Kim turned so she would take the brunt of whatever happened to them, before the robot had gone more than a foot off the stage, a pair of chain-like appendages thrust through it like spears. They wrapped around the robot and easily ripped it apart.

This was the first time he had ever been in a real-world fight; he had been training in karate since he was four. Kim preferred Chinese martial arts, which were as beautiful to watch as they were deadly, but Ron liked the more efficient and direct methods of karate. Ron's arms were outstretched as if he were throwing a punch. The chains looked like any garden variety example of the hardware, with four straight-lengths per foot, at a total of fifty-feet. They were black but had a silver-sheen when the light struck it, at specific angles. The piercing end looked like a standard delta-shaped spear-tip, but it was a wider angle, and had four edges instead of two.

While all of this was happening, Ron's perceptions seemed to have slowed down, while his senses sharpened, he could hear the frightened heartbeats of the Possible progeny, the click of servo motors from the robot, and the collective gasps of many people. Ron caught the smell of fear on Kim, Jim, and Tim, as well as both sets of parents, as they went into panic mode. He could smell the grease that was used to lubricate the joints of JP. His vision took an amber-gold shine, and he could see everyone that surrounded him, as if he was looking at them straight in the face, even those that he knew were behind him. He could see the interior of the robot's chassis, the servomotors whirling as they tried to complete the programming they were built for, even if the rest of the body was destroyed.

Two weeks later

Ann, as a doctor, examined him from top to bottom, taking blood and tissue samples, MRIs, CTs, and X-rays. What they discovered; Ron's entire skeleto-muscular system was made of the same material as his chains. His muscle fibers, ligaments, tendons, even the cartilage in his body, yes even his nose, was backed by the same substance as his chains. They were not having any adverse effects on his health, or his growth, he has hit all milestones that a boy his age should. If anything, they were more efficient at providing the necessary processes that a human body needs in order to live a healthy life… along with a healthy diet and exercise regimen, according to what Mrs. Dr. Possible told Ron's mother, once they sent him out to the waiting room.

Ron could hear what they were saying through the door. The senses that seemed to activate the night he extended his chains, were still, very much active.

"I need to know, Ann," Diana Stoppable begged her friend, "what's wrong with my son?" Who despite being a neurologist was also the only one the Stoppables trusted to oversee these kinds of tests and be discreet about it.

"Wrong, well that depends on your point of view on the matter," Dr. Possible informed Ron's mother, "in my opinion there's nothing wrong with him. Medically speaking," she added.

"What do you mean," Diana asked?

"I'll need to confirm it with a colleague," Ann began, "I'm a neurologist, not a geneticist, but our tests indicate that he has the X-gene."

There was a pregnant silence that followed that pronouncement, "What?" His mother sounded as if she was just told he had a fatal disease.

"He's a mutant, Diana," Ann clarified, "the next step in human evolution, though the tests indicate that he's only partially active. There's no telling when he will fully emerge, probably as soon as he hits puberty. That's what I read in Dr. Xavier's case studies at least," she continued, "with your permission I would like to confer with Henry McCoy, to confirm the results."

"Dr. McCoy is a brilliant man," Ron's mother agreed, before a calmer voice escaped! "I concur, Ann, I know of Dr. McCoy and his work," Diana assured her friend, "he's a brilliant scientist, and works with my cousin Warren, extensively. I also think I should send him to his grandmother's for the summer. I think he needs to be well away from here for a while, and he'll be close enough to Westchester for them to help him, but he'll also be around family that will look after him and give him the love and support he needs."

"Yes, I understand," Ann's voice sounded dubious, but did seem to agree for the most part, "but what about in the meantime, there's still a couple of months between then and now?"

Ron heard and saw his mom and Mrs. Dr. Possible as they spoke, "It'll be okay, Ann. The best thing for him is to learn how to control his abilities. I think he has control of his chains for the most part, he hasn't used them since the incident on his birthday, so I think his use of them is instinctive, it'll be like him learning to walk. He did that pretty well," Diana stated like a proud mother, "I have faith he can learn how to use them properly. I will give you permission to treat Ron as a doctor, whenever he should need it. You know how accident prone, Ronnie can be," Diana reminded, but her tone was like a mother recalling fond memories, "I trust you, and with anything short of surgery, you have mine and Don's permission to act as you see fit."

Ann just looked at Ron's mother for a moment, before looking at Ron with a reassuring smile. She returned looking at Diana and was all business, "sure, I can do that, but I will need it in writing, and I may need to involve James if Ron's abilities become too exotic for me to deal with."

"That's just fine, Ann," Ron's mother agreed with a nod, "but nobody else outside of you and

James, okay, nobody else is to know about his issue. I've heard what happens to mutants that are discovered before they are ready, it's not pretty, and even our own government would stop at nothing to get to him," Diana shuddered, "they won't think twice about trying to turn him into a weapon for them."

X-rays and MRIs revealed that Ron's skeleton reflected a minuscule amount of EM, they looked like a starry night sky on the development film. James concluded that it was indeed a metal, but invisible to most electromagnetism. It only reflected enough to allow people to perceive it but was otherwise unaffected by it. It was antiseptic and more efficient at conducting the processes necessary for human health than what was found in other homo sapiens.

The same material that composed his bones was also found in his tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. It had also replaced the iron in his blood, and was even found in the muscles, including the heart, lungs, and blood vessels. There were trace elements of it, even in his skin. The only system of his anatomy where the metal was not found, was in his nervous and endocrine systems.

Because of that, Ron as it turned out was extremely durable, and somewhat resistant to injury. While they did not bludgeon him with bats, they had him and Kim spar against each other in their backyard. Kim with her sixteen styles of Chinese martial arts, Ron with his sixteen styles of Karate, both of whom, according to their instructors, were the best in their classes. In the match, they both seemed to be equal to each other in skill, if the Possibles could judge. They each acquitted themselves well and gave as good as they got, but when the match was over, Kim looked as if she had been in one hell of a fight, while Ron looked only a little worse for wear, even if he looked just as exhausted as their daughter.

They also learned that his strength was also slightly enhanced. He would not out-muscle the Hulk or anything like that, but he was still stronger than a boy his age should be. That made them even prouder of their daughter's progress in her training, if she was able to hold up against Ron's enhanced physiology.

Their spar, of course, only happened once the Possibles and Ron himself, knew that he could control his chains. He took two-months practicing extending and retracting them, whether it was all six, only three, two or one. He practiced them like he was a musician training his scales, the bottom line is Ron's natural weapons do not come out until he wants them. He has a hard time wondering when he would ever have to use such a deadly weapon on somebody.

Karate, despite being one of the most effective and efficient fighting arts, is a discipline that teaches peace to its disciples. There are masters and grandmasters of Karate that will not use their abilities against anyone, even if they are attacked. This is because they are all too aware of the devastation they could bring if they retaliate. They will allow themselves to be hit and harassed, knowing they have conditioned their minds and bodies to weather the punches and kicks of their attackers.

So, to have a weapon like this at his disposal, along with a nearly indestructible body, Ron is never going to lack confidence in his ability to protect those he loves. He and Kim do not know why they are training so hard to become formidable, they do know that it has nothing to do with any sort of competition or sport. Kim has gymnastics, and Ron has soccer for that.

The Possibles treated him the same as they always had, if anything they treated him better than before. "You overreacted, Ron, pure and simple," Mrs. Dr. Possible rebuked him, "but in spite of the results of your actions, you were acting in defense of our kids. That is something James and I will never frown upon, and so we will help your family pay for the damages to the robot, just try not to make it a habit, okay hun?"

Back at Tri-City International Airport

… Diana looked at her son, and smiled, "Honey," she said, kneeling in front of him, at the gate to the airplane, "no matter what happens you are still my son, and I am still your mother. I am not sending you away as punishment, I love you, very much, you're my little monkey," she smiled at him, "oo, oo," she said, as she tickled him, getting him to smile at her and repeat her monkey noises. She continued in a sad voice, "but with your condition, with your mutation, mommy and daddy can't help you. So we're sending you to a place that can give you the help you need," Diana turned her head so he would not see her breakdown, but Ron smelled the salt of her tears, "it'll only be for the summer, maybe an annual thing, but you won't be gone long, we'll see each other on the Fourth, so why don't you think of this as an adventure?"

Ron was only slightly better at her words, but still asked, "what about Kim, we've never been apart for this long?"

Diana only smiled, "that's the perfect reason to go, you both need to branch out and make new friends and think about all the stories you can tell her when you are together again. Trust me," she insisted, "it'll be worth the time away…

Worthington Manor, 1996

Ron came out of his memories, still staring at his hands, as he heard footsteps approaching. He extruded a six-inch long length of chain in what he calls his wire configuration. They discovered that his chains, a maximum of six, did not come out of his body, but from somewhere else, which prevented them from ripping up his clothes. He could move them as easily as he could move his arms, and he even had the sensation of touch coming to his mind from them, which seemed to be nullified when he pierced something. He could produce them from any part of his torso, as well as most of his extremities, excluding his head and pelvic region, even the back, which was where his new sense and his golden eyes came in handy.

His senses have increased not only in acuity, but threshold frequency, similar to a bloodhound's sense of smell, a fox's hearing, and a sense of touch equal to a cat's whiskers. To say nothing of the change to Ron's eye color, which is the only outward indication of his condition. His eyes have changed the most in how he perceives the world, luckily, he can activate and deactivate them at will, but he has a perfect 360-degree view of his surroundings and can see through most obstructions if he focuses properly. It's easy to know when he activates them, because his eyes begin to glow, and as young as he is he has a strict code of honor when he uses them. The purpose of his senses is clear, it is so he can use his chains when his back is turned.

A single chain could lift tremendous loads, even if Ron himself could not, up to 30 tons with one chain, and this was deadlifting, with a sturdy enough pulley system he could lift three-times that amount of weight. What thrilled Ron the most though, was his ability to control the size and configuration of his chains. He could make them as large as the circumference of his arm, or as small as the width of a human hair. He could make the links round, or sharp, with a cutting-edge that made a scalpel seem dull, which was nothing compared to the versatility of the end of his chains. First things first, like the links, the end could be shaped into any configuration Ron could think of, from the sharpest blades to devastating bludgeons, they were unsure if there were any limits to the shapes that could be made from Ron's end links.

The chains themselves were as dark as the depths of space, the silverish sheen served to allow the eyes to perceive it, he observed. They were nigh indestructible, in fact, Mr. Possible was never able to find anything that could so much as scratch it. He had bricks of vibranium and adamantium in his lab at the Space Center, and had Ron see if he could damage them. Ron poked a couple of small holes in them, and it was not just the simple fact that he could, it was how easily he could do it in the first place. The only material Ron had to try on at all was the adamantium, but the force necessary to cut adamantium was the same amount of force needed to cut refrigerated cheese.

He retracted his chain and turned to watch his grandmother enter the clearing that looked out over the ocean. Worthington Manor was practically a seaside palace, which according to family stories was a scaled down version of a Roman emperor's villa.

Ron, however, was not a Worthington, and neither was his mother. His grandmother was born Aurora Natchios, the heiress of Natchios Shipping Company, the name came to her through her mother. The Natchios made their fortune in the import and export business, Karol Natchios his great-grandfather, or Charles as he was wont to be called, had helped facilitate their expansion from a mere Mediterranean enterprise to the rest of Europe. Aurora met Diana's father, Eric Warren, which was the only name he ever gave her, when she was 20 and on holiday in the south of France in 1962. They both knew their time together was limited and made the most of it, and any investigations over the years to find him, have led nowhere. It was as if he dropped off the face of the planet, as if he never existed in the first place.

Diana was born when Aurora was 21, and Diana was about six, when Aurora was arranged to be married to an industrialist from the United States, Richard Worthington, younger son of Worthington Industries founder, Warren Worthington. Natchios wanted to move into the United States market, but it was difficult because of the immigration laws to conduct business, while also filing for citizenship. So, they decided that Aurora would marry into an already established business and family in America. Worthington Industries would get a discount on shipping and Natchios Shipping would be catapulted into a major market in the latter part of the twentieth century.

Aurora Worthington (née Natchios) was a breathtakingly beautiful woman, for someone of her advanced age. She was one of the few members of the Natchios family with blonde hair. A feature she has passed down to her daughter and grandson, with gentle eyes, and a loving heart, at least for members of her own family. She owns sixty percent of her family's shipping company, with her younger half-brother, Hugo, owning the rest of it; she is chairman of the board, and Chief Executive Officer of the company. She is smart, savvy, and creative, characteristics that lend well to running a multinational conglomerate. Since helming the company, she has diversified her company's interests into trucking companies, railroads, and even airlines, which has vaulted her family's company right to the top of the market.

She may have been all of that to the rest of the world, to Ron Stoppable, she was Grammy Aurora. Aurora has had children and other grandchildren with her husband, whom she loves with all the devotion that a mother could have for her children, with Ron however, there always seemed to be a special place in Aurora's heart for him. They could talk to each other about anything, and they trusted each other implicitly.

"Good afternoon, Ronnie," Aurora greeted him, as she came to stand beside him. Ron had been sitting in a white iron-work chair, surrounded by similar furnishings. There was a round table, three chairs that went round it, a couple of chaise lounges, directed out to the ocean, with an end-table between them.

Ron looked up at his grandmother with a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Hey, Grammy," he greeted.

"Mind if I sit next to you, Ronnie," she asked, "I'm afraid I don't have the stamina I used to anymore."

"This is your house, Grammy Aurora, you can sit anywhere you want," Ron answered with a smirk, then added with a welcoming grin, "but it is nice of you to ask. I always feel good after we talk."

Aurora giggled at his assertion, "well thank you Ron, but you should know that's not how I see things, when it comes to family. What's mine is yours," she declared to him, almost as if making a vow, "what I own, you own. Understand," she asked?

"Yes, ma'am," Ron answered. Then he turned sheepish, "so, did mom tell you what happened on my birthday, Grammy?"

"Yes," was her only reply.

"Do you think I'm a mutie-freak, too," Ron asked, only to have her smack the back of his head?

"Ronald Michael Stoppable, if I ever hear you make such disparaging comments about anybody again, including yourself," Aurora snapped, "I am going to tan your hide!" Ron was nursing the back of his head, then looked at her with a grumpy expression, "we do not look down on others based on their genetic profile, we only judge people based on what they do, and by the results of their actions. You are not the first mutant to show up in this family," she informed him, "Richard's own nephew, Warren Worthington III is one. He has wings for goodness's sake, and can fly like a bird," she told him, "You can at least hide yours if you want."

"You are a good boy, Ronnie, and I know your mom and dad love you. I know they do," she assured him, "they've told me how proud they were of you for saving your best friend's life, even if the threat turned out to be false. You have the instincts of a hero, Ronnie," Aurora assured her grandson, "and that is nothing to be ashamed of. Your mom and dad love you, and you know your Aunt Elektra loves you, and what's more, I love you, too," she told him as she kissed his temple, while rubbing his back. "You are our little Ronnie, when your mommy was pregnant with you and people would ask her about you, she would smile so brightly, just at the thought of you. You help your Aunt Elektra forget that she doesn't have a mom," Aurora informed him, "I love how she lights up every time she sees you, you're the one thing beyond her father that she cherishes above all others. She's told me that you are her guiding light," Aurora told her.

"Which is how I see you too, my Ronnie," Aurora confided in him, "looking at you, seeing you, hearing about you, helps me keep my heart alive. You are my hope for the future," Ron sat up and looked at her, trying to see if what she said about him was true, while still hugging her, "I love you so much, Ron. And don't worry about being normal, normal's boring, you are meant for extraordinary things, baby. Promise me that you will never be normal!"

Later that summer

Ron had enjoyed the summer with his family, so far. He enjoyed playing games with his cousins, whenever their parents brought them over. His grandmother's husband had always treated him and his mom like one of his brood. The Worthingtons, while one of the world's richest families, second only to the Rothschilds in family wealth, worth tens of billions altogether, never allowed their children and grandchildren to act like spoiled brats. No child of the Worthingtons ever inherited anything if they were not at least working for the company at the time of inheritance. Every Worthington had to at least have a profession, or a passion, beyond that of Worthington Industries. Richard, for example, was a seasoned merchant marine captain, and a brilliant shipwright. He has designed some of Worthington Industry's latest waterborne vessels, including several designs used by the US Navy and the Coast Guard.

Neither his mother nor Ron, are exceptions to this rule, even if they are not Worthingtons. Diana, is a brilliant biomedical engineer, having worked for Oscorp for a few years, before leaving because they practiced too many unethical procedures. She has worked for DARPA since Ron was four, which is why they moved to Middleton in the first place. Don, Ron's dad, can do actuarial work anywhere, working as an independent contractor for several insurance companies at once.

Ron has inherited both of his parents' intelligence, as well as his Grammy's creativity, and a predatory instinct that nobody in the family seems to have, which they are sure comes from his grandfather. He gets straight As in school and seems to be a polymath. He loves to cook, and his parents do nothing but gush about his food. He loves to tinker with electronic equipment, and one of his favorite gifts for Christmas this year was a chemistry set. Ron seems to be gifted in languages, from his Grammy, he is as at home with Modern Greek as he is English, and Nana Stoppable is originally from Russia, and she has taught her son and grandson the language and customs of her homeland. Lessons she learned from her own grandmother, before the Revolution. Don, Diana, and Ron have been baptized into Eastern Orthodoxy, and attend services regularly on Sundays. Church is also where Ron has regular meetings with his Pack as an apprentice Wilderness Scout.

When Ron was not here at Worthington Manor, he would be at the home of Charles Xavier, premiere mutant expert, learning as much as he can about his mutation. It seems that Ron is the locus of an inter-dimensional gateway between their universe, and a subverse, which allows him to use his chains without losing his clothes. Professor Xavier stated that it was similar to the astral-plane, but whereas the spiritual-mental nexus of all minds is open to any being capable of reaching it, Ron's verse is only applicable through Ron. Ron has begun to call this subverse, his chain-plane, but he is precocious enough to wonder if he could take things into his verse and bring them out again.

They did learn one thing that was eye-opening for the staff of the mansion. Professor Xavier, perhaps the most powerful mind on the planet, could not enter Ron's mind. Every time he tried, he would get the most unbearable static in his mind, which translated into a migraine. It seems as though the metal, which Ron has dubbed ronium, and composing the base of Ron's anatomy, prevented any harm from coming to him, including psychic attacks.

Ron did not really have to spend more than a few hours a week in Westchester, he had pretty much learned what he could about his mutation before going there. He mostly went there to be around young mutants like him, to understand what being a mutant meant. He practiced using his chains, mostly in the kitchen, where he would practice multitasking, by using his chains to accomplish the various tasks needed to make a meal.

They made sure to test his chains to make sure they were sanitary for handling food, but found them to be sterile, even antiseptic, like copper or bronze. The students at the Xavier Institute learned to appreciate his cooking as much as his family. He did meet a few of his fellow mutants and became friends with a few of them, most of them were a little older than Ron. His best friend while there was a boy named Bobby Drake, both of them liked to play video games, and see how much mischief they could get into, and one of their favorite pastimes was to play pranks on each other, or the nearest unsuspecting target. Their favorite target was the stuffed shirt Scott Summers, a thirteen-year-old mutant who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. He was okay, but he tended to care way too much about being a mutant. I mean it's great being a mutant, but I am still Ronald Michael Stoppable, I'm eight-years old, I was that before I was a mutant. I want to be a kid as much as possible, until I no longer can.

Most of the students were abandoned by their parents when they manifested their powers, and had no place to go, until Professor Xavier came along and gave them a home. That alone earned him Ron's respect, he could not provide the love of family, but he gave them a place to belong. It was Ron who started calling him Professor X, as he was wont to do when he was around people he was comfortable with. The nicest person he found and the one he was most comfortable around was Jean Grey, ten-years old, scarlet-red hair and blue eyes. She was the prettiest girl he had seen besides Kim; he would always get tongue-tied when she was around, and she seemed to want to be around him quite a bit. She said it was because he was quiet, which he did not understand, because he made as much noise as the other kids.

Right now, Ron was at Worthington Manor, practicing one of his kata from Karate. It was one of the beginner forms, he had performed this same form countless times, since he was four, the day after he met Kim Possible. He was wearing his practice gi, with his brown-belt, which he had attained last year. His instructors never award shodan to anybody under the age of ten, because to earn a black-belt at his school, you had to face another black-belt and strip the belt from their waist. Ron will be required to do that sixteen times to earn his shodan for each of them.

He had practiced the kata so many times that he was not really thinking about what he was doing. One of the unique aspects about Karate, as opposed to Chinese martial arts, or Kung fu, is that Karate has one origin. It originated from a tiny island off the coast of Japan, and while there are some who say that China has had some influence on many aspects of Karate, it is still a unique form of expression. Its singular birthplace means many of the kata, kihon techniques, and kumite, have the same name and even the same steps to complete them. The only real difference between different styles is the mindset that should be emphasized with differing kata.

Some emphasize power over technique, agility over strength, hardness or softness, or a harmonization of the two philosophies. One of Ron's instructors said it was like viewing a mountain from a distance, one that needed to be climbed in order to gain wisdom. There are multiple paths available to anybody that wanted to make the climb, each path was different, and every path up the mountain was the correct one, because every path led to the same place, and had the same goal: to become strong and to grow in wisdom. The only wrong path to take was the one that led away from the mountain, but a worse path was if no step was taken, if one stayed still and did not grow. The only choice not available was the choice to abstain from the climb. When Ron asked why you could not abstain from practicing Karate, the instructor laughed warmly, and said, "it is not Karate that I was referring to young man. Karate is just one of many paths used to climb the mountain of Life."

Karate has taught Ron to see everything from different angles, to be open-minded, even if he did not understand everything around him. He decided it was time for him to become acquainted with his new appendages, so Ron unleashed all six of his chains, and activated his eyes. Two were from his abdomen, and four came from his back.

Ron imagines himself surrounded by assailants, when in practice he never bothers with a ready stance. His opponents will not wait for him to be ready when they attack. The first attack came from his weak-side, which Ron imagined himself deflecting, but his ab-chains launched their own strike, while his back-chains practiced their own blocks and counterattacks. The links were shaped like cylinders, the ends, like fists. He went through all of his kata, he wanted using them to become an instinct, he wanted them to become as interchangeable as when he used his flesh and blood limbs. Even as an eight-year-old, Ron knew that these chains were a responsibility for him, one that he had to be totally in control of, and upon whose shoulders would fall the ramifications if he misused them. Hell, with my hardened bones, getting punched by me should be more than enough to end any fight, Ron mused, because it would be the equivalent to getting hit with brass-knuckles.

Ron came to the end of his exercises, just as he heard a singular clapping sound behind him. He gave a goofy grin before saying, "hey, Elle, I was hoping to see you on this trip."

Ron turned to see a twelve-year old girl with long ebony-hair, held in check, barely, by a scarlet headscarf. She wore a scarlet, sleeveless crew neck, under a pair of knee-length, blue-jean overalls. Her name was Elektra Natchios, she was Grammy Aurora's niece, her younger half-brother's daughter, and as close to having a big sister to Ron as possible. "I like your new accessories, Ronnie," she said with a grin, "but how did you know I was here?"

"Ever since I unleashed these for the first time," he held up his right, as a chain emerged, and slid his left index along his nose, "my senses have sharpened a lot. I could smell you as you came near me, from the back of the house." The grounds around them were heavily forested, and the walk from the backdoor is a hundred yards away. He retracted and pointed to his ear, "I heard your footsteps getting closer as you came, the crunching of the grass, the impact on the forest soil, I even felt your passage through the atmosphere. Even as small as you are you still displace air and moisture," Ron concluded. "It's made me an even better cook than before, because my sense of taste has become as keen as my nose. My vision has also become as sharp as a razor," Ron added, "I have found that I can see an extremely long distance, or if up close, I can see the weave of even a silk shirt. That is also without using my golden eyes," he explained, "if I had used them, I could have watched you walk from the back door to here, and even see what kind of underwear you were wearing."

"That's amazing," Elektra declared, "and the chains are cool too, but I hope you're not thinking of becoming a peeping-tom?"

"I won't, I promise, I have a code of honor. What a girl won't show me herself, I have no right seeing. It's her body, she can share it with whomever she chooses. Plus, there are drawbacks, my sense of touch has also increased sensitivity," Ron admitted, "and synthetic fabrics are now uncomfortable to me. Cotton works, as does wool, but polyester," Ron concluded, "makes me unable to sit still. Also, when I use my golden-eyes, I lose my color-vision."

Elektra nodded her acceptance of his vow, they came close to each other and hugged for a long time, "I have missed you, polýtimo éna (treasured one). Don't think for a minute that your new additions change that," she whispered, causing him to tense, which only made her tighten her arms around him, "Theia Aurora, told me, before I came out here. I still love you, the same way I always have," she said, while running her hands through his hair, then pulled back to look him in the eye, "nothing will ever change that Ronnie, you understand? Nothing," Elektra states with intensity!

Ron nodded his acceptance of her vow, which brought a smile to her face. It made her already beautiful features even more radiant, which caused her to bring her lips to his for an exuberant kiss. It was not unusual for them to kiss like this, though she did let it linger for longer than normal. Ron returned the kiss for as long as she did, before they let go, and stood apart.

Ron had a sheepish grin on his face as they pulled apart, "you should also know that, uh, girls of a certain age can't keep secrets from me. I know at what point in their cycle they are, give or take a day or two. I found that out when Aunt Rose came for a visit last week," Ron told Electra, while scratching the back of his head, "I got close to greet her when I caught her blood scent in the air, and asked if she was injured."

Elektra had a deep-red blush and a knowing smile on her face, "well just make sure you keep those kinds of observations to yourself," she warned, "women don't like their business broadcast to the world. Okay, Ron," she asked to his understanding nod? Once she was satisfied with his compliance, she turned and began walking to the center of the clearing. When there, she turned and stood to face him, in her own ready combat stance, "come to me Ronnie," she said in a too-sweet sounding voice and a come gets some flick of her hand, "let's see whatcha got."

Chapter Text

Unstoppable Journey

Team Possible

Midterms Due Today

Middleton High: Five minutes before the bell…

Term papers were due today, the majority of the students at Middleton High were milling about and socialising. They all seemed content as if they were prepared for the day's activities. Ron Stoppable had gotten to school a good thirty minutes before, on his Namasuki CRX, from money he had earned through his electronic/home-repair business since he was ten. He was wearing his normal school attire, a maroon hockey-jersey over a black mock turtleneck, under which he wore a set of suspenders and a sturdy belt, holding up tan cargoes, with sneakers on his feet. He wore a pair of gold-tinted shades, to hide his eyes, that he had a doctors prescription to allow him to wear

It was one of the ways he made extra money, aside from the allowance he got from his parents, they give him plenty of support, emotional and financial. They were starting to reduce his financial dependence on them, so he would be prepared when it came time for him to be on his own. Anytime he needs to talk, they always make time for him, and he still talks to Grammy Aurora, Electra, and surprisingly, his father's mother, Babushka Stoppable.

She was from Russia and defected to the US in 1955. Her name then was Valeria Romanova, where she met her future husband, Jonathan Stoppable. She had been married before and had a child with her husband, a daughter they named Natalia, but she and her father, were killed when their apartment blew up while Valeria was at the market. Natalia was three-years old when she died, there was not enough left of them to even bury. Valeria left Russia a year later, because she could not remain there with the memory of her dead family.

Grandpa Richard has always treated Diana like his own daughter, he treats Ron no different than his other grandchildren. He even has the same standards of behavior for them, they may not be Worthingtons in name or blood, but by God they would be Worthingtons in deed.

On most days, his best-friend, soul-sister Kim Possible would have ridden into school with him. But, she and his second family, the Possibles, had gone for a visit to James Possible's brother in Montana for the weekend. Ron had a big job at the Middleton Mall over the weekend and would not be able to make it.

Today she seemed to be running late, and was about to be tardy. All of a sudden, the doors to the school flung open and a whirling dervish rushed through the halls. "Excuse me," she shouted politely, "in a hurry," she called apologetically. "Sorry," she exclaimed, as she rushed to her locker, which Ron had been leaning next to since getting his stuff from his own locker.

Kim hurriedly dialed her combination, opened her locker to see a computer and printer setup. She quickly inserted a disk, brought up the file for her term paper and hit print. This was where she had to be patient as the program did its magic. That did not prevent her from cheering it on to get her print out as fast as possible. "Come on, c'mon, print for Kim," she urged. She smiled triumphantly as white paper began to emerge from the industrious device. Her smile quickly turned to an aghast grimace, when the page emerged wrinkled and damaged.

"Uh oh, paper jam," Ron said from behind.

"Term paper jam, Ron," Kim shouted in desperation as she grabbed his shoulders and shook them.

Ron brought her into a hug to calm her down, "relax KP, you happen to have the best tech repairman in the business as your best-friend. I'll take a look." He stepped around her to clear the jam, made some adjustments to be sure it would not happen again, and restarted the job. Then voila, "there you go, Kim, term paper."

"That's awesome," she exclaimed, as she turned to collect her work. "It's all here," she declared in exuberance, as she flipped through the pages,"the paper, the footnotes, and the bibliography." She collected her paper then turned to her rock and threw her arms around him. Their lips met and for a second she lost herself in the kiss.

It was not the first time they hugged and kissed each other, and it was always strictly platonic… in the past. This kiss felt different for her, it was as if she had gotten zapped by electricity, but it was not painful, it felt good, really good. She was suddenly not in a hurry, she wanted to explore this feeling, to revel in him. Their lips came away, and they gazed with half-lidded eyes at each other. The kiss had lasted a good two minutes, though to them, it seemed to last forever, and was also not long enough.

"RIIINNNGGG," the dastardly bell broke them from their stupor, and their eyes were wide as they realised what they just did. "I have to go, Ron," she suddenly stepped-back, but she kept her hands on his arms.

"Kim," Ron asked, wanting to understand what just happened?

She stepped forward and placed a hand on his cheek, and looked him in the eye. "We will talk about this, Ron," she asserted as if she wanted nothing more than to stay and talk it out with him, "but I can't be late today. I've got two this month, if I get a third…"

"I understand, KP," Ron assured her, "we can wait until after school to talk about it, somewhere private."

"Thanks for understanding, Ron," she said as she bolted down the hall, "love you!" She turned a corner without looking, and barreled into something… solid. Her term paper scattered into the air.

She saw a mountain of muscle standing in front of her. The school's assistant principal, a former Marine, who ran his classes and the school like a military unit. Brown-hair, brown-eyes, in a business suit that barely contained his bulk. "Going somewhere, Miss Possible," he asked ominously?

Kim bent down to gather up her paper, "Mr. Barkin? I'm… uh…"

"Tardy, yes," he growled, "third time, this month."

"Maybe, I'm not sure," Kim hedged.

"I am," he asserted, "I guess I'll be seeing you, after school."

"Um, at cheer practice," she asked in hope?

"AT DETENTION, POSSIBLE," he bellowed!

Later that night…

Ron had just dropped Kim at home, they still had not talked about the kiss this morning, and that was okay with him, for now. That was something they both needed to think about, before they talked. Kim's house was only a block from the Stoppable residence, so it took about five minutes to reach Ron's house. Mom and dad have been traveling a lot lately, Ron mused, since I began my repair business, they've been away more and more for work. When I was ten, my dad went to work for DARPA with mom, though why an actuary would go to work for the government's science think tank is puzzling?

Instead of turning onto the main driveway, Ron turned upon a gravel path which led to the back of the property. There, we find a duplex-version of one of those tiny-houses that have become all the rage recently. It looked like a twin-gable, two-story house, built to a smaller scale. The only part that looked full sized was the carport, which was a recent addition, only about six-months old, since he got his motorcycle licence.

This was where he lived, most of the time, when his parents were away on business. One tiny-house had a futon that doubled as a couch in front of his game consoles and television set, it also had his desk with a computer, where he did his homework and kept records for his repair business. The other section housed a kitchen with a sink, range/oven, and some counter space. It also held a small refrigerator, and a section for his tools. Both sections were connected by a single-file corridor, which led to the bathroom.

Ron paid his parents utilities and only went into the main house, while they were gone, to do laundry. He paid the rest of his rent by being the Stoppable handyman, his dad said he did not have to pay them but he felt an obligation to pay them back. He built it himself, with the help of James Possible and his dad, though all the money came from his profits on the repair business, and his portion of the profits from his and Kim's website.

Because they were minors, most conventional forms of advertisement were closed to them. So, Kim and Ron opened their own websites to ensure a steady flow of income. The Kim Possible website advertised her babysitting/pet-sitting/elder-sitting business, which she did on her own, and surprisingly made as good a profit as Ron's repair business. She, with permission from her parents, was a licensed juvenile and elderly caregiver.

Ron had a similar setup with his business website, Unstoppable, he, also with permission from his parents, and help from Grammy Aurora, became licensed in electronics, appliances, and computer technology. He could be called in at any time to install or repair anything from the previous categories, and he was rated for home and commercial jobs. Kim and Ron's separate websites were local and state only, they never took any jobs beyond the borders of the state of Colorado in which they and the Tri-cities of Middleton, Upperton, and Lowerton are established. They are still required to keep abreast of licensing fees and permits, for Ron, because he is over thirteen, he is licensed as an affiliate of Natchios Shipping.

They had another website, Team_Possible, jointly owned, that took them around the world and actually made more money for them than their individual websites put together. Even if they did not charge every client for their work.

They were called Team Possible, but the 'possible' in the name was not for Kim's name, it was part of their slogan. "Anything is possible for Team Possible, we are unstoppable."

This site had people call them in from all over the globe, for anything from care-giving and repairs, artefact and science retrieval, to disaster relief and world saving. They never charged anything for the last two, a single life is more valuable than all the gold in the earth, but the first six jobs made quite a bit of money. They were starting to be recognized all over the world for their work and reliability.

They have gained permission to operate as a quasi-mercenary team, through an action implemented jointly as independent contractors for SHIELD and Global Justice. This initiative gives both agencies a pool of trained personnel to activate during a crisis, but otherwise not have to pay until they are needed. The independent contractors get credentials from each agency, giving them access to information up to Level 7 for SHIELD, and Major level for Global Justice, and are answerable only to the directors of each respective agency.

They have toppled dictators and rogue spy agencies, and have taken on low-ranking leaders of Hydra and the Hand. Recovered stolen technology for Trask Industries and the Rand Corporation, once they could prove that they owned it in the first place. They have even assisted in repairing equipment for Dr. Moira Kinross on Muir Island and helped her finally secure her divorce from her abusive husband, after Kim had a nice long chat with him about how to treat women.

Dr. Kinross, is the only person outside of family, other than Professor Xavier, and Dr. McCoy, as well as the Directors of SHIELD and Global Justice to know about Ron's mutation. Moira has begun to see Ron and Kim as good friends, and opened Muir Island up for them whenever they need medical attention, or Ron needs to learn more about his mutation.

It was at Muir Island that allowed us to learn that Kim is also a latent mutant. Meaning she has the X-gene, but it has not yet manifested.

We have started to become world-renowned, people are starting to recognize us. We're not mercenaries, we don't do anything for money, we don't just work for anybody either. We have a thorough vetting process for our clients, so we have a good idea whom we work for, and we don't do discreet things. Confidential, yes, we don't divulge the details of our missions to anybody, but we do give the names of our clients and mission-type and location of clients to Global Justice. So if something happens they would know where to start looking for us.

Ron finished making his dinner, sat down at his table, and began completing his homework for the day. He had to multitask the mundane parts of his life, because he never knew when a hit from his or their jointly-own site would come in, and they would have to go to work. Their school knows not to get on their case if it happens during the school day, or even during class, they are still expected to work hard in class, to complete assignments on time, within school guidelines, and obey all other school regulations. Mr. Barkin makes sure they do just that and never cuts them any slack, for the most part, he does make concessions for injuries, but anything less than a minor concussion and they are expected to do the work and turn it in, on time.

"BEEP-BE-BE-BEEP," the communication device he collaborated on with a third party sounded.

Ron fished it out of his pocket and accepted the call. On the small monitor, Ron saw the face of another significant part of his life. It was the face of ten-year old super genius, Wade Fury. Ron knows that he is quite intelligent, his intellect has been compared to Mr. Dr. Possible, even before his tenth birthday, he accepts this fact about himself, with humility and honesty. Wade, however, was in a class all on his own, in terms of smarts, he manages all three of Kim and Ron's websites, supplying them with tech, in which he mentors Ron in developing.

Wade has been compared to towering intellects like Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and Charles Xavier, the way Mt. Everest is compared to other mountains. Kim met him when his parents, Nick Fury's son and wife, needed her to babysit. He may be a genius, but he's still ten, and needs supervision when his parents are called away for SHIELD missions, Ron mused.

"Whaddup, Wade," Ron greeted his friend?

"Ron, got a hit on the Team Possible site, from the Amazon," Wade replied urgently.

"The Amazon, huh," Ron stated as he scarfed down his food, "is Kim on the way or am I picking her up at her place?"

"She's changing as we speak," Wade answered, "and coming to you."

"Gotcha, Wade," Ron retorted, as he went into his room for his mission-gear. As he did so, he pressed a button on his communicator, sending a signal to a nearby, private airport, one that belonged to Natchios Transport. This could be a good time to talk to KP about the kiss. I don't want it to ruin what we have, I liked it, but do we want to be a couple, or remain just friends? Regardless of our feelings on the subject, I refuse to let it ruin what we have.

High over the Amazon Rainforest…

The plane Team Possible were riding in was a sea-plane, meant for water landings. If you are going into the region with the largest river in the world as a centerpiece, you need as many ways to land as you can get. The plane belonged to Ron's family's company, it was headed along the same route anyway, they just gave it an extra task between Middleton and Costa Rica.

The reason they were able to use this kind of transportation was based on the promise Aurora made to him all those years ago. "Everything she owns, he owns."

When Ron was twelve, as he and Kim began going on dangerous missions, Aurora took steps to insure that Ron would have a reliable infrastructure to conduct his operations, even if she was no longer around. She redrew the Articles of Incorporation and all ownership documents for everything Natchios Transport controlled and put them in his name, as co-owner. She retained active control of all assets until he was eighteen, but gave him access to the use of those assets whenever he needed them.

Kim and Ron had maintained a professional attitude since meeting each other at Ron's place. This was just what they trained for while in SHIELD/ GJ training camp last summer, to compartmentalise emotions while on missions, to save what needs to be said for once the mission is accomplished.

Kim and Ron stood in front of a flat-screen hooked in the bulkhead of the plane. Wade's voice came over their communicators as he briefed them further on the mission. "Okay, Team Possible, I can stream you the tape from the security cameras now," he informed them.

"Please and thank you, Wade," Kim replied.

"We're ready, Wade-man," Ron added.

On screen a darkened lab could be seen, which was confirmed by Wade's voice-over. "This is the lab of Professor Akari." As he finished speaking an ebonette-haired woman appeared on screen, her clothing appearing to be a mixture of green and black as well. She was rather attractive in Ron's opinion, though he kept that observation to himself. She seemed to be rather spry too, because as soon as she entered the screen, she performed an acrobatic kick that took out the camera.

"Rewind and freeze, Wade," Kim asked? "Who is she, she's good," Kim wondered?

"Hmm," Ron mused.

Kim looked up with a curious gaze, studying his jawline and his chin. His freckles and big cute ears she wanted to caress. She even looked at the haystack he called hair, and wanted to run her fingers through it, for a couple of reasons. I have always thought he was cute, but the way his looks have changed over the years, have made him handsome in my eyes. I don't know why the other girls at school have never tried to be with him. I wonder if he's been thinking about that kiss today, I know I have? But it's not just his looks that make him attractive to me, it's always been his heart that I like the most, a heart that cares about other people. I wouldn't mind being his girlfriend, as long as we stay best-friends along the way.

Ron turns to look at her, and smiles at her curious gaze, assuming he knew what she was thinking he spoke. "I seem to remember her clothing from somewhere…" he trailed off, then shook his head, "but I can't place it."

Kim shakes her head, to clear it of her non-mission related thoughts, "I don't think it matters for now, Ron, let's get to Professor Akari's place."

Deep in the heart of the rainforest…

Once they were in the bush, Ron's senses became alert, and he activated his Golden Eyes, it was almost instinctive for him to ignore them when he was in civilization. When he was back home, or in a familiar environment, he tuned everything out so he could live a somewhat normal life. He knew his environment, and knew if there was ever anything out of place.

Now, in a place that was away from the ambient noise of human civilization, and unfamiliar territory, his senses were fully alert. His range of hearing increased to frequencies equivalent to other animals, like a cat's or fox's, his sense of smell had become as acute as a bloodhound, and his touch sensitivity was equal to a cat's whiskers.

His vision, with his eyes shut off, is amazing remained the same as a human's during the day, though his visual acuity was set at 20/5. And yet, according to Doctors Possible and Kinross, his X-gene has still not fully awakened, which is unusual, but it also means that the full extent of his power is indeterminable.

That was also, not taking his Golden Eyes into account, because they were not a part of his X-gene mutation, of that they were certain. Since awakening them at eight, Ron's Golden Eyes have given him amazing capabilities. He had one of the most powerful night vision abilities ever recorded, his vision in low visibility scenarios took on a golden-amber colour, and anybody seeing it would see his eyes glowing the same colour. He can see in all 360 directions, and through all obstructions, nothing, not even lead could bar his sight, because he was not using light, when he used his Gold eyes. They knew not the medium through which his eyes functioned, only that it was an energy that they were unfamiliar with. Another trait they discovered, quite by accident was his ability to perceive beings in the astral-plane.

Professor Xavier is not just a being of the physical plane, he is one with the psychic realm as well. From time to time, he likes to take a stroll through the astral-plane, because it temporarily allows him to escape his wheelchair. One time as Charles was strolling along, he saw two beacons of golden-light off in the distance as he moved through the plane. Distance is a relative concept in the collective unconscious, as the astral-plane is sometimes called, so he moved closer to the lights. They seemed to widen in surprise when they saw him, as soon as that happened they winked out, and Xavier returned to his body, just in time to get a phone call. It was Ron Stoppable, and to say they were both shocked was an understatement.

This revelation did not suddenly mean Ron was psychic, the only contact he could make to the astral-realm was visual. It just meant that his eyes worked beyond the physical realm, using means other than light to see. In addition to Team Possible's normal mission wear, a turtleneck with forest-green cargo pants, a utility-belt, flexible combat boots, and fingerless-gloves, Ron also wore a pair of goggles with the amber-gold tinting of his special eyes. This prevents people from noticing his eyes, and keeps the light from giving away his position on espionage missions.

Ron was in the lead with his senses to blaze a path through the underbrush without causing too much of a disturbance to the local ecology, while Kim brought up the rear, and provided navigation using the Kimmunicator. As loath to admit it as Kim was, Ron's near indestructibility meant he was the perfect person to take the lead and insure her safety. She hated thinking like that, Ron was her best friend, her blood-brother, and if something happened to him because she was too cowardly to take the lead she would never forgive herself. Just because we haven't found anything that could hurt him, doesn't mean there isn't one, Kim fumed in worry over Ron, it's not like we've been shooting him with guns, or stabbing him with knives, or even beating him with clubs. Any experiments we've done, have been conducted to cause him as little injury as possible, should we finally find something that does harm him.

Finally they came to a small clearing in the foliage, with a large tree in the middle. Atop the tree, sequestered among the canopy, they see an actual tree house sitting in its branches. It looked to be only slightly more compact than Ron's own house, though they concluded that it was only one room. The only way up was via two ladders, connected by platforms.

"Whoa, that house reminds me of folktales my babushka used to tell me about the Baba Yaga, when I was younger," Ron mused as he deactivated his eyes. They tried to keep Ron's and Kim's mutant status as Need To Know as possible. Not out of shame, it was a tactical decision, if fewer people know about him the least likely they will be ready for him. Kim just smirked as she took the lead, and began climbing up to the structure.

They wasted no time getting up to the house and awaiting them was an Asian man. He was slender and lean, yet he also seemed to have an athletic frame, with muscles that seemed to be built for speed more than strength. Another description that seemed accurate if they were any kind of judge, was the fact he was blind. He wore dark-glasses, even in the gloom of the rainforest, and he had a cane in his hand. Any other clues to his handicap were nonexistent, the most glaring of course being his residence inside of a convoluted rainforest, another absent clue, was where he looked. Instead of off to the side, as so many of the blind are known to do, this one was looking right at them as they came level with him. That could also be from the fact that he knew exactly where his stairs were located.

"Welcome, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable," Akari said to them in a deep baritone, though unlike every native Japanese man they have ever met, he did not bow to them. He turned and entered his house, followed by Kim and Ron, also unlike many of the Japanese people they knew, he did not require them to remove their shoes.

The interior of the cabin was rather dark, with no form of light-bearing apparatuses to be seen. Understandable, considering their client's living situation.

"Thank you for the call, Professor," Kim replied, "will you give us some information on what was stolen, please?"

"It was an experimental tracking device that would allow me to navigate through the forest and around my home, more easily," Akari informed her. He pointed to his dark-glasses and continued, "if you have not surmised, I have… certain limitations, and as so often happens in life, my body has adapted to its environment by heightening my other senses, namely my sense of hearing. Which has become as acute as that of a bat, and has given me a radar sense that allows me to navigate my environment pretty well," Akari explained, then went on, "but that is true, so long as I am in a familiar environment. Such as this house and even the surrounding forest, but I will soon be required to leave this place and return to so-called, civilized society. So, I used my knowledge of science to create a mobile field of sensors that emit a frequency of sound that only I, or perhaps certain pets, would be able to detect. This will allow me to move more freely in unfamiliar territory, and since they're so small, not many people will notice them," Akari finished with, "and yesterday, while I was out getting some exercise, a thief entered my home and removed my schematics for the swarm, as I call them, from my computer."

"I guess that means they weren't in braille," Ron said while looking at what looked like a normal computer station, but with a braille-display attached to it as well.

"That is correct, young man," the professor nodded, "while I have crafted the initial concept from my imagination, I will need outside help to manufacture the quantity I need."

"Hmm, once we get your designs back, I may be able to help you find a manufacturer that will be able to help you," Ron told him, "and may even turn a tidy profit for you, if you're willing to allow for general distribution of your invention."

Akari was raising an eyebrow at Ron's proposal, but he reticently just nodded, "maybe on a limited basis Stoppable-san, but it is all just a moot point until they are returned to me."

"Of course," Ron agreed, "as soon as you have signed our standard contract, and we have ascertained if you are truly the inventor of this Swarm as you call them, we will begin searching." Ron turned to the computer, which had powered on by itself, "we'll use your equipment to allow for your blindness."

A few hours later…

Kim and Ron had left a few minutes ago, after finalizing the paperwork that made him officially their client. From the door to Professor Akari's house emerged a very different man from the one the team had met earlier. He wore a yellow-hooded, long-sleeved suit, underneath a black and red tunic. His arms were wrapped up just below the elbow, and on his back were a pair of kama, or sickles. On the front of his tunic was the kanji character 怒りfor Ikari, or Fury, on his head was a red devil's mask that covered the top of his head, including the eyes, the rest of his face was shrouded in shadows.

Time to talk

They were in the air on the way back from the mission, which was winding down. They had filed the mission with GJ, and their business managers, so they could generate an invoice for their client.

Now the time had come for them to talk, and the silence between them was palpable. They were sitting side by side, Kim's hands in her lap, Ron's were laying on the armrests, and they were staring aimlessly ahead. Kim turned her head to look at him, he could feel the weight of her gaze, the weight of her soul boring into him.

Kim raised her arm and ran a hand over his, tracing her fingers over his arm hair, down his bicep, along his powerful forearm. Ron had turned his head to look at her, he found her staring at what she was doing, and shyly looking up at him to see if he liked it.

They had touched each other before, but there was just something different about her caress today. It felt tender, loving, and utterly amazing, not to mention right.

Ron turned his hand over, and hers immediately filled it. He looked at her face, at her eyes, which were now locked upon his. He carried hope and angst in equal measure, yet they were overshadowed completely by his affection and protectiveness. Kim knew that emotion, she had seen it passing between her parents, and shining toward her and her brothers since she was a little girl. She smiled up at him in invitation.

Ron reached down with his other hand, because he refused to let go of her for as long as he could. Kim's smile only brightened as the armrest between them was lowered. She moved closer to him, wanting to feel as much of him pressed against her as possible.

Before she knew it, his lips were on hers, his gloveless hand caressing her cheek. She surged over him to straddle his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. When the need for air became only slightly more important to each other than kissing, they parted, but kept their foreheads together. They looked into each other's eyes, the question bright. The broadening smiles only for each other, were all the answers they needed. It was official, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were now dating, but in their eyes they conveyed another promise, they vowed that no matter what happened, their friendship took precedence. When you have known each other for as long as they have, words become unnecessary, when you want to speak to each other.

Detention Room 12

Kim and Ron arrived at school this morning with their arms linked. Kim could not prevent herself from smiling up at her new boyfriend as they walked the halls. Both of them were oblivious to the stares of their fellow schoolmates, they seemed to be lost in their own little world.

They had many of their classes together that year. English, Geometry, World History, and their lunch period, which also included Health Class. He was in Creative Writing this year, she was in Debate this year, when they parted ways for their separate classes, they exchanged kisses. When they entered their classes, both became magnets for everybody's eyes.

Every girl wanted to know the details of Kim and Ron finally getting together, and every boy was jealous that they would not get a chance to be with the head cheerleader. Ron was not the least popular person in the school, but according to the school's preposterous social hierarchy, he was nowhere near high enough on the so-called Food Chain to date any cheerleader, let alone Kim Possible. Their friendship alone seemed to be implausible enough, even if the school has long since accepted their dynamic.

Most of them did not care about their friendship and considered it an anomaly to the social ladder, much the same as mystery meat, they just accepted it was what it was and moved on with their lives. Others considered it weird, but wrote it off as him being Kim's charity case. A way for her to assuage her conscience as she moves on in life without him, not realising that with him being co-owner of the largest shipping company in the world, he is worth more than the entire student body and faculty combined. Though at the moment, only Ron, Diana, Don, Kim and the Doctors Possible are aware of his status, though all have signed confidentiality agreements to prevent them from divulging Ron's status.

Still others became incensed at them even being friends, when they realised they were a couple now too, they became enraged. None more so than Bonnie Rockwaller, one of Kim's fellow cheerleaders, and an avid proponent of the Food Chain.

Kim's debate classroom, unlike many others in the school, instead of rows of desks for students to sit in, the room was laid out by tables. Kim just so happened to sit at the same table as many fellow cheerleaders, one of which was Bonnie Rockwaller. She was a beautiful brunette with a really nasty personality, who sat directly in front of Kim on the opposite side of the table. She was leaning back in her chair, with arms crossed over her chest, and her legs crossed at the knee. She was staring daggers at her rival, who was not paying attention to her at all.

Kim's head was stuck somewhere in the clouds, and counting the minutes until she saw her boyfriend again. It was a few minutes before the bell, "so Kim," Bonnie began as she cruelly broke through Kim's thoughts. "I've been hearing disturbing rumours about you regarding that loser you call a friend."

Kim blinked rapidly to bring her thoughts back to the here and now. "What are you talking about, Bonnie," Kim wondered?

"Stoppable," Rockwaller snapped, "I heard you've been making moon-eyes at that loser."

"I didn't think I was that bad," Kim answered with a blush.

There were substantial gasps from everyone at the table. "How could you admit to something like that," Hope, one of the cheerleaders asked?

Kim affected a confused expression, though she knew where this was going, and added, "why wouldn't I admit to being attracted to him? I've always thought Ron was cute," Kim admitted, "even when we were kids. Come on girls, take off the lens of the social ladder, and imagine him as women, not in terms of popularity." Kim began to get lost in her thoughts, as she described Ron in ways that would appeal to any woman, "hair like a desert sunset, even if it's messy half the time. His sexy ears that are so sensitive when I touch them, they twitch," Kim stated dreamily, "even those freckles on his face give him a boyish quality that draws me like a moth to flame. His kisses can make me curl my toes," she stopped to gauge the looks on her fellow cheerleaders faces, nearly all of them had been caught up in Kim's description of him, even Bonnie was fighting a blush. Kim decided to give them one more push to see how they would react, when she leaned forward conspiratorially and added, "not to mention his lean, muscular physique, that I can't wait to feel pressing against me at this year's Spring Fling."

Kim smirked as she saw a few of her fellow cheerleaders begin to drool. Bonnie jerked out of her imagination and shook her head to clear it of her not so pristine thoughts. "So what," Bonnie declared, "he may have the looks but he is still a social outcast. He's still a Loser," she declaimed, "he doesn't deserve to be seen with social royalty, let alone date one!"

"I see," Kim said in understanding, "so by social royalty, you mean…"

"Cheerleaders," Bonnie screeched! "Cheerleaders, jocks, the student body government, they're the rulers of this school, the top of the Food Chain, while nerds and dweebs and geeks and losers are nothing more than fodder for their betters."

"You know, Bonnie," Kim began through gritted teeth, "there's something important you need to know about this so-called Food Chain of yours. It is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard. Also, it's nowhere close to how the world really works," Kim growled, "those so-called nerds and geeks as you called them, are the rulers of the world. Whereas those cheerleaders and jocks you mentioned as ruling the school, they usually get a wake-up call when they graduate. They learned that their status in high school doesn't mean jack-shit when they leave here," Kim snapped as she gave Bonnie and all the girls at her table a wake up call, "because there is a truth that all of us really should take to heart…" they all looked at Kim as if she was about to impart a great wisdom, "high school… ends."

This got all of their attention, but Kim continued, "that's right, high school will end someday, for all of us, and when it does, those of us who are still stuck worrying about their popularity, will not be able to cope in a world where nobody knows your name, and they don't give a rat's ass where you were in the high school hierarchy, and life is going to steamroll all over you. That's not an opinion either," Kim continued harshly, "it's a cold, hard fact of life. So go ahead, continue to follow the food-chain and be sheep, or in your case Bonnie, Queen Bitch of the school, and you'll find out the hard way how little you matter, outside of these walls."

Later in the day…

It was the end of the school day, and Kim was standing at her locker with her boyfriend. His arm was around her shoulders, hers was around his waist, and it amazed them at how comfortable they were with each other. They had noticed other couples in the halls who seemed to walk on eggshells with each other, because they were still in the Getting to Know You phase of their relationship. Kim and Ron already knew each other, as well as anybody could ever know another person, therefore they had moved past that part of their relationship into the fun parts, the Kiss and Cuddle Phase.

At the moment they were listening to an intelligence briefing from Wade, about the girl from the video. They were using the computer in Kim's locker as opposed to the Kimmunicator, "her name is Shego," Wade's voice came over the sound system, "she's wanted in eleven countries, mostly for theft and assault."

"Make that twelve," Ron added with a lascivious growl.

"Ick, so not your type, loverboy," Kim said while jabbing him with her elbow.

"Now, now, KP, I was just window shopping," Ron squeezed her shoulder, "I already got the best woman in the world as my girlfriend. It's no different than you drooling over the 'Oh, Boys' poster."

"I know, Ron, and looking is fine, I don't even mind you getting turned on about another woman," Kim stated as she looked up at him, then darted a peck on his lips, "just as long as your ardor is focused on me. I promise mine will be only for you too," Kim added.

Ron smiled at her as well, then something flashed in his mind, "Shego… Chicago… Team Go."

"What is it, Ron," Kim asked her boyfriend in concern?

"I suddenly remembered where I've seen her clothing," at Kim's clouded eyes he added, "from the video, remember… back on the plane, before we met Akari-san?" Kim's memory was jogged but she only nodded at him to go on, "I remember a few years ago, about a team of siblings, with unusual abilities, that started up in Chicago for a brief time. They didn't last very long, only about three years, then they disbanded. I remember four boys and a girl," Ron mused with his chin in hand, "the kind of powers they had doesn't spring to mind…"

"POSSIBLE," came the roar of an irate Assistant Principal! Kim and Ron jumped at the sudden noise, then turned to see Mr. Barkin striding down the hall toward them. "Aren't you supposed to be in detention," he yelled!

"Yes, my apologies, Mr. Barkin," Kim agreed as she looked at the clock on the computer, she was not late, but if she did not get moving she would be, "we were getting an intelligence brief from a criminal we encountered recently. I'm on my way." She turned to Ron and gave him another quick kiss as a parting before rushing off to do her penance.

Barkin was following her to make sure she did not try to skip, when Ron called out to her, "Me and Wade will do some digging to see what kinds of abilities she might have. See you on the outside, Kim," then to remind her that he was a detention veteran too, and acting like it was the equivalent to prison added, "make sure to make friends with the biggest guy in there and they'll look out for you. If you can't be friends, the next best strategy is to kick his ass."

Kim looked back at his last quip and rolled her eyes, though she was grinning, just before she was out of sight she called out, "just make sure you're ready for me when I get out, gonna need some attention from my man after being deprived for so long!" The last she saw of Ron, he was blushing to equal her hair, damn right, Ronnie, you are my man, not even going to try hiding that from you, or anybody else. You'll never wonder how much you mean to me. I'm not ready to say, 'I love you' yet, but I think I already feel it.

Later at Bueno Nacho…

Kim served her detention, and met Ron at his favourite restaurant, Bueno Nacho. He found it the summer after the Pizza Partitorium banned Ron and his family. After the Possibles' home, and his tiny house, this was the place where he feels the most at home. She arrived in time, just as Ron was sitting down in front of a triple, nacho-taco, grande platter, and sweet iced-tea. She saw his food intake and smiled in fondness, with a shake of her head. He went to pick up his food for consumption, when Kim dashed forward and slid into the booth next to him, before grabbing his head and bringing him in for a long sensual kiss. If they had been alone, she would be trying to invade him with her tongue, but because they were in public she had to dampen her desire for him.

They parted and sat together as close as possible, her head on his shoulder, his arm around the back of her neck squeezing her shoulder. They were giggling and chuckling, "it seems I have two favourite tastes in front of me, KP," at her curious stare he answered, as he leaned closer to whisper, "Tex-Mex cheesy goodness, and you, Kimberly Ann Possible."

It was Kim's turn to blush, as she caught the double entendre, that or she had it bad for him already. Her blush only lasted a second, when a mischievous smirk appeared on her face. She leaned further into him until she was covering his ear, "you play your cards right and I might let you taste me, someday." She saw his ear go red, before pulling away, but not before nipping his ear and she was giggling.

They laughed together for a little while, just enjoying each other's company. Ron asked about detention and how she liked it, since it was the first time she's been there, since starting high school? They shared Ron's food and made small talk, until they were near the end, when Kim decided to get down to business.

"So, were you able to find out anything about Shego, and her brothers," Kim asked, going into team leader mode, even if she remained pressed against him?

"Some," he began with a nod, "I started, using old news articles and magazines, before moving on to more exotic resources." The last part was said at near a whisper, then he went on in a normal voice, as he pulled out his tablet. He flicked it on and the first thing Kim saw was the booking photo of Shego, "her real name is Michelle Go, she and her four brothers are Americans of Asian descent. She's the second oldest of her family, with her older brother Henry, being older by two years. Hego as he was called, has super-strength and invulnerability. Michael Go, her younger brother by five minutes, according to hospital records, was called Mego, and he has the ability to shrink incredibly small, I don't know his limit."

"So Shego is a twin," Kim mused?

Ron nodded to confirm, "fraternal. It seems that twins run strong in the Go family though, because there are another set of twins, and though they look alike, they're also fraternal twins. William and Wilbur are significantly younger than their other siblings, they're a couple years older than the tweebs, and have the ability to multiply themselves."

"That's great and all but what about their sister, what kind of powers does she have," Kim asked?

"I am just getting to her, KP," Ron acknowledged with a nod. "Michelle has the most diverse abilities out of them all, probably because she's more intelligent than her brothers, and probably studied her abilities more thoroughly than them. The character assessments from our exotic sources view the boys as adolescents, even Hego and Mego. They seemed to have watched a few too many Fearless Ferret reruns and acted like golden age comic book heroes."

"Something tells me, you and the Go brothers would get along just fine, Ron," Kim teased, who just smirked. "Now please tell me about Michelle's powers," she gently ordered.

"In addition to being an advanced martial artist from a young age, Shego can fling plasma bolts from her hands, or ignite them around her fingers and cut through almost anything. She graduated high school at fourteen and completed her BS in Early Childhood Development at eighteen, she was registered to begin her Masters, when she left the team and dropped off the grid for a few years. The next time she was seen, she was working as a mercenary," Ron concluded.

Kim was thinking about the information from her beau, while leaning into him. I wonder what caused her to leave, she not only left her team, but her family. It has to be more than just a family squabble, she mused, it must have been something major, as much as the tweebs irritate the hell out of me, I don't know of anything that would make me leave like that. She didn't just turn her back on her family, she turned her back on her morals, on her beliefs, on herself. What could it have taken for her to make such a paradigm shift in her conscience?

Getting In

After their impromptu date, Kim and Ron went to their respective homes for their nightly rest. The next day as they were getting ready for school, Wade called them in, on their respective communicators, and informed them that Shego had been spotted in a remote region of the Caribbean. Knowing from experience what kind of people frequented those waters, they were immediately suspicious, which were only confirmed when Wade showed them satellite data.

It showed them images of a small jet of suspicious origin landing on a remote island. Local superstition had painted it as haunted, which just screamed, Kids Keep Out! This only meant that they would be missing, yet another day of school. It could not be helped, unlike most teens whose main responsibility was keeping their grades up and their room clean, Kim and Ron had more pressing matters to attend. Thus, with a call from Ron to the local Natchios Shipping Hub, then a call to the school to update them on the mission and non-attendance, Team Possible were wheels-up twenty minutes later en route to the tropics. Now, after parachuting into the ocean they were swimming through the subterranean caves of the island. Ron's night-vision worked as good underwater, as it did on dark nights above sea-level, the whole world was lit up like gold.

Kim was following in Ron's wake, when she was suddenly seeing things differently. They began taking on three distinct shades of a violet-purplish hue, with bright particles flickering into the mix. These particles seemed to be passing through everything, except when she looked at her hands. She raised her hands to look at them and watched as the particles she saw before, instead of passing through her, became absorbed into her skin like moisturiser. She didn't feel anything when they entered her, but she suddenly felt energised. She looked around and saw that Ron had noticed her alarm and was coming back to check on her. This was where she found another anomaly in the particle shower she was seeing. Ron did not seem to have any of the particles passing through him, as she witnessed nearly everything else. They seemed to be deflecting and repelling from him like raindrops on a windshield. Now anybody else that found themselves in this situation, may have panicked, but Kim Possible was not just anybody else. She was a capable, brave young woman, who had been in more than a few dangerous situations. What's more she was raised by scientists who taught her and her brothers to be analytical in new and strange situations.

Her mind ran through what she knew, she was seeing particles pass through objects. She knew of many such particles in her studies of physics that did just that: neutrinos of which there were three known varieties: electron-neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos, 100 trillion neutrinos pass through Earth, moving at near the speed of light every second. Most of the time they are harmless because they have almost no charge, sometimes they acquire a charge and become known as cosmic rays. They do occasionally interact with biology and cause harm to DNA, but the atmosphere tends to block out most charged particles. They can also temporarily alter the composition of the atmosphere, allowing clouds to discharge their energy in the form of static electricity, also known as lightning.

Ron reached her and since talking was impossible here under the ocean, they began using the rudimentary sign language of divers.

(Problem), Ron signed?

(Yes), Kim returned.

(Abort mission), Ron asked?

(No), she replied. (I am OK), she added.

Ron looked at her eyes to make sure of her decision, before motioning for her to take the lead, so he could keep an eye on her for any more abnormalities. They moved into a tighter area, there were more stalactites in this region of the cave. All of a sudden they felt a strong current pulling them in one direction toward an opening in an enormous stalactite. Kim whipped around to look at it, and something happened. It was as if she was seeing through the façade of rock, to the truth, and still seeing the rock.

Kim saw that the opening led up into a shaft, not into certain death. Shego already knows we're here, stealth infil is a bust, she realised, no need to waste energy getting in when they're showing us the way. So she rushed at Ron with speed and strength she did not have before, and grabbed him around the waist propelling them both through the opening.

Soon after…

They found themselves standing precariously on a small, circular platform, just out of reach of a very hungry shark. They were not alone however, because standing on a ledge about twenty feet from them was Shego. The weight of their water gear was cumbersome when not immersed, so they quickly divested themselves, letting it drop to the bottom of the pool. Of course, not before activating their failsafe to get themselves out, if necessary. They were still in their wetsuits, and barefoot, which had the Team Possible logo on the shoulders.

"Who are you," Shego demanded, as soon as they could speak?

Kim and Ron shared a look then shrugged to each other as if it made no difference if they told her their names. "Well, I don't suppose it would make any difference if we told you our names," Kim mused idly, "we already know you, Shego. My name is Rouge," Kim answered, pressing a hand to her own chest, then pointing an open hand to Ron said, "and this is my partner, Dire Wolf, we're collectively known as Team Possible." When they started their globetrotting site, they knew that most enemies were ruthless enough to target them through their families, so they decided to develop false identities.

Kim's voice and tone were no different than if they were a new couple greeting a neighbor for the first time. While she was talking, Ron was looking around the cavern trying to find a means of escape. There was a staircase cut into the one side of the cave wall which led to the larger complex. The ceiling was vaulted about twenty feet in the air, not even the highest he and Kim have ever jumped.

Before Shego could respond, a figure appeared in the entrance to the grotto. "I have heard of you," the voice said, "the world famous teen heroes, Team Possible." The voice belonged to a tall, ebonette man wearing a blue lab coat buttoned to the collar with black gloves, belt and shoes. The strangest characteristic of this man was the fact that he had blue-skin. Not Smurf-blue, more like the colour of the sky.

"Naturally, you know of my work," he inquired in an all too eager voice.

"Sorry," Kim answered with a shrug, which was true, she had never heard of him before. Though given the way he seemed so eager to have his name mentioned, she probably would have lied about recognizing him anyway. Rule no.1 of the SHIELD/GJ handbook: when in enemy hands, never miss an opportunity to undermine your captor's self-image. It may be the key to your freedom.

"Think about it for a moment, it'll come to you," he urged. "I'm a genius," he added to jog her memory?

"Well given that Ms. Go over there is a mercenary," Ron said, coming to the forefront, while sliding his arm around Kim's waist, "I assume you're her employer. Mister…"

"Doctor," he snapped, "it's Doctor Drakken!"

"Doctor Drakken," Rouge repeated to confirm his name.

Then, as if to pretend that she simply recognized his name said, "Ah-hah, I see that my reputation precedes me."

Since interrupting the conversation between Kim and their imprisoners, and grabbing Kim's waist, Ron has been talking to her. Using his thumb and forefinger, he has been tapping out Morse code on her body. For a wild second, Kim was about to admonish her man for being so fresh with her in public, not to mention unprofessional on a mission, until she began to understand the message he was sending her.

-KP -KP stop -HAVE -PLAN stop -CHEER -TAC -5 stop, was the message she received. If she was not in love with him already this would be the catalyst that put her over the top. Even if Ron was not part of the cheerleading squad, he always helped her practice, and knew the routines of the Middleton High cheer squad as well as any of the women on the team. They have also practised many ways to communicate with each other if speaking openly was not feasible, and Morse was just one of them. Now, rather than allow herself to lose focus on the mission, she became even more determined to finish this mission, so she may give him… and herself, a proper reward.

"You have something that doesn't belong to you, doctor…" then just to piss him off, "what was it again?"

"Oh, enough chit-chat," he said, losing his patience, then, indicating the hungry sharks, put out his hand as a remote control descended to his hand! "My pets are famished, perhaps you two could stay…"

"…for lunch," Kim asked derisively?

"I wasn't going to say that," Drakken retorted, as he gritted his teeth!

"Dude you were so going to say 'for lunch,'" Ron countered in a scolding voice.

"Fine then, stay for lunch," Drakken replied petulantly, just before pressing the button.

"WAIT," Ron suddenly yelled loudly, startling everyone in the grotto! "Dr. Drakken, sir," Ron asked in a forlorn voice, "could you give a guy one last chance to say goodbye to his girlfriend?"

"What," Drakken and Shego asked in astonishment?

Not waiting for an answer, Ron turned Kim so he could watch the duo on the ledge, and so they would not be able to see. Ron brought his hand up to caress Kim's face, and smiled. All too real tears were in his eyes as he spoke to his girlfriend, "we've barely even dated a week, but whatever happens I want you to know that I love you, with all my heart. You and your family have been the only thing keeping me sane these past few years," Ron declared, "at the very least they're the only thing keeping me there. If you or they weren't there, I would have no reason to stay," Ron informed her.

He knelt down before her, on one knee, "Rouge, would you like to go to the Spring Fling with me?"

Kim nearly choked up when he told her he loved her, but the fact that he used her code name to say it, meant it was part of his ruse. She knew as well as him that when they say it for real, it will be with their true names. "No," she shouted as she stepped into his outstretched hand, as he launched her into a back flip through the air toward the green-skinned woman!

Kim spun through the air, laying out in flight, and corkscrewing toward Shego. All of which took half-a second to complete, and if it were anybody else it would have taken them by surprise. Michelle Go however, was an experienced warrior and knew not to waste time blocking, when dodging was a better option. Shego sidestepped the incoming teen, and ignited her hands. She took a lunging swipe at Rouge, who leapt away, twisting her body sideways. Kim thought Shego had missed completely when she made her attack, but as Kim completed her manoeuvre and got some distance, she chanced a look down and found a piece of her wetsuit, over her abdomen, missing. Thinking that was all the damage Shego was capable of inflicting with her attack, Kim thought nothing of it.

Shego however, remembered her fingers touching flesh. Her power did not prevent her from feeling when she pierced skin and tissue. She did not remember piercing flesh, but she did remember feeling the teenager's skin on her fingertips, and with her plasma active, the girl should have at least had a burn on her belly. Shego was given no more time to contemplate the divergence of her experience, because Rouge was moving into the offence. Kim decided to treat her opponent's hands as if they were lethal weapons, because they were, and she had plenty of experience fighting someone like that, when she and Ron would spar in the backyard. There were times when Ron would spar with his chains, and she would practice fighting an opponent wielding a blade… or six.

Kim was dodging while Shego was swiping, and both were very aware of the pool of sharks, marking the boundary of their arena. Rouge was so focused on not getting struck by Shego's plasma hand, that she failed to notice her own manos begin to glow. So did Shego, until it was too late. Kim was coming out of a series of manoeuvres that caused Shego to overextend her swipe. Rouge capitalized on the mistake, with a thrusting palm-strike, which was not a surprise in and of itself. What did surprise both combatants, was the force imparted from the palm-strike, which surprised Kim Possible, but not as much as it surprised Michelle Go. The force of the strike, picked Shego up and flung her into a cave wall so hard, she left a crater in it when she slid to the ground.

Anybody else that had received such an impact would have been pulverized, but the comet that gave her and her brothers their powers, also gave them practically invincible bodies. She had never been hit as hard by anyone as what a teenage girl just did to her. She had been hit full force by her brother once, during training, and that had been bad enough to knock her out for the day, not send her into a wall. All of that would be something Michele would ruminate over, once she woke up from her unconscious state.

What about Ron?

As soon as Rouge was launched to safety, Dire Wolf was launched the other way as physics dictated. He himself back flipped in the opposite direction, and allowed his parkour training to kick in as he fell toward the shark infested waters. He noticed his shadow, being cast from the light of the entrance to the grotto, and the even larger looming shadow below his, of a rather large shark, practicing its seal catching manoeuvre, which meant it was old enough to have been to the southern tip of Africa. Which was an idle thought really, and while most people would be more concerned about their impending death via shark ingestion. This was not the first time it had happened, since he and Kim began their globetrotting adventures. It still hurt like a mother fucker, but a sharks jaws did no more to damage his skin than anything else they have tried.

As Ron and the shark were about to meet, something happened, and it occurred at the speed of thought. First, his skin became black, as black as the starry abyss of the night. It barely reflected more than a single photon, the metamorphosis continued over his entire body, obscuring his face and hair.

The shark leapt out of the water and bit down hard on the biggest morsel of food he received in a week. An intense fire of pain emanated from his maw. When he was a younger shark, he tried to bite an anchor chain, and he lost several rows of teeth because of it. This bite was imminently more painful for the shark than that bite, then the shark felt a punch to his nose, which stunned him. The shark suddenly felt his world turn upside-down, sending him into a catatonic state of awareness, he was locked within his own body.

As soon as the rest of the sharks were subdued, a surge near the rim of the tank, fountained into the air, disgorging a human-like figure. Drakken looked upon it with fear, but not a little bit of fascination. The scientist in him, only temporarily overridden by self preservation. He looked at what used to be a boy, no older than fifteen or sixteen, becoming a metallic, grotesque caricature of himself. Drakken remembered tales from his family in Budapest about a primeval chaos-monster created by God. "Behemoth," the not-so-good doctor breathed in a craven voice. This one, was over 2-meters tall, with dark-skin, as dark as the depths of space, with only small points of reflection resembling stars, which gave him an outline. It was his face and head that seemed to be the most changed, because they had more skull-like features than anything. His head was completely hairless, and he had no ears, his eyes seemed to be an amber-gold luster.

Ron looked down at himself, at his body, and understood what was happening. So, my X-gene has finally awakened, and given me a makeover. I hope KP likes me like this because I may not be able to turn it off. I appear to be composed of ronium-metal, Ron's thoughts are pretty calm considering the situation, speaking of which… Ron looked down at himself and realised he had ripped out of his wetsuit, luckily his boxers helped preserve his modesty.

As Ron was marveling at his new body, he heard the shuffling of feet near the door. He looked, and saw the azure-skinned doctor, ambling toward the door. Ron shot his chains out at the speed of sound, wrapping them around the hapless scientist, before bringing him down the steps, and into the wall.

Ron checked his opponent, and breathed a sigh of relief. He had no doubt that someday, if it meant the difference between one life, and the seven-billion other humans on the planet, he would be called upon to take a life. Thankfully however, today was not that day. As Ron visibly relaxed, luckily, my new body isn't dead material, he was checking the blue-man's pulse and could feel it under his fingers. I can even feel the warmth of my skin on his.

"Ron," came his favourite voice in the world, though it was laboring with astonishment? He looked over at Kim, who was staring up at him in wonder. She was walking over to check on him, but her steps seemed hesitant…

"Yeah, KP, it's me," he stood up and turned to her with apprehension in his golden eyes. He tried to inject some levity into his voice to disguise it, "I think my body may be going through some changes." Kim reached her boyfriend and drew Ron into a sensual kiss, pressing her body fully into his. As soon as they came up for air, they smiled at each other, caressing faces and holding hands. "I think we should make a slight detour to Westchester before we make our rendezvous with Professor Akari," Ron suggested.

"Yeah, I agree, my own body has decided to begin maturing," Kim concurred, "now, let's find those tick schematics and get out of here."

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

Unstoppable Journey

Family Gathers

Welcoming the Widow

Triskelion, Washington D.C.

The redheaded, twenty-something year-old woman, sat quietly awaiting her debrief from her recent mission to Budapest. The images she had of the little girl, continue to run through her mind. Antonia Dreykov, walking into the building to meet her father, who was for all intents and purposes a true monster. Forcing little girls through brutal training, turning them into killers, all because of certain men wanting to push their tyranny upon the world, but not having the balls to do it themselves. Antonia was just unlucky, Natalia thought to herself, she was unlucky to have been born to a father like him. I had to make sure the General was there, even a man like him wouldn't have his daughter come visit him if he wasn't there. Even monsters love their children, she rationalized, but it doesn't make their crimes any less heinous.

This woman's facade did nothing to give away her inner-turmoil, as loathe as she was to admit it, her training in the Red Room, under Madame B, was helping her cope with her choices. When she was awake, she could consciously keep her thoughts in order, at night when she slept, faces of the people she killed swam into her mind. There were good dreams as well, from her time in Ohio, when she could believe she was part of a family. There were other dreams, weird images from when she was much younger, where she underwent a barrage of injections, then she was extremely cold and went to sleep for a long time. In those dreams, she would wake up in the morning, just as she woke up in them. That seemed to be where all of her memories stopped and started, she could never remember anything of her life before those memories.

The door to the room opened and in walked an older man, and a woman, not much older than Natasha Romanoff herself. The man was of African descent, with a bald-head and the beginnings of a mustache and goatee growing on his face. He wore dark clothing, a long-sleeved shirt, and cargo pants in a military cut. He wore a shoulder holster with a .45 inserted, Natasha assumed he probably carried a knife or two as last resort, but the way he carried himself, with confidence even a little swagger, told her he was formidable with or without a weapon. He also stood straight with the bearing of a high-ranking military official, and the air of menace coming from his one eye, told her it did not come from sitting behind a desk giving orders. I would never want to fight this man, if I had a choice, because even with all of my training, I doubt I would prevail. The most striking feature of his attire, however, which gave him an extra layer of menace was the eyepatch floating over his right-eye. The scar-tissue peeking up over the eyepatch, said it was not just an accessory.

The woman was quite attractive, enough to be distracting to the general male populace, but not noticeable enough that she would attract more attention than she wanted. Dark chestnut hair, falling down her back, wearing a generic SHIELD Uniform, with a sidearm on her right hip. She did one thing that actually unnerved Natasha more than anything, she could not get a read on her skills. The man seemed to radiate aggression and intimidation, but the woman was utterly unreadable, she seemed to do her best to fade into the background, and make you forget about her. Black Widow had no problem in believing that this woman was at least as competent as herself, but where Natasha allowed her malice to seep into her exterior, this woman was completely neutral.

"Good morning, Agent Romanoff, I am Colonel Fury, this is Commander Hill," the man greeted her, while introducing himself and his silent companion, his tone was rather lukewarm, "did you enjoy your time in Hungary?"

"Not especially," Natasha answered ambivalently, "I have never enjoyed that part of the profession, I only ever did what I had to do to survive. Until Clint came for me, and offered me an alternative, I never knew there was another way."

"Even with the collateral results, the benefits of this mission will be felt by the world for years to come," Maria declared!

Natasha merely nodded to indicate that she understood the stakes, so Nick moved on with the debriefing. Natasha recited the steps she took to insure the successful termination of General Dreykov, even going so far as to search the wreckage. "I'm sure we got him, Colonel," the redhead asserted, "the only thing that gives me any doubt is while I did search, I wasn't able to be thorough enough, before the Hungarian Emergency Services arrived. So, unless there is a hidden room that I didn't know about, we can be sure that Ivan Dreykov is dead."

"I concur," Hill agreed in a professional tone, "and unless he sticks his head out of whatever hole he may have crawled into, we can never know for sure."

"Very well," Fury agreed with a nod, "I am officially marking this one as Mission Accomplished, but I'm having all agents and contractors affiliated with SHIELD, keep their eyes peeled for any sign of Dreykov. When Betty and I have our weekly intel share, I will brief her on him so she can have her peace officers and contractors keep an eye out, also."

"You're talking about Global Justice right," Natasha asked to his nod? "I've met some of her people while working on the other side. A few of them were actually able to impress me," she added, "but they're rather stiff. Especially one agent who seems way more arrogant than his skills allow him to be."

"If we're talking about the same agent, I may know who you're talking about," Hill agreed with a titter of amusement.

"Du," Widow asked, to Hill's nod, and they shared a giggle over their memories of one of Global Justice's self-proclaimed best agents.

"I know two teenage independent contractors working for us, who are better at The Job, than he is," Hill added to Romanoff's quirked eyebrow.

"Teenagers," she asked?

"Yes, teenagers," Fury broke into their hen party, "but don't worry, they chose this line of work. Been doing it since they were eleven," he added, "which brings us to your next assignment."

"Okay," Natasha replied dubiously.

"This one should be a cakewalk for you," Fury mused, "it's just a basic gathering mission. I figured we'll start you off easy with your first official SHIELD mission."

"And what was Budapest, a vacation," Nat snarked?

"An audition," was his reply.

Looking at the black man in thought, Natasha had to concede to his valid point, I could use a vacation, then asked, "so what's the mission?"

Fury pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. Natasha opened it to see identification photos of two individuals. They were of two teens, a blonde male with brown-eyes, and a redheaded girl with green-eyes. The girl was already quite attractive, and would only grow into her looks as she aged. The boy was rather dopey-looking with that gangling angular face that had the potential to grow into quite a handsome man.

As she was reading their basic information, Fury began speaking to her about her mission. "You're going in under the name Natalie Rushman, we were able to get your undercover records from KGB computers, which show you attending colleges in some states of the US. We compiled them into a single file that will give you bonafides for teaching credentials, your cover will be as a student-teacher. The last leg required before obtaining a teaching certificate."

"Ronald Michael Stoppable and Kimberly Ann Possible, Middleton, CO," Natasha said aloud, "independent contractors for Global Justice and SHIELD. They are collectively known as Team Possible. I assume this is mostly a mission to evaluate their effectiveness," she asked, looking up at the pair, who nodded to confirm her instincts. Natasha turned back to the file, and read some more, "what does semi-mercenaries mean?"

"It means they're more like… troubleshooters than actual shooters," Hill answered, "they're extremely competent martial artists, but they utilize little if any weaponry in battle."

"Stoppable is the in-field technical expert, and the best at distraction and retreat tactics. He can figure himself past any lock, electronic or otherwise. Possible, as the team lead, I have never seen her lose her cool in any situation. She is the better fighter between the two of them, though I do not see much difference in those skills," Hill concluded.

"One thing I am curious about is the part where it says: Enhanced, it has the designation: FDE. What does that mean," Natasha wondered?

"It means, For Director's Eyes only," Fury answered, "that means only I and my counterparts in other clandestine services may divulge certain information. In this case only Me and Dr. Director have control of their enhancement status."

"May I be, read into this information, Director Fury," Black Widow requested formally, "it may come up in the course of this investigation?"

Fury gave her a hard look as he considered her request, then looked at the other woman in the room. He already trusted her with his life and she has never given him a single doubt in where her loyalties lay. "Very well, only me and our geneticists know what I am about to divulge. This room is swept regularly for bugs, and I even did my own sweep before you got here."

Fury sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than the two women, to divulge this bit of intel. He turned to look at them, with a nod, "both members of Team Possible are mutants, Possible is a latent mutant, but Stoppable has already partially awakened his abilities. Stoppable, in addition to the enhanced senses of a wild animal, and an unheard of night-vision, has near impenetrable skin, and a skeleton made of a type of metal that so far, has denied anybody's attempts to break it. He has six pairs of chains that he can control as easily as his other limbs, they can cut through any substance known to man, like it was tissue paper."

Fury got a kick out of the gobsmacked expressions on the women's faces, "if you find that interesting, this'll really blow you both out of the water. Take a look at his family history."

Natalia read the section he indicated, until she came to his paternal grandmother's marital history… "What," Natasha asked, standing up in shock, the chair she was sitting in falling back with a clatter?! She backed away from the file on the table, like it was a bomb about to go off. Staring up at her under previous marriages was the name: Valeria Romanova.

It doesn't mean anything, she told herself, all of a sudden her Red Room training was not working. One of the things that always kept her going in the Red Room was the hope that she had a mother, a family, someone out there looking for her. She had kept it at the back of her mind, during the worst times in that hellhole. She never told anyone about her fantasy, because she had witnessed first-hand what happened to girls that voiced such weakness. The beatings would be brutal. Romanova is not a common name, but there are bound to be others with the name. I always thought it was just something they gave me there…

Fury just smiled at finally getting a rise out of the cold-hearted assassin, at least we know she's human, and not a machine, because only a person would give that kind of reaction upon learning they have family somewhere.

"I had it confirmed during his agent training," Fury answered her solemnly. "I personally went into his parents' home and collected their toothbrushes and hair care tools. If you remember, we did a standard medical work up for you before your mission to Hungary and after," he paused to be sure she remembered, which she confirmed with a nod, "we got the results back today. His father is your half-brother, meaning…"

"… meaning Valeria Stoppable, is my mother." Natalia shakily reached down and righted the chair, which gave her time to collect herself. "For years, I wondered how I came to be in the Red Room, if I had family outside. It was one of the few things that helped me keep hoping, I had somebody to look for, who may or may not be looking for me."

Natalia read some more of the file, she saw how thorough SHIELD was in their vetting process. Under Valeria's entry was her name: Natalia Romanova, DOB: March 6, 1951, Address: Killed along with her father, Ivan Romanova in Leningrad, July 15, 1954. Gas explosion. "How is this possible," Natalia demanded, trying to choke back a sob, "I'm not fifty, and I remember being 13 in 1995, so how can this be accurate?"

"We don't know," Fury admitted, "she did not abandon you, she definitely loved you."

"How can you be so sure," Black Widow asked with a growl, "she didn't seem to waste too much time running away from Russia, when she had the chance?"

Fury turned to another page in the file to a black-and-white picture that seemed to have been taken at the scene. It showed the devastation of the apartment building, the fire was still raging, and firefighters were on the scene. They could not begin to put out the fire, because three of them could be seen trying to restrain a woman, trying to rush into the flames.

Natalia looked at her face, the Red-Room taught her to read body language and facial expressions. It was easier with photos than live people, even older pictures like this one. Natalia studied the woman's face, she could see certain features on Valeria's face that matched her own. The woman she saw in the photo had lost everything that mattered to her in that blast. She was destroyed, the only purpose she could have had for running into that building was to join her family in death.

The fact that it was taking three large men to restrain her was telling by itself. Natalia's vision had suddenly gone blurry as her eyes suddenly filled with unshed tears, as she felt her mother's anguish, even through the photograph. My mom loved me, if she'd known I was alive she would have come and got me, or died trying, she realised in an epiphany, and knowing how the Red Room took care of threats to its existence. She was suddenly glad her mother never realised she was alive, she could have been killed if she tried to find me.

Natalia was suddenly feeling protective of her family, her mother, her brother, and her precious nephew. Ron Stoppable, who was already part of the Job, was going to get to meet him, and perhaps the rest of her family. She took a deep cleansing breath, which calmed her nerves and set her mind at ease. Then she looked up at her handler, "Commander Hill, during the mission, if I see an opportunity, may I make him aware of me?"

"I will be leaving that up to you," the brunette woman agreed with a sympathetic smile, "you've got enough prior experience to judge those sorts of things. This isn't exactly a critical mission," she offered, "you'll have enough contact with them on a daily basis to allow them to get to know you as Natalie Rushman. That should allow you to assess their character, and judge for yourself, if you want to make contact with them. By the way, you may call me Maria."

Natasha's face bloomed into a bright smile, "in that case, call me Nat."

With Great Power…

Westchester County, New York

Ron Stoppable never thought of himself as having any vanity. Oh sure, he did not mind looking good whenever the occasion called for it, but in most situations, he, like most boys his age, did not care overly much about his outward appearance. That was until he thought he would never look like himself again.

He thought he would look like a bad artist's rendition of a skull for the rest of his life. During the week in which he and Kim had been staying in Westchester, getting help from Ron's friends, Hank McCoy, Charles Xavier in learning about their now fully awakened mutations. It had taken them, plus a Russian friend of theirs, Piotr Rasputin, who was a mutant with a similar mutation to his, to teach Ron how to control his power.

It had taken him and Colossus two days of trying, before Ron was able to reliably activate and deactivate his behemoth form as he had heard Drakken call it. That was when they began to test his abilities. With the complete awakening of his X-gene and the manifestation of his powers, some things about his body had changed.

His skin no longer held traces of his unbreakable metal, he was now as susceptible to injuries as anybody else, when not a living metal man. His skeletal and circulatory systems were still composed of that same metal, which they decided to name, Ronium, but now his muscles were free of it. If he is injured, he has a Regenerative Healing Factor that can make him as good as new in a matter of minutes.

He met one of the new teachers during this time to help him test his healing factor. His name was Logan, they sparred against each other, and neither ever held back. Wolverine of course got the better of Ron, and practically savaged the boy, and his Healing Factor took care of all of it, it only stopped, because while Ron's body healed itself, if they fought for real, it would be a battle of endurance. "Kid, I want us to be friends, because I damn sure don't want you as an enemy," Wolverine said once Ron met him the next day, "your Healing Factor is just as effective as mine, maybe a little bit faster, because my body is constantly fighting my adamantium."

"Well, I would be honored to consider you a friend," Ron answered, as he offered Logan his hand to shake, "just don't attack me or my friends and family, and we can remain that way."

By the end of the week, Ron's – to use the term Dr. Drakken muttered – behemoth transformation, became as instinctive as blinking an eyelid. Activation and deactivation became as quick as one inhalation and an exhalation of air, and when he was in behemoth mode, his physical capabilities grew to exponential heights. Ron, in behemoth mode, without his chains could lift in excess of 30,000-pounds of dead weight, which was equal to a single chain of his, whether in behemoth mode or not, so in total, Ron can now lift in excess of 180,000-pounds. That's as much weight as a giant sequoia or a majestic redwood. The muscle power also gave him outstanding agility and speed, allowing him to clear almost 4-miles with a standing-long-jump, and two-miles straight up with the high-jump. He and Scott had a race, Ron on foot and Summers in his Camaro, which topped out at 180 mph, even if Scott kept it at an even hundred for safety's sake, and Stoppable was easily able to stay even with the car. He was subjected to temperature and pressure extremes equal to a plasma cutter, and the center of the Earth itself, and while in his behemoth form he was barely affected.

Ron wished he could say that Kim had been there for him every step of the way, but unfortunately, she had her own problems to deal with. Her mutant gene had also awakened on this mission, she along with the Doctors Possible were studying it to learn how it worked.

Kim cannot be here for me, Ron concluded in his mind, I will be there for her. Now that Ron had a handle on his power, he left his wing of the mansion, and went into the section where Kim was learning about her power. He was not worried about modesty, he was in a dark-blue, sleeveless V-neck t-shirt, with grey, knee-length athletic shorts, and sneakers.

On his way there, he noticed a couple of new faces among the staff, as well as the students. One of the new faces was a white-haired, African woman, talking to Jean (16), who looked to be about the same age as the red-head. He decided to go up and talk to his old friend, and introduce himself to the newcomer. "Hey JG, how've you been," Ron said as he approached from behind her?

This startled the red-head causing her to jump a little, "oh, Ron, you snuck up on me," she lightly rebuked him. Then she saw him in his athletic gear, her gaze lingered on his well-defined arms and the muscular calves coming from his shorts, not to mention his lean frame. He was not bulky by any stretch of the imagination, but bulky men have never been appealing to her, she likes them lean and toned. Ron normally wears baggy clothes whenever he comes to Westchester, so she has never before seen him this way.

"Sorry about that," Ron admitted while scratching the back of his head, "I forgot you can't detect me."

Jean jumped as she realised she had been staring at him, then just smiled, "That's okay Ron, it's good to see you." Then turning to the other woman next to them, who had not missed Jean's objectification of the boy, and was smirking at her red-headed friend, "Ororo Munroe, this is a good friend of mine, Ron Stoppable. He came here when he was eight to learn about his mutation, and he's been coming here off and on over the years to visit. He is one of the best chefs I've ever met, his food is to die for."

"Aw c'mon, it's not that impressive," Ron was blushing at Jean's praise, while scratching the back of his head, "there are tons of chefs in the world that could do a better job than me."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, young Stoppable," Ororo greeted him with a pleasant smile, "and I look forward to sampling some of your cuisine. Are you going to remain here at the mansion when you are finished learning of your abilities," she asked? Ororo did her own perusal of him, and could see Jean's appraisal was somewhat justified, if she were not eighteen, and already betrothed, she would consider pursuing him romantically.

"No, me and my girlfriend will be leaving as soon as we figure out how her powers work," Ron explained, then he became curious himself, "I noticed your accent Ms. Munroe, I hear the sound of Kenya in your voice, but I also hear the music of Egypt as well. Which part of Africa are you from," Ron asked?

If he were staying and not just passing through, Jean thought, and he was not dating Kim, I would have no problem dating him, even if he is two years younger than me. What I like the most though, is I can't read his mind, my telepathy doesn't work on him. We would have to learn everything about each other the way most couples do, by talking, I love that idea. It would be more difficult, but I think it would be more rewarding, and right.

Ororo's eyes raised in surprise at how well he could pick up on her accent, most adults were not so knowledgeable. "In actuality, Mr. Stoppable, I was born right here in New York, but I lived in Cairo until I was twelve, before moving to my ancestral home of Uzuri, Kenya."

Ron then took in Ororo's appearance, noting her white-hair and blue-eyes, and remembering what he learned about women with white hair and blue-eyes. He bowed to her formally, "a thousand greetings to you priestess, I feel honored to meet you."

Now it was both Jean and Ororo's turn to be surprised, the former turned to her new friend, "I never knew you were a priestess."

"It never came up," the ivory haired woman explained to her friend, before turning to the young man as he regarded them. "I was trained as a priestess in the village of Uzuri, but how did you know that," she asked suspiciously?

"From time to time, Team Possible has been called upon by a certain nation in that part of the world, to retrieve certain contraband, from would-be smugglers," Ron explained to her. "We were once able to save the life of the monarch of a certain nation," he added, "we've been to that part of the world so much, we've learned the customs, and even the folklore there, almost as well as our own. Children born in this part of the world, with hair like the clouds, and eyes like the sky, are considered blessed by the Gods. Me and KP had even heard of a goddess in the region the last time we were there, who could control the weather."

"Well," Jean just smirked, ''it seems as if my introduction was not necessary, he seems to know you quite well, Roro."

"I guess so," Ororo admitted with a slight reddening of her cheeks, she turned to Ron. "This certain nation and its monarch you mentioned," she began cryptically, "what name did he give you?"

Ron gave it some thought about how he may answer with Jean present, he trusted her, but some of Team Possible's clients demanded anonymity. "Oba Amotekun dudu, T'chaka," he said, in only slightly accented Yoruba.

Ororo's smile lit up her face, as she leaned down to kiss Ron on the cheek, "Thank you, for saving my future father in-law."

"Well, well," Ron said with a blush on his cheeks, "what a pleasant surprise. T'challa, did send us an email, saying he had found his soulmate, but he never told us your name, or what you looked like. I can't wait to tell KP about this, she's gonna be gushing all over you."

"What are you two talking about," Jean broke in irately, while crossing her arms in a sulk, "who're T'chaka and T'challa? You know, it's pretty rude to have an entire conversation with three people, and exclude the third person."

"Sorry, Jeannie," Ron stated his apology, as he hugged her, "I would love to be able to tell you, but Team Possible confidentiality prohibits me from doing so, but if Her Highness wishes it, she can tell you."

"Mr. Stoppable, if you can so casually call the Prince of Wakanda by his given name, you can surely do the same with his fiancee," Ororo declared, "so please, call me Ororo."

"Fine, Ororo," he accepted with a nod, then looked her in the eyes, and added with a friendly grin, "as long as you call me Ron," then extended his hand, "and we can be friends."

Ororo took his hand, and smiled fondly at him, "now it is I who would be honoured, to call you my friend."

Ron left Jean and Ororo, and followed Kim's scent into the bowels of the mansion. He would know Kim's scent anywhere, and her parents' scent always felt like home to him, as much as his own parents' did. So he found James Possible leaning against the outside of an observation window, reading a printout of his daughter's latest tests.

"Hey Dr. P," Ron said, "have you made any progress in understanding Kim's mutation."

Jim was startled for a second when his surrogate son came to stand next to him. He had been so focused on a page readout that he had temporarily lost sense of his surroundings. He recovered quickly, and smiled at his daughter's boyfriend.

"Yes, Ronald, quite a lot actually," Mr. Possible answered excitedly, and upon seeing Ron become interested began to explain. "Kim's power comes mainly from neutrino absorption into her body," he said, "as I am sure you're aware, the Earth and everything on her has trillions of tiny particles passing through us every second of the day." At Ron's nod of confirmation, James continued, "Kim's body has adapted itself so that instead of passing through her, the neutrinos are collected by her."

"When that happens, Kim's body becomes incredibly powerful," James continued, as he passed Ron the sheet of paper he had been studying. "This is a readout of our latest strength tests for her," James told Ron, "take a look."

Ron read it, and his eyes bulged as he looked up at his surrogate father in astonishment, "really, she can lift this much, that's more than me without my chains?"

James pushed his chest out proudly, "yep, she can dead lift 50,000-pounds as easily as any other girl can lift five pound weights. Which is just the tip of the iceberg, she's as invulnerable as you are in your behemoth transformation. We put her through the same pressure and temperatures you were, and her reaction was practically the same. She can run at Mach 3, supersonic speeds," he exclaimed enthusiastically, "we think the different flavours of neutrinos help her with different aspects of her powers."

"I am going to assume that electron-neutrinos are what gives her the speed," Ron hypothesized, "and the other two, muon and tau particles give her strength and invulnerability."

"Precisely right," James nodded enthusiastically, well aware of Ron's intelligence, "and in that order. That isn't all either, while neutrinos do not interact with the objects they pass through, they do have enough mass to get a sense of volume, and if they come from the same source, they are still sympathetically connected to each other. Because of that some of the particles passing into Kimmie-cub give her an extra sense that her brain interprets as vision, and allows her to "see" the interior of an object," James put the term (see) under finger-quotes.

Ron nodded in understanding as he remembered the mission, "that must be how she knew there was no danger by going into that air-shaft." James nodded in confirmation, then Ron gave a depressed sigh, "this'll make hugging and kissing her a chancy endeavor."

This brought James Possible up short, he had momentarily forgotten that he was talking to his daughter's boyfriend. He debated with himself before divulging this next bit of information, "not to worry Ronald, one of the first things we figured out how to do was to get her to activate and deactivate her power. All she has to do is allow the neutrinos to pass through herself as they normally do us, and she reverts back to the strength of an ordinary teenager."

James saw the boy breathe a sigh of relief, before he went on, "listen Ronald, you know that I love you just as much as I do my own kids, right?" At the boy's nod the father of three continued. "Please understand what I'm about to say, because I don't want that to change, okay?" At another puzzled nod, James reached up and grabbed Ron's ear, "you are going to treat my daughter with the respect she deserves, when she tells you to stop doing things she's not ready for, you do as she tells you. I really can't control what you two get up to when you're alone, but as long as she's a consenting participant, I don't need to know about it, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Ron answered, "Kim's consent for all things intimate, I got it."

Mr. Possible smiled at his surrogate son's respect for him and his family. "Good, please and thank you," he said while letting go of Ron's ear, "I would hate to send you to a black hole for hurting Kim."

Ron was massaging his ear, more for the psychological aspect, because the pain had abated almost before James had released him. When the door near them opened, a man with blue-fur exited, and was surprised to see Ron, "Well, Ronald it is good to see you, my young friend."

"Hello, Doc M," Ron greeted the hirsute man, "good to see you as well. I was just coming to show my support for KP."

"The young lady is doing very well, Ron," came the response from Dr. Henry Phillip McCoy, Hank to his friends, (aka the Beast), assured him. "I was on my way to collect you, there is one more test we need to run, to be sure we have all our bases covered," as he opened the door and ushered Ron inside.

Once through the door, Ron found that he was not in a lab, but more like a high-tech gymnasium. It was similar to the one where he trained with Colossus, the equipment looked just as durable.

Ron spotted Kim lifting what some people would call an elephant's worth of weight over her head. Mr Possible's comparison to ordinary people lifting weights was oddly fitting. Ron watched her doing her lifts, and was amazed at her strength. She barely appeared to be straining, meaning it was not her maximum weight. She, like him, was wearing an ordinary athletic suit. A dark-blue tank over a grey sports bra, with grey athletic shorts, showing off a lot of leg. All of that would be extraordinary in and of itself, but what really blew Ron's mind, Kim was performing these feats, thirty feet off the ground.

Doctors Possible and McCoy turned to see Ron's eyes nearly bugging out of his head, and just burst out laughing. "We wanted it to be a surprise, but like all neutrinos, they have a spin and a flight path," Hank explained, "it seems Kimberly can take control of those aspects and give herself a boost. She can fly as fast as she runs," he added, "and we even have a theory that she could reach escape velocity and survive in outer space."

Off to the side was Ann Possible watching her daughter work. Kim finished her sets carefully, returned to earth, and set the weight back on the ground. She stepped back, collected a towel from a nearby bench, and began drying herself of perspiration. Ron swore to himself, damn, if I hadn't just walked in here and seen her in action, I would believe that she was just finishing up her normal workout routine.

Kim turned to see them walk in, and seeing her Ron again after a week without him was like the sun coming up after a long night. It's been like Wannaweep all over again, she thought bemusedly in her mind, at least this time was only for one week, instead of three months. When Ron was ten, he was not able to come visit his grandmother because of some crisis in the Worthington family, but his parents were going to be doing a lot of travelling for work that summer, so they sent him to a sleep away camp. He was a last minute addition so he did not have a proper bunk, he slept in the only cabin they had left, Cabin 13, with a deranged chimp. Well, only for one night, Ron allowed a rare bout of sadism to leak out, as he used his chains to tame the savage brute. It did require some pain for the chimp, but nothing more than a lash or two if he displayed behaviour Ron did not like, he stopped throwing shit, piss, and jizz by the end of the first week, when Ron made him realise who was boss.

Kim knew what they were going to do next, so she did not release her power. Although it only took her a second to deactivate and activate her power, it was a pain to do it here and now. Even if she wanted nothing more than to fold Ron into her arms. Hank had refused to tell her anything about Ron's progress during the week, citing doctor-patient confidentiality. One thing he did say was that unless Ron was in his metal body, he could now be injured.

"Now young lady, this last test while you're here," Dr. McCoy began as Kim's parents joined them, "you've stated a few times that Ronald's chains can cut through anything. Is that correct?"

"Yes, we have not found anything that can stop Ron if he wants to go somewhere," Ann answered.

"Even adamantium and vibranium offer little resistance to his chains," James concurred with his wife.

"Well let's see if your supposition still holds water," the doctor ordered, "Kim, are you still at full power?"

"Yes, doctor," Kim answered. Then she turned to her boyfriend, and with a mischievous grin asked, "Say, Ron, would you like to renew our vows?"

Ron just grinned then began to chuckle, as he heard Mr. Possible's heart speed up, and blood pressure spike. "KP that's not nice to do to your dad, you very nearly gave him a heart attack," he admonished his girlfriend. Ron turned to James and explained, "we're not talking about those particular vows Mr. P, though both of us hold them to be just as sacred as marriage."

Ron walked forward and extended a single chain with a tanto-like blade at the end, as he approached Kim. "If it does cut you, I'm gonna have to be quick with mine, my healing factor is pretty fast."

Kim nodded and extended her hand, palm out, "carry on, Ronnie."

Ron took her hand and raked the tanto over her palm. It took a second, but slowly a line of blood began to trickle down Kim's palm. He did it once more just to get the blood flow they needed for the blood oaths.

Kim hissed in pain both times as they found yet another thing ronium could cut. Yes, he can stop me, Kim cheered in her mind, if my power makes me arrogant he could prevent me from going too far. Now for the new oaths, Kim stated in her mind.

Ron quickly slashed his palm, making sure there was a healthy blood flow, before grasping her hand. Before Ron could open his mouth, Kim took the lead and changed what he was about to say, "Ron Stoppable, we have been blessed with powers beyond any we have ever seen and based on the astonishment of Dr. McCoy and Mom and Dad, ("Logan too," Ron told them, to Hank's nonplussed gasp.). One of my dad's college professors once told him of a motto that his family lives by, with great power comes great responsibility, but we have both read the book that says, and forgive me for paraphrasing, Power, corrupts, and great power, corrupts greatly. Do you, Ronald Michael Stoppable, promise to stop me, even going so far as killing me, if I allow myself to become corrupted by the power I have been given? Do you swear it, before God, these witnesses, and for the sake of any relationship we have now and in the future," Kim asked in the most intense, and emotional voice he had ever heard from her, judging by the beating of her heart she meant every word she said?

They had blocked out everything but each other as they stared into each other's eyes. "I do swear, in the event that you willingly begin to use your powers to terrorize innocents, and if I cannot reason with you, I will do my utmost to stop you, even if I must take your life. I swear by the Blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior."

They stepped back from each other, both their palms were now blemish free. It seems that even if Kim is injured, she will heal just as fast as Ron.

Ann stepped forward, "I think we're done here, it's time to head home."

The teens nodded, "luckily when we could take breaks we've been keeping abreast of our homework," Kim put in.

"We should also keep our status a secret from the general population," Ron suggested, "only inform SHIELD and Global Justice's directors."

"Are you ashamed of being a mutant, Ronald," Hank wondered?

"Not at all, Doc McCoy," Kim answered for him, knowing how her best-friend thought, "but the less our adversaries know about us, the better."

The Caribbean Sea

In the waters of the Caribbean, a new predator was introduced into the local area. This creature had just recently been introduced into this new habitat by humans. First by a human who had captured him as a means to discreetly get rid of pests, that human had kept him fed only enough to sustain his life, but otherwise kept him in near starving conditions. Yet, it was the actions of other humans that had set him free from the first, the actions of a couple of humans, Team Possible.

After two field personnel of Team Possible waylaid Shego and Doctor Drakken, rendering them unconscious, they left them where they fell, went through the lair using stealth movements. In the case that there were other personnel on the premises, and there did not seem to be, it looked as if the place was only inhabited by the two unconscious inhabitants on the floor.

This was all captured on tape, which Shego watched in the security room. There were no microphones in the lab or anywhere in the lair, thus whatever exchanges were taking place between the teens, the videos were silent. Shego minimized the feed from the lab, then brought up the feed from the grotto, which was now empty of water and sharks. Their age doesn't mean anything, Michelle repeated in her mind for the millionth time, they're professionals, they're experienced. Every action they took, seemed so random, yet was a contingency that they had apparently run into in the past. The video feed from the grotto showed a huge gaping hole in the bottom of the pool.

Shego rewound the tape until just after the time in the lab. She saw Team Possible return to the grotto, have a small discussion where they seemed to nod in agreement, before Dire Wolf moved over to pick up her and Drakken and carry them out of the grotto. Just before following them, the redhead took out a cylinder, activated it and seemed to wait until a red-button at the top began blinking, slowly at first but with increasing regularity, before becoming a solid colour. Rouge pressed the button for a count of ten, before tossing the device into the pool and left. Shego fast-forwarded the video for ten minutes, and watched as a controlled explosion blasted out a hole through the bottom of the tank. The explosion, while powerful enough to blow a hole through the bottom of the tank, produced very little shock wave, as if something was suppressing them. The canisters Team Possible had dropped almost casually to the bottom of the tank, which was obviously meant to be used as a means of escape, if all their plans had failed. Since they did not, the only reason for activating them at the time, was to allow the sharks to escape from the tank.

They're professionals, and disciplined, they came for only one thing, Michelle concluded, the Swarm. They could've taken me in and collected the reward for my capture, any one of the bounties on my head, could set them up for life.

Shego closed the video of the grotto, then opened the video from just outside her own room. She knew that Team Possible had scouted the compound and knew where all the rooms were, so when she found Wolf waiting outside her door looking nervous, and making no move to enter, she did not understand. She was his captive; he could have done anything he wanted to her. He obviously knew there were cameras all over the compound, I saw him looking directly at a few of them, then ignoring them as if they didn't matter. Why not take me into the room, where she knew there were no cameras, he could have his way with me, and nobody but his girlfriend would have found out about it? Even if Dire Wolf was not that type of guy, or he was scared of Rouge stopping him, Michelle reasoned, there was plenty of time for him to cop a feel. The only parts of me he touched were the places he needed to keep me slung over his shoulder, Michelle concluded, he doesn't even appear to be straining with holding mine and Doctor D's weight. Doc weighs a good two-hundred pounds, I should know, I've lifted him myself, and in my more honest moments, I know I weigh at least a buck-fifty. So that means the kid's enhanced even when he is normal..

She watches his girlfriend join him, and the camera picks up on her confused expression. They converse for a second when Shego sees Rouge roll her eyes and take her from his shoulder, Rouge does not appear to have any more trouble lifting me than he did. Shego recognized the roll from her own features, it was a girlfriend needlessly humoring her boyfriend's request of her, which was when it dawned on her. He didn't go into my room because he didn't have my permission, Michelle concluded in shock and not a little bit of gratitude, he was respecting me, removing any hint of impropriety from the situation, by having a girl take care of me out of view of the cameras. When Rouge walked through her door to deposit her, Dire Wolf left the screen to go down the hall, likely to take Drakken to his room. Wolf, having returned to his normal appearance, had found Drakken's room, and changed into one of his outfits. Rouge and Wolf, found the lab which had only been recently used, and found the schematics for the Swarm. Rouge was checking over a recent work area when Wolf yelled to her telling her he found them.

Drakken has been in his room since his encounter with the boy, he keeps muttering about protective spirits, and living metal. He has not been in his lab since the attack. Which took Michelle Go, back to her fight with Rouge, the girl was as good in a fight as Shego, even if the teen was more agile than the green woman. Shego studied her fighting style, it seemed to have bits and pieces of several fighting arts, but they were so well blended, it was impossible to tell which styles were in it. Shego remembered Rouge moving around her lit hands with practised ease, as if she fought someone with lethal hands all the time.

What was with that last hit, Michelle wondered? Hego hit me like that once in training, he is the only person in the world that has ever knocked me on my ass. My body withstood it, but I could barely walk for a day or two afterward. Shego looked down at the calendar and clock on the monitor, it had been a week since Team Possible's visit and she had only been awake for two days. I'm still moving around here like an old granny, Michelle thought with a scowl, when I get done here, I'm going to go soak in a bubble bath up to my neck.

Shego sighed and stood up, returned the screen to stand by mode, and shut it down. She left the security suite and went down the hall to her room.

The interior was in the same colour motif as her Team Go uniform. The lair was never meant to be a luxury condo, but since coming here to work for Drakken, she has turned her accommodation into an oasis in the desert. Her full-sized bed, dresser-cabinet, and wardrobe, on one wall, were as elegant as any that could be found in any movie star's bedroom. On the other side of the bed leading to her private bathroom was a vanity. Michelle may not be a very feminine woman, but she is still a lady. She likes looking her best when the occasion calls for it.

Shego walked to her bed and began removing her uniform. I always hated it when newspapers called it a costume. Costume implies that we were a joke, just pretending to put our lives in jeopardy for the sake of our city. It's a uniform, as sacred to us or at least to me, as the uniforms of police officers or soldiers. I still wear it, for many reasons, it reminds me of where I come from, it reminds me to never go too far. I may not be a hero anymore, she declared in her mind, but I will never allow myself to become a murderer. It's my way of honoring grandpa. He taught me that my fist should be katsujinken, a life-giving fist. I am a criminal, that cannot be disputed, but I have never taken a life that was not capable of, or attempting to take mine. My hands are not clean, yet no innocent blood has ever been spilt by them.

Now in the bathroom which was more traditionally coloured, with white tile on the floor, a shower stall, and a wall-attached bathtub. Shego completed her normal ablutions to get her bath just the way she liked it. She sat back in the water with a grateful sigh. She thought some more about Team Possible, namely the boy known as Dire Wolf.

Whomever his mother was, she did an excellent job of instilling a strong respect for women. I'm a criminal, perhaps even a villain, she affirmed, but he still treated me with respect. I like that, I like him, she confirmed, doesn't mean I'll go easy on him when next we meet. I want to test him to see if he's as good as his girlfriend. I hope his respect for women doesn't make him reluctant to hit them, if they're his enemy. I would hate to lose someone I respect to this line of work, because of some antiquated tenet of chivalry.

Michelle was just relaxing in her bath when the wall mounted intercom buzzed next to her. She contemplated ignoring it, but she knew if she did, Drakken would just annoy her to death. So with a resigned sigh she pressed the answer button, "What do you want, I'm busy?"

"SHEGO," Drakken's irate voice blasted from the speaker, "what did you do with my tick?"

"What tick," wondered the villainess?

"The tick I made and placed a micro-explosive on," Dr. Drakken yelled, "before that girl and her sidekick broke in and attacked us? Did you take my tick, and for that matter, where are the schematics for the ticks themselves?"

If Shego was confused before, she was bewildered now, "what do you think happened to them," she asked in an irritated voice? "Why do you think those teenagers were here in the first place," she asked derisively, "they weren't here for you, or for me? They were hired to get the tick back from that Professor Akari-guy," she shouted as her agitation caused ripples to appear in her bath water!

"HOW DARE SHE TAKE WHAT YOU RIGHTFULLY STOLE," Drakken roared over the intercom, causing her to look at the device in confusion?!

"What are you talking about, Lipskey," Shego demanded, "I stole the thing and Professor Akari hired Team Possible to steal it back for him. That's how the game is played, Drew," Shego explained in a placating voice, "if you can't handle that then you need to get out of the life. I learnt that a long time ago," Michelle lectured.

"Fine, Rouge wins this round, but I also placed a global positioning tracker on the tick I constructed," Drakken explained, it was already built into the blueprints, but Shego doesn't need to know that, Drakken mused, "they're in Colorado of all places. You stole it from that hack in the Amazon…"

Shego's eyes widened as she began to understand what the Doc was getting at, "meaning they haven't returned it to their client, meaning the game is still fresh. We can still get it back," she finished in excitement, as she stood up from her bath, the soapy suds cascading down between her breasts and down her body! She looked down at herself, then at the intercom, "I'm gonna finish here and get some rest," Shego outlined, "once they begin to relax we'll pounce. Understand, Drakken," she asked?

"Why can't we go get it now," Drakken's voice whined over the intercom?

"Because I need time to recuperate," Shego retorted, then asked in a sing-song voice, "unless you want to be the one to fight them yourself?"

"Fine, fine, Shego, just don't forget who pays your salary," Drakken grumbled arrogantly.

"As long as you don't forget who has saved your hide, time and time again," Shego reminded him, "and remember I don't just fight for money, I fight because I like a challenge."

Drakken just cut off with a growl, as Shego settled back down into her tub, she used her power to reheat the water. She allowed the heat to relax her muscles and to clear her mind. Looks like I get to thank Wolfie for respecting me sooner than I realised, Michelle thought, too bad for him, my thanks includes molten hot plasma.

Tex-Mex Fury

Bueno Nacho:Middleton:after dark.

Team Possible have just returned from England, the Possibles had dropped them off so they could spend some time together. Ron showed Kim to a seat and went up to the counter to place their order. He was wearing his normal attire when not on a mission. A maroon hockey-jersey, over a dark turtleneck, tan cargo-pants, and sneakers.

After placing his order with Ned, he began to think about the blessings in his life. God has given him the best parents any kid could ask for, and allowed the Possibles to be in his life, whom he loves as much as his true parents. Now, Kim was his girlfriend, and it was becoming clear that his feelings for her were starting to deepen. He did not know where his life, as an adventurer, as a mutant, was going to lead him, but he hoped she was a part of it.

He knew that he was not ready to do anything serious with Kim and he hoped she felt the same. Someday, I will, someday I want to have a life with a wife and kids. I am going to take the lessons Dad and Mom have taught me, and apply them to my children. I will show them unconditional love, and make sure they know…

Ron's olfactory sense had alerted him to a couple of scents nearby, and one of them was unfamiliar, but at the same time he felt like he knew the scent. The other one however, he definitely remembered meeting. The other two were similar to his own scent, Ron was not wearing his gold shades, so he could not activate his Gold-Eyes to find out who the new scent was, or figure out where they were.

Ron began to practice his breathing techniques to relax his body. He received his order, and turned to go back to his table. His eyes scanned the room, but he could find no one that he did not know within the restaurant. Which he deduced meant the smells were coming from outside.

He walked over to Kim with a relaxed smile on his face, she was wearing her usual everyday clothes, a green crop top, capri-jeans, and her own pair of sneakers. "Here we go KP," he began with an upbeat voice, as he began to dole out the food. "A burrito with medium diablo-sauce, for you, and a taco grande platter for me."

"Thank you, Ron," Kim replied with a happy smile.

Ron placed his hand down on the table, palm up, which was promptly filled by hers. He picked up his taco and took a bite, and as soon as his mouth was clear, he began to talk. "You know, I'm so glad they no longer put beans in their beef mix. They have such an off putting texture when they're mixed in with the meat." Beans was a code word within Team Possible to discreetly alert each of danger. Ron hated beans, and Kim never ate them, because they caused some very unladylike emissions.

Kim squeezed his hand, "what kind of beans did they use again, were they bad beans?"

Kim had no sooner asked Ron, when the roof was suddenly ripped off the building. A yellow energy was breaking the roof into pieces and pulling it toward the beam, which seemed to swallow the pieces whole. It was obvious whoever built the thing had a devious mind.

They looked up and saw a rather odd aircraft. It was basically a flying saucer, with a silverish hull, a pair of jet engines providing thrust, but there did not seem to be any discernible means of keeping it in the air. No vertical thrusters like a VTOL engine, or rotors like a helicopter, it came to a stop directly above the Bueno Nacho, and that means it remained suspended in the air, by some unknown means, as stable as any of the cars in the parking lot.

On the top part of the craft, at what would be considered the center of the circle, was an open air cockpit, and in the cockpit were Dr. Drakken and Shego.

Even in the midst of their astonishment they heard the whining, sulking voice of Dr. Drakken said, while crossing his arms, "I could've done that."

The green-woman looked back at him, smirking, and quipped, "Can you do this," as she jumped over the side? She landed on a table, and pointed a finger at them, "Team Possible has something that belongs to us!"

"If you're talking about the blueprints for the tick," Kim began, as she jumped to a table close to her enemy, "then you're wrong. They belong to us, until we turn them over to our client, Professor Akari, they belong to Team Possible. As per international salvage regulations, we retrieved them from you and therefore, until we are paid for the retrieval the tick plans belong to us."

"Other than that, we have no idea what you're talking about," Ron stated as he moved closer to Shego as well, though he remained on the ground.

"Unless you're referring to the tick we found on me while we were in New York," Kim wondered? "If that's the case then we don't know why or how you tracked us here, because we destroyed that thing as soon as we found it, and disabled the explosive."

"We followed the GPS signal in the tick," Shego answered, seeing no reason to keep quiet about the how's and why's. She took out a GPS device, and turned toward Ron, "this is accurate to within thirty-feet…"

Behind Ron, a figure leapt through one of the broken windows. It was a male in a yellow and red uniform, carrying a pair of sickles. He leapt at Ron, who had felt him coming, and recognised his scent. Using reflexes born of his skills in soccer and basketball, Ron pivoted right to avoid the blade.

"Akari-san, there's no need to attack me," Ron was saying, "we were going to contact you tomorrow to return your invention!"

"I am sorry, Stoppable-san," Ikari spoke in a hard voice, "but Professor Akari has been dead for some time now. I needed him, only to make the request on your website, afterwards, he was a liability, so I fed him to the piranha. As for what to call me, I am, Ikari!"

Ron was dodging a succession of strikes making every effort to stay out of reach of his sickles. The casual way this man spoke about murder caused Ron to momentarily hesitate, because he had never met someone with such a casual disregard for human life. That moment of hesitation cost him dearly however, because Ikari never stopped his hands from moving, until he buried one kama into Ron's flank.

Ron screamed in agony as he wilted to his knees. He looked up just in time for Ikari to loop behind him and slit his throat with the other sickle.

"I am sorry, Stoppable-san," Ikari said as he stood with his back to the boy, "but I was hired to finish you. As you are dying, I will tell you of my employer," Ikari stated in a placating voice, "he was the Ambassador to the United States from Greece, his name…"

Ikari felt the rush of displaced air a millisecond too late, the noise of the fight between the ladies was throwing off his sonar. Ron's fist crashed into Ikari's kidney, the ronium gave his already powerful punch the feel of a club in the older man's side. The next attack came at Ikari's knee, which felt like a hit from a baseball bat

That same knee was grabbed and pulled forward and up, dumping the blind man on his back. "Hu…go Nat…chios," came a raspy voice, his throat just finished healing? When the blind man stayed silent, Ron reared back and punched the downed man in the ribs. Ikari's perfect ears heard the cracking of his ribs, "talk you bastard, the man that hired you was Hugo Natchios correct?"

"Hai, Ron Stoppable," Ikari replied, "it was Hugo Natchios."

Ron looked at the blind man in contempt, he wanted to kill him so bad he was shaking from holding himself back. "You are under arrest, for the attempted murder of a Global Justice Peace Officer. I don't have any handcuffs with me at the moment," Ron stated while lifting Ikari up a little bit, then brought his fist around and into Ikari's face. He was out like a light, "that should keep you from getting away anytime soon."

Ron stood up to find Kim expertly dodging Shego's attacks and smirked, Kim doesn't need her powers against that woman, she's barely breathing hard.

"How are you doing, Kim," Ron yelled out?

"Fair," she replied as she landed in front of the main entrance to the restaurant. Shego landed shortly after Kim, sending a feint sweep at her legs. Kim, not falling for it, ducked below, just as Shego made her true intentions known with a spin-kick, which Kim intercepted with a grab and a spin of her own. Kim threw Shego at the door, which shattered upon impact, knocking Shego out cold,

Up in the strange craft, Drakken was beginning to panic, "Shego has failed," he shouted in disbelief, "but she never fails! No," he cried, as he banged his head on the dashboard!

This caused him to activate another device he had on board, "Oh no, the excavator ray!" He began punching buttons to make it abort its activation sequence, but in his panic, he forgot how to do it.

Ron saw the device point itself at the group by the door, which happened to include Kim. Ron began to move before he could think about it, at this moment, he forgot that Kim was probably the strongest being on the planet. His brain had switched to its default mode of protecting Kim, he also switched to his behemoth form, which had the advantage of accelerating his body, faster than a person should be able to run.

Ron jumped between his girlfriend and the beam. Whatever the purpose of the beam was, it became moot when it struck Ron, because nothing happened to him at all. Ron needed to conceal as much of his abilities as possible, so he could not use his chains, they would be too difficult to conceal.

His jump carried him out of Bueno Nacho, and into the exterior dining area. I need to disable that thing or it could hurt someone, Ron thought. Then he saw that he was standing next to one of the tables with umbrellas, with aluminium poles. Ron has always had a good throwing arm, even when he was six or seven, he always did better than average in throwing games.

Ron reached over and wrenched the umbrella from the table. As soon as he touched the metal pole, something happened to it. From the point of contact it began to darken, the darkness, he quickly understood, was ronium. He did not have any time to examine this phenomenon more thoroughly so he reached up to remove the cloth of the umbrella, which did not change.

He raised his new, makeshift javelin and took careful aim, looking for the weakest part of the craft. He found his target, and threw.

Up in the craft, Drakken was trying to find the shutdown sequence for the excavator ray. He was just about to figure it out, when a spear pierced the bottom of the hovercraft, just centimetres from his toes. The hovercraft began to wobble in mid-air, all systems suddenly shutdown. All systems except what was needed to maintain its stability, descended to the ground like an Angel coming to Earth.

"Dr. Drakken, you're under arrest for vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon," Ron declared.

"You think you're all that…" he began to say, but before Drakken could finish, Ron punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

"I don't have handcuffs for you either," Ron stated. It was not long after that when the local police showed up, Ron had reverted to his base form with a surprise. Ron was pretty much indestructible, but his clothes were not, luckily the fight only seemed to have destroyed his upper garments.

Kim rushed out to meet him, only to be brought up short when she saw him. Ron was not traditionally considered muscular, and he is fairly thin, but he is a very active person. He can easily keep up with Kim on long treks through the wilderness, but until now, she never knew what that said about his physique. The phrase, Ron was ripped to shreds was a very succinct description of his body. He was lean and muscular, and if there was an ounce more the 10% of fat on his frame she would eat her Pom-Poms

Kim shook herself from her stupor and rushed over to her boyfriend. The police arrived in time to surround a comatose Drakken and Shego, as well as an out cold Ikari.

Ron began to wrap things up with, "Situation…"

"…resolved," Kim finished.

In the parking lot of Bueno Nacho a woman sat astride a motorcycle. It was a Black Kawasaki Ninja with a red hourglass laying horizontally over the headlight. Natalia had watched the fight unfold and would have helped her targets, but wanted to see what they were made of. It was a good first-impression, they did good against the Drakken and Shego, as I heard them being called.

She saw Ron pause slightly at the counter as she arrived. Romanova had deliberately put herself downwind of him as soon as she entered the parking lot. She wanted to test how acute his sense of smell was, and she was impressed. He was able to detect me and Ikari, even when we were outside, I'll have to be careful if I want to observe them without being detected, if it's even possible with him around.

She watched him relax himself as he turned to go back to his seat. Saw Ron scan his immediate surroundings as he moved to look for the threat that had triggered his senses. If I wasn't so skilled I would have thought he was just walking back to his table. I may not have known to look for it if I didn't see his shoulders tense up when he detected me and Ikari.

Possible is pretty good herself, Ron no doubt told her of his suspicions when he returned to the table, but she didn't give a single indication that he had. Hill is right, they're very good. I would rather not have them as enemies, I want them to be friends, but I really hope I can become family to them. At least to Ron and his parents, and I think me and Kim would get along quite well.

Natalia watched as local PD arrived to process the scene, then started up her bike, and drove off. Please God, let us become a real family, not just in name and blood, but in love as well. I am so close, don't take them away from me now.

Chapter Text

Unstoppable Harmony

Old Mixed with New

Natchios Family Business

It was a beautiful spring day, as a black limousine wound its way through the New England countryside. The brilliant plumes of green leaves amused the occupants of the vehicle as they made their way to their destination, the home of one of the wealthiest families in the country. Their wealth in terms of money and assets could outshine some of the smallest nations in the world. The Worthingtons were just behind the Rothschilds as the world's richest family.

The occupants of the limo were related to the Worthington's through marriage, namely the wife of the CFO of Worthington Industries, Aurora Natchios-Worthington. The elder sister of Hugo Natchios, the Ambassador for Greece to the United States, and minority stockholder of the worldwide transport conglomerate, Natchios Worldwide Trading. He sat in the rear seat, silently contemplating the reason his sister had summoned him and his daughter Elektra to her home in Connecticut.

Hugo Natchios is normally a gregarious man, with a broad smile, which is usually visible beneath his thick handlebar mustache, which for today seems to be unattainable. He is a barrel-chested, broad-shouldered man in his fifties, today wearing just a blue, long-sleeved, button-downed shirt, over dark slacks, and suspenders. The top button of his shirt was open, befitting the relaxed atmosphere of the ride. Today, however, the atmosphere does not reflect his heart.

Why would Rora call me up for a visit out of the blue like this, Hugo wondered, then the worst-case scenario bloomed in his mind, but he dismissed it, Fiske assured me, the assassin he sent to kill the boy could not be traced to me?

Elektra sat on the driver side bench, wearing a gray-colored Columbia University sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black ankle boots, with a rose-colored headscarf keeping her long, dark tresses out of her face. At 19, she had just started her second year at the prestigious college, majoring in Political Science. She had been so busy with her studies and learning to acclimate to college life, she had little time to spend with her aunt Aurora the last few months. She did not have time to message Ron either, the last news she heard from him a couple of weeks ago, he and Kim had officially started dating, and were leaving for a mission to the Caribbean.

The cream-colored vehicle was traveling along the road and was surrounded by the great vistas of nature. On one side of the road, an expanse of water known as Long Island Sound, and on the other, vast tracts of New England woodlands masked a surprisingly flat landscape. Finally, they came to a gate, which while fragile looking, was made of a dark metal that seemed to absorb most of the ambient light from the environment. The gate was formed as a tall, rectangular, cross-hatched grill with an arch and a stylized 'W' within a wheel, rising from the lintel to the apex of the arch.

The car stopped and cameras focused in on the driver, then switched optics to an X-ray scan overlaid with an infrared filter of the vehicle. The scan revealed a wire-frame spectra graphic of the interior, revealing the three occupants, two men and a woman.

The driver leaned out and entered the code on the control panel, he is employed by this branch of the Worthingtons, to whom this car belongs. He had been sent this morning to get his passengers from Park Avenue, leaving at dawn to be able to get through city traffic and back home at almost 2pm. He was earlier than expected, Mrs. Worthington had given him a deadline of 2:30, and she held punctuality to be a virtue.

She was a good boss, kind and caring toward all her employees, whether here at her house, or at the Headquarters of her shipping company, if they did their jobs well and followed the company guidelines, or house rules, and moral code of either, she treated you with respect. Any deviation of that code or failure to do your job would result in profound consequences, up to and including termination.

So, the driver had done everything in his power to get these people here on time, safely, and he succeeded. The gate opened sideways, and the limousine made it to the front porch. This house was known as Worthington Manor, a Romanesque villa, built in homage to Emperor Nero's summer home.

The interior of the home was just as palatial as its exterior, with Empire furnishings that would not seem out of place in the White House. The foyer was circular, with white marble tile on the floors and the walls, and two sets of stairs following the edges of the entrance leading to the upper floors. The entrance also led off in three directions, straight, left, and right, with light shining through windows along each corridor.

As soon as the father-daughter pair entered the foyer, they were met with a surprise. Coming down the left-hand side staircase, in a Navy-blue, Brioni suit, burgundy necktie, and brown, leather loafers was Ronald Stoppable, with a silly grin on his face, and his, by now, trademark gold tinted shades obscuring his eyes.

Hugo tried hard, but he could not keep his face neutral when he saw his great nephew standing right in front of him, when he should have been dead. What the Hell is this, Hugo thundered in his mind, Wilson Fiske promised me this mongrel would be dead by now?

"Ronnie," Elektra shrieked in delight, before bounding over to hug him, "oh, it's so good to see you, cousin!"

"Aw, El, I'm so glad you feel this way," Ron answered her exuberance with subdued optimism, "and you're giving me your honest feelings. Because, if you were lying to me, it would break my heart."

Elektra pulled back to look at him, "what're you talking about, Ronnie."

Ron reached up and caressed her face, before answering, "Please, forgive me for what I'm about to do," and this cryptic response was met with a puzzled look from the Natchios female. Without warning, Ron whirled around toward his uncle and sent a straight punch right into the gut of Hugo Natchios, sending him falling back into the front door.

"What the Hell are you doing, Ronald," Elektra admonished, now outraged?

"That was for trying to have me killed, you bastard," Ron snarled!

Ron reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a smart phone and shoved it in front of the older man's face. A video began to play, a building that had been partially demolished, it reminded Elektra of a fast-food restaurant, but she could not be certain which one. The footage was coming from a surveillance camera pointed into what once was the patio area of the same fast-food restaurant. The destruction was so extensive that anyone watching could easily see what was going on inside.

"As soon as we realized we were in a legitimate confrontation, me and KP activated microphones in our wristwatches," Ron explained to his relatives, "that's SOP for Global Justice Peace Officers, even independent contractors like us."

On the device, they heard the conversation between the blue man and the green woman, and members of Team Possible. Then, a man in a yellow and red suit came bounding through one of the shattered windows and began to attack Ron with a pair of kama, Elektra noticed. Despite the young Natchios woman's anxiety over this situation, which Ron believed had been orchestrated by her father, she was impressed with the way he maneuvered to avoid the obviously, competent martial artist's attacks.

Elektra even watched the background while Kim and the green woman began their battle. She knew that her cousin and his partner were good fighters, having sparred with them both on occasion, but to see them in combat was something else completely. If this scenario were not so dire, she would want to test herself against them.

Would, papa, really try to kill, Ron, Elektra wondered in her mind, I don't believe it, but if he did, why would he do it. Dad, has always been a little careless with money, and he does go to Atlantic City a lot, but he has always stressed to me how important family is to him, would he really want to kill Ron?

"I am sorry, Stoppable-san," Ikari spoke in a hard voice, "but Professor Akari has been dead for some time now. I needed him, only to make the request on your website, afterwards, he was a liability, so I fed him to the piranha. As for what to call me, I am, Ikari!"

In the recording, this callousness seemed to throw Ron for a loop, making him hesitate at a crucial moment, and with a warrior as accomplished as the one in the video, that was all he needed. Elektra watched as one of the yellow guy's weapons buried itself into her cousin's side. She expected the scythe to glance off his skin like everything else that had been tried to hurt him, but when it did not, it caused her to shriek. Elektra did not have time to wonder about the change, because the one called Ikari, looped around behind him as he wilted to his knees, and slit Ron Stoppable's throat.

Elektra had to cup her mouth to keep from crying out, forgetting that her favorite person was standing next to her, unharmed. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she watched as her treasured one, was gutted and had his throat cut on the video in front of her.

"I am sorry, Stoppable-san," Ikari had turned his back to his would-be victim, not knowing that Ron was special. "I was hired to finish you. As you are dying, I will tell you of my client," Ikari said in a placating voice, "he is the Ambassador to the United States from Greece, his name…" Ron surged to him still kneeling with a punch Ikari's side, then punch to the side of his knee.

The angle of the camera was such that it was looking directly at Ron and seemed to zoom in, Elektra watched Ron's throat begin to close, almost as soon as the blade left his skin. That same knee was grabbed and pulled forward and up, dumping the man on his back. "Hu…go Nat…chios," came a raspy voice, his throat just finished healing? When the man stayed silent, Ron reared back and punched the downed man in the ribs, "talk you bastard, the man that hired you was Hugo Natchios correct?"

"Hai, Ron Stoppable," Ikari replied, "it was Hugo Natchios."

Ron looked at the man in contempt, Elektra could see his tremors from the emotional toll he had to go through today. "You are under arrest, for the attempted murder of a Global Justice Peace Officer. I don't have any handcuffs with me now," Ron stated while lifting Ikari up a little bit, then brought his fist around and into Ikari's face. He was out like a light, "that should keep you from getting away anytime soon."

Ron stopped the video and stared at his great uncle, with as close to hatred as Elektra had ever seen of him. She shuttered because Ron was normally one of the kindest, most peaceful people she had ever met, and in this instance, she did not blame him, his hatred toward her father was more than justified. Elektra turned to her father with a look of disgust besmirching her beautiful face, "Is it true father, did you hire this Ikari person to murder your own nephew?"

By now, Hugo had risen to his feet, and as his daughter questioned him, he clenched his fists in resignation, "Yes, I did," he admitted through clenched teeth, "he is just a boy, and yet, if something happens to my sister, he will have the power to decide the fate of our company, our family, of me." Hugo turned a hateful glare on Ron, "I was not going to allow some kid to come into our company and begin making decisions without understanding the ramifications of his actions!"

Ron just looked at his great uncle for a pregnant moment, then he began to laugh humorlessly, "that's a good one uncle Hew," Ron continued while chortling. "Tell me another one, about how you truly care about NWT, and maintaining the integrity of our company. Are you sure it's not to cover your debts to Wilson Fiske, by becoming a majority stockholder in our company, and allowing him to ship contraband all over the world?"

Hugo drew back in surprise, not realizing his debts had been found out. "I mean if all you're worried about is a kid taking over the company if something happens to Gram, I was going to pass the presidential position on to a more qualified person. At least until I learned what I was doing, dad being an actuary and familiar with market trends, would be a good candidate, or even Lektra here with a PoliSci degree would be more qualified for the CEO position than me. All of which could have been brought to my attention at a stockholder meeting," Ron concluded, "you weren't worried about the company, you sack of sewage, you were trying to save your own pathetic excuse for a life!"

"That is enough, Ronald," came a voice from above them, bringing all their attention up to the second floor. Standing there with a profound look of disappointment, was Aurora Natchios. "Hugo, will you and dear Elektra, please come up to my office," she asked in a commanding tone, "Ronald, please follow us."

They all followed the matriarch, down the left, second-floor corridor to the first right, in the middle of the hallway. They entered a room that just quivered with feminine energy, with furnishings the Queen of England herself would not find out of place. It may have been filled with opulence; the function of this room was never far in doubt. The front wall held bookcases with binders of the trade agreements and contracts held by NWT, as well as law books with the current Local, State, Federal, and international laws governing the movement of objects from one place to another through every means available to humanity. Aurora Natchios-Worthington knew everything about her business, and while she kept an executive suite of offices in the headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan, she mainly worked out of this office.

She took a seat behind her desk, as regal as any queen Ron had ever met, which if he thought about it, he had met quite a few. The desk was to the left of one of two of the bay windows that allowed natural light to cascade into the room. The room was rectangular with plenty of open space in the middle, leather couches and a coffee table lining the opposite wall, and three small, half-moon tables on each side of the windows. Directly in front of the desk were two leather chairs and an oval-shaped end table between them.

Aurora just sat there, looking at her little brother, she allowed the memories of their childhood to flood her mind. They were like many brothers and sisters, they had their fights, some big, others small, but even if he was her half-brother, from the woman their father married after World War II, she never thought of him as anything except her brother.

"I think we can skip the reasons why you tried to murder my grandson, Hugo," the regal woman said, "the only thing that matters is what should be done with you. You had the audacity to confess your guilt, so whether you did it has been proven..."

"You can't do anything to me, Aurora," Hugo smugly said, "I confessed because nothing can be done against me, I have diplomatic immunity."

"You know, if you had thought of doing this last year, Unk," Ron began as he stepped up to the right of his great uncle.

He was fishing for something out of his other pocket and came out with a leather-bound wallet and flipped it open. It held an ID Card with Ron's picture on it, but below that was a shiny gold-plated eight-pointed star, for the eight cardinal directions. The badge of a Global Justice Peace Officer, the highest law enforcement organization in the world, one that every foreign service officer and Head of State knew by sight. Along with the star shape, an engraving of the UN Security Council's logo, over which Lady Justice was embossed, and a badge number [2:104:0126, appeared.

"I stated it twice downstairs, and this time I have given you proof," Ron explained, "I am a Global Justice Peace Officer, so that diplomatic immunity you so casually invoked, no longer applies. Since you so freely confessed your crimes in front of me, with a witness," he reminded Hugo while pointing to Elektra, "I could officially place you under arrest."

"Moreover, do you happen to remember how you were appointed to this position, dear brother," Aurora reminded him, "it was through my recommendation to the President of the Republic that led to this post, since you are still officially listed as a citizen? I have plenty of evidence showing your increasing negligence toward your duties as Ambassador, I could easily send him copies of everything, which will call for an investigation, which will require you to return to Greece, and you are only immune from prosecution while on foreign soil. Once you set foot in the nation that employs you, your immunity will evaporate."

"You'd be screwed, dad," Elektra told him, "Ron can arrest you in any nation-state that is a member of the United Nations, whether the crime you committed was in that country or not. I learned that in my International Relations class this year, surely you would know that much if you're a diplomat."

It is a good thing none of us ever told dad, about Ron's mutant status, or the Kingpin of Crime, as papers call him, would have hired a heavy hitter to go after Ron, Elektra mused, it was classified as a Worthington family secret. I only found out about it that first year because Aunt Rora thought Ron needed somebody his age to reassure him, but she swore me to secrecy, and I never break a promise.

Aurora opened her top left drawer and pulled out two pieces of paper, one was a wire transfer form with the sum of 50-million dollars written on it, the other was a contract. "You are my brother, Hugo, and I will give you a choice, my last familial favor." The Natchios-Worthington matriarch slid the documents over to him, "either you allow me to buy out all 40-percent of your share of Natchios Trading, with just enough money to cover your debts with Fiske, and then some, and be banished to the same island as Orestes, or I will allow Ron to arrest you."

"What," Hugo demanded launching to his feet, while Ron, who had leaned on the desk, stood up straight to look his uncle in the eye, "you wish to take sole control of the company, Rora?" Hugo chose to ignore the younger person's aggressive posture, "that's outrageous," he thundered!

"Either way, little brother," Aurora said while she remained seated and calm, "you'll lose, and more than just your share of the company, because I'm sure the Mayor of New York's Underworld will want to make sure you don't try to weasel your way out of jail by selling him out. At least this way I can say I offered my brother a chance, and didn't just throw him to the dogs," she finished, "we're not the Italians."

"I can't believe you're doing this to me, Rora," Hugo admonished, "we're supposed to be family," he growled, "and you would throw all that away over a mu..."

Before he could utter another syllable, Hugo Natchios was grabbed by the back of the head and thrown face first down on the desk, in his ear a female voice whispered, "if you ever, hurl that vile slur toward my Ronnie again, I'm going to forget that you're my father and break every bone in your body. You betrayed your family first, father," Elektra seethed in his ear, "the least you can do is accept your fate with honor!"

Ron was surprised at first, by his cousin's reaction, then he began to smile gently, and moved over to lay a comforting hand on the closest person to a sister he ever had, "don't bother, Lektra, he isn't worth it, and he can't hurt me with his words."

Hugo stood up after she let him go, "you are such a disappointment, Elektra, after today you are not my daughter; you are dead to me; nothing, you're nothing!"

This is when Ron whipped his head around, "if I were you, Hugo Natchios, I'd take Gram's deal before it expires, which is in about 30 seconds."

Hugo saw the resolve in his nephew's face, still mostly hidden by his shades, he could still feel that malice directed at him. Thus, Hugo turned and at once signed the property transference, "who am I giving my shares to again, the recipient section is blank?"

At this Aurora grinned wickedly, and asked, "did you really believe I was so greedy that I'd take all your shares and keep them for myself, Hew?" She took the document and turned to Elektra, "come forward my dear," Aurora beckoned, to which the shocked young woman in the room, complied, "I have a gift for you."

Number One

Kim's Week

While Ron was taking care of his family issues on the east coast, back in Colorado, Kim was going through her week at school. She missed her boyfriend of only a couple of weeks and was worried about him.

Mostly his mental well-being, because having a skeleton composed of the hardest, densest material known to man, a healing factor that could fix any damage he could sustain in seconds, and six-chains made of the same material that he could control as instinctively as his arms and legs, was reassuring enough. But being able to transform into a seven-foot-tall giant and change your body into a living metal man that Ron calls his behemoth form, composed of that same unbreakable material, which you name after yourself. While in that form you learn you could lift more than 15 tons, and the chains could lift that same amount individually whether Ron was in behemoth form or not, amping his lifting power to between 75 and 100 tons.

I'm not worried about Ron's physical safety, but he's had to face betrayal by members of his family, Kim mused from her position on the top of a human pyramid, one of whom just happened to be like a sister to him.

She shook her head to clear of all extraneous thoughts, Head in the game, Possible, she admonished herself and began leading her cheer squad in their new routine. "M-A-D D-O-G! That's how we spell... vic-tory," they said while raising their hands in the air! Then began chanting, "Go MAD-DOGs; Go, Go MAD-DOGs!"

Before Kim shouted a little louder than the others, "WE'RE NUMBER 1," then performed an aerial somersault, and landing with the splits, ending the cheer with a grand finale. At about that time she saw Vice Principal Barkin walk into the gym with a redheaded woman slightly older than the girls.

Meanwhile, Bonnie sauntered over to her cheer captain folding her arms over her chest, body language screaming imminent confrontation, "Kim, can we chat," she asked?

"Sure, Bonnie, I have time for anyone on the squad," Kim acknowledged, though her eyes held dubious anticipation in them. "What's your ish," Kim wondered?

"Well, it's really your ish," Bonnie corrected, while taking her arm and moving them a little further from the squad toward one of the bleachers. While Barkin and the mysterious woman made their way to the majority of the squad on another set of bleachers. "You seem tired," Bonnie inquired?

"Well, I did fly in from Abu Dhabi this morning," Kim admitted, while also humble bragging about what she did, "rescued an ambassador. No Big." What Kim did not mention was that she was the one doing the flying and had to drop Ron off at his grandmother's house, before zooming home.

Kim had to admit, having powers like hers was spankingly convenient, not that she uses them much on her missions. Her strength, maxing out at 25 tons, she mostly uses to avert natural disasters, she usually uses her neutrino-vision for surveillance of the enemy before entering their hideouts, and she had never needed to use her flight for anything other than to get Ron and herself, to and from a mission. She has yet to use her speed for anything other than to finish homework and chores at home, and even then, only if she had to hurry and finish them before going on a mission. She refused to use her powers to cheat in her daily life, a self-imposed limitation she gave herself to prevent her from getting a swelled head about her power.

Kim was brought out of her musings as Bonnie continued with her purpose, "Which is... nice, but you gotta ask yourself, did you give the squad 110 percent today?"

"No, I only gave them 100%," Kim answered bluntly, "which is all I know how to give, to any task I'm trying to do. I've learned a long time ago, you can only give so much of yourself to any one task, it's impossible to give more than all of yourself to anyone or anything."

"Well, I happen to think the squad deserves someone who gives all of themselves and more to them," Bonnie stood up out of the bleacher seat with hands on hips.

"Someone like..." Kim wondered, though she suspected Bonnie's answer?

"Me," Bonnie declared!

Kim merely looked at her, and wondered how to handle this, before remembering her Sunday school lessons. "Very well, Bonnie," Kim said, while getting to her feet, with a bright smile, "if you care this much, who am I to try standing in your way? If the squad thinks I've been slacking in my responsibilities to them, I'll step-down without a fuss."

"Really, you're just giving up without a fight," Bonnie asked incredulously?

"No, I'm still going to be performing my duties as cheer captain," Kim answered, "everything I normally do, I'll keep doing. You can do everything you need to do to convince the squad of your qualifications, and if they think you could do a better job them me, I won't stand in your way. I promise," she concluded while extending her hand. "Deal?"

Bonnie was confused, she expected her rival to throw a tantrum over being challenged for the captaincy, but Kim just seemed to acquiesce without a fight. What is her angle, what's she trying to pull, Bonnie wondered, then seeing that she was getting what she wanted without a fight, extended her hand in a satisfied smile, "Deal!"

Kim looked over to the other set of bleachers and saw the rest of the squad, along with Barkin and the woman waiting for them. "Come on, Bonnie," Kim ordered while taking her arm, "It looks like, Mr. Barkin has an announcement to make, and you know how he hates to be kept waiting."

They reached the other side of the gym, and as they moved to take their seats Barkin began his remarks, "Possible, Rockwaller, thank you for deigning to join us," he quipped sarcastically!

"Sorry, Mr. Barkin," Kim apologized, "personnel issues."

Steve Barkin nodded in understanding before continuing, "allow me to introduce, Natalie Rushman," he said while gesturing to the woman next to him, "she's going to be the faculty advisor and coach for the cheerleaders and pep-squads for the rest of the year. She'll be your liaison for you to have better relations with the school administration," the vice principal explained, "something this team has been sorely lacking."

The woman that stepped forward was for lack of a better term, gorgeous, even to the young ladies of the cheer squad, hair, a darker shade of red than Kim and Liz's, the other red head on the team, svelte frame, with curves many of them envied, and brown eyes the color of Ron's before his eighth birthday. "Good morning, cheerleaders," she greeted, "as Mr. Barkin explained I will be your coach for the foreseeable future. I won't try to cut into your team dynamic too much but will advise you on certain changes to routines as we move forward. As for my credentials, though I was never on a cheerleading team," she admitted, "I have studied ballet and gymnastics extensively as a young girl, hopefully I can lend my experience in those fields to your already incredible performances."

Kim eyed the woman in front of her carefully, and discretely activated her neutrino-vision, hm, musculature and bone density lend credence to her claims of ballet and gymnastics, I've only seen that kind of physique in my own physiology, but it seems more compacted somehow, more than even my own body. Of course, I'm no medical doctor like mom, I'm only comparing her to me, I'm no expert.

Kim's perusal of their new coach took less than a second, when she stood up, "As captain of this team, I welcome you to the school and look forward to your input on how to improve our squad. I am mostly a gymnast myself, and Bonnie here," Kim said, presenting the brunette, "is an accomplished ballerina. Perhaps between the three of us, as well as input from the rest of our team, we can craft routines that will make us stand out to the judges at competition this year."

"I will leave you to get acquainted with the ladies, Natalie," Barkin whispered to Natasha, "I think this is one of those women only bonding sessions. Make them work, but remember their academics come before extracurriculars," he reminded her, "if they can't maintain their grades they can't participate in competitions. Understood," he whispered earnestly?!

"Understood, Mr. Barkin," Natasha whispered back! Barkin seemed satisfied with her answer and left the gym. She turned back to the squad and with a clap of her hands got everybody's attention, "Okay, ladies, now that he's gone, I'd say we should spend the next few minutes getting acquainted..."

Later

Kim was heading for home, in her normal, green sleeveless blouse and calf-length capris, denim jeans, and speaking into the handheld device she called, the Kimmunicator. While she had a wrist communicator like Ron, she preferred to use this slightly more powerful device for everyday use, and kept the watch as a backup device, plus it had a few more applications and uses.

She was leaving the gym and had Wade conduct a background check on Ms. Rushman, from the name and the freeze-frame he took from school surveillance cameras, not to mention the license plate he took from her motorcycle in the parking lot. Wade, of course recognized the name, since he helped his grandpa out and compiled all the data he needed to create the Natalie Rushman profile.

"Well, Kim, I've got good news and bad news," Wade explained, "first I want to remind you that I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do is really sneaky, plus you know my last name is Fury." At her nod to go on, Wade added, "the good news is I am allowed to tell you that your instinct to check her out was a good one, she is not Natalie Rushman, she is an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., newly recruited from the other side, and you could learn a lot from her. Her mission is to observe you and Ron and see how you work as a team," Wade informed his friend with an approving smile, "the bad news, I cannot tell you who she truly is, its above your security clearance, and would impede her mission."

"Well, I expected SHIELD and GJ to send people to evaluate us," Kim explained dubiously, as she walked off school property, "but at least we know who she is, I'll brief Ron about her as soon as he gets back to Middleton. But if Ms. Rushman is Fury's evaluation, I wonder how GJ is going to do it... whoa!"

As soon as she finished her sentence, a hole opened in front of her and before she knew it, she was in a glass tube and falling through the crust of the Earth at terminal velocity, whisking through turns and U-bends. Finally, she ended up in a cavern, somewhere below her point of entry, and she sighed, so much for wondering how GJ is going to evaluate me, I guess they wanna try to rattle me before it starts.

"Kim Possible, welcome," came the cultured, relaxed voice of a woman supremely confident, but not arrogant, in her own abilities, a woman Kim idolized. She was a woman with auburn hair and an eye-patch, whom Kim had only met briefly, once before when she informed her of her latent mutant status, which reminded her of something. Kim looked around, spotting a bunch of computer terminals with operators working at them, and several other tubes, such as the one on which she arrived.

"Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Director, codenamed: Bouncing Betty," Kim recited, "the youngest director of Global Justice in its history. I am honored to meet you, Director," Kim exclaimed as calmly as she could, then cupping her own face she whispered to the older woman, "I need to give you an update on mine and Ron's enhancement status."

Betty only raised an eyebrow, then with a smirk, answered, "of course, Kim, but let us take care of the reason you are here in the first place," she ordered, while pointing behind Kim.

Kim turned in time to see a GJ operative stepping out of one of the arrival tubes. He had an olive complexion with Asiatic features and was dressed in a typical GJ uniform. His eyes were cast in a perpetual sneer, and his shoulders were rather stiff, Kim sighed, what's his damage?

"This is Will Du, our number one agent," Dr. Director introduced. "Follow me," she ordered. They came to a large conference room with an oval table, and fourteen chairs surrounding it. Suspended on a platform, above the table was a four-way projector.

Once they were seated, Betty began the briefing by activating the projector. On all four walls the picture of a blonde man with green eyes, and large ears could be seen, "This is Professor Sylvan Green," Betty began, "in the 1960s, he developed a top-secret missile defense project..."

"The siren-aided guided missile tracking system," Kim finished for the director.

Betty and Du were taken aback, and she demanded, "where did you get that information?"

"Off the internet," Kim answered, "it's 1960's technology, long since declassified."

Betty was consternated, but pressed on with the briefing, she pressed another button, and the picture switched to an elderly man on a red, riding lawnmower, "This is Professor Green, currently. Retired. Place of residence, Florida."

"So, now he has disappeared as well, I assume," Kim said.

"Kim, what would you say to helping Agent Du find Professor Green," the GJ director offered?

"Does Agent Du, talk," Kim asked sarcastically, eyeing the older boy suspiciously?

"Forty-two languages, fourteen regional dialects," Do explained.

"Oh, cool," she exclaimed, "I'm taking French, my partner is fluent in Greek and Russian and is taking Latin for his foreign language credit." Kim turned to Betty Director, "I will accept this mission, but this is a Team Possible mission, not a Global Justice call out, our standard rates apply, and Agent Du will follow my lead, is that acceptable, director?"

"Dr. Director, permission to speak freely," Will Du asked before Betty could answer Kim's terms?

"Granted," came the voice of his commander.

"This is an insult," Will thundered, "I am a highly trained professional, whereas she's... she's... an amateur!"

"Are you done with your tantrum, little boy," Kimberly asked with an evil grin on her face, "because I think I'm more qualified than you?" Kim pulled her wallet out of her back pocket and flipped it open, "badge number, [3:106:1933, this means I went through the same training as you. I may be an independent contractor, but this badge makes me your equal, in other words, not an amateur. Tell me, Agent Du," Kim clipped off his name, "how long have you been an agent for Global Justice?"

"Two years," Du answered with aplomb, "and I have completed 50 missions of many types in that time."

"Well thank you, for answering my next question, Agent Du," Kim retorted. "I have been taking missions since I was 11 years old, I just turned 15, that means that I have more missions under my belt than you, so compared to me you're the amateur."

Betty was just smirking at Possible's tirade, and just added, "Kim Possible, Agent Du, good luck."

Thanks, ma'am," Kim replied, "now I have some new information For Your Ears only."

Procrastinator Club:

Meeting Postponed

Ron arrived from Connecticut the next day, and in his normal, burgundy hockey jersey, black, turtleneck, tan cargo pants, and the ever-present gold shades over his eyes. "So, you're letting Bonnie try her wings at being captain, KP," he was asking as they came out of the school the next day?

"I'm seriously considering it, Ron," Kim answered, with her arm threaded through his, "I mean if she can do it, and do a good job, it'll take some of the load off my shoulders."

"I understand, Kim," Ron replied, "I'm wondering myself if I should consider giving up basketball and soccer, because of," he looked around for any listeners, but still lowered his voice, "certain changes I'm going through. I'm debating on the fairness of participating in sports, with non-enhanced individuals," he told her.

"Do you want my opinion," Kim asked?

"Of course," Ron answered, "your opinion means a lot to me."

"Well, these changes you're going through," Kim wondered, "you can turn them on and off, right?"

"Yes, like right now, they're not on," Ron answered her, "the only things that cannot be turned off are my chains, my eyes, my skeleton, and my quick healing. They are the only things I cannot hide, but I can conceal them," he finished.

"You've always been enhanced, Ron," Kimberly reminded him, "since your eighth birthday when you protected me and my brothers from JP Berrymore. You've always been above average, you've always had advantages, and you weren't bothered by them then, why worry about them now? We are lucky with our enhancements, we can hide them, imagine people like Warren, Dr. McCoy, Kurt, Drakken, and Shego, people like them cannot hide their uniqueness. So, don't try to limit yourself because you're trying to play fair, life is not fair," Kim explained, "in my opinion, as long as you don't use any of your advanced capabilities for any of these sports, it's not cheating."

They reached the sidewalk and found Will Du waiting for them, "Ms. Possible, are you ready to assist me, in my investigation?"

"I'm sorry, who's the one coming to me for help," Kim rebuked him, while folding her arms over her chest, "as I told Dr. Director, this is a Team Possible mission, now. So, you are assisting me in my investigation," Kim admonished, bringing her hands to her hips, and getting in Will's face, "one more dismissive comment, Du, and I will ask your director for a new agent. Understood," she hissed?

"Yes, ma'am," Will grated, while Ron moved forward with a hand up for a palm slap.

"Yo-ha, bro-ha," Ron greeted in a cheerful voice.

Will just touched his watch sending a taser at Ron's sternum, which Ron, with a swat of his upraised hand, easily parried the taser-wires out of harm's way, and before Will could react Ron brought his fist around in a right-cross to the GJ agent's jaw. Du was out before he hit the deck.

He came to and found himself in a holding cell. His head was ringing, and his jaw felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer. "What happened," he wondered aloud, his own voice sounded like gongs were going off in his head?

"You tell me, Agent Du," came a voice from the other side of the door. He turned and Betty Director came into view, "I no sooner learn that you left to meet Team Possible, then the next minute I get a call from them claiming you tried to assault one of them with a taser."

"He violated my personal space," Will explained, "that's standard procedure when anyone comes within one meter of my person."

Betty held up a tablet and saw Ron Stoppable raising his hand in a way that anyone else would consider a friendly greeting, "that's all? He was trying to greet you as a member of his Team, and you felt that justified your use of excessive force, rather than communicate your aversion to touching people? Whatever happened to, no thanks, I have an aversion to being touched by others, you couldn't have explained that to him," Betty shouted at him, "are you really considered the best agent I have? No wonder we have criminals, like Drakken, Shego, and Dementor running around in public, I hope Fury has better people than this to fight against terrorists like Strucker, Magneto, and Von Doom, or the world is in some deep shit!"

"What about the mission, Director," Du asked urgently, "surely, you're not going to leave in the hands of those amateurs?"

Betty's single visible eye was twitching, and even the covered one seemed to bore into him, "those so-called, 'amateurs' as you put it, recognize that an innocent man's life is on the line here, and are continuing with the mission as we speak. That's all I'm going to tell you, Agent Du," Betty said as she turned to leave, "I'm ordering a psych eval for you, to ascertain whether you pose a serious threat to Global Justice, and the public at large. For your sake, I hope they do not find you lacking in that regard, because I can't have an Agent with your training and security clearance running around in public. Either way, Du," the woman looked back at her former, number one Agent, "You'll never be a field agent again, you've already assaulted one of our own, nobody would ever trust you to have their back."

At the Possible Household

"You know, I think, Bonnie might actually be captain material," Kim mused as they sat in her family kitchen, chatting with Wade and compiling the evidence they needed to find Professor Green.

"You might be right, KP," Ron agreed, "that chocolate fundraiser idea of hers was a good one," he added.

At that time, Dr. Ann Possible was just returning home from work, "Hi, Kimmie, Ron, what are you two up to," she asked as she kissed her daughter on the forehead?

"We're searching for a missing scientist," Ron answered his girlfriend's mother.

"Ooh, that's too bad, is it anyone I know," Ann wondered in concern?

"I doubt it, he did most of his work in the sixties," Kim explained, "I checked with dad, and he agrees with us that most of this professor's work is obsolete today."

"Well, have fun, kids," Ann implored, before heading up to change out of her work clothes, "and Good Luck!"

As soon as Ann was out of the room, the Kimmunicator beeps, and Kim brings it out for them to see it, "Wade, did you get the data?"

"Got it, Kim," the ten-year-old super genius answered, "preparing, holographic simulation of missing professor's home... now!" A mini-holographic projector blazed to life, displaying the house of the retired professor.

"That Du-guy has probably already examined the crime scene," Ron surmised.

"Well, I haven't," Kim replied, then added, "besides, I refuse to go on a mission with someone like that, especially after he tried to hurt you." She reached over and took his hand, and brought it to her lips, "just because it wouldn't have hurt you is beside the point, you're my guy, and nobody will attack you and get away with it, not while I'm around. Not to mention he doesn't know about our enhancement status; he wouldn't have known whether his attack would have injured you or not."

"I know, KP," Ron agreed while returning her kiss on her own hand, "trust is the most important thing on a mission, especially with new people."

Kim rubbed his knuckles with a smile and returned to looking at the hologram, "Wade, enlarge the point of entry, please," she ordered, and Wade, who had been studiously ignoring their intimate moment complied without comment. The model blurred to a close-up view of the hole in the wall, "explosive method of entry..." then noticing a spot near the blown-out portion of wall, she pointed to it and asked Wade, "what's that?"

"Can't tell," Wade answered, "isolating and enlarging," and before they knew it the speck was floating eye-level in front of them. It was white and had a small depression in the middle of it.

"Good," Kim said, with a suspicion of what she was seeing forming in her mind, "now, let's try to fill in the blanks."

"Running extrapolation routine, now," Wade informed them.

Ron was also having an epiphany of what it could be, "could it be from a golf ball?"

"Well, he was retired, and lived in Florida, golf's almost a prerequisite for the retirement community," Wade sounded dubious about the connection.

"Wade," Kim acknowledged them both with a nod, before asking Wade for a broader search, "does Professor Green show up on any online message boards?"

"Oh, yeah," Wade answered, already anticipating Kim's focus, "gardening, botany, experimental fertilizers..., his lawn won the Blue Grass Ribbon, three years running."

"That plus the traces of Hyperactic acid, also found at the scene, an experimental fertilizer found only on the black market," Kim explained to the room, while giving her boyfriend a knowing smile, "leads us to one place..."

Ron had also picked up her hint and returned her smile with a shady smile of his own, "sounds like we need to visit...

...the world headquarters for black market gardening supplies."

A few hours later found Team Possible in a courtyard of the back alleys of Monaco, to visit one of the local outlaws, a man that even the most ruthless villains would never think of crossing. Rumors say that even Doom respects him, and Hydra gives him a wide berth, because any battle with him and his forces would come down to a battle of attrition.

"If it's illegal, they sell it here," Kim surmised as she and Ron came to the only light still on in this part of the city. They were in their mission clothes, black, turtleneck sweater, olive green cargoes, hiking boots, and black gloves, with a utility belt for any gear they might need. Ron's outfit also had a pair of goggles with the same gold tinting as his shades.

"Hm, I wonder if he likes chocolate," Ron mused as he thumbed his chin, "with his distribution network we could outsell, Bonnie and her big rig for sure."

Kim gave him an amused smirk, "aw, you're so sweet, helping me with the captaincy," then turned serious, "if we have time that's fine, just remember our priority is information on Green. Everything else, comes after we get the information we need," Kim reminded Ron, before opening the door to walk inside.

"Of course," Ron replied, "saving lives is our top priority, but who says we can't multi-task?" They walked in and their eyes immediately went to a heavyset man in a white suit jacket and pants, over a long-sleeved olive-green shirt, a black leather belt, and a gold buckle. He was sitting in a carpeted area, with pillows and a bowl of fruit beside him, he appeared to be eyeing a bunch of grapes, before resolutely taking a bite out of them.

They sauntered over to him, which caught his attention as he observed them approaching him. Ron moved ahead of Kim a step or two, and raised the goggles to his forehead, narrowing his golden eyes which glinted brightly in the dim light of the room. Around them, his men were eyeing Ron with looks of veiled hostility, only the occasional sideways glance at the two males, gazing at each other like warriors about to do battle.

"Are you Big Daddy Brotherson," Ron asked?

"Sometimes," the man in white answered, crisply, with suspicion and a thick Chicago accent.

"Is it true that every deal that goes down, anywhere in the world, you get a piece of it," Ron asked?

"Now, that depends," the big man asked, and with a flick of his brow, a shadow loomed over them, as a mountain of a man, in a black suit and red turban stepped forward. Brotherson looked between Ron and Kim, who was silent and emotionless, her face gave nothing away.

"On," Kim asked?

"On whether it was Team Possible, or Global Justice asking the question," Brotherson answered with a wicked grin?

Ron and Kim broke out into friendly grins, they were old friends with the big guy, not everything Team Possible does is totally above reproach. Nothing that was harmful to anybody, but would not be considered legal in many places around the world, they had done favors for Brotherson and a few of his men and were treated almost like family.

Ron turned to the bodyguard, while bringing his hands up in a prayerful fashion and bowing, "Nasser, my man, peace be unto you and your family," he intoned, "how are Fatima and the kids?" They moved away and let their bosses have a private chat.

Kim moved closer to Brotherson's carpet and knelt to sit next to him, "Danny, I can see you've lost weight, is Ruzan making you go on a diet again?"

"Yeah, how is it that I'm one of the most powerful non-enhanced, non-politically inclined people in the world, but a 5' 5" woman can scare me enough to make me stop eating so much," Daniel Brotherson told the young woman next to him?

"I think that's called, love, Danny," Kim answered, while inclining her head toward Ron, who was talking to a few of Brotherson's men, and was apparently trying to tempt them into buying some of the chocolate for the fundraiser. His goggles were up, and he seemed more relaxed here, not unlike when he was in Westchester or Connecticut.

Danny looked between the teens and grinned knowingly, before getting down to the business at hand, "What do you need, Kim, I know you didn't come all the way here just to have a chat?"

"I need to know who's been in the market for hyperactic acid," she explained, "it could lead to a missing, retired scientist?"

"I don't know, Kimmie," Brotherson began, "one rule of my business, which I taught you was, Client Confidentiality."

"Yes, I know," Kim asserted with a sly smile, as she slid one of the fundraiser bars out of her pocket and shoved it under his nose.

He involuntarily took a whiff of the chocolate; it had been so long since he had any candy, "Is that... milk chocolate," he asked with a sheen of sweat rolling down his brow?

Kim brought the candy bar to her own nose, and with a seductive smile on her face, and added, "With, chewy nougat. I know Ruzan won't like you going back on your diet, Danny, but surely one bar won't break your diet, will it? You've been doing so well, I checked with her before we arrived, and she relented her moratorium on candy, just, this, once."

Later

After bidding goodnight to Big Daddy Brotherson and his men, Kim and Ron left their place of business with a satisfied grin. It had taken less than one second for the big guy to cave when Kim had exposed his one weakness, and said his wife was okay with it.

Ron was also able to finish selling his box of chocolate to the rest of the gang. Sadly, Danny knew that he would end up breaking his promise to his wife, if he ordered a boat load of chocolate, so he declined to do that much business with his blonde friend.

"Duff Killigan," Kim repeated the name her friend gave them.

Ron keyed his wrist-comm, "Rufus AI, begin search for a Duff Killigan, get as much information as you can on him, and locate his base of operations," Rufus was a prototype AI they used when Wade was out of contact. It could perform all the same functions as their genius friend, but without the friendly banter, it was a collaboration between himself, Wade, and Wade's family, so the young man could sleep properly.

Rufus beeped its acknowledgement and sent the information to the Kimmunicator, it was Wade's bedtime after all, and Kim read the information to Ron. "Duff Killigan, born in Scotland, former professional golfer."

Ron had his goggles back over his eyes at the time, and their purpose was to conceal his anomalous eyes from the world, not block their power, if anything could, "Uh, Kim?"

Ron saw a shadowy figure on top of one of the overpasses above the street. The figure stepped into the light and Ron saw a man with a rather robust frame. He was balding and what little hair he had left was red, and he wore a chin-beard with no mustache. On his frame was a purple sweater, and a kilt with a tartan pattern of green and rust colored squares.

"He's been banned from every golf course in the world, even mini golf," Kim continued, giving out information of their chief suspect, "for excessive displays of temper."

The man was teeing up in a golfer's pose, golf club in hand, taking aim at them.

"Fore," came a heavy Scottish brogue! He swung the club and sliced a shot right into their position.

"Kim," Ron yelled!

"Weapon of choice," Kim wondered?

"Exploding golf balls," Ron yelled as he shot out a chain, and caught the object flying at them, enveloping the golf ball in a hollow sphere! The ronium chain absorbed the explosion without any collateral damage to surrounding property. Ron let the smoke leak out of the shell enough to obscure their escape.

"It all fits, exploding golf balls at the crime scene, attacking us," Kim summarized, not even remotely worried about getting blown up, her powers, plus her man, whom she will reward properly for getting her out of danger once they get home. She was never worried about her own safety, just to the surrounding area, Danny's kids as well as other innocent people could have been hurt from the exploding golf balls, "Killigan's our suspect."

Kim closed her eyes and let her power fill her, then turned her back to Ron, "let's go, Ron, I wanna see how Bonnie's doing with the fundraiser." Ron wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, which she, for many reasons, was beginning to love. The feeling of having him pressed against her from behind was thrilling for her. Ron had been looking around with his golden eyes, and could see nobody watching them, and with a tap on her flank, Kim shot into the sky.

One good thing about flying like this, she thought as she quickly reached Mach 3, I don't weigh as much as a plane, so it takes less time to break the sound barrier, I don't have to build up so much momentum. We should still think about getting our own aircraft though, I love having Ron hold me like this, but we might need some way to relax when on missions. I feel no more exhausted doing this than jogging a few miles, powered down, but I'm pretty sure dad would ground me for a month, if he knew our flying configuration.

Back in Middleton

"Wow, you sold all the chocolate," Kim asked with an impressed smile, "what did you do, hit the local gym right as they were letting out? Did you convince them that one bar won't be going back on their diet," she asked knowingly?

Bonnie just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "maybe," she admitted, with a blush on her cheeks.

Kim just chuckled, "I did the same thing to a business associate of mine in Monaco, his wife had him on a diet, and with her permission, of course, he bought a whole box of them. Ron helped me sell the rest of my batch to his employees," Kim elaborated, "I was only able to sell half the number you sold."

Despite herself, Bonnie let out a small giggle, "Well, it's no big deal, the fundraiser was to buy our new uniforms, you like?" Bonnie did a spread arm turn to show off the uniform she was wearing. It seemed to be the reverse of the sleeveless blue uniform with red-trim and gold pleats that Kim wore, the one Bonnie wore, was mostly gold, with blue-trim and red pleats, and it had long sleeves.

Kim gave the uniform a critical look, "actually, I do, though it might be a little warm for here in the gym. Long sleeves would be perfect for football season," Kim mused, then saw the rest of the squad converging on them, with their new coach, Ms. Rushman. "What do you think, ladies," Kim asked in a louder voice, "do you think these togs will be a good uniform for next fall?"

Tara, one of Bonnie's oldest friends, was totally onboard with it, "Oh yes, thanks to Bonnie, these new uniforms are badical!"

"I agree," Nat told them all her preference, then walked up to Kim to hand her, her new uniform, "go ahead and suit up, we'll work on the new cheer when you get back from the locker room."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can," Kim exclaimed while dashing away.

Meanwhile, at Bueno Nacho

Ron was chowing down on a burrito, when a woman in an eye-patch sat down at his table. She was not exactly being subtle in her approach, not that she needed to be, Ron knew her from meeting her during his training to be SHIELD and Global Justice operatives. She had an air of relaxed attentiveness, supremely aware of everyone and everything around her, perhaps a more mature version of Kim's calm nature, when not in the field.

"Dr. Director," Ron said in greeting, "welcome to Bueno Nacho, would you like to have something to eat, my treat?"

"My, my Ronald, what would Kimberly say to you treating another woman to lunch," Betty teased, "especially with your new relationship status?"

"She'd say, I was just being polite," Ron answered, "but still wonder what I can help you with..."

She looked down at the table and clenched her fists, "first, I wish to apologize on behalf of Global Justice for the unwarranted attack by one of our own. It was uncalled for, and former Agent Will Du will face a court-martial once he is found psychologically fit."

Ron looked at her with some surprise evident on his face, "I certainly don't blame you or GJ for that incident, it was your agent who attacked me, not you, Madam Director."

"Nevertheless, I must take responsibility when one of my agents uses excessive force on another agent, merely for trying to say hello," Betty finished her statement with a low growl.

"If it will put your mind at ease, then, Dr. Elizabeth Director," Ron began formally, "I, Ronald Stoppable, do hereby accept your apology for the attack on my person, and grant forgiveness to you and Global Justice."

"Thank you, Mr. Stoppable," Betty accepted with a smile, "now, my ultimate goal here is to complete your evaluation that Du was meant to do yesterday, but we know how that went?"

"Yes, we do," Ron teased, just as the Ronn-watch beeped, and he grinned wickedly, "that's Wade, I'll get Kim, you can be our ride, Director."

A few minutes later, Team Possible was waiting for the director to show up with their transportation. "Bonnie is doing pretty good, Ron," Kim admitted to him, "maybe even better than me as captain. We got new uniforms, and that new cheer rocks," she told him, "I'm finding the idea of her taking over as captain, more appealing than ever, and having a faculty advisor is going to make things even better. I can let go of that aspect of leadership and save it all for our missions," she sounded more excited than ever about letting Bonnie be captain, "I mean it'll be a huge weight off my shoulders."

Ron was loving her vibrant smile, it really seemed like she was truly enjoying the idea of letting someone else shoulder some of her burden, he came up to her and wrapped her in a hug, "you know I'll support you no matter what you decide to do," he said while cupping her cheek. Their eyes were fixed on each other's, they leaned in and shared a slow kiss, when they finished, he was still caressing her cheek, "and I believe you can do anything you set your mind to, even letting go sometimes."

Kim's heart was skipping a beat, and she was smiling shyly up at her boyfriend, "thank you, Ron," she replied, while threading her arms around his neck to lay her head on his shoulder, before closing her eyes. His own gloved hands were around the middle of her back, his fingers tracing patterns along her spine, while hers did the same on the nape of his neck.

They were lost in the moment, when they heard a whooshing sound coming from above them, they looked up and saw a wicked-looking craft fly in and land on the street. Behind them, Dr. Director walked up to stand beside them, "sorry for interrupting, kids, but when Mr. Stoppable asked me for a ride, I figured we could travel in style. In the GJ hover-jet," with a proud smile on her face, "one of our more advanced means of transport."

Betty brought out a remote control and pressed a button. The aircraft which had VTOL capability, opened a door and slid out a ramp. Betty stepped to the side and in a Vanna-pose, asked, "shall we get going kids?"

They wasted no time, and rushed aboard, followed by the director, but instead of taking the pilot's seat, Betty paused and asked, "Mr. Stoppable, if memory serves, one of your elective courses for the training camp was piloting, correct?"

"Yes, director," Ron answered, "I'm just one requirement away from obtaining the license to fly aircraft like this: the final solo flight. My instructor said I had to wait another year, and be 16 before fulfilling that requirement," he finished.

"Normally that would be true, but there are exceptions and waivers for the age requirement," Betty explained, "a few years ago, a sixth grader made a solo transcontinental flight across the country, and the year after that she made a trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Scotland."

"Yes, I remember, what does that have to do with now," Ron wondered?

"Before I was director, one of my collateral duties was as a flight instructor," she explained, "I keep my certifications up to date in case I need to fill in at some point. Would you like to complete your flight certification and get your pilot's license," Betty asked with a grin?

"Yes, I would," Ron answered excitedly, then sobered, "I hope this isn't being given to me out of guilt, Dr. Director, when I granted you and Global Justice forgiveness for yesterday, I meant it. As far as I'm concerned, that incident has been erased between us, and no longer exists," Ron informed Betty.

"I would be lying if I didn't say that was one of the reasons I'm doing this," Director conceded, but held up a hand to forestall his outburst, "but there is forgiveness and then there is making amends. Thank you, Ron, for being mature enough to let any transgressions between us go, but I still want to do this for you and Team Possible. Please, let me," she asked?

Ron looked between the two ladies, but between Kim's nod of permission, and Betty's earnest plea, who am I that I would deny anyone the chance to make amends, plus with my pilot's license, I can use my earnings from our businesses and my allowance from Gram to by a plane for me and Kim to get to missions with, favors can only take you so far.

"Okay, Betty," Ron acquiesced, "help me get my license, and the way will be clear between us, got it, no longer need to bring it up, alright?"

"As you wish, Ron," Betty accepted, "but I'll decide when I have achieved absolution, got it?" At Ron's nod, she smiled, "good, then get your butt in that seat, and take us to Duff Killigan's."

Killigan's Island

Flight time to Scotland and Duff's lair took three hours, and much of that time had Betty quizzing Ron about the operations of the instruments, navigation with and without said instruments, the steps necessary for filing a flight plan, before and during the flight, as well as the laws and regulations governing a pilot. During much of the flight, Kim remained impassive, enjoying a little small talk with a woman she admired as much as her own mother.

As they approached their destination, Ron just had to say it, "There it is, Killigan's Island," he quipped with a chuckle, knowing how lame that joke was. The ladies just looked at him, unimpressed, "What, it was meant to be a bad joke."

Ron brought the craft in for a landing, on the number two hole of Killigan's golf course. He shut down the engines and put the craft into standby mode. The walk to the castle was uneventful, in fact the front door had been thrown open, screaming a trap, and behind them, on the underside of the hover-jet, a shadowy figure detached from the vehicle.

Kim was the first one through the door, followed by Ron and Betty, "what do you think Duff wants with Green, it can't be for anything good," Betty wondered, "it can't be for his work with missiles could it?"

"I don't think so," Kim shook her head, "the missile systems Professor Green worked on, are all declassified and obsolete, you can find out everything you need to know about them on the internet."

Ron had his Spirit Eyes blazing and found a door that led to a dungeon, "that door leads to a descending staircase, and it just screams dungeon, doesn't it?"

"Good call," the ladies agree.

Kim decides, as they descend into the depths of the castle, to give a brief overview of the facts to her two partners for this mission. "Killigan captures Professor Green, then he buys a ton of hyperactic acid," she says, "which, just so happens to be the active ingredient in the fertilizer, Professor Green has been experimenting with at his home. I think this has something to do with the Professor's award-winning lawn," Kim concluded.

"You think Green's invented some sort of super grass," Ron summarized? He finished this thought, right as they reached the bottom of the staircase, when something unexpected happened. A tuft of grass trotted up to them and began to bark, a deep and powerful sound, which was obviously the voice of a scotty that had been completely enveloped by the grass.

Such was everybody's acceptance of the unusual that it was more of a pleasant surprise than a shock to the system. Ron merely made a comment, "now there's something you don't see every day."

They all searched the room, until Kim found an exceedingly tall tuft of grass, standing against the inner wall, "Ron, Betty, I found Professor Green."

"Professor Green are you alright," she asked in a loud voice, only to be met with muffled yelling from the shrub!

They were all wondering how to get the man out, when Ron had an idea, "hang on," he said, when he stepped forward to extend a hand with a karambit style blade protruding from the tip of his index. He activated his eyes and peered through the grass, with careful precision, Ron began to cut through the grass, freeing the old man of his verdant shackles.

"Oh, thank you," the Professor said, he was wearing a sky-blue, orchid dotted shirt, and he did not appear to be any the worse for wear. He was a hearty man for his age, "Killigan trapped me in my own super-fast, growing grass."

"Yeah, but what does Killigan want to do with the super grass, anyway," Ron wondered?

From above them, came another voice, "Oh, oh, Ah know, Ah know," as they all looked up and saw the mad duffer himself, standing at the entrance to the basement.

Kim, however, answered for him, "he wants to turn the entire world into a giant golf course."

"Aye, me own personal golf course, lassie," Killigan affirmed.

Betty looked aghast at the idea, "but that would be devastating to ecosystems around the world, the grass would choke out crops, and force climate change even faster than global warming. It would cause famine and pestilence," she summarized, "wars would break out, and for golf, really?"

"Its nut called, the Great Game for nothing," Duff explained, seemingly unconcerned for the consequences of his actions, and before he knew it, Betty was running up the stairs. He was only momentarily surprised, he just stepped back and closed the door in her face, as she reached the top.

Before Dr. Director had time to worry about being trapped, she saw a red blur streak passed her and through the door, blowing it into fragments. "Mr. Killigan, put down the golf clubs," Kim demanded in a placating voice.

"Ye'll have to pry them from me cold dead hands, ye will," Duff grated as he cradled his golf bag protectively.

From behind the Scotsman, a woman dropped from the rafters above him, landing on the Duff's shoulders and with a punch to both of his temples, delivered a non-lethal electrical discharge, which dropped him to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "I think we can find other means to take away your toys, sawney," came the cool voice of the woman.

The woman stood up and stepped away from the downed golfer, Kim immediately recognised her, "Ms. Rushman, what brings you here," she asked calmly?

The mature woman only smiled at Kim's levelheadedness, "I was in the school when I noticed the faint sound of a jet engine approaching from the air," she explained while smirking, knowing her explanation was complete bullshit, "I came to look for the cause when I saw you and another student get into a strange vessel. As your coach I had to make sure you were safe," she added to make her story sound like the most normal thing in the world.

"How were you able to follow us," Kim asked, her BS-meter reading her explanation for what it was, "we didn't detect any external hatches opening?"

"Oh, well, my widow bites, in addition to being a taser, also double as powerful magnets," she explained, holding up her wrist-gauntlets, "I attached myself to the hull of your aircraft, and with the help of an oxygen mask, was able to hitch a ride."

Kim's eyes bulged at this woman's explanation, "you were on the outside of an aircraft, in flight, thousands of feet in the air, and you were still able to survive the extreme cold?"

"It was no colder than Russia during the harshest winters," the older redhead demurred, "a thermal blanket help stave off the worst of the temperatures associated with high altitude. It was quite a pleasant ride," she admitted to the younger woman.

"Still, the next time you want to tag along on one of our missions," Kim began, "ask us, and we'll be more than happy to let you come along, there's no reason to endanger yourself, just to evaluate us for SHEILD, Ms. Rushman."

Betty looked at the new arrival n the room, and knew her for many reasons. They had been adversaries a few times on missions, before Betty was director of GJ, and though no animosity existed between them, she was still wary enough of her to be on her guard.

"I had heard, Fury, was recruiting some new blood, but I never knew he'd been able to corral the infamous Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff," Betty said in wonder.

Nat just smirked, "I felt the need for a change, Director. This assignment has many perks that go with it," she explained, as Ron finally appeared from the basement with Professor Green, "I have a lot of red in my ledger, working with Fury gives me a chance to wipe some of it out."

Ron saw through the heart of this woman, "redemption is difficult for anyone, let alone a graduate of the Red Room," he stated with understanding, "it's gonna take a long time, but it can be done."

Natasha seemed to look at him with the only naked emotion she had shown thus far, flitting across her eyes. "You think so, kid," she asked him in a hoarse tone, "why is that?"

"Because worse people than you have tried and succeeded," he said to the assassin, "the red, can be wiped away, the blood of the innocent shall be washed from your soul with the Blood of Jesus. Only through Him, can you find absolution," there seemed to be a golden glow coming from his shades, oscillating around the rims. "If you truly want it, you can have it," Ron said in a powerful voice.

Natasha just looked at her nephew, she suddenly felt lighter than she had ever felt before, as something that had nearly been eradicated by her previous life bloomed within her heart. She smiled, "I do, want it."

Ron just grinned, but his eyes were determined, "as I said, it will take time to heal, Ms. Romanoff, and obtaining forgiveness from others is the easy part. The hardest part will be to forgive yourself," Ron told her.

Natasha, merely looked at him, her eyes full of emotion, before she gave him a small nod, and a curtain rose between them and she returned to being the master spy. "Let's collect the golfer, and get back to Middleton," she suggested, then added, "you both have school tomorrow."

Though it was unnecessary, Betty had Ron fly them all back home.

A few days later, Ron had his official private pilot's license, he was rated for propeller, jet, and VTOL aircraft. The day after that Kim and Ron were walking home from school, when they heard the familiar whooshing sound of a GJ hover-jet.

Looking up, they spotted the same craft they used to get to Duff's hideout, at least they thought it was the same one. Because it was painted differently than it was last week, it was now a midnight-blue with stabilizers and trim a brilliant hot pink, the official colors of Team Possible, and on the hull was the Team Possible crest.

A crenelated shield outlined in black and white, the words Team Possible written in blue over a hot pink ribbon, swirling around the shield and coming out of the bottom with the word Unstoppable written on it. In the field of the shield was a global outline with a grid of latitude and longitude lines, alternating in midnight-blue and hot-pink.

The hover-jet landed in front of them, on the street as it did the other day. The hatch opened and Will Du walked out of the craft, Dr. Director was behind him with a neutral face.

Du stopped in front of them, and bowed formally, when he raised his eyes there was a look of remorse on his face. "Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, I apologize for the way I treated you last week. Possible, I belittled your skills and talents, dismissing you and Stoppable as amateurs," Will confessed, "nothing could have been further from the truth, with how fast you were able to deduce Killigan's motive and take him down before he could cause any more damage. Please, accept my humble apology, and I beg you to forgive me," he beseeched the teen duo.

"William Du, thank you for your apology," Kim answered as Team Lead, "we accept your humility, and grant you forgiveness."

Will straightened up, turned a little toward Ron, and resumed his bow, "Ron Stoppable, I humbly ask for your forgiveness as well, my unprovoked attack upon you was uncalled for and I realize you were merely trying to issue me a formal greeting to your team. For this transgression of mine, I beg you to forgive me."

"May I place my hand on your shoulder, Will Du," Ron asked?

Will nodded but remained still and bowed, "William Du, I hereby grant you my forgiveness, if you will forgive me for invading your personal space. My ignorance of your personal preference is not an excuse, I should have asked you before attempting to greet you," Ron accepted his role in the whole situation, "and ask you to forgive my retaliation against you."

Will had straightened up as Ron asked to be forgiven for assaulting him, even if he was perfectly within his rights to defend himself. Will gave a small smile, "I forgive you, Mr. Stoppable, and that was one hell of a hit, I think my ears are still ringing from it."

Ron just laughed, "if you ever want to get in a real spar, let me know, I'd love to see how I stack up against an experienced professional such as yourself."

Will gave his own laugh, "look forward to it, Stoppable." They clasped hands and exchanged challenging grins.

Kim and Betty just looked at each other and smiled beatifically, "Men," they said collectively.

Then Kim, looked at the GJ conveyance the pair had arrived in, and approached it in curiosity. "I've gotta say, Director, I like the color-scheme on this one," she began as a way to lift the tension, "is Global Justice thinking of changing its colors?"

Betty just turned and held out the key fob to Ron, and answered Kim, "nope, this one is yours now, Team Possible."

The teens just looked at the two GJ agents as if they had grown another head. "Say what again," Ron asked, "I am not sure if I heard you correctly. Did you say this aircraft was now, a Team Possible personal conveyance?"

"You heard correctly, Stoppable," Will confirmed his statement, "Global Justice hereby turns over ownership of this aircraft to Team Possible, for outstanding service in the Killigan matter, and as an award for damages by GJ personnel."

"Um, not to remind you people, but Ron and I are teenagers," Kim said, "I'm 15 and Ron turns 15 next month, we're not even allowed to own a car, not that I have more than a learner's permit at this point. Hence, the reason we need to call in favors to get rides to get to missions," she informed them, "how the Hell can we be given a personal aircraft?"

Betty was just smiling at their reaction to the news, "you are not being given the hover-jet. Team Possible, which is an association affiliated with NWT is being given an aircraft, which will be maintained by NWT at an NWT facility located here in Middleton, and to be used solely by Team Possible for missions to various locations outside of the Tri-city area."

"This agreement was reached by contract with the parents of Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and Wade Fury, collectively known as Team Possible, and the CEO and COO of Natchios Worldwide Trading," Will recited to them. "So, you see, everything you said earlier was true, you cannot use this aircraft for anything other than a Team Possible mission, to do otherwise would be irresponsible."

"Ron Stoppable is also the only designated pilot, for this aircraft," Betty concluded, while looking at the young man, "he will enter a code that only he will know, and if anyone else tries to take this aircraft it will lock itself down and prevent the would be thief from escaping."

"Go ahead and step over here, Ron," Will told him, "enter a code that only you and Kim will know, then we'll fly her to her new permanent hangar, and we can all go home."

Ron moved as if in a trance, his feet were like lead, as if he was not sure if he was dreaming or not, like any moment Du and Director would turn to him and yell, Gotcha, and they would start laughing.

But as Ron entered the only word that was reverberating in his noggin like a chant, he realized it was not a dream and not a joke. So, he entered the word, "BADICAL," into the craft.