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A Rewritten History

"Hey, tacos! Get your tacos!" the balding, heavy set vendor shouted from his wagon in the center of the 1903 World Fair.

Detective Jonathan Stoppable stared at the conundrum that the man put together in his hand. A hardened corn shell shaped into a curl, filled with spiced beef, beans, lettuce, and fresh tomatoes. It was as though someone rode across all of North America, picking up foods along the way and jumbling them together into a beautiful mass.

A faint voice sat on the edge of Jon's attention, but he was unable to pull away from the taco stand he stood by. "Jon! Jonathan!" called Miriam Possible; a reporter covering the Worl Fair. "You were supposed to meet me at the Hall of Electricity an hour ago."

When Jon didn't react, Miriam leaned in close. The man was stone faced. Dazed, even. Miriam grimaced at the hint of a trickle of drool beginning to form at the corners of his mouth. She waved her hand before his eyes, then followed his gaze to the vendor in front of him.

"You want them or not?" the vendor shouted, growing impatient with holding the food out.

"He wants them, trust me." Miriam said with a look of realization on her face. She took the pair of tacos, handed them to Jonathan, then flipped a quarter dollar to the vendor.

Jonathan took a messy bite of of the filled, curled corn chip and closed his eyes, savoring the flavour. "Crunchy... spicy..." he said to himself, loudly chewing through the taco. "Cheesy?" he added in surprise before swallowing the first taco. "I am one satisfied customer!"

"My only satisfied customer." the vendor admitted in frustration, pointing out a recent patron. A large woman with her hair put up took a bite out of a taco, then suddenly looked as though she may vomit. Tossing the taco over her shoulder, she reached out for a nearby water spritzer, vigorously rinsing her mouth.

"Take heart my good taco-hocker." Jonathan said, shaking the vendor's hand in gratitude. "No one appreciates real pioneers in their time."

Miriam pulled Jon away by the arm. "Make haste, Jon. We must get to the Hall of Electricity before Professor Demenze begins his demonstration."

Jonathan was only half paying attention however; instead finishing off his second taco. "What demonstration?"

"The whole fair is atwitter about it!" Miriam exclaimed. "He calls it the Electro-Static Illuminator."

Jon scratched at his Franz Joseph moustache. "An electro... whaterator?"

"I'm not so certain about all of these new technologies, Jonathan. I daresay, the dangers seem to far outweigh the advantages. How will we know when we go too far?"

"Miriam, we have light in the dark. Tacos in the street. The ferris wheel! You should try the ferris wheel!"

"I have no intention of going near that giant monstrosity!" Mieiam argued before taking his arm. "Now please. If you don't mind, I have notes to take!"

Jonathan opened the door of the Hall of Electricity; a museum so named for its buzzing and iridescent interior. Miriam entered ahead of him, taking in the grandeur of the building. The walls were covered with inventions that were based on the theories and patents of such notable scientists as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Michael Faraday. Today however, a German scientist by the name of Professor Demenze, was promising to put the others to shame. Miriam lifted her dress enough to be able to run with Jonathan following closely behind as the Professor began his demonstration.

"Za timer! I zet it vor zixty zeconds." the stout, dark haired man said, adjusting a dial on the brass and ceramic contraption he held in his hands. "Now, I vill absorb, contain, and control power vrom ze very air!"

Miriam excused her way through the crowd to the base of the stage for a closer look, only to be bumped clumsily by Jonathan as he tried to follow, without as much cooperation from the crowd. She cast him an irritated glare and swept her hair back into place before turning her attention back to the Electrostatic Illuminator.

"Observe!" Professor Demenze cried, looking curiously at his invention. "When it goes off..."

Suddenly, a bell began to ring and the Electrostatic Illuminator began to shine with an unearthly light and Miriam could feel her hair stand on end for a moment before inexplicably lying flat as a bolt of lightning was sent streaking toward the ceiling of the museum. For several seconds, the crowd of people covered their eyes from the blinding light as it surged across the metal ceiling of the hall, popping several light fixtures and leaving a glaring scorch mark that branched out like a sooty black spiderweb wherever the tendrils of electricity touched.

Throughout the chorus of gasps, Jonathan's hushed voice could be heard as he whispered to Miriam. "Enh. It's no taco."

"Imagine how zis mavel could ve used!" Professor Demenze said, smiling and holding his invention up for a young, colored photographer that stood at the back of the crowd.

Miriam stepped forward with her notepad and pencil. "Excuse me, Professor! How could this marvel be used?"

"I said, 'Imagine'. Miss." he replied, then turned away arrogantly. "Go ahead. I'll vait."

"You don't know what to do with it, do you, Professor?" Jonathan piped in, crossing his arms, still plainly unimpressed.

"Vell, it makes lightning. Zat's got to be good vor zomezing, no?" Demenze added, stepping off of the stage to enter the crowd.

"Something dangerous, I'm afraid." Miriam stated in a worried tone. There were a growing number of individuals that were eager to get their hands on such technology. The world was on the cusp of a dramatic change and Miriam feared the worst if it came about.

"In the wrong hands... maybe." he replied, making sure to hold the Electrostatic Illuminator away from the reporter. The sound of tinkering caught his attention however as Jonathan began poking at the device. He quickly pulled it away again. "Stop that!"

As Jonathan began whistling innocently, Miriam continued to voice her concerns. "I believe that some nefarious character may try to thieve it."

Professor Demenze let out a chuckle as the crowd began to disperse. "My dear girl, you are a vorry vort. Vhat zort of nefarious character would be intent on wreaking such havoc?"

"Oh, I have a strong notion." she replied.

Professor Demenze opened up a leather bound case and carefully placed the Electrostatic Illuminator inside it. "Please, little girl. I ave important places to be tonight, and now zat my demonztration is complete, I vill be lea..."

The professor's words were cut off by the echoing sound of a phonograph being put into motion from up on a balcony where a pale face man with short black hair and a thin moustache looked down at them nervously. "Uhm, testing... testing..." the mystery man said before backing away from the balcony.

For a moment, Miriam had thought that she had seen the form of a familiar woman, but whom was nowhere in sight.

"Eh, as I vas zaying." Professor Demenze continued. "Zis invention iz quite zafe with me. Now off with you." The professor shooed Miriam away with a hand, making her cheeks flush with anger.

"Don't be surprised, Professor, when this contraption you've invented invites trouble." she said before she could stop herself. As much as it got her into trouble, it was Miriam's temper and habit of leaping before looking that also got her headlines.

"I hope zat iz not a threat, girl." the professor said darkly. "Constable, please escort this young lady out ov my presence." he added, motioning for Jonathan to leave as well.

"No need." she said, turning on her heel to move toward the exit.

Jonathan followed Miriam out of the Hall of Electricity, snatching a bag of popcorn as they exited the museum. "I really wish you'd stop saying things like that. You make it tough to convince the Cheif you're helpful."

"Something is going to happen tonight, Jonathan. I can feel it." she said as the pair began making their way deeper into the fair.

Jonathan waved her concern away with a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "Worry wart."

"Hunch." Miriam countered.

"Worry wart."

"Hunch!"

"Worry wart."

"Jonathan! You have got to convince the Chief!" she ordered, poking him in the chest.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell him to add more security. I'm going to pick him up right now." Jonathan said, conceding defeat. As they reached his carriage bike, he turned back to Miriam. "Need a ride anywhere? Plenty of space in the back."

Miriam shook her head. "No. I believe I will go ask the Professor a few more questions about his invention. I have a notion that it is far more dangerous than he realizes."

Jonathan shrugged and rode off, leaving Miriam to wander back toward the Hall of Electricity, lost in thought. She pulled out her notepad and pencil, making a quick sketch of the Electrostatic Illuminator. Flipping through notes that she had made in an interview with Nicolae Tesla a month ago, she sighed. It would appear that Professor Demenze was about to not only prove the former scientist's theories on projective energy, but to blow them out of the water. Whether it was the Professor's intent or not, mankind would turn his invention into a weapon. Tensions were rising throughout the world and she had a feeling that those tensions would soon be exploding.

Miriam entered the Hall of Electricity as the last of the crowds brushed past her. "Professor!" she shouted, cautiously moving further into the hall. A few minutes later, she caught sight of the Professor putting the Electrostatic Illuminator into a wood and leather case, and was about to call out to him when a finely dressed female form reached out from the shadows behind him. "Professor Demenze!"

Professor Demenze looked up at her shout and the woman behind him brought some sort of contraption down across the back of his head. Miriam ran forward, and the mysterious woman slammed the lid on the Illuminator's case and tucked it under her arm.

"Professor, are you alright?" Miriam asked, helping the man to his feet.

Professor Demenze rubbed the back of his head with a hand and looked into Miriam's face with blurry vision. Reaching back for the Electrostatic Illuminator, he panicked when he discovered it wasn't there. "You!" he shouted, backing away from Miriam. "Help! Constable, help!" he shouted again, his voice echoing and amplified in the massive hall.

Miriam glared at him, about to explain herself, but shook her head. The thief was escaping, and getting the Illuminator back would be the only way that the Professor would be convinced that she wasn't the real culprit. Pulling her skirts up to knee height, Miriam turned to chase the mystery woman down. As she ran through several hallways and exhibits of the building, Miriam could now clearly see the mystery woman in the moonlight. She was pale, with black hair tied up in a bun and a long green corseted dress that she was moving in with remarkable agility.

But the woman was also carrying the heavy, bulky invention and Miriam caught up to her quickly. Diving forward, Miriam swung her arms out and caught the woman's heeled boots, knocking her to the floor. The woman attempted to use the case to bat Miriam away but she managed to catch the clasp, and the case spilled open. Catching the Electrostatic Illuminator before it could roll away, the woman in green kicked back at her and Miriam blocked, rolling away to grab the leather case, only to find it empty. Miriam gasped and looked up, trying to follow where the mysterious woman went, but a small coloured boy stood before her with a large camera that suddenly flashed.

She growled, tossing the case to the side. "Quickly, boy! Fetch Detective Stoppable!" she ordered, brushing past him while trying to blink away the flares in her vision.

Wayne Load, slung his camera tripod over his shoulder, watching where the scrapping women were heading. He was about to follow when a leaf of thick paper waved slightly in the leather case that Miriam dropped. Wayne looked to and fro cautiously before picking up the paper to examine it. "I'll bet my brother Oba could make sense of this. That man's a genius!" he said to himself, tucking the Electrostatic Illuminator schematics into his overalls.

"Hey, boy!" shouted a loud, gruff voice from behind. "Which way did that red haired thief go?"

Wayne looked up the full height of a massive white man dressed in tweed and wearing a badge. He silently pointed toward the ferris wheel where he had seen the two women rush off to.

"C'mon, Stoppable!" the large Detective ordered, running forward.

"Detective Stoppable, sir?" Wayne said at last before the blonde, moustached man followed his compatriot.

"Wha? Me?" Jon asked, confused.

"It weren't the red haired lady, sir. Was some lady in green that took the machine!"

Jon flashed a lopsided smile and nodded. "Thanks, boy."

"Ugh! Back off!" the lady in green shouted as Miriam caught the hem of her dress, tearing off a strip of black lace. She leaped over the waist high gate that lead into the ferris wheel and pushed the operator aside. "Out of my way!"Miriam swung her legs over the fence as the thief reached out to grab the railing of a cart as it passed by on it's rotation.

Steeling herself, Miriam did the same, nearly pulling her arm out of place as she did. She climbed up onto the roof of the cart and stood, looking up at the woman in green. "You won't get away with this, you know!"

The thief looked down at her with a sinister grin and a green glint in her eyes. "And you think that you will stop me, Possible? Not this time, I'm afraid!"

"This time?" Miriam asked in confusion. "Who are you?"

"I'm the one that set fire to the Washington warehouse district to cover my escape! I stole the African Diamond in New Orleans, and..."

"Attempted to steal." Miriam corrected smugly. They were eye level with each other now as they reached the top of the rotation and Miriam was readying herself to leap across.

"You have been a thorn in my side far too often, Possible, but I have a notion that your days as a nosy reporter are nearing their end!"

As the Ferris wheel continued its rotation, the woman's positions changed and Miriam took a deep breath before leaping down to the same cart that the mystery woman was on. "Who are you working for?" she shouted, reaching for the Electrostatic Illuminator in an effort to pull it out of the thief's hands. The thief swung the contraption to and fro like a weapon, trying to bat Miriam away.

Miriam decided on a different approach, diving forward to catch the woman in green around the waist and the two women went sliding toward the edge of the cart. Miriam clasped her hands on the device and pulled for all she was worth. Pieces of copper tubing began to bend, and the switch the thief was holding onto broke, causing the Illuminator to spring out of her hands and into Miriam's. The thief kicked at Miriam's stomach viciously and the Illuminator went skittering across the roof of the cart.

Gasping in surprise, Miriam was kicked off of the mystery woman and she fell to the side, clutching her midsection in pain as her attacker sprung to her feet to chase after the device. Shaking off the agony in her gut, Miriam reached out of the lady in green passed, catching her boot and knocking her off of her feet. Fighting back the need to cough and draw a desperate breath, Miriam sprinted forward and caught the Electrostatic Illuminator before it toppled over the edge.

As their ferris wheel cart began to rise on it's rotation again, Miriam spotted Jon and Chief Barkin approaching below. "Jon!" she called, ready to toss the machine down. Unfortunately, her exclamation caught Chief Barkin's attention as well, and he pointed an accusatory finger up at her.

Suddenly, the Illuminator was grasped by the thief and Miriam had to struggle to hold onto it. "Who are you!" she shouted through grit teeth.

"You'll never know!" the thief said with a wicked smile.

"Toss up the Illuminator Ms. Go!" called a voice from higher above them.

While Miss Go heaved a sigh at her partner's ineptitude at anonymity, Miriam looked up to see a hot air balloon with a very familiar man in an aviator's cap lowering it toward the ferris wheel. "Ms. Go?" Miriam said, looking back at the mystery woman. "Of the European Crime Syndicate 'Go Black'? But why are you working for Dr. Sebastian Lipsky?"

"He has wonderful ideas that Dr. Tesla did not have the decency to share with my family." Ms. Go admitted. "Now give me the machine!" With a graceful twist, Ms. Go sidestepped and pulled, sending Miriam sliding off the edge of the cart. She looked back to see that the flame haired reporter was gone; her dress barely hanging on a bolt that jutted out from the carts support bracket, and smugly lifted the Electrostatic Illuminator up toward the quickly approaching hot air balloon. Sebastian Lipsky's hands were barely inches away from grasping the machine when a woman's hand grabbed Ms. Go's ankle and tossed her to the side.

"No!" Sebastian shouted, nearly falling out of the hot air balloon basket in his attempt to reach the Illuminator. The machine fell limply from Ms. Go's fingertips and teetered on the edge of the cart before it was grabbed securely by Miriam as she pulled herself up onto the roof of the cart again. While the intrepid reporter's face was a tad red from embarrassment at standing in a now torn dress that had been reduced to no more than a bustle and she had to remove her corset in order to free herself from hanging from the cart. But admittedly, she found herself with a vastly superior freedom of movement compared to Ms. Go.

Before Ms. Go could climb to her feet, Miriam called out, "Jon! Catch!" and dropped the Illuminator off of the ferris wheel cart before Ms. Go tackled her down. The Illuminator bounced off of the cart below and rolled off, hitting each cart on its way down as the ferris wheel rotated until finally landing in the mud, ticking.

Jon hefted the contraption, his eyes widening at the rotating digits on the counter. "Ah, it's charging!" he shouted, looking around for Professor Demenze. "What do I do, what do I do?"

"You need to release the static discharge?" Wayne said, rushing up to Jon, still holding his camera, flash, and tripod.

"What?" Jon replied.

"Don't listen to the coloured boy, Detective Stoppable." Chief Barkin warned, extending his hand to take the device from him. "That invention belongs to it's rightful owner. Once that's done, we can go about arresting that upstart of a reporter."

"Mim just returned it, sir! How could she possibly..."

"Excuse me, sirs, but your gadget really needs to be fixed!" Wayne exclaimed to the arguing detectives.

"Right!" Jon agreed, inspecting the device. "Hmm..."

Wayne let out an exasperated grumble and took the Illuminator from Jon and placed it on the ground, looking at the tubes and wiring and trying to remember the schematics he had taken from the leather case. "The switch is broken!"

"How do you know how this contraption works, boy?" Chief Barkin asked, crossing his arms.

"Stand back." Jon said, suddenly stepping forward. "I fix the radio at the office all the time."

"Stoppable, you've never fixed..."

Jon gave the Electrostatic Illuminator a swift kick, resulting in a beam of electricity that blew Jon, Barkin, and Wayne back several feet with a massive crack of thunder that shattered light bulbs and cleared an area of grass and dust for several feet around it. The bolt tore through Sebastian Lipsky's balloon that was floating away above, then continued up into the clouds, lighting them up for several minutes.

By the time the Electrostatic Illuminator shut down, the ferris wheel had stopped from a lack of electricity, and Miriam had Ms. Go hog tied on the ground. Mim had a number of bruises and cuts from fingernail scratches, and Ms. Go had tufts of red hair in her hands. A growing crowd began to envelope the pair of women, gasping and pointing, including Professor Demenze.

"Aha! You have got ze th... Wait, vhat is going on here? Why does ze thief have this woman tied up? Who iz this?" he said, bending down slightly to inspect Ms. Go.

"She's the head of the Go Family, a criminal syndicate from London." Chief Barkin said, lifting Ms. Go to her feet by the arm. "We've been looking for you for a long time."

"Well zen..." Professor Demenze said, straightening his coat before picking up the Illuminator. "Good day to you all. I 'ave zome changes to make to my invention!"

"But Professor!" Miriam called out.

"I said 'Good Day', Ms.!" the Professor retorted before walking away.

Miriam looked after him, wondering what would become of such an invention as flashes of gunpowder went off around her from pictures being taken of the Ace Reporter 'Mim' Possible, hero of the World Fair, standing in torn and mismatched clothing.

"Wow!" Ronald Stoppable exclaimed. "I never knew we had such famous ancestors!"

"You mean your father never told you about Detective Stoppable's part in saving the fair?" Kimberly Possible asked, closing her Great Aunt Miriam's journal. Ronald had never had the opportunity for an education like she had, so while he took his far too often for Headmaster Barkin work breaks, she would climb up to the roof of the Middleton School for Young Ladies where Ronald did his chimney sweeping, and read to him about Miriam's adventures.

Ronald frowned, taking a bite of his sandwich with soot covered hands. "Nah. Working for the army as a... whatayacallit?"

"Actuary."

"Yeah. He just calculates predictions..."

"Percentages."

"Right. He doesn't have much time for stories."

Kimberly sat in her green and blue dress, looking out over the Middleton cityscape, with its towering chimneys and brick work buildings as steam powered automobiles chugged around the cobblestone streets. A speeding locomotive screeched it's brakes as it neared the city, it's massive stack filling the sky with more smoke. "Are you up for another adventure tonight? Wade has said someone is in need of help down in Cuba."

"Kim, shhh!" Ronald said in a whisper. He lowered his soot covered goggles over his eyes and picked up his chimney brush. "If Headmaster Barkin hears that you're still talking with that Wade boy, he'll have you expelled!" Ronald tapped his vest pocket, waking up the tiny, naturally pink though often soot covered naked mole rat and gave the tiny critter a brush of his own.

"And who's going to tell him that we get our inventions and information from a ten year old coloured boy, hmm?" she asked playfully. Wade had given Kimberly an amazing assortment of wondrous inventions that had allowed her to follow in her Great Aunt Miriam's adventuring footsteps. "Besides, the colour of someone's skin is no indication of talent or worth. Afterall, you're darker than he is half the time." she laughed.

"Possible!" shouted Headmaster Barkin. Quit distracting my boy and get back to class before I decide another ten lashings are in order!"

Kimberly winced at the reminder of her sore behind. Headmaster Barkin had insisted that if ladies would be allowed to wear men's clothing, then they could stand to be disciplined like one too. "Coming, Headmaster!" she shouted back, sliding down the clay tiled roof and performing a tight flip off the side, continuing her descent with several acrobatic maneuvers from balcony to balcony until reaching the ground in front of the Headmaster.

"If you're late again, you know what will happen."

Kimberly nodded. "Yes sir."

"Now get to class. Your adventures will have to wait."

"Yes sir."

This is one of four possible projects that I intend to work on once Kim Possible: All Good Things... has been completed. Which project gets continued is up to you! Please vote for the story you'd most like to see continued on my profile page!