Ron searched near and far, high and low. But Kim Possible-Stoppable was nowhere to be found.

"If you find anything Wade, let me know." Ron said into his wrist Kimmunicator.

"I will; I promise we'll find her."

Ron found himself in Scotland and checked what seemed like every castle in the country.

"Why did you think Killigan would have her?" Monique asked on the Kimmunicator, having been one of Ron's many phone calls when he found out Kim was missing.

"Duff-Killigan was the last bad guy Kim caught before we retired." Ron explained, "He just seemed like the most straight forward to hunt down."

"After you hunted across the entire USA?"

"Okay, so I couldn't remember which bad guy was the last one. I stopped joining Kim on every single mission a couple months before she was ready to give it up."

"I remember." Monique replied, "How ya gonna find her?"

"If she isn't here, there are still a lot of places left to look. Jim, Tim, have you found anything?"

"Nothing." They confessed on the other end of the Kimmunicator.

"Keep looking. Ron out."

Ron crept through the castle without tripping any hidden traps.

He wasn't surprised at all when he found the secret entrance to the dungeon, or the river of lava running through it.

He was surprised by the high tech computer he found past the river of lava, behind the wall that shot diamond-tipped spikes, and across the floor panel with lasers covering every inch of the ground.

Wade shut those down without a problem.

Ron pressed one button and the screen lit up.

"Have you an interest, in playing a game with me?" A figure appeared on the screen, with a red cloak and hood to conceal his identity. But he certainly didn't sound like Duff Killigan.

"Sooo cliche." Ron complained.

"You and Kimberly have been a thorn in my side for too long, Stoppable."

'Well, at least I know it's not Drakken. The guy turned good, and he still can't remember my name.' Ron thought to himself.

"Your end will come as soon as her's." The cloaked figure explained, "But I will give you a sporting chance."

'In your arrogance.' Ron thought, 'That's the mistake all bad guys make.'

"If you can beat me at my game, I will personally release your wife."

"What's the game?"

"You shall have three tasks, tasks with objectives that will prove more useful to me than your dead bodies. Objectives that will make me unstoppable." The cloaked figure cackled.

"Tell me what to do." Ron demanded, slamming his hands on the desk.

"Escape this castle, find your way to the beginning of your most promising mission. Take what information the target has, and bring it to the prescribed location. You have twenty-four hours to succeed, or Kim Possible will die."

"Well, that's great." Ron complained, trying to make sense of what he'd just been told.

"This castle will self destruct in sixty seconds."

"Aw man." Ron ran and activated the jet shoes. Unlike his entrance(which consisted of nearly thirty crashes), he only ran into around fourteen walls on the way out.

He crashed out of the window as it blew, sending him into the ocean.

He came afloat seconds later and swam to the shore, having Wade call in a favor to get a jet to Tokyo.

"What makes you think the answer is in Tokyo?" Tim and Jim asked on the comms.

"The weird cloak-guy made two terrible puns. One with my last name, and one on the word 'promising'. He's evil, and he makes bad puns."

"Sounds like Arnold Schwarzenneger." Wade commented.

"Don't even mention it." Ron warned.

...

Ron landed in Japan fourteen hours later, "Thanks for the lift."

They nodded and said something about owing Team Possible a favor for twenty years or something like that.

He felt like he was being followed, but ignored it. He had to focus on the task at hand.

He walked past the airport terminal, which lit up with the cloaked figure.

"You've found your way to the first challenge, Stoppable."

"Who are you?" Ron demanded.

"All will be revealed in time." He promised, "For now, find Nakasumi."

"The toy man."

"He has a thumb drive with information I want. Find, steal, and bring it back to this terminal. Plug it in and the first challenge will be solved."

"And why are you risking me thwarting your plans?" Ron asked innocently, "I'm known to blow good plans up."

"I think the motivation to save your wife is enough to ensure you do not fail. But if you betray me before your trials are complete, I will simply have to use other targets for coercement."

"Is that even a word?"

"You have much family, Stoppable. It will be wise to protect them. These tasks are dangerous, might even kill you. That is why I do not risk sending out my own people." He explained, "Now go."

"I'm gonna need help." Ron confessed, "I don't know the streets of Tokyo, and I'll need a translator."

"No. Do this alone, or she dies."

The monitor turned off.

"Let's go." He told Rufus, who was still napping in his pocket.

He reached Nakasumi's headquarters and snuck in up the side of the building.

First he managed to avoid a complex array of beams that detected movement. He simply positioned a mirror in the right position to deflect them away.

The next trick was a little... well trickier.

He didn't want to risk bringing Wade in on this, or else the bad guy might hurt Kim.

The wall was at least four feet thick, reinforced with steel. The combination code was seven digits long, making the possibilities range far higher than Ron could hope to calculate in his head. Then there was a bio-metric palm scanner beside him.

Ron thought about it and tried to think about what Kim would do.

He could go find Nakasumi and explain himself, but that would get Kim killed. He could abduct him, but what good would that do? It would probably start a manhunt for a guy who's supposed to be a hero (well, a sidekick to a hero, but same difference) which would make the rest of the tasks impossible to complete if he had people looking to stop him by any means necessary.

"Rufus, buddy."

Rufus poked out of his pocket, looking significantly older than he used too. But Naked Mole Rats live pretty long lives compared to most other pets.

"Go into the circuits and tear them up, I'm gonna have to improvise out here."

Rufus nodded and broke into the box, chomping down on all of the circuits until the advanced technology turned off.

But for some reason, the wires to the palm scanner was on a separate, hidden mainframe.

"Darn." Ron muttered, pressing his gloved hand to the scanner in a Hail-Mary move.

The door creeped open.

"Of course, people don't wipe off palm scanners after they used them!" Ron exclaimed, running forward and scooping up Rufus.

Ron made it, but there were five armed guards surrounding the drive.

'This information's got to be valuable.' Ron thought to himself while trying to figure a way forward.

He used the laser beam to cut his way into the ventilation shaft and found his way around the room the drive was housed.

"Go figure he doesn't let the vent into that room..." Ron whispered, "Then where... bingo." He noticed a small vent in the floor. Too small for him to squeeze through... but a Naked Mole Rat?

It didn't take long for Rufus, even at twenty years old, to find the vent and grab the drive.

The guards didn't even notice.

"Great job Rufus." Ron said, pocketing the drive and sneaking out the way he'd come in.

He plugged it into the terminal, and it scanned the data in rapid fire motion.

"Pocket the drive and return to the States. Go to South Dakota and retrieve the Black Talisman from the man who knows to tell no lies. You have twelve hours."

"What do you need a talisman for?" Ron asked, slipping the thumbdrive into his pocket.

The monitor started beeping.

"This monitor will self-destruct in five seconds."

Ron jetted away, crashing through the glass into a convenience store while the computer terminal exploded.

He left some money on the counter and went to find a flight.

"Wade, is there anyone in Tokyo that owes us a favor?" Ron asked his watch.

...

Nine hours and seven minutes later, he was staring out at South Dakota.

The trees and forest looked like what you'd see in a post card, but Ron was more concerned about finding the man who tells no lies."

"Who tells no lies around here?" Ron asked Rufus, who was snacking on nachos while Ron thought it out. "Who is there even to tell lies too? We're in the middle of nowhere." Ron pounded his head on the table and saw the answer. "Of course... Mount Rushmore. George Washington is the man who doesn't tell a lie... I knew I paid attention in history class... at least twice." Rufus gave him a look, "Okay once. I woke up from my nap and heard something about him never telling a lie, let's go!" Ron grabbed the nachos and started smashing on them while he ran to find a ride to the monument.

Mount Rushmore was huge by anyone's standards.

So, Ron had no idea where to start looking.

"I guess George would know." Ron said, activating the jetpack and flying towards the monument.

He combed every inch of the monument, a process that took him two of his remaining two and a half hours.

"What did that guy say again?" Ron asked, scratching his head. "George tells no lies... wait, no... he knows to tell no lies. Or did I get that mixed up? Wait... knows... nose. Ew gross, I have to go digging for President boogies."

He reached into the stone carving of the nose and was surprised to find it was hollow, as expected.

He grabbed the talisman and yanked it out, it started to glow.

Suddenly a glowing spider appeared and fired a laser beam out of its mouth.

It caught Ron's wing and sent him hurdling out of control, crashing into the trees below.

He landed safely thanks to his rocket shoes, but his jetpack was beyond repair at this point.

The spider fired again.

Ron put up his shield, which deflected the beam easily.

"That is sick and wrong!" Ron shouted, setting the Kimmunicator to stun. He let down the shield and blasted the spider, unsuccessful in his efforts, he did what he did best in situations of great peril.

He ran.

"AHHH!" Ron sprinted, finding the fallen Talisman along the way, and running some more.

But the spider was fast.

Ron found himself cornered in a natural rock formation that left him one escape route other than the way he came in... and that was up.

Ron took a deep breath and tried to channel his monkey power.

No effect.

The spider blasted him again, but he raised the shield in enough time to send the beam off, crashing into a tree and causing it to collapse on the spider.

"Boo yah." Ron said triumphantly, not sure where to get his next task.

The few minutes left transformed into mere seconds by the time he burst into the lodge nearby and came across an active live-feed.

"Well done, Stoppable. I did not think the talisman of Darkness would yield to you." The cloaked figure confessed.

"Where's Kim? I want proof that she's all right." Ron insisted

The figure waved his hand towards Kim Possible-Stoppable, bound in chains, suspended ten feet in the air.

"Kim..."

But she could not hear him.

"The white talisman of light will not yield so easily. Leave the talisman of darkness in the trash can directly behind you, then return to Middleton and seek out the source of Kim Possible's success. Find the talisman, and bring it to Upperton. You have six hours."

"You said 'it will not yield so easily' so you cut my time in half? What is wrong with you? Do you want me to fail?" Ron demanded.

"On the contrary, I want you to succeed. But you see, there are certain forces at work, stronger than I can control."

"You need the eclipse tonight, don't you?" Ron realized, "It starts in just over six hours. If I fail, you can't complete your plan."

"And then I have no reason to keep Kim Possible or you alive." The figure pointed out, "And if you're going to thwart me at this stage of my plan, I might as well gain some... extra insurance." The monitor blinked and showed a picture of Ron and Kim's family.

"You'll get your talisman." Ron said through gritted teeth.

"Good."

"This message will..."

"Yeah, I know!" Ron shouted, jumping out the window before it could blow.

...

Ron made it into Middleton without a problem, thanks to a last second favor from an old friend who happened to be heading that way, but he had no idea where to search for the "source of Kim Possible's success".

An argument could be made for just about anything. But the real cause of their victories? It probably had to be...

'Wade.' Ron thought, running across town for the cyber genius's home and lab.

He knocked on the door and rang the bell once he realized there was no car in the garage.

Ron pushed the button on his Kimmunicator and tried to get Wade on the frequency.

He didn't answer.

"Wade never leaves the house." Ron muttered, going around to the back and setting his watch to laser mode so that he could burn through the door.

The trashed kitchen and living room confirmed Ron's fears that Wade was forcibly removed from the house, Ron shuddered thinking of what could have happened to Wade's mother, who he still lived with after all these years.

He crept into the basement, nervous about what he might find.

Ron sat down at the computer, forgetting that Wade had gone through quite a growth spurt since the last time he'd seen the genius. The chair was huge!

Ron tapped some keys but they did nothing for him.

"So, how the heck am I supposed to find the Talisman here?" Ron asked, leaning back in the abnormally large chair.

Rufus popped out of his pocket and shoved something in his face.

"Of course." Ron snapped his fingers, "The drive!"

He plugged the drive into one of the USB ports and clicked upload, having noticed a certain exchange of information between the drive and the monitor when the mysterious figure demanded that he transfer the information.

A cold, hissing sound came from behind him. He spun around and saw that a mysterious door had opened.

"huh."

Ron got out of the chair and went inside, seeing a talisman the size of a hammer on a pedestal in the middle of the room.

The five ninjas appeared out of nowhere.

"Robot ninjas? That is sick and wrong!"

Ron somersalted away from a high kick and tripped one of the ninjas. He prayed that his laser was still working because he lined up and fired on the robots.

It took several shots, that bounced around the room like a rubber ball, to destroy all of the robot ninjas. But it did... then his pants fell off.

"Aw come on!" Ron complained, "I told Wade to sew these together!"

"Focus!" Rufus huffed, smacking him in the face.

Ron grabbed the talisman and began to wonder why Wade had been keeping it hidden.

"Now where do I go exactly?" Ron asked aloud, not expecting an answer.

"Upperton." A voice replied, "Go to the abandoned factory on 87th Street and bring me the talisman if you want to see your family alive again."

"Family? I thought you just had Kim..." Ron said, staring at Wade's monitor.

"Oh but I have more than that." He cackled, waving behind him.

Ron pounded the desk, "If you hurt any one of them..."

"Kim Possible may be all that, Stoppable, but you are useless. Bring me the talisman or you'll never see them again!"

The monitor blinked and the last thing he saw was Amanda, Zack, James, Ann, Monique, Wade, and Kim... staring at the monitor, looking worn from their time being imprisoned.

"I'm coming for you." He said to the screen, touching it and running up the stairs.