Kim and Ron were sitting at a booth at Bueno Nacho with their standard orders; Kim with a salad and Ron with an order of Nacos that he shared with Rufus.
Kim held on to the Kimmunicator in her left hand as she spoke to Wade into it. She had just finished explaining the situation that happened in the Middleton Museum.
"This guy said that he was smarter than me?" asked Wade, a little surprised and upset.
"Yeah, I know," said Kim, "I thought that maybe he was just a little over-confident, but he did use the site to lure us in."
"Yeah, but a couple of people have used the site to try and get to you before."
"True, but not directly like this. So, have you found anything on this Mindbend guy?"
"Nothing. I've scanned all over but I haven't found anything. I'm thinking this is his first crime."
"You know," said Ron, with a mouthful of Naco, "for a rookie, this guy is pretty good. He hasn't made any of the mistakes like the Seniors or maybe even Drakken makes."
"True," said Kim, "his moves seem pretty precise, and something tells me we've just seen the beginning. So Wade, how about the super-genius take on the message that Mindbend gave us."
"I… I can't figure it out Kim, it's pretty cryptic. 'The answer is right above you, but if you look up, it will just go behind you.' Did Mindbend stick something in your hair or something like that?"
"No, I checked. Nothing in there."
"Then, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm stumped."
"Wade, stumped!?" cried Ron, dropping his Naco on Rufus.
"Hey," squealed Rufus, but some of the cheese slid into his mouth. "Mmmm," he squeaked as he ate what was covering him.
"This can't mean that someone is actually smarter than our Wade," Ron continued, somewhat panicked.
"Well, there was that one time that Rufus was smarter than me, after he was hit with Project Phoebus. Of course, that was only temporary."
"Oh, yeah," squeaked Rufus, popping out of a hole in the Naco that he ate through.
"Hmm, I wonder," said Kim.
"What's up, KP?" asked Ron.
"I wonder if maybe this guy is somehow related to Project Phoebus. As far as we know, that's the only way to get smarter than Wade."
"Well, I'm not the only super-genius in the world Kim."
"But you're the only one who could run some checks to see if anything has happened with Project Phoebus. New developments, or theft."
"Gotcha. I'll get on it."
"Please and thank you." Kim turned off the Kimmunicator and began to eat her salad.
"At least it was nice of the guy to leave us a clue," said Ron, "I don't think any of our foes have done this before. It's a nice change of pace to have an even playing field."
"It's not like choosing a college was bad enough, now I have this Mindbend person targeting me and giving me puzzles."
"So what do we do now?" asked Ron as he took another bite out of his Naco.
"I guess we'll just have to wait until he strikes again, or until Wade can find him again."
"Since when are you the sit down and wait type Kim?"
"Oh, I've got something to occupy my time."
"Oh, yeah, college acceptances. If you want, I could help you go through them. I've kinda already finished mine."
"I think I'll definitely keep you around Ron."
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Back at the Possible home, Kim continued opening envelopes that had college acceptance letters in them. But this time Ron and Rufus was with her to help her get through them all.
"Hey, at this rate, we just might finish through them tonight," said Kim.
"Yeah, and we'll be able to make a huge contribution to the recycling center," said Ron, opening a letter. "Aaah, paper cut," he yelped as he dropped the letter and held his finger.
"Ehh," squeaked Rufus, "rookie." He then grabbed an envelope and cut the top open using his teeth.
"You know, I think it was definitely a bad idea to apply to every single college in the world."
"I'm already beating myself up about that Ron, please."
"So which college are you planning on going to?"
"I have no idea. I'm still eliminating options. Which one are you planning on going to?"
"Well, based with my limited choices and lack of people who can remember my name, I think I'll just be going to Middleton College. But I'm going to put in a major of 'Undecided' since there seems to be nothing suited for me yet."
"I'm sure there will be something for you Ron."
"But what are you going to major in? They don't have a 'world-saving' major. I mean, that would be so cool if they did. Then we could ace it for sure."
"Yeah, that would make it a lot easier."
Just then, Ron and Kim heard the front door open. They looked up to the entrance to the breakfast nook. They saw Mr. Dr. James Possible come I with a pile of letters in his hands.
"Hi, dad," said Kim, then she noticed the letters in his hands. "Oh, no. Not more acceptance letters."
"You know Kimmie-cub," said Dr. Possible, "a lot of kids would be grateful to only get a fraction of the amount you're getting."
"I'd be happy to give those kids some of mine."
Dr. Possible put the letters on the table, making the endless pile seem even more so. Kim let out a big sigh.
"Don't worry, Kimmie. I'm sure that the one you're looking for is in there somewhere."
"Oooh, Yale," said Ron, "I think that's where my Dad graduated from… aah, another paper cut."
Rufus started laughing at Ron's lack of letter-opening skills.
"Well, I think we can eliminate postman and secretary from your career choices," said Kim, laughing a little bit.
"Maybe I could just use Rufus as my letter-opener."
"Yipe," yelped Rufus as he scurried into Ron's pocket and buttoned it.
"Ron, maybe you should head home. This should be my burden to bare, not yours."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'll call you later." Kim leaned over and kissed Ron on the cheek. Ron got up and headed out the door. Then he turned around and said, "KP, what about…"
"I'll let you know the minute Wade beeps me about anything," said Kim, reading Ron's mind.
Ron headed out the door.
"Let him know about what?" asked Dr. Possible.
"Oh, just a new villain named Mindbend. He's leaving us cryptic clues about a scheme he's up to."
"Mindbend? Sounds mind-boggling," Dr. Possible laughed to himself a tiny bit at the joke he made.
"Does the phrase 'the answer is above you, but if you look up, it will just go behind you' mean anything to you?"
"Hmm, sounds like a mind bender."
"What?"
"A mind bender. Another name for riddles or puzzles. Sometimes they're called mind teasers, or brain teasers. Me and my fellow workers at the station like to give each other some once in a while. You know, just to keep our minds going. Here's an example, what's the fastest way to get to Miami, Florida from Moscow, Russia?"
"Well, that's easy. You take a trans-continental flight from Moscow directly to Los Angeles because the plane will need re-fueling. Then you could make the flight from L.A to…" but Kim stopped as she saw her father shaking his head no.
"Okay, not a plane. Uhh… a rocket?"
"Nope. The answer may not be as complicated as you think Kimmie. You just have to use your head."
Kim laid her head down on her arms on the table. This was starting to get to her. College acceptances, Mindbend, riddles. It was getting to be too much for her brain. She brought her hands to her head, as if it would stop the thoughts swirling around in her head.
Wait a minute, brain? thought Kim.
She pushed her hands to her head. Your brain is always above you. She looked directly up to the ceiling above her. With the way my head is angled, I guess my mind would be behind me.
"That's it!" she cried in excitement, "I got it!"
"What's it?" asked Dr. Possible, slightly startled by Kim.
"I figured out Mindbend's riddle. The answer is my mind. It's always above me, but if I look up, it would be behind me."
"Hey, you're right. That was a good one."
"So, the answer is in my mind. What could that mean? Great. Out of one puzzle and into another."
Thanks to those of you who read the first chapter. I'm glad you liked it. Please keep on sending those reviews.