Many thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far: screaming phoenix, Eddy13, Katsumara, Mr. Wizard, Liselle129, CajunBear73, whitem, and readerjunkie. And if you leave a review, you'll get a response in your trick-or-treat bag!


Kim and Ron raced down the stairs and out into the front yard, fearful that the Pegasus would disappear just as suddenly and mysteriously as it had appeared. But they needn't have worried, as the mythical creature still stood there waiting patiently for them.

Rufus cautiously sniffed it to make sure it was real, receiving a soft snort back from it for his efforts.

Kim carefully walked up to it, gently stroking its head. "Hey there, fella. Nothing to worry about, no one's going to hurt you."

It began to neigh and whinny, and Kim immediately backed off, fearing that she had somehow spooked it. On the other hand, Ron fully understood what was happening and walked right up to it, neighing and whinnying himself. The Pegasus nodded his head twice and replied in kind.

"Kim, his name is Markab, and he's volunteered to take us to Drakken's lair. And he won't have any problem carrying all of us."

Kim was amazed. "Ron! You can speak Pegasus?"

Ron shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, Kim. The vocabulary is similar to Horse, but the dialect and accent are slightly different. It's just human languages I have problems with."

Kim just stood there speechless as Ron climbed onto Markab's back. "What are you waiting for, Kim? Let's fly!"

Kim hesitated before climbing up. "Are you sure this is safe, Ron? I don't want this thing to suddenly disappear on us while we're flying a hundred feet above the ground."

Markab neighed angrily at Kim, and Ron immediately cautioned her. "Ooh, Kim. Markab's not a thing, he's a Pegasus. And he promises he won't suddenly disappear on us."

Markab added a quick snort. "Uh, unless you call him a thing again, that is."

Kim patted the Pegasus gingerly. "Sorry, Markab. This is just a real weird sitch for me. I hope you understand. Will you forgive me?"

Markab whinnied softly in response. Kim smiled, hopeful that she had at least briefly placated him. Ron gave her a hand up as they all got settled on his back.

Ron continued, "Besides, he says his mission is much too important to vanish on us."

Kim raised a questioning eyebrow. "His mission? What about ours?"

Markab let out a low neigh as Ron nodded in understanding. "He says they're both one and the same. Stop Drakken and retrieve the Ultra Genomic Sequencer."

Kim's curiosity was now piqued. "Now we're getting somewhere. So, was Markab created by the sequencer? And if he was, who …"

Her question was cut short as Markab suddenly began galloping down the street in preparation for flight. "Okay, Kim, here we go. Hold on!" The Pegasus fully spread his majestic wings, and with one huge leap, they were airborne and began climbing into the cool night sky.

Kim activated her Kimmunicator. "Hey, Wade. We found ourselves a ride, but you'll never believe what it turned out to be."

Wade panned the Kimmunicator's camera back for a wide angle view. He suddenly coughed, nearly choking on the soda he was drinking. "Whoa, Kim! Is that a Pegasus you're flying on?"

Ron called over his shoulder, "Ix-nay on the O-whay, Wade. I don't want Markab to suddenly stop in midair, y'know."

Kim smiled and acknowledged, "You got it, Wade. He just showed up in my front yard and volunteered to fly us to Drakken's lair."

"Well then, I guess you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Kim!" Wade guffawed.

Kim, Ron and Rufus all offered up a mutual groan, while Markab simply snorted in disgust at Wade's terrible pun.

Kim asked, "Wade, can you scan our airspeed and give us an ETA at Drakken's lair?"

"No problem, Kim. You should be there in just about 2 hours. Good luck!"

Kim closed the connection as she snuggled closer to Ron, keeping warm as they silently flew over Middleton toward their destination.


Somewhere west of Middleton, 9:15 pm.

"Hurry, Shego! Put the pedal to the metal, as they say. We've got to make it back to the lair in time for me to create my super soldier, before those meddlesome teens arrive to rain on my parade."

Raindrops began to patter against the windscreen of the open air car. "A little late for that, ya think? And I'm still picking up several rain squalls on the radar."

Drakken frowned. "It's just an idiom, Shego." He brightened up in anticipation. "But once I've finally created my evil masterpiece, Step 2 will be to create an invincible army of clones from the original!"

Shego just rolled her eyes. "Clones again? I would've thought that by now you'd have given up on those creepy things. What are you now, 0 for 10?"

Trying to remain upbeat, Drakken declared, "Well, you know the saying, Shego. If at first you don't succeed …"

"Fail, fail again?"

"Stop being so lippy, Shego. Remember who signs your paychecks. And when I finally succeed, the first order I'll give my new army will be to destroy Kim Possible, once and for all!"

Shego angrily replied, "Hey, Dr. D. That's my job!"

She jammed the throttle forward, but immediately hit some turbulence and nearly lost control of the air car.

Drakken yelled, "What are you trying to do, Shego, kill us both?"

She snapped back, "Hey, trying to drive here! And make up your mind: the faster I go, the more likely we'll crash!"

As they argued, Shego failed to notice a huge thundercloud directly ahead. Before either of them knew it, they were deep inside the pitch black cloud. That is, until a powerful lighting bolt shot out, striking the air car. Shego hastily pulled the vehicle out of the cloud, but the damage had already been done.

After a quick systems check, she breathed a small sigh of relief. "Well, the controls are ok, but the engine took a direct hit. We can still fly, but barely. We'll have to travel a lot slower, so we won't be getting back to the lair for at least another few hours. Happy now, Dr. D?"

Drakken just crossed his arms and fumed as they resumed their course back to the lair. But far below them, a small group of strange genetically-mutated creatures were following a signal emitted by the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, almost as if it were a homing beacon. Their frustrated creator was forced to follow close behind them, increasingly confounded over his inability to get them to pursue the one target he had specifically created them for: Ron Stoppable. But he smiled as he realized exactly who had stolen the Ultra Genomic Sequencer.

"Well, knowing the Skweeb, he and his girlfriend will be going after that mad scientist guy. So when we catch up with them, we'll just destroy them all! So forward, my evil minions! Revenge awaits!"

Compelled to follow the siren call of the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, the creatures bounded across the dark landscape with inhuman speed, eagerly anticipating the completion of their genetically-imposed mission of destruction.


29 miles west of Middleton, 11:05 pm.

Kim and Ron felt exhilarated by the powerful west wind whipping through their hair as they flew high above the Colorado countryside. The strong headwind had slowed their progress somewhat, but they knew they were getting close to their destination. But the mystery remained as to where Markab had come from, as well as the origin of the other mythical creatures that had recently appeared. And although Ron had asked him, Markab had remained silent on the subject.

Soon the lights of Drakken's new lair appeared below them. "Look, Ron! There it is!"

Perched high atop a craggy mountain, the lair looked every bit as much like a castle right out of a Gothic horror story, complete with moat and drawbridge. Lightning flashed around them from a new storm front that had just arrived, and a steady rain began whipping around them.

Kim gave a low whistle. "Wow. Spooky much? Drakken has scored real high on the creepy meter this time."

Focused on Drakken's lair du jour, they failed to notice a much greater danger, hidden in the mist and closing rapidly from directly behind them.

"Yeah, that place would be so cool if it weren't going to …"

Ron's comment was cut off as a huge tongue of flame suddenly shot past them, narrowly avoiding them but still singeing their hair. Ron turned around in total fear. "Aah! Bad dragon! Very bad dragon!"

Markab immediately went into a steep dive, deftly avoiding the dragon's sudden attack. But the dragon was quite maneuverable for its size and hotly pursued the smaller Pegasus as Kim and Ron held on for dear life. With another mighty roar, he belched out another huge sheet of flame. This time it caught the tip of Markab's wing. The Pegasus whinnied in pain, spiraling toward the ground. He landed heavily, spraining his fetlock. Fortunately they had landed in a deep ravine which protected them temporarily from any further immediate attack. Kim and Ron jumped down from Markab's back, concerned over the condition of their new friend and protector.

"Are you okay, Markab?" Kim tried to check his foot, but he whinnied in pain.

Ron conversed with him for a few moments before turning to Kim. "KP, he says he's in a lot of pain between the injuries to his wing and his foot, but he'll survive. The bad news is he can't stay without drawing the dragon's attention to us, and he can't help us any further due to his injuries. But he said he'll send additional help real quick."

And with that, Markab vanished in a sparkle of pure white light.

"Well, Ron, I'm glad he'll be ok, but it's too bad he couldn't give us a little more detail about what we're up against. We're so in the dark, literally and figuratively speaking. What else could be out there waiting for us?"


Meanwhile, Drakken's mood had improved considerably once they had returned to the lair, but Shego was still peeved. Drakken unsuccessfully tried to placate her.

"Well, thanks for your help, Shego. Have fun at your Halloween party."

Shego frowned. "With the air car disabled? Not going to happen. So I might as well just stay here so I can gloat once your plan totally goes south, as usual."

"Shego! Have you no faith in my technological genius?"

She simply crossed her arms and glared at him.

Drakken grinned sheepishly. "Uh, never mind. I withdraw the question."

"Good call," she sneered.

Drakken proceeded to tinker with the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, while Shego kept herself occupied by recalibrating the closed–circuit TV and intruder alert systems. She was surprised when she spotted several children walking across the moat's drawbridge. One of them reached up and rang the doorbell, which tolled Big Ben's melody, but in an ominously minor key.

With a long-suffering sigh, she got up and answered the door. "Trick-or-treat!" chimed the precocious children, holding their bags open for the expected candy. A wicked smile broke out across Shego's face. She spoke but one word as she flared her plasma into life.

"Trick …"

Screaming in terror, the children immediately dropped their bags and ran for their lives. Shego picked up one of the bags, checking its contents.

"Ooh, Butterfingers. My favorite."

She bit into the delicious candy, licking the chocolate from her claws as she closed the door and returned to her monitor.

Drakken had hardly noticed, being close to reconfiguring the Ultra Genomic Sequencer for his own nefarious purposes.

"Almost have it … and … there!" He flipped the switch, but what materialized on the metal table was a humanoid creature no larger than a Ken doll. It began berating him in a tiny voice, shaking his fist in anger.

"Oops. Heh-heh. A little too small for my purposes."

Making a quick adjustment, he threw the switch again. This time, the experiment was completely successful. An eight-foot high giant of a man appeared in the tiny humanoid's place, muscles rippling with tremendous strength.

"Ha-ha-hah! Success! Shego, in your face! Behold my super-soldier, ready to act on my slightest whim!"

Shego's jaw dropped in amazement. "Whoa, Dr. D! It actually worked! He's even bigger than Midas!" She licked her lips. "And even more hunky, if that's possible …"

But as usual, Drakken's victory was destined to be short-lived. An enormous bolt of lightning suddenly struck the lair, overloading the castle's antiquated electrical system. As sparks erupted from the equipment, circuit breakers tripped all over the castle, but not before a huge arc of electricity shot out, hitting Drakken, Shego, and the creature. Their skeletons briefly lit up from the shock, leaving Drakken with singed hair, a blackened face and burnt clothing. Shego's hair had been changed from its long, dark sleekness into an electrostatically-charged beehive, its color now alternating between huge vertical streaks of white and black.

Dazed but still conscious, Drakken stared at the still form of the giant he had just created. While checking for a pulse, he put his head to the creature's chest and listened for any breathing. There was none.

He pounded the table in frustration. "No! It can't be gone! Not after coming so close! Shego, where's our emergency defibrillator?"

"Uh, it hasn't arrived from our old lair yet. It's not due to be delivered until sometime next week."

Drakken grabbed the chain attached to the table and began using the pulley to elevate the platform.

"Quick, give me a hand!"

Together they pulled the creature up until he was right next to the skylight far above them.

Curious, Shego asked, "What are you trying to do, Dr. D?"

"Nngh. Just something I saw in an old movie once."

Drakken pulled the rope opening the window, exposing his super-soldier not only to the stormy night, but also to the lightning rod that was immediately outside the window.

A huge bolt of lightning struck the lightning rod, shooting into the super soldier, restarting both his heart and respiration. It let out a roar of pain in response to the huge shock, but it had been revived.

Drakken yelled out in victory. "Shego! It's alive! It's alive! Ha-ha-hah!"

Suddenly a huge thud was heard, its vibration resonating through the rock floor, as if something very large had just landed outside.

Drakken halted his maniacal rant at the sound. "Shego, what was that?"

Shego quickly checked the monitor, and was surprised at what met her eyes. "Uh, Dr. D, there's a dragon on our front porch."

Drakken seemed perplexed, which seemed to be the usual state for him these days. "What? I haven't created any dragons. Perhaps it's something left over from the prior resident? But I must say, it is a nice touch. Maybe it will keep Team Possible out of our hair until I'm finished here."


Outside Drakken's lair, 11:45 PM

Carefully climbing through the dark, Kim and Ron had finally made their way to the castle's entrance. They stood just beyond the lowered drawbridge and prepared to fire their grappling hooks at what looked like a dimly lit second story window.

"Well, Ron, I don't know what kind of help Markab was planning on sending, but as long as we can get into the castle, it looks like we won't need any."

Ron noticed some movement just on the other side of the bridge. "Uh, Kim, I think you spoke too soon …"

The dragon had spotted Kim and Ron, staring at them with his glowing yellow eyes. Although he could sense that the Ultra Genomic Sequencer was within the castle just behind him, his genetic programming now attracted him more to the human targets standing before him. Letting out a loud roar and spreading wide his huge leathery wings, he rose up on his haunches and let loose a terrible blast, aimed directly at Kim and Ron.


To Be Concluded ...