UnStoppable Flash Chapter 7: Alone In The Dark, a kim possible fanfic

A.N: Thanks for all the positive feedback. I also appreciate the critics, which were delivered via both a few reviews and private messages. Please keep reviewing and voice any concerns or direct any questions you have via PMs. I'm happy to explain and / or discuss the finer points in storycrafting.

UnStoppable Flash

Disclaimer: Kim Possible trademark and all characters belong to Disney.

DC Comics and all characters belong to Warner Bros.

Previously on 'UnStoppable Flash'

Comparing that to Ron, Tara realized that they were the same height, and had the same build.

'Oh my God! He IS Flash!'

"KP! THERE'S AN ALIEN SPACESHIP HERE!" Ron's scream sounded across the beach.

Hal Jordan looked at Ron like he was a different person. Like he was his equal, both in age and stature. "You... are something else, Ron Stoppable."

Tara was now openly crying. "I didn't know that I would fall in love with your guy!"

Kim made her mind. She pulled Tara in for a tighter hug and allowed the smaller girl to cry on her shoulder. "No matter what happens Tara. No matter what. I'll always have your back in this. You'll never have to worry about me."

A huge red alien came running through the desert, heading for Flash and Green Lantern.

"This truly is a battle of the titans!" The reporter shouted as the battle between the alien and the two superheroes continued.

Come on Stoppable! Faster, even faster! You can go even... FASTER! Ron's eyes flashed blue.

"Ring power at one hundred and fifty two point three percent."

"I'll hold you to that. Until next time, Frodo." Hal and Ron bumped fists.

The kiss deepened as Ron joined in and wrapped his arms around Tara.

A short distance away, a pair of sparkling green eyes watched the couple, kissing under the snow.

Chapter 7: Alone In The Dark

Ron simply slugged Drakken directly in the face and knocked him to the ground. He did not even feel the need to crack a few jokes or make fun of the blue skinned villain.

After having a close brush with death during the Grodd sitch and helping GL fight an alien of the most dangerous kind, Team Possible's arch enemy was simply too boring.

He turned to Kim, who was tangling with Shego on the nearby staircase. Kim seemed to be struggling a little. He lazily called out.

"Hey Kim, the doc is packaged. Want help with green and dangerous?" Rufus was jumping on Drakken's face as Ron spoke.

Kim held Shego's plasma with a metal bar ripped from the staircase. "I'm... all... okay..."

"Alrighty then. I'll sit over there and wait." Ron walked over to the Project Phoebus appliance and took a seat on the chair. He yawned as he watched the ongoing fight.

He had a rather late night yesterday, with a few robbers deciding it'd be a Flash-free job if they tried to break into the Upperton's luxuriest jeweller, in the middle of the night. Literally middle of the night, as in three in the morning. Wade had called him, the preteen himself looking like he was still sleeping, relayed the information about the silent alarm, and then promptly fell asleep on the keyboard without cutting the video feed.

Ron didn't think it was a good idea to let that go to waste, so he had spent an additional half an hour going to the school at night, taking a screenshot and printed copy of Wade sleeping and drooling onto his keyboard.

All in all, foiling the robbery, waiting for cops to arrive and doing what he did to have blackmail material against Wade for future had taken him the better part of an hour. Of course, falling asleep again had also been a slight problem. So he was somewhat feeling drowsy. The emergency ride he had taken Kim on his back didn't help the matters either.

He yawned loudly again as Shego and Kim tumbled in front of him. Shego got annoyed and turned to him after kicking Kim away for a second.

"Am I boring you Ronnie?" She glared at the sidekick.

Ron answered with his eyes half-open. "...Sorry, had a long night...By the way." He pointed to Shego's side. Shego turned to find a charging Kim who smashed her right knee into Shego's chest. "That must've hurt."

Shego growled and hurled herself at Kim with anger. Ron leaned back and let his eyes close. "Wake me up when they are done Rufus." Rufus chittered an affirmative and went back to watching the fight while lounging in Ron's pocket.

Shego charged an especially large amount of plasma in her hands and lunged at Kim. Seeing the opportunity, Kim sidestepped and tripped her with an extended foot.

Unfortunately, the controls of Project Phoebus was right behind her and Shego went straight at it. Activating the device by accident.

Ron's eyes were closed, so he didn't notice what was going on. His eyes shot open as soon as he heard a loud buzzing above his head though.

Kim saw what was happening and screamed a warning. "Ron! Watch out!"

The still drowsy Ron couldn't react in time, and the perm machine-looking device closed itself on his head. By the time he had reacted and went into superspeed, he felt something shocking his brain, like pushing a thousand small needles onto it.

Before any more damage from the device could be done, he threw himself out of the chair. As soon as he threw himself on the ground, he felt the pressure on his brain disappearing. An unpleasant sensation, however, remained.

"Woah." He stood up and had a little trouble to balance himself. Kim ran near him and checked him over.

Meanwhile, Shego was collecting Drakken from the ground. "I'm really starting to hate you Ronnie." She called while running with Drakken on her shoulders.

Kim shook Ron slightly to break him out of his stunned state. "Ron, are you okay? Ron?"

Ron shook his own head and lightly tapped his head with his hand. "Woah... Yea, just a bit dizzy." He checked his hair. "Is my hair there? I didn't go bald did I?!"

Rufus peeked from his pocket and blew a raspberry. Ron felt the need to be politically correct. "Not...that there is anything wrong with being bald."

Kim sighed and took his arm, dragging him out of the lab. "Seriously, the fact that you can beat Drakken that easily doesn't mean you can play around. What if that Phoebus was something dangerous?"

Ron pouted. "But I was just resting my eyes for a second! Not like anything new would happen with you and Shego!"

"Meaning?" Kim's voice carried an edge to it that Ron immediately recognized.

Danger. Danger. "You'd kick her shapely butt once again, of course. What else?"

Kim nodded with satisfaction. "That's better." Then she squinted at Ron. "Shapely butt?"

Ron deadpanned. "Duh. Engages in physical activity almost daily, more than enough exercise, practicing martial arts. You have the same shapely butt as well." He didn't register what he just said until he actually said it.

Okay, where the hell did that come from?! "From a purely anatomical sense, of course! Gluteus maximus in regularly exercising females tend to lend to a strong back and increased upper leg power. Not to mention aesthetically pleasing." His voice rose a little in fear.

Ron's closed his mouth with his hand.

Kim looked at him incredulously. "What the- How the hell do you even know what a gluteus maximus is?!"

Ron removed his hand from his mouth. His eyes were as wide as saucers. "I've no idea!"

"Whatever happened with that Phoebus device, it did something to you. We need to bring you to Mom and have you checked over."

Ron groaned. Mrs. Dr. P. was a real taskmaster when the topic was health.

The magnetic resonance machine stopped thumping and Ron finally felt the claustrophobic pod giving way to the small shielded room the MRI was kept in. At the other side of the glass in the shielded room, Anne Possible was perusing the images with a radiologist.

"Mr. Stoppable, you can dress now." The radiologist announced via intercom and Ron left to put his clothes back on in the small changing room nearby.

His mind was racing, often leading him to very fast trains of thought without himself realizing ever since the contact he had with Project Phoebus. He found it incredibly disconcerting.

Kim met up with him outside the changing room. "Are you okay Ron? How's your head?"

"Still the same. Racing." He sat down on a nearby bench and tried to clear his mind. It was an impossible task.

Anne Possible walked out of the MRI room and approached them. She had a concerned look on her face. "Well, there are good news and... incredibly strange news."

Ron didn't even lift his head. Kim shot a questioning look at her mother.

"Good news is that there is no tumor, mass, unidentified points or anything pointing towards a harmful situation. Whatever this Project Phoebus was, it's not killing Ron."

Ron groaned. "Sure feels like I'm dying. The back of my head and ears are on fire."

Anne put a hand on his hunched shoulders. "The strange news is that... Well, your brain is operating at a simply incomprehensible intensity. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd say the readings are close to a real super genius' MRI readings, while they were working on an incredibly complex problem."

Kim got an inkling of what her mother was suggesting, but couldn't believe it. "Wait wait wait, are you telling me that Ron's brain is operating like a genius?"

The brain surgeon had an idea. She pulled out a blank pad and pen from her lab coat and gave them to Ron. "Ron honey, could you write down the equation to find L2 orbit for me."

Ron mechanically answered. " The equation balancing gravitation and inertia to find the approximate location?"

"Yes. Just jot it down."

Ron did it almost immediately. His hands had also moved a bit too faster than normal. Kim took the pad after he was done. On it was an equation she didn't recognize. And it looked far too complicated for anything Ron had ever written in his life.

Her mom took it and nodded slowly. "See, I know this is the correct equation." Kim looked questioningly. "Your father has a small sticker on his briefcase for it. I believe it's a rocket scientist internal joke."

Kim put that useless piece of information aside and turned to the matter at hand. "Ron, how do you even know the equation for such a thing?"

Ron lifted his head and looked at Kim with a little bit of desperation. "KP, do I look remotely like that I'd know such a thing? I have no idea! Hell, actually I do have an idea but I'd need a textbook on brain physiology to ascertain it." He shook his head. "Okay see, I said 'ascertain.' I don't use these words normally!"

Anne brought them to her office and handed Ron a book just like he wanted. Meanwhile, Kim had Wade scan Ron via the Kimmunicator.

After two minutes of Ron going through the book at superspeed, he closed it and sighed. Anne Possible's jaw had nearly dropped when she saw how fast he went through it. Kim didn't blame her mother. The sight of Ron using his superspeed in scholastic applications was really disturbing and a bit awing at first.

Ron leaned back and took a deep breath. "I'm sure of it now. Project Phoebus activates all dormant neurons in the brain, also activating long term memory clusters that would normally be impossible to access unless one had an eidetic memory. In addition to boosting brain's operating capacity to its limits, it also allows super fast connectivity. And it did so by implanting a foreign brain-wave pattern onto my own!"

"The freaking thing turned me into a super genius!" He looked a bit angry.

Kim turned to the Kimmunicator and looked at Wade. The pre teen genius could only nod. "What he said is completely consistent with my readings and those MR images Kim. Ron is now effectively a more intelligent and capable genius than I am." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Hell, he is probably the most intelligent person on the planet, if what I suspect is happening."

" That is most definitely happening Wade! And it's almost hurting me!" Ron grimaced again.

Kim looked between Ron and the device's screen. "What? What's happening?!"

Ron massaged his temples and pointed towards Wade on the screen. The pre-teen complied with his wordless request. "Ron's brain moves as fast as he does, meaning he is able to think extremely quickly. He is able to read a book at super speed, and retains this information in his short term memory just long enough to implement whatever he has learned. This much you have seen. That's how he crams ten minutes before the exams and aces them."

Kim half-glared at Ron. "I was wondering how you scored an A at that algebra test when I could only get an A minus."

Wade continued. "Using this sort of "super brain" ability, he is able to calculate multiple trains of thoughts and act on them in mere miliseconds, at most a second. That's how he fights in superspeed."

Kim began to understand. "But now that all his neurons are unleashed..." She slowly closed her hand over her mouth in shock. Dr. Possible had also understood what Wade was getting at and was gazing at Ron with almost reverence.

"He is probably going in and out of his slow motion perception, simultaneously calculating an almost endless possibilities and processing a huge number of thoughts."

Ron suddenly said something, but he had spoken so fast that it lasted less than a second and he sounded like a fast forwarding tape. He coughed and tried again. " I've calculated the odds of me surviving past fifty almost a thousand times with all the variables plugged in, and the numbers don't look good! Someone please sedate me or I'm gonna go crazy!"

Kim turned to her mother. Anne just sighed and went outside the office to get a few doses of sedatives.

Ron woke up on the Possible's couch after a long, chemically induced sleep. Anne Possible had insisted on keeping him under surveillance and his mother had quickly agreed to whatever measure the board certified neurosurgeon saw fit to.

That didn't mean he was happy about it. Wade had expressly forbidden any hero work for him until the effects wore off or Ron learnt to control them.

Also, his suit was in repair after the last tango with the red alien.

Kim had hovered over him until he slept after getting injected by a heavy dose of sedative shot. Apparently, she had gone up to her room. He checked the clock on the wall of the living room. It read 6:08 AM.

With his brain kicking back in, he found it impossible to sleep. Fortunately, his brain was not hurting anymore, and he could somewhat keep it on a normal speed, not allowing any superspeed vibration to kick in.

That didn't mean that he was normal though. His brain wouldn't stop working. So he let it work.

Kim woke up earlier than she normally would. Yesterday was yet another crazy day in their lives, what with Ron gaining super intelligence and super sentience. She had left him sleeping soundly on the couch downstairs last night.

When she descended downstairs, she found a crumpled blanket on the couch, the tweebs' mini rocket, looking oddly finished and a paper near it on the table.

'KP, woke up and feeling loads better. Figured out a way to focus myself. Tell Tim and Jim that the propulsion system was fixed, it should be optimally working now. See ya in school.'

Kim had resolved last night to find the scientist responsible for Project Phoebus and get answers. Ron didn't seem highly stable to her, no matter what he wrote on the note.

I'll get Wade to get me the name and arrange a ride after school.

Now if only we can get through today normally.

Which was not gonna happen. Fate had other, more sinister plans.

Tara found Ron at the lockers when she arrived at the school. He seemed to be flipping pages on a book she didn't recognize. Deciding to surprise him, she snuck behind and put her hands above his eyes.

"Guess who I am Ron!"

Ron's answer was mechanical. "The calculated degree of the hands in respect to the connected arm behind me suggests someone with an estimated height of five foot two to three inches. Hands are equally petite with soft tissue, albeit calluses on the sides from presumably holding a cheer leader pom pom. Voice is feminine, action itself is overly familiar. Only possible conclusion to your identity would be Tara King, cheer leader and girlfriend to Ron Stoppable."

Tara blinked as she retracted her hands. "What?"

Ron turned around and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, got hit by a... brainwaveenhancingmachinethatturnedmeintoasupergenius."

Tara blinked again. "Ron, are you okay?"

Ron forced himself to take a deep breath and explained what happened to him as slowly as he could manage.

Tara rubbed her temple as she tried to understand. "So, you are now some sort of ...ultra genius?"

"More or less. I'm hoping temporarily. You wouldn't believe how many distractions are in this world we live in everyday, once you start noticing every little detail."

"Distractions. I hope I am not one." Tara pouted slightly, teasing Ron.

"Oh you are very definitely one. Very distracting." He lowered his head for a quick kiss. Which lasted a bit longer than he intended. "Very distracting indeed." Then he stopped and realized, he wouldn't just do this normally.

Kim was at her locker, watching the couple, and more so Ron in particular. He looked fine, if a bit hyper, even for himself. She went near them and nudged Ron in the ribs.

"C'mon you two, Miss Whisp and Algebra awaits."

Tara and Ron had the decency to blush and look away as they walked to class. Ron had the naiveté to think that maybe this day wouldn't be so bad, against all his calculations.

He should have known better than to tempt fate like that.

From there, it all went downhill.

"We'll go with an F on this one Mr. Stoppable." Miss Whisp slammed his homework on his table.

Ron sputtered and straightened himself in his chair. "Wha-what?! How in the name of holy cheese and nacos that you can give that an F?!"

"Your assignment demonstrates a comprehension of not only Algebra, but also Advanced Calculus and Chaos Theory mathematics. Which means it was clearly completed by someone else!" The rotund teacher looked angry as she glared at Ron.

Kim sighed. They should've seen this coming.

Ron was not about to give in though. His brain was already racing. "Oh, because you'd know about these things, wouldn't you Miss Whisp? I mean, you yourself have such a firm grasp on the theories that you teach at a high school." He was angry, and at his current state, keeping his mind focused on a single task meant that controlling what he did at it was incomprehensibly harder.

"Let's cut the bullshit and lay our cards. That assignment I handed in has been done entirely by me. No one else. Me. Second, there are maybe ten people in a ten mile radius with the qualities you described, all of them works at the nearby Science Center, and none of them would help a high school student cheat on his paper like that! Furthermore, what atrociously idiotic, mindless equivalent of a dead fly would actually turn in a paper that complicated if it wasn't their own work?!"

He realized he had shot up and now standing instead of sitting. This had also the added bonus of slightly leveling the field with the reasonably tall woman. He became aware of a hand grabbing his own right hand. Tara was holding it, from the chair next to his.

"Calm down Ron, she just didn't know that you had that thing going on."

Miss Whisp shook herself from the shock of Ron Stoppable exploding like that, and moved onto her planned trap. This was not the ideal situation she had planned to bust Ron, but it would do. " Well then, based on the proficiency you demonstrated in your homework, this PhD level equation should be easy peasy for you."

Ron took one look at the equation and snorted. "That's a PhD level equation? It's just a differential equation of fourth order at the axis along the curve denoted by sine squared with all the possible components of a summation in a simple squareroot function. It's pathetic."

When everyone else looked to his face with blank expressions, he rolled his eyes, walked upto the board and quickly outlined a solution. The complete solution would take the length of at least four boards of that size.

Miss Whisp couldn't believe what she was seeing, so she immediately looked at the textbook she had brought to check the solution. "Ronald, that's correct!"

"Hell yeah it's correct. Now can you please grade my homework properly? Please? "

Miss Whisp had other notions. She stood with stars in her eyes. "The world has a new prodigy! There was Aristoteles, Newton, Einstein and now-"

Ron cut her off right there. "Oh I'm so not gonna play along. Miss Whisp, I'm so not a prodigy and most definitely no intention of announcing myself as one. So let's just continue the class, please." He walked back to his seat and sat back. He grimaced a little as his focus faltered from his frustration and let himself go into slow motion time.

It took him half a minute to finally get a grip. Whisp didn't say anything, but it was apparent he was gonna get harassed after class for sure.

After the class, as he predicted, Whisp wanted him to stay behind a bit. "Ronald, no matter the case before, you are a treasure to the world now. We must help you reach your full potential immediately!"

"Uh-huh. Yea, Miss Whisp, sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not a super genius. I just got hit by a device developed by the government that makes one so. And let me tell you, this entire genius sitch sucks!"

Miss Whisp didn't have any answers to that retort, but didn't relent either. "No matter the source Ronald, we must utilize your full potential!"

"Yea, sorry to be so rude, but I'm outta here." Ron took his bag and walked out of the classroom. "Feel free to assign more homework if you feel punishment is necessary for my behaviour."

Outside, he met with a worried looking Tara and anxious Kim. He turned to his best friend. "Kim, we gotta deal with this, and pronto! She's gonna blab to everyone about my sitch, and it's just gonna get worse."

Kim showed her the Kimmunicator. "I'll take a ride to the place where the ex director of the Project Phoebus lives. He could provide answers."

Ron's head started to ache again. He wobbled slightly and both girls grabbed his arms before he fell. "Woah, light headed." He looked at his hands and then body. "Oh damn, the combined taxing on my metabolism by my supercharged molecules with this new brain means that I'm running out of fuel. I won't be able to sustain myself at this rate. Autophage will start unless I ingest complex carbohydrates within the next thirty minutes."

Kim decided that this was getting out of hand. She motioned to the smaller girl. "Tara, take him and make sure he eats something at least twice an hour. If that doesn't work, go to the nurse's office and have him hooked up to an IV drip."

Tara took Ron's arm and tightly held it. "Where are you going?"

"We can't wait on this, so I'll leave now."

Ron grumbled as his stomach groaned louder than himself. "Drakken is so going to take one on the chin for this one, next time I see him."

Ron was put to sleep again, this time with an IV drip hooked up to him. According to the information Kim had obtained from the now hermit professor, the effect of the Phoebus device was going to wear off in the following two to four days. With unanimous decision by Kim, her mother and Ron's mother, he was put in Possible's guest room and was going to remain in supervision until he turned back to normal.

That didn't mean he stopped thinking. And being scooped up in that room was maddening. He borrowed tools from the twins to do some tinkering on various devices. He tricked out the watch Wade had given him for one thing. Then wrote a manual for it for his future use.

That didn't stop there. He invented a far more advanced earpiece for his speedsuit by nothing more than various trash the twins had in their room. On their request, he did tweaking on a number of their devices as well. He didn't let Kim know of course, or she'd probably kill him herself for supplying 'Tweebs' with more dangerous equipment.

He experimented with a few applications of his own power. Jotted down a lot more theories he couldn't test. Eventually though, he was almost done with almost anything he could do physically at the end of the first day of his house arrest.

Then he was forced to stop acting and thinking. It was apparent that, even when his brain was on the overdrive, he was more on the action side than thinking side as a person. To not go crazy with his own thoughts, he contemplated many things.

Not the least of them was regarding his feelings about his relationship with Tara. They had been dating for nearly two months, and he had accepted that he liked her a lot. But in the clarity of immense brain power he temporarily possessed, Ron was forced calculate almost an unlimited number of scenarios and implications about said relationship.

He found out that he simply had no answer when it came down to the question of why Tara was attracted to him at the first place. Even without his eventual transformation and the subsequent exposure to the blonde cheer leader, it was implied and strongly told by Kim that the girl held a torch for him.

As for his general feelings though, he had clearer answers. Actually, he had far more clear thoughts than many people would never achieve in their lifetimes. The only other matter he was completely stumped on was his friendship with Kim. No matter how he analyzed it, the odds were astronomically against someone like her and him staying friends all these years.

The only logical conclusion was that there was a hidden element to their dynamic that he couldn't observe or detect, even with super intelligence.

Ron also became aware of many other things. About himself and about how the world worked in general. He felt strangely melancholic, as this version of himself would cease to exist in a matter of hours. He hated being this freaky unnatural genius, but it didn't change the fact that what he had figured out was going to evaporate.

Or was it? He suddenly had an idea. He hooked up a portable keyboard twins used for programming rockets to his watch. He programmed a series of subroutines into the watch and then set it for upload to a remote location once the parameters were met.

"Phoebus Protocol. Code Alpha. Log Entry One." He started speaking to the watch.

Ron had finally returned to normal, not to say it wasn't a bit vexing on Kim's nerves, but genius Ron had been a serious pain in the ass. The final two days he had spent in Possible guest room was a veritable cornucopia of electronic devices going in and back out, tweebs being dragged away from the room to leave Ron alone, and the weirdest part where was Ron seemed to be talking whenever Kim listened in through the door.

"He's one hundred percent Ron again. No foreign brain waves left to imprint on his own. His neurons are over activated, but they will also settle down." Wade seemed like he was going to continue, then simply bid them a good day and terminated the connection.

Ron sighed and leaned to his locker. He had not told this to Kim or Wade, but the last two days were completely lost on him. He could remember the previous two days before that with the super intellect active, but he had no recollection of the last two.

Still, he decided to forget the ordeal and move on. Tara held his hand as Kim closed her locker after speaking to Wade. She seemed to keep Ron in close company, what with the unbidden bout of geniusness making Ron a very irritable person.

Kim shrugged as three of them walked to their classes. "So, Miss Whisp finally calmed down?"

"Oh, that she did. After writing that sideways eight infinity symbol on my detention slip. Apparently, I have 'denied the world of decades of advancement in a matter of days.'"

"You could've simply done what she asked. It'd not be a bad thing to solve a few problems along the ride."

Ron looked horrified. "Oh right, would you like me to announce my name and identity as the... other guy as well?"

Kim shook her head. "I don't follow."

Tara nodded along. "Sorry, but I don't get it either."

Ron sighed as they walked. "Look, I might not be a genius, well, anymore, but there's one deduction he made that I agree wholeheartedly. Ron Stoppable must not be too inconsistent or too much in the spotlight. It's best if I stay in the background."

"And why is that? You liked being a total loser?" All three of them froze as they walked when they heard Bonnie speak. The brunette had snuck up on them.

Ron couldn't come up with a good answer on the spot and Kim was ready to go nuclear, as it was the case usually whenever Bonnie was around. So Tara took charge. She let go of Ron and hooked her arm with Bonnie's.

"Ron just likes a quiet time and his 'marination' periods B. You know, I think we are due for one of those ourselves. What do you say that we plan a trip to the beauty parlor this weekened?" She shot a smile at Ron and Kim and walked off towards the class with the brunette in tow.

"Nice save." Ron exclaimed after the two girls were a bit ahead.

"Yes, but let's keep the...uh, super chats for time after the school, 'kay?"

Kim laid down on her bed, somewhat exhausted from the day she had. Cheer leading practice, while usually a relaxing outlet for her, was just plain vexing on her nerves that day as Bonnie kicked up the bitchiness a notch.

To be honest, she had other concerns as well. Moving aside from her reservations about Tara and Ron's relationship, Kim was also taking a look at herself, in hero business department. She had managed to help with the alien last time, albeit with the help of an all powerful ring itself.

And Kim had to concede the fact that the power and the ability to properly play back up or even a partner to Ron's alter ego had felt incredibly good. All the other times she had tried to help Flash had either ended with her as a crutch or at best, a non-factor.

She was just not suitable to being a sidekick. Which was ironic, because Ron, purposefully Kim suspected, was letting her take all the spotlight and many of the heroic deeds when they were doing their missions as Team Possible, ever since he became Flash. He was comfortable being the sidekick, and had exclaimed this very fact before his accident with the lightning bolt many times.

Unfortunately, she was just not built that way. And now that she had seen some really disastrous situations alongside Flash, she was forced to fully acknowledge what Oliver Queen had tried to tell them weeks ago.

She was falling behind, and unless she somehow gained entrance to a super secret ninja school, Kim couldn't see a way out of her predicament. Of course, she was incredibly well-versed and capable compared to an average human, but that didn't cut it.

Her bench press was twice her own body weight, her running speed, agility and reflexes were on par with the best of track and field club in school, her uncanny ability to master fighting styles was nothing short than prodigious. All in all, Kim knew that she was near the peak of physical human limitations... Yet at the end of the day, Ron was vastly more powerful due to his genetic alteration. And she had no way of helping him conventionaly.

She sat up on her bed and mumbled to herself. This was way beyond pathetic, this feeling sorry for herself because she could not measure up to her best friend. If she were to be honest with herself, Ron deserved that power way more than she did. No, she was fine with Ron being the Flash. It was the fact that she, the Kim Possible, was nothing more than a big fish in a small pond. In comparison, Flash was probably going to be hailed as one of the most popular superheroes in the future.

Heck, they had seen action figures of him floating around in kids' hands when they were last at New York.

Maybe I should just call it a job well done, having helped him grow into his role, and having done lots of good as myself and just shut down the website?

Wade wouldn't be too heartbroken about it. I mean, he could form a full time team with Ron to create a system far more effective than ours. Ron wouldn't have to waste time and effort as something he no longer is, the buffoonish sidekick.

And I'd have a lot more time to devote to school and extra curriculars. Maybe finally get a few real dates once I stop roundhousing some goon on national television.

"Yea... Maybe I should talk to Wade..."

Her clock beeped, signifying a new hour. She stood up and started getting dressed. She and Monique were going to go to the 'feel-good movie of the year.'

After getting their tickets from a new worker, a Hispanic girl their age, instead of the dreaded Lamar, they got to their seats as fast as they could. The venue was packed with couples.

Looks like everyone had the same idea.

Monique was gobbling down popcorn near her at an almost Ron-ish speed. When Kim looked at her, she just shrugged. "I like to get it done before the movie so we can watch it in peace." She casually placed her left arm on the arm rest.

Kim fumbled to find a location to lean onto. When she and Ron went to movies, Ron would always go for right side arm rests, leaving Kim to always sit at the left seat and take the right arm rest for herself. Apparently Monique was the exact opposite on her movie watching habits.

The fashion guru squinted at Kim as they waited for movie to start. "Okay, I went along with you when you offered to hit the movies together and cool with the movie itself, but girlfriend, you are acting like this is your first time here." Slowly, a knowing smile spread to her face. "Unless, you usually do these things with Mr. Runningback and your routine got broken since he is otherwise indisposed?"

Kim scoffed. "Pfft. That's so not about Ron. Heck, we wouldn't even be at this movie if Ron was here. He hates feel-good date movies. He never watches them."

"Could've fooled me girl." Monique pointed to somewhere a bit lower and in the front side of the theater. Kim followed her hand and looked at where she was pointing.

Sure enough, she easily spied a couple a few rows afar. The male had messy sandy blonde hair and the presumably female one had wavy platinum blonde. She already had her head on the male's shoulder. Kim instantly realized who they were.

"Looks like he does watch them after all." Monique looked at Kim knowingly.

"He... He is just being a good boyfriend. I mean, you'd go to a movie like this if your date asked you." Kim didn't realize she had grabbed the arm rest and squeezed it enough to crack it.

"Uh-huh." Monique's face contorted into a weird contemplative look before she returned to watching the silver screen. She had let go of the arm rest and left it to Kim. She didn't bring up the issue again, but her face held the knowing smile all the day after that.

After the movie, Kim and Monique had sat down at Bueno Nacho for some hot drinks and even hotter food. The bitter cold of January was seeping in every time the joint's door was opened, but Kim didn't mind.

Her Kimmunicator beeped as Monique made small talk about a new line of clothing in Club Banana. "Wade! What's the sitch?" She could really use a sitch full of punching right about now.

"You got an urgent message Kim. From your dad. Trouble at the Space Center."

"Again? It's not another mutant gorilla I hope."

Wade shook his head. "I don't think so. This sounded a bit closer to home. I'm calling up Ron."

"Wade, I can handle talking to my dad without Ron." Let's keep the loverboy at his date.

Wade seemed uncertain. "Well, if you are sure... He was, uh, running an errand." Wade had learnt not to speak openly on Kimmunicator after a few close calls.

Kim's spirit was suddenly lifted a bit, but she didn't change her mind. "I'll talk to Dad myself. Then we can see if we need him for the sitch."

Kim sighed for the tenth time that hour. Not only they needed Ron, but they also apparently needed her cousin Larry as well.

Her father had acted all secretive and tight lipped until they made into the robotics lab. Apparently, an artificial intelligence prototype designed for the top secret unmanned Jupiter mission was stolen. The previous project head Professor Pressly having been murdered by Grodd, the project was essentially unable to replace the AI. And the current scientist on the project, Dr. Fenn, needed quiet assistance to retrieve it, hence Dr. Possible recruiting Kim for the task.

While there were a few inconsistencies that bugged Kim about the sitch, it was apparent something was stolen. The analysis of a long hair strand on the scene had revealed a young blonde female was on the scene. Dr. Fenn had identified a possible culprit as Vivian, his ex lab partner.

And now, to catch her trail at a place called Robot Rumble, they were on their way to Larry's house. Wade had identified the secret gathering, but entrance was by invitation only, and Larry was a member.

Ron was driving them to her aunt's house in another part of town, on his scooter. Finally, they arrived at the house and stopped in front of a mailbox with 'West' writing on it.

"This is the place." Kim shivered. She didn't look forward to spending time with Larry again.

"Oh relax, I wish I met him that time instead of tangling with Monty. As I said, majorly fun guy by the looks of it." Rufus agreed as they proceeded to the door. After ringing the bell, her aunt June showed up at the door.

"Oh Kimmie, come in! What a nice surprise, Larry will be overjoyed. Watch out for-"

A small boy with her aunt's matte auburn hair ran down the stairs and crashed into Ron, sending both of them to the ground.

"Wally..." June sighed as her younger boy kept grinding on her nerves. "Wally, get off your cousin's friend and go finish cleaning up your room."

Ron picked himself up from the ground and took a look at the small boy in question. He was wearing a red shirt with his own insignia on it, meaning that this kid was a fan of his extra curricular work. Funny part was that he was also wearing goggles on his eyes.

"Kid, next time you are running, you might wanna scope out your lane first. Running without watching is sure to get you hurt." He helped Wally off the ground and patted his shirt for dust.

The little kid gave him a toothy grin and turned towards his best friend. "Kim, Kim! Is it true that you met Flash? What's he like? How tall is he? How fast is he? What does he look like?"

"Wally!" June was about to blow a fuse. "Your room! Now! You can pester Kimmie next week when the family game night comes around!"

The kid grumbled and climbed the stairs with apparent disappointment. June massaged her temples. "Sorry about that young man, he's always running around these days."

Ron smiled and shook his head. "Adorable really. I see that he is a fan of the Flash. By the way, Ron Stoppable at your service." He gave a slightly exaggarated bow.

"Oh, so you are Kimmie's best friend. Nice to meet you Ron."

"Well, that's a healthy seven year old boy Aunt June." Kim looked around for her older cousin. "Is Larry around? We need his, uh, expertise on a case of ours."

June's eyebrow rose. "Nothing dangerous I hope?"

"Oh no, we just want to pick his brain on something."

"Well, he is at his room in basement like always. At least he stays still mostly. Wally just runs all the time in the house making those weird sounds with his mouth."

Kim and Ron exchanged a look and descended to Larry's room. Who was more than happy to help them. He and Ron had hit it off right away, almost launching into a full blown geek fest before Kim intervened.

Larry brought them to somewhere in downtown Middleton at early night time.

"The robot rumble is a community. A gathering where enthusiasts exchange information and test the robots' competitive capabilities. It's for members only." Larry activated a secret elevator on the street and led them down below the street level.

"So a bunch of tech geeks get together to watch robots fight." Kim wondered aloud.

Larry sighed as he reveled in the memories of the bloody, uh, oily carnage. "It's glorious."

The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened to give way to an underground rail system. Ron was digging the cloak and dagger secrecy.

"Bon-diggity! Sounds like the factory of Vultan beyond Omega Seven!" They boarded an open top rail cart with seating on it.

"It's all that, and more my friend." Larry activated the cart with a sinister grin on his face. The cart lurched forward at top speed.

"Tread lightly with Vivian. Her boyfriend Oliver founded the rumble." Larry snickered. "He's a wild man."

"Let's wait till he meets the Ron-Man, then we can see who is the wildest man alive."

Kim elbowed him in the ribs. The cart stopped near a red door with lighting. A scanning bulb device turned towards them and demanded with a robotic voice. "Member identification."

Larry walked forward and exclaimed loudly. "Imperial Senator Bernalice." He turned to the teen heroes and explained. "My codename." He put on a stupid looking head gear and walked in. "Stay close... And don't embarrass me."

Kim decided some thanks were in order. "Thanks for getting us in Larry."

"That's what cousins are for, cousin. Now if only you could get Flash to meet Wally, and I think his life would be complete. I'd also like to discuss the physics behind his powers, I have ideas for a fanfic I'm going to write."

Kim and Ron exchanged another telling look on that comment.

They arrived at the scene of several geeks loudly screaming and shouting at a pit in the center. Two robots with deadly looking instruments were battling it out. Ron loved it of course. "Badical!"

Kim scanned the crowd and picked out the beautiful blonde Vivian amongst the crowd almost immediately. It was hard not to, amongst all the geeks around. There was also the fact that she stood really tall at six foot height.

She greeted the young scientist. "Vivian? My name is Kim Possible."

"Oooh, there was a Dr. Possible at the Space Center."

"My dad."

"He's nice."

"Yeah... He asked me to help Fenn."

Vivian immediately changed tunes. "Not nice. I don't wanna help Fenn. Oliver!"

A six foot tall, overweight guy with a geek's haircut and clothes walked near them, slightly intimidating both Kim and Ron. Then he set down a robot. Which then expanded into a seven foot tall monstrosity as they watched.

Upon the challenge and Wade's wonderful idea of entering competition with Kimmunicator's portable mode as a remote controlled robot, they watched the big robot chasing around Wade's device. Wade held the upper hand in speed and maneuverability, but Oliver's robot was simply too well geared and too big.

Wade managed to bank a tight turn and make the big robot crash once, but the second time he tried that, the robot anchored and flipped itself on the wall. Ron's eyes grew.

"Robot is learning as it goes!"

Kim nodded grimly. "Artificial intelligence." The other robot finally caught up and bludgeoned the poor Kimmunicator.

Kim confronted Vivian. "Your robot thinks for itself. Where'd you get it?"

"Not at the Space Center, if that's what you are insinuating, Miss Possible."

Oliver reacted almost violently. "You're calling Vivian a thief?! Nobody insults my Vivian!" The other robot appeared behind Kim and seemed like it was going to strike her for a moment.

And then it suddenly began to shake and give out sparkles. It lurched forward and fell down with a loud thud. They saw Ron with his right arm outstretched still, holding a few important looking parts. The robot had a fist sized hole in its back.

"And nobody threatens Kim Possible while I'm around." He threw the parts on the ground and took his place near Kim.

The other geeks seemed intimidated and Larry looked at Ron with newfound respect. Oliver seemed angry. He advanced on Ron as he shouted. "It was just going to show you outside! Now I have to rebuild it all over again!"

"Rebuild it? You stole this prototype from Space Center!" Kim retorted. This time, Oliver didn't mince words. He just tried to punch Kim out.

Again, Ron was there. He caught the fist in the air and held it. Then his eyes grew. The force of the blow was much greater than he anticipated from an overweight nerd with almost no defined muscle mass. He also noticed something else. "What the-" He ducked behind Oliver's other fist flying towards him and bent the first arm he caught behind his back.

Then, he did something really odd and touched Oliver's forehead with his free hand. Just as Kim was about to ask what he was doing, he did one more thing, which scared Kim a little bit. He pulled Oliver's bent right arm towards the side and popped it off like a toy.

"Yea, that figures." He looked to a mortified looking Larry and Kim. "Oh relax, he's not human. Look." He showed the arm to them, which was clearly robotic with just a skin look a like substance on it.

Kim had tons of questions in her head, but started with the obvious one. "If Oliver himself was a robot, who..." Her head turned to Vivian. "You built him."

Vivian sighed and turned around. "Looks like we are calling it for today people." The geeks filed out slowly, but all of them was looking at Oliver and Vivian with something akin to awe. The scientist turned to Ron. "What gave it away?"

Ron touched Oliver's forehead. "No body heat. In fact, he was downright cold when I touched him. Almost like a metallic feeling." He inspected Oliver closely as the humanoid robot gathered himself up from the ground. "This is probably the most badical robot I've ever seen."

Kim had to agree. Which lent itself to many other questions as well. "Ron's right. In fact, Oliver is a self-evolving AI just like this one, no?" She pointed to the first one Ron took out of commission.

Vivian leaned down and reset the de-activated robot to its original size. "Yes. Oliver was an earlier work I had collaborated with another colleague when I was an undergrad. After I came to Middleton and joined the Space Center's robotics team, I joined Pressly's team in designing the A.I. that would oversee the Jupiter mission. Pressly knew my earlier work and had asked me to program specific heuristics for both the mission and the A.I.'s self existential awareness itself."

Kim began to understand. "But then Grodd, uh, the mutant gorilla attacked..."

Vivian nodded as she picked up the parts Ron had pulled out of the robot. "Pressly was the only one that knew who was actually doing the programming. Fenn is an old wash-up that doesn't have a single peer-reviewed article to his name. He used the chaos after the attack to usurp Pressly's vacancy, and then ousted the three others on the project to other departments."

Kim pointed to Ron's watch and signaled him to activate connection to Wade. Ron did as she asked. "Wade, run a few searches based on the information we are about to relay to you."

Vivian continued as Ron quietly explained the sitch to Wade. "Fenn realized who exactly Dr. V.F. Porter was. I was signing the articles with that signature and put in my digital signature into the programming as such. When it became clear that he wanted to claim my work for himself, I quit and took my own project with me."

Wade's voice chimed in from the watch. "Kim, her story checks out. There is not a single article of Fenn's in any respectable journals, and even his graduate thesis was investigated for plagiarism. Dr. Vivian Frances Porter on the other hand is quite prominent. Bachelor's at sixteen and PhD at twenty one years old. Dozens of articles of quantum heuristics and artificial intelligence programming."

Ron turned to Kim. "So, what do we do? Get your dad and explain the whole mess?"

Kim tapped her chin while thinking. "No. Dad would need proof to take this to the review board and the authorities. We need to make Fenn confess." She turned to Vivian. "If you were there, I think he would crack a lot faster."

Ron was perturbed by one thing. "Okay, time out. So let me get this straight. She looks like that and is a genius? I cannot compute the sitch. Hell, I don't even understand why she had the robot pose as her BF."

Kim glared sideways at Ron. "Excuse him, he is a bit thick headed. But really, why the secrecy?"

Vivian explained with her hands at her hip, showing off her great figure. "My colleagues were not ready to take someone who looks like me seriously."

Kim sighed. "Figures. Men. Anyway, let's meet up tomorrow after school. Fenn will probably be in the robotics lab then."

Vivian escorted them to the exit. "I'll fix Oliver and the other A.I. in the meantime." She touched Ron's arm. "I need to ask, how did you punch through the back plating of my robot like that?"

Ron shrugged. "It was a thin plating that grew out of that little guy. No big."

"It was an aluminum-steel alloy. Not exactly the best material around, but it should've been able to stop someone punching."

Ron scratched his neck and looked at Kim for assistance. Kim sighed and cut in. "He plays football, lots stronger than he looks."

Larry looked at Ron with awe as they ascended back to the streets. "I didn't know you played sports. Genuine physical activity, how's that like?"

Ron grinned. "Scary. But exciting."

Kim delivered the self-evolving AI robot to Fenn shortly after school. Then she and Ron set up shop near the Space Center and waited for Vivian. She showed up with a fixed 'Oliver' and went inside the Center.

After two minutes, teens followed suit and proceeded towards the robotics lab. Getting in was easy with the clearance provided by James Possible.

When they had arrived, Oliver was already advancing on Fenn. "I constructed that robot and you wanted to steal it!"

Fenn grabbed the little robot. "That's a dangerous accusation!"

"I'm all about danger!" The robot advanced on Fenn. Vivian joined to Oliver but held it back.

"Calm down Ollie. He'll get what's coming to him."

At that point, Fenn saw Kim. "Ah, Miss Possible. Please call security."

Kim crossed her arms in front of her as she glared at the fraud scientist. "Oh I will. And you'll give back the robot you wanted us to steal!" Fenn was shocked, but Kim kept going. "You staged the whole theft to hide the fact that you never developed a thinking robot. You're not a good enough scientist."

Fenn cracked like an Easter egg. "So what! I've got the reputation here, I've got the robot! You can prove nothing! Stay away!" He ran for the door, holding the prototype robot.

As he passed by a support beam, a foot stuck out in front of him and tripped him. Ron caught the robot in the air when Fenn tripped and looked down on the scientist. "Actually, thanks to you, they can prove all of it."

He set the robot down and it started to play back what Fenn had just confessed. Vivian came near and patted the prototype on the head. "Good job Tornado." She saw Kim and Ron's blank looks. "Oh, it's this baby's designation. It had a long and boring acronym, I changed it. I'll paint him red next time."

Kim's father ran into the lab with two security guards. "Kimmie, is everything all right?!"

Kim waved dismissively. "It's all okay Dad. We caught the thief and found the robot."

James Possible looked at the scene with Vivian standing free while Ron standing over Fenn with one of his foot on the fraud's back. "You'll have to walk me through this one honey."

Kim smiled. "Long story short; Vivian genius, Fenn fraud. She built the robots."

James Possible smiled and relaxed. This explained a lot of inconsistencies with Fenn. "Well doctor, we seem to have a vacancy in our robotics lab. Would you be interested in the job?"

Vivian broke out a huge smile and nodded.

As security took Fenn, Kim and Ron fist bumped. "Another day, another mission cleared."

"Nice job figuring out the story Kim."

"And nice job on realizing Oliver was a robot. That saved us a lot of time and effort."

"Gotcha. Hey, wanna hit Bueno Nacho before I take off for patrol? Rufus has been pestering me about it." The mole rat peeked from Ron's pocket and nodded enthusiastically.

Kim smiled as well. It had been some time that they had taken some time off. "Let's go."

It had been a few days since the Vivian-Fenn sitch, but Kim was still trying to deal with her thoughts on retiring. It had felt good to foil a blatant crime like that, but the situation had not changed.

So she toyed around with the idea of taking Ron and Wade for a long talk. I gotta plan this though. Otherwise they'll just refuse and want me to stay in the game to spare my feelings.

Just as she was about to place a call for Wade, the Kimmunicator beeped. Wade showed through.

"Hi Wade. I was just about to call you."

"Really? What about?"

"Well it's a long story."

"It'll have to wait then. I got a call on the website by an archeological excavation team in Greece. There has been a new discovery of a shrine and apparently they need help with clearing of traps. Nothing too serious I think, you dealt with those before."

Kim reluctantly agreed. "Well... Well then. When do we take off?"

"Well, it's just a temple and there is an entire team of archeologists there... I thought Ron could sit this one out. He's been a lot stretched for time recently, missions one after the other plus the patrols."

"Hmm, good point. Plus, he's still prone to extreme clumsiness and shrine full of fragile artifacts is the last place we want him. So, when's the ride?"

"You'll have a ride for Greece by Britina. She has a concert there. Middleton Airport, in two hours."

Kim entered the extremely dusty undercroft of the ruined shrine with a glow stick in her hand and a bunch of them tied to her belt. The excavation team had uncovered the entrance to the shrine earlier that week, but they had encountered some traps littered around.

Weird part was that the shrine was only partially sunken into the ground before the excavation, and the traps that she had so far avoided looked far newer than they should've been. In fact, she was reasonably sure that one of them had a copper wire for a trigger.

Her sensible side told her to take a step back and have Wade run checks on the site and the crew itself, in-depth as he could.

But that'd mean he'd also send Ron in for backup. And that, Kim simply did not want. Having Ron being sent in mid-mission would effectively mean that she couldn't function properly without his assistance.

And Kim's pride wouldn't begrudge such a fact to suffer her conscience. So she pressed on. As she advanced, she thought she heard whispers in the darkness. When she came to a crossroads in the undercroft, she picked the one hallway that whispers seemed to emanate from.

A classic spike trap activated as she took a light step and heard a clink. As she jumped to a wall nearby, spikes shot up from the other side. She bounced off of the wall and rolled forward.

As she landed, dozens of clicks were heard. On instinct, Kim leaned back and then rolled sideways. Small arrows littered the space her upper body was just in.

She stood up and allowed herself to breathe. So far, the traps had been tame. But this last combo that was sprung as soon as she entered the lowermost hallway was different.

Meaning that something was at the end of this hallway. She looked at the arrows that had shot from the trap. Under the pale light of the glowsticks, she thought these looked properly ancient, not like the earlier traps.

Kim tentatively began to advance. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard. She turned to find a stone block covering the entrance. She heard another grinding sound, and again on instinct, jumped forward. Another stone block snapped down on where she just was.

She ran this time, jumping forward and sideways onto the wall on her left. She took a few steps on the wall then launched herself forwards. As soon as she landed, another spike trap activated, this time from below. Kim pulled the same trick and jumped on the wall to her right, taking a few steps and launching off of it.

She cleared the hallway and landed in a roll. Taking a look around, she saw that she had stumbled onto a reasonably large chamber. Five life-sized statues were standing in the middle of the chamber. Beyond the statues, there was an altar. Kim couldn't get a good look at it.

She has arrived. Testing shall begin.An emotionless voice resonated through her head. Kim looked around for the source, before realizing, it was in only her head.

A loud cracking noise startled her. The statue in the middle moved. Kim quickly took a defensive position. The statue fully moved this time. It jumped off from the stand it was on and landed with a loud thud.

Kim took a good look at it. It was the life size statue of a six foot woman clad in a breastplate and battle skirt. It also had an old fashioned battle helm, a cloak that was draped around her shoulders and a spear that was as long as its own height. The most striking feature, however, was the owl that was perched on its right shoulder.

Kim was no deep study on ancient mythology, but the owl was a dead giveaway that this statue was somehow a likeness of Athena, the goddess of Wisdom.

And now it was twirling the stone spear that she was holding. While slowly walking towards Kim. She looked around frantically for something she could use against the statue. Aside from her mission supplies, all she could see around was a spear like the one statue was holding.

Better than nothing. Good thing I studied spear lore in the Choy-Li style. She ran and grabbed the spear, turning to face the statue while spinning the spear, taking up a stance.

The statue was moving more mechanically than a human, but it suddenly lunged forward with an agility that surprised Kim. She barely avoided the stab and retaliated in kind as she moved sideways. The spear chipped off a tiny sliver of stone from the cheek of the statue.

Kim's face fell. What was I expecting, a magic spear that can shatter stone? Dammit.

Statue attacked Kim from various angles, using a very direct and efficient technique. Kim was forced on defensive and kept retreating while blocking the attacks with flourishes and spins. The spear she was using was not exactly balanced for the use of Choy-Li style's moves. It had an ancient Greek design with an iron shaft instead of wooden, which prompted the balance of the spear to be more on the shaft itself than the spear's tip.

Kim tried a few more retaliatory strikes as she slid the spear along the statue's. They did as well as the first one did, with little to no effect. The statue tried to sweep Kim's feet by spinning the stone spear under her. Kim jumped up and landed on the head of the statue, then launched herself even higher and spun in the air. She landed on the other side of the other four statues.

I am not going to take this... whatever this is with brute force. Need a plan here.

The statue suddenly crouched and jumped towards Kim. It sailed through the air, clearing fifteen feet in a single leap and brought down the spear on her. Kim barely had the time to twist herself towards the side and avoid the strike. The ground was cracked at the point of impact.

A ferociously good plan.

She looked around for anything useful, but couldn't see anything that she could use to her advantage. The chamber was incredibly bland, save for the statues, their stands and...

That might work.

Kim rolled and took position near one of the other statues. This one was clearly belonged to Aphrodite, but she had no time to spare more than a glance. She swiveled the backpack and opened it. Grabbing what she needed, she rolled as the moving statue advanced.

The following hit shattered the statue she was hiding behind. Kim kicked one of the falling pieces towards the living one. The statue didn't seem to notice it.

Kim pulled out the trusty dispenser of Wade's constricting elastic compound. She rushed at the statue with the dispenser in her left hand, spear on her right. Just as she reached the statue, she lodged the spear in the ground, used the momentum and the spear as a lever and propelled herself over it.

She aimed the dispenser at the feet of the moving stone warrior. The broken piece of the other statue she had kicked, the spear she lodged on the ground and the feet of the living statue got caught with one blast of the elastic. Unbalanced, the stone warrior fell to ground.

Kim rolled and grabbed its stone spear. It was a lot heavier than a normal spear, but she found the strength to lift it and stab it in the middle of the statue. She sprayed elastic on that part as well.

The statue was effectively pinned on the ground, but it kept thrashing. Kim sighed. "All right, if that's how you want to play it." She pulled out the laser lipstick and pushed on the shoulders of the statue with her knees. Then proceeded to slowly sever the statue's head from the neck with the laser. It was a somewhat slow procedure as the laser was a bit less heavy duty than a stone required.

But Kim managed it. After cutting the head off and kicking it away, the statue finally stopped moving. Kim fell back on her ass and breathed heavily. Not her usual brand of fighting or enemy, but she had pulled through.

It felt good to succeed as a warrior all on her own.

Suddenly, the altar nearby started shining with white light. It was so bright that Kim was forced to cover her eyes. It slowly dimmed, but still very bright.

One hand over her eyes to cover them, Kim slowly advanced on the altar.

There is something there, lying on the altar... She thought, and kept getting closer.

Kim's fingers touched it.

Then she knew no more.

Ron blasted out of his bedroom window. He was not wearing the Flash suit, but rather his usual clothes with only his hoodie as extra. He didn't care if it was cold or not, or he was seen or not.

The hour being three in the morning, it was not likely anyone would see him. Still, he raced through the deserted and frosted streets at a very high speed. He went supersonic in the neighbourhood and kept going until he arrived at his destination.

The hospital.

Wade had just called. In the middle of the night, the call was ominous from the get-go. But what Wade had revealed was so much more.

Kim...She is just transported to Middleton Memorial...Ron, she...is in a coma.

Wade's words kept circulating in his head like a thunderstorm. He had not listened to the rest. But he had a great deal to speak with him, once he knew how Kim was, and exactly what happened.

He fucking should've known. Kim being absent from school earlier that day and the way that Wade kept avoiding his inquiries, he should've known something was wrong. Still, he had not pushed it and went out on patrol at evening. Instead, he should've been pressing Wade for information.

He arrived at the hospital and toyed around with the idea of blasting inside full speed.

But that would be both stupid and unnecessary. Ron was not stupid. So he slowed down near the parking lot and cleared the rest of the way into the hospital at a non-superspeed run.

The almost-sleeping nurse at the ER was surprised by his very speedy and loud entrance.

"Kim Possible! Her room now!" Ron couldn't keep panic out of his voice.

The nurse grumbled and rose from her seat. "Young man, keep your voice down. There are patients here, sleeping."

Ron mumbled and apology and asked again, far quieter and more politely.

"The patient you are asking is not in the ER. They medevaced her from somewhere in Greece just an hour ago. She's in the ICU, and visits are not until noon tomorrow."

Ron had heard enough. He crossed the ER threshold and jumped over the counter, entering the main hospital building via the nearby door.

The nurse was about to call security, but another nurse, who knew Ron interfered. "The boy is here to see his friend, he's a close friend of the Possibles. Dr. Possible will have your hide if you get him restricted with security."

Ron found a hospital plan, located the ICU and rushed through the stairs, not even bothering with the elevator.

As soon as he entered the ICU, he picked out the haggard face and hunched figure of James Possible, sitting on a bench with his head supported by his hands. He had a forlorn look in his eyes.

He turned to see what was causing the commotion and saw Ron rushing at him.

Ron didn't bother with pleasantries. "Where is she?!" James weakly pointed to the nearby ICU room.

What awaited Ron inside was a sight he couldn't bear. Kim was hooked up to machines, lying completely still, and barely breathing by the looks of it. From behind the glass overlooking the room, he could see that she looked uninjured.

Anne Possible was also inside, going over Kim's charts and her rushed MR images. The on-call radiologist looked sleepy as he went over the details for her. She heard the door open and Ron move inside.

She thanked the radiologist and took Ron's arm. Ron contested weakly, but complied as she dragged him outside. James also rose when he saw his wife step out.

Ron found his voice back. "What happened?"

Anne shook her head. "We... don't know. After she got transported over, we ran our own tests immediately. I just went over the MRI. It's..." She glanced at the room behind her. Her voice had faltered a little. No matter how professional a doctor she was, that was her daughter in there.

James took her hand and squeezed it. She took a deep breath and explained as well as she could. "No injuries, no internal bleeding, no trauma on brain. A few scrapes that probably is the result of rolling on the ground. MRI showed nothing. She should be up and about."

She weakly sat on a nearby chair. "There is nothing wrong with her... Save for the fact that her brain simply doesn't activate in cognitive or motor areas. My own scan showed that she only registers a weak activity in her brain stem. She is in a deeper sleep state than a Stage four NREM cycle." She looked worn out. "We don't know what to do."

Ron peered inside the room from the door. "What caused this? How did this even happen?"

James supplied the information. "Apparently, Kimmie was doing a favor for some archeologists...Clearing out traps from some old shrine... After she went inside, she didn't come back out... I'm told they found her lying on the ground..."

Ron made his mind and moved to activate his watch, intent on getting answers from Wade. A slender but firm hand grabbed onto his arm. Anne was holding him back. She shook her head.

"Let Wade sleep as well. He organized the transportation and oversaw it. He must be exhausted. You two can go at it tomorrow."

Ron looked ready to rebel for a moment, but then complied. He decided he could help while he was here. "Can I do anything for you, Doctors P.? Coffee, blankets, food?"

James grabbed his shoulder and gave him a half hug. "It's the thought that counts... Thank you Ronald."

Ron moved towards a nearby chair to sit and catch some sleep, but Anne stopped him. "There is no sense for you to stay here. There's nothing you can do... But..." She handed him some keys. "If you could get to our place and look after the twins in the morning... We didn't tell them."

Ron nodded wordlessly and left. After he cleared the hospital, he made a beeline for Possible residence.

Ron absent mindedly chewed on an energy bar. He was holding the Kimmunicator in his other hand, letting it scan the sealed hallway Kim was found in. Wade had an active line on his watch.

After running across an ocean and half a continent, Ron was tired, but not about to give up. His backpack was filled with the bars aside from the usual mission gear. His suit was with Wade anyway.

Wade's voice broke through his thoughts. "I don't understand any of this."

Ron was still a bit angry at him, so he sounded bitter as he answered. "We would certainly not be in this situation if you did."

Wade held his tongue. He knew Ron was not thinking straight after seeing Kim comatose. Still, they had a huge fight when Ron was at school. It was only Monique's intervention that had calmed them down.

"This hallway is sealed. It looks like it could be a crossroad with three exits, but all three directions are walled off. I ran a sonar analysis from Kimmunicator as well, there is nothing but solid rock behind those walls."

"They found Kim here in this spot Wade."

"And there is nothing indicating any danger. Nothing dangerous, no traps, nothing. The earlier traps which Kim dealt with, they stopped around some twenty meters back. By all means, this is the end of the line."

"So we have nothing? Wade, there has to be something! Mrs. Dr. P. is stumped and can't find anything to bring her out of the coma, so it has to be something to do with here!"

"Don't you think I know that?! I just can't find anything, nothing!"

Ron shook another glowstick and made it glow. He looked at the ground. The dust was heavily disturbed by all the people that had been since Kim was found here, but he hoped for a sign, or a clue.

It was all for naught. He had already spoken with the excavation team. Wade ran background checks. They scanned the entire shrine for inconsistencies.

Nothing had paid off. They had no idea what had happened.

"Ron... Just return to Middleton. Nothing left to do there."

Ron didn't answer. Up until now, he was so sure, so certain that they'd find whatever had put Kim in this state, and undo it. Yet after all the effort, they had nothing. Ron crumpled near the wall, sliding on his back and finally sitting on the ground.

"Ron?"

"I will... I will be back in a few hours..." Before Wade could answer, he closed the connection.

He watched the glowstick slowly die out and leave him in total darkness. Normally, he'd be nervous in such a lightless environment. But now, he felt nothing.

He was alone in the dark, and it was not the dark that scared him. It was being alone, without Kim.

How did it come to this? Kim is comatose, and I'm just a useless idiot, unable to do anything...

The very thought of Kim not waking up, maybe never, made his heart ache almost as if he was having a heart attack. A life without Kim... He wouldn't make it...

No, he would bring Kim back, one way or the other.

He stood up and left the undercroft, with his resolve hardened.

Ron closed his locker and rushed outside the school. He was just about to exit the school when one of his friends caught his arm and pulled him back in.

Monique had grabbed him and was holding his arm with a rather tight grip. Tara was standing next to her, with visible worry on her face.

"Nuh-uh, absent boy. You are not speeding out the door as soon as the bell toils. We have been trying to catch you for the last three days and you are starting to get on my nerves." Monique looked real pissed this time.

Tara, on the other hand, simply grabbed his hand and wormed herself into Ron's comfort zone. "Ron, we know how...hard it must be for you, but you can't just keep doing this to yourself."

Ron didn't know what they meant. "I'm perfectly fine. I don't know what you are talking about."

Monique glared at him and pulled a compact mirror. "Look at that and tell me that you look fine. And be serious about it."

Ron complied, and prepared comebacks for after he looked at himself. Then he did take a look at himself.

For one thing, he had neglected to look at any mirror for the last two weeks. He ran out of the house first thing in the morning, kept going over any possibilities of Kim's condition with Wade after school and did patrolling until midnight every day.

His hair was a complete mess. It had gotten longer and shaggier. There were slight discoloration under his eyes. He had been getting less and less sleep. On top of that, there were the indications of a three o'clock shadow on his face. He was far from forming a real beard or anything, but even the beginnings of his facial hair was showing since he was ignoring his personal grooming.

"What do you want me to say?" He sat on some stairs as students kept filing out of the school. "I've no time to take care of little things. I must find a solution to Kim's situation."

Monique stood in front of him and started berating. "What solution?! Boy, are you stupid! Her mother, the neurosurgeon is looking for ways to fix it, there is no need for you!"

"Kim is physically fine. Something happened to her in that shrine in Greece, and I must find answers. While I still can. Nothing else matters for now. I must do all I can while our villains are staying put and on the down low."

Monique's last shred of tolerance went up in flames. Her body turned and Ron went into superspeed mode without even thinking about it. He saw her open palm moving towards his face.

Why did people try to derail his efforts, he didn't know. Wade had asked him to slow down. Monique had asked him to slow down and get himself together, exactly four times before this happened. His mother and father, guys from the football team, Josh Mankey himself... Hell, even Mrs. Dr. P. had asked him to take an early night yesterday, while Ron was doing his daily visit to Kim.

So far, the only person not to say anything or ask him to stop was, much to his surprise, Tara. After the kiss under the falling snow, Ron had felt that a threshold was passed, and they had spoken and spent more time together. Up until Kim's situation, everything was going great on that front.

Now, after almost three weeks of Ron running himself to the ground, he realized that Tara had not said anything negative the whole time. She had just held his hand when it looked like he needed it. She was just, there for him, if he needed.

He kept watching Monique's palm getting closer as thoughts raced in his mind. If Tara was finally trying to talk to him, he owed it to her. She was wonderful through this whole fucked up sitch.

He let himself finally go out of superspeed and Monique's palm met his face almost immediately. He realized it was not very strong, as his head only moved to the side a bit.

A few students late to exit the school and some others staying for extra curriculars watched the scene, albeit discreetly.

Monique wasn't shouting, but the low and quivering voice was hell of a lot worse on Ron's conscience.

"There people around you, good people, who care about you. And no one is happy about you trying to kill yourself by tiring yourself out. Ron, we didn't forget Kim. Hell, there is almost no moment when I'm in school and not missing her. Look at your girlfriend and ask how the cheer leading squad is doing. Coz they ain't cheering these days brother. It's time to wake the hell up."

Tara squeezed his hand and talked in a fragile, very low voice. "I know how important this is for you... Ron, I understand... But you just can't keep this up. You are already fraying at the edges. And I can't just watch you go down like this."

Monique sighed audibly and turned to leave. "I've said all I can as your friend. Oh, before I forget." She turned her head and looked dead straight in Ron's eyes. "Ask yourself what Kim would've said." She left with haste after that.

Tara and Ron sat on the stairs for a while. Finally, Ron felt his hand being pulled and watched along as Tara dragged him outside. They started to walk in the direction of Tara's house.

Tara decided to say another thing that was bothering him. "I couldn't speak about this with Monique around but... Ron, I'm worried something is gonna happen to you... While you are... You know.."

"No ordinary criminal in this town can catch me. I can deal with them even if I'm not a hundred percent."

Tara stopped him and held his hands with her own. "And what if something like that gorilla comes around again? Maybe Kim's usual villains are staying down like you said. But what if something of that class hits you?" She slightly hugged him.

"I'm not Kim. No one else but herself is Kim. None of us can watch your back. Ron, if you don't take care of yourself, without Kim, you might..." Tara couldn't finish.

Ron understood this time. Other people didn't know about his other life and only cared about Ron Stoppable's well-being as a health issue. But Tara knew, just like Wade, that Ron needed to be on top of his game, for the game he played was one where you cashed in your own life in exchange for the chips you lay down on the board.

Ron returned the hug. "I...I will try to rest... Be more clever about this... But Tara, I hope you know..."

"That you won't stop until she is back on her feet? I'd expect no less."

"I'm sorry that I'm such a useless boyfriend..." His hands shook a little in her smaller ones. "Tara, someone like you deserves better... Someone normal."

"Never be Normal." She raised herself and captured his lips.

Undisclosed Location

February 7th, 18:32 PM

Drakken was unsure about this whole thing.

After their failure to capture and / or utilize the Phoebus device, it was destroyed as a measure against further attempts on it. Without any avenues of quick inspiration, Drakken was left to his own devices in figuring out a new plan in his mad dash for world domination.

So he had hit a rut. Writers could have blocks, so he thought he was entitled to a little mad scientist's block himself. Oh, he had come up with ideas for silly devices like an overcharged air purifier or an improved trash disposal device, but such things didn't help in world domination.

Furthermore, he was dealing with weird urges and reflexes from his own body recently. Why, just yesterday he had somehow woke up to a drafty room, only to find his windows closed. So he thought he just felt cold, but the draft was still a little bit there when he woke up. He needed to focus on that situation...

Instead of answering a very secretive, very ominous call with Shego.

Three days ago, an electronic message had broken through all his cyber defences and activated on his screen.

"If you want to finally remove obstacles from your path, you will want to join this meeting." Accompanied was a time and a place.

So there they were. He and Shego had walked tentatively inside the bunker that they had arrived at. Only red warning lights were illuminating their way. It seemed as if the warning lights led them somewhere.

The hallways finally gave way to a big chamber. There was a round table in the middle, and people were already seated. The biggest seat was empty, apparently reserved for whoever held this meeting. He saw his name on a card, and took the seat that was marked with it.

He took a look around, and saw familiar faces. There were a few he didn't know as well.

But the faces of Professor Dementor, Amy Hall and Monty Fiske was easy to spot. Fiske was wearing some sort of torso brace around his chest and neck.

"I had heard you were injured Fiske. I didn't think it would be this bad."

Monty Fiske grunted across the table. "My enemy was relentless. He will get his due."

"He? What do you mean he? Didn't Kim Possible thrash you around at that debacle at Space Center?"

Fiske didn't reply.

A girl with short blonde hair was apparently nervous and impatient. "Okay, which one of you creeps lured me here and now making me wait? I can get really FREAKY if someone doesn't speak soon."

A smooth baritone answered from the dark side of the room. "Dear Miss Lynn, now that our final attendants are here, we can start."

A rather well-built man with brown hair, well-trimmed beard and an eyepatch walked to the light and took the big seat. He was wearing some sort of uniform, purple with white stripes. They all realized his right hand was entirely metallic and it was holding a very tiny canine with no hair. No one was sure exactly what kind of a dog it was. So no one commented.

"I called all of you here for an express purpose. A cleansing, if you will."

"You look like a big meanie, but I will listen to you regardless. My cuties tell me so." Amy Hall and her unique brand of crazy made Drakken and Monty Fiske cringe in their seats. "Also, my sweetums is here, so I'll stay for his sake."

Fiske cringed again and shivered. He hated the fact that he had to work with her to get his genetic augmentations. But he had bigger fish to fry. "Instead of talking in riddles, maybe you should explain yourself. And give us your name."

The man bestowed them a cold smile as he petted his dog. "My name is Gemini. And what I offer to you is vengeance. Not just any vengeance, mind you. Against the very Kim Possible herself."

A collective gasp sounded out from the table, save for two people. Shego, from her position at Drakken's back, demanded explanation.

"You'd better make this one good Cyclops. I have a short fuse when it comes to the Princess."

In the middle of the table, a hologram activated. It was the image of Kim Possible lying on a hospital bed, hooked to a few machines.

"Twenty-three days ago, an emergency medevac was conducted from Greece to Middleton, Colorado. A day before that, Kim Possible was photographed in an airport in Greece along with the pop-star Britina. In all likelihood, she had a mission."

The hologram switched to show the timeline. "There has been no record of Kim Possible ever leaving Greece. Theoretically, she is off the grid. Effectively, however..." The hologram switched again to show a lone Ron Stoppable conducting a wildlife rescue mission by himself.

"This has been the third recorded instance where her sidekick was spotted without her. All in the last twenty days. Global Justice did its best to hide this from everyone else."

He leaned in towards the table and smiled. "But I have my resources. Ladies and gentlemen, Kim Possible has been in a deep coma for the last three weeks. Her sidekick is stretched thin and inept. She is defenseless."

Dementor's laughter rang through the chamber. "You fool. Do you really think 'zat she is defenseless, with zat Flash watching over ze' city?"

Gemini didn't seem concerned. In fact, he looked pleased at the question. "I've an excellent solution for that particular problem. Please meet with Mister Leonard Snart. He... is a recent acquaitance with just the perfect power set to stall and even deal with the Flash, permanently."

"And what exactly does he-" Amy Hall's words were stuck in her mouth as a white beam shot from Snart's hand and hit her glasses. A second later, her glasses were frozen and she was forced to take it off.

"Something dangerous Miss. Something very dangerous." Snart didn't say more.

However, Monty Fiske had other concerns. "All of you are missing or purposefully ignoring one key factor. Ron Stoppable."

Adrena Lynn scoffed. "While I have nothing in common with you freaks, I'll have to agree with the other freaks here, Mr. Monkey hands. That loser is nothing but a fool who just happened to catch me on camera."

Fiske leaned back in his chair. "Whatever anyone else might think, I have seen his capacity. He is more dangerous than Possible herself, if given time. If you make the mistake of underestimating him..." His eyes fell on his back and torso brace.

Drakken's eyes grew. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me, that the buffoon was the one who broke you?"

Fiske's eyes glowed with hatred. "And he will pay dearly for it. But if you go in there, discounting him, he might even kill his opposition. He reacts monumentally malevolent when Kim Possible is threatened."

Dementor scoffed. " 'Zat happy go lucky idiot can't kill anyone! He is just zomeone with fast legs and an inflated sense of ego."

The person who had been silent all along finally spoke. "You won't have to worry about Stoppable. He will be too busy dealing with some... issues." He was standing some ways back from the table, obscuring his form in the darkness.

Before anyone else could say anything, Drakken interjected.

"What exactly is your plan for Kim Possible?"

Gemini peered at him with obvious questions in his face. "Why, kill her of course. Isn't that what you all want?"

Fiske growled. "As long as it hurts Stoppable."

Amy Hall, a.k.a. DNAmy squealed. "Once that traitor of CuddleBuddies everywhere dies, I'll spread cuteness across the world."

Adrena Lynn simply grinned. "It will be my most daring act yet. The murder of great Kim Possible. They stole everything from me, and I will make them pay in the most FREAKY way possible."

Dementor simply nodded. "I simply want her out of 'ze way. Murder is 'ze logical choice."

Drakken couldn't process this. These people were...

Low. Had no sense of class whatsoever.

But before he could say anything, green plasma struck the middle of the table and ruined the hologram projector.

"Are you all kidding me?! Simply murdering her while she is in a coma?!"

"Isn't that what you want, dear Miss Go?" Gemini smiled at her.

"Do . Not . Call . Me. That. Ever." Shego tried to control her anger. "What I want is to see Kim Possible defeated. Broken in spirit. By me. While she is AWAKE. I'll not be party to your madness."

Shego turned to leave. "Coming Dr. D.?"

Drakken rose from his seat. "I have done lots of things since I fell from the grace of scientific community. Things I thought I'd never do in my life before that. I'm not regretting any of it."

"But it'll be a cold day in hell before I murder someone while they are in a coma, while they can't retaliate or defend themselves. I became what I am to earn the respect of people, through fear if necessary. Not for senseless murder."

He turned and walked outside. Shego was staring at him, then grinned and followed suit.

Gemini looked after them with disdain. Then turned to all the rest. "I bid everyone here a warm welcome, to Worldwide Evil Empire."

Valentine's Day.

It was also the mark of one month of Kim's coma. They had kept it from the press and to those who already didn't know, but it was finally surfacing in the news channels. Ron could fend them off for only so long, sooner or later, he was going to have to deal with them.

Earlier that day, he also had to suffer through an abrupt meeting with Dr. Director of Global Justice. Since he himself was in a coma when Kim had met her and the UN-sanctioned organization, Ron was admittedly shocked when he was pulled off the street for a meet.

Dr. Director had also warned him against the dangers of stretching himself thin. What she additionally offered was substantial backup, in case he needed it.

"You have a good head on your shoulder when you apply yourself, and have quite a bit of potential. I'd very much like to sign you in, but I think you'll want to remain a freelancer like Kim. So, I want you to have all the backup you need, at least until Kim gets better."

He appreciated it... But at the end of the day, his solo actions were mostly covert usages of his power and tactful remote assistance by Wade. Having anyone else but Kim along would lower their effectivity.

Which brought his thoughts back to Kim. He was beginning to lose hope. And it scared him.

It scared Ron in the sense of how much it hurt. Every day that he didn't hear Kim's voice, his heart was getting colder.

And it was beginning to show. He couldn't crack any more jokes. He couldn't tolerate little things like Bonnie harping on various people lower on the food chain. He couldn't find the strength to even sit at cafetaria during lunches anymore.

Worse part was that even Flash's work had been changing. No more warm greetings to the officers, or waves to journalists or people's cellphones, no more asking about the welfare of the people he was saving. Flash was reduced to a non-stopping streak who kept doing whatever he could do to help people.

So far, he could only partially revert when he was with Tara. The blonde girl was probably an angel with all her patience and understanding. He was able to only take her out once during the month, and that was a simple date where they just drank cocoa she had prepared into a thermos flask and went out to the woods for some peace.

Ron had forgotten his troubles, for maybe just an hour. He was fairly sure that he was falling for Tara. His heart was getting lighter whenever he was with her. He liked the feel of her hair on his face, her soothing voice speaking to him, or her soft hands on his. He loved it when she hugged him, for that was maybe the only thing that was keeping him going on.

Then why did he crave to hear Kim's voice, even if she was angry or sarcastic? He didn't know.

And frankly, he did not care.

All he wanted was his best friend back.

Tears dropped onto his lap one by one. He couldn't hold them back any longer. After a month of tumultuous feelings, dashed hopes and falling spirits, Ron finally had had enough.

He slowly dropped from the edge of his bed and onto the floor.

I can't take this anymore... I just can't...

His door to his room closed and startled him. His mother stood there, with equal measure of pride and pity in her eyes. She closed the distance between them and hugged her son.

"Oh Ronnie... I know... I know how it hurts honey. Just let it go."

"I tried everything Mom. Me and Wade, we checked anything we could think of. We researched anything related to it. But there is nothing! Mom..."

Ron pulled himself back and looked at his mom's face. "I miss her so much. She'd know what to do... She'd save me... And I'm just a useless piece of trash, even with..." He was just about to announce his alter ego.

Apparently, it was not needed. "Not even you can save everyone. Not even with all the speed in the world."

Ron looked at her face with shock. Andrea just smiled warmly. "I'm your mother Ronald. Did you really think you could hide this from me? You kept your suit in your backpack, honey. And slept with it still on a few times."

"I'm sorry Mom... Not just for not telling but... I am still a loser, despite what I can do, what I try to do. I'm the worst kind of son..."

He got slapped. Rather violently. "Stop that Ronald! Stop putting yourself down. Look at me." She forced his lowered head to raise. "Look at my eyes."

Her mother's eyes looked directly into his. They were glowing with some feeling he couldn't quite place. When she spoke, her voice almost broke.

"Honey... I might have been strict with you, might have seemed cold... But I always knew you could be so much more than you were. So believe me when I say this."

"I am so proud of you. So immensely proud. My little boy, a superhero!" She held his shoulders and pulled him up with herself.

"During that horrible week after the lightning strike, when we thought you were dying... Kim cried her eyes out. A few times, we had to pry her off of you. So I told her. Some prayer my own mother taught me when I was little. Now I will teach you."

"Accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can and have the wisdom to know the difference."

"I...I... don't totally get it."

Andrea grinned. "Don't worry, Kim didn't get it entirely either. But one day, you will. And you will be even a greater hero than you already are."

She leaned in and kissed his forehead. Then she stood fully and scanned his room. "Now, there is a lovely girl out there, waiting for a call from her boyfriend and hoping for a date, even if a little one. She must not be disappointed." She pointed at the phone. "Call her Ronnie. Take this one night to forget all the troubles. I'll overlook the curfew."

"Thought you and Dad were gonna go out for a dinner?"

"Oh we will. Just make sure we don't meet by accident. It'd be embarrassing to meet your parents on a Valentine's date." She smiled and moved to exit the room.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

Ron finally cracked a little smile. "Thank you."

Ron and Tara walked together, hand in hand. Couples, young and old all around them were doing mostly the same. Rufus was perched on Ron's shoulder, but between Tara and Ron instead of away from her as before. It was nice enough to just walk, as silent as they were, content in each other's company.

But Ron knew he had to come up with something date-like. Remotely romantic if he could. Problem was, that it was Valentine's Day, and even the places within his budget were packed full.

He tried to come up with a good idea, but he was literally coming up blank. He finally gave in and turned to Tara. "Uh... Sorry about this... I didn't realize Valentine's was coming up and... Well, I screwed up."

Tara giggled a little. "It's a good thing that I thought ahead then. Come on." She carried him along in downtown Middleton. They finally stopped at a little, cozy café. There were some couples seated outside and many more in the inside.

The blonde cheerleader just dragged her boyfriend inside and casually strolled to one of the waitresses who was behind the register going over the numbers on a notebook.

"Hello Skye! You have my table ready?"

The waitress answered without looking. "Tara, yes, I've it reserved, but you didn't need to ask for a couple's table if you were going to show up with that bitchy friend of yours."

"Uh...Skye?"

The woman named Skye finally looked up from the notebook and took a look. Her face immediately lightened.

"Oh my! You must be that mysterious boyfriend!" She moved from behind the register and extended her hand.

Ron took it lightly. "Uh... Yes? Well, I'm Ron-"

"Stoppable, yes. I've heard. We've all heard honey. Tara can't shut up about her football-star slash teen hero boyfriend. I was beginning to think she was hallucinating."

Ron scratched his neck in embarrassment. "Yea...She exaggerated a lot, I think."

Skye showed them to their table. "Hmmm...I think not." She winked at Tara and then noticed Rufus. "That must be your famous pet. I'll get the cheese ready." She petted Rufus and left them alone.

Ron looked around and watched Tara exchange waves with two other waitresses. "So you come here a lot?"

Tara looked pensive and threw a coy smile. "Well... Yes, and no, I suppose." She giggled at Ron's blank look. "I work here three times a week."

"Oh... Oh! So that's why you are so chummy with the staff." Ron took a good look at the staff. "Nice place. You should've told me earlier, I could've dropped by."

Tara shook her head slowly. "I wanted it to be a surprise for today. Besides, you are busy enough with the... you know."

The owner, a middle-aged lady with a kind smile, greeted them as their coffee was brought. Apparently, Tara was a very well-liked and also the youngest of her part timers. After narrowing her eyes at Ron and giving him a good once-over, she had turned to Tara and commented her taste of men. Both blondes sat there quietly, with heavy blushes apparent.

Then Tara pulled out a small package from her coat. "Ah, I know it hasn't been long but... I wanted to get you a present."

Ron took the package. "I...You didn't have to..."

"I wanted to. Open it."

Ron slowly unwrapped the package and found a silver six-pointed star on a chain, apparently designed to be used as a necklace. Of course, this particular symbol was very well known by Ron, who was a Reform Jew. He held it out and looked at it.

"Uh, thanks, but... Aren't you, like, uh...What was it called, episco-something?"

"Yes, I am an Episcopalian Christian, but that has nothing to do with it."

"I'm not terribly religious, unfortunately. Or at all..." Ron looked away with no small amount of mirth.

"Well, it's actually a protective symbol." Tara pointed to the edges of the star. There were small inscriptions on it. "Before it became the symbol of Jewish faith, the Star of David was a Kabbalistic protection charm. If you keep it on you, bad luck won't visit you."

Ron smiled and put it on around his neck. As he said, he was not religious at all, but it felt good to carry something of significance, especially gifted from someone like Tara.

"Thanks. Really... This means a lot, knowing that someone cares." Ron put the Star inside his shirt. Tara held his hand across the table.

"Lots of people care for you Ron. Not just me or..." She fell silent, as the unsaid name crashed on the mood like a ten ton hammer. Rufus' head dropped lower as he sulked.

Ron's face fell, instinctively, but he tried to recover. "It's... It's okay. I'll get her back. And we will all laugh at this sometime later." Then he smiled weakly. "Do you think I could get Mankey to agree on a double date? Kim was a bit let down after the Formal, so I think that'd lift her spirits."

Tara smiled and nodded. "That's a wonderful idea! It'd definitely help Kim's mood."

Ron absently touched his new necklace. Presents. He had completely forgotten Valentine's with all the stuff going on. There was, however, one thing he had prepared about a week ago, not as a present but as a safety measure. He patted his coat to see if it was still there. Luckily, it was.

He pulled out a simple, little box and held it out. Tara's eyes grew to impossible levels. Then Ron heard more than a few gasps and 'aww's around him. He looked around himself and saw five nearby tables and the entire staff watching them with starry eyes. Then he looked at the box, and finally at Tara.

He finally understood what this looked like. He panicked, understandbly. "I-I-I'm NOT proposing!" The couples on the other tables, all of them older than Ron and Tara, grinned and turned back. The staff of the café just sighed and turned back to their work. The guy sitting at a nearby table nudged Ron and whispered 'You just dodged a bullet my friend.'

Ron shivered and turned to Tara, who were relaxing after the momentary shock. "God, did it really look like it? I wasn't even kneeling or anything."

Tara grinned sheepishly. "Female instincts, sorry. As soon as we see a little box in a man's hands, only one thought comes to mind."

Ron mumbled something. Tara didn't hear it as she took the box. "Did you say something Ron?"

He mumbled a bit louder so Tara could hear. Not that she needed to as she opened the box. "There is a ring inside though."

Indeed, as a silvery-looking metallic ring was inside the box. It had a very tiny insignia on the top.

"Sorry, that's uh... Not silver or gold... It's a titanium alloy that Wade came up with. Ten times more resilient than steel, or something like that."

Tara looked closely at the insignia and realized that it was a lightning bolt, the same as the one on Flash's chest. She smiled and held it out on the table. Ron reached and touched the shape.

"It's... Not actually a present... It was something I came up with when I was...Uh, you know, super genius. Wade helped me make it after... Well... Kim's... accident." He pushed on the insignia and then turned it.

A faint beep from Ron's watch followed. He shook it out of his sleeve and showed it to Tara. The screen had a map open, and a little red dot was blinking. "The shape is a GPS tracker directly sending signals to a network of satellites. It then directly links to my watch, with a secondary signal responding on Wade's system."

"So... I turn it on and you'll be there?"

"Well, I have, you know..." He whispered the next part. "Superspeed and could reach you in a timely fashion if you need help so..." He didn't continue.

Tara put on the small ring on her left hand ring finger. She admired the polish, but loved what it represented. "This... This is beyond a gift that I could give you... Thanks Ron.."

Ron looked down. "I just thought that... If I was there... I could help her and..." He raised his head and looked straight at her eyes. "Not anymore, not if I can help it."

"So did you make one of these for Kim?"

Ron smiled. "Yes, but hers is not a ring. It's an earpiece."

"Does Kim wear earrings often? I didn't see her with one, like, ever."

Ron snickered. "Not an earring, Tara, an ear-piece. You know, a device you use to talk and listen with your partners in a mission. A little bit more high tech than this ring."

"Oh... Yes, that'd make more sense for her to use. Imagining her fighting villains with a diamond earring there for a second, it was funny."

Ron thought of said image and found himself grinning. "Knowing her, she'd use the diamond to cut something in a fight."

They both laughed and Ron felt better as they spent more time. The silence descended as they sipped coffee. Ron took a good look at Tara over his coffee mug.

"Tara, I-" He was stopped cold in the middle of his sentence by a familiar, double beep from his watch.

They looked at each other upon hearing it. Tara smiled and stood up as Ron did the same. He checked the screen on his watch.

Silent and loud alarms triggered at Middleton Science Center, R&D department. Expect dangerous conditions. Watch your back.

Tara read it as well. She just half hugged him at his side. "Be careful."

"When have I not-Okay, I'll be careful." He took Rufus and placed him in Tara's hands. "I'll get the little guy tomorrow. You remember the song to put him in sleep, yes?"

Tara nodded and then pulled him in for a kiss. It was not one of those chaste kisses either, it was rather passionate than what Ron was getting used to. Almost half a minute later, they seperated, breathing hard. The cheerleader whispered, almost as if afraid to speak. "Go get 'em."

Ron just grinned, and exited the small café running.

Ron blasted through the doors of the Science Center and headed straight for the big atrium. He stopped at the walkways and looked above. The glass ceiling had been repaired.

This was where he was shot by Floyd Lawton and met Arrow. Kim had went against an international assassin by herself. And they had failed to stop the robbery, resulting in the loss of the phenomenal Centurion Project to be stolen.

Not a pleasant night to remember. Ron shook his head as he scanned the atrium for the signs of the break in.

Head in the game. Kim's voice rose from his memories, making him smile a bit. He ran around and looked in various units in atrium, and even checked the Centurion lab. So far, everything checked out. He had to go back to the beginning and look again.

Ron returned to main hall, kept scrutinizing the atrium and noticed something weird. One of the hallway access roads leading to another part of the Center had icing on the floor and on the rails of the walkway.

He went closer to take a look, and noticed that the icing continued further, and it seemingly was more intense as he progressed. Ron advanced with caution as this was beginning to feel funky. It took him the better part of ten minutes to get through the walkway and into the next complex. The ice trail felt almost placed. Ron finally reached the end of the trail and saw the double doors leading inside a big lab complex were broken, taken off the hinges by what looked like an ice blast.

He went inside and looked around. This was a different setup than the other lab he had seen a few months ago. It was a big oval space with various doors leading to presumably smaller offices. The lighting was dim, however, and he couldn't catch many details. It was clear though, that this was the source of the alarms. Ice was covering some doors and lab equipment.

Just as he was about to call Wade and ask for assistance in figuring out what happened, he heard some sort of blasting noise behind himself. Turning around, he saw the doorway he had walked in was now sealed with a thick wall of ice. A white misty trail of crystallized water from the air stretched from the door towards a corner office.

Three more blasts of white mist tore through the air and sealed off the major exits from the main lab. Ron began to move towards the same corner office those blasts came from, but a final one hit the ground in front of him and he slipped on the newly formed ice. He slid all the way towards a wall and crashed.

Suddenly, the lab's main overhead lighting activated and he heard a disparate, slightly off putting laugh. Ron realized that he somewhat recognized this voice. Suddenly, all the overhead lab monitors switched on started showing a live stream.

Tara bid her friends at the café farewell and started to take a nice and easy, clean route to her house. The incident with the mugger had taught her not to take the shortcuts. Rufus hid himself in one of the pockets of her coat.

She quite liked the naked mole rat. Sure, like every normal human on the planet, she had found him repulsive when she first saw the rodent, but the likeable and ingenius pet had a knack of getting into people's good graces. The cheer squad itself, whom were quite used to Ron hanging around Kim, had accepted him around.

Furthermore, from what Ron told her, the mole rat was very picky when it came to whom he liked and allowed to be handled with. Only Ron and Kim could carry him for example, or he could only be comfortable enough to sleep in their pockets. Apparently, that trust now extended to her as well.

She felt a really mixed bag of emotions churning. Like every girl on the cheer squad, or really, like almost any person in Middleton High, she was devastated that the redhead epitome of female superiority was not around. Kim was a natural leader and charismatic individual, her, hopefully temporary, loss was a great blow to morale all over.

And even bigger hit on the morale was the school's unofficially coolest guy moping around. Ron tried to do his best to keep his spirit up, help people and handle his own schoolwork. He had even filled in to replace some of Kim's other responsibilities on other clubs. Tara suspected that he used his power to cope with them.

That didn't stop people from noticing that the fire in the blonde runningback's eyes slowly turning into a cold desperation. Tara did her best to help him, in any way she could, but Ron was eventually all alone on any matters pertaining his hero work. It had become apparent that even the lighter job of handling requests from Kim's website was something normal humans just couldn't do.

She couldn't help feel but relieved that Kim was in a coma. It made her feel disgusted and hate herself, but truth was that she and Ron had just got closer during this period. She wondered what he was about to say when he was interrupted by the watch's beeps. She felt disgusted by herself again, because that last kiss she had pulled Ron in for was...

Wrong. She meant to give him a normal kiss, for good luck and affection. Instead, somewhat jealous that a comatose Kim held more sway on his mood, she had gone for an over the top French kiss. This was so against her ideals, her beliefs of being decent and good would eventually get her the good things in life.

As she walked absent mindedly, Rufus peeked out her coat and chittered. Tara rose her head and looked around, to see that they were passing by the hospital. Rufus seemed to be lively being here, so she assumed it had something to do with Kim. Now that she thought about it, visiting Kim would put her mind at some ease. Besides, she had not visited her yet, as Kim was kept in ICU and only got moved to a normal care unit earlier this week.

She walked inside and approached the help desk. An elderly nurse manning the desk and organizing files saw her.

"How can I help you dear? Do you have a problem?"

Tara shook her head. "No...I was here to...visit a friend." Rufus ran upto her shoulder and nodded fervently.

"I'm afraid visiting hours are over for people who are not family, dear. You might want to come back tomorrow."

Tara's head dropped slightly, but Rufus collapsed on her shoulder with even more dejected feelings.

"Is that Rufus?" A firm and kind voice called out. Tara turned behind to see someone who just made her jump slightly in surprise. There stood an almost older version of Kim in a lab coat. Then she realized this was her mother, Dr. Possible.

For a moment there, I thought Kim was awake and well.

After taking a quick look, differences were visible. A shoulder length hair of one shade lighter red color than Kim's, slightly taller frame and blue sparkling eyes, instead of green. Tara had seen Dr. Possible before in a ski trip, but never had looked closer.

Well, that's just creepy. She doesn't look a day over thirty. So Kim holds the advantage in genetics as well.

Rufus waved happily at Anne. The neurosurgeon patted him in the head warmly. "Good to see you to Rufus." She turned to the blonde who was carrying him. "Ah, you are one of Kim's team mates, no?"

Tara fidgeted as she tried not to shrink under the gaze of the older woman. Much like Kim, her mother possessed an intense and almost otherworldly gaze. It was hard not to be a little taken aback by it.

"Uh, yes, Ma'am. He kind of wanted to visit Kim, I think, so..." She trailed away the end of the sentence into silence.

"Hmm, where is Ron? It's very rare to see Rufus without him, after all."

Tara blushed and fidgeted more. "Uh... Ron had to go take care of... something."

Anne smiled, figuring out who this young lady was. After all, Kim had rambled slightly as a few 'Ron Night's were cancelled and her daughter felt disappointed. She had to admit though, Anne did not expect the 'nicest, sweetest girlfriend ever' (Kim's words, through gritting teeth) to be also this beautiful.

She also looked a bit troubled and downcast.

Anne turned to the senior nurse. "It's okay Janice. She can visit with me, I was about to drop by Kim's room anyway."

While they walked, Tara felt uncomfortable. The elder redhead seemed tired and spent, yet she was being nicer to Tara then she deserved.

"I'm... sorry about Kim Mrs. Possible... We all miss her..."

Anne smiled weakly. "This is Kimmie we are talking about. She'll be back on her feet, that I'm sure of."

Tara tried to correct herself. "Oh! I mean, I... didn't mean that she wouldn't. We all know she will be back and be awesome again."

"It's just that you don't know how Ron will react and that uncertainty is making you sad."

Tara didn't even realize what she said until she uttered the words. "Yes, exactly. I just-Wait!"

"I didn't mean that I don't want Kim to, I mean...I just-" Anne's hand on her shoulder stopped her babbling.

"I know honey. I've been a teenager once. Don't feel bad about what you feel. Just trust in your friends."

Trusting my friends...

"No matter what happens Tara. No matter what. I'll always have your back in this. You'll never have to worry about me." Kim's own words. And anyone who knew the teen hero also knew that Kim never went back on her word.

I'm being a selfish bitch. She will wake up, we will all go back to normal and happy. Hell, we have a planned double date now!

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Kim had been moved to a regular care unit in third floor. A few night nurses were around.

The room was a small, double bed unit. Kim was lying on the bed near the window, hooked up to a few sensor equipment and no other machine, from what Tara could see. The other bed was empty.

Tara walked near and slowly placed Rufus on Kim's chest. The naked mole rat looked very sad as he scurried near Kim's face and nudged her cheek. He was lightly pushing on her cheek. Tara understood, somewhat. Rufus was asking Kim to wake up.

Anne turned on the TV on the wall. She flipped through channels and stopped on one. Tara didn't understand what she did, so looked at the TV.

Anne realized the blonde's confusion. "Oh... It's just that Agony County's new episode is on, and Kimmie loves that show."

Tara smiled. "Me too! I didn't know she watched it."

"Oh yes. She has me record it if she is on a mission when a new episode is aired." Anne looked at Kim's chart. "I will go talk to the nurse, please sit dear." She left the room.

Tara took a seat near Kim's bed and watched Rufus lying on Kim's pillow. Her captain looked very different than her awake state. She seemed so peaceful and still. Very unlike the animated and always-in-action Kim Possible she had come to know.

Words spilt from her mouth before Tara could control herself. "I'm sorry Kim... I'm so sorry.."

"I'm sorry for being jealous...and-and useless.. I can't even cheer my boyfriend up. I knew no one can be you, but I can't even do one thing a girlfriend is supposed to."

"I'm sorry that you are lying down there, not living as you should, as you deserve to. I always knew that you were awesome, but after this... I know that you are without equal. I love Ron, and I know why he thinks you are the best. Because you are."

Unbeknownst to her, Anne was listening in from behind the door. She felt a bit better, to see that her daughter inspired such loyalty and charisma. She was proud.

Also very angry. As this entire thing was becoming clear to her. She knew what was going on. And she had eno-

A very loud explosion rocked the entire hospital, shook anything that was not nailed down to the walls. Anne found herself on the floor. Tara ran outside and helped her up.

"What's going on?!" The teenage girl was slightly panicky.

Anne shook her head and tried to determine where had the explosion came from. "I don't know but I intend to find out."

The TV in Kim's room switched channels. Or rather, the channel was hijacked. Both Tara and Anne turned towards it.

"Good evening and a Happy Valentine's to you all, Middleton and Tri-City! We are here to present you all with a very special event, to commemorate the love in the air! Get ready for a FREAKY show!"

They closed towards the TV to see a video feed. It was Flash from a security camera. He was lying on the ground, slowly getting up.

"Today's first event! The man you all know and love oh-so-much! Saviour of humans, kittens and everything nice! The Flash, Scarlet Speedster himself!"

Tara gasped as she saw Ron in the seemingly oval arena. It was an odd setup, with thick ice all around on the walls.

"Today, he faces off against his most terrible enemy yet! Introducing our new big talent, please welcome him and his FREEEAAKKY skills! Let's all have a big round of applause for... CAPTAIN COLD!"

A second man walked from the edge of the screen. From what they could see on screen, the man had a large dark blue trench coat with a hoodie he had on. The coat and the hoodie had fur linings. From the limited angle, they could barely make out large black sunglasses on his face. Weird part was that the arms of the trench coat were ripped off, revealing a reasonably muscled arm. There were ice on the gloved fist of the man, with some of it trailing upper on his arm.

"Without further ado, I, Adrena Lynn, present you with the highlight of the year! Let the Deathmatch, begin!"

Ron had heard the entire crazy speech and watched the man walk from the corner office. He saw his breath becoming visible and he felt the cold, if only a bit. And the man was still not near him.

"So, you're the crazy of the week huh? What's your thing? World domination? Sidekicking? A compulsive desire to cover everything in ice?"

The man's answer and voice carried out across the big room. "None of the above." It was calm, collected and worst of all in Ron's opinion, was not hinting at any arrogance. As an avid comic book reader and professional sidekick, he knew very well that a villain with no arrogance was bad news.

Captain Cold didn't waste any time talking and he simply raised his arms against Flash. The ensuing cold blasts were very visible, as the ice started around his hands and extended towards him.

Ron saw it happen too easily and moved to dodge. The blasts hit the wall behind him and created more ice. This man was not going to play around. More blasts of ice kept following Ron as he circled the man.

Unfortunately, he was not looking closely to the ground, which was slowly icing around the man as well. At his third pass, the ice broke his footing and he slid again, this time with much more speed. He crashed into two desks before crashing into the wall again.

He got up with shaky legs. The cold and the sliding was not good on his muscles. Cold fired a few blasts at him again, and Ron moved to evade again.

Something is wrong. Something is VERY wrong.

Ron was slower this time, and not for lack of trying. One of the blasts caught him in the left arm and flung him across and into the wall again. His elbow and lower arm was heavily frosted, almost frozen on the surface. He vibrated his arm to shake it off, but found that it was much harder than it normally was.

"You are experiencing a slow down. Just as I suspected." The man spoke once more. More blasts followed and Ron forced himself to move faster than he normally did to avoid all the blasts. The slowly growing ice sheet on the floor was making things a lot harder.

Worse that the man simply pointed his open palms to the floor and helped it along. He was limiting Ron's movements.

I have to engage him in close quarters immediately, or I'm going to be done very soon.

Ron forced himself to go even faster, an effort that would've put him over Mach 1 easily, and he was struggling to keep away from the ice blasts. He put more strain on his body and made a steep turn towards the man in the trenchcoat.

Just as he got closer and tried not to slip on ice, weirdest thing happened. An immense feeling of cold hit him and he literally slowed down. He was still reasonably fast moving for a human, but apparently Captain Cold was expecting this. He extended his arm and clotheslined Ron in the neck.

As Ron tried to gather himself off the ground, Cold walked closer and spoke.

"Engaging me in close combat. That was a mistake." The feeling of immense cold intensified.

Tara and Anne watched with the rest of Middleton, the explosion from before forgotten. Tara's eyes watered and she lightly whispered Ron's name as if he could hear him. Rufus was also watching with very worried eyes.

Then, the lights flickered and died. The power was either gone or cut off. TV also shut down as well. Anne shook herself out of stupor and ran out to check what's happening. Without any instructions, Tara took upon herself to check Kim. As Ron had said before, she actually didn't need any machines to live, she was sleeping as if in a very deep dream. So that was a relief.

Suddenly, the frightening noise of an automatic weapon echoed along the hospital. It was muffled and distant, but it scared Tara out of her wits. Then she heard crashes of windows from below. Looking down from the nearby window, she thought she saw grotesque shapes in the darkness, moving into hospital from ground floor windows.

The door to the room suddenly swerved and Anne Possible ran inside. There were blood on her hands. She ran to Kim's bed and unhooked her from all machines and sensors.

"What are you doing?! What's going on?!" Tara was a little panicky now. Rufus held onto Kim's hospital gown and stayed on her shoulder as Anne hoisted her comatose daughter and moved to carry her.

"They are coming for her." She took Kim in her arms easily and carried her bridal style, with a single arm under her daughter. "Power's cut and all communications are down. Someone planned this and they trapped Ron in a fight so he can't help."

They exited the room and Anne led them to a supply closet out of the way. After the opening the door, she gently lay Kim on the floor.

"You need to leave and hide as well dear. I don't know how many people are after her, but they won't bother with any others if you don't get in their way."

"What about you?"

Anne's eyes hardened. "I'll give them something to think about."

Tara looked at Kim lying on the ground. All alone, comatose, her mother off to fight God knows who, and she was going to run away?

For a long second, everything about Kim that she have seen or known flashed in front of her eyes.

No. Not like this. I won't run away like this. I won't leave Kim alone.

Her hand's shaking lessened and she looked at Anne Possible with a new determination. Wordlessly, she took position near Kim and took the comatose redhead in her arms, albeit with some difficulty.

Anne looked at her and nodded. Then she handed her a pen, or at least what looked like a pen. "Laser scalpel. Deadly in close range. You press that red button continuously and the laser shoots out of the non-clip end of it." She put one hand on Tara's shoulder. "Don't hesitate if you are found."

Then, she closed the door, locked it over them and her retreating steps were heard. A moment later, Tara and Kim were alone in the dark, save for a very thin strip of weak light seeping under the door.

Tara looked at her ring and turned it on just like Ron instructed. He needed to know if he defeated that ice guy.

When he defeats. Ron will not lose.

She took her cellphone out of her coat and looked at it. No reception. She looked at the screensaver, a photo she and Ron had taken during the formal dance.

John and Andrea had seen the start of the TV broadcast, so now they were speeding the car to their house. John had a Glock he had bought and licensed in case they ever needed protection.

Now, his son needed his help.

"You knew? That he was?"

John swerved between a few cars as he sped. "I've known from the first day that Flash made his appearance."

"But, how?"

John smiled faintly as he remembered a certain story. "My grandfather told me." He exited the highway and sped the car onto the road that would lead to the suburbs.

"John, your grandfather is dead."

"Exactly."

Suddenly, a yellow blur passed in front of the car. John's eyes grew, but he kept the car on the road, more or less.

He didn't notice the blur coming from the side though. The window on the driver's side exploded, and the steering wheel was turned a half tour in the blink of an eye.

The car swerved and started rolling as Andrea screamed.

As cold seeped inside his very cells, Ron tried to fight back against this Captain Cold. But he was getting his ass kicked big time. Even his attempts at super speed was failing horribly.

Cold caught him on a corner and started pummeling him. Ron tried to initiate a few blocks from Wooden Monkey, but his muscles were responding very slowly. After a few failed blocks, he tried a headbutt. Cold took it on his nose and momentarily got stunned.

Ron tried to scramble backwards away, but he was almost frozen. Cold got back and caught him. He was knocked back on the floor with the freezing hands of the man on his neck.

"I can freeze whatever I touch into absolute zero. The only reason you are still alive is that you are vibrating your molecules. But even that is coming to an end." Cold lifted Ron and flung him towards the nearby wall.

As Ron tried to hold onto his consciousness, his watch started beeping, continuously. Ron's senses went on alert as his brain told him what this was.

Tara's ring. She turned it on!

Then his eyes grew as he understood. "Th-there w-was ne-never any robb-robbery here, w-w-was th-there?"

Captain Cold slowly nodded as he raised his hands towards him again. "I just want you to know, this is nothing personal. I respect what you tried to do for the people."

"Th-then why are y-y-you?"

Cold's hands glowed white as he readied his blasts. "Because I have to."

Ron had gathered his energy and vibrated his molecules while they spoke. He rushed at the man, but the white blasts reached him first. Cold kept the blasts up and slowly froze Ron in an ice block.

In the streets, people screamed in terror as every screen available showed the broadcast. In a house not too far from the city center, a young boy watched as one of his best friends lost the fight and possibly, his life.

No no no no no no no no. He tried to get a signal out, but all broadcast channels were blocked by Adrena Lynn, just like before when she had hijacked it to show her kidnapping of Brick. The AM frequencies he was monitoring suddenly showed a jump, and the police channels showed increased activity.

Wade turned them on and listened.

"Get a unit out at Science Center ASAP! We need to save Flash and apprehend his attacker! 10-33 on Science Center!"

"Belay that signal! All forces, this is Officer Hobble! 10-35 at Middleton Memorial! Repeat 10-35 at Middleton Memorial! Possible terrorist attack, all available officers on-site, alert all EMTs on hand from Upperton Central Hospital!"

The hospital! Oh my God, they are attacking Kim!

Wade panicked as he had no moves left. What could he do? All his resources were useless against a threat like that... He forced himself to breathe and not think about Ron for a second.

I can de-scramble emergency broadcasts. Maybe I can break Adrena Lynn's broadcast as well.

He got to work. As soon as he started dismantling the location of Adrena Lynn's broadcast, he heard a beep from one of his auxiliary monitors. That one was tasked with showing him the state of his firewalls.

His firewalls crashed suddenly as a red writing showed on screen.

Did you think that we forgot about you?

Wade's eyes grew and he ran out of his room.

"MOM! DAD! GET OUT NOW!" He ran in the hallway and tried to get to his Mom and Dad in the living room.

Just as he reached the end of the stairs, he heard a boom and felt something pushing himself back towards the door.

Last thing he saw before he crashed through the front door was his Mom's face getting swallowed up by a raging inferno.

Anne Possible did not think that the day to use her training would ever come. But it had. So she did her best to remember it all.

She had gone off towards the stairwells that allowed access to the ward that Kim and Tara were hiding in.

What she had not planned for was the human / monkey hybrids that looked like a grotesque nightmare climbing the stairs. She ambushed one of them on top of the stairs and broke its neck from behind.

The rest of the hybrids went crazy and started to rush her. If anyone had seen Anne right then, they would not believe that the kind, caring neurosurgeon was the same person.

She flung one of the hybrids into the wall nearby and sent the monster through it. Two others rushed her from above, but she used the surgical scalpel that she was hiding in her sleeve to cut their throats. Next time, the hybrid monsters were more careful and rushed her with six of them at once, covering almost any avenue of escape she had.

Almost all. She jumped into the hole she created earlier and found herself in a small single patient care unit. The hybrids tried to follow her, but the opening was only big enough for one. Anne stabbed the first one that tried in the throat, and broke the neck of the second one to pile it on the first one. With the hole plugged, they tried the door, but it was locked.

Suddenly, their monkey like screams abated and the door was left alone. A few seconds later, a small explosion took the door off its hinges and blasted it backwards into the room.

Through the smoke, she made out the silhouette of a man.

"I'm so very impressed, Mrs. Possible. Indeed, maybe we should've guessed Kimberly's talents were not just chance, but actually excellent genetics. Betty's remaining eye works as good as always, it seems."

The man stepped inside. Anne saw that he had brown hair, well-trimmed beard and an eyepatch on his left eye. He also had a metal arm. His normal hand was holding a handgun.

"Unfortunately, we don't have much time and I don't feel like inquiring." He raised his metal hand and extended his fingers. The fingers deconstructed and revealed mini-rockets shooting out of them.

Anne's eyes grew and she reacted instinctively by jumping back into the window. She barreled through it and towards the ground in a two-story fall. The room exploded behind her.

She landed on the trees in the hospital garden and then met the ground in a roll. As she tried to rise, she realized that her left ankle was severely sprained.

No...They are going to find them!

She prayed to someone that she thought she'd never reach out to.

Please... Just this once... Help me. Bring Ron here.

Tara's fear grew as animalistic screams got closer and a few gunshots were heard. She held onto Kim as tight as she could. The crashes of doors and windows steadily grew closer.

"Find Kim Possible. Kill her. We don't have much time people." A man's baritone sounded too close for her comfort.

Please. Please God, please help us. Ron, please make it here in time!

Five miles away, in Science Center Lab Complex 4D, Ron was unconscious. He was swimming in darkness as absolute zero slowly shut down all his functions.

They need your help. Kim needs your help.

Ron's eyes tried to open but couldn't in the ice block. He tried to vibrate himself, but no molecule of his answered.

Then, something he had felt ever since the accident, but could not really perceive slowly made itself apparent. Ron felt an energy, a source that was close to him.

Actually, it was as if the source was inside him. He began to draw from it.

His molecules started to vibrate. He drew more and more energy, as much as he could.

The ice began to glow from inside. The glow brightened up and the ice began to melt. Finally, with a last surge, the ice block exploded to reveal Flash. He had tendrils of lightning dancing all over him.

He looked at the exit for only a second before he exploded into a blur and crashed through the ice.

The broadcast was still on, even if Adrena Lynn had stopped speaking, so the people of Middleton saw this. Cheers throughout the city were heard.

Ron made it outside and looked at his watch.

Hospital. Tara and Kim.

Tara whimpered softly as the footsteps of a man stopped in front of the door to the supply closet. Her heart raced in her chest, beating like a hummingbird's wings. She didn't dare to even breathe for a while.

Then the retreating footsteps were heard. She dared to take one big breath as relief washed over her.

And all of a sudden, the door was pulled off the hinges and Tara screamed. She saw that a horrifying monster that looked like a giant monkey. She pointed the surgical laser and fired it to the face of the monster. It retreated with a scream, holding its eye.

The man with the metal hand walked inside and stood right in front of Tara holding Kim.

"Hmm. Such loyalty she inspires. I'm finding protectors at every turn. But I don't recognize you girl."

"Le-leave Kim alone. She did no-nothing but good things."

"Matter of perception. Now, do yourself a favor and get out of my way."

Tara found the courage to speak loudly as she can. "You will lose. Flash will come and stop you."

"Flash is dead. Wade Load is dead. Stoppable is going to die along with his parents. Only she remains. So get out of the way."

Tara's eyes watered, but refused to cry. "Flash will come. No matter what."

"Didn't I just tell you that-" He stopped and his left hand went to his ear. He seemed to listen something.

"Time's up." He raised the handgun and pointed it towards Kim.

Time slowed for Tara. Her entire life flashed in front of her eyes.

This is not fair. The reward of being a selfless hero cannot be death in a stinking supply closet.

This is not fair at all.

As the handgun exploded, Tara pulled Kim and spun herself in front of her.

Ron didn't think as he pushed himself and ran on rooftops. People cheered for him as his red streak passed above them with a thunderous boom.

The city raced under him as Ron didn't heed gravity and just ran on rooftops as fast as he could. He had probably broken Mach 2 somewhere above the mall. Hospital grew closer and closer.

He saw a devastated entrance and smoke rising from all over the hospital. Furthermore, he spotted Amy Hall behind of what looked like an army of human/monkey hybrids.

But he didn't have time to contemplate.

Janice Patton was about to get mauled by one of these monsters that had appeared after the explosion. The creature's teeth were literally on her neck as a red streak passed them all by and things were crashing all around them.

All the hybrids were flung across, and Amy Hall was knocked into a car.

Ron sped alongside the hallways and up the stairs. He stopped at the stairwell to look at the dead hybrids and an exploded room nearby. He ran again to Kim's room, only to find it empty.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. Then another one. Ron didn't think as he started running along the hallway and saw a man pointing a gun towards a supply closet.

He ran as fast as he could and landed a punch on the man. The bearded man was sent through the wall nearby. Ron didn't stop and punched all the hybrids nearby as fast as he could.

He finally stopped and looked inside the supply closet.

And his heart stopped for a moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Credits Theme: Jehan Barbur - Seni Seviyorum

XXXXXXXXXXXX

He ran and grabbed the blonde girl protecting something. In the darkness, he was only able to make out the features of the face.

It was Tara, who had protected Kim from bullets. It was Tara, now smiling at his face. Ron just yanked the mask off his face and tried to look at the wounds.

Tara held his hand. "I...I k-knew you'd co-come."

"No no no, Tara stop speaking, let me get a doctor, just hold on." Ron raised his head and screamed.

"SOMEONE! A DOCTOR, ANY DOCTOR PLEASE HELP!"

Tara held his hand and tried to breathe. "It's...okay."

"No, no, don't talk like that." Tears fell on Tara's face.

"I..pro...protected her... She didn't de-deserve to die like that. You didn't... deserve to... lose her."

Ron held her hand and kissed it over and over. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Tara, please don't..."

"I love you Ron. You are the best man in the world. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you." Her bloodied hand rose to Ron's hair and caressed his face. "Ron... Please kiss me as if you love me. Please?"

Ron finally got to say what he was about to tell at the café earlier that night. "I love you Tara. I didn't think that I could ever be, but I love you."

He lowered his face and put his lips on Tara's. They shared a kiss, a kiss unlike any other. Through it, they could feel each other's soul.

Tara felt happy, even though she didn't want to die.

Now she knew.

Ron Stoppable did love her. He'd be with her the rest of their lives.

Ron felt the kiss breaking. He caressed the face of the girl he loved.

"Tara?" His voice quaked and broke. "Tara?"

She did not answer.

Outside the hospital, EMTs and police were arriving on the scene. Through the fires, Anne Possible hobbled inside the hospital.

Then, a scream unlike any other sounded throughout the building. Anyone who could hear it felt their blood freezing in their veins.

To be Continued in: "The War Still Rages Within."