All Things Probable IV: Graduation

by Slyrr

Ron and Shego fly to rescue Kim and Drakken, who break out of jail on Warhok's flagship! While for Team Probable, Rhonda and her friends struggle to help save the Earth, but find complications as Maze returns and offers his assistance in defeating the Lorwardian invaders! Can they trust the man who helped start the invasion in the first place? Read and review!

7. Ch 6: Graduation Day

All Things Probable IV
Graduation

Kim Possible is owned/copyrighted by Disney and its affiliates, etc. etc.

Chapter 6
Graduation Day

Part I:
Chasers

'Is there any point asking you not to do this?' Jade said, looking out through the screen of the communicator propped up on Rhonda's dresser.

It was the day before Graduation. Both Rhonda and Grimm had spent the harried days after the last day of school being pressed by their parents to get every detail of their Graduation in order. Grimm seemed especially resentful of the insistence of his parents, as it was taking so much time away from mercenary work. Not that there was a press of jobs at the moment. Jade still had no intel on the grass vandals, and unknown to Grimm, she was still running interference from getting any intel on 'Poxorza'.

A task that had suddenly become more difficult as Jade contacted Rhonda, only to find her donning her costume.

Rhonda had the suit on and was hopping up and down while pulling on the boots. She had not yet put on the mask, but had it clenched in her hand, the false pink hair bouncing up and down like a pom-pom while she hopped. Her hankering for action was apparently stronger than Grimm's at the moment.

'Come on Jade - I've got an itch to scratch here!' she said.

'Try Lanacane...' Jade said wearily.

'It'll be OK - look, Grimm's parents have got him wrangled fixing up the place for the family dinner on the day after, right? You know what his mom's like - he may as well be bolted to the floor.'

Jade grimaced, but said nothing. There was truth to what Rhonda was saying.

'And we already tested the new hover platform the other day - five minutes to zip downtown, an hour to scout for action, allowing another thirty minutes if anything actually happens, then five minutes back home! Badda-bing, badda-boom!'

Jade bit her lip. Truth be told, the hover platform wasn't really 'new'. It was the same one that Monkey Fist had broken in Basalton - Jade had simply fixed it, increased the base height with rollbars so passengers wouldn't slide off, added some safety straps, and painted it black. She had serious reservations about Rhonda using it for her crime-fighting jaunts. They were pushing it with Rhonda's suit already - too much of the tech was stuff they were already using. Grimm knew about the platform - he had seen Jade using it in Basalton. Even through the new structural and cosmetic changes, he might recognize it if he saw it in action. But Rhonda was talking in a hurry, pulling on her gloves and looking towards the window of her room.

'The platform is safe under a camo tarp near my nature spot out back. As long as I use the stealth function to make sure no one can see when I head out, then I'm good! Ninja!' And with that, she started pulling on her mask.

Jade shook her head. 'Rhonda don't do this, you're...' But Rhonda had already activated her stealth mode and slipped out the window. '...gonna get caught.' Jade sighed, her voice sounding through empty air of her computer room at home.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda left Rueful to chill in her sanctorum again - she wanted to put the platform through a proper field test before bringing any of the animals with her. She also wondered if she could make some kind of mask for Rueful, then caught herself. 'What - to protect his "secret weasel identity"?' she thought with a shrug. But she reckoned she would have to do something like that sooner or later if Rueful was to come on any of her outings. She didn't like leaving him behind, but Poxorza being seen with a pet weasel would be too much of a giveaway.

The suit's stealth mode made it easy to get to the wooded area behind her house and make her way to where she had hidden the hover platform. Within a few moments of whipping off the tarp, she had buckled in, extended the stealth field, and was taking to the air.

She wobbled a bit as she got airborne, but she had practiced, as she had said to Jade. It was like riding a bike, except in three dimensions. Soon she was gliding over the suburbs, heading towards the diffused glow of downtown Riddleton. In the setting sun, the buildings seemed almost black against the dimming sky.

She was still nervous about flying, but she didn't go too high, and looking down on the houses and yards smoothing by underneath her, she felt elated in more ways than one. She was finally beginning to understand why so many people had a childhood fantasy about being able to fly...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Ralph Thorne was pulling down the metal shield door for his printing store, the Copp-e Shoppe, closing for the night. His mind was preoccupied with how to expand his customer base in the face of a slowly expanding number of people buying their own printers. As such, he didn't notice as a group of two men came up behind him.

Ralph shouted in protest as he was turned roughly around, but his indignant shout was reduced to a wheezing gasp, seeing the men and the wicked looking knives they were holding out.

'Hope you had a busy day, man!' said the first one, a thin man with day-old stubble on his face and wearing a snow cap, despite the warmer weather. 'Now hand over the day's take and no one gets hurt!'

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ralph felt his mouth opening and his brow knitting in a scowl. 'The money's inside, locked in a safe!' he said indignantly. It wasn't true, but somehow he wasn't ready to give in to these thugs just yet. 'Why'd you wait until after I locked up to try and rob the place?'

The two muggers looked almost sheepishly back and forth at each other for a moment before the angry hardness returned to their faces. 'Hey, shut up!' said the first one. 'Just... open the store again and get us the money!'

Sensing weakness, Ralph tried to bluster his way through and keep them off guard. 'The safe is on a time lock, you mooks!' he said. 'I can't open it until tomorrow! Do you want to risk felony assault charges when there's no way you can get any money off it?'

The second thug was grimacing and nudged his fellow with an elbow. 'Dude let's just get out of here...' he muttered under his breath. And for a moment, Ralph thought he had fooled them into giving up.

But the first one, looking more agitated, pressed his blade until it was almost touching Ralph's throat. 'I said open the shop again, man!' he said, looking committed now. 'I wanna see this safe of yours!'

Ralph now felt afraid. A quick glance up and down the streets showed that no one was around to help him. Once he opened the store again, the thieves would see there was no safe, and then it would be a simple matter for them to break open the register...

'Safety this, losers!'

From out of nowhere, a thin figure in a black body suit charged into the thieves from the side. Ralph caught a flash of pink. There was a hollow, metallic thunk, and both of the would-be muggers flew several feet to the side with shouts of pain. They crashed into the sidewalk pavement and did not get up again.

Ralph gaped in amazement as what looked like a girl skidded to a halt next to the thieves, looking down at them. She was wearing a mask with goggle eyes and even her hair seemed to be pink. In both her hands, she was gripping something large and heavy, and Ralph saw that it was a US Postal mailbox that she seemed to have torn loose from who knew where.

Even though the men were obviously out cold, the masked girl was pointing down at them and shouting as if they could hear her. 'Yeah that's right!' she said. 'Just call me the fe-mail man!' When the comatose thugs didn't respond to her awful pun, she sniffed and turned to Ralph, who could only stand staring with his mouth open at the bizarre sight.

'Fear not, good sir!' said the girl in black and pink, holding out a palm dramatically. 'These two won't bother you again! Not with this fair city under the watchful eye of... Poxorza the Liberatrix!'

For nearly a full minute, Ralph continued to stare in dumbfounded silence. Finally the girl's arm seemed to get tired and she lowered her palm again. She bowed and flourished her hands comically while backing away into the street. 'You're welcome...' she said, then turned and ran.

Ralph watched the girl disappear into an alleyway across the street. After another few moments of dead silence, he glanced aside at the moaning heap that was his erstwhile assailants, then fished a smart phone from his pocket.

'Hello?' he said after a quick dial.

'Riddleton Police Headquarters, how can I help you?' came a voice over the line.

'I... need you to send a car to pick up a couple of guys who just tried to rob me.' said Ralph hesitantly. 'Have them bring some of those donuts they're always eating, and some tranquilizers - 'cause they're gonna need both when they hear this...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda raced into the alley back to the hover platform. 'Not bad!' she thought eagerly. 'And I didn't even need Jade to guide me that time!' She hopped onto the platform and sent it rising slowly into the air, wondering, since she had foiled a heist so soon after going out, if she might get in another before zipping back home...

From across the way, a group of three guys, looking like street punks, were staring out from another shadowed alleyway. As Rhonda's hover platform ascended, the leader of the group whipped out his smart phone and speed dialed...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Grimm sighed as he polished one of several wooden tables. His mom was insisting that each one had to have a mirror gloss for the coming family dinner. He had done two already, and he winced as he looked down a line at three more tables lined up, which his mom wanted done before the evening was over. Suddenly his communicator beeped. He paused in his polishing and glanced at it. Twitch. He shook his stiff elbow and turned on the communicator. 'What is it, Twitch?' he said. 'I'm kinda busy here...'

Twitch seemed even twitchier than normal from the sound of his voice. 'Then you better use some of that busy energy to get downtown pronto, dude!' he said quickly. 'You know that super chick you got us tailin'? Well some of my guys just spotted her!'

Grimm had thrown down the polish and rag and was sprinting to his basement room. He kept the line open as he thundered down the stairs, dashed into his room and started grabbing equipment and his mission clothes. He set the communicator down and shucked his shirt, rapidly changing to his mission outfit. 'Where's she heading?' he said.

'She's got some kind of Dick Tracy flying trash can.' Twitch said. 'But they've still got her in sight - heading towards the South side!'

'Where the muggers usually hang out.' Grimm muttered. 'Right - keep her in sight as long as you can, I'm on my way - nice work Eugene.'

Twitch winced at the use of his real name. 'Just hurry dude, no tellin' how long we can keep her marked...' then the screen blipped off.

Grimm finished changing, clipped on his belt and speed dialed Jade, heading back to the stairs. 'Jade, we've got a bead on Mr. Matter's super girl!' he said. 'Twitch has some guys on her. Tell Rhonda to get ready, we're moving to intercept!'

Jade had wide eyes and her mouth was hanging open. 'Ah...' she dithered, tapping madly on her keyboards. 'Rhonda... went... gown shopping - she thought tonight was free. It'll be a few minutes before...'

Grimm was taking the stairs three at a time. 'We can't wait! If she's downtown, then she's probably closer than I am - we'll have to rendezvous on the fly! Has she got her communicator?'

Jade almost panicked because she knew Rhonda had left her communicator back in her room - but then she remembered the Poxorza costume had a communicator built-in. 'Yeah.' she said, quickly wiping her brow.

Grimm nodded. 'Get her up to speed, and tell her where to be so I can pick her up! I'm headed for the bike, I'll be in touch in a minute.'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda glided over the city. The platform used the same MRT technology as the bike, so it was nearly silent. She felt on top of the world. 'Criminals of Riddleton!' She thought to herself. 'Look up in horror at the night sky - for Poxorza the Liberatrix cometh for thee!'

Then she yelped as Jade's voice piped into her ear. 'Rhonda?!' she said in a frantic half-scream.

'Gosh, Jade!' Rhonda gasped. 'What'd I say about speaking softer into this thing? I'm downtown now - got any leads on some action?'

Jade made a pfft sound with her lips. 'You're about to get more action than you bargained for!' she said. 'The Irregulars saw you - they're probably tailing you on foot right now! You know that situation we talked about? The one where I said Grimm might come after you while you're still in costume?'

'Y...yes.' said Rhonda weakly.

'Well turn around and get home because it's happening right now!'

Rhonda banked hard and turned. 'Oh cheese...!' she gabbled. 'Oh cheese, oh cheese oh cheese! Jade you gotta delay him!'

'I told him you were out shopping for gowns!' Jade spluttered, 'He's on the bike right now and asking me to link you so he can pick you up and you can both go after... you!'

Rhonda thought desperately. 'Uh... uh... Oh man... If the Irregulars are tracking me, he'll head straight for me!'

'Can't you just turn on stealth mode and lose them?' Jade said. 'I made it to work with the hover platform, just like the bike, didn't I?'

'I burned through it all to get downtown!' Rhonda moaned. 'You said it would take a while to recharge!'

'And by then Grimm will be there.' Jade said, also in a groan.

'Aw, cheese!' they both moaned simultaneously.

On the ground, the three Irregulars tailing Rhonda skidded when she suddenly changed direction. One of them had his smart phone in hand and was talking as they ran. 'Yo, Twitch!' he said, panting from having already jogged several blocks in pursuit of the object flying through the air. 'She's doubling back - I think she saw us somehow! She's headed back to mid-town.'

Twitch had Grimm on line in conference call. 'You catch that, dude?'

Grimm was on the bike and nearing a wooded stretch of road outside the suburbs of his neighborhood, where he usually did his takeoffs so they wouldn't be spotted. 'On it!' He brought up a separate com link. 'Jade - she's changed course! Where the heck is Rhonda?'

Jade sounded uncharacteristically agitated as she answered. 'Hang on, G-man!' she said. 'She had her communicator off, I'm buzzing her...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

'Rhonda?' Jade gasped, hyperventilating into a lunch bag as she temporarily muted Grimm's com link. 'Plan?'

Despite the relative quiet of the night air around her, as she glided serenely over the city buildings, Rhonda felt like she was headed through a WWII flak field.

'Rhonda?' Jade squealed.

'Ok!' she spluttered. 'Go ahead and link us up!'

'What?'

'Just do it!'

Jade gritted her teeth. 'I hope you know what you're doing...' she thought with gritted teeth.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Grimm had gone airborne. The secondary thruster wings were unfolding from the nacelles of the bike and he was picking up speed, racing towards the dim line of buildings that marked downtown Riddleton. He heard a beep on his com link with Jade. 'I've got Rhonda on the line.' she said.

'Babe - where are you?' he said without waiting. 'Jade told you what's going down?'

'Yes!' came her tinny voice through the mic. 'But I was out looking at...'

'Gowns, I know!' Grimm said curtly, cutting over her. 'Where are you at? The Prom-ul-Gate at the mall?'

'No - I went further out to 'Puttin' On The Ritz...'

Grimm winced - it was clear out on the other side of Riddleton. 'Look, if I loop out to get you, we could lose her!' he said. 'Dip into the mission cash. Jade? Get her a taxi, anything! Rhonda, head to mid-town as fast as they'll take you! And Jade - I've got Twitch and the Irregulars on another line. They're the ones tailing our target. Until I get a visual, I'll need to coordinate with them so I can get to the right spot! I'm counting on you to guide Rhonda to me!'

In her computer room, Jade heaved a guarded sigh of relief. This would keep Grimm from expecting 'Poxorza' and Rhonda from being in the same place - at least for a while. With the comm lines open, she didn't dare question Rhonda about whatever scheme she had in mind, but she picked up enough to know that she had to act as a go-between to keep up the ruse until Rhonda could get the stealth mode charged on her hover platform. On the downside - it meant that Grimm was going to bee-line straight to 'Poxorza' at top speed.

'Ok, Jade...' she thought, cracking her knuckles and hunching over her keyboards, 'Time to see if you're any good at juggling...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda dipped the hover platform lower and weaved around a few buildings, trying to shake the Irregulars. The hover platform wasn't all that fast - but unlike her pursuers, she was not blocked by ground level obstacles.

'Yeah, she's definitely seen us!' said the Irregular into his phone. 'She's goin' low, trying' to lose us in the buildings... she just looped around the Chaser Financial...'

'Tell them to fan out!' said Grimm. 'Keep her in sight as long as you can, I'm almost there...'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda felt her heart pounding in panic. 'Jade - are both com lines still open?' she said.

'Not anymore, thank goodness.' Jade said, sounding winded.

'Can't this thing go any faster?' she squealed.

'Sorry - it's not built for speed!' Jade said. 'The bike will run circles around it - what's the gauge on the stealth mode charger say?'

Rhonda looked down and bit her lip. 'Fifty percent!' she said.

'It'll be another few minutes at least!' Jade moaned. 'Look, the bike has more thrust, but the platform is omnidirectional - it can corner better! Your only chance is to try and keep losing him among the buildings. If you keep him on the run long enough for the stealth charge to build up, 'Poxorza' can still get away - and staying on the move will give me an excuse for 'you' not being able to catch up with Grimm.'

'That'll have to do.' said Rhonda, gripping the control handles.

'Think you can handle it?'

'Well, Grimm taught me, so I learned from the best.' said Rhonda. At that very moment, she heard a soft, high pitched whine and saw a flash of purple dart out from around the building in front of her...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Grimm steered the Ksikkihkíni around one of the mid-town skyscrapers. About twenty yards below, he saw a figure in black, with pink hair, gliding over the rooftop of a smaller structure. 'Gotcha!' he thought, and dived.

Rhonda fought back a yelp as the Ksikkihkíni bore straight at her. She thought for a minute he intended to collide, and she instinctively made the platform lower straight down. She felt the bike clipping right over her head, and the buffeting of the slipstream.

Grimm wheeled the bike around in a semi-circle as tight as he could manage. 'Target in sight.' he said over the communicator. 'Thanks Twitch - you and the guys can back off now, we'll take it from here.' And he shut off Twitch's com line, focusing on Jade's. 'What's Rhonda's ETA?' he barked.

Jade bit her lip. 'If you only knew..' she thought, but out loud she said, 'She just flagged a cab - it'll be a few minutes...' she said. 'Grimm, Mr. Matter said she's got super strength - maybe you should back off. Without Rhonda...'

'I didn't forget.' came Grimm's voice, and she could hear a smirk in it somehow. 'So I brought along a little something that should even the odds until Rhonda gets here.' He slowed the bike to try and get more maneuvering capability, because the pink girl and her hovercraft had dipped between the alley of two buildings and out of sight. Mentally, Grimm tried to envision the path where she would have to emerge, unless she went to ground or shot straight up. He did a little quick math, smiled quietly and resumed acceleration.

In her computer room, Jade was squinting as she typed at her keypads, using her tracking computer to keep tabs on both the platform, and the Ksikkihkíni. She eyed a tactical map of the city overlaid with two glowing blips, one purple, the other pink. Rhonda, the pink dot, had dipped into a dead-end alley with only two ways out - forward, or up. Grimm was moving fast towards the forward exit.

But even so, she thought that Rhonda could just dip around the bike and keep moving. She knew Grimm wouldn't risk wrecking the Ksikkihkíni in a mid-air collision, and the bike had no built-in weapons. All he could really do was buzz Rhonda and try to scare her out of the sky. As long as Rhonda kept her head, they could play cat-and-mouse until the stealth mode was charged.

Yet she was uneasy. Grimm had sounded a little too confident, even going up against an opponent who supposedly had paranormal strength. He had mad skills with Tai Sheng Pek Kwar, but his moves were primarily geared towards defense and wearing his opponents out. That wouldn't work on Rhonda once she had her bear powers up. So what could Grimm have possibly brought along with him that could cope with super strength...? And with a gasp of fear, she realized Grimm did have something to deal with super strength - they had used it against Monkey Fist when he had been petrified and animated with the golem enchantment. Hurriedly, she muted Grimm's com line and tuned Rhonda's...

Rhonda was swooping downwards, just a few feet from the ground and heading to the exit of the alley at the platform's top speed. Suddenly she heard Jade shouting in panic. 'Rhonda - he's moved ahead of you - he's got the Moo Goo Guy Gun!' And in a splintered second, she saw the Ksikkihkíni lowering down from in front and above her. She caught a glimpse of Grimm, helmeted and aiming what looked like a shotgun with a really wide barrel.

There was a soft thump, and a white orb was shooting at her. Rhonda gasped and cranked the Z control. She shot up like a cork and heard a wet splatter somewhere behind her. But she didn't pay attention to that - she tried to remember what Jade had told her about the Moo Goo Guy Gun - it was something they'd made to imprison and hold Maze's golems - some kind of expanding foam that stuck like glue and wouldn't break, no matter how hard it was punched. If she got hit with it, then even her bear strength would have trouble with it - and she didn't dare use her spirit strike against it. She might as well take off her mask, because Grimm would know it was her.

Instead she braced herself hard and sent the platform darting off to the left as soon as she cleared the rooftop of the buildings which formed the alley. The steering for the platform was different than the Ksikkihkíni. The bike was rigged with MRTs, but they were made more like traditional thrusters. The platform controls were more like playing the old 3D game Descent. You maintained position until nudging the controls to move in a specific direction, including up or down.

It meant that you had to develop a tolerance to g-forces, because the controls and the direction changes took place almost instantly. If you changed course too suddenly, or too radically, it could feel like hitting a brick wall, and too much of it would stress the platform until it fell apart. And Rhonda definitely felt the jostling as she suddenly darted off to the side.

Grimm frowned at the miss. It was like she'd known he was coming. He wondered for a moment if, in addition to the strength, the girl in pink also had a 'spider sense'. He holstered the Moo Goo Guy Gun in a caddy he'd rigged onto the bike, and took the controls to pursue. After the caper with Monkey Fist and Maze, Jade had made improvements to the Moo Goo Guy Gun. It had proved too useful a device to just abandon once the golem sitch had ended. Jade had compacted the gun, then replaced the backpack and tube apparatus with orbs that were more like shotgun shells.

He raised the bike into the air and soared after the girl in pink, closing fast. He checked to make sure the extra Moo Goo shells were stowed securely, then focused on keeping up with the bobbing and weaving platform.

Rhonda was fighting to keep an unpredictable course. Grimm couldn't steer the bike and fire the gun at the same time - she had to keep him guessing as to where she'd be so he couldn't draw a bead on her and land a shot. From what she knew, if she got hit by one of the Moo Goo shots, it was all over. As she frantically worked the controls, her hand slipped and she hit a green button, one of the buttons Jade hadn't explained to her.

And suddenly music started playing over a small speaker - she'd accidentally turned on one of Jade's mp3 mixes. She tried to ignore it as the Ksikkihkíni scudded across the rooftops right next to her, only a few yards off to the side.

I can do it, I can run
I can hunt you down
You can try, but you can't stop me
'cause I'm gaining ground!

I'm light on my feet
and I'm quick to the punch
I had a heavy breakfast
but a real light lunch!

Rhonda slapped a couple of buttons here and there, but it only boosted the volume. She gritted her teeth and braced herself for more jostling as Grimm hefted the Moo Goo Gun one-handed.

Grimm tried to lead the gliding hovercraft with the gun, and he saw the girl in pink staring at him through the pink lenses of her eye goggles He swore he could hear music. She was listening to tunes while trying to evade him? That seemed a bit cheeky, and as he pulled the trigger, the platform immediately halted. The girl lurched over her controls, but the Ksikkihkíni couldn't stop on a dime. His shot swept by an inch in front of the platform, but still missed, and as he zipped past her, he definitely heard music coming from a speaker.

I'm rough-and-tumble
I'm the one to beat
I'm a fresh coat of blacktop
burnin' at your feet!

I've got a poisonous sting
when I rain I pour
I'm the best of the best
I'm the soup du jour!

Grimm felt a stab of frustration as he wheeled the bike around yet again. The girl's platform was slow, but it was zig-zagging in a way the bike couldn't match. She was weaving between buildings like the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field, always trying to keep something between her and his bike - he'd have to rethink his approach. It was ideal for the Moo Goo Guy Gun to be fired at medium to close range, but the platform's erratic movements made it too chancy, and he had a limited number of shots.

He righted and caught sight of the platform again, nearly at the edge of another rooftop and moving away. He slowed the bike to keep pace. The girl seemed to be gunning whatever engine the platform had, and if that was true, its top speed was about twenty miles an hour - no matter which direction it might suddenly take.

And she was definitely trying to stay as far away from him as possible. He wondered about that. If she really had super strength, what was she scared of? She didn't know who he was, but if she thought he was a criminal, then why was she running away instead of confronting him like she did those muggers?

'Time, Jade!' he said quickly into his communicator. 'You've got our coordinates - where's Rhonda?'

'You guys are changing course too much - she can't keep up in the cab!' Jade answered.

'Sorry.' said Grimm. 'But I don't think Pinky is gonna slow down for us! Keep her posted, I'll do what I can!'

He followed her over another set of rooftops, staying about fifteen feet behind. Something just didn't seem right to Grimm. By now, the girl in pink had to know she could never outrun his bike - yet she was still trying. That meant she must be stalling for something - and he decided he wasn't going to wait and find out what it was.

He gunned the bike hard and shot past her like a bullet. And sure enough, as soon as he was level with her, she veered and scudded to a higher rooftop to her left and away from him. 'All right, be that way.' he thought, and felt his smirk returning. He closed the distance to ten feet as he careened around in pursuit, and sure enough, she nudged her course to make sure she could maintain distance, and keep an eye on him. He hefted the Moo Goo Gun, but this time he had no intention of firing. He merely aimed, and noted that the girl in pink was keeping a wary eye on the barrel, and adjusting her course erratically to stay out of the line of fire. He glanced at a tactical street map of the city on the screen dashboard, and adjusted his own course to match hers...

Rhonda kept hammering at the controls, trying to turn off the music player - it was bad enough trying to concentrate without speakers blaring at her.

I'm a big haymaker in a title fight!
I'm a cute black kitten with a nasty bite!
I'm an action double-feature on a Friday night!

Finally, she hit a button and the music either shut off, or the volume muted. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Grimm had the Moo Goo Gun out and was levelling it at her slowly. He was approaching from her left, and she sent the platform sweeping off to the right.

For another couple of minutes, she kept up that pattern. Grimm would come up beside her, aiming the gun, and she would zip off course to avoid him. She was starting to feel a little proud that she was keeping him at a distance, but years of working alongside him made her nervous. It wasn't like him to go this long without trying some kind of take-down. But then, she reasoned, it was just like him to play it like a chess game, thinking a few moves ahead of his opponent.

Her own experience as chess team captain at school kicked in, and she realized that Grimm wasn't really trying to hit her - he was toying with her, aiming at her and scaring her just enough to make her move... where he wanted her to go?

Jade's voice sounded in her ear, shrill and panicked. 'Rhonda - dead end, dead end!'

'Oh... snap!' she spat under her breath. Grimm had herded her into another dead end alleyway, and this time he was above and behind her - leaving her with no escape route except up. Grimm was holding the gun steady now, and firing several volleys.

'Shield, Rhonda! Shield!'

Rhonda had nearly forgotten the suit's shield function. She threw up her hands and activated, the pink dish flaring in front of her. Two of the Moo Goo shots splattered heavily against it, while three more hit the wall behind her, and another one struck the side of the platform. The Moo Goo was inflating rapidly, already covering the shield. She could feel its weight, and quickly dropped the shield. The Goo sticking to the shield fell away as it vanished, but some of it stuck to the front of the platform, while the hit on the side had already formed into a mass about the size of a medicine ball.

Grimm was reloading the Moo Goo Gun, but he figured he no longer needed it for the moment. 'Try and run now, Pinky.' he thought with a faint smile.

Rhonda tried moving the platform away from Grimm, but it was going much slower - the added weight of the expanding Moo Goo was dragging her. She frantically checked the stealth gauge - it had hardly moved at all. 'Jade - why isn't it charging faster?' she muttered.

Jade sounded like she was typing a hundred words a minute as her voice came back on the comlink. 'I think you're using too much power running around - and that added weight is only going to make it worse! There's still a can of the Moo Goo solvent in the storage compartment from when I went to Basalton, but with Grimm there...' She sighed. 'What you really need is to just leave the platform idle for a couple of minutes, then the stealth should charge a lot faster!'

Through her panic, Rhonda thought of a plan. Buy some time? There was only one sure-fire way to do that. After all, Grimm did love to talk...

Part II
Grimm vs. Poxorza - FIGHT!

She took the platform to the roof of the tallest building she could see that was closest by and managed to land it. The roof had a service exit, and also several large air conditioning units. She quickly ditched the platform behind one of them, then ran out into an empty area.

Grimm soared up and saw the girl in pink standing on the rooftop without the platform. She was twitching her fingers in a 'come get me' gesture and looked ready for battle. Grimm sniffed. 'Oh, you'd like it if I landed the bike, wouldn't you?' he thought. 'Give you a free shot at busting it up? I don't think so.'

It would be a simple matter to keep airborne and strafe around her, and keep taking pot-shots at her with the Moo Goo Guy Gun until something hit. He took a quick aim at her, and at once she skittered off to the side, ducking behind one of the many air conditioning units that dotted the rooftop.

He slowed the bike down to nearly a hover, and skirted around, looking for a shot. But with the Moo Goo Gun held up, the girl in pink would simply dart to the side and keep one of the A/C units between him and her. He lowered the gun, and she stepped back out.

Grimm smirked. 'All right, then.' he thought. Quickly, he did an equipment check, then he set the Ksikkihkíni to auto pilot. Then he swooped down nearly to the level of the rooftop and jumped. The bike soared back up and maintained a circular holding pattern, nearly fifty feet above, and Grimm turned his attention to the patchwork of A/C units in front of him on the rooftop.

Rhonda heard Grimm land, and his softly approaching footsteps. She caught a sight of the Ksikkihkíni flitting above. She moved away and put another A/C unit between her and the sound of Grimm's footsteps. She couldn't risk getting hit directly with the Moo Goo Gun.

'It's all over!' she heard Grimm shouting. 'You may as well come out!'

Rhonda kept moving, but raised her voice to answer, hoping the muffling from her breather would be enough to keep him from recognizing her. 'Put away your gun, first!' she shouted back, surprised by how much her shout was echoing.

Grimm muttered a whispered breath into the communicator before answering. 'Jade, Rhonda - ETA.' he said. Then out loud he shouted. 'Don't tell me the big-bad car wrecking super lady is scared of my little pop-gun. Where's your feminine pride?'

'She's still about four minutes away by taxi - and that's not including any red lights she may hit, or how long before she can get to the top floor!' Jade hissed. 'Be careful!'

'Well... where's your man-pride?' Rhonda yelled back. 'Why're you hiding behind a gun anyway? You compensating for something?'

Grimm blinked. Not only was she not taking the bait, she was firing back with barbs of her own. He considered for a moment. As long as he had the Moo Goo Guy Gun, she was going to keep playing hide-and-seek around the A/C units. That played to his advantage for time, and would let Rhonda arrive so they could gang up on her. But he had another ace up his sleeve as well, and decided he would lose nothing if he tried it. 'All right, I'm game.' he shouted. 'I'm putting my weapon down!' and he set it on one of the air vents near the service doorway. 'Now why don't you face me like a girl?'

Rhonda could scarcely believe it. He had actually done it? She edged her face out and saw Grimm standing about ten feet away from the Moo Goo Gun with his hands up, but still looking quietly amused. She stepped into view, ready to dart back, but Grimm made no attempt to get the gun. The hover platform stealth mode was charging in its hidey-hole between two of the A/C units - and would be ready to go soon. Jade had bought her four minutes before 'Rhonda' was expected to arrive.

'Who are you, evil-doer?' she said in her best hero stage voice.

'How about you tell me who you are first? Or should I just keep calling you Pinky?'

'I am... Poxorza the Liberatrix!' she shouted, raising a fist.

Grimm maintained a deadpan face. 'Yeah, whatever.' he said.

'And how about you? Are you 'The Amazing Mr. Bike' or something?'

'I'm neighborhood watch.' said Grimm with a smirk. 'And you're the only evil-doer here, lady. The cops sent me to track you down for breaking a whole mess of city ordinances.'

'What? No they didn't!' said Rhonda indignantly. Grimm had never consulted with the police on any of their mercenary jobs as far as she knew.

'How do you know that?' said Grimm, his smile not fading.

Jade's voice muttered loudly in her earpiece. 'Rhonda - remember, you've never met him!'

'Oh... yeah!' Rhonda said softly, without thinking.

'What was that?' said Grimm.

'I said... Oh yeah?' Rhonda answered, taking a more defiant tone. 'What ordinances are they saying I broke?'

'Flying without a license, damaging public property, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, shall I go on?'

'I'm helping the people of this fair city fight crime!' she said.

Grimm took a minute step closer. 'If you want people to obey the law, then you won't mind coming down to the police station and making your case.' said Grimm. 'If the cops think you're doing them a favor, you've got nothing to worry about, right?'

'Ahhh...' said Rhonda, at a momentary loss or words.

'Unless you're scared of the police - which means you're just as much a criminal as the thugs you're beating up.' Grimm went on.

Rhonda bit her lip - worried for a second that her plan to stall Grimm by getting him to talk had backfired.

'Or are you going to try attacking me, when I'm here representing the police - and really make yourself an outlaw?' He went on. 'Maybe you should be arresting yourself.'

Rhonda glared, though she knew he couldn't tell it from behind her goggles. She knew the cops hadn't sent him, and there was no order to bring her in - but she couldn't say so without tipping her hand. 'If the cops recruited you, let's see your badge!' she said.

Grimm took another baby step forward, with one hand straying to one of the pouches on his belt. 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours.' he said smoothly.

Rhonda blushed furiously under her mask. Even after years of seeing Grimm in action, she had still somehow let herself get suckered in by the head games he used to keep heroes like Kim Possible off balance. All the times in the past, the horns had been facing out rather than in. Using his tricks directly against her seemed to add an edge to it that she didn't like. 'Not buying it.' she said flatly. Grimm had edged closer still. She wasn't worried as long as he didn't have the Moo Goo Gun - between her suit and her bear powers, she was pretty sure Grimm couldn't take her down. She kept a wary eye on the gun, lying well out of his reach now.

'Stubborn, aren't you?' said Grimm. He was now barely four feet away. 'Then I guess there's just one thing left to say. Catch!'

And Rhonda saw him arm flash out. He had slipped a dark grey sphere from his hip pouch as they talked and lobbed it straight at her. Instinctively she put up her shield. The Moo Goo grenade didn't hit her directly, but several heavy drops splattered on the ground right in front of her and got on her boots.

Grimm darted forward. He saw the pink dome flare out in front of Poxorza and deflect most of the Moo Goo, just as she had with the shots from the gun. She was dropping the shield again, letting the brunt of the Goo slough onto the ground in front of her. He slid and crouched to her left, lashing out with a foot sweep.

Learning to take a fall was basic Judo training, and Rhonda let herself tuck and roll backwards as she felt her feet slip out from beneath her. She used her position to lash out with her own feet, trying to trip him. But her boots were now coated with a swelling mass that slowed her down. Grimm easily flipped up and was coming down fast with a flying kick.

Rhonda rolled to the side with a gasp, hearing his strike land hard where her head had been a moment earlier. When training, Grimm had always been tough - but he'd never really cut loose like he was doing now, and it scared her a bit. She twisted and rolled to her feet, getting back up and nearly stumbling. The Goo surrounding her ankles had expanded larger than moon boots, and she couldn't flex her ankles. Grimm was advancing again, his arms moving in the style of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar.

Jade's voice piped in through Rhonda's earpiece. 'Sorry - I forgot about the grenades!' she said in a wail. 'He might have more in the hip pouch - don't let him fake you out again!'

'Right...' she whispered, blocking a series of punches and whirlwind kicks.

'Something wrong?' Grimm taunted. 'I thought you were supposed to be super strong. Doesn't seem that way off the bat - or is there another explanation?'

But Rhonda had felt her bear strength flaring up almost as soon as the fight had begun. And like at the school race track, it was doing so without her chanting or concentrating - it was responding instinctively. She was simply debating what to do. If she started trying to grapple or throw punches at Grimm, he would just dodge her - that was his specialty and he was really good at it. On the other hand, if she tried to run or use her protection powers, he might hit her with another Moo Goo grenade, or go for the gun again. She needed a way to keep him off balance without getting into a traditional martial arts brawl where his skill might give him the advantage. She needed something big...

Grimm blinked as Poxorza turned and gripped one of the massive A/C units, wrenching it from the rooftop with a heave and a squeal of metal. He had only a moment to admire the sheer power before the unit was sailing towards him with a rushing sound. He crouched and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, but had to back away yet again as another unit came at him in the wake of the first. He broke eye contact with Poxorza. The unit landed in front of him and was sliding towards him with a trail of sparks, herding him towards the edge of the rooftop.

At once, Rhonda bent down and started wrenching furiously at the Moo Goo around her boots. If the Goo had been covering her completely, she wouldn't have stood a chance. But the two orbs now surrounding each foot were small enough that she could grip into it and pry into the junction where it met with her ankle. After a few seconds of tearing off slippery chunks, she managed to rip open the Goo around her left ankle and squeeze it off. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grimm vaulting over the second A/C unit, and the Moo Goo Guy Gun was back in his hand - she winced, realizing she had herded him right towards it.

Poxorza didn't try blocking the shots this time. Instead, Grimm saw her crabwalking backwards between two of the other A/C units. There were only about eight of them left, but the Moo Goo shots didn't hit her with any more splatters. Instead they formed a pair of slowly expanding globes on the rooftop surface. He had seen her pulling one foot free from the Goo, and frowned. He was losing the advantages he had gained. Poxorza wasn't fighting the way a person with her abilities would normally fight, and was proving more than he bargained for.

And that thought was cemented even further as she heaved loose another A/C unit and pushed it towards him in another slide, threatening to sandwich him between that one and the one already behind him. He flipped up and over, and to his surprise, Poxorza was leaping up at him, running just behind the A/C unit. They collided in mid-air and he felt Poxorza gripping tight, not to him, but to the barrel of the Moo Goo gun.

He gritted his teeth as he saw her closing her hands and squeezing the gun barrel shut at either end. At once he threw it aside and flicked his wrist, sending another grenade at her from his hip pouch. Rhonda gasped, realizing she only had two seconds before it went off - but also that Grimm had thrown it while he was too close.

Instead of exploding in front of her, it bounced off her chest, the timer still counting down. In the split second after she felt it bounce against her, she batted hard and knocked it aside, then dove as fast as she could. The grenade went off with a loud pop, but its momentum away from her caused all the Goo to fly the other direction, or land before it could reach her. Only one or two tiny drops fell against her suit.

During all this, Jade had hacked into the rooftop surveillance cameras and was watching the whole thing while biting her fingernails. 'Oh man...' she thought. 'Wish I had some popcorn...'

Grimm had also pushed and dived away from her as soon as he had thrown the Goo grenade. He knew it was unwise to use it in such close quarters, same as with any grenade, but he didn't want to risk Poxorza getting ahold of him. He tumbled, but fell against the second A/C unit with a metallic thunk, sending pain lancing through his back and left shoulder. He tried to ignore it, and got back to his feet, rounding around the A/C unit to return to the fight.

'Where's Rhonda?' he shouted into his com link.

Jade shook herself out of spectator mode. 'About one minute out, G-man!' she faked.

Grimm was about to speak again, but it turned into a sharp intake of breath as Poxorza appeared around the A/C unit, hefting a large pipe she had torn loose. Grimm's training kicked in and he sidled out of its path, spinning into a perfect position to strike. He never liked hitting girls, but this was no ordinary girl. He struck hard and fast right on her nose.

Rhonda flinched under the blow, but her bear power of protection let her shrug it off. It stung, but didn't incapacitate her, and she maintained her focus. She knew if she tried to hit Grimm directly again, he would only dodge. She had felt nervous at first, throwing such big and heavy stuff at Grimm, but in the back of her mind she had known after all his time in the training yard that he was more than capable of dodging such attacks. Mustering her strength, she cocked her fist and drew back.

Grimm saw her setting up for a punch and got ready to deflect. Using an opponent's superior strength against them was one of his specialties. If he could get her to miss and throw her off balance, he would have a shot at hitting her with one of his two remaining Moo Goo grenades.

But she didn't strike at him. Instead she let fall and struck at the rooftop surface. Grimm had neatly dodged out of the way, but instead of the force from her blow missing him and being wasted, it focused with devastating effect on the rooftop. He could feel the shockwave like an expanding bubble, and also felt the rooftop surface buckling and rippling under his feet like gelatin. He nearly stumbled, and quickly shifted his balance, trying to ride the force from the shockwave instead of fighting against it.

It worked - in fact it worked a little too well. His darting motion backwards carried him all the way up and over the top of the first A/C unit she had thrown at him. And as he tucked and flipped, he saw that it had come to a halt against the ledge of the rooftop. He was tumbling off the edge of the building.

Rhonda almost shouted out his name, but caught herself just in time as he disappeared over the building ledge. 'Oh man!' she thought, dashing the spot where he had gone over. 'It's ok - he's got his grappler, he's got his grappler - oh please don't tell me he forgot his grappler!'

Even as she leaned over to look down, she heard the familiar bursting sound and hiss of a grapple line. She saw the hook clamp snag onto the building ledge about five feet to her left, and looking down, she saw Grimm turning his fall into a neat swing that would carry him back up.

'Rhonda - he's got another one on him!' Jade shouted in her earpiece. 'Don't go wobbly, now's your only chance!'

'Sorry about this, G-man!' Rhonda thought to herself, then she darted over to the ledge where the hook was embedded, and punched hard. With a flash of blue, she knocked the cornice loose from the ledge with the hook still caught in it. Grimm was falling again.

Part III:
Exit Strategery

'He'll be fine!' Jade yelled. 'Just go for the platform - it's charged by now!' Jade shouted.

Rhonda needed no urging. She dashed at top speed to the cubbyhole between two of the remaining A/C units, where she had hidden the platform. The Moo Goo had expanded even more during the fight, and Rhonda groaned. She may have won the fight, but if she couldn't get away now, she would lose the overall battle. 'It's got like a whole mess of Goo covering it!' she said.

'Don't panic - is the storage compartment covered?'

Rhonda checked. The 'trunk' of the platform was at the rear. Since the front only had been hit with the Moo Goo, the small hatch was still visible. 'Yeah...' she said, bending down and fumbling it open.

'Look for a black aerosol spray can!' said Jade.

Rhonda pushed aside a wrench, a roll of duct tape, screwdriver, and two plastic pouches before she found it and pulled it out. 'Got it!'

'Pop the lid and spray the Goo like crazy!'

Rhonda did so, and the Goo started deflating like the foam from a glass of soda. Soon, the platform was clear. Quickly, she sprayed her other foot, and the Goo slid from that as well. 'That did it! I'm headed back home!'

'No wait!' Jade shouted.

'What?' Rhonda shouted back. 'Jade, I've gotta move! Grimm will be back any second...'

'Grimm is expecting 'you' to arrive!' Jade answered. 'Set the platform to auto pilot - I'll take remote control and drive it back!'

Rhonda spluttered. 'What? I can't stay here! Showing up wearing the battle suit?! Won't that give it away?'

'Did you see some pouches in the trunk?'

'Yeah...'

'They're "his and hers" mission outfits! Grab yours and duck into the stairwell - change as fast as you can!'

Rhonda scrabbled in the trunk. One pouch was labeled "G", the other "R". She seized the R pouch and ran for the service doorway. As she reached the door and wrenched the lock open, she glanced aside at the rooftop edge. There was still no sign of Grimm. 'Jade...' she panted. 'You're a miracle worker! How did you know to keep all this stuff in the platform?'

Jade shrugged. 'Hey, Grimm's an Eagle Scout, remember? "Be Prepared", and all that? He's the one who insisted that our rides should everything we needed for an emergency - or to spring into action at a moment's notice. The bike has that stuff packed in the trunk too.'

Rhonda looked around as she pushed the door shut behind her and hammered down a couple flights of stairs. There didn't seem to be anyone around - but it was after hours, and she reasoned that most of the workers in the building had gone home for the night. Hopefully no custodians had heard the din on the roof. She ducked under one of the stairwells and started changing furiously.

'No time to shuck the suit completely!' Jade said. 'Just take off the gloves and boots and dress over it! Mask off last - without it you haven't got a communicator!'

'Right!' Rhonda gasped, pulling on her mission shirt and cargo pants and clipping on her belt. The only thing the pouch seemed to be missing was socks. She stuffed the gloves and boots rapidly into the hip pouch and sat down to pull on the mission shoes...

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

As he went over the building ledge, Grimm was already working out angles for his swing that would carry him back up to the roof in the best angles for attack. He slid the grapple gun from his hip pouch and fired, hearing the familiar clank of the hook, and feeling the normal tug from the line that told him it had stuck firmly into the ledge. He was leaning into the swing, and reaching the lower angle of the arc that would send him sailing back up.

Then he felt a sudden lurch, and he was falling out and downward. He risked only a quick glance up to see a large chunk of the building ledge flying out into space, along with the trailing line of the grappler. 'She knocked it loose?' he thought angrily. 'How'd she even know I even had one of these things?'

But he turned to his more immediate problem - a lethal plunge to the streets below, and falling debris from above. An instantaneous glance at the building he'd fallen from showed that the backup grappler would be no use - it was one of those high-rise office style buildings that was smooth mirror-like windows from floor to roof with no ledges in between. And he had fallen too far from the ledge to reach it again with the backup grappler.

The building across the street was a more traditional brick-and-mortar skyscraper with ledges and he quickly slid the backup from its holster. Twisting in mid-air, he angled his shot and fired, and was soon swinging alongside the building across the street from the battle. He heard the whoosh of falling debris behind him, but lighted safely on the skyscraper ledge - about six stories below the ledge from which he'd fallen.

The evening air was whipping around him, with all things seeming quiet as he looked down and saw the pieces of the ledge land on a dumpster in a back alley. It made a sizeable dent, and a couple seconds later, the muffled boom of the impact reached his ears. As he perched on the ledge, he looked back up. Poxorza was nowhere in sight. He was too far below the ledge for the grapple line to reach from where he was. He had two choices - use two or three line swings to get back up, or hit the remote on his communicator to call the bike. Either way would take at least a minute.

He winced and hit the retract control on the grappler. His feet left the ledge and he started his ascent. The fight hadn't gone anything like he'd planned. After a couple more line retractions and ascents, he was hoisting himself back onto the rooftop. Besides the scattered A/C units and several globs of Moo Goo, there was nothing else he could see. He started circling around the remaining A/C units, checking to see if Poxorza was hiding - though given her strength that seemed unlikely.

He started as he heard thumping behind the service doorway and darted into hiding behind some of the vents. A second later, the door flew open and Rhonda stormed onto the rooftop, wheezing like a winded rhinoceros. She struck a kung-fu pose and was looking left and right as she gasped.

'Ok...! Where she at? Where she at?' she said. 'Me ready fight now!'

Grimm stepped out and Rhonda yelped, but calmed down once she saw who it was. 'Forget it, she's gone.' he said glumly. 'Fight's over.'

'What?' Rhonda squealed. 'After everything I went through to get here? That toads the wet sprocket!'

Grimm scowled as he hit the recall function on his communicator. From high above, the Ksikkihkíni began to descend. 'She's got a hovercraft of her own.' he said. 'Let's saddle up as fast as we can. I hit her ride with some Moo Goo. if we're lucky, it'll slow her down so we can spot her, and team up against her for round two.'

Rhonda maintained a nervous silence as they got onto the bike. Grimm began a methodical sweep of the surrounding buildings, pausing every so often to confer with Jade, and sounding increasingly frustrated as the minutes ticked past with no result. 'Come on!' he said tersely. 'You're saying there's no heat signature, no... ion trail, no nothing?'

Jade's voice sounded a little condescending over the speaker. 'Uh, "ion trails" are just Hollywood jibber-jabber.' she said. 'Sorry G-man, but whatever she's flying, it doesn't leave bread crumbs.'

'Great.' he said, shaking his head. 'She got away, and now she knows we're onto her.'

'Knows you're onto her.' Jade corrected. 'She still doesn't know about Rhonda.'

Grimm nodded. 'Well that gives us one element of surprise for the next encounter.' he said sullenly. 'Hopefully tonight wasn't a total loss. I want you to hack into the building's security cameras and analyze every second of the fight. I'm gonna go over that with a fine-tooth comb.'

'That... really necessary?' said Jade cautiously. 'She's still just a musclegirl with a slick ride, isn't she?'

'Hardly.' said Grimm, and Rhonda heard a familiar tone in his voice - as if he had locked his keys in the house and was trying to think of a way to get back in without them.

'Oh crud.' she thought. 'He's in riddle solving mode...'

'The more I think on it, the more I'm convinced she knows us - or knew me. She understood and knew how to counter my equipment and my fighting style way better than someone should have on a first encounter. I want to know how.'

'Are you mad at me, Grimm?' Rhonda blurted out. She didn't like where his thoughts were taking him, and needed to pull him off the rails. 'I really did my best to get there.'

She felt him shrug his shoulders. 'She was a lot better than I thought.' he said. 'Skilled, strong determined - and sassy. It'll take teamwork to bring down someone as tough as her.' Rhonda blushed a little, hearing him describe her without knowing it was her. 'Not blaming you, hot stuff.' he said. 'It's not like we knew to keep our schedules clear for her.'

'Yeah, imagine someone trying to warn you in advance that something like this was gonna happen.' said Jade dryly. 'That's crazy talk.'

Rhonda held tight as Grimm wheeled the bike around. 'I'm going back for what's left of the Moo Goo gun, then heading back to base.' he said, though he didn't sound any less frustrated. 'She got lucky - this time.'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

They landed outside the suburbs of their neighborhood, and Grimm drove them back to his place. He showed every sign of wanting to do planning sessions and analysis far into the night. But as he pulled up into the driveway, they were met with the sight of his glaring and angry mother. She was holding a rag and a can of furniture polish and tapping her foot on the driveway.

Even Grimm looked uncomfortable as he glanced aside at Rhonda. 'Ah... we'll go over the mission intel tomorrow morning.' he said in a low mutter.

'Ahem.' said Mrs. Probable, rather forcefully.

Rhonda quickly dismounted the bike. 'Hey, Mrs. P!' she said with a sheepish grin. 'I'll... find my own way home Grimm, thanks!'

Mrs. Probable nodded. 'Rhonda.' she said. And Rhonda turned and fled.

Grimm eased himself off the bike and made his way timidly to the stairs leading onto the porch and into the house. 'Hoo boy...' he said under his breath.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Rhonda made her way back home and to her room. The communicator she had left on her night stand was still on, and Jade was glaring from the screen even as she entered. 'Platform made it back to my place.' she said. 'Equipment check - you got the gloves, boots and mask in your pouch?'

Rhonda checked, and nodded.

Jade heaved a sigh. 'Good...' she breathed. 'Now... What the heck were you thinking?!'

Rhonda flinched at Jade's sudden fury, even though she was older. 'Jade I'm sorry, I just...'

'Didn't I warn you about this? Didn't I? Didn't I say, 'Grimm could come after you'?'

'Jade...'

'Do you realize how close we came to a total meltdown? If it weren't for me, he might have caught you and dumped you in Mr. Matter's lair without even knowing it was you!'

'But...'

'And now I'm supposed to give him footage of the fight to analyze - he could still deduce it was us! Dangit, why'd you have to...' But Jade halted as she saw a thick tear rolling down Rhonda's face. She felt her rage disappear as Rhonda's lips quivered pitifully. 'Aw geez, Rhonda...' she said, putting a hand over her eyes.

'I'm sorry.' Rhonda sniffed, her voice high and strained. 'I just wanted to help people...'

When Jade looked again, Rhonda had her face buried in her hands and she was sobbing. Rueful had climbed in through the still open window and laid a comforting paw on Rhonda's shoulder, while at the same time giving Jade an angry, reproachful look. 'Come on, don't cry.' said Jade. 'Look, I'm sorry I blew up, ok? I just didn't want you to get hurt, and this was really close...'

But she stopped as Rhonda's sobbing made a gradual, but smooth transition into giggling chuckles. Rhonda had raised her head and she was smiling as she pointed at Jade mischievously. 'Gotcha!' she chirped.

'You faked me?' Jade spluttered. 'Why you... I oughtta...!'

'Come on, Jade - you were foaming at the mouth, I had to calm you down.'

'You... Ooooooo!'

'Besides, you're not looking at the big picture here!' Rhonda said. 'We didn't get caught, and come on - I fought off Grimm! That means I was better than him!' She paused for a moment with a faraway look in her eye. 'That's... kind of a turn-on...' she mused.

Jade looked at her blankly for a moment. 'Rhonda - please don't tell me you're turning into a junkie for this sort of thing! I'm serious - if you go out again I'm not helping. You're on your own.'

Rhonda was still looking blankly off into an unseen distance though, nodding absent-mindedly. 'Mmm-hmm...' she said.

Jade glared. 'And I'm keeping the hover platform for now! You're... you're grounded, missy!'

'Aw, mom...' Rhonda teased.

Jade heaved a deep sigh. 'Look, I'll do what I can to edit the rooftop footage.' she said resentfully. 'But I can't stop Grimm from deducing stuff. This could still blow up in our faces. I suggest you sleep it off and get ready for Graduation tomorrow!'

Rhonda smiled faintly. 'Thanks.' she said.

'Yeah, yeah...' Jade answered, getting ready to sign off.

'Oh, and Jade?'

'Hmmm?'

'You have really weird taste in music.'

Part IV:
Graduation Day

Grimm awoke the next morning with his head on his computer desk. After being forced to catch up on his chores until the late hours, he was unable to resist going over video footage of the fight on the rooftop. He eagerly downloaded everything Jade had sent and started going over it frame by frame. He kept at it until his awareness had faded out, and he had fallen asleep.

He lifted his head from a small puddle of sleep drool, hearing his mother's voice calling down the basement stairwell. 'Breakfast in ten!' she said, in the semi-musical voice that mothers always seemed to use when issuing orders.

Feeling stiff and sore, he heaved himself up and made his way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Graduation was later that evening, along with the requisite celebrations, which he didn't really feel in the mood for.

He only half-listened to his Mom and Dad going on and on about the day's itinerary during breakfast, making occasional nods and mutters of assent. But his mind was firmly back at the computer, wanting to hatch a new plan of action.

So when Rhonda showed up after breakfast for their planning session, he was eager to get started. His Mom looked at them with narrowed eyes as they retreated towards the basement. 'Mom - come on, we've got at least three hours before we even need to think about getting ready.' he said. And his mother shrugged.

Taking that as assent, he practically dragged Rhonda behind him to his room. While it must have been frustrating to his mother to see such apparent lack of interest in his own Graduation, Grimm soon became equally frustrated when both Rhonda and Jade showed a similar lack of interest in going over the Poxorza battle. Neither of them seemed eager to give opinions or advice, and he had to prompt them to even get them to speak. And when they did, they seemed to only be saying things to discourage the lines of thought he was laying out.

From Rhonda and Jade's perspective, his single-minded fixation on finding a way to beat Poxorza through analysis of the video was a dangerous mental game of chess. Each move Grimm made had to be checked somehow to keep him from getting too close to the truth.

But finally, Grimm quieted down. That made Jade and Rhonda even more nervous, because it usually meant he was thinking harder. 'You know...' he said. 'I said yesterday that I thought Poxorza knew me somehow. And the more I look at her gear, the more I get the feeling that I've seen it before...'

'Uh... I'm hungry!' Rhonda blurted out. 'I could use some snacks - anyone else want snacks?'

'Yeah...' said Jade, even though she wasn't really in the room, and it hadn't been that long since breakfast. 'Snacks - that sounds good!'

But Grimm didn't seem to hear them. He was staring like a laser at the screen, which showed Poxorza frozen in place. 'That gear is familiar...' he said.

'Why don't we take a break and I'll head up to the fridge?' Rhonda said quickly. 'Grimm - what do you want? Hmm? Want anything?'

'No.' he said suddenly and firmly, and Rhonda froze as he stared right at her. 'I think I see what's going on. It's pretty obvious when you put all the pieces together.'

Rhonda's face went pale. Her lip trembled as Grimm looked her straight in the eyes. Her heart pounded wildly and she thought she would faint.

'Dementor got his battle suit tech up and running faster than we thought.' he said.

Rhonda's felt her jaw dropping. 'Hah...?' she said.

'It explains almost everything.' said Grimm, turning back to the screen. 'Poxorza has a battle-suit, but it's not complete...' he backed up the video to where Poxorza blocked the Moo Goo shots and paused. 'It's got shield tech, but it can't put up a full body shield. Dementor must still be working out the bugs. It didn't have the boosters, or the hand modules... and the stealth...'

Both Jade and Rhonda jumped in their seats as Grimm slapped his hand hard on the desk. 'The stealth mode!' he said. 'That's how she got away from us last night! That's why she took time out for that little fracas - she was letting the stealth mode recharge!'

'Uh...' said Rhonda, looking for an opening to try and derail his thought again. But Grimm's eyes were lighting up as he rewound the footage to when the hovercraft was lighting on the rooftop. Jade had kept those shots blurred and choppy, but even so, Grimm froze at one point where the platform was in view.

'That hovercraft... Jade, it uses similar tech to your MRT's!' he said eagerly. 'But it looks like that's not complete either. Another one of Dementor's tries at reverse engineering! He must have scanned the bike when we came in to deliver the tridyplatinum the other day. Ha! He should have called Dr. Drakken. He's better at ripping off other people's tech.'

Jade and Rhonda were glancing at each other sidelong through the chat screen. Both of them had similar 'deer in the headlight' expressions. Grimm had deduced all the equipment, but gotten the identity wrong. But it was still way too close for comfort. Even if they played along and acted like they were suspicious of Dementor, it would only take a little snooping for Grimm to figure out that Dementor wasn't the brains behind Poxorza. 'I still want those snacks...' said Jade with a grimace.

Grimm was back to staring quietly at the video footage. 'The question is, how did he get an operative here in Riddleton?' he said softly. 'Did he plant a bug and track us somehow? Our precautionary measures normally block that... But if he made a special tracking device that we couldn't detect, he might have ripped off some specs from your computers, Jade.' He paused and shook his head with a sniff. 'It's actually a pretty clever way to test drive the suit without drawing attention to himself. Busting up robberies and muggers? Who would suspect Dementor of doing that? Still, if he knows where Riddleton is, that's not good. We'll have to tell dad and the Black Ops, or Dementor could compromise the bigwigs who live here, or blackmail them to keep the location secret.'

'But... I thought Dementor wanted the battle-suit for himself.' said Rhonda. 'He wouldn't share it with whatz-her-face, would he?'

'Yeah, that is a puzzler.' said Grimm thoughtfully. 'But if the suit is only partly done, Dementor could be using this Poxorza lady to work out the kinks. Then when it's done, he'll broom her and take it back. If he does, I hope he changes the bands from pink to some other color. So... who's the mystery woman? Dementor doesn't have any girls in his posse that we know of. He probably didn't hire Shego - for some weird reason she keeps sticking with Drakken - when he's not in jail.'

Rhonda and Jade weren't sure exactly how to chime in. But thankfully, Grimm seemed to have slowed down. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin with a finger. 'Well we've got more info now, enough to give a status update to Mr. Matter anyway.' he said at last. 'I'll drop him a line tomorrow. In the meantime, we've got a Graduation to get ready for. Good work, people!'

Rhonda wasn't at all happy that Grimm seemed so encouraged at their apparent progress. But any attempt to throw him off the scent would be even more suspicious. She felt numb as he gave her a quick good-bye kiss, promising to see her later at the High School, and she went home in a kind of daze.

Once Rhonda was gone, and Jade's chat window was closed, Grimm still spent a fair bit of time going over the video footage yet again. But rather than trying to pick out weaknesses and clues, he found himself admiring Poxorza's fighting style. Graceless though it was, she had still countered him. It had been frustrating - enjoyably frustrating, like trying to beat a really good basketball player at Horse. You wanted a comfortable lead, but it never seemed to play out that way. Always staying neck and neck, with your opponent just a little bit ahead...

And listening to music during the chase? Like he wasn't even a threat? That made him want to challenge her even more. He sighed and shook his head. Was he feeling some kind of weird desire to impress this super femme?

'Man...' he thought. 'Have I got a thing for any girl who can outfight me? First Possible, and now this? What's wrong with me?'

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

It didn't seem like much more time had passed before Grimm felt he couldn't delay any longer. He washed up, dressed in formal clothes, and donned his cap and gown. Pausing to look in the mirror, he felt like he was wearing a silly costume for a convention of some kind. Graduations were the only times people ever dressed like this, which made it seem almost wasteful.

But when he came up, his mother looked adoringly at him, and his father beamed proudly - particularly at the honor colors on his sash. Even Lynn and Mim seemed uncharacteristically impressed. His mother seemed to want to document the entire evening, and insisted on pictures, even before leaving the house.

And as they were preparing to file into the garage, she gave him a small hug and appeared to be wiping away a tear. 'Oh Grimm, we're so proud of you...' she said.

Grimm hugged her back briefly. 'Come on, Mom.' he said, embarrassed. 'It's not like you and Dad didn't play a big part in all this.'

She patted him on the shoulder as she let go. 'Well, even so.' she said.

'Come on, honey.' said his father with a quiet nod. 'You won't be able to show him off if we're late.'

As the car drove away from the house, Grimm looked out around the neighborhood. 'Look out, world!' he thought. 'Next time you see Team Probable - we'll have gone pro!'

The car disappeared in the distance. Behind, the Probable house was quiet except for the rustling of the tree leaves outside. And after a few more moments... nothing happened.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

After so many years of taking the bus, or biking, or later using the Ksikkihkíni, being driven to the High School in the family car felt strange. Grimm got out of the car once they parked, and already the collar of his gown was feeling scratchy. Lynn and Mim were forced to alternate as camera holders while his Mom demanded that pictures be taken in several different locations, including in front of E. Nygma's statue, the front doors, the trophy case, and so on. And in each location, pictures had to be taken of Grimm alone, then with the parents, then with each individual parent, then with his sisters, and with the whole family when they could corral a passer-by to take the shots.

Grimm's only consolation during this was that he could see he wasn't the only one being run through this gauntlet. Every parent was doing the same with their own child. He caught glimpses of Rhonda and her family doing likewise here and there, and sometimes gathering together at turns to take photos and videos of each other.

Meeting other families on the grounds and in the halls only drew out the process. Even families they didn't know or interact with all that much were still greeted and chatted up with handshakes and hugs and congratulations all around - though Grimm was glad that the Stoneports weren't among them.

Grimm heard the same thing, or close to it, being said over and over by the parents - about how proud they were, how they couldn't believe this day had come so fast, how it had seemed like only yesterday when... And in Grimm's ears it all melded together into a background buzz.

The school halls seemed to have an almost otherworldly appearance to them now - unnaturally clean and sterile, with glimpses into the classrooms showing rigidly straight desks. It was as if the rooms were somehow closed for good now that they were leaving, and had been converted into museum displays for their bygone age.

But eventually everyone started gravitating towards the auditorium. The auditorium of Riddleton High was large enough for the whole graduating class, as well as their families in the bleachers. Grimm could feel that the air was already getting warmer and stuffy, with so many people breathing in one place and with all the stage lights on.

The main floor of the auditorium, normally used for basketball games, was now filled with chairs, and an elaborate stage set up, opposite to the bleachers. Soon, Grimm's parents and sisters split apart from him and made their way to the bleachers, where hundreds of people were already seated. Grimm joined his classmates behind a curtained section that screened them out of everyone's view.

All the seniors were gathered there, chatting and looking anxious. Through the talk and mutters of his fellow graduates, he heard Rhonda's chirpy voice behind him. 'Hey Grimm!'

'Hey, Rhon...' he turned, getting his first really clear look at her since arriving, and then his voice failed him. Rhonda stood in front of him, looking utterly radiant. Her hair was down, but it looked... different somehow. So did the rest of her. She was wearing heeled shoes and stockings, and he realized suddenly that he'd hardly ever seen her in anything but mission shoes. Maybe it was just that the outfit was so different than their normal school and work clothes, but the look fit her well. Wearing her cap and gown made her look somehow older, more mature... and glamorous. 'Woah - you look... great.' he said at last.

'Thanks.' she said. From his perch on her shoulder, Rueful was trilling and nodding. He was wearing a small graduation cap of his own, and looking almost smug.

'I...' Grimm started, but then his communicator buzzed in his hip pouch. Fishing it out through the graduation robe, he flipped it on.

'You brought that to graduation?' said Rhonda, grimacing slightly.

'Be prepared.' Grimm shrugged. 'What is it, Jade?' he said.

'Hey, lookin' sharp, guys!' Jade chirped, and Rhonda smiled, straightening her cap. 'Anyhoo G-man, I got confirmation on that thing you asked about. Looks like the Middleton graduations are on a different schedule. You guys are first!'

'Nice - thanks, Jade.' And he pocketed the communicator again. 'All right!' he said, turning to Rhonda. 'We beat Possible to the punch yet again! I'll have to send them a message somehow to let them know they came in second.' He expected her to be smiling, and was surprised to see her sighing and rolling her eyes.

'Yeesh Grimm - can't you forget about them for one day?' she said. 'How does graduating a few days before them make any difference?' And she actually turned away to say hi to Felicia, who was elbowing her way through the sea of gowned seniors.

Grimm was caught a bit flatfooted by the rebuke. When they'd first encountered Team Possible, Rhonda had been just as eager to get in their face as he had been. But hearing her talk like this - like she was bored of competing with them, it made him feel awkweird, as if he had let her down in some way. He was still trying to think of a way to respond, but Rhonda and Felicia were hugging, while Felicia was talking about giving the Valedictorian speech later. And all that was interrupted when Ms. Darken came in to stand at a raised podium.

'Attention, graduates!' she barked, and everyone turned, their chit-chat ebbing to silence. Grimm blinked, because even Ms. Darken looked different - her normal grey clothes now covered by the formal garb for graduation duties. She also seemed more sophisticated and important, and Grimm started wondering if there really was something to the silly caps and robes after all.

'The ceremonies will begin presently, and I order all of you to refrain from any exuberance, waving to the crowd, throwing of caps, or other unauthorized displays until after the event is complete.' Ms. Darken said flatly. 'You have all been rehearsed and trained for this day, and now is the time for you to prove that my efforts to lift you from point A to point B have not been squandered...'

And so it began. Grimm took his place as the Senior class arranged themselves behind the curtain dividers into an alphabetical line by last names, though he was placed in a separate line among the other honor students. He heard the school band playing beyond the divider, as well as the low murmur of the assembled crowd. And then Ms. Darken's voice, booming out in an echoing wave, muffled and indistinct as she called the crowd to attention and began going through the program...

Rhonda was feeling butterflies in her stomach and it seemed like they were all working hard to breed fresh caterpillars. 'Ooooh, it's finally here - it's really happening!' she thought over and over. She was excited by the whole experience. Everyone looked so neat in their gowns, dressed so formal. She remembered putting on her mom's shoes when she was just a kid, clonking around and pretending to be grown up. But now she was grown up, and she glanced down at her heeled shoes wistfully, noting how perfectly they fit. She wasn't just pretending anymore, it wasn't make-believe or a game.

And she couldn't understand why Grimm looked so bored. Four years of work to graduate, and he didn't seem excited. Taking communicator messages from Jade, and acting like he was more interested in getting his diploma before Kim Possible than anything else. Couldn't he set work aside for a while and just... enjoy the moment?

But now the honor students, with Grimm among them, were heading out beyond the curtain dividers to begin their parade around the auditorium before taking their seats. Rhonda nodded to Rueful, and both of them adjusted their caps. Soon the regular students would follow. 'All right, Rhonda Fatigable,' she thought. 'You're as ready as you'll ever be!'

Keeping with Ms. Darken's orders, Grimm only smiled and nodded to his parents and sisters up in the stands when Lynn and Mim whooped. Then he took his place in the seats reserved for the honor students, and waited patiently while all the other students followed them out, circled around the seats, and then took their assigned places like a dog and pony show for humans instead of animals.

Then it was time for the speeches. And Grimm felt his mind wandering. Sure enough, barely two minutes into the first speech, he heard the words 'hope' and 'change' and 'future' all in one paragraph, and he sent a smug glare towards Ms. Darken, who seemed to be avoiding looking back at him.

He thought it would be tactless to take out his communicator and start checking emails, so he tried to occupy himself by reading idly through the program. He hit the part where they were at now, going through the list. Since he had engineered things so that he would not be valedictorian, he was not surprised to see that Felicia had been shoo-in for the honor after him.

There were several other speakers, including various honor students, important members of the community, and Ms. Darken herself. All of them seemed dryball, boiler plate, conventional... exactly what one would expect from speakers who had been coached for such an event. No surprises whatsoever, and nothing particularly exciting. So he started skipping ahead in the program to see what was next. After the speakers, the diploma presentation was set to take place. Then after that were presentations from various clubs in the school...

And he stared at the list, seeing something he hadn't noted before - the Chess club was among them.

Rhonda stared with wide, sparkling eyes at every speaker on the stage, hanging on every word. 'Wow...' she thought. 'Hope, change, the future... this is all pure gold! How do they come up with this stuff?'

Then she heard a whisper from where the honor students were seated. 'Rhonda?'

'Yes?' came an answering whisper, from Rhonda Ruegger, a member of the AV club.

'No, not you Rhonda, my Rhonda!' Grimm hissed, and Rhonda Ruegger sniffed and turned back to look at the speaker podium.

'What?' Rhonda whispered.

'You and the chess club have a number set up?' Grimm whispered.

'Yeah.' she nodded, only glancing at him.

'And I wasn't in on it?'

'I didn't think you'd be interested.' she shrugged. 'I mean, you don't like being on stage, right? You never want to be a star, you just want to stay here on Earth...'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Grimm said, a little louder. But then he glanced up, hearing a grating ahem from the stands. Ms. Darken was glaring at them with eyes blazing, and Grimm retreated back into sitting posture and silence.

He brooded on what had just happened for a few minutes, and the talks being given became background muttering for his thoughts. The thing was, Rhonda was right in saying he didn't like being in the spotlight. He'd always preferred working from behind the curtains. But it hurt that Rhonda didn't even bother asking him, so he could make it his own choice.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard the word valedictorian. Ms. Darken was at the stage podium again. '...from our Valedictorian, Felicia Rexton!'

Rhonda was whooping as her best girl friend walked down the aisle between the rows of seats and climbed to the stage. Rueful was doing the 'rah rah' gesture, and everyone was applauding. Grimm joined in, but only half-heartedly, his eyes still on Rhonda.

Felicia was beaming as she stood at the podium. 'Hope, and change, and the future!' she started out, and Grimm breathed out something between a sigh and a yuck.

'These are the things that inspired all of us to make it this far, to stand here on this day. As I stand before you all tonight, I see the faces of friends. Friends who have become an extended family. And like all families, we've had our ups and downs. But we will rise above our fear of the unknown road that lies ahead - knowing that Graduation is not the end of the world, but the start of a whole new world - for all of us.

We all worked hard to get here, and this is our year - this is our day. But in the midst of celebrating ourselves and our achievements, we should not forget the thanks we owe to all the people who helped us obtain them. So as Valedictorian, and a representative of the Riddleton High graduating class, I wish to express our collective gratitude. To our supportive families, to our patient, hardworking teachers, and especially to Principal Darken, who kept driving us to be our best - even when we didn't want to.

And personally, to my best friend Rhonda Fatigable. Her never quit attitude always reminded me, and should remind us all, that if you keep trying and never give up - you really can do anything!'

There was thunderous applause as Felicia ended. Then the school band ground into action, playing the traditional graduation fanfare, and Ms. Darken began reading off names, beginning with the honor students. Grimm counted down the letters in the alphabet until Ms. Darken reached the letter P, and Grimm squared his shoulders when Ms. Darken read his name.

'Grimm Probable.'

He wasn't expecting a wave of applause from the crowd, so he was not disappointed. He heard the voices of his own family and Rhonda's family from the stands, as well as a few others from his fellows in the gymnastics team. But he'd never been hugely popular at school. The stage lights partially blinded him so he couldn't well see his family up in the bleachers, but he waved and nodded again in the direction of his sisters' whoops as he circled the stage, then made his way up the stairs.

Ms. Darken nodded curtly to him as she handed him his diploma cover, he nodded back, and that was it. He completed his walk to the stairs at the other end of the stage, back down, and retook his seat. He smoothed a hand over the textured surface of the cover as the remainder of the honor students followed the same routine.

'Donald Stoneport.'

Unlike Rhonda, Donnie seemed to agree with Grimm that picking up his own diploma after Grimm had picked up his was like losing a race. He stared at Grimm with slitted eyes as he took his diploma cover, and Grimm smirked up at him, jostling his own cover in his lap.

Then it was time for the remainder of the students to follow suit. With Rhonda's family name coming so soon in the alphabet, she didn't have nearly as long a wait.

'Rhonda Fatigable.'

Rhonda eagerly flounced onto the stage with Rueful on her shoulder, and cheers broke out among the assembly. The cheers for Rhonda seemed much louder and prolonged than his own had been. And Ms. Darken was actually smiling as she handed Rhonda her diploma cover. Though reading her lips, Grimm caught her mouthing the words non-conformist punk to Rhonda. Rhonda didn't seem to mind though, and was beaming at the crowd as she made her way back down to her seat.

She winked at Grimm as she passed by, clutching her diploma cover like it was made of gold instead of faux leather. He smiled and nodded, then settled in to watch the rest of the Senior class making the trek up onto the stage.

By now Grimm thought it would be trying the patience of the crowd to drag things out much longer, but enthusiasm seemed to build as the club presentations began. There were four, and the Chess Club was the third. So Rhonda and the other Chess Club members got up and made their way back behind the curtain dividers to get ready.

When their turn came, they had not swapped out of their graduation robes as they took their places on stage. Rueful was even helping, manning the turntable.

They looked both impressive, and silly, as a band on stage while still in their robes and caps. But when they started playing, Grimm forgot all about that, seeing only Rhonda, bathed in the spotlight like an angel. He'd heard her sing many times before, mostly jamming with her animal buddies or doing air guitar numbers. He'd even seen her doing other numbers with the rest of the Chess Club. Maybe it was his imagination, but somehow they seemed to be playing better, and Rhonda's voice seemed more mellow, deep and... just cooler. He knew the tune, another moldy oldie, the kind that Rhonda always liked jamming to, but clearly she'd been ordered to tweak the lyrics for the occasion, probably by Ms. Darken.

We've reached our dreams
we've got our wish, we've got our fantasy!
We're heading out into the world,
got ev'rything that we need!

We're reaching high, right to the stars,
with ev'ry deed that we do,
so let's be strong and let's be faithful
'cause I'm counting on
A new beginning
A reason for living
A deeper meaning, yeah!

Grimm felt his cheeks reddening. Not because he was embarrassed for, or because of her. On the contrary, she was doing great. It was because Rhonda had spent the bulk of her High School years being made fun of and dissed by almost all her classmates. He was sure that they would start chuckling, sneering or otherwise disrespecting her on stage, as they usually had before.

But as he looked around, he saw that the rest of the graduates were looking either quietly impressed, or open mouth astonished. Even Donnie Stoneport was looking back and forth between him and Rhonda with an expression that seemed to say, 'Where's the geekette, and who's the supermodel you replaced her with?' And Ms. Darken's normal stony, tooth-gritted look of disapproval was gone, replaced with the single, slightly arched eyebrow which was the only visual sign of enjoyment she ever displayed.

The music had started off gentle and slow, but suddenly the Chess club sped up the beat and the tempo, injecting a fast, dance club techno style into it, and Rhonda's voice and stage energy spiked to match it.

I want to stand with you on a mountain!
I want to swim with you in the sea!
I want to lay like this forever!
Until the sky falls down on me!

And suddenly the whole audience, the seniors and spectators alike, were cheering and whooping as if they were really at a rock concert, watching a star performer doing their favorite number. Rhonda even seemed to feed off of that, her usually clumsy stage dancing now more graceful as she kept singing fast and evenly.

And when the stars are shining
brightly in the velvet sky,
I'll make a wish send it to heaven|
Then make you want to cry!

The tears of joy for all the
pleasure and the certainty!
That we're surrounded by the
comfort and protection of
The highest powers!
In lonely hours,
The tears devour you!

As Rhonda performed, Ms. Darken showed signs of wanting to tone Rhonda down a bit, but the positive reaction of the crowd seemed to resign her to let it go on. Ms. Darken wasn't actually tapping her foot, but Grimm definitely saw that her toes were flexing within her heeled shoe in time to the music as the second chorus began.

I want to stand with you on a mountain!
I want to swim with you in the sea!
I want to lay like this forever!
Until the sky falls down on me!

As Rhonda kept performing, Grimm noted that there was a bluish glow just below her left shoulder. He winced. Her birthmark was flaring up again, the usual sign that the power of the Great Bear Spirit was flowing through her. And like on the race track the other day, it seemed to be doing so without her bidding, or even noticing that it was happening. He couldn't rush on stage and drag her down with everyone watching. He could only grimace and hope that in the energy of the performance, with the stage lights and other distractions, that no one would notice. Or if they did, that they would think it was just part of the number. It was muffled by her dress and her robe, to no brighter than a glow stick, and the Chess Club did have several glow sticks taped to their drumsticks, guitars and other instruments.

But he wondered why this was happening now. The power of the Great Bear was usually only something Rhonda could call on when she, or someone she cared about, was in danger. Surely the Great Bear wouldn't want to 'help' Rhonda with something so trivial as a musical number. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny that she was performing flawlessly, her movements flowing smoothly from one to the other, and without so much as a trip on her robes.

Oh can you see it baby?
You don't have to close your eyes
'Cause it's standing right before you,
All that you need will surely come!

I want to stand with you on a mountain!
I want to swim with you in the sea!
I want to lay like this forever!
Until the sky falls down on me!

The number finished with another wave of cheers and prolonged applause from the crowd. Some were even standing, her own parents among them. Rhonda beamed, waved and bowed, motioning the crowd to the Chess Club standing behind her with their instruments. Grimm was applauding numbly along with everyone else as they filed off the stage, and Ms. Darken went on through the last of the program.

Grimm wanted to congratulate Rhonda first, but he wasn't able to even see her through other seniors in the row giving her back pats and high-fives as she made her way to her chair, grinning and blushing. Rueful was on her shoulder, accepting every handshake that came her way.

After the last club performance, the program came to its end and Ms. Darken went to the podium to close the ceremony. '...please move your tassels to the left side of your caps.' she said, and there was a flutter of hands as this was done. Ms. Darken nodded. 'And with that, I give my congratulations to Riddleton High's Senior Class - well done, and the very best of luck to you, in all of your future endeavors!'

A roar of high pitched shouts rose in the auditorium as the students threw their caps into the air in celebration.

The band was playing music while the graduates and their families began the organized chaos of filing out of the auditorium and onto the grounds. Grimm and Rhonda made their way through hugging family members and clusters of whooping friends.

'We did it!' Rhonda said, shuffling in place. 'We're graduates! Eeeeeeeeee!'

Grimm smiled indulgently and tapped his diploma cover against hers like a wine glass. 'Don't burn out too early, babe.' he smiled. 'There's still the farewell party.'

'I know,' Rhonda said, grinning from ear to ear, 'But... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!'

Once they managed to reach their families through the milling crowds, it was a repeat performance of hugs, back pats and marathon photo taking, now with Rhonda and Grimm holding up their diploma covers for the cameras.

'Yeesh, Mom.' said Grimm, after the third round of pictures. 'We may as well just strap a camera boom to my head and document the whole day...'

'Don't give me any ideas.' she said from behind her camera, and clicking away.

Rhonda had even more to deal with than Grimm. She was besieged with people, families and fellow graduates who were congratulating her on the musical number. 'Or sucking up.' Grimm thought resentfully. He noted that many of the people fawning over her now were the same ones who wouldn't give her the time of day during four years of taking classes together. If it were up to him, he would have told them all to hit the bricks. But Rhonda took it in stride, treating each and every well-wisher like they had always been best friends.

There came a lull while they were standing on the edge of the High School grounds. Both their families were talking with members of other families, swapping congratulatory words and handshakes. The crowds around them were starting to thin just a little, and both Grimm and Rhonda were stretching their stiff backs.

'How're the feet?' said Grimm.

'Killing me.' Rhonda grimaced. 'So when do we get our actual diplomas?'

'Sometime next week. They're mailing them. Something about wanting to make sure they arrive flat.'

'It's parchment, of course it's flat.' Rhonda sniffed. 'You'd think it would be easier to just put them in the diploma covers while they're handing them to us.'

'And risk giving someone the wrong diploma? Ms. Darken's not gonna do that. If they did it like that, we'd still be only half-way through the presentations.'

Rueful was tapping Rhonda on her shoulder and chirruping. She looked at him, and followed where he was pointing with his paw. At the very edge of the grounds, where the manicured grass turned into the trees and thickets of a wooded grove, there was a pack of about six wild weasels. They were half hidden in the shade of the overhanging shrub leaves, and all staring at Rhonda with glittering eyes.

One of them darted out a few feet, standing on his hind legs and sniffing while the others hung back. Rhonda stooped down and petted him, smiling brightly. 'Well aren't you the brave one!' she said, scratching him behind his ears. The weasel leaned his head into Rhonda's fingers, thumping one hind leg on the ground. After a few seconds, he darted back into the shrubs, and Grimm could have sworn he saw the weasel high-fiving his fellows as they all vanished into the undergrowth.

At that moment, Cousin Mary showed up, and she and Rhonda started comparing their diplomas and chatting. Ever sharp-eared, Grimm heard a male voice not far behind him speaking in a low mutter. 'Wish I was a weasel...'

He turned and saw two members of the football team, standing in their caps and gowns and carrying their own diploma covers. They were also looking at Rhonda with dull, vacant smiles.

He stepped up to them, and while he didn't raise his voice, there was no hiding his irritation. 'Hey,' he said curtly. 'You wanna try saying that with the boyfriend listening?'

Grimm wasn't even sure what their names were - he had never followed football much through High School. But both of them rolled their eyes and waved a palm out. 'Ok fine, sorry dude.' said one, and they both turned to leave. But even as they were leaving, he heard the other one saying under his breath. 'She could do better than him.'

Grimm was half tempted to call them out again, but he shook his head and turned back towards his still-chatting family and to Rhonda. 'Yet another reason why I never tried out for football.' he grumbled.

Part V
To The Stars We Go

The Riddleton sky was fading to dusk as the sun lowered, and Grimm was heading to Rhonda's place in a rental car. He had eschewed renting a limo, settling instead for a nice, black 2-door sedan. Taking the bike seemed out of place, and Rhonda was worried about her hair getting mussed if they flew on the Ksikkihkíni.

After getting back home, he had stowed his diploma cover, ditched the cap and gown, and re-adjusted his outfit for the evening activities. Picking up Rhonda so formally seemed odd, given how often they went out together. But he was looking forward to spending some time with just the two of them and no family members breathing down their necks.

So he knocked on the Fatigable's door, and was ushered in by Rhonda's mellow-voiced father. Her mother was holding little Indy, who looked restless and was squirming in the crook of her arm. Mr. Fatigable was hoisting a camera as he called up the stairs.

'Rhonda, your date is here!' he said mischievously.

'Coming!' came Rhonda's muffled voice from upstairs. And Grimm felt surprise yet again as she rounded the corner and descended slowly.

He decided that Rhonda shopping for gowns and being late for the Poxorza battle had all been worth it. She looked amazing in a form-fitting black dress with matching gloves that went nearly to her shoulders. Her hair was in an up-do, which he'd never seen her use before. He knew it was hard work and a major pain to fix hair that way, but he kind of wished she could keep it like that.

The camera paused in its clicking for a moment, and Grimm felt Mrs. Fatigable put a hand under his jaw, nudging it up. 'Mouth closed dear, you'll catch flies.' she said. 'And for pity's sake - corsage?'

Grimm flushed a little as he sprang into action, taking the corsage from its plastic case and pinning it gingerly to the strap of her left sleeve. 'You look awesome.' he said.

'Yeah I do!' she said.

He held out his elbow. 'Shall we, then?'

'Oh yes let's.' she chirped, acting giddily formal.

'Normal curfew is waived for tonight, but remember, I have operatives.' said Mr. Probable, smiling, but with slightly narrowed eyes.

'Yes sir.' said Grimm with a nod.

'Dad...' said Rhonda, flushing bright red. But she slid her arm around Grimm's elbow and they stepped out into the evening air. Rhonda waved at Rueful who was winking savagely at them from her window upstairs. They were just heading down the steps when Grimm's communicator rang - not with Jade's normal ringtone, but with a simulated old style telephone bell. 'Promise you're gonna leave that in the car when we get to the party.' Rhonda growled.

'Promise made.' Grimm winced. 'I thought I'd left it at home...' But he fished it out and answered it anyway.

'Mr. Probable?' came a female voice.

Both Grimm and Rhonda paused, looking at each other. 'Leigh?' said Grimm.

'My apologies for interrupting your evening.' came the voice of Leigh Gality, the lawyer that Team Probable used for special operations. 'Would you please swing by my office on your way to the farewell celebration? There is a matter some urgency I need to discuss with you. The sooner the better. I wouldn't have asked, but my office is on the way to your evening activities.'

Grimm sighed, looking at Rhonda, who looked annoyed. 'We were just on our way.' Grimm said. 'Can't it wait till tomorrow?'

'Technically - no.' she said. 'It's an issue that must be addressed rather quickly.'

He glanced at Rhonda, who rolled her eyes and nodded. 'All right, we'll be right over.' he said. 'But can we make it fast?'

'I'd prefer it brief, yes.' Leigh answered, then hung up.

Rhonda shook her head as Grimm opened the car door for her. 'What does she want?' she groused.

Grimm circled the car and got in, shrugging his shoulders. 'Beats me. Guess I'll find out. But don't bother coming up - I'm gonna keep it under ten minutes. Time me.'

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Before long, he was parking the car in front of the high-rise law building in downtown Riddleton where Leigh Gality worked. It was everything one would expect of a legal firm, with fluted columns outside, marble surfaces everywhere, the office areas awash with dark maroon carpeting and mahogany desks.

Grimm had been there only a few times, and rushed through the building now so he could get the meeting finished as fast as possible. The offices were mostly empty, almost everyone had gone home for the night. He skidded to halt outside of a door with a marble plaque in which the words Leigh Gality were engraved with gold letters. He knocked on the door, and Leigh opened it, ushering him in.

'Grimm.' she said, nodding. 'Thank you for coming on such short notice. I apologize again for interrupting your graduation day.'

Grimm nodded back and took a seat, feeling a bit odd. Leigh had known and worked with the team for a long time now, and things between them were usually more casual. But being dressed in his tux, and with Leigh acting so professional, the meeting felt strangely formal. 'No problem.' he said. 'But we're expected, so can we get this over with?'

Leigh circled around and sat behind her desk. She straightened some papers, took off her glasses and sighed, not making eye contact. 'Very well.' she said, looking up at him at last. 'You and Rhonda have graduated High School. That means - you are both of age.'

'Yeah...' said Grimm, with a wary nod. 'So?'

'It means that I can no longer represent you, or your team, as I have in the past.'

Grimm felt his brows knitting reflexively. 'What?' he said.

Leigh looked away again. 'I regret that it has to be this way.' she said, standing back up and looking out of the window. 'But as you are well aware - a wholly different set of rules apply to defending legal adults as opposed to juveniles.'

Grimm swallowed. Leigh was right of course, as she always was. It was one of the reasons why he liked having her as backup for legal situations. She knew all the ins and outs of the law. 'Are you dumping us as clients?' he said.

'Not necessarily.' she said. 'We've shared a profitable and mutually beneficial arrangement up until now. But the simple fact is, the law can no longer protect Team Probable in the same way - now that you're of age.'

Grimm shook his head, taken aback, feeling almost like he had when Poxorza had foiled him and escaped. 'Come on Leigh, you're smarter than that.' he said. 'You could find a way to represent us if you wanted to. There's something you're not telling me.'

'You're an intelligent boy...' Leigh shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. '...an intelligent man, Grimm.' she said. 'As I said, our arrangement has worked well for both of us until now. But it has always been risky. Your activities walk a razor's edge, and I'm surprised you haven't fallen off yet. You've said it yourself many times. You can only win when you pick the right battles. If I try to defend your team's... exploits now as I have in the past, it won't fly. The protections you had as underage children no longer exist. Yes - I can still represent you. But the risks - and therefore the expense - will become considerably larger.'

'Only if we get caught.' said Grimm. 'If we just play things carefully...'

'Dumb luck doesn't last forever.' said Leigh. 'Another thing I've heard you say before.'

Grimm and Leigh stared at each other in silence for some time. At last, Leigh sighed again. 'I have drawn up a series of documents,' she said, lifting a thick manila folder from her desk. 'To re-negotiate our... arrangement. If you will sign them, and accept the new risks, I can continue to act as your legal representative. If not, then we must regrettably go our separate ways.'

She handed him the folder, and Grimm took it, looking at the many papers neatly tucked inside. 'I'll... get back to you once I've gone through it.' he said.

'Once Ms. Omo-sa goes through it, I presume you mean.' she answered. 'I think she will find it is tough, but fair.'

Grimm felt nettled by the slight, but didn't answer. He nodded curtly, then turned and stumped towards the office door. As he turned the knob and opened, he heard Leigh's voice behind him.

'My apologies, Grimm.' she said. 'But growing up means that things must change. Enjoy your farewell dance.'

Grimm only half-glanced back towards her. His smirk failed him, leaving his face nearly expressionless as he paused only for a split second, then he left and closed the door behind him.

In the elevator, Grimm looked into the folder. A mere glance at the first paragraph told him it was the usual legal mumbo-jumbo that became incomprehensible gibberish the more you tried to sift through it. It was one of the reasons why having a good lawyer was so important - only they could really understand and take advantage of the documents they wrote which served to tie the hands and disrupt the lives of everyone else.

He scowled as he made his way through the lobby to the exit. He didn't want to lose Leigh as part of the team. But to keep her on, he'd have to look through and see how much it was going to cost them. He had no doubt the price would be stiff - even with as much money as they'd saved. 'Enjoy the dance.' he thought bitterly, roughly pushing open the thick glass doors. 'Yeah - while throwing this mess on the pile next to everything else.'

He crossed the plaza and got into the rental car. Rhonda was there, still looking gorgeous in her gown. 'So what'd she want?' she said.

Grimm almost told her, wanting to launch off about this to someone. But instead he rolled his eyes, waving the manila folder. 'Just... legal stuff.' he said, trying to sound as dismissive as possible. 'You know how lawyers are. We'll go over it later with Jade. Right now, we've got a party to get to.' And he threw the folder into the back seat.

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Grimm did indeed try to enjoy the rest of the evening, and to put other things out of his mind. The Poxorza situation, their lack of headway on the grass vandal job, his parents bugging him about college, Rhonda's unexplained spontaneous bursts with the Great Bear's power, and now the sitch with Leigh. It seemed hard to imagine that just a couple of weeks ago, he felt like the team had been riding high.

And while these issues buzzed near the back of his thoughts, he mostly focused on enjoying the night with Rhonda. Ms. Darken had set up an elaborate farewell party at a Riddleton convention hall, with a dance and several activities that included a karaoke bar, a movie theater, a casino, and raffle prizes.

But Grimm found himself wishing that he and Rhonda could have just gone somewhere and been alone. He had to share Rhonda with a seemingly endless stream of classmates asking for yearbook signatures, photos, email addresses to stay in touch, and more. Again, Grimm felt annoyed that so many people were saying they would miss her, when they didn't seem to have cared a whit about her before.

Even worse, Grimm found himself having to fend off a number of guys who kept asking Rhonda to dance. It should have been common knowledge that he and Rhonda were dating, but there seemed to be a large number who were acting like they had no idea.

So when Rhonda took a turn at the karaoke machine to do another of her favorite old songs, she wound up with a number of guys gathering around to watch, and cheer. And again to his surprise, Donnie Stoneport was among them.

Grimm hadn't joined in - his stage shyness kept him on the sidelines. But as Rhonda sang and half-danced behind the karaoke microphone, he found himself admiring her again. Maybe it was the dress, or the hair, but she just looked better. She even seemed thinner and more toned, as if the exercise from all their missions and training was having a more pronounced effect.

She was simply beautiful. The other girls at school - like the girls on the cheer squad - they were beautiful too, of course. But their beauty had aspects that were forced and artificial. They needed creams, shampoos, perfumes, make-up, trainers and stylists to make themselves beautiful. Rhonda was beautiful without those things. And all the more so, because it was a wholesome down-to-earth beauty that didn't need to call attention to itself.

He was troubled. 'I've known her for years.' he thought. 'She's my best friend, my bon-diggety girlfriend. When did she suddenly become hot property?'

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In a clearing surrounded by thick forest trees, a Lorwardian shuttle lay concealed. The hatchway was open, and white light spilled from it like a beacon. Two shapes were descending from the hatchway. One thin and skeletal, the other hulking and massive.

BattleSkaar paused to look at their surroundings. No buildings, no civilization in sight - only savage plant life. They would actually be doing this planet a favor by conquering it and bringing their advanced technology and culture. The inhabitants might well be thanking them before long...

'A most welcome sight.' said Maze, stepping forward. He breathed in the air as if he had just emerged from a tomb after ages of interment. The sterile, processed air of the Lorwardian ships was galling compared to the freshness of the surrounding trees. 'But why have you brought me here?'

BattleSkaar glowered at him. 'To fulfill the second aspect of our bargain.' he said. 'General Warhok is satisfied that the marker project is back on schedule. So much so, that he deems the time has come for you to resume your hunt for the one called Drakken.'

Maze looked aside at him. 'You will still need my abilities to conceal the last of the markers...'

'The process is nearly complete.' BattleSkaar broke over him. 'Our forces will place the remaining few markers during the next five of your solar cycles. Once they have been set, the invasion will begin. You have until then to complete your hunt. If you should fail, then you will have no reward.'

Maze bowed his head to conceal his narrowed eyes. 'I understand, my lord.' he said softly.

BattleSkaar threw him a small box. 'Take this.' he said gruffly. 'It is a homing beacon. Once you have found Dr. Drakken, activate it, and we will come for him - and you. You will also require sub-atmospheric transport.' He nodded to the Fight still stationed at the hatchway. The Fight nodded back and began pushing out what looked like a winged, human sized pod. It had the same black and scarlet colors as the larger Lorwardian ships.

'This has been specially made for your conveyance.' said BattleSkaar. 'Coupled with your shadow abilities, it should allow you to travel quickly to any location on your Earth's surface, and to move undetected. To accommodate your... lack of experience, we have made the controls simple. You would do wisely to practice here for a brief time after we have left.'

Maze nodded, but kept his head bowed and continued to hide his sulky expression. 'It shall be as you command.' he said, keeping his voice patient.

'Very good.' said BattleSkaar. 'As of this moment, you are free to hunt alone. Go forth, and do our will. Just remember... we will be back soon, whether you have succeeded in your hunt or not. You will either be numbered as one of us, the conquerors - or you will be among the conquered.' He turned and snapped his fingers, and the Fight fell in step behind him. They both disappeared into the shuttle, and the hatch snapped shut behind them. Moments later the engine whined, and the transport vanished, shooting up into the night sky.

Only after they had gone did Maze raise his head. 'Farewell, masters.' he growled. He was both embarrassed and offended by how quickly the Lorwardian plans were shaping up. He remembered the weeks of long labor that he and Monkey Fist had undergone to launch their own scheme for world domination. It had taken ceaseless effort, and all the resources they could muster, in addition to their own powers. And here these green giants were poised to take over the planet in mere hours.

And after everything he had seen, the time spent helping them, he believed they would do it. They weren't even concerned that he might betray them now. And he had to admit - even if he flew to the nation's capital in this alien machine, telling the truth, and turning in of all his new tools and weapons, he doubted anyone would believe him. With as many mad scientists as existed on Earth, they might well ascribe these fantastic machines to any one of them. Fools that the white men were, they would bicker and quarrel over the 'meaning' of it all for days, and by then it would be too late for them. Irksome though it was, it was best to fulfill his end of the bargain and simply enjoy watching the white man's world come crashing down around them.

And to that end, he mounted the cycle-like pod. It was comfortable enough, and displayed the Lorwardian skill at miniaturization as a full canopy slid up from the nose cone and surrounded him. As promised, the controls were similar to the Lorwardian shuttles he had studied, although pared down and simplified. 'Otaatoyiwa named his flying machine the Eagle,' he thought, running his hand over the smooth surface of the cockpit. 'I shall name you... Crow.'

And soon the Crow was also rising up into the darkness. Maze chanted softly, concentrated, and the night shadows spread over his vehicle like a thin blanket of black mist. He disappeared from view, and with an equally dark smile, he began soaring through the night. His orders were to find Dr. Drakken before the invasion began. But his desire was to have revenge on Katasistsikoowa and her friends. But he had a plan now, to achieve one task by doing the other...

Coming Soon:

Chapter 7
Mission in Montana

Author:

Even if the chapters still aren't coming much faster, at least the action will be! The clock is ticking down towards the inevitable. And as Jeff Goldblum might say... 'Checkmate.' Now that Team Probable are graduates, they have to venture out into 'the real world'. And it'll be a bigger experience than any of them imagined as they're called out for their biggest job ever...