There were a bunch of idea-excuses, really- running through your head on what to do this weekend outside of going to go kill the Vampire. There was always more prep work you could do, and Kim would need you for the mission, and the map of the tri-city area wasn't complete yet, and you could keep going on and on about it. You knew the truth of the matter, though.

You were scared. This wasn't some sort of supervillain like Drakken who couldn't get an invention to work to save his life or even Monkey Fist whose only real target was you. You saw the blood pooling around your sneakers again, and the body lying there as the creature drank its blood. That thing was a killer, something even scarier than monkeys! There was no way yo-

A hand clasped your shoulder in a firm grip, tightening in a bit of offered reassurance. The face of Mr. Barkin stared down at you, a strange mixture of sympathy and understanding written on his face. Looking through the room, you saw similar expressions on everyone there, even Bonnie who hid it behind a sneer. You could do this, you weren't alone and you couldn't allow it to hurt more people. With a smile and a small sigh, you looked up.

"We're going to go for this thing on Friday, all of us." Everyone in the room gave your a different response at that. Tara's smile fell slightly, but she did her best to keep it up. Bonnie rolled her eyes at the statement, but her fists tightened around the skirt she was wearing. Brick simply nodded, looking totally okay with what was happening despite what it entailed. Beside you, you could almost swear Mister Barkin gave you a ghost of a smile before looking away from you to the rest of the group.

"You heard him, we'll meet here Friday afternoon to do this. Any questions?" It was a plan, then. Being Halloween weekend, you did have the day off and it wasn't like any of the parties were starting before six so no one else could complain. Heck, you could even try to get Kim to trick or treat with you again this year! If not, you're sure that you could convince the twins to help you get the best sweet stash like you did before. It's not like you were going to be go to any of those lame parties even if you were invited and no one here would like to go with you to ring up the neighborhood's houses for candy. Still, there was one thing you wanted to do before the mission, now that you thought about it.

"Hey, you guys mind meeting up one more time before we do this? Like, Wednesday night after cheer and football practice or something? I think it would be smart to figure out an action plan before we go do this, you know?" You found yourself greeted with a chorus of assenting nods, each person in the room seemingly okay with taking a bit of extra time to straighten things out. After that, the five of you left, and you went home to prep for Monday's algebra test.

Man you hope you didn't fail that. For all Mr. Barkin seemed to like you, it only made you feel worse when he gave you the "I know you can do better and I'm disappointed in you" stare. What's worse was that you were honestly starting to believe him. You were actually feeling confident about getting homework done! What high-schooler did tha-

The buzzing of your cell phone in Kim's special ringtone put a stop to any other thoughts you had.

XxX

Okay, so studying was much more interesting than you'd thought. Well, it was more that you were doing so while in a boat going down the Congo that made it such but you'd take what you could get to make it through this. On the ride back, you remained stuck in your work, hoping against hope that you'd manage to not fail with one day of studying.

But hey, Kim didn't need to for an A and you were like 60% sure you could get a D with a few hours of hard work. As the teacher pushed the slips of paper to each student, you watched with dread as judgement approached. You looked to see Ms. Whisp's lips in a sadistic curl, as if she was about to break into a maniacal laugh at your destined failure. Turning over the sheet, you looked into your do-

Oh, a B-. Awesome. You gave a thumbs up to Kim, who returned the favor. As you turned around, you noticed Tara giving a weak smile at a C and Bonnie smirking triumphantly at the A+ on her desk. Class ended a little latter and as you walked back to your locker with Kim you couldn't contain your enthusiasm.

"Wow, I'm glad you managed to get a B, Ron. See what happens when you actually study and apply yourself?" Okay, so maybe this studying thing had merits even though you didn't want to think about recursive functions ever again.

"I'm just glad I managed to pass. I mean, I'm not like you, you know." With the Kim puffed up and looked at you quizzically.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Ron?"

"I mean, you were able to get an A- in the pop quiz without even needing to study! You're way better than I'll ev-" Okay, what did you do wrong here? You were just stating facts and she dope slapped you?! Looking over, you saw your best friend gripping her face while both grimacing and trying to hold in laughter.

"Were you literally so absorbed in your studying that you didn't notice I was cramming for the test right next to you?" Had she, all you remembered was going on a very long journey to find X as the pilot tried to find Middleton.

"In my defense Kim, shutting you out got me a B-. Maybe there's something in that?" You teased back, as her she finally failed to contain her laughter at your somewhat bad joke. Coming up to her locker, she looked back to you.

"Well I'm just glad you're finally living up to your name, potential boy." As she opened up her locker, Wade's face greeted you.

"Hey guys, I've got some news on a break-in at a government lab. Something about a project Phoeb- Kim is that a B- you're holding?! What happened?" Even vigilant, Wade skipped from the supervillainy stuff to the really important bits. If you saw her holding a B- you'd be asking what the problem was too. Some time during your walk, she must have taken the thing to see how she could help you improve.

"Oh, this is Ron's test!" She proudly displayed the name to your hacker friend, and he gave you a big smile.

"Good job, man! I knew you had it in you! Now, the reports have come in that Shego and Drakken have broken into the lab of something called project Phoebus. I've already got a helicopter en route. They'll be able to pick you up in about three minutes."

"You'll have to put a hold on that, Stoppable." Turning around, you saw the form of Mr. Barkin looming above, his stare boring into you. Even if he was on your side now that still creeped you out. He looked to Kim and Wade before speaking again.

"I'm here to bring Mr. Stoppable in for a long talk about his priorities in life." You looked over to Kim, hoping for some excuse to escape from this lecture you knew was coming from that statement alone! He even winked at you evilly as you desperately looked for help. Kim looked at you, and shrugged.

"If you think that's necessary, though I do think that he's been turning a new leaf," she brandished the test like a shield, "He even broke his streak in Algebra!"

He looked at the thing, showing a surprising lack of surprise at the revelation before turning to you again.

"And this is why I need to talk to him, Ms. Possible. This is about helping him be better than he was rather than slip back into bad habits." Okay, so not totally bad like you'd been thinking. And the way he stared at you like it was particularly important meant that you should probably go with him, even if it was to flake on a mission. However, you could help her out a bit, opening your backpack, you looked down to Rufus.

"Hey there, I have some stuff to take care of but Kim's got a mission. I need you to look out for her where I can't, buddy." He nodded before quickly scurrying into one of Kim's pockets and giving you a thumbs up. You were confident they could make do without you as you followed Mr. Barkin away from them.

And it was Dr. Drakken, how hard could it be for Kim to beat his blue butt again?

XxX

Kim Possible plummeted through the air, just another day, another mission. Though admittedly, this was the first one in a long time where Ron wasn't coming along with her. It didn't feel right. Still, detention was detention, and even if he wasn't focusing on Ron the way he used to, Mister Barkin still wasn't someone you wanted mad at you. He could tank a student's grades in any class! Sadly, missions waited for no one, so Kim was running solo today. A high pitched shrill of worry broke the air over Des Moines. Well, not totally solo. Rufus was there to tag along where Ron couldn't.

She had been impressed at Ron's Algebra grade though. He'd finally broken his string of F's! Actually studying on that river boat ride down the Congo after the mission in Central Africa finished must have totally helped him. It was good, if a bit weird, to see he was finally realizing his potential. It was just ferociously bad luck that Barkin had grabbed him while Wade was giving them the skinny on the mission.

Kim hit the ground running, with Rufus' squeaking in her ears and flapping off her shoulder like a flag. Once she got in she was a bit underwhelmed. Apparently, nobody onsite knew what Project Phoebus actually did! And they were completely locked out of the main room of the Project! Still, Rufus was on the job. He scurried into the vents and let her in in record time.

There she was, facing off with Shego and Drakken for what felt like the millionth time, and Shego had to open her big fat mouth. "Aww Kimmie, no Sidekick today? What, did the little weirdo have better things to do than hang out with little miss perfect?" Shego smirked.

That actually put Kim off her game. Ron had been a lot less present lately, almost...pulling away and Shego of all people picking up on that... well, it pushed her buttons. So, she might be forgiven for ignoring everything else and bull rushing the plasma wielding supervillain. It wasn't the smartest choice, but for a pissed off teenager in a high stress situation it was pretty understandable.

The fight was a bit more brutal than usual because of that. Kim ignored every quip or sneer aimed at her, and focused on taking Shego down. As a result, Rufus was alone with Drakken. You'd think a grown man would be able to take a tiny hairless rodent, but apparently not. Drakken flailed across the room, shaking all his limbs and screaming at the top of his lungs as Rufus scurried up and down the blue man's body. Eventually, both fights had to end.

After what seemed like forever, Drakken finally managed to fling Rufus away from him, and fell back into a strange device that looked like a salon's hair drying chair. Rufus flew across the room and crashed into a control device, which immediately started sparking. Almost simultaneously, Kim's furious assault ended with a flying kick that threw Shego into Drakken, just as the salon chair started to glow blue.

The collision caused the chair they'd been tangled with to explode, launching both of them out of the room towards the large drilling device they'd used to break in. Oh no, Kim thought, This can't be good. She rushed over to the destroyed chair and caught a glimpse of the disappearing mole device. Whatever had happened to the two supervillains it hadn't stopped them from fleeing the scene of the crime. Kim had other priorities just then though.

"Rufus!" Kim cried out, "Are you alright?!"

"Ahuhahuh," squeaked Rufus as he ran up to Kim, and climbed up her leg.

Kim picked him up and held him in her hands, before taking a look around at the scene of devastation that surrounded her, "I hope that chair wasn't anything important..."

xXx

Minutes after being pulled aside, you found yourself being dragged into the English room that you had recruited Mr. Barkin in about month ago. It was between class blocks, and Mr. Ansel was out sick today so there was absolutely no one there when the two of you walked in. Taking care to close and lock the door while using his other hand to pull down the blinder, Mr Barkin sat in the teacher's desk before motioning for you to go on the other side of the piece of furniture. Grabbing a nearby chair, you did just that.

"Stoppable, I said we needed to have a conversation about your priorities. So, let's talk. How do you feel about being a Hunter?"

...You know, you never really thought about that until now. Sure, you were pretty darn dedicated to it but that was because people were in danger and you wanted to help them as much as you possibly could. You were afraid of pretty much everything to do with this. Heck, you weren't sure you'd ever stop being terrified of the whole idea of hunting vampires. It was like Kim said, really: 'you can't beat your fears, you live with them'. Of course the only reason that you remembered that was because it was the first time either of you had gone for an airdrop and you screamed so much you passed out a little.

But you got better then, and you'd get better now. It was really the only option. It wasn't like you could just not help people. That would be wrong and you could only imagine Kim giving you her best 'you tried' smile which really, really sucked since you wanted to do this so much.

And that was your answer, wasn't it?

"I… kinda like it, Mr B. I mean, beside the whole unending terror at the thought that literal vampires could eat me whenever or that there might be more things out there that want to make me lunch and, AND that some of those monster might also be monkeys because they're evil and only monkeys can be so truly malicious! I MEAN, I WILL FREAK IF I HAVE TO FIGHT ONE OF THOSE TH-"

Okay, time to stop yourself. Breath in, breath out. Beside you your teacher's stony face displayed nothing but one raised eyebrow and an amused look in his eyes. Once you managed to get yourself back under control, he motioned for you to continue.

"And despite all of that, I'm still here. I think that says a lot." He nodded, completely in agreement with what you said before beginning to speak himself.

"It does. The work you've displayed in the past few weeks has been admirable and I'm not just talking about in Hunting. Ever since this started, I've heard of an almost unthinkable change in you from the other teachers. You're not a stellar student like Bonnie or Kim, but you're definitely not the fourth musketeer of D-Hall anymore. Do you even realize that I haven't had to keep you after school for this entire time?" Really, have you been so far out of the norm that you hadn't had detention in the past few weeks? Looking back, the most recent time you had visited that boring room after school hours had been when things went wrong…

"Putting it that way makes it sound like everyone thinks I've turned a new leaf." Really, was it that hard to think that Ron Stoppable could do well if he put his mind to it?

Mr. Barkin shrugged at the idea. "Most do. People went from lamenting a good student who never applied himself to seeing someone who could score a B- on an algebra test while still thinking he failed. You have changed, and I think that Hunting Vampires has helped you make a turn for the better."

"Well, thanks? I don't think what I've done is that amazing though..." There wasn't much more to be said. It was honestly kind of embarrassing.

"It is, Stoppable. I think that you could do great things as a Hunter and as a leader. It reminds me of myself when I was younger," Eugh, everyone knew teachers started out at thirty and only got older, " and more to the point everything you've done so far has shown an impressive amount of aptitude for this job. With that in mind, I would like to talk to you about two opportunities I have considered opening up to you."

He paused before rifling under the desk and pulling out a pistol?! You weren't even allowed to think of someone bringing them into schools, much less watching a teacher you knew and sort-of respected to pull one out right in front of you! You almost flipped the chair back and started running the moment he pulled it out. With a chuckle Mr Barkin put the thing on the table.

"There's no need to panic. It's unloaded and I have the safety on. Your reaction was good, though. You should always treat a gun like it can kill someone, even if you know it's empty. Considering the club we have is for hunting, I will be opening my schedule on the weekends to include courses in basic gun safety and use. On the surface, it sounds like a responsible teacher giving students the basic foundation to hunt things like deer. In reality, I'd expect you use them for more dangerous prey. The second opportunity is a bit less open, but it's still one I think you should consider. You know career day is coming up soon?"

You nodded, who didn't want to go be the one to go meet with the lady whose job it was to make delicious pastries or cooked the best food? Really, anything chef would be pretty awesome to go see and shadow.

"Well, I've been keeping contact with an old friend of mine who has been very interested in the formation of your group. The two of us have talked a lot and he seemed more than happy to volunteer to work with you on career day if you so choose. Now you will get to make that choice as there have been a few rather… interesting clients asking about you but I ask you consider the offer given. I know Captain Black would love to work with a bright young Hunter such as yourself. Now, I'd like it if you help me plan out the meeting on Thursday..."

Well, you did suggest the group meet so it was only fair you helped him out. Dang, and you thought you'd be able to get some nacos after this was done...

XxX

Kim stared at her open Locker, at the mug shots and the computer and wondered where things had gone wrong.

Kim's week... hadn't gone so well. To recap, Wade had finally found out what Drakken was up to. He'd been having trouble lately with his parents for some reason and hadn't been in contact as much, but he'd still figured things out and gotten ahold of her. Unfortunately, Ron hadn't been able to come with, and things had gone bad. She couldn't remember the last time that happened.

It had been a complete disaster. Shego and Drakken had gotten away, and Project Phoebus had been totally destroyed. She still didn't know what that thing did, but she really hoped it wasn't anything too dangerous. To top things off, Ron's weirdness had kicked into overdrive!

Usually, this close to Halloween, he would have said something! Especially after the debacle last year with the Hephaestus Project, and the lying, and Josh Mankey. Instead, Kim hadn't heard a peep about trick or treating. It was almost like he wasn't planning to spend Halloween together, which would be majorly freaksome. Maybe he was still messed up because of that Monkey Haunted House they'd gone to last week? He'd been so sure he could handle it, but then he'd been so utterly freaked out afterwards... Kim would have to ask when she had a chance.

If she had a chance...

Which only sent her spinning back into a depression, because seriously, this whole mess was Not Cool. She'd never failed a mission like this before! And Ron was getting so distant that even when he wasn't there Shego could see it! SHEGO!

She'd even seen a picture of him with Bonnie of all people in a bikini. BONNIE! They hated each other! He'd just said it was something for a club, and what was all that about, Ron and Bonnie in the same Club? What in the world did those two have in common?! What was going on with him?!

Kim sighed. Really, she should fix this the way she fixed things last Halloween, with honesty, but she just wasn't in the mood. Maybe next week, when things were a bit less raw and she wasn't so stressed out. Closing her locker she turned to go to class. Hopefully things would look better later. She held her head up, of course they would!

Anything was Possible for a Possible!
Including Failure.
xXx

Wednesday night came around faster than you thought possible. Kim came in on Tuesday pretty beat up but otherwise okay around you. She said the mission was rough, and that things really didn't go as planned but she was pretty sure everything was totally okay since Wade hadn't come to either of them screaming about Drakken suddenly unleashing his most destructive doomlaser/weathmachine/self-destructing device yet. It was depressing to see her at anything but her best though, and you hoped that she'd get better. It was one mission gone wrong, it wasn't really the end of the world.
Elsewhere, a pale skinned black haired woman wearing a lot of green sneezed loudly
As cheer practice ended and the students departed, you waited in the Cafeteria with Mr Barkin and Brick, whose football practice ended ten minutes earlier. As Bonnie and Tara made it into the room, Mr. Barkin began to speak.

"On Friday, the five of us will be going to hunt a Vampire. You are all here because the best way to guarantee no one here gets hurt is to make sure everyone knows what they'll be doing. Of course, that requires a solid plan of action." He motioned for you to continue, just like he said he would on Monday.

"Well, there's two ways we can realistically do this. He's a vampire, so we need to stake him. That means we'll need to go into his house. The real question is how we do it. We can try to sneak in, being as quiet as we possibly can until we find the guy in his bed and hopefully asleep before we kill him really quickly with a stake to the heart. However if he catches us we're in trouble since we need to pack lightly if we don't want to get caught. On the other hand, we can break in forcefully and just try to whack him as hard as we can. It's more dangerous than just going in there but we'll be better equipped for the fight since we won't be trying to sneak."

Mr Barkin took control again. "For any of these options, Ms Strong will be the one ready to get us out if things go wrong," Tara sighed and sagged back in relief before she realized what she was doing and straightened up again, "Stoppable, Rockwaller, Flagg and I will all be doing the majority of the fighting should it come to that. Any questions?" Out of all the people, Bonnie raised her hand.

"Uhh, why do we have to do either of those? I mean, Vampires get killed by stakes, but you told me they also don't like sunlight. Why don't we just bring him outside?" Mr Barkin shook his head.

"That's not possible. We can't trick the enemy into going outside and he won't just do it by himself. Unless you want to burn the house down, that's not really a working strategy." She shrugged at his rebuttal.

"Why don't we? I mean, it's not like there's anyone else living in there right? The Vampire dies, nobody gets hurt." She was right, no matter how crazy that sounded. It would work, though you couldn't help but feel she was missing something.

"Won't the cops come if they hear about a house burning down?" The last thing you wanted to do to Kim this week was having to explain to her why exactly you'd been put in the slammer for arson if you got caught. That would not be a fun way to celebrate Halloween at all.

"It is a viable way to go about this and if we can get out fast enough then they won't be a problem anyway."

"It could work, and I can get enough gas to light the place if that's how we want to go about it. However, it is Stoppable's choice seeing as he is the leader here." Everyone looked over to you.

"So how are we going to do this?"

[X] Go Fiery: Even less subtle than going loud, Mr. Barkin said he could get his hands on some gasoline to light the entire house up if that was the way you wanted to go. It would keep everyone out of harm's way but the cops will be coming if a house is one fire. The big concern here would be getting out before they find us.

Loadout: Mr Barkin- Rifle, Bonnie- Gas can/stake, Ron- Gas can/stake, Brick- Gas can/stake, Tara- Flare Gun
Danger- Low
Subtlety: Non-Existent