Author's Notes
My thanks to daccu65, CajunBear73, and Sentinel103 for their reviews and general comments, and suggestions. All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.
Chili and DNA
"Slim, chili for breakfast, really?" Ann walked into the ranch's large "eat-in" kitchen, poured herself some coffee and sat at the table.
"Why sure Annie, much healthier than sausage gravy over biscuits." Slim stirred in some jalapenos into a large pot on the stove and pulled some bacon out of a skillet to drain. "Sleep well last night?"
"Slept great, it was the first night I had James to myself in way too long. How are you doing these days Slim? Still seeing that astrophysicist? What was her name? Bethany?"
"Yep, she and I are getting along like beans and bacon. She is giving us a day or two of space in case we have family discussions that might not be appropriate for an outsider."
"She is a good woman Slim, you should make her an insider."
"Things are looking that way, but I want to break her in easy."
"What, you think listening to us talk about Illuminati, ancient arcane swords, mystical monkey power and selective breeding of our children would be too much too soon?" Ann laughed.
"What's this about children breeding? Is Kimmie-cub fooling around with that Ronald? Do I need to fit Ronald for a spacesuit?" James walked into the kitchen, kissed Ann and reached for the coffee.
"Not that I know of," replied Ann. "That actually worries me a little. They seem to be in love and have had ample opportunities for private moments for quite a while now. Sometimes I think they are both gay."
"Anything that keeps Kimmie-cub from being out late with boys works for me," James joked.
"Nana asked me to check with the Blue Heart Society about the genetic suitability of Ron for producing children with Kimmy." Ann refreshed her coffee and sat back down next to James.
"Now wait a minute, I think Ronald will turn into a good man and all, but Kimmie is too young for children," James spluttered. Setting his coffee down, he asked, "So what did they say?"
Ann sipped her coffee. "There's a problem with Ron's DNA, his blood DNA doesn't match his skin DNA. It's not that unheard of for people to have radically different DNA in their blood versus in skin tissue, but his is subtly different like it was engineered. They want a sample of his semen to check the DNA that will appear in his children. If those two were active, we could have gotten a sample during Kim's last Ob-Gyn exam."
"Well, we certainly aren't going to encourage her to collect any samples from Ron!" James protested.
"Not even with a turkey baster?" Ann gave James a sideways look, "Kim could tell Ron that they were going to play doctor…"
They were interrupted by thumping coming down the stairs.
"Hi Uncle James, Hi Ann, Morning Daddy!" Joss chirped bouncing into the kitchen.
"Daughter, you sound like a herd of cattle coming down those stairs," Slim smiled at her as he pulled fresh biscuits out of the oven.
"Have to Daddy, otherwise I just might hear things that I would need brain soap to get out. Like Kim and Ron playing doctor…" Joss teased.
James coughed as coffee tried to go down the wrong way.
Slim placed biscuits, a platter of home fries, bacon, and a pot of chili on the table then began to take orders for how everyone wanted their eggs. "Joss honey, please go tell Jim and Tim that breakfast is ready. They are in the satellite control room."
Presently everyone was eating and talking about the twin's designs for upgrading Joss' equipment. Whereas Wade's specialties tended to nanotechnology based equipment and micro power systems, Tim and Jim were heavily into large power systems. The boys thought that any power system that couldn't lift a payload into orbit wasn't worth messing with. They were proposing adding rocket engines and wings for Joss' bicycle. Slim and James proposed a more capable platform, like one of the robot horses Slim was working on. Soon Tim, Jim, and Joss were done with breakfast and ran off to work on designs to convert Tornado the robot horse to Tornado the flying robot Pegasus.
"Has anyone heard from Mom?" Slim put away the leftovers into the refrigerator.
"Not since last night. She was planning on spending at least this morning with some kind of training from a new MMP instructor and coming in tonight or tomorrow depending on how training goes." James started loading the dishwasher.
"Y'all up for a ride this morning?" Slim handed James the last dish from the table to load into the dishwasher.
"I am ready for sunshine and open skies," declared Ann. "James, how about we go out now and come back for a short nap before lunch?"
"Nap?"
"Yes nap," Ann grinned, "You know, where you take off clothes, lay down in a dark room and maybe rest?"
"Oh," said James, "right, nap. Sounds good to me."
Slim snorted. "It's a wonder you two managed to have children at all."
On the Beach
Shego relaxed on a lounge chair on the sand in front of their beachfront "safe" house. WP was walking down the path, arms loaded with bags of groceries. Walking over he dropped a bottle next to Shego's chair. "Lady Shego, here is your sunning lotion. Are you sure that SPF 15 is enough?"
Shego lazily stretched out to grab the bottle and started to smooth lotion onto her arms. "Thanks, WP. Yeah, this comet power stuff makes my skin naturally UV resistant. No sunburn, but no tan either. Anything strange going on in the shops?"
"Except for a tip to the lunch counter person, no one would take my money. Once that I introduced myself as working for you and Dr Drakken, the merchants just said that they would apply the purchase against our credit."
"OK. Whatever." Shego rolled over on her stomach and laid her head on her arms. "Ask Drew to come out and put lotion on my back please."
"Yes, my lady."
Shego thought that not much had changed in the last few days. WP still acted like she was some sort of royalty. Probably something to do with that Three Musketeers thing he has going on. Drew still acted like she was his gift from heaven. He was cooling off a tiny bit, she had woken up that morning to find him wrapped around a laptop instead of wrapped around her. Of course, she had no problem luring him away for an extended shower then he made her breakfast while she dried her hair and dressed.
On her way outside to lay in the sun, she looked over his shoulder. "Making a plan to take over the world, Drew?" She swore that the little leaves on his back responded to her voice, making little rippling waves under his tee shirt.
"No angel, I am editing a version of the video that WP took of the kids' battle to send to Ann Possible. I figure we owe her for setting us up with this safe house."
"Not sure that a video of your kid whacking some alien with a sword is a good mother's day gift."
"Not exactly, but the rumors on FiendBook are that Kimberly and Ronald are 'off the grid' and speculation is that counseling is involved. Maybe this will help."
"Feeling guilty about the 3 million we got for helping them out?"
"Bite your tongue Shego! This is just a little extra to say thanks for the thirty day paid vacation we were given here."
Shego was just about to drop off to sleep when a faint rustle of leaves told her that Drakken had arrived.
"Send off your thank you video, Drew?"
"I had just hit send when WP gave me your message. Drakken undid her swimsuit top and started working lotion into her skin and pressing hard into her back muscles.
'Mmm' thought Shego, 'Drew might have small hands, but they are good for working out kinks in muscles…'
'Mmm indeed' as she felt Drakken undo her swimsuit bottom to allow for a side stop on his way down to rub lotion into her legs.
Movie Time
Ann's cell phone received a message from Drakken. Being in "do-not-disturb" mode, it silently stored it away. A short time later, a message from Nana arrived. As Nana was on the list of "always notify" senders, her cell phone played an alert and buzzed. A disheveled Ann grabbed the phone from the bedside table and looked at the screen. "James, it's from your mom. The children are OK, there was an attack, Kim is fine, Ron was treated with atropine. She's sending a video recording to Slim's secure server." Ann began scrambling to find clothes. "My God James, they use atropine to treat exposure to nerve agents!" Pulling on clothes, the two raced out of the spare bedroom looking for Slim.
Minutes later Ann, James, and Slim were sitting on the couch in front of the big screen TV. Slim tapped on a tablet and the video started with a shot of Kim, Ron, and Rufus sitting around a woman with a long blond ponytail in a white robe listening to her talk. She was apparently their new MMP instructor. The camera seemed to be from a hovering drone that was above and behind the instructor. This gave them a clear view of the kids and Rufus. At one point, they could see Kim tense up and after a minute she relaxed and even smiled a little. Presently a softly glowing Kim stood up and held out her hands with blue energy streaming through her fingers.
"Aren't those the boxers that Kim gave Ron for Christmas?", a small voice behind them pondered.
"Maybe she's been ferreting out evil with Ron," another small voice snickered.
Slim paused the video. "You varmints get your butts up here, sit down and be quiet."
A snickering Tim and Jim, along with a somber Joss walked around the couch and sat on the floor.
"They have to be all right, otherwise someone would be here in person to tell us, right Daddy?" Joss asked.
"Yes, sweetheart, the note that Nana sent said that they were OK, but that Ron had been treated for poison or something. Are you young'uns sure you want to see this?"
Joss nodded.
"Yes, we need to know who," Tim looked fierce.
"to apply our vengeance to" Jim looked equally grim.
"Now boys, no avenging your sister until you're older…" James started to speak.
"Just play the damn video!" Ann was frantic with worry.
Slim started up the video again.
They heard Kim say "There are people in the trees watching us. At least six. Some with long guns."
The blond woman jumped up, yelling "Protect Ron and Rufus, don't kill them all!" Throwing off her robe, they saw a shower of sparkles that formed into a snarling white wolf. Kim snatched a sword out of thin air and tossed it in front of Ron where it formed a silver spinning disk that hovered in mid air. Sparks appeared on the shield as Rufus leaped onto the wolf's neck with a flash of blue. Rufus and the wolf shot off-screen in pursuit of something with the spinning disk flying off after them. A few seconds later, two attackers appeared going for Kim and four with short swords appeared going for Ron.
Kim was the picture of deadly grace and beauty. There was an additional element to her normal style, a randomness of dodging and more aerial acrobatics used to avoid attacks and at the same time, get into position to strike her opponent. She quickly dispatched her two attackers and turned to check on Ron.
Ron was the picture of a bumbling oaf. He appeared to stumble and almost fall while tripping the first attacker and redirecting the second attacker to fall over the first. The second attacker got in a swipe at his arm as he fell, but the resulting cut looked inconsequential. Turning his fall into a roll, Ron bounced up to deliver an uppercut to the third attacker pushing him into the path of the thrust of the fourth. Stabbed in the shoulder, the third attacker tripped over Ron's outstretched leg and fell onto the pile of his fallen comrades.
The last attacker was cautious. Not committing fully to any attack, he used short thrusts and small swings of his blade to keep Ron at bay. Ron finally stepped into a thrust, suffering a small cut while pushing the blade aside as he delivered a solar plexus strike. But the strike had no real power and Ron was starting to stagger for real. His attacker raised his sword in celebratory glee and turned to run away just in time for a lance to skewer him through the heart. The lance was held by a bloody, screaming Rufus riding an even bloodier snarling wolf.
They heard Kim scream "Ron!" as she was tackled by a blur of sparkles that reformed into their instructor who screamed, "Don't touch him! Their blades were covered in nerve agents!" Ann let out a sob and gripped James' hand so tightly it was in danger of fracture. "I have to do something! He can't breathe!" Kim fought to get to Ron who had collapsed on the ground, twitching. "Kimberly, he may have poison on his clothes and skin, you can't touch him!" the woman, covered in blood on her face and the upper part of her body fought to hold Kim back.
For the next part of the video, Slim had to back up and play it several times in slow motion. First, Kim threw her arms in the air, screamed a cry of rage, frustration, and hopelessness. A flash of blue and the woman was thrown off of her. The lance flowed out of the last attacker and dropped down onto Kim splitting into thirds. Two parts formed long thin gauntlets covering both hands and arms to her elbows. The third covered her face with a mask that looked like some cartoon insect with a long proboscis. Kim held Ron down by the shoulders and the insect tube worked its way into Ron's mouth and down his throat.
The next few minutes of the tape switched to time lapse showing Kim and the instructor taking turns breathing for a Ron now covered in trash bags and with Rufus by his side connected by a bright ribbon of blue. Every so often the instructor would press a tube against Ron's thigh. After an agonizingly long time, two people in full hazmat suits came on camera and began working on Ron while a third gently pulled Kim away.
The video switched to a picture of Nana looking into the camera.
"Ann, James, I am so sorry. I was warned that Ron and Rufus had assassination orders out on them. But I thought that my drones would give me intruder warning and I thought that since the first set of assassins turned out to be our allies that a second set would not be immediately sent out." Nana took a deep breath and seemed to gather herself together. "It's not enough to make amends, but the people who ordered this attack will die. Since I have screwed up keeping your children safe, I am bringing them to Slim's place. We will arrive late tonight." The video ended.
Ann put her head on James' shoulder, quietly crying in relief. Joss sat on her other side and wrapped her arms around Ann to provide what comfort she could.
"Wow! Did you see the sword that Kim" Jim gushed
"could form into different objects!" Tim exclaimed.
"Cool!" they both said together.
"Ann, James, did you want to see the second video or save it for later?" Slim inquired softly.
"What second video?" Ann picked her head up to give Slim a puzzled expression.
"When you handed me your phone to retrieve the video, there were two messages, one from Mom and the other from somebody named Drew. There was a note that said that he hoped it would help the kids' therapist to understand the source of their trauma."
"Start the video", said James.
Again the video appeared to be from a drone, this time the video looked to be high resolution with some sort of light amplification. The video changed angles a couple of times, there must have been more than one drone. Kim and Ron faced off against two huge humanoids. Actually, they looked reasonably human but compared to Kim and Ron, the shorter, slimmer one must have been seven feet tall and the other one a foot taller and much stockier. They saw Ron attack the big one and get backhanded into Kim, knocking them both down. The aliens appeared to taunt Kim and Ron. Ron lit up with a blue glow and attacked the big one again, this time using a very acrobatic style of Kung Fu. The smaller alien picked up Kim by the back of her graduation gown. Kim slid out of her gown and tee shirt rolling backward to a standing position and as in the video that they just watched, snatched a sword out of the air.
"Stop the video!" Ann's face was pale and her voice was shaking. "I can't watch the rest. Boys, Joss, come with me. You don't need to see it either."
"Mom!"
"Boys, NOW!" Ann got up and left the room with the kids close behind.
Slim and James heard the door in the kitchen that went out on the patio open and close. "Squirt, what in tarnation is about to happen here?"
"I don't know, I know that Kim and Ron defeated them but I don't know the details. Play the rest, I think I need to know what happened to Kimmie-cub."
After the video completed, Slim got up, walked over to a cabinet, pulled out two tumblers and poured three fingers of an amber liquid into both. He walked back to the couch and handed one to a somber James.
"To our babies…" Slim held out his glass.
"May they not grow up to be cowboys" James clinked his glass against Slim's in their old toast. Both men took a drink and James continued with watering eyes, "Being a cowboy don't look that bad, Slim. Better than the road my baby is going down."
Under New Management
Sensei was kneeling at his desk checking his laptops for messages from ninja teams out on missions and reports from scouts and implanted agents when his secure comms app alerted him to an incoming call: "Gen. Lee Chinese Nuclear Forces (work)". Checking the room to make sure he was alone, he clicked on "accept".
"General Lee, how are you? What can this old ninja do for you?"
"Sensei, you old fool! I thought you had agreed that Kim Possible was the best choice for the Chosen One!"
"No General, I said that I accepted that a girl could be acceptable as the Chosen One. But I also believe that the choice was not mine to make."
"Well, fortunately for us, I can and have chosen. I sent a team to check on the Chosen One. They reported that the girl 'Kim' displayed the power of the Chosen One."
"That is most fortuitous. Our studies of the old scrolls suggested that moving the MMP to her would require the death of the current host and even then there was no assurance that the MMP would accept the new host." Sensei's eyes rescanned his in-box. There were no messages from Yori's team. That was not necessarily a bad sign, she was a senior ninja and one of his most capable and trustworthy.
"My team that reported in was instructed to kill the pretenders to make sure that the MMP stays with the girl."
"Did they?"
"Of course, you old fool, there were three snipers plus four Shaolin monks with nerve agent encrusted blades against a boy without the MMP for support. How could they fail?"
"General, my old friend, I will regret your passing. Because if you killed Ron Stoppable then the Chosen One herself will hunt you down and you will be lucky is she only kills you and not your entire family line."
"Impossible! The girl was chosen for her sense of justice and goodness. Surely she will accept that this was necessary for her to have the power to protect the people of the entire world."
"Goodbye, my friend." Sensei closed the connection. Yori's team was traveling incognito, so he had to suffer a while longer waiting for news. Sipping his now cold tea he considered his possible responses. As the Master of Yamanouchi he was responsible for all the students, their families, and communities. Which meant that he could not commit the full fury of Yamanouchi to avenge the death of any of Team Possible. However, Rufus and even Ron had enough friends among the senior class and instructors to make a reasonably deadly assassination force. Sensei chuckled to himself thinking this was not including several of the younger female students that were rumored to keep photos of Ron under their sleeping mats.
The General was outraged. Shouting at his assistant to bring him tea, he fumed, 'Those idiots at Yamanouchi have obstructed progress for the last time. I think a part of a Lowardian ship is about to hit their mountain.' Sipping his tea, he calculated the orbit adjustments to bring China's last nuclear hunter-killer satellite down on Yamanouchi. He was typing up the orders when a young woman escorted by two soldiers with automatic weapons walked into his office. The young woman nodded at him speaking "General, you have been invited to brief the Central Committee on the recent use of China's nuclear weapons."
Glaring at the lack of respect, he barked, "Make an appointment with my secretary, perhaps next week would be possible."
The woman laughed, "Possible? That reminds me. Nana says to tell you that she recommends that in your next life you leave her children alone. And switch to coffee."
Looking down at the general lying twitching on the floor she said "Oh dear, the poor man had a heart attack. Or did he commit suicide rather than face the Central Committee? Come, gentlemen," she said to her escort, "We will figure out which right after lunch."
On the road
Kim was at the wheel of the behemoth with Nana riding shotgun as dusk began to fall. Turning on the headlights activated the windshield's night vision mode, giving her a clear, but slightly grainy view of the road. "How much farther to Slim's, Nana?"
Nana looked at the map display on her tablet. "Six, maybe seven hours of driving depending on whether we hit rain in a couple of hours. There is a truck stop in about 45 minutes, we'll stop there and eat dinner and maybe pick up another escort or two."
"Don't envy Nova and Evin if we hit rain." Ron was buckled in on the couch alongside Rufus. The driving had initially made his nausea and dizziness worse. Medication had helped but left him too drowsy to drive. Evin, with Yori riding with him, was currently on point, their motorcycle running in front of the behemoth with Nova following behind.
"Nana?" Ron figured that this was as private a time as they were going to see for a while.
"Yes, Dear?"
"What's the deal with Yori asking you to accept Yamanouchi as part of your rule?"
"My rule?"
"Yeah, she said something about fealty, isn't that swearing loyalty to a ruler or something like that?"
"Long version or short version dear?"
"Short version, please. Lists of names and dates make my head spin in the best of times and with this medication, I don't stand a chance."
"What do you know about Illuminati?"
"That typically refers to the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria, a group formed in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt with the goal of making people good by freeing their minds from superstition and prejudice."
"Ron? How do you know that?" Kim asked as she glanced at Ron in the rearview mirror.
"Zombie Men In Black Mayhem. It was a short-lived game because players found it too… Uh,"
"Cerebral" squeaked Rufus.
"Yes that's the word, cerebral"
"So," Nana continued, "this group had the goal of using the mutual assistance of its members, to attain the highest possible degree of morality and virtue, and to lay the foundation for the reformation of the world by the association of good men to oppose the progress of moral evil."
"Sounds pretty Pixie Scout-ish to me, Nana. So what's the problem?" asked Kim.
"A group of people sworn to help each other be better people and stand together against moral evil? That could describe you, Ron, Rufus, and Wade. The problem was that some thought the moral evil they were opposing included the church and some governments. So they were forced underground. Parts of are still active today."
"So you are a high priestess of Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria? Man, that is so cool!" Ron looked in awe.
"No Ronald, around 1781, Colonel Zim Possible and others splintered off to form a group that believes that the value of a person's work is not based on any measure of the morality of that person, but whether their work improves the life of their fellow man. That group is known today as 'Evil Geniuses For A Better Tomorrow'. I belong to the council of that group. They called it that because one person's good deed could be another's evil crime."
"I'm having a problem with that, can you give me an example?" Kim sounded like she really wanted to object.
"Certainly. The CO2 level in the atmosphere is the highest it has been in hundreds of thousands of years. All that CO2 is probably bad for the humans of this world because that it helps the planet to grow warmer."
"Well sure, that's why we need to save energy and switch to renewable resources." Kim pointed out.
"Yes, that is fine and all, but it doesn't reduce the amount of CO2 already in the atmosphere. Let's say that some well-financed geniuses were pulling CO2 out of the air and storing it in vast pools of liquid CO2 at the bottom of the Marianas trench."
"You can't do that! You might mess up the ocean floor environment!" Kim protested.
"These are evil geniuses dear, not politically correct geniuses. I suspect that the deep sea shrimp that used to live there have moved elsewhere or perished. The correct and proper way to proceed might not be possible at all because of politics. But in the global view, if we need that CO2 in the atmosphere, we can always put it back."
"But what if some supervillain threatens to take that CO2 and suffocate a coastal city?" Ron asked.
"Then you, Kim, Rufus, and Wade will have to stop them. You will do what you have done already many times in the past." Nana pointed out.
Nana continued, "Or how about this scenario? Suppose that a very wealthy farming family in the early 1800s creates a foundation to apply animal and plant breeding knowledge to people. Specifically, they introduce the 'right people' to each other and give them incentives to have children. Just the carrot, no stick."
"Maybe that is OK, as long as they are upfront about everything." Kim sounded unsure. "Nana, what does this organization breed for? Are they out to make a super race of humans?" Kim watched Nova pass her to take point and then she passed Evin to let them take the rear position in their little convoy.
"Super race? Suppose you found a family line of gifted artists and mathematicians with a genetic disease that was devastating them. Would mixing in people from another line of people with similar gifts in such a way to eliminate the threat of that disease be making a super race? Or just reducing the misery and oppression of a family line that is valuable to the human population?"
"Nana, do you pick the people who get selected for this?"
"No dear, that is a separate organization. We are sort of a support and oversight group for other organizations as well as our own operatives. Much of our work is to influence others without being seen." Nana pointed at a road sign. "Pull in at this rest stop, I need a stretch and a bathroom break. Ron, are you feeling well enough to drive your bike? I'd like to you to switch off with either Nova or Evin and Yori for a bit."
"Not a good idea Nana, I'm still having bouts of dizziness and nausea."
"I can drive it, Nana." Kim offered. "Ron, be my backseat buddy?"
"Kim, are you sure? It's a 900-pound bike." Ron asked.
"Ron, I don't have to lift it, just tilt it off the kick stand. I napped earlier and I've only been driving the behemoth for the last hour and a half. Don't you want to sit behind me and snuggle on down the highway?"
Kim wanted time to go over what Nana had just told her and thought it was suspicious that Nana wanted to rotate drivers just when they were getting into the details of some secret organizations. She would be able to talk privately with Ron on his bike where she couldn't if they were in the behemoth. She pulled the behemoth in front of Nova to take the lead and signaled that they were exiting.