The Eden Road

The Kepler approached the Global Justice base that was secretly nestled within a cloudy mountain range. From the air, the base's location was practically invisible, with sensor equipment hidden just below the snow caps and a large set of hangar doors that were set into the rocks and were only visible through the Kepler's heads up display.

Inside the modified shuttle's cockpit, Joss deftly guided the Kepler through the low power holographic shield. Behind her, Wade stretched and stood from his seat, descending the elevator that brought him down to the cargo area where Rufus and their passenger waited. "Just coming into base, Olthar. Sorry about the blindfold, but normally we don't even allow visitors."

The man known as Olthar raised a hand and smiled, turning in the direction of Wade's voice. "It'll be worth it to see the look on Kim's face when she hears my message." he chuckled with a snort.

"We had an intruder a few weeks ago, so we've had to increase our physical security a little." Wade said, sitting down next to him. Olthar wore a dirty suit of cobbled together armor over what used to be a button up white dress shirt, and he carried a set of square glasses in his hand, useless with the blindfold on. His outfit contrasted against the clean uniforms and powered battle suits that Wade was used to, but Olthar didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be one of the few people they had come across that seemed quite at home in the world's current situation. "If Drakken wasn't constantly scanning for power usage, we'd have no troubles keeping our security system running."

Olthar nodded and Wade patted him on the shoulder. Wade could feel the Kepler spin, then shudder as Joss landed the behemoth ship within the base. "Touchdown, Wade." Joss announced over the intercom.

"Okay, let's get you to Kim and find out what this is all about."

"I never get tired of that one." Ron grinned, dumping the remains of his synthesized popcorn into his mouth from the bowl in his hands. While it tasted more like tiny wads of balled up paper, it was still a staple of movie watching.

Kim rolled her eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest as the credits for the movie scrolled by. "Please! 'My girlfriend became my arch enemy; my arch enemy became my best friend; and my best friend became my girlfriend.' Little cliche isn't it?"

Ron frowned. "Hey, Sky High is like the last classic teenage underdog movie!"

"Super strong, flying geek starts dating the red haired modest hero that he's been best friends with for forever?" Kim snorted, waving the concept away. "In what reality? You just think the red head is cute..." she commented, subtly cocking an eyebrow in curiosity as to his response.

"No!" he instantly replied, crossing his arms defensively. "I just think it could happen. I like the story, okay?"

"Fine! Whatever." Kim said, letting the subject drop with a hint of disappointment. The credits faded as Joss and Wade led Olthar into the command room and removed his blindfold.

"Hey Olthar!" Ron said with a grin as he snapped a lazy salute.

"Greetings, soldiers of the future!" Olthar said, returning the salute. "Wow! I see why this place is so secret!" he said, his pronounced incisors flashing in his open mouthed grin as he looked around the room. "This place is amazing!" He rushed over to the observation window of the generator room, pressing his face against the blast proof glass to get a closer look. "Is that where you charge your battle suits?!"

"Cut the cosplay, Larry." Kim said in irritation. "What's the sitch that you couldn't even trust your own team with?" Ron spun one of the chairs in the center of the room and gestured for Kim's older cousin to sit, which Larry took to comfortably. Kim hated to admit it, but her sheltered nerdy cousin had taken to leadership in an apocalyptic world, fighting against an endless synthetic army as though it was second nature. She had to wonder if he thought the last five years were real, or just a virtual simulation.

"Eden Two." Larry grinned. "Hear of it?"

Joss gave an indignant snort. "Course. Too bad it ain't real."

"People want to believe in something better than the world they've got." Wade said from his place leaning against the central desk. "Magically, Eden Two comes up."

"Wouldn't Drakken have found it by now if it was real?" Ron asked, giving his bowl of leftover popcorn kernels to Rufus to munch on.

"It's as real as anything, Ron." Larry replied, spinning in the chair to face him.

Kim sighed. Tracking down a mythical land was something more suited to Larry himself. "What if it is?" she asked. "What does it have to do with us?"

Larry looked at each of Kim's crew in turn with an intense smile that screamed how satisfied he was that he knew something they didn't. Finally, he faced Kim. "For the last six months there's been a path leading to Eden Two that we've been using to get people to safety. They only agreed to it if we swore to complete secrecy. They didn't want us to even tell you, Cousin."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "So why the change of heart?"

Larry's grin suddenly faded, and he went on. "The path was broken into five parts, and each connection had no information on any of the others, in case any of them were compromised. Which is exactly what happened last week. We don't think the synthetics knew what they had stumbled upon, but either way, we need a new connection."

"And you want us to do it?" Wade asked, a little surprised.

"Not me. Eden Two." Larry said, his smile returning. "In fact, they insisted that Kim Possible meet their courier to set up a new connection."

"Wow, that doesn't sound trappish at all!" Joss commented, rolling her eyes.

"There's no room for skepticism, Kim." Larry said, turning back to look at Joss for a moment. "Besides, they've picked a place no one but your team could go."

"Have you even seen this contact? Or even have any proof that Eden Two exists?" Wade asked.

"No." Larry said flatly. "I haven't met the contact, and I haven't been to Eden Two. I do have this, though..." he said, pulling a black piece of material from a pocket on his vest. "I'm supposed to give this to you, Ron."

Larry passed the material past Kim and Ron took it as the rest of the team gathered around. The black cloth unfolded into a six inch wide and several feet long piece of silk that both Kim and Ron recognized immediately. "It's a ninja mask." he said with a frown. In a white chalky substance were written the words, 'Dear Stoppable-san. Yamanouchi has succeeded.' "It's Yori's mask!" Ron shouted, grinning.

Kim felt a growl growing in her throat, but kept it at bay. Seeing Ron grin seemed bittersweet, and she couldn't pin down exactly why. She clenched her jaw, and turned back to her older cousin, nodding. "Okay, Larry. You've got a deal."

"Wait, wait!" Joss said, holding up her hands. "Just where in tarnation are we goin' that no one else can go? Bottom of a volcano?!"

"Worse." Kim frowned, reading Larry's grin. "We're going home."

The Kepler flew slowly toward Middleton, high above the low lying acid clouds that engulfed the city. Shortly after the initial Diablo attack, Drakken had ordered Middleton destroyed and the cybertronic demons had laid waste with an intense plasma storm that Kim, Ron, and their families had barely escaped. Now, there were burn holes scattered throughout the city that continued to glow five years later, and a hazy yellow fog that continued to erode the concrete buildings and steel girders still remained. Kim frowned, looking down at her scanner. She was glad that some of the people she had known in High School had managed to escape during the prom. Mr. Barkin, Tara, Josh... but there were many others that she only hoped could have escaped. She did her best to remember Monique and Felix, and the rest of the cheer squad but couldn't recall their faces other than vague details. "Almost to the drop point, Kim." Joss announced, slowing the Kepler to a crawl.

Kim shook the memories from her mind, looking over at Ron. "How's the suit feel?"

Ron stood, looking himself over. The battle suit he was wearing felt uncomfortably constricting, with small flexible plates that were woven over his chest, legs, and arms. Thicker, flat plates adorned his shoulders, and guards reminiscent of samurai haidate covered his hips and thighs. "I feel like a dork." he lied. While the suit itself was form fitting, climate controlled, and possibly the most awesome thing he'd ever worn in his life, he was more than a little concerned what would happen if he called upon his Monkey Powers while wearing it. "And I think I'm getting a wedgie."

"You look fine." Kim said, following Wade, Rufus, and Joss into the Kepler's cargo hold. "Better hood up, too." she said, pushing a button on her gauntlet. Her collar extended up her neck to her jawline, and a metallic blue helmet that took on the appearance of a Roman Centurion helm formed around her head with a silver visor covering her face behind the 'T' shaped slit that allowed her to see. Thin flexible plates grew and unfolded from behind her belt, crawling up her bare midriff to create a completely sealed suit. "Don't want any of that acid fog getting in." she said, her voice coming solely over the communication system in each member's suit.

Ron touched a button on his own gauntlet and as his collar extended, it seemed to tighten around his neck, causing him to gasp. Metal plating began to form, growing around his head and pinning his ears back, making him release a cry of surprise as he scrambled to hold the helmet back with his hands. He fell to his knees in a panic as the helmet clamped his jaw shut and his vision was covered by a dark faceplate. A sweeping neck guard grew into place to protect the back of his head and neck and he wound up panting on the floor at Kim's feet. "Gah! How do you breathe in this thing?!"

"Regularly." Kim said dryly, rolling her eyes. She looked around at her crew as Ron climbed to his feet. "Okay, we've got one hour to find this contact and get out again. I doubt our suits will stand up to the acid any longer than that." she said, looking at Wade for confirmation, who nodded. "Our chutes won't last more than a few seconds once deployed, so make sure you don't pull them until you absolutely have to."

"Chutes?" Ron asked in surprise as Kim slapped her hand on the cargo ejection control. The floor unfolded beneath the group and Ron's screams could be heard through each helmet as he scrambled for something to hold onto. "Whatever happened to landing?!"

Kim had her arms tucked closely to her sides, as did Wade and Joss as they dived toward their target. "The Kepler's holographic disguise won't hold up in the acidic atmosphere." Wade explained through the comm. "Hopefully nothing flies into it while it hovers up there."

"At least we don't have to worry about Diablos hanging over our heads since you and Ron took out Middleton's repeater station." Joss said. The silver lining was lost on Kim as the memories of rocketing through the city on Ron's old scooter came flooding back to her. Just before Drakken had taunted her with saving Erik and she went alone to face Shego and rescue her then fake boyfriend. An alarm in her heads up display jolted her back to the present as the team entered the yellow clouds of corrosive vapor that hung just above Middleton. The various readouts within her helmet began to fizzle with static and her comm signal became nothing more than dead air. Despite the altimeter in her field of vision, it felt like she was floating. She could feel no air rushing past her, and the fog blocked her vision of the ground she knew she was rushing toward.

Without warning, the thick yellow cloud vanished as Kim and her team broke through the canopy. "Pull chutes!" she ordered, activating her own parachute. Her heads up display instantly revealed her team's position and the untoppled buildings that were mere meters away. Rufus reported a touchdown, having reached terminal velocity earlier with his heavy robot body, dropping like an egg shaped rock that unfolded as he stood. Kim felt the familiar heavy tug of the rapid deceleration as her parachute opened. But it was only a few seconds before the tough material dissolved in the hostile atmosphere and she began to freefall again. Despite her greatly reduced peripheral vision behind her helmet, she caught sight of Ron falling past her. His parachute had disintegrated before it could fully deploy, and he was flailing in a panic, narrowly missing the corner of the skeletal frame of the Institute of Technology. "Ron, use your powers!" she ordered through her comm, but received no answer other than his high pitched screams. Kim ground her teeth, drew her energy pistol, and fired the underbarrel grapple launcher at the exposed girders of the Institute in one motion. Before Ron could strike the debris strewn pavement headfirst, she had swung in a wide arc and caught him around the waist with one arm, rolling. Kim and Ron came to a tumbling stop on the edge of a glowing pit of green smoke, the remnants of a plasma bomb from years before. "You okay, Ron?" she asked, holding him tightly as he teetered on the edge of the crater.

"Huh?" he asked, looking into her silver faceplate. "Yeah, I think so." he confirmed, yet refusing to let go. "Just like old times, huh?" he grinned behind his helmet.

"Sure. You, me... a devastated Middleton. Good times." Kim said without a hint of humor in her voice. Wade, Joss, and Rufus all stepped into the clearing in front of what was left of the Institute. "Okay, time to find this contact. Stay quiet, move fast, and we shouldn't have any trouble."

"I've got my scanner searching for his beacon, Kim." Wade said. "Nothing yet."

Kim nodded. "We'll head for the center of town. Let's roll."

The team made their way through the rubble that bridged the gap between Upperton and Middleton with very little difficulty. The Northern part of the former Tri-City area had only received the tail end of the destruction that Drakken had wrought upon Middleton. Each of them watched their battle suits power levels dwindle like a timer as the acid fog ate away at the cybertronic plating. As they made their way into Middleton, the faint red glow of synthodrone eyes could be seen through the fog. Two of them stood guard on either side of a force field that was Kim's quickest way into Middleton. "Wade, with me. The rest of you hang back and keep us covered." Kim ordered, moving quietly forward next to a partially dissolved dump truck. When Wade had joined her, she poked the barrel of her pistol out around the front of the truck, the image of the two synthodrones coming into focus on the heads up display inside her suit. "If we can get around deactivating any synthetics here, so much the better."

"I can try the holo, but it's hard to say how long it'll last in this soup." Wade replied. Kim nodded grimly, then gestured for him to advance. Wade tapped a number of buttons on his gauntlet, and the armored figure that stood before Kim shimmered for a moment. A blue ring of light emanated from his chest, replacing Wade with the typical outward appearance of a black and purple synthodrone with faintly glowing goggles and an energy rifle slung over his shoulder. Wade stepped out from behind the dump truck to face the synthetic guards, and in a deep electronic voice, greeted them. "Status?"

"Middleton is all clear." they replied in unison. Wade nodded and continued past them, stepping up to a intrinsically safe computer terminal that continued constant scans of the area beyond the force field. Wade grinned, amazed at how easy this mission might wind up being. A keyboard folded out from the terminal as he approached and he began quickly typing, executing commands and wirelessly downloading the patrol routes and pathways toward their destination into his suits computer. After a few moments, his grin faded as his arms shimmered from the black and purple disguise back to the drab grey of his battlesuit.

"Uh oh..." he said in surprise. "Kim?" he asked through his comm as the guards turned and leveled their rifles. Suddenly, the head of Kim's grapple punched through the chest of one of the synthodrones, pulling it back and into the murky yellow fog.

The second synthodrone seemed confused for a moment before settling its aim on Wade. A diamond edged blade split the mist, puncturing the two tone husk and spilling yellow synthogoo onto the broken pavement. "We'd better move." Joss said, passing through the murky clouds to retrieve her knife and return it to its hidden sheath on the small of her back. "These two goin' offline will probably be noticed."

Wade turned his attention back to the terminal, momentarily shutting down the glowing force field that was barring their path. "Don't worry too much. Synthodrones don't last long in this crud. The acid wrecks havoc on their signals, disconnecting them and sending them rogue." he explained, nodding that the portal was ready to pass through. "We should have a clear path from here on."

Kim looked down at her armor plating as she followed Joss and Ron. The metallic blue sheen was becoming increasingly dull and pockmarked, with wisps of smoke coming off of the metal. "Good. Our suits aren't going to last much longer." she announced as the force field reformed behind them.

Drakken watched through an observation window at more than a dozen humans of varying age, gender, and ethnicity that were lying on stainless steel examination tables and being monitored by red and black synthodrones. Although all of the humans were unconscious, some writhed in agony and screamed, while others were completely motionless and comatose. While the Styx project was nearing completion, the delivery of the weapon was still in its experimental phase, and as another life support monitor let out a steady tone to signal the end of another experimental human, the human half of Drakken's face winced and cringed. "Such a waste." he whispered to himself.

"Erik has returned with more captives, my Lord." said a red and black synthodrone from behind Drakken.

"Fine. Let's hope some of them fair better than the last batch."

"Lord Drakken..." came the deep haunting voice of Hephaestus, cutting off Drakken's thoughts. "Two synthodrones have terminated connection in Middleton."

"So?" Drakken retorted in annoyance. "It happens all the time." he continued, folding his arms over his chest, still speaking into the air as the synthodrones around him went about their duties.

"Cause is unknown." Hephaestus replied. "Probability that disruption was caused by corrosive atmosphere is eighty six percent."

"Only eighty six?" Drakken asked in curiosity. He held his metal chin in his artificial hand, thinking. While it certainly wasn't out of the ordinary for a synthodrone to go rogue within the restricted zone of Middleton, he had ordered his synthetic troopers out and the city of his arch foe shielded after its destruction. "No." he said at last, turning to exit the observatory with his cape billowing out behind him. "Show me their last moments of activity!" As Drakken approached a balcony that he often frequented lately to stare out at the yellow glow of Middleton only a few hundred miles away, his surroundings turned hazy, like a dream, and filled with yellow smoke. An unrecognizable form stood in acid fog, a blurry humanoid that could easily be mistaken for a synthodrone. As the first synthodrone that he watched through was deactivated, his point of view switched to the second. "Pause!" Drakken ordered. The first synthodrone was still in his field of view with a familiar grapple head poking through its chest. "Kim Possible..." Drakken hissed. "Of course... who else could survive in those conditions?" The recording of the synthodrones last moments faded and he shouted into the warm, industrial choked air. "Shego!"

Shego sighed at the sound of Drakken's voice in her head again. She was lying in the sand of California's deserts in an attempt to feel the sun like she used to. While it was true that she no longer had to fear a sunburn on her pale green skin, the biomechanical body that Drakken had resurrected her in also barely felt the warmth and pleasure that she remembered from sunbathing. Shego was finding herself to be more and more bored the longer she was here in Drakken's employ, with no longer being able to challenge herself. Nothing needed stolen. No one needed to be intimidated. Even the meager resistance that was left of humanity posed no threat, other than... "Kim Possible seems to have returned home, Shego. Go to Middleton as quickly as you can. A contingent of synthodrones will meet you there."

Shego grinned. "At least giving Kimmie a beat down will never get old." she said to herself, leaping to her feet and becoming a green and black blur across the sand.

"Signal's coming in now, Kim." Wade said, an alert showing up on his heads up display. He pointed toward a tall sign that reached up into the sky outside of a dilapidated and sprawling building. The marquee of the sign read 'The End', and Kim couldn't help but shake her head at the irony.

"Middleton High? Someone's got a sense of humor." she said, sarcasm clearly evident in her voice.

"I can't believe it's still standing in all of this." Joss commented, stepping up beside Kim and Wade.

"Something just moved past my leg..." Ron squeaked from behind, looking down into the fog. The acid was thicker in the restricted zone, and even the battlesuit sensors were being obstructed, laden with intermittent static.

"You're imagining things." Rufus said in his translated, monotone voice as he walked by to gather with the others.

"Think it's a trap?" Kim asked her companions that had joined her.

"Seems a little too obvious, doesn't it?" Wade asked. "Your old High School in decent condition in the middle of a cloud of corrosive fallout?"

"This IS Drakken we're talkin' about, ain't it?" Joss reminded them. "He never was one for bein' subtle."

Ron was doing his best to pay attention to the conversation going on between the rest of the team, but a flicker of dozens of dull red lights seemed to blink at him from out of the surrounding darkness. "Guys?" he asked in a whimper. The sound of dripping fluid came from behind him and Ron slowly turned to see the corroded husk of a synthodrone that seemed plagued with translucent yellow blisters that pulsed and throbbed. A sickeningly wet gurgle came from its vocalizer and it reached a shrunken, drooping arm toward Ron before it exploded in a yellow mist, plastering him in rotted synthogoo.

Kim stood with her pistol smoking, scanning the area. "I thought you said this area didn't have any synthetics, Wade." she said in irritation.

"Must be rogues. The corrosive atmosphere is tough on the synthogoo. Disconnects them from the network." Wade replied, putting his back to Joss. He activated his scanner suite, and a growing mass of red lights overlaid the terrain. "And I think we just woke them up." Like an old zombie movie, torn dark forms began to rise out of the fog. Deep echoing voices were trying to acknowledge long lost orders, but coming out as only sorrowful groans. "We'll have to bolt for the school!" Joss shouted, her pistols beginning to fire with regular discharges of energy. "I'll plot a path..." Wade began.

Kim shook her head. "Don't bother. Ron and I know the way." she said solemnly.

Kim Possible smiled, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, arms, legs, and bare midriff. She stood on the doorstep of her family's home, and after enjoying a filling breakfast of pancakes and eggs of her mother's creation, she was looking forward to a fresh week of high school. She smoothed her burgundy skirt as she walked down the path to the street, and adjusted the black collar she wore around her throat above her short, black shirt. It was a beautiful late summer morning and she was looking forward to her first cheerleading practice of the new year.

"KP!" Ron shouted, charging out of his home that sat next door to hers. He had his typical athletic t-shirt on over top of a black long sleeve shirt, and a set of khakis that seemed always at risk of sliding off of his hips. "Is this year gonna rock, or what?!" he shouted excitedly, skidding to a stop beside Kim.

"I just hope we don't have the same problems with electives we had last year." Kim said with a smile. "I don't think I could take another year of Home Economics."

"Never fear, KP! The Ron-Man's got this year all planned out!" he grinned back, walking backward to face her. "Two more years of High School and we are free!"

"Just remember our deal, Ron." Kim smiled slyly. "You get to choose the electives, but you're joining my core classes." she said as they approached Monique's home. "You're going to have to start working harder if you're going to keep up."

Ron waved away her concern. "Nevermind the harsh, Kim. I have a feeling you'll be an inspiration to..."

"No, you're not copying off of me." Kim retorted, cutting him off. "Who knows what the future could hold, Ron. These advanced classes could be useful!"

Ron snorted. "I'll admit that your chemical knowhow saved our skins when Drakken got ahold of our DNA to make those syntho clones, but come on!" he said in an exaggerated flourish of his arms. "Like we'll ever need that in the real world!"

"Synthogoons are a part of our real world, Ron." Kim said offhandedly. She waved as Monique approached the sidewalk, and embraced her friend in a hug.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am psyched!" Monique said with an excited squeal. "This year is going to be incredible!"

The group continued on toward Middleton High, with both girls and Rufus having to drag Ron past the Buenos Nachos restaurant that they often frequented on the walk home. But soon, the enormity of the school was before them, and Kim looked up at the double doors that she had sneaked through after the bell countless times. Been ridiculed by Bonnie behind them even more. She hesitated at the base of the steps, a whimsical smile playing at her lips. This year was going to be different. She could feel it. Ron turned to look quizzically at her from his place a few steps above. "You coming, Kim?" he asked, his voice a little deeper, with a hint of static. It was as though he was talking into a radio with his head in a bucket...

"What?"

"You okay, Kim?"

It was Joss's voice that snapped Kim out of her reverie, and she shook her head, staring up at the corroded doors of Middleton High. The sun was nowhere to be seen, replaced by dark greenish black clouds that glowed with the moon shining through them. The harsh reality of their current situation caused Kim's smile to fade and she nodded, following her team up the steps. As Wade opened the double doors, they could all feel the gust of air that rushed out, pushing the fog away. As the door closed behind them, the hallway began to light up in a slow sequence, bidding them to continue on.

"This place is creepier than I remember..." Ron murmured, a shakiness still evident in his voice.

Kim narrowed her eyes and growled at the trail of lights that activated as they moved cautiously down the hall. "Let's find this contact and get out of here. I'm done reminiscing."

Ron had already wandered ahead, and had opened a locker door. "Boo Yah! Check it out, Rufus! My stash of Diablo sauce is still here!" he shouted, his words echoing loudly through the halls of the school. "And hey, my petition to bring back Naco Night..."

"Ron, that's all at least five years old! Just leave it alone and come on!" Kim pleaded as the rest of the group continued on.

"Are you kidding?! This could very well be the last of the Diablo sauce in the world! I can't just leave it!" he argued, stuffing a paper bag full of the red and yellow packets.

"Fine." Kim conceded. "Just keep up."

They continued through the strobing halls of Middleton High, such as it was, until the lights led them to the familiar double doors of the gymnasium. Joss already had her pistols unholstered, while Wade continued scanning the area around them, looking for any sign that this too, could still be a trap. With Rufus shuffling along behind her in his bulky armored body, and Ron struggling to catch up, Kim lunged through the doors. Her visor lit up the vast, dark room in pale green, revealing the still heavily decorated walls and ceiling from prom night. Even the disco ball still hung in the center of the room, glinting in Kim's light amplified vision. With no motion within the shadows of the room, the crew relaxed slightly.

"How'd all this stuff survive the bombing and fallout?" Joss asked, using the end of her pistols to sift through several ribbons and other items that were strewn around the room. Although the balloons had all popped or deflated from time, most of the music equipment was still intact, and Kim knelt down at the DJ's station on the stage, wiping off the dust with a glove.

"I don't know, Joss. Considering the building's still got power, I'd say someone's been using it. Who or how is beyond me, though." Wade said, observing his wrist computer with obvious interest. "Somehow, there's still an atmosphere in here, keeping the building pressurized. The air's safe to breath." he added, opening his visor with a soft hiss. "And better than anything I've breathed for awhile."

As the rest of the crew retracted their helmets for a breath of fresh air, Kim touched the power button on the DJ's compact disc player, automatically starting the next track that had been waiting five years to play since Shego had crashed the Prom to kidnap Erik.

I know we've been friends forever

But now I think I'm feeling something totally new

And after all this time

I've opened up my eyes, now I see

You were always with me...

Kim abruptly stopped the music as Joss, Wade, Rufus, and Ron looked her way in confusion. Retracting her own helmet, Kim sighed. "So where is this contact?" she asked

impatiently.

As she did, a voice from one side of the gymnasium caught everyone's attention. "Greetings, Kim. It's been a long time."

Standing in a silver cloak stood a man with a relaxed and jovial stature. His short brown hair was combed back, and dark blue eyes were perhaps the most peaceful that Kim had seen in a long time. His face was missing the lines of stress of living in a wartorn world, and he grinned at Kim and Ron's obvious surprise. "You can't be who I think you are." Kim said suspiciously. "You look like Felix Renton. And you're..."

Felix chuckled. "Standing?" Kim blushed slightly, recalling her multitude of faux pas at Felix's disability when they'd first met. Felix opened the silver cloak that had been draped over his shoulders, and revealed a mechanical harness that he was wearing around his waist. Tethers reached down and wrapped around his thighs and calves. "Cyberrobotic Vertebrae Bypass. It gets around those pesky bad sectors in my spinal cord that kept me from using my legs." he explained. "As you've already discovered, you don't need your armor in here."

"No offense, but we'll keep the armor on. Though I will admit, the fresh air is nice." Kim smiled politely, still trying to find any indication that this Felix wasn't real.

Felix returned the gesture, and nodded. "None taken. Maybe when you come to Eden Two, we'll suit you all up in one of these." he said, gesturing to the cloak. "Completely resistant to acid, cold, heat, and even low yield energy."

"Nice." Wade grinned. "But how? No one's been able to develop anything that high tech the last while except for Drakken."

"Not here, no." Felix said. "But in Eden Two, we've got nothing but time and peace."

Shego peered through the yellow fog at the synthodrones around her. They had just entered the restricted zone of Middleton, and found a rogue drone that had been attacked recently with an energy weapon. "Spread out!" She shouted. "I want every sector swept and Possible found. I'll take one platoon with... with..." Shego stuttered. It felt like a migraine was creeping up on her, and she ground her teeth, putting her index fingers on her temples. "With me. We'll... get... rrr... Drakken!" she called out. She put a hand on the corroded wall of a nearby building to steady herself, watching her glow erupt and push through the already weakened structure. "What's going... going on?" she asked in panicked irritation, as her body twitched out of her control.

Drakken turned from his holographic design tablet that hovered in his throne room, concentrating on Shego's status. "Well, this is unexpected."

"Unexpected?!" Shego shouted, nearly crumbling to her knees.

"Well apparently the acid fog is affecting your biomechanical systems. Erik was able to withstand the corrosive mist, but your systems must be more sensitive." Drakken said, realizing his mistake in comparing her to Erik. "Probably another side effect of Possible interfering in your reestablishment."

Shego staggered to her feet and grimaced. "I'm fine. If Kimmie's here, she's mine."

Felix stepped forward, digging into a pocket of his cloak and pulling out a small optical disk. He held it out to Kim and his face grew more serious. "Here are the coordinates of the new checkpoint for the path to Eden Two."

Kim reached out to take it, her eyes never leaving his. She handed the optical disk to Wade, then tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "So what is Eden Two? No one seems to be able to give us a straight answer."

Felix raised his eyebrows and smiled before he spoke, as though telling a fond story of his child hood. "It's exactly what it sounds like, Kim. It's a place completely untouched, and untouchable by the kind of evil that's destroyed the world. I know it sounds impossible, but you of all people should know better."

"Felix..." Ron said, stepping up beside Kim to approach him. He hesitated a moment, glancing at Kim before continuing. "Do you know a Japanese woman named Yori?"

"Sure do, Ron-Man. She just found us a few weeks ago." Felix replied. Kim frowned for a moment before hiding it. If Ron had stayed with Yori, he'd be in Eden Two now, living the life he always wanted.

"Are you tellin' me you let a clan of ninjas in, but you're not gonna let us?" Joss asked.

"The thing is, in order to keep Eden Two secret, no one can leave until Drakken's defeated. We make sure everyone knows this before we let them in, and they make the choice. And let's face it, Kim; you wouldn't be content to sit and wait while he continues on here." Felix continued.

Kim recalled what she had told Walter Nelson about staying in Sanctuary. She shook her head reluctantly, despite knowing that they could all use a rest in the kind of place Felix was talking about. "No, I suppose I wouldn't."

"The decision didn't come lightly, Kim. But we all agreed that if the world can be saved, you're the one that can do it. We all want to come home, but the best we can do right now is helping the ones that can't help themselves. The rest is up to you."

"But no pressure..." Kim said sarcastically.

"Life forms detected." one synthodrone said.

Shego was clenching and unclenching her fists and grinding her teeth hard enough to cause the odd spark to flash between them. "Fine. Des... destroy them. All. Destroy them all." She finally completed. "Where is she?"

"An undamaged structure formerly designated the Middleton High School." the synthodrone replied.

Shego's lips twitched in a mask of agonized glee. "Little cliche, don't you think Kimmie?" she asked into the air. Wisps of memories passed through Shego's mind. The last time she had been to the school, Drakken had sent her to fetch Erik when he was a mere synthodrone, and posing as Possible's boyfriend. "Gat...gather the tr...troops and converrrrrge..." she ordered, her voice slurring as she stuttered. She held her head in her hands, shouting through grinding teeth. "Go!" The synthodrones nodded and turned away from Shego, marching toward the school's gymnasium.

"Everyone admires you, Kim. You've done a lot for the world, both before and after Drakken took over. Afterall, if not for you, Eden Two may never have existed..."

Kim looked up at him in confusion, and opened her mouth to question Felix more when the external doors to the gymnasium exploded inward in a shower of energy and billowing acid fog. Immediately, Kim's team activated their helmets, sealing their battlesuits and taking cover behind the flimsy tables that remained set up throughout the room. "Felix!" Kim shouted, looking for the silver cloak.

Felix had turned away from the battle and was part way through the storage room doorway when he flashed a wry smile back at Kim, brandishing a white box from under his cloak. "Don't worry, Kim. We have every confidence in you. Until we meet again, here's something to hold you over..." he said, sliding the box across the floor toward her before running through the door.

Kim grabbed the box and flinched as a bolt of energy caused a piece of the table she had been hiding behind to explode in a shower of plastic and chip board. "Felix!" she shouted again, but he was already gone. "Ron, get Felix! We'll have to protect him!"

"Will do, KP!" he replied, moving awkwardly in his battle suit toward the stage. The rest of the team continued to fire into the fog as windows were smashed in and synthodrones began to rappel in. "Felix!" he shouted into the storage room, but no answer came. He stepped into the cramped room, which was still filled with various sports equipment and looked around, struggling to activate his battlesuit's various vision modes and frowning at not using his own mystically enhanced senses. When the green haze of the suit's light amplification filled his vision, the room was undeniably empty, with no other exit than the one he was still occupying. "Felix?" he asked once more before backing out of the storage room again.

Through the perforated brick wall of the gymnasium, Kim caught sight of a group of synthodrones that were continuing to fire at the school in an attempt to flank her team. With a determined growl, Kim threw herself through the wall, her armored plating absorbing most of the impact as the cement bricks and the synthodrones collapsed around her. Alarms began strobing within her helmet, filling her heads up display with warnings of dropping power levels and imminent shutdown of her battle armor. As she slid to a stop, Kim pulled her energy pistol from her thigh holster and fired several successive bolts into the shadows in the murky acid fog.

As Joss and Wade fell into place to her left side, Kim's targeting reticle searched the mist, highlighting a seemingly endless line of adversaries before settling on a lithe mechanical form with glowing green claws. "Shego..." Kim whispered to herself, biting out the name like a curse. A volley of green energy blew chunks of cement out from behind her as she ducked, and she turned to Joss and Wade. "Get to the Kepler! I'll keep her busy!"

"But Kim!" Joss protested, halting her salvo for a moment to look back at her cousin. Despite the Centurion style helmet and reflective faceplate though, Joss knew Kim meant it. "Roger that, Cap'n..." she replied, taking Wade by the arm and leading him away.

"Ron and Rufus, you too." Kim ordered, rolling to the side and returning fire as best she could. "Make a path!" While Rufus replied with a series of untranslated squeaks and chirps, a sign his robot body's power was dwindling as well, there was nothing from Ron. "Ron?"

Suddenly distracted, Kim was thrown back through the gymnasium wall as Shego surged forward in a burst of speed.. "Snooze you lose, Princess!"

Before Kim could struggle to her feet, Shego was standing over her and struck the wooden floor with a glowing hand as Kim narrowly twisted out of the way. Rolling on her back, Kim tucked her legs up and the myonetic components whined as Kim put full force into kicking Shego away and leaping to a kneeling position. Synthodrones were beginning to file into the gymnasium, barreling through what was left of the decorated room, but holding their fire as Shego charged at Kim again. Kim blocked each strike, using her gauntlets to shield herself from Shego's energy wrapped hands. Despite grinding her teeth in determination, a smile began to play at the edge of her lips. Synthodrones were too slow to keep up to Kim in her battle armor, and had become boring and monotonous. But Shego's enhanced speed and strength were reminding Kim of their old battles. Before the myonetic powered armor. Before the synthetics. Before her friends and family were displaced in their own world. Before her father died...

The sudden reminder of the fate of her father caused Kim to shout out as she twisted Shego's arm and flipped her considerable weight over her shoulder to throw the synthomech into the wall. Shego planted her feet into the concrete bricks and back flipped to a standing position. Without hesitation, Shego blasted the floor at Kim's feet, throwing splinters of charred flooring in all directions. Kim performed a midair somersault to bring her within striking distance of Shego and began another flurry of attacks that resulted in a series of dull, metal on metal sounds. Shego seemed to take each one with a grin despite the obvious denting that occurred, instead swiping her clawed, glowing fingers at Kim until finally the distinctive sound of tearing steel echoed through Kim's helmet.

"That sh-should match the scars on the arrrrrrm I left you last time." Shego said, her voice pausing like a skipping compact disk. She suddenly stumbled back against the broken wall behind her, holding her head and shouting in pained confusion. "Drakken!"

Lord Drakken was watching Shego's progress intently in his mind's eye, being careful not to make his presence known. She always did hate it when he watched over her shoulder. "Leave the area, Shego. Before the fog manages to damage your primary systems. Let the drones finish off Possible and her team."

Shego shook her head, searching for Kim. "Like Hell!" she retorted. Her vision was full of static now, and Kim was on the floor in front of her, split into a dozen different images. "Y-you're minnnnnne now!" she shouted, firing a blast at each of the images to be sure.

Kim was lifting herself to her knees as red flashes of light were going off in her helmet, issuing warnings of power failure. "Abort!" she shouted at the computer system. The yellow fog had filled the gymnasium by now and if Shego didn't digitize her first, she would melt within seconds of losing her battle armor. Behind her, Shego had begun firing blasts of energy wildly, tearing through synthodrones and the schools substructure at random. As the battle armor that protected Kim flickered and powered down and the acid fog began to devour her GJ uniform and the skin beneath it, a glimmer of blue light flashed throughout the room and engulfed her. "Ron?" she asked, feeling his arms cradle her. He was no longer wearing his own armor, and even the armor blueprint was hanging off of him in plastic-like rags, leaving only his boxer shorts.

"Let's get you out of here, KP. Looks like Shego had too much of this acid soup." he grinned, ducking under a random blast of green energy.

"Let's hope she chokes on it." Kim rasped, her lungs already sore from the minimal amount of the acid fog that she had breathed in. "The box..." she said, pointing down at the container Felix had given her. Ron's halo seemed to both protect her, and soothe her pain. Ron awkwardly picked up the small box and handed it to Kim to hold as he carefully exited the gymnasium. The pair looked up to see the Kepler flying in low and with a grunt, Ron leaped up and into the waiting entry ramp.

The Global Justice base was quiet, with Joss and Rufus tinkering with components around the perimeter of the control room, and Wade attempting to discover what happened to Ron's battle suit while the mystical blonde ninja master looked on with a frown from behind, trying to explain the events that led to the suits destruction. The whooshing sound of a door drew everyone's attention to Kim as she entered the room. Severe burn marks adorned her face and abdomen where the skin was directly exposed to the acid fog, and she moved slowly and with a grimace, as though her entire body was in pain. In her hands was the small box that they had managed to get away with. Whatever it was, Kim knew it was something that Felix wanted them all to have.

"You oughta still be restin'." Joss said, folding her arms.

Kim managed a smile. "Just can't resist giving orders, now that you're in charge of me, can you?" she said, her voice still hoarse.

Joss smiled back playfully. "Bein' the only thang close to a medic has it's perks."

As Kim neared the central computer console, Ron stood with a frown, rushing over to pull a chair out for her. "Ron, I've got burns. I'm not pregnant. I'm fine." she said, placing the box on the desk.

"Of course not." Joss whispered to herself. "You won't let him get close enough." she grinned, earning her a dark glare from Kim. Ron hadn't seemed to notice though, and instead took a seat beside Kim, eyeing the container on the counter.

"So what's in the box, Kim?" Wade asked, his own curiosity getting the best of him. There were two latches on the container, one on each end, and as Kim twisted the knobs to undo them, a hiss of air was sucked into the box and an aroma that none of them had experienced in five years escaped. "Is that?"

"Spiced beef... Beans... Sauce..." Ron sniffed, his eyes closing and his mouth watering.

"Not just beef... That's REAL beef!"

"And veggies!"

"Ha ha! And you all mocked my Diablo sauce!" Ron shouted, lifting the paper bag he had taken from his locker at Middleton High.

Inside the container were five chimeritos, complete with all real ingredients, from the bean sauce to the flat bread. Ron grinned, opening his hand to grab one of the chimeritos, then paused at the sound of the rest of the team clearing their throats in unison. He frowned at the rest of the crowd, who gestured at Kim with raised eyebrows. Letting out a sigh, he carefully dug his hand into the box and lifted out one of the wrapped meals, setting it down on the desk in front of Kim. "Cap'ns prerogative, Kim." Joss said.

Kim looked down at the food that had been placed in front of her and gave a half smile before looking around at the rest of the crew. "I guess this means Eden Two is real."

"It has to be." Wade agreed.

Ron was shifting his weight from side to side, slurping the saliva from his lips. "Can we discuss the higher possibilities of Mexican food theorem AFTER we eat?!" Rufus had also jumped up onto the desk and was eyeing the container, sniffing the air and readying his claws for an invasive exploration of the chimerito. "Mmmm hmmm!"

"Bon appetite." Kim said, taking her food and kicking herself away from the desk to roll out of the way. The existence of Eden Two couldn't be denied anymore, and Kim relished in the thought that maybe there was a reason to save the world. Somewhere, there were people waiting to come back.

A big thanks to Mengsk, who pointed out earlier that I somehow missed putting page breaks in this chapter.