Merry Christmas 2012! (Someday I'll find a way to post these more frequently than once a year.)

The story so far:

Six months ago, Drakken was kidnapped by Gemini for his help in obtaining a mystic artifact called the Mantle of Tenoch. Together, they bombed Global Justice headquarters to create a distraction big enough to steal the Mantle. Drakken's mother, Andy Lipsky, solicited the help of Shego and Team Possible to find and rescue her son. In the process, Kim was shot, and Shego fell into a coma where Andy Lipsky stole her youth to return to being Atomic Andy, the supervillain she was back in the sixties. Ron, in shock from watching Kim get shot, fled to Yamanouchi where he was trained by Master Sensei on using his Mystical Monkey Power to visit the dreams of others.

One month ago, Yamanouchi was attacked by a group called the Shade and Ron and Yori returned to Middleton to hide. At the same time Shego woke up, realized she now appeared to be about seventy years old, and returned to crime, employing the aid of DNAmy to find a way to restore her youth. In the process, DNAmy kidnapped Bonnie Rockwaller to experiment on, causing Bonnie to rapidly age before she was rescued by the new Team Possible, which includes Felix Renton, Zita Flores, and Ken Possible, a visitor from another dimension who is Kim's copy except he's male and five years older.

Bonnie has been taken in by Dr. Rick, a new teacher at Middleton who is clearly older than he looks, to teach her magick so that she might reverse the aging she's suffered. Rick has previously worked with Dr. Director at Global Justice back in the seventies and has agreed to keep an eye out for Kim Possible ever since the start of the school year. Dr. Director herself has been worse for wear since the bombing and has just informed Dr. Rick that one of her top agents, Will Du, has just been declared dead.

(For the full story, read Disappearing Doctor and the previous episodes of this tale.)

Episode 5

FIVE MONTHS AGO.

Will Du heard wheezing, constant wheezing in his ears. He wasn't sure what was causing it or even where he was but the sound was ever present, along with soft tones in constant patterns and the sound of something scraping lightly against paper. It was a cacophony of subtle sounds that felt like the roar of a waterfall.

With effort, he tried to open his eyes, but it felt like lead weights were resting on them. He struggled, failed, breathed (more wheezing was heard) then he tried again. Slowly, but sure, he pierced the darkness and was nearly blinded by the light of the room.

He was in a hospital bed, he realized, and the wheezing was coming from him. There were clearly bandages over his face and much of his torso. He was confused and panicked for a few minutes, unsure of how he got injured and why he was in the hospital. The walls were white, the curtains were plain, there were standard clipboards on the wall. It all screamed 'civilian hospital' to him, which meant either Global Justice didn't know where he was or they didn't care anymore.

Will tried to sit up, but the lattice of wires and tubes across his chest held him down. A siren went off with deafening volume and he tried to raise his hands to cover his ears. The tubes, and his weak muscles, kept him from moving very far, and so the siren continued to wail.

What felt like hours later a nurse ran into the room, pushed aside his curtain and pressed her thumb against the button that silenced the alarm. She looked down at him with a concerned expression – her brows pushed together, the sides of her lips pointed down – and then reached out to hold his hand. She felt warm and soft on the back of hand, and it was only that moment that he realized how cold he was.

"Can you understand me?" she asked in soft, melodic tones.

Will tried to speak but he had a pipe in his throat and couldn't even start. He gave up and slightly nodded his head.

"You've been in an accident," she said slowly. "You're at Middleton General Hospital and we've been caring for you for the last six weeks."

Six weeks! What on earth happened? Why he was he here, in this hospital, instead of at a GJ facility if he was injured? Were his wounds so grave GJ didn't have the necessary equipment to help him? What about care? Shouldn't a GJ agent be posted somewhere nearby?

"Shh, calm down," soothed the nurse. She squeezed his hand slightly. "Don't worry, you're fine. You're in good hands. Let me call a doctor and she'll explain everything for you."

Will looked up at her and wondered what sort of response she was expecting. He nodded and let her leave, taking her warm hands with her. He felt a little empty when she was gone. Alone, again, he was in this room, with the roaring noise of the respirator beside him.

The door opened again and a tall redheaded woman entered. She smiled kindly at him and patted his shoulder when she approached.

"My name is Doctor Possible," said the woman. "I'm a surgeon here at the hospital."

Possible? Related to Kim Possible? She bore a casual resemblance to the freelance hero but older. Possibly her mother?

"Do you remember your name?" asked Dr. Possible.

Will nodded. Of course he remembered his name. He was Will Du, Agent-In-Charge for Global Justice. Direct report to Doctor Director. First in his class back in training, best record for a field agent in his initial year. Leading a strike team of six at a younger age than any other agent in GJ's history.

Dr. Possible picked up a clipboard and wrote on it with a pencil. Then she turned it around, showing three names.

"Can you pick out your name?" she asked.

Will Du looked at the list. It said John Logan, Clark Freemont, and Michael Sumner. His own name was not listed. He shook his head.

"You can't remember?" she asked.

Will stared, unsure of how to express his confusion. He knew his name, it just wasn't listed.

"I can see you're confused," said Dr. Possible kindly. Will was relieved that she seemed to understand him. "That's normal after the trauma you experienced. It may take time for you to fully remember everything."

Will frowned as best he could beneath the bandages on his forehead. She didn't appear to have understood at all. He shook his head to express his disagreement.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," said Dr. Possible, again not really catching his point. "It happens to most people in your situation. I'd like to help you as best as I can."

She pulled over a chair and sat beside Will. He looked at her, unsure what to do. He wasn't confused, she just hadn't listed his name. Wasn't that a test? Isn't he supposed to recognize that his name wasn't on the paper.

"Your name is John Logan," said Dr. Possible. "You were in a car accident with a piece of construction equipment. You were flung from your car and landed in a worksite just off the I-68 expressway. The doctors on the scene were able to get you here quick enough to minimize the damage further, but you have extensive facial and upper body damage from when you rolled after hitting the ground."

Will shook his head. This wasn't true, that didn't happen. He wasn't quite clear on what he was doing when he got hurt, but it couldn't have been that. What would he have been doing on the highway anyway? Who was John Logan beyond the historical reference?

"I was one of the surgeons that worked on you to minimize your cranial swelling," said Dr. Possible. "I'm pleased to say there will be no lasting damage. Your memory loss is the result of the sudden trauma and not brain damage."

Will shook his head again. He didn't believe any of this.

"It's okay," said Dr. Possible. "We've contacted your next of kin and I'm told she's already on her way in. Now that you're conscious I'll have a nurse remove the breathing tube so you can speak again. But please, take it easy. Try not to push yourself at this stage. It's better for you to heal and take it slow."

Will stared. He understood this doctor was just trying to help, that there was no way for her to really understand what he was saying, but it was annoying him all the same. He was NOT John Logan. He just needed this tube removed so he could say so.

Dr. Possible smiled and nodded, then stood and called to a nurse outside the door. Will simply waited silently and tried not to let his fuming be noticed. He knew there was nothing to be done right now, but it was driving him crazy.

The nurse entered with cart and some tools and began slowly removing parts of the tubing and, agonizingly slowly began pulling out the long clear cylinder out of his throat. He felt it scraping against the back of his mouth and he coughed violently several times while she pulled. Each cough wracked his body with small pains, undoubtedly the result of his extensive injuries.

Once the tube was removed Will tried to speak right away but his throat felt like sandpaper and he couldn't articulate the words he wanted to say. The nurse was ready and offered him a straw to suck on. He took a drink of something cool and sweet tasting, perhaps a juice and it felt like heaven in his throat.

With the parched throat resolved and the ugly tube removed, Will was ready to correct the misguided doctor. "My name is—"

"John!" came a voice from behind the doctor. Will paused and looked up. The slight frame of Jennifer Cartwright was standing in the doorway, her long brown hair in a ponytail behind her, and wearing a hideously ugly sweater instead of her Global Justice uniform.

Unable to parse what he was seeing, Will said nothing and just stared at her.

"Don't you recognize your sister, John?" asked Cartwright, expectantly. "Lorraine?"

"Lorraine," repeated Will, slowly. He was starting to have a guess at what was going on. For some reason, he'd been given a new identity and he guessed that Cartwright was his contact. He couldn't fathom why the Global Justice Regional Second-In-Command would be his contact, but then again, he honestly couldn't remember being assigned to deep cover either.

"Lorraine," Will said more confidently and tried to smile.

Dr. Possible smiled widely and nodded. "I'll let you two talk. Let me know if you need anything." She turned and swept out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Cartwright came over and stood over Will at the edge of the bed.

"Agent," she said, with a nod.

"Commander," said Will. He couldn't salute in his condition but he raised an eyebrow instead. "What is going on?"

Cartwright sighed loudly and sat down in the chair casually. The formality she'd briefly expressed had vanished again into whatever cover personal lay before him. "Do you remember the bombing of HQ?"

"HQ was bombed?" said Will, his eyes going wide.

"Yes, please don't panic," Cartwright said quickly. "If your heart rate spikes those doctors will be back in here."

"Sorry, sir," said Will. He looked down and tried to think. He only had vague memories leading up to this room. He distantly could remember a buzzing noise. "I don't fully remember. Something about... bees, perhaps?"

"Very good, agent," said Cartwright. "Using technology acquired from Dr. Drakken, the Worldwide Evil Empire launched an attack with a swarm of explosive bees. They took out our main communication center, stored equipment, and backup systems. Power systems were destroyed, and auxiliary power only lasted a few days before we had to fully evacuate. There were casualties as well. Fourteen agents lost their lives."

Will sighed. The wheezing in his chest was low and rumbling. "I'm sorry."

"Dr. Director was temporarily incapacitated," continued Cartwright. "And I took over as Acting Director and was involved in the follow-up action to bring down WEE."

"Bring down?" asked Will. "You succeeded?"

"Gemini is in custody, his organization is now disbanded," said Cartwright. "Drakken is also in custody."

Will's jaw dropped. For as many times Gemini had escaped them at the last minute he was beginning to think they'd never win. "Congratulations."

"It was mostly attributable to Kim Possible," said Cartwright. "But we did the clean up."

Again Kim Possible came up. She was a near endless presence in Global Justice affairs since he first met her three years ago. Will tried to hide his envy over the girl who caught Dr. Director's eye without even going through proper training, without even understanding the rules of engagement, without ever consulting a rulebook. It was preposterous that someone who has been so dedicated to the cause, put in so many long and hard hours, could be overlooked in favor of a... a ... a cheerleader!

"Agent Du?" said Cartwright.

"Sorry, continue," said Will.

"In the aftermath of all that, however," she continued. "We learned something much worse. It is possible – we are unsure at this point – that everything was orchestrated by Angela Lipsky."

"The old woman who showed up with Kim Possible?" asked Will. He vaguely remembered Kim showing at GJ HQ with both Shego and Drakken's mother, of all people. He recalled the old woman's appearance, the short stature, un-athletic build, limited emotional range. It seemed incongruous. "Why her?"

"She was once Atomic Andy," said Cartwright.

"The villain from the sixties?" asked Will. Now he definitely remembered Atomic Andy from the books. One step from taking over the world she always was. The perpetual nemesis of Captain Fantastic, who was the prominent hero of that era. It was a more flamboyant time, to be sure, but all the more memorable for it.

"The same," said Cartwright. "It appears she had been lying in wait all this time for the right moment to strike. She arranged for Gemini to pursue the Mantle of Tenoch so she could obtain it for herself, and her visit to GJ that you recall was cover for her to plant a virus to selectively erase our records of the artifact and her connection to it."

Will blinked slowly at these revelations. He found it hard to believe that short woman was the same person as Atomic Andy, nor that she had been putting forth some calculated plan all these years. "What does that have to do with me?" he said, asking the question he'd been waiting to ask.

"We're concerned about a new group that has appeared in the last few weeks," said Cartwright. "We believe they call themselves SCHEME, and they have been amassing power at an alarming rate. We have reports of agreements being brokered between them and the old families in Europe, parts of the Yakuza in Japan, insurgents in the Middle East, even smaller circles of criminals here in the United States. We're having a hard time keeping track of it because of how quickly they're moving."

"You think this is connected to Lipsky?" asked Will.

Cartwright nodded. "For reasons of... diplomacy, the OLC will not approve our formal investigation into this. Dr. Director believes it is because a few key members of the oversight committee have already been compromised by SCHEME. If we want to get to the bottom of this, we need to go under the radar."

"You want me to go undercover," said Will.

"What we'd like..." Cartwright trailed off and looked, for a moment, wounded. "What I've been given charge to do is find out what's going on in SCHEME through any means necessary in a way that can't be traced back to Global Justice. The mission involves a long, deep non-official cover operation with no possibility of recovery if it goes awry, and very few avenues to supply equipment."

"You want me to be this operative?" asked Will. This was not entirely an atypical assignment for him, he'd led teams before, been given command of recruits before, and asked to train up new agents in the ways of GJ. But to go it alone on such high stakes? "I'd be—"

"There are several catches to this assignment," said Cartwright. "We suspect that there are those within SCHEME that have complete access to GJ files. We need to go to every possible measure to make sure they do not find out who you are."

Will looked to the side and saw the edges of the bandages on his face. "You've altered my face," he said, a little unsettled.

"No," Cartwright shook her head. "Those are the injuries you sustained from the explosion, but if you agree to this assignment, we will be altering your appearance."

"What happens to Will Du, then?" asked Will, afraid he already knew the answer.

"Will Du will die," said Cartwright softly. "As we speak there is another patient here with your real name. Similar build and appearance, but with more extensive injuries he is not expected to recover from. At a convenient point in the future, that patient's death will be announced and there will be a funeral."

"And... after this assignment is complete?" asked Will. Cartwright looked sternly at him. He swallowed. "I see."

"You will lose all connections to GJ. You will receive unsigned mission updates from me. But beyond that, you will be on your own."

Will breathed deliberately, trying to keep himself calm. He was being asked to work with criminals, to support criminals, to fight on behalf of criminals, in an activity not sanctioned by OLC, not connected to GJ at all. And to top it all off, he was being asked to give up his life and identity for it.

"There is nobody else in GJ I trust to do this," said Cartwright. "I will be asking you, in the long term, to infiltrate SCHEME, report back to us what they are doing, and who they really are. This is a long term assignment, and may take months if not years to accomplish even the initial objectives."

Will nodded. His head was spinning at all the information and the ominous choice before him.

"Can I think about it?" asked Will.

Cartwright nodded. "Of course. I'm aware of what I'm asking you. If it makes any difference, I will be forced to resign from Global Justice in order to break the chain should anyone discover me in contact with you."

Will frowned. That really didn't make his choice any easier.

Cartwright stood up and nodded. "Think about it. I'll be back tomorrow." She turned to head for the door.

"John Logan?" said Will before she left. Cartwright stopped and turned slightly. "Logan's Lament?"

She nodded.

"That doesn't set a very positive precedent, if I remember my history correctly," said Will.

"I'll see that you do better," said Cartwright. She turned again and left the room.

-( KP )-

Disney's Kim Possible in

Apocolocyntosis

By Adam Leigh

Episode 5:

"The Scheme for The Book"

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Kim ran desperately towards the doors to the theater, checking her watch as she tripped over the exaggeratedly long costume dress she was wearing for her part as Christine. She did not understand how it got so late so quickly. She felt like just a second ago she was getting her costume on and it was hours until the production. Now she was thirty minutes late! Did the show go on without her? She wasn't in the very first scene, after all. She didn't see anyone in the halls or the classrooms to even ask if the show had started.

Stumbling again over her dress, she grabbed a bunch of the cloth and held it against her chest as she ran. The blue double-doors leading to the green room were ahead and she was only seconds away. Still she could hear nothing and saw no one.

Bursting through the doors, causing them to slam into the walls on either side, Kim ran into the Green Room, where actors stayed when they weren't on stage. It was strangely empty. Kim couldn't explain it but she kept running towards the door on the opposite end that would lead to the stage. Why wasn't anyone here?

Careful to be more quiet with the doors leading to the stage, Kim quietly pushed the door open and pulled her dress through. She could hear voices coming from the stage but couldn't make out what they were staying. None of the stage hands were behind the curtains, she noticed, not even Zita or Malcolm.

Creeping up to the curtains, Kim stuck her head behind the curtains and looked out onto the stage. The scene was set for one of the ballroom scenes, later in the play, and the actors were going through their lines as if Kim were there in her role as Christine. The theatre itself was packed, filled to the brim with guests. How could they not have noticed she wasn't there?

Kim tried to remember where in the play they were and tried to sneak out and take up the positon she was supposed to be in. As soon as she stepped onto the stage, she ran into someone else in a dress very much like her. In fact, it was an identical dress to hers.

"What the—" Kim started. She looked at the person in the dress and realized who it was. "Ken?"

"Kim!" said Ken. "You can't be out here. There can't be two Christine's in this play!"

"Why are you dressed up as Christine?" said Kim, flabbergasted. "You're a guy!"

"I wasn't always a guy," said Ken with wink. "Besides, don't you think this dress makes me look good?" He looked up and down Kim's body. "I certainly wear it better than you."

"What?" asked Kim, incapable of mentally processing that criticism. "What's going on? Where is everybody?"

"You're ruining this scene, Kimmie!" yelled a voice. Kim turned to see Bonnie standing there in her Carlotta outfit. She was young again, back to the age before DNAmy had kidnapped her.

"Bonnie!" said Kim, excited for her classmate's recovery. "What happened? How did you get young again?"

"What are you talking about, Princess?" asked Bonnie. Her voice had changed suddenly and sounded more nasal. "This is a play, surely you realize we're all wearing costumes." Bonnie then reached up over he her head and pulled off her mask and dress revaling Shego underneath. She was old again but wearing her old green and black bodysuit – which was sagging unsightly in some places.

"Shego?" said Kim. She wheeled back a couple steps, bumping again into Ken who glared at her beneath hideous amounts of eye shadow. "What... how?"

"Aren't you keeping up?" asked Shego with a bored look. She tapped her heeled foot on the ground impatiently. "We're all changing roles here. Bon-bon's over there learning to be a teacher." She pointed languidly towards the audience.

Kim looked and saw the old-looking Bonnie sitting next to Dr. Rick in the front row. They were excitedly looking at something inside of a manila folder that Kim couldn't see. Whatever it was it was glowing. Bonnie looked up, smiled, and waved. "Hey, Kimmie... er, I mean, student Possible."

"Kenny here is taking over as the heroine," said Shego. "He's better suited to it after all."

"Well, I don't want to brag," said Ken... in falsetto.

"Yes, you do," said Shego. Then she pointed behind her at the other end of the stage. "The buffoon is exiting stage left to go star in another play, Murder on the Orient Express."

Kim stared as she saw Ron freeze while sneaking off the other end of the stage with Yori in tow. They both slowly turned to look back at Kim and giggled. "Sorry, KP! We've got bigger things to do. All of Japan is in danger! We can't limit ourselves to Middleton."

"Ron-san's mastery of Hiro no Legend makes him too important to be a sidekick anymore," said Yori. "So we're going to go make out on our way back to Asia." She giggled again, grabbed Ron's neck, and pulled him into a kiss before shoving him off stage.

"That's not real Japanese!" called Shego as they left. She shook her head and looked at Kim and scoffed. "Amateurs."

"I don't—" started Kim but Shego cut her off again.

"Even Black Shadow has turned over a new leaf and is going to be Ken's love interest," said Shego, cheerily.

Ken looked over at Black Shadow who was dressed in a Raoul costume. They shuffled their feet anxiously and tried not to make eye contact with one another.

"Must we?" asked Ken.

"I need to see kissy face between you two by Act II or you're going to be replaced," instructed Shego.

"Ugh, fine," grumbled Ken, but made no motion to get closer to Shadow.

"Anyway," said Shego. "DNAmy is also getting in on the act, but let's not talk about that too much." She pointed quickly towards the back of the stage.

Kim saw DNAmy wearing a Phantom mask and bridging her fingers in front of her. "Yo!" she said, in an uncharacteristically deep voice.

"Yeah," Shego said, wincing and obviously disturbed. "That." She shrugged. "Anyway, what are you still doing here?"

Kim looked around. "Me?"

"Yeah, why haven't you changed?" said Shego, frowning. She pointed at Kim's dress. "That certainly doesn't fit you anymore."

"What do you mean?" asked Kim loudly. "Why do I have to change? I don't want to change!"

"Everyone has to change," said Ken. "Otherwise we get left behind, like you did."

"But... but I don't want to be left behind," said Kim.

"Then you should have thought of that before you decided not to change," said Shego, wagging her finger at her. "It's not like you haven't been given lots of opportunities."

"But—" started Kim.

"I mean, you didn't want to end up like her," said Shego, gesturing towards the audience with her thumb.

Kim looked back into the audience and saw nothing new at first. Then a spotlight shown on one of the chairs and she could see Monique sitting here. She was frowning deeply, clutching something to her chest tightly and biting her lip as she stared intensely down at Dr. Rick and Bonnie, seated two rows in front of her.

Kim raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "What... what's wrong with Monique?"

"I don't want to air out someone else's dirty laundry," said Shego as she rolled her eyes. "Let's just say there should be a limit to how many times you can be jilted by your lover."

"What?" asked Kim. She didn't get that at all. She didn't get any of this. What was going on? Why hadn't anyone told her she should be changing?

"Hey, you're awfully confused," said Shego with a raised brow. "Are you sure you haven't already changed?" She leaned forward and looked so close into Kim's face that their noses touched. Suddenly she straightened and smiled. "Aha! I knew it! You did change!"

"I did?" asked Kim.

"Yeah, I can see the tag sticking out the back of your hair," said Shego. "Here, let me help you with that." She quickly darted her hand out and grabbed something behind Kim's head. With a yank she pulled on... something and Kim could feel her whole body sliding out of a slimy cocoon. Like she had been encased in honey and bandages and she'd finally been wiped clean.

"There we go! That makes much more sense," said Shego with a nod.

Kim looked down at herself and noticed she was wearing a blue lab coat. She raised her abnormally small hands and her skin had turned a similar pale blue. She grabbed her head and felt the short dark hair and ponytail.

"Here," offered Shego, holding out a shiny metal disc.

Kim looked into the mirror and saw her blue face, the scar under her eye, and her dark black hair.

Dr. Drakken screamed at the top of his lungs while looking at his reflection in horror.

-( KP )-

Ron pulled his head out of the glowing orb and looked around, startled. Yori was walking up to him in the dreamscape and looked a little alarmed.

"Are you alright, Stoppable-san?" she said.

"Yeah," said Ron, shaking his head. "Sorry, I didn't hear you at first. I was absorbed in this dream."

"What was it about?" asked Yori.

"I... don't think I should talk about it," said Ron. He eyed the orb with an unsettled expression and then slowly pushed it away so it could resume its large orbit around the Dreamtime Kingdom.

"Very well," nodded Yori. "Shall we try again?"

Ron sighed. They had been at this for weeks now, searching every night for any sign of Master Sensei's dreams. They knew that he was a master in Sansaku no Kyuumu, and as such would have considerable defenses against other dreamwalkers, but they had hoped he wouldn't raise such barriers against them. The fruitless attempts to summon his dream made Ron think differently.

The real issue, though, was that neither of them were experienced enough to know if the reason they couldn't summon Master Sensei's dream was because he was defending against them, someone was keeping Sensei's dreams from them, or if he simply wasn't there anymore for his dreams to be summoned.

Yori had refused to believe that Sensei was dead when Ron broached the possibility a week ago, and so Ron had dutifully come back here every night since and tried to find out more.

"Should we try someone else?" asked Ron. "We couldn't find Yuudai-sensei, and Hirotaka and Hideyoshi didn't know anything. Is there anyone else we can try?"

Yori shook her head. "There are many instructors, but Hirotaka-kun said he was in contact with all of the ones I know, and they still have not been able to find Master Sensei."

"There has got to be another way," said Ron. He considered – several times in fact – bringing in Amanda Veers, his Dream Mage instructor, to help. But he knew Yori wouldn't like it and he was a little concerned that the missing Master Sensei was a private matter that shouldn't be talked about openly. That didn't leave very many options available to them, however.

Ron looked at the staircase descending into in the glowing road that made up the dreamscape. "Maybe we can see if there is anything in the Cartographer's notes to help us."

"Cartographer?" asked Yori.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I didn't mention it," said Ron. "The room under the staircase. Some of the notes down there are signed 'The Cartographer' so I've started calling him that. Whoever it was that worked down there."

"Is that safe?" asked Yori. "Master Sensei warned—"

"We were down there before," said Ron. "It's just papers and some filing cabinets. And a number of maps of the Dreamtime Kingdom."

Yori looked suspiciously at Ron before slowly turning to look at the staircase. "If you believe it is best, Stoppable-san, we can take a look."

Ron agreed and walked ahead of Yori to begin descending the stairs. They were oddly contrasting to the abstract vista on the glowing road. The stairs appeared to be made of roughly hued stone and were firm under their weight as they walked. The rectangular room looked to be more of the same from the outside but once they entered it was warmly decorated with a tiled floor and wooden walls on which had been affixed a number of papers, shelves full of books, and, of course, the rows of cages that had originally contained trapped dreams before Ron, Hideyoshi, and Hirotaka freed them.

Over the last month, Ron had tried to organize some of the many hundreds of papers in the room so he could go through them and not risk re-reading the same notes by accident. Despite his ability to read the strange language the notes were written in, making sense of the notes was a different matter altogether. The Cartographer would reference things, like 'Oracle magic', or 'fey beasts', or the 'blood of Oberon', that had no definitions that Ron could understand. It was worse than writing a research paper for history class. At least there he could always ask Kim for help. In this case there was almost nobody that could possibly understand.

Yori casually walked around the room, looking at the top papers on several of the piles that Ron had created over the last few weeks. She would pick up a note, look at it, and put it carefully back down again. Ron knew she couldn't read them, nobody except him apparently could, but he held out hope all the same that she would see something in the swirling symbols that was recognizable.

"That pile is notes on something called The Crossing," said Ron, referencing the largest pile of read notes. Yori looked at it as he talked. "The Cartographer was obsessed with it, apparently because it's not easy to get to it through a dream."

"Why not?" asked Yori.

Ron shrugged. "He seems to imply it's because none of the dreams ever come in contact with it, since it's so far away from the Dreamtime Kingdom. I don't know why that would matter, since I can cross over to other universes through dreams that stay here."

"Perhaps he was not a practitioner of Sansaku no Kyuumu," offered Yori.

"I suppose," said Ron. "Until we met Ken last month, I didn't think it was possible to affect things here without the ability. But he used a device to do it, based off the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer."

"What is a Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer?" asked Yori.

Ron chuckled. "I have no idea, but a bunch of scientists made it and it was stolen a few times so Kim and I had to get it back."

Yori paused and then a small smile spread across her lips. "Perhaps this technology and magic are not so dissimilar."

Ron hesitated to agree. He knew that Ken's trip through the dreamscape was more than a little disruptive and that his own travel was much less violent. Technology might be able to breach the void, but it was very different than what he did. At least he believed as such.

Yori continued on looking at the piles and the maps hanging on the wall (which, apart from the text, were understandable to her). She stopped at the large map showing the giant orb representing the Dreamtime Kingdom and the hundreds of tiny balls orbiting it. "Why are the dreams drawn towards this one?" she asked, pointing at the center of the map.

Ron stepped over and looked at the map she was examining. "The Cartographer thinks that it's like gravity. Somehow this shared dream got to be so big that it... uh, leaked on the dreams around it. They started becoming part of the larger dream and then they merged completely, making it even bigger and drawing in more dreams." He shrugged. "I'm... not sure. I get the feeling it's something different."

"What do you mean?" asked Yori.

Ron shifted his weight and looked at the map with his head slightly tilted. "Well, it seems like the Dreamtime Kingdom is like... another world, trapped in the dreamscape. The Cartographer seems to believe that the dreamscape used to be empty and slowly more and more larger dreams appeared as humans came about."

"You do not believe this?"

"Sort of," said Ron. "I don't think it was always here, but I don't think it was an accident."

"Then where did this Kingdom come from?"

Ron hesitated to say very much. He had an idea, but it heavily leaned on lessons he'd been taught by Amanda Veers. "I can pull people into the dreamscape," he started slowly. "And I can create dreams of my own. I'm not very good at it, Master Sensei was better, but if I could create a big enough dream and then pulled enough people from around the world into it, then it would become ... permanent. Someone would always been dreaming about it somewhere and it would never end."

"People don't normally have the same dreams every night, Stoppable-san," said Yori.

They can, Ron thought. "I've seen a few people trapped in recurring dreams, actually," said Ron. "Monique for one."

"Montague-san?" asked Yori. "This is Possible-san's friend we've seen at the school?"

Ron nodded. "She's always dreaming about ancient Egypt when I look for her." He shook his head. "I don't think she remembers when she wakes up; she's never said anything to me or Kim."

"So the Kingdom is a shared dream a master of Sansaku no Kyuumu created?" asked Yori.

"I think so. And it's very old, if these notes are right." He pointed to the stack of papers to his right. "Whoever made it might not even exist anymore."

"Then perhaps someone there knows how to find Master Sensei," said Yori.

Ron froze with his mouth lightly open. "Master Sensei wouldn't take me into it," he finally said. "I'm not sure it's safe."

"Why would he not take you?" asked Yori.

"He said it wasn't part of my training and would be distracting," said Ron. "I'm not sure if that is true or if he was trying to protect me."

"Surely the other worlds you've gone to would have been more dangerous than this Kingdom," said Yori.

"I... suppose so," said Ron. "I didn't have any idea what I was getting into there. So anything could have been waiting for me."

"And you can leave the dream any time you choose, correct?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Then I think we should see if anyone there can help us," said Yori.

Ron said nothing at first but scrunched up his face in thought. "I don't know..."

"We must find out what happened to Master Sensei," said Yori definitively. "I believe you are a very capable warrior, Stoppable-san. We will be safe if we are together."

"Maybe I should get someone else to come with us, just in case," said Ron. "Inside a dream this stable would be just like going to another world."

Yori frowned. "You wish to invite Possible-san," she said without asking.

"She could help us in a jam," said Ron.

"Will she not make it harder for you?" asked Yori. "You had trouble keeping Hirotaka and Hideyoshi in the dreamscape."

"Inside the dream I don't have to hold them," said Ron. "I can move people between dreams and then leave them without trouble. It's just here in the dreamscape that I have to concentrate to prevent them from returning to their own dreams."

"What about Ken Possible-san?" asked Yori. "He is accustomed to travelling between worlds."

"I... don't know," said Ron. "I don't really think he should be involved in this. He's never met our Master Sensei either."

Yori sighed, looking off to the side. "What about your friend? Renton-san."

"He's not really that great in a fight," said Ron with a smirk.

"His dream self would be free of his wheelchair," pointed out Yori.

Ron blinked deliberately. "Oh my god, I never thought about that! He would totally love it!" He paused. "But, is it okay to tell him about Yamanouchi? He's not really a ninja."

"He is a close friend of yours and we have seen his trust in you," said Yori. "Do you trust him to keep the secret?"

"Absolutely," said Ron quickly.

"Then it is okay," said Yori with a smile.

"Sweet!" yelled Ron. "I'll go get him..." he trailed off. Then he looked at his wrist. A green mist coalesced suddenly and took the form of a watch. "We should wait for tomorrow, actually. It's getting late and we need to get some real sleep."

Yori nodded. "Then you may let me return to my dream, and I will see you when we wake."

Ron smiled warmly and nodded. "Thank you. For letting me show my friend this."

"It is my honor, Stoppable-san." Yori looked slightly down with a demure look before fading into a glowing ball of light that gently drifted back up the staircase.

Left alone, Ron found himself thinking of Yori for several minutes after she had left.

"You two are the cutest couple!"

Ron jumped in fright and turned to see Amanda Veers standing behind him, dressed in her black dress decorated in glittering diamonds.

"Amanda!" he said.

"You must learn to feel the dreams around you," said Amanda as she walked around the room. "There are many signs when someone new comes to the dreamscape, being attuned to disruptions in this world will help you from being surprised in the future."

"Er... what are you doing down here?" asked Ron, still a little unsettled by her appearance.

"Just checking in on my student," said Amanda. "I see you've found something interesting."

"Yeah, it's just some notes," said Ron. "Someone else left them, I think he's long gone by now."

Amanda touched her finger to her lips and hummed while looking at a diagram. "Perhaps," she said, cryptically. She turned back towards Ron. "Have you been practicing?"

Ron nodded. "I have been able to hold onto a hundred dreams at once and I've been sustaining my channeling longer."

"How long?" asked Amanda, idly.

"About an hour now," said Ron.

"Good," she nodded slowly. She looked over at the diagram again. "You've quickly pushed past the boundaries of your power. You should be ready to try the location spell in the physical world very soon, and I have no doubt you'll grow even more rapidly in the future, once you consider doubling."

"Doubling?" asked Ron, tilting his head.

"I should probably not tell you," Amanda said after a moment. "It is frequently better for students to realize it for themselves. I don't want to stunt your growth by revealing too much too soon."

Ron frowned. He wondered what difference there was between saying that and actually telling him what it meant. Though, Master Sensei used to play the same games with him as well.

"So I heard you're planning to go to the Dreamtime Kingdom," said Amanda, looking at Ron out of the corner of her eye. "I'd recommend against it."

"Why?" asked Ron. "Because it's dangerous?"

"Everything is potentially dangerous out here," said Amanda, waving her hand dismissively. "I would think you already understood that."

Ron sighed quietly.

"The problem with the Dreamtime is that is all too real," said Amanda. "It is easy to become trapped there, living whole lifetimes without realizing it." She pointed her finger at Ron. "You have to make yourself wake up from the Dreamtime, you see, it won't just happen on its own. But that place is very convincing. Your body will feel real, and you can even feel replenished from sleeping there. It is not your real world, though, and if you forget, well, there is only so long your body can live in the physical world without your conscious mind."

Ron's eyes opened wider. "Shego."

"Hmm?" asked Amanda.

"I... uh, we have a friend, Shego, who was lost in the void," said Ron. "She was left in a coma for six months until I found her."

"Your friend is quite resilient, then," said Amanda. "I know few who could last that long, even under hospital care. She's lucky you came along when you did."

"Yeah," Ron said, halfheartedly.

"Well, I warned you," said Amanda, turning towards the stairs. "I would hate to lose my student, but I know better than to try and force a talented dream mage away from what they want." She began ascending the stairs.

When she was out of sight, Ron thought about what she had said. He knew it was dangerous in the dreamscape, but was concerned that she felt it necessary to warn him further. They had both crossed the void into other worlds, worlds which not only felt real, but were real. How was the Dreamtime Kingdom any different?

No, Ron shook his head. He had to try. Someone out there could help him find Master Sensei, and he couldn't afford to limit himself until he found out whom.

-( KP )-

FOUR MONTHS AGO

Will Du traced a finger slowly over his unfamiliar jaw while staring at the stranger in the mirror. It was so surreal to see that face staring back at him, a face he didn't know, but was his own now. He shivered.

The surgery had been top of the line. No scars, no marks, no signs that he was once someone else. Even his hairline had changed. He was, by all appearances, John Logan now and there was the outside chance that he would die this way. He wondered, idly, what would happen in twenty years as he aged. Would he age normally or would the pins and hidden scars show up as he got older?

A sharp knock on the metal door to the bathroom startled Will and he instinctively reached for his sidearm. His fingers grabbed open air and he remembered that he didn't have a sidearm. He wasn't an agent anymore. He was a criminal. A 'villain.' And he had been caught.

"Your ten minutes are up," came a loud voice from behind the door.

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Will. He grabbed a washcloth and finished rinsing his face. He wiped the remains of shaving cream from under his nose and then threw the cloth into the wire basket. He took his shirt off the metal hanger and walked out of the bathroom as he put it on. It was an orange shirt with a number on it. Sometimes GJ was very traditional.

Will stepped into a narrow corridor with tall metal walls and a grated floor and was immediately poked in the side by a GJP-WO – Global Justice Prison Ward Officer – to encourage him to walk down the hall back towards his cell. Will tried not to get angry at his co-worker, but the environment made that exceptionally hard. He was being treated no better than cattle, and assumed to have an even lower intellect. Anyone would get angry after weeks of that.

Will walked according to how the baton in his side was telling him, past the other cells in his block, back to the concrete and steel bar cube that was his temporary home. The GJP-WO shoved him back inside and slid close the barred door. With a dirty look, the officer walked off again. Will walked up to the door and hung his arms between the bars as he looked out.

"Mindless goons," grumbled the prisoner from the cell across from Will's. "A robot has better intelligence than these automatons."

Will looked over at him skeptically. He knew exactly who this was before him, and he found it funny in a truly horrific way that the man who caused his injuries that led to him being assigned to this group would be right in front of him but just out of arm's reach.

"Like you're some genius," said Will at the other prisoner.

"Of course I am," said the man. "Haven't you heard of me?"

Will shook his head. It was a lie. Everything was a lie these days.

"I am Doctor Drakken, the greatest villainous mind to be held up in his hole," said Drakken. He grinned and wagged his eyebrows. "Heard of me now?"

Will stared. "Nope," he said.

"Nope? What do you mean, nope?"

"You're a genius and you don't know the word 'nope'?"

"I know what it means," said Drakken. "I just can't believe you've never heard of the greatest villain of our age! Don't you have a television?"

"Yeah," nodded Will.

"And you've never heard of me," said Drakken.

"Nope."

"What about a newspaper, you got a newspaper, right?"

"Sure," said Will.

"And?"

"Nothing," Will shook his head.

"Liar!" shouted Drakken, pointing his finger emphatically across the gap separating their cages.

Will shrugged.

Drakken narrowed his eyes and retracted his arm from between the bars. "Alright Mr. Knows Very Little," he said. "Who are you then? I certainly don't recognize you."

"Nobody," said Will.

"I find that hard to believe," said Drakken. "They don't let nobodies in here."

"This isn't a damn club, Doctor Drakken," said Will angrily. "You're a nobody in here, too. Nobody knows we're here, nobody will hear about us, and nobody will ever sit in for a parole hearing. This is it. The end of the line. Where people become nobodies."

"Not me," seethed Drakken. "I won't be forgotten!"

"Good luck with that," said Will. "Let me know if you ever see daylight again." He backed away from the bars and sat down on his uncomfortable cot. He could hear the huffing and fuming coming from Drakken's cell and knew he'd done his job. He needed to get Drakken fired up, at least, that's what he'd been told.

Will thought, when he was first told about this assignment, that he would find it difficult to be so mean, but after the first day of being herded through the GJ Prison complex he was ready to be unruly. And after the first week he could be mean to anyone. He had no love for criminals, but he was finding it hard to see how prison was ever supposed to be a place for 'reform.'

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Kim found herself studying her hands for any sign of a blue tint so closely that she completely missed the question from Dr. Talstead. "What?" she looked up suddenly.

Dr. Terri Talstead looked at her with a bemused smile and Kim blushed in embarrassment. "I asked about your rehearsals. You're in a play, right?"

"Right, yes," nodded Kim, forcing herself to put her hands down on the sides of the chair she was in. She was sitting in Dr. Talstead's office for their weekly session but she was finding it harder than normal to give the psychiatrist her full attention. "They're going well. The recast for Bonnie's part is a little... less talented, so it's taking some work to teach her the lines."

"How about you? Are you enjoying the part?" asked Dr. Talstead.

"Yeah, I guess," said Kim. "It's a little... it's hard to forget why we had recast Bonnie's part, though. It kinda gives the whole production a macabre feel."

"That's in line with what you're going for, right? The Phantom of the Opera is hardly a lighthearted piece."

"The play should be dark," said Kim. "Not the rehearsals."

Dr. Talstead nodded. "So, what's been going on with Bonnie? Has she returned to school?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah, sort of. She doesn't really attend classes all that much anymore, she just hangs around Dr. Rick all the time."

"Dr. Rick? This is the history teacher you told me about?" asked Dr. Talstead.

"He teaches history at the school," said Kim. "But he also works in Upperton at Edwin Garris U, and owns a large, private collection of antiques in New York City."

"Sounds like he gets around," said Dr. Talstead. "Why is he involved in with what happened to Bonnie?"

"He was there when we rescued her," said Kim. "He's been trying to help her adapt to her new age. It was his idea that she come back to the school."

"Shouldn't she be seeing a professional?" asked Dr. Talstead, her tone was more suggestive than questioning.

"Probably," shrugged Kim. "But she says Dr. Rick is helping and she certainly is looking better recently. I'd be more concerned if I didn't trust Dr. Rick, but he's helped me out in the past and I think he's a good guy."

"Everyone is a good guy until they're not," pointed out Dr. Talstead. "It doesn't hurt to have caution."

"Probably," said Kim. She didn't really want to have this conversation with Dr. Talstead. She had to trust some people or she'd go crazy. She trusted her friends, the new Team Possible, she trusted her family, and she trusted Dr. Rick. She wasn't quite sure yet if she trusted Dr. Talstead though. She looked at the back of her hand again.

"And the funeral?" prompted Dr. Talstead.

Kim looked up. "Oh, yeah, Will."

"You said last week you were going to attend."

Kim nodded. "I did. It was... strange. I'd met him a few times, I had thought he was a little stuffy but generally a good guy. He came around in the end."

"What was strange about it?" asked Dr. Talstead.

With a shrug, Kim looked out the window. "Everyone was very, I don't know, stiff. Like they weren't burying a friend. I know Betty and Jennifer were hiding something. Betty even looked drunk." Kim shook her head. "Maybe some mission went wrong recently and they were pre-occupied."

"People handle loss in different ways," said Dr. Talstead. "Perhaps they just didn't know how to grieve."

Kim considered that. It really did feel wrong, but she couldn't articulate how. She didn't want to discuss too much about Global Justice with her therapist either since it could be a security risk. "It might just be me. But whatever happened, I'd like to think they owed Will better than that. A low key ceremony, no real eulogy, and a parade of special agents that said nothing and didn't do anything but stand stiffly. It's not right. Will was very enthusiastic about his job. He believed in their work. He deserved better."

"What do you think that means for you?" asked Dr. Talstead.

"Me? I'm not part of their agency."

"But you might be."

Kim looked a little stunned. "Maybe... I thought about it once. But their offer to me was rescinded last year after the bombing."

"Do you think heroes should be glorified?"

"Glorified?" repeated Kim, astonished. "No, not... glorified. Most of what Will did was spy work, his accomplishments couldn't be publically acknowledged. If he worked for the CIA all he'd get would be a star on the memorial wall."

"Then what's missing, in your eyes?" asked Dr. Talstead.

Kim stared at her hands again. His friends, her mind supplied to her, but she wasn't even sure he had any. Should she have been one? The few times she'd interacted with him, she was put off by his arrogant opinion of those outside of GJ, but he had improved. And when she saw him when they visited with Shego and Drakken's mom, he'd been... cordial.

"Don't worry about it," Dr. Talstead finally said. "You don't have to have an answer. So what else is on your mind? You're staring so intently at your hands I'm concerned they're going to catch fire."

Kim winced slightly and tried to convince herself that it was just a saying and that Dr. Talstead was not making a reference to Shego. "Just some weird dreams I've been having. I'm sure they're all full of symbolism or something."

"I'm not a Freudian psychoanalyst, and even he said sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," said Dr. Talstead with a smile. "Though he was talking about psychosexual urges and not dreams in that instance."

Kim was confused and didn't try to hide it.

"I am wondering why you've been spending so much time thinking about your dreams," said Dr. Talstead. "Is there something about them worrying to you?"

Kim shook her head. "It's nothing."

Dr. Talstead raised her eyebrows and waited.

"I'm just being silly," said Kim.

"That's okay," said Dr. Talstead. "We can talk about silly things. It might help you get it off your mind."

"I... er," Kim hesitated. She wasn't even sure how to articulate what she was feeling other than the worrying ache in her stomach. "It's... it's a wild dream, but at the end of it I ... I become Drakken."

"Drakken is the criminal who created the Lil' Diablo toys, right?" asked Dr. Talstead. "Why are you worried about becoming Drakken?"

"I'm not," said Kim. "It's just a dream."

"A very 'wild' dream, you said. So why did you describe this part of it if it's not the part that bothers you?"

"It bothers me, but I'm not – uh, it's not like I think I'm Drakken," said Kim.

"But you're worried you might become him," said Dr. Talstead.

"No!" said Kim. "No. Not really. Not at all." She wasn't anything like Drakken. She didn't want to take over the world and she was a lunatic scientist with blue skin. They didn't think at all alike. Nothing except for basic human things. And that time he turned good because of the Attitudinator. She was more like Shego than Drakken, anyway. But not in the evil way! No matter what she-

Kim sighed. "There's just this ... stupid thing that Shego told me way back in September last year and I can't stop thinking about."

"What did she say?" asked Dr. Talstead.

"She said that Drakken and I are both obsessed with something impossible," said Kim. "She said the only difference was that he wanted to take over the world, and I wanted to save it." She swallowed. "But I'm NOT obsessed. I mean, obviously, right? I gave it up for six months."

"And now that you're trying again, you're having nightmares of turning into Drakken," said Dr. Talstead.

"Yeah, but, it's not... I'm not. I'm never going to be like him." Kim scoffed. "Besides, what does Shego know?"

"You seem to think she knows about this," said Dr. Talstead. "Otherwise you wouldn't be worried she might be right."

"I'm not," said Kim defensively. "She's wrong."

"Why do you think she would say that?"

"Because she likes to tease me," said Kim. "All the time, even when we're working together."

"You were working together in September to save Drakken, am I right?" said Dr. Talstead.

"Yeah, but only because he was kidnapped," said Kim. "I'll save anyone in danger, even if they're a villain. I can't be picky. That's not right."

Dr. Talstead looked at her silently. Kim felt uncomfortable under the gaze.

"What?" asked Kim, finally.

"Why is it bad to be obsessed with saving the world?" asked Dr. Talstead.

"Why... what?" said Kim. "It's impossible, that's why. You can't save the world. What would you be saving it from?"

"From itself?" asked Dr. Talstead. "A lot of the people I help are causing their own troubles and just need guidance about not getting in their own way."

Kim frowned. "Like me?"

"I didn't say that," said Dr. Talstead. "You are – and I assume you already know this – quite unique amongst my patients." She shifted in her chair slightly. "But why not try to save the world? You must have an idea of what you'd like the world to be, right?"

"Well..." Kim searched her thoughts. "I don't know. Not really. I'd just like people to be safe. And evil people not to win."

"You can't protect everyone all the time," said Dr. Talstead.

"Now you sound like Ron," grumbled Kim.

"It's a true statement," said Dr. Talstead. "But it doesn't have to be condemning. The part that's missing is accommodation for people like yourself."

"What about me?" asked Kim.

"You want people to be safe, but in order to do that, you are putting yourself at risk. This is a classic dichotomy in the social compact. We must sacrifice part of what we hope to obtain, in order to obtain it. It's not an easy dilemma to resolve. We have taken some of the cognitive dissonance out of the equation as a culture through tradition. Everyone understands there must be police and that some people will be police officers, and as a result we will be safer. But that's a cultural artifact. There doesn't have to be police, and we don't have to be safe for that matter."

Dr. Talstead pointed her pen at Kim. "We want there to be police, so we ignore the risk they put themselves in. But there is one group that can't afford to forget the risk: the police themselves. But you, Kim, we don't have a cultural artifact to describe what you do. So you will be questioned, even by yourself, from time to time. Your responsibility to this path you've chosen to walk, is to have the answer as to why."

"Why what?" asked Kim.

"Why is it worth the risk?" said Dr. Talstead. "You have been hurt and you may be hurt again. You might very well be consumed by your obsession some day, like Drakken. Why take that chance?"

"Because it's right," said Kim.

"But what does that mean?" asked Dr. Talstead. "What is right?"

"What do you mean, 'What is right?'" asked Kim. "Right is right. What else do you want?"

"But what does it mean to you? How do you tell right from wrong?"

Kim frowned. "I just do. Everyone knows right from wrong."

"They don't, Kim," said Dr. Talstead. "The people you fight, some of them may be deranged, some may be driven by anarchist principals, but they all think they're doing what's right. Their internal compass may point in the opposite direction of yours." She clasped her hands together. "But you can't define yourself as a measure of opposites. There won't always be a Drakken or a Shego to hold yourself up against. So the control against the obsession, against the decay of your personal values, is to define them, in a quantifiable way, so you can recognize them when you see them."

Kim shook her head slowly. "I don't understand what you're getting at," she said. "How can you not know what's wrong if you're not crazy? How do I 'define' good?"

"I can't tell you that," said Dr. Talstead. "I don't know how you define it. But you do, in some manner you always have. The point is to find that part of yourself and bring it out into the open so you can see it. So you can understand it." She leaned back in her chair. "And that will help you understand exactly how you're different from Drakken."

Kim stared at Dr. Talstead, trying to figure out what she was asking. She understood basically what she was asking, but was confused as to how to accomplish it. She knew evil people, and those people knew they were evil, right? If you're fighting against the police, against law, that was wrong. That was evil. Was there more to it than that?

"I can see you still a little confused," said Dr. Talstead. "That's okay. But I do want you to understand that there is a way you're different than Drakken, and you need to find it if you want to set your thoughts at ease."

"And until then I'm going to have these nightmares?" asked Kim.

"It's possible," said Dr. Talstead. "The mind will try to work out its anxieties at rest."

Kim groaned. "Great."

-( KP )-

Bonnie sat in the hard wooden chair, silent, unmoving, and fuming. Her back was killing her, having to sit so ramrod straight, and the large and mysterious book lay untouched on her lap - as she was instructed - causing her thighs to ache. She hated this chair. She hated sitting silently. She hated this book. And she hated Dr. Rick.

With a thwap, Bonnie felt a yardstick smacking the back of her chair. Her eyes opened in shock and she turned her head to glare at her teacher.

"You're doing it again," said Rick as he walked behind her.

"Argh!" growled Bonnie. "What do you expect from me? This is annoying." She threw her hands up in the air in disgust causing the book on her lap to become unseated. It fell to the ground and made a loud, deep sound when it struck.

"This is essential," said Rick. He strolled around in front of Bonnie again and leaned against his desk in the classroom. They were in his History room where he had been teaching since September when he first became a substitute. Bonnie didn't like spending more time in the school than she needed to, but Rick insisted it was easier than finding somewhere else semi-private to instruct her.

"I'm not feeling the 'peace' from this," said Bonnie. She arched a grey brow at him.

"You too easily return to anger," said Rick, pointing back at Bonnie. "It's not an unreasonable reaction to what happened to you, but if you want to walk the Path you have to learn to let go of that instinct."

"Why can't I be an angry witch?" asked Bonnie with a scowl.

"Well, I won't lie to you: you can. But it's not the best way to go." Rich sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "It's true some of the strongest warlocks are quite emotional, but the exchange for power is control. Walking the Path is a matter of discipline. Straying outside that path can lead to dementia in extreme cases, and at least trouble getting your magicks to work."

"At least I could do something," stressed Bonnie. "Instead of spending three weeks sitting the most uncomfortable chair in existence."

"These are the same chairs you sat in when you were in my class," said Rick.

Bonnie stared at Rick. "You'll notice I'm not objecting to that."

"More importantly, I won't teach you anything other than the Path," said Rick plainly. "So we can stop now if that's not good enough for you."

"Ugh," grunted Bonnie. "Fine." She picked up the book and placed it back on her lap and closed her eyes.

Rick put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Perhaps we should try another approach," said Rick with a half smile. He sat back down. "Talk to me for a bit. Tell me about your hobbies."

"My... hobbies?" repeated Bonnie. "Like, things I do for fun?"

"Yeah," said Rick. "I know about the cheerleading, and I guess you like to torment Kim Possible, but what else do you like to do?"

"I do NOT like Kim Possible," said Bonnie.

"That's not what—" started Rick then he stopped. "Forget about her. What about other things? Do you like playing chess, or croquet?"

"Chess and croquet?" said Bonnie. "Is it because I look eighty years old that you're suggesting things my grandmother might do?"

Rick grumbled something under his breath and then displayed a smile. "Why don't you just tell me what you like?"

Bonnie considered what she liked that didn't have to do with school, cheerleading, or getting the better of her rivals. She really did like getting the better of her rivals, especially given her family, but she had a feeling that wasn't what Rick was getting at.

"I like to sing," said Bonnie quietly.

"Really?" said Dr. Rick. "I've never heard you sing."

Bonnie rubbed her throat. "I'm not sure I can do it with this voice."

Rick nodded knowingly. "Have you tried? Your voice isn't bad at all. Maybe it's not the same as before this all happened, but it's still melodic on its own."

"You think so?" asked Bonnie. "It's all raspy now, I don't like it."

"It's new," shrugged Rick. "I'm sure you weren't born with an elegant singing voice, you had to practice. This is no different, only you know what to do now."

Bonnie eyed Rick skeptically. "I... suppose so."

"Why don't you show me?"

"Show you..." Bonnie's eyes widened. "Singing? You want me to sing now?"

"I'm sure you have a favorite song," said Rick. "Sing for me."

Bonnie hesitated for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. "This isn't some trick, is it?"

Rick smiled. "I intend nothing malicious, but there is a point to this."

Bonnie sighed. "Fine." She cleared her throat, put the book down, and stood up. She thought about what she could sing but given her location her thoughts were drawn to the play rehearsals occurring in the very building.

"Think of me," she began to sing softly. "Think of me fondly." She cleared her throat again, struggling against the natural limits of her voice.

"When we've said goodbye;

Remember me once in a while;

Please promise me, you'll try..."

Bonnie coughed loudly again and then shook her head. "Forget it!" She crossed her arms and sat in the chair, her head turned away from Rick so she wouldn't have to see the grimace that was surely on his face.

Rick suddenly was next to her. "Don't give up," he said. "You sounded wonderful, but forced."

"I can't sing that key anymore," said Bonnie. She felt like she'd had her youth stolen from her a second time. She loved to sing, and now this was gone now too.

"Find a new one then," said Rick.

Bonnie glared. "You obviously know nothing about music."

Rick chuckled. "This much is true." He placed a hand on her forearm. "But I know a little bit about potential. You still have the ability within you, you just need to realize it."

"I can't reshape my vocal chords," spat Bonnie angrily.

Rick placed the book on her lap and then took her hands and laid them upon it. "Yes, you can," he said earnestly.

Bonnie looked at the book beneath her palms. "You'll teach me a spell?"

Rick shook his head. "There's no spell to teach. You know what you want. You know what it sounds like." He pressed his hands gently down on top of hers. "Just keep singing. And reach out with your mind through the book. Imagine your hands turning the pages, pulling them free, and then crushing them against your chest. Sing louder. Sing like you know you should."

Bonnie looked into Rick's eyes and saw a strange warmth in them as he spoke. She felt embarrassed to have someone speaking to her so honestly that she closed her eyes immediately to hide her shame.

"Sing," he said again.

"Then you'll find that once again you long;

To take your heart back and be free.

If you'll ever find a moment;

Spare a thought for me."

Bonnie felt her voice straining just to reach the notes she was trying to hit. Her throat was getting scratchy and she wanted to hack up her lungs to be rid of them. Every cell between her diaphragm and her lips was burning.

This isn't singing, she thought to herself. This is pitiful.

Desperate to be more than a joke she imagined diving into the book, swimming in pages of arcane runes and cryptic phrases. She saw herself pulling pages to the surface and then clutching them against her chest while quietly pleading.

Please, she thought. This isn't all that I am.

Something unknown bubbled through her chest, an icy cool wave that soothed the burning she felt, washing over her and refreshing her.

"We never said our love was evergreen."

Her voice evened and she could raise it higher to match the notes in the song.

"Or as unchanging as the sea."

She realized she wasn't singing at all, maybe she never was. She was just bringing life to the notes and lyrics she had read so long ago.

"But if you can still remember;

Stop and think of me."

She opened her eyes and sang clear and loudly, her voice echoing across the school. The small classroom filled with the music of the song as she sung to completion, ending with her hands clasped in front of her and a happy smile on her lips. She'd never sung so ... correctly in her life.

"That's passion," said Rick after a moment. "Passion is pure, and can be used to shape the world around you. Everyone does it to a degree already, but the Path is to see beyond the surface, and use your passion as a tool to enable others."

Rick reached out and opened the book on Bonnie's lap. On the first page was written, in a runic-looking script, the title "Melody" and a description of its effects.

"Hmm," he said. "You have nicer handwriting than me."

Bonnie stared at the book and tried to figure out if that spell had always been there or if it had appeared because of what she'd just done. She reached out and turned the page on the book. The next page was blank. The rest of the book was blank, in fact. Only the first page had anything on it at all.

"It's blank," concluded Bonnie. "Or it was?"

Rick nodded. "This is your grimoire, it will fill itself out as you learn." He turned the pages back to the first one. "This is why I've had you keep this book on your lap for the last three weeks. A friend of my created it for you, but that would still make it hers unless you claimed it fully as your own." He shrugged. "Someday that will be a trivial task for you, but for now I had to use a more traditional approach."

"Traditional?" asked Bonnie.

"Meditation, visualization, simple possession," said Rick. "And a nudge in the right direction by the last bit of magick I still have under my command." He smiled. "How did it feel? The song, that is."

Bonnie frowned. "It was... strange."

"How?"

Bonnie closed her eyes again. "It felt right. Like I had never been singing the right notes before just now. The song had a ... shape, I guess. I never knew." She looked up at Rick. "But I helped it... be. I'm not sure how to talk about it."

"That's okay," said Rick with a warm smile. "That will come easier for you with time."

A thought struck Bonnie. "Have you taught other witches before?"

Rick's mouth hung open for half a minute before he replied. "I have trained people," he said, hesitating between each word.

"Trained in magick?" asked Bonnie.

"Of a sort," said Rick. "Never from scratch, honestly, and never in the Path for that matter." He shrugged. "But I had an excellent teacher, and I know what I'm doing."

"Why did you decide to train me, then?" asked Bonnie. She was honestly curious from the beginning but had gotten caught up in the flurry of not only discovering there was such a think as magick, but also being offered a chance to be trained in it.

Rick struggled to speak for a few moments then walked around to sit in the chair behind his desk. "There is much I cannot say, for a variety of reasons including a silly amount of binding curses I've agreed to in my life, but also because I don't want to scare you."

"Why would I be scared?" asked Bonnie.

"It's a big deal, learning your world is larger than you thought," said Rick. "Some people go mad just from the realization. It's hard to say how they'll react in advance, you just have to hope and pray."

"I already know, now," reminded Bonnie.

"You do," nodded Rick. "But... well, let me put it another way. You never knew there was magick in the world before I told you, right?"

"Not really, no," said Bonnie.

"Well, there isn't a lot, to be honest, and mostly that's because untrained warlocks have the tendency to immolate themselves when they're just getting started."

Bonnie looked horrified. "On purpose?"

"Not ... normally, but sometimes," said Rick. "I told you it could drive you mad, some people seek to free themselves from the burden in ... extreme ways."

"That's horrible."

"It is, and that's why you have me," said Rick. "That's why we're starting small, and why I've gone through the trouble of providing you a grimoire. That will help you understand your magicks as you learn them."

Bonnie considered that. She had no issue taking risks, but the idea that she could burn alive if she made a mistake unsettled her. "Wait, that doesn't explain why you picked me."

Rick smiled and he sat back in his chair. "Many lifetimes ago, I knew a young girl - well, young compared to me, anyway – who was arrogant and brash, foolish sometimes, and always defiant. She learned to use her skills, though, and in the end what she did changed the world." He cast his eyes downward slightly and his smile seemed more melancholy. "You remind me of her. You see, the world needs two types of heroes, Bonnie. The ones that fight for virtue, and the ones who fight for redemption. One pair of eyes can't see all the shades of righteousness. It takes a contrast."

"You think I can be a hero?" said Bonnie. She was highly skeptical of this motivation. "You want me to be like Kim Possible?"

"I think you can be the hero that Kim can't be," said Rick. "You were already her rival in school, why not expand that role a bit?"

Bonnie blinked her eyes slowly. She was not really prepared for this explanation from her teacher. She had always viewed Kim's actions with distain and therefore had never imagined herself in Little Miss Perfect's role. She had thought it all an unnecessary hobby for someone with too much time on her hands.

But then again, why couldn't she be a hero too? She was just as good as Kim, if not miles better. That Goodie-Two-Shoes was always so blind to the things that Bonnie could see, that was why she had bested her in the candy sales to become the cheerleading captain.

And wouldn't it be just divine that after one of Kim's stupid enemies stole from her all the joy in her life that Bonnie would turn it around to become a better hero than Kim Possible had ever been?

"What do I need to do?" asked Bonnie.

Rick stood back up and closed the book on her lap. "Sit there, silently, and meditate again."

Bonnie closed her eyes and smiled.

-( KP )-

Felix felt tears on his cheeks before he even realized he was crying. He rubbed his eyes slightly and then turned towards his friend and hugged him tightly. Ron patted him on the back gently.

"Sorry," said Felix, pulling away and looking slightly red on the cheeks. He was standing next to Ron and Yori on a glowing white road in some vast, dark void. Standing. He was standing. Standing without crutches, a cane, or any cyber-robotics to assist him. He was simply standing tall.

"It's okay, dude," said Ron. He rubbed the back of his head. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"I just... I never thought I'd ever get to do this again," said Felix, motioning towards his legs with his hands. "It's ... well, I guess saying it's a dream come true is strangely literal."

Ron laughed softly. "Yeah, this isn't exactly the real world. But maybe someday I'll be able to help you there too." Felix's eyes brightened at the comment, but his friend wilted slightly. "No promises though."

"So, what's up?" Felix said after a moment to compose himself. "I mean, this is totally the best thing you've ever done for me, but I'm sure there was another reason for bringing me here."

"Do you see that?" asked Ron as he pointed down the road.

Felix's eyes traced the path until it was consumed by a giant glowing ball of light. It was so large, in fact, it looked to be the size of a moon or a small planet. He couldn't imagine how he missed that earlier. And now that he was looking, he noticed that there were tiny little motes of energy circling the ball, glowing and pulsing in sync.

"Woah," said Felix. "What is that?"

"It's the Dreamtime Kingdom," said Ron. "It's like one of other worlds I told you about, except this one exists here, in the dreamscape." He glanced at Yori. "We'd like to go in and ask around, but I wanted someone else to come with us."

Felix had a hard time digesting all of that at once. There was another world, inside dreams, and they needed to ask around? "Ask about what?" he asked.

"That's kind of a long story," said Ron. "You know how I left for a while?"

"To go to secret ninja school?" asked Felix with a smirk.

"Well, yeah," nodded Ron. "I mean, yes. I was at a secret ninja school. It's called Yamanouchi and it exists in the mountains of Japan. It's a really great place but... uh, we didn't exactly leave because I was done training."

"You got kicked out?" asked Felix, surprised.

Yori shook her head. "It was attacked."

"What?" Felix said

"Exiled students, called the Shade, attacked the school while our sacred leader was away and we were forced to flee." Yori shook her head. "We do not understand why this has happened and how to take back our school, but we believe that if we can find Master Sensei he will be able to lead us."

"Master Sensei is your leader?" asked Felix.

"Yes," nodded Yori.

"And you think he's in the Dreamtime Kingdom?"

"We do not know," said Yori. "But we hope someone will be able to help us there."

"And you want me to help look?" asked Felix, looking at Ron. "What about the others in the team? Can't they help too?"

"I can only bring so many people here at once," said Ron. "Three is about all I can do without concentrating, and if I gotta concentrate I can't look."

"Gotcha," nodded Felix. There was a mountain of questions he still had, but he didn't want to this to turn into some lecture series, and he felt he had enough information to start with. "Alright, I'm caught up. Well, no, one more question: have you been in there before?"

Ron sighed and Yori shook her head.

"What do you think is inside?" Felix asked.

"I don't know, dude," said Ron. "Which is why I wanted it to be more than just the two of us." He pointed his thumb towards Yori.

"Hmm, okay," nodded Felix. "Lead the way, I guess."

Ron turned towards the giant ball of light and began walking towards it. He moved quickly and confidently at first, but as the object grew as they approached, Ron's motions became more stiff and hesitant. He looked up and around the orb frequently as they approached and even checked behind him a few times.

Eventually Yori stepped closer to him and took him by the arm gently. She forced him to move at a steady pace and its seemed to calm him a bit as they walked. Felix was marveling at strange relationship between Ron and Yori before the light started to get impossibly bright.

Felix squinted against the glare and saw Ron and Yori get consumed by the light. At first it turned them into black shadows, and then it ate away at them until they were nothing but a faint shade in the distance. And finally, they were gone and Felix started to feel the light overwhelm him too. He held up his hands against the sun-like shine and pressed forward into the light.

-( KP )-

Ron ducked under a low branch and cursed his worn sneakers as they stepped around another gnarled root in the dirt path they walked. Yori had said little since they left... But Felix was making up for it by suggesting for the eighty-sixth time that they should have taken the mounts in ... even if they were not exactly horses. It would have made this trip to... at least a few hours shorter.

Without notice, Ron stopped in his tracks and caused Yori to bump into him and Felix to wildly fling his arms about to keep his balance.

"Do either of you remember where we were coming from?" asked Ron. He spoke slowly and deliberately, unsure of what exactly he was trying to say.

"I... no," said Felix. He rubbed his head. "I don't know how I forgot."

"I also do not recall where we came from," said Yori.

Shaking his head, Ron tried to open his mind to the dream again. "We weren't coming from anywhere," he said after a second. It seemed so obvious to him now and he couldn't believe he was confused a few seconds ago. "We just got here from the dreamscape."

Felix frowned but gradually he nodded. "Yes," he said. "That's right. We were going to the Dreamtime Kingdom."

Yori looked around. "This place attempts to fool you with false memories."

"That must be why it's considered dangerous," said Ron. "If you don't remember you're in a dream you can forget about your original body."

"What happens then?" asked Felix.

"Your body will end up in a coma, like Shego," said Ron. And eventually die, he thought, but didn't say.

"It is good that you questioned it, Stoppable-san," said Yori.

"How did you know?" asked Felix. "For a moment there I ... well, I can't remember anymore what exactly I thought. But I was confident I knew what I was doing."

Ron hesitated to say anything. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "I just sort of had these holes in my mind and it bothered me. I wasn't quite sure why at first until I tried to touch the dream and realized where we were."

"Not bad, Ron-man," said Felix. "So, what now?"

Yori looked down the road and then up at the horizon. "This road takes us to a large city on that ridge. We should start there."

Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. The map he'd taken from the Cartographer's desk had made the trip intact. He unfolded it and looked around for the better part of five minutes. "I think this puts us in the Seelie Court... near Falcon's Wake, the capital." He pointed. "The road should bring us to the main gates if we follow it."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Felix said.

-( KP )-

Ron wasn't sure what he was expecting as he approached the tall and ominously walled city within the Dreamtime Kingdom. He knew, intellectually, that all bets were off, but he still perceived it as if it were another country, nestled in the Germanic highlands, surrounded by tall, respectful pines. Perhaps the people there would speak another language, or dress differently. Perhaps they would all be blonde or maybe blue-haired. Perhaps they would all be named Carl.

He never expected that they might not be people at all, though.

Yori was first to notice, her keen eyes spying the carriages – and their occupants – from the ridge near the road. Ron and Felix had to get closer to be sure, but once they were a few paces from the dirt road leading up to the tall open gates to the city, it was impossible to ignore.

"Elves," said Felix first, picking the most human of the travelers out first.

"And... were-people, I guess?" offered Ron. He watched as a muscular man with brown-red fur and a short tail trudged alongside a wagon full of barrels being driven by a white-furred cat lady with very large ears and hunched over the reins leading to two wolf-tiger-things.

Ron studied the passersby with awe and a little fear. What exactly were they getting themselves into?

"There are humans too," Yori said eventually. "But many more elves than other types. Perhaps this is an elven city?"

"I can't believe we're looking at an elven city," said Felix, his eyes wide.

"We're going to go in," said Ron with a brave nod. While this was all terribly new territory for him, he felt confident that he could pull them back into the dreamscape if anything happened. "It looks like they're letting everyone through without question."

"We don't quite look like we belong, Ronster," said Felix with an arched brow.

Ron nodded silently and concentrated. In the dreamscape, he was able to summon a bo staff from nothing with a little concentration. Could he do the same here? Technically his clothes were just manifestations, could they be altered? What were the rules in the Dreamtime Kingdom?

With a slow breath, Ron gathered the energies that Amanda had been teaching him to collect and tried to give them shape and form. The tingling he felt in his spine, high up on his back between his shoulder blades, it was there, telling him he was doing it right. The dream could be channeled here, it said, harder than in the dreamscape but much easier than in the physical realm. With a flick of his wrist, he tried to form the clothes he envisioned in his head.

"Nothing," said Ron. He frowned. He wasn't sure what he expected, but he had hoped that what he'd learned in the last few weeks would have been enough to alter this dream. It wasn't. "We'll just have to try to blend in."

"And hope they don't mind strangers," said Felix.

Yori nodded and stepped down the ridge and onto the dirt path. Ron and Felix followed and the group walked with the bands of what looked like farmers and traders towards the gates to the big city.

On other side of the tall gate stood guards in heavy armor, hiding almost all of their features save for small chinks in the plate armor that exposed fur and skin beneath. Their armored forms appeared human, though quite tall, but the auburn fur peeking out dispelled such notions easily. Neither regarded the trio as they walked, only standing at ready for a threat that none of them matched.

Inside the walls, the main road through the gates was wide and brightly lit by sunlight. Wide stalls and loudly crying sellers adorned either side of the main road, displaying foods and trinkets, clothes, tools, and small weapons. Most of the people stood aside for the parade of travelers, but at the fringes it was packed with life.

People and... non-people of all shapes and sizes were there, many of which sprung fully formed from myth and legends. Ron saw tiny pixies, satyrs, minotaurs, centaurs, lizard men, and huge hulking beasts. He also saw dozens if not hundreds of elves, mostly slim, though some not, and with varying types of pointed ears. Ron had read his share of fantasy and played more than his allotment of video games, and never expected to see such variation. Like breeds of dogs he saw short pointed ears like Vulcans, long thin ears that stretched behind the head, wide ears that pointed up, some that pointed back and down, some that arced around the curve of the head.

Amongst this crowed, three humans in casual clothes must have just been part of the noise.

"Amazing," said Felix as he surveyed the same vista Ron did. His eyes turned and locked on something straight ahead and in the distance. "I guess that's where the boss lives."

Ron's eyes tracked Felix's and he saw the tall shining spires of a castle rising in the distance before the opposite end of the roughly circular wall. There were six spires in all, Ron counted, of varying heights, each topped with a red flag fluttering in the breeze. Ron had seen pictures of castle before, and seen a few in person on family trips to France. This one seemed inspired by newer designs, with tall glass windows, white walls, and clean lines. Along the nearest wall of the castle, which spanned two of the shorter spires, hung a banner that – at this distance – must have been half a football field in width and a full one in length. It bore a green crest showing a red shield upon which was an open book with a sword lying across it.

"The Cartographer's notes say the Seelie Court is ruled by a King," said Ron. "Oberon or one of his descendants."

"I don't suppose we could request an audience," said Felix with a grin.

Ron looked around and shrugged. "It couldn't hurt to ask, right?"

-( KP )-

The tall elf in a blue uniform covered in silver symbols stood before the tall double doors undoubtedly leading to the throne room and looked down at Ron and company carefully, then put a hand to his forehead and rubbed his temples.

"Court hours are for grievances," he said after a moment. "If you wish an audience with the Prince, you will have to make an appointment."

"Can we have an audience with the King?" said Felix.

"There is no King," said the man patiently. "Prince Wek is regent."

"What happened to the King?" asked Ron.

The man sighed. "Where did you say you were from?"

"Uhh, Middleton," said Felix.

"Earth?" offered Yori.

The man blinked. "Dreamers." He looked over his shoulder once then motioned with his head. "Come with me." He turned to the side and started walking down a marble floored corridor leading further into the palace.

"Where are you... um, taking us?" asked Ron after a minute of walking.

"To the one who deals with you folk," said the man.

Ron swallowed, wondering if this was a good or a bad sort of 'dealing.' He noticed that the man had a silver sword hanging from his hip, with an immaculately decorated handle that displayed signs of wear. It was clearly not decorative.

They turned away from the well appointed hall with tall ceilings into a much more reasonably sized – though no less extravagantly decorated – hallway with several heavy wooden doors to either side. They were lead to a door with a brass plaque to one side that read "BRYCE – ELITE SCIENCES". The man opened the door without knocking.

Inside was a large office filled with bookshelves, maps, charts, and tables overflowing with parchment and opened books. An equally buried desk was at one end in front of several giant windows displaying the courtyard of the palace and its exquisite rose garden. A man was standing behind the desk, bent at the waist and scribbling with a pencil on a map. The man behind the desk wore a grey uniform with gold trim with a double breasted jacket and cuffed sleeves. His hair was a dull blonde that was styled in a large swoop above his head and fell just above his shoulders to either side of his head.

"Sir," said the soldier who had led Ron, Yori, and Felix in. "I have three Dreamers from Earthworld."

The man behind the desk looked up quickly and his blue eyes stared at each of the three of them in turn. "Really?" he said. He frowned slightly and looked at the man from the throne room doors. "Have they been here before?"

"It certainly doesn't seem so, sir," replied the man.

"We haven't," added Ron. "Just flew in today."

The man behind the desk hummed contemplatively for a moment.

"If you don't mind, sir," the soldier from the throne room interrupted. "I have duties to attend."

The man behind the desk waved him off. "Yes, yes, of course. I'll mind them."

The soldier nodded and then walked off.

"I'm Ron," said Ron as he walked slightly further into the room. "This is Yori, and Felix."

"Oh, sorry," the man looked suddenly flustered. "I forgot myself there for a moment. I'm Bryce, a member of the Prince's Elite. Um, how much do you know about where you are right now?"

"Nothing," said Felix with a shrug. "We don't even know who the Prince is."

"Well, that's easy enough to answer," said Bryce, straightening a bit and walking around his desk and then leaning against it. "Prince Wek is regent of the Seelie Court... aaand I suppose you don't know what the Seelie Court is, either. We really need a primer for these sorts of situations."

"Do you meet many 'Dreamers'?" asked Yori.

"Many?" asked Bryce. "No, but a few. There are probably about a hundred dreamers in the city, a few times more than that throughout in the Court, but we typically only see a new one every few years. Much fewer now than there used to be, that's for sure. Either we've drifted a bit away from the physical planes, or your people aren't dreaming as much as they used to. Either way, I don't meet as many as in Calsian's time."

"Calsian?" asked Ron.

"The previous Lord of Seelie Court," said Bryce. "How did you three make it here?"

Yori looked towards Ron, who shrugged and then replied. "I'm a Dreamwalker. I brought the both of them into the Dreamscape and we... uh, walked here."

"Walked?" asked Bryce. "Fascinating. Explain that for me." He leaned forward and tilted his head slightly, exposing a long pointed ear towards Ron.

"We... we walked," said Ron. "There's a giant glowing road in the dreamscape, and it leads here. We just... walked. I don't know what else to explain."

"Truly remarkable," said Bryce. "I've never been through the void myself. I've only been here and on Earthworld, but I've always wondered how the Dreamers accomplished it."

"You've been to Earth?" asked Felix. "Like... recently?"

"Fairly," said Bryce. "I was in Princeton just last year."

"Princeton... New Jersey?" said Felix. Bryce nodded. "I'm... surprised nobody noticed an elf walking around."

Bryce laughed. "The glamour usually takes care of that."

Felix stared. "Huh."

"So what brings you to Falcon's Wake?" asked Bryce.

"Is that what this city is called?" asked Yori.

Bryce nodded. "The royal city is Falcon's Wake, where Prince Wek resides and holds court. His reign extends over the sixty-seven individual sovereignties that make up the Seelie Court, up to and periodically including the demilitarized zone between our court and the Unseelie."

"Is that a lot?" asked Ron.

"You're from America?" asked Bryce.

"Most of us," said Felix with a grin.

"Currently the known Seelie lands is roughly one and half times as large as the continental United States," said Bryce. "Of that, about half is mapped."

Ron's eyes widened. "Yeah, that's big. Is all of that part of the Dreamtime Kingdom?"

Bryce smiled widely. "That's dreamer-speak for the Faerie Realms, we don't typically use that. It refers to everything between the Mists, both Seelie and Unseelie lands." He crossed his arms and leaned a little further back. "So what bought you here?"

"We're looking for someone," said Ron. He shook his head. "Though I dunno if you're going to be any help if you've never been to the dreamscape."

"Another dreamer?" asked Bryce. Ron nodded. "Came through recently?"

"We're not sure," said Ron. "His name is Master Sensei."

Bryce frowned and looked to the side. "Master Sensei..." he repeated. Then he stood up and walked around his desk, pushing aside papers and books. "Why is that familiar?"

"You have heard of him?" asked Yori.

Bryce picked up a tall stack of papers and dropped them on the center of his desk. He began shifting through them quickly. After a minute he pulled out one paper and held it up to the light, studying it. "Master Sensei of... Yamanouchi?" he said.

"Yes!" Yori said energetically.

Bryce slowly lowered the paper and looked grimly at Yori. "I'm sorry," he said. "I have heard of him, but only because man in black robes and dark hair came through here recently hunting him."

-( KP )-

THREE MONTHS AGO

The white light from beyond the door was blinding, and Will's eyes retreated in fear and anger at the pure intruders into the dank cabin.

"LOGAN," yelled a figure beyond the doorway, standing in the pool of whiteness that washed away all detail.

Will stood, breathed, and slowly trudged out. The last few months had not been kind. He'd been beaten, bruised, battered, starved, humiliated, and then delivered each back to its perpetrator. In the beginning, Will had held onto the idea that a prison run by Global Justice – his Global Justice – would be better than San Quentin, than old Alcatraz, than any supermax prison. That the money GJ had at its disposal, the legions of criminal profilers, the sheer volume of information they had on villainy would produce a place of containment that could be, at the very least, civilized.

Bollocks to that. It wasn't the location, the staff, or the money that made prisons what they were. It was the people. Because when you take away the good people, the ones that provide the baseline, the ones that can still spark a hint of guilt in the conscious of a mass murderer, evil becomes the norm. And what do criminals do when their aberrant lifestyles become normal instead of feared?

Well, they become worse of course, so that they can stand out again.

Slightly hunched, Will Du, now John Logan, walked out of solitary confinement and followed the GJ guards out of the isolated cellblock, past the blacked out doors, and back into the rest of the prison complex. To his surprise, they did not escort him back to his cell, and instead he was taken to the visitors room.

The visitor's room was highly controlled, and designed to allow only two people to enter and exit through specific doors. The room was barely bigger than the cell that Will now lived in, and was divided by steel grating in the middle with a plexiglass stripe in the middle to allow unobstructed view across he barrier. Will was pushed through the door on his side, and, after a minute, the door on the other side of the grating opened and in slipped Jennifer Cartwright.

She looked like a hooker. She had yellow spandex on, under leather hot pants. She had a PERM for god's sakes! And platform boots!

"Geeze," said Will, shaking his head. "Honestly?"

"Whut?" said Jennifer, curtly. "You don't like whut you see?"

Will sighed, and a small smile crept across his face as he looked at the train wreck in front of him. It had been four months since he'd accepted this assignment, and in that time he'd not seen Jennifer at all. His memories of her seemed almost romantic in his mind, of a trusting, quietly smart superior officer asking her trusted agent for help.

But now, through the lens of months of prison and ... whatever it was that Cartwright went through to look like that, it seemed silly. She seemed small now, and he the one burdened with a lifetime of sins. He had to laugh.

It felt good. He hadn't laughed in a while now.

Cartwright walked up to the glass and looked at him with a stern expression that almost – almost – rose her back up to her former authority. But Will couldn't even find it in himself to bow to that anymore either. He kept laughing for another half a minute before getting a hold of himself.

"I-I'm sorry," he said at the end as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He wasn't sure if all those tears were joy or something else but at the moment he wasn't interested in separating them. He breathed loudly. "Oh, that felt good." It was true. He was relieved he could still laugh so hard.

"If that's over," started Cartwright, abandoning the horrible Brooklyn accent. "Can we get down to business?"

"Of course, sir," said Will, respectfully... but with a smile.

"Have you made progress?" asked Cartwright.

Will nodded. "There's a ninja in here that I think is being courted by SCHEME. I've been ... well, let's say we haven't been friendly. But I think I have his respect."

"Is he a viable path?" asked Cartwright. She looked up and to the side for a moment. "Fukushima, you're talking about?"

"Yes," said Will. "And yes, I think he is a viable path, if I can offer him something worthwhile."

"You only have one bargaining chip, Will," said Cartwright quietly. "And you can only use it once. You have to be sure."

"I know. But it's taken time to find anyone willing to talk, and a lot of time to build cred in here. Your backstory was a waste, nobody cares here. All they see is right now."

"If you make it to stage two, that backstory will save your life," said Cartwright. "Don't forget how long this game is."

"I haven't," said Will, perhaps more intensely than he intended. "Trust me, I haven't forgotten for a second."

Cartwright held his gaze for a moment then nodded. "Very well, I can arrange it. What time frame do you want?"

"Two weeks," said Will. "That should be enough time." If it wasn't, well, it didn't look like any better opportunities were going to present themselves.

"All right, we'll do it on Thursday," said Cartwright.

Will stared. "Is... is that what today is? Thursday?" She nodded. "I guess I was in there three days." He rubbed his chin and felt the stubble there. He probably should have realized before now, but there were only clocks on the walls, not calendars, and inside that black, soundless box, time just ground to a halt.

"Three days in where?" asked Cartwright with a frown.

"Never mind," Will dismissed her with a wave. He rubbed his eyes briefly. "I'll try to contact you again when it's over. Has the drop point changed at all?""

Cartwright shook her head slowly and narrowed her eyes at Will. "Is everything alright with you?"

"You don't ask a prisoner that," Will frowned. He turned and went back towards his door, banging on it twice.

"Why not?" pressed Cartwright.

"Because you might get the truth," he said. Then the door behind him opened and he stepped back out, leaving a confused looking senior officer behind him.

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Kim tried to get Monique's attention again but found her sighing instead of listening again as she looked out across the cafeteria. Kim looked for whatever might be the cause of her pretty obvious crush, but nobody really stood out in her mind. Just a collection of sophomores, juniors, and seniors, all talking, eating, or fooling around. Nobody of note apart from Dr. Rick and Bonnie passing through on their way to ... whatever special training she was getting all the time.

Kim wondered what was going on with them, but couldn't find the courage to ask. She knew Dr. Rick was a nice guy, and for some reason Bonnie was looking much less suicidal these days. Whatever was happening was helping, so Kim didn't want to interfere and run the risk their rivalry would undo her recovery.

"Mon, you have really got it bad," said Kim shaking her head with a smirk.

Monique finally perked up and looked at Kim with wide eyes. "What? No I don't. Bad what? I'm not interested."

Kim laughed. "Okay, that was an admission if I ever heard one."

"I admit nothing," said Monique, looking flushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Riiiight," said Kim.

Monique rolled her eyes. "So what's up with you?"

Kim poked at her salad casually. "Ken."

"Your crossworlds clone?"

Kim nodded and then took a bite. "He's been moping around the house a lot recently. He cooks and cleans and more or less acts like a maid, but he's still depressed over Shego."

"I still can't believe he likes her," said Monique. "It must be a truly backwards world he comes from."

Kim made a half smile. "He is me as a boy. But Shego isn't always that bad. I used to believe she did it for the money, that she was just a mercenary."

"Even after what she did to Bonnie?" asked Monique.

Kim shrugged. "It's been hard to accept that one. But Ken isn't that bad a guy, and if he was able to see something good in her, doesn't it mean it exists somewhere?"

"Either that or he's a cougar hunter," grinned Monique.

"She didn't look eighty in his world," said Kim. She took another bite of her salad. "I feel like I have to give her a chance, she did try to save us, and she gave us the medicine for Bonnie."

"Which didn't work." Monique pointed with her fork. "It could have been a ruse."

"But we haven't seen her in almost a month," said Kim. "Not a peep in three weeks. It's almost like she's... I dunno. Guilty."

"She's very guilty."

Kim shook her head. "Not like that. I mean, it's like she feels regret over what happened."

"That doesn't excuse it," said Monique, frowning. "I'll entertain the idea that loverboy sees a side of her we don't, but I would expect that if she swooped in and stole sixty years off my life you wouldn't be telling me to look for the silver lining." She put her fork down and pointed back at Kim. "She's done evil, Kim. What happened to Bonnie – for whatever her faults – is inexcusable. Even if she hides out for the rest of her life, it's not enough." She held her stare with Kim for a few seconds more before going back to her food.

"Okay," Kim said softly. She looked down at her salad for a minute, then looked up again. Monique was angrily eating her pasta in silence. "Are you okay?"

Monique paused and then shook her head. "Bad stuffs been happening recently," she said. "You got shot. Ron ran away. Wade went missing. Felix and his mom were kidnapped. Brick went to jail. And now Bonnie lost most of her life. I can't help but think..." She trailed off and went back to eating.

"What is it?" Kim prompted.

Monique looked up, but she wasn't angry, she looked hurt. "I can't help think I'm in the line of fire, Kim. When is going to be my turn?"

Kim looked aghast. "I'd never let that happen to you!"

"You can't stop it!" snapped Monique.

The nearby tables suddenly quieted and turned their attention towards them, but Monique didn't seem to notice.

"Mon—"

"It's not enough to rescue people," continued Monique. "We're still in danger. They just keep coming back and it gets worse every time." She sighed, shook her head. The rest of the cafeteria seemed to quiet for her as she shuddered.

"And maybe you're there, and maybe you catch the bad guy, but how long is it until the next attempt? And what if it isn't just a gag? What if someone..." Monique grimaced and looked at the floor as her faced scrunched up. "If one of us gets..." she tried again and then couldn't finish. Eventually she took a breath and said softly. "We're just kids. We're not supposed to have to deal with this."

Kim stood, stricken, and stared. Suddenly there was a large form behind Monique and it reached out to place a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Ms. Montague?" said Barkin softly. "Why don't you come with me?"

Monique looked up at the teacher, then looked slowly around, finally noticing the rest of the cafeteria staring at her. She quickly turned away and looked at Barkin's jacket to hide her face. She then nodded twice.

Mr. Barkin guided her out of the cafeteria slowly, taking only a moment to nod towards Kim with a short and restrained, "Possible."

Then they were gone, and the ocean of students in the cafeteria were staring at her now.

-( KP )-

Ron picked up his bag and lazily slung it over his shoulder as he stood in front of his locker. Sixth period. It was going to be hard again to get through U.S. History again thanks to how late he was up last night in the Dreamtime Kingdom. He just wished the trip had been more fruitful. All they confirmed was that there was indeed someone targeting Master Sensei, someone who had the ability to reach the dreamscape.

Which would be news if Master Sensei himself hadn't supposed that was the case before Yamanouchi was attacked. All they knew now was that it was planned, but they weren't any closer to figuring out where Sensei was or where the person who was targeted him ended up.

"Hi, Ron," came a voice from Ron's side. He turned to see Zita smiling next to him. She looked strangely awake, like she'd managed to drink a whole carafe of coffee at lunch. Though, maybe everyone just looked that way when he was so tired.

"Hey Zita," nodded Ron. "Ready for prohibition?"

Zita blinked. "Well, it doesn't bother me much, but I hear Barkin keeps a flask in his desk."

Ron pointed at his bag. "I mean, History."

Zita patted him on the back. "I know." She turned and started walking down the hall towards their sixth period class. Ron followed quickly afterwards, glad to have someone to follow and not have to think about where he needed to go.

"Late night dreaming?" asked Zita over her shoulder.

"Yeah," said Ron. "Even with the Lotus Blade, I still lose track of time and end up only getting a couple hours of sleep."

"The Lotus Blade?" asked Zita.

Ron pulled on his sleeve and revealed a dark green wristwatch.

"Odd name for a piece of jewelry," said Zita.

With a shrug, his sleeve fell back over his wrist. "It's not always jewelry," said Ron. "And it keeps time with the real world when I'm in the dreamscape. I've been trying to use it to make sure I still get at least five hours at night, but the best I've done recently is two."

"Ouch," said Zita. She looked up contemplatively for a moment. "I don't suppose, then, that you remembered to do your homework for today."

Ron stopped and stared.

Zita giggled as she turned to look back at him. "That's a no?"

Ron slapped himself on the forehead. "Oh, man, the questions were due today!"

"Got it in one," said Zita. She opened the notebook she was carrying and pulled out three pages of printed paper and held them out. "Mr. Palmer said you were going to fail the semester if you missed your assignments one more time."

"Oh, man," groaned Ron as he ran both his palms over his face.

"Here."

Ron peeked between his fingers to see Zita holding the three pages towards him expectantly. "What."

"The questions," said Zita. "You don't want to fail, do you?"

Ron's hands dropped to his sides as he looked at the pages suspiciously. "I can't take those, what about you?"

"I've got my own," said Zita, continuing to smile. "They're different responses from yours, so Palmer doesn't know they're both from me."

Stepping forward, Ron slowly took the pages from Zita. "Thanks?" He paused. "I mean, why?"

"Just a favor from a friend," said Zita. She turned on her foot and started walking again. "You can pay me back later."

Ron stared at the pages, but saw nothing openly suspicious about them. He then ran after Zita. He caught up with her just before the classroom and stopped her at the door.

"Repay you how?" asked Ron.

Zita looked into his eyes with a grin on her face. "I want to see it."

Ron flushed and looked momentarily down before quickly locking his eyes on a space above Zita's head. "S-See what?"

"The dreamworld," said Zita.

"What?" said Ron, surprised. "Why?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Zita. "The fiddling I do with lights on a stage or characters in a video game is child's play compared to there. You can create whole worlds. Forge kingdoms with castles, and kingdoms, and elves, and furries! It's limitless."

"How do you know about the kingdom?"

"Felix told me after you finished last night," said Zita.

Ron grumbled. "He wasn't supposed to. Wait a minute. It was, like, four in the morning when we finished."

"He was very excited to tell me," noted Zita.

Ron stepped back a bit and tried to get some perspective. "So you made this for me, because you knew how late we were out and figured I'd forget about the homework, so you could exchange it for a trip to the dreamscape?"

"No," said Zita. "I made that to help out a friend who took Felix somewhere very cool, and hoped I could get a chance to see that cool place too, in a totally non-obligatory and casual fashion." She looked sweetly up at him.

Ron grunted.

"Alright," he said, then slipped past Zita and into the classroom.

"Yes!" he heard Zita say behind him. He turned back after a moment.

"But not tonight," he said. "I've got work to do at midnight."

"Aw," pouted Zita. Then she raised an eyebrow. "What work do you have to do at midnight?"

"I've...uh," he started. "I've got to look for something."

-( KP )-

Bonnie tapped her foot as she waited by Rick's car at the end of the school day, her hands wrapped around the thick grimoire that never left her reach anymore. She couldn't figure out why someone with as much money as him drove such an ancient Buick, but sure enough, the bright yellow car sat in the faculty parking lot like a blister amongst its much better peers.

"I think I missed him," said Rick as he walked up to the car with his hand cupped above his eyes. He looked around for a moment more and then shoved his hands in his pockets against the winter breeze. "I'll have to try tomorrow."

"Why, again, are we looking for that doofus Stoppable?" asked Bonnie.

"A friend of mine told me to look out for him," said Rick. He shook his head. "I've been putting it off to concentrate on your training, but now that you've taken ownership of your grimoire, I think I should check in on him. Make sure he's not in any trouble he shouldn't be."

"He's part of that Team Possible gang, they're always in some trouble," Bonnie said flatly.

"Yes, I know what Kim does," said Rick with a grin. He unlocked the passenger's door and held it open for her. "But I'm more concerned about a magical influence."

"Magical? Stoppable?" said Bonnie before sitting down into Rick's Buick GSX.

Rick walked around the front of the car and then got into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life as he touched the steering column, but Bonnie didn't see a key anywhere.

"Yes," said Rick. "There's ... okay, well, there are several domains of magic in this world. The Path, what I've been teaching you, is one type of doctrine-governed magic. There's also dreamwalking, which is a looser, will-governed domain. It's much more volatile for the uninitiated, and Aurora tells me that Ron might get caught up in it."

"Who's Aurora?" asked Bonnie, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"My friend," said Rick. He put the car into drive and headed out of the parking lot.

"Wow. Descriptive."

Rick smiled at her. "As your teacher, there are probably things I shouldn't tell you about myself, lest you get the wrong idea."

Bonnie studied his reaction careful. "Well, we wouldn't want that," she said simply.

"It's nothing terrible," Rick continued in a slightly forced tone. "But I'm not a good example of what you should do. I made many missteps in my life I'd rather you avoid."

"And Aurora's one of those missteps?" asked Bonnie.

Rick looked ahead but seemed amused. "Not at all. But our shared history certainly wasn't smooth. We got involved in a lot of things that were well above our heads and didn't realize until we tried to exit." He started to frown. "She's still involved in some of those things, actually. Which is mostly why I'm here and she's... not."

Bonnie watched him shuffle uncomfortably in his seat while his eyes stared straight ahead. She didn't know where to go from there, whether he was prompting her to ask more or asking her to drop it.

After a minute he continued on. "Secrets are important to witches and warlocks. They protect us. They protect others. They keep the sometimes tidal forces controllable. So it's important that you understand the Path demands I hide some things from you, and you, in turn, will have to hide things from others. We've already talked about your family."

"They know nothing," said Bonnie firmly.

"And while we haven't quite breeched the topic of Kim Possible and her team, you should know they aren't as simple minded as you think they are," said Rick. He looked at her again. "They are possessive of secrets too, ones you may already suspect, and others you probably haven't yet dreamed of. Don't be quick to judge."

Bonnie frowned deeply. She was a little concerned how often Kim was coming up in their training. The goodie-two-shoes seemed like a curse, constantly trying to derail her life and throw it into chaos. Her current... condition was testament enough of that.

She tried to calm herself slightly as she looked back at Rick. It wasn't all bad, though.

"How do you know their secrets?" she asked after a moment.

The smile returned to Rick's lips. "We keep similar company."

"And do they know about yours?"

Once again, Rick turned contemplative. "They don't, actually. They know little more about me than you did before I showed you magick." He turned the car onto the highway and accelerated. "For the time being, I'd like to keep it that way."

Bonnie reached out and touched Rick's arm. "I'll keep your secrets until you tell me not to."

Rick raised his eyebrows at her touch and then nodded. "Thank you."

Bonnie pulled her hand back and felt her face redden slightly. "So where are we going?"

"You're going to sing for me again," said Rick.

Now Bonnie went wide eyed. "What?"

"You didn't think your solo in my office was going to be it, did you?" said Rick with a grin. "Now that we've found one of the ways to access your ability, we have to grow it."

"So where are we going?" asked Bonnie.

"A community choir group I found last night online," said Rick. "I gave them a call and asked if you could join. It's far enough away you shouldn't run into any of your classmates unless they follow you. And, well..." The car roared as he continued to accelerate. "I'm not that easy to follow."

"A choir group?" asked Bonnie. "That sounds... old people-ish."

"It is old people-ish," said Rick. "But that's why I picked it. Its better you blend in while we're training, less questions to answer."

"So I'm just going to be casting Melody all afternoon?" asked Bonnie.

Rick shook his head. "No, of course not. You can practice what you already know at home. We're going to try and expand a bit, see how well attuned you are to other vocal magic."

"Like what?" asked Bonnie, almost afraid.

"Mostly mood stuff," shrugged Rick. "Basic manipulation magic. Can come in handy if you need to calm a crowd down, or get them energized. You know, party magic."

"Oh! Now you're talking my language." Bonnie smiled.

Rick laughed.

-( KP )-

TWO MONTHS AGO

Will felt the bag taken off his head and he blinked groggily at the intrusion of light. He'd gotten used to the idea of sudden changes in lighting, anyone who had spent as much time in solitary as him would, but not gotten used to the nausea. At first it confused him, how simple light could cause his stomach to turn and the pain behind his eyeballs to flare, but after a while he figured it out. So much of life was defined by visual cues, when you were blind you weren't just absent one sense you were absent the most important one. So it wasn't just a matter of turning up the lights really quick, it was turning up existence.

His mouth felt numb as he worked his tongue along his teeth and barely felt the edge. A sedative was used on him, he realized. Probably sometime after the fight.

The fight! He was ambushed. They were ambushed. He and Fukushima. They'd gotten free of the GJ prison, escaped using the long and arduous plan that Cartwright had set up with him months ago when he first set up the assignment. That was always the plan: find someone who could get him in, then help him get out. If fair was fair, he could leverage that into a meeting with the new big name in organized crime.

But with villains, fair was never fair. Fukushima tried to backstab him – literally. Will wasn't even sure where the knife had come from. A shiv, perhaps, from pieces of the laundry machines, some ceramics, perhaps a simple piece of plastic was all it took. It still had an edge and it cut across Will's arms as he defended himself. Long cuts, but shallow, none deep.

The fight was both simple and horribly complex. Fukushima was a skilled fighter, trained in martial arts since he was a young boy. But Will was trained defender, one of the best of his class at the academy. He was also not trying to kill his opponent, just wear him out. Their goals were different, at cross purpose, so Will could use Fukushima's aggressive position against him.

But that would be overly simplifying. They fought for damn near an hour before the suited men and women stepped into the clearing and leveled their guns at them. Neither Will nor Fukushima were particularly interested in dying, so they fought, if briefly, together. It didn't matter. Even the edge of their fighting skills made no different against twelve armed opponents.

And then he was here, in a chair, tied, and having a bag pulled off his head. He was sitting in an empty warehouse with blacked out windows, and only a few lights showing dozens of people standing in rows behind a wooden chair with a woman sitting in it. She was a tall, buxom woman with a leather jacket and pants over a white shirt bearing foreign symbols in rows across her chest. Will suspected they were middle eastern in origin, but he couldn't pin down exactly where. She had long red hair and a sculpted face that looked largely bored as it gazed down upon Will.

And Fukushima, he realized, slumped in a chair, just as tied down as he was. It was good to know they were once again on equal footing.

"Hey," said Will, trying to play it casual. He had a pretty good idea who he was sitting in front of, at least, if he considered the pictures from the sixties of Atomic Andy to be horribly unflattering. The woman before them bore passing resemblance to them, and yet, she was somehow more refined than those photos. Her curves were just that much curvier, her skin that much more flawless, her eyes – even bored – that more intense.

She had to be pushing eighty by now but he'd be damned if he didn't admit she was sexy.

"Logan," she said, coolly. "I understand you are responsible for the breakout."

"More or less," said Will. "It was a two man job."

"But you planned it," said the woman.

"Lot of good it did me," said Will. "What are you? Interpol? GJ East?" He narrowed his eyes at her shirt. "Mossad Collections?"

The woman laughed. "Yes, I've embraced my herbrew heritage."

"So what are you?"

The woman raised her head and looked down upon Will. "We're interested in you."

"Apparently," said Will. "Why?"

"Because of your interest in him." She nodded towards Fukushima.

"I don't follow," said Will.

The woman smiled and stood. She walked slowly around the two chairs as she spoke. "I like to think of myself as rather perceptive, Mr. Logan. The current generation of so-called 'villains' is horribly shallow, even those that should know better given their pedigree." She sounded particularly irked for a moment then came around to stand in front of Will again. "I am not like them. I don't care for the surface. I care for the things that are deeper."

Will frowned. "And you like what lies within me?"

"I am intrigued by the dichotomy between your surface and what appears to be beneath that." The woman snapped her fingers and one of the uniformed women ran forward and handed her a small touch screen tablet. "It says here you grew up in Detroit. Orphaned at six. Bounced around the system getting into fistfights at school. Then joining graffiti gangs as a teenager, moving up to theft, larceny, and enforcement before your run-in with Global Justice as a member of one of Sheldon Director's stooges."

"Too crass for you, lady?" asked Will. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on here, but he figured sounding indifferent to his history was best.

"Too nonsensical, actually," said the woman as she handed the tablet back to the uniformed woman. "This is a person who never quite got a hold of his urges. Someone who kept looking for more flamboyant ways of standing out but only finding mediocrity. This isn't the history for the restrained convict with brilliance behind his eyes that I see before me."

"In fact," continued the woman as she moved back to sit on her chair. "It sounds just like the sort of story you'd want to create if you wanted to prove someone was tough without actually being tough enough for someone to have heard of you before." She shook her head. "No, this is fiction." She waved off the woman beside her who quickly retreated into the lines again.

"All right," said Will, acknowledging he heard what she said but neither confirming nor denying. He needed to figure out a way to roll with this. Somehow the woman in front of him had figured out his story was bogus and he needed a new one before he ended up dead.

"No, this is your turn to speak," said the woman.

"What do you want me to say?" said Will.

"Anything you'd like," smiled the woman. "I'm not going to prompt you. That would make it too easy for you to lie again."

Will's eyes widened slightly before he could stop himself from reacting. He quickly frowned and looked down at his lap to hide his expressions. Years of GJ training spun through his head as he tried to determine the scenario that best fit his situation. Nothing came to mind that was even close, and he was left with two really bad possibilities: try to insist his story was true, or come up with a new one without the time to create the necessary paperwork trail to support it. Either one was bound to fail and result in a headstone with an alias carved upon it. But what other option did he have? How could he impress the woman before him that he suspected was Atomic Andy?

Long ago, Will's father – a naval officer – had told him the best way to make sure your story was consistent was to tell the truth. If lies were going to get him killed, maybe the truth would protect him?

"I'm ex-Global Justice," said Will, looking back up fiercely at the woman.

The woman, to her credit, didn't seem surprised. She simply curled the edge of her lip up in a slight smirk.

"Disavowed now," continued Will. "Dead as far as they're concerned. My past erased as far back as they can go to hide that I was once one of them. So nobody on the OLC questions why they threw me in their prison."

"Why were you in there?" asked the woman, still smirking.

"For being willing to go further than anyone else could stomach to see justice done," spat Will, trying to dredge up feelings of betrayal to make his words sound more honest. "Justice being a word that has been lost to paperwork and bureaucracy and fear. Fear of losing funding instead of lives. Fear of phantom threats instead of real ones."

Will scowled. "Fear of you," he said. "They know what you did, and they're terrified of it. They'd rather hide it than face it down. But not me. So they threw me in jail and erased my existence rather than hear what I had to say."

"And here you are," said the woman. She looked amused more than anything. "Here to kill me, are you? For your precious justice?"

Will shook his head. "I'm here to see what you have to say."

The woman sat up. "What I have to say?" She mock pouted. "That doesn't sound like conviction to me."

Will grimaced. "GJ is a relic, a product of an irrelevant age when the biggest threats in the world were governments. The world doesn't work that way anymore. There needs to be a new way."

"And you think being a criminal is the new cool?" asked the woman.

Will looked around the warehouse, at the uniformed soldiers in lines, unmoving, unwavering, all behind the woman. "I think SCHEME has been quietly taking over the other crime families in the world, the terrorist cells, the largest gangs. I think you've been amassing incredible on-the-street power. And yet the world hasn't descended into chaos. And the global crime rate hasn't gone up, it's gone down.

"I don't think you want to see the world burn," said Will. "So I'm curious what it is you do want."

The woman stared at Will intensely. "And if it's something you want too?"

"Then maybe I can help."

The woman's smile returned and she hopped up out of her chair again. With a wave of her hand, several of the soldiers behind her stepped forward and removed the ropes around Will's torso and freed him from the stiff wooden chair. Will rubbed his ribs where they had been pinching.

Then he looked down at Fukushima. "What about him?"

The woman walked up to Will. She was taller than him, he realized, though just slightly. It allowed her to look down into his eyes. "He's much more transparent than you, and a means to an end, besides. You'll see your buddy again."

Will grumbled something indecipherable.

The woman laughed. "Don't be that way, you may end up friends. Now! Let's find out if you like what you see." She held out a hand. "Andy Kelly."

Will hesitated for just a second after taking her hand. "Will Du."

Andy almost purred in response. "Yes, I think you will."

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Ron felt the world drift gently away and the dreamscape assert itself around him. He had gotten much better at controlling the transition now and he could do it while meditating or even briefly while standing in order to initiate channeling of someone else's skills. As it was, he was sitting relaxed in a chair in his room at home, in front of his computer. Normally he would be in bed, but he knew he was going to have work to do after he finished.

Opening his eyes, Ron expected to see the empty, blazing white road of the dreamscape in front of him, stretching endlessly into the Dreamtime Kingdom.

Instead he found a battle.

Amanda was there, holding up a hand defensively behind a silvery shield that was being attacked by what looked to be a ninja throwing a series of green glowing shurikens and darts. She looked angry as she held up the shield, constantly moving it back and forth to catch attacks that were curving to the side.

The ninja was dressed in black with bits of dark brown at the waist and cuffs and a tuft of black hair coming out the back of his head wrap. Any expression he had was inscrutable but he appeared to be relentless as he flung weapons faster than Ron had seen anyone at Yamanouchi do. He also seemed to be pressing forward with his attacks, until Amanda would suddenly take a step forward and fling a blue-white wave of energy towards him and he would have to flip backwards to avoid getting hit.

"Amanda!" yelled Ron as he ran to try and help.

Amanda looked at him in surprise and then held up her hand towards him. "Stay back!" she shouted.

The ninja suddenly stepped to the side and dashed in a blink of an eye forward to take advantage of the distraction. Ron tried to call out but even his voice was too slow compared to the speed of the attacker.

Amanda turned just as the ninja's long blade flung out and she raised her hands rapidly. The glowing road beneath her then distorted and bowed instantly, creating a tall ridge between her and the ninja, causing the latter's attack to be blocked.

With a raised fist, Amanda swung her arms around the ridge to try and grab the ninja, but he moved out of the way at the last second and swung down. Amanda's arm glowed brightly a split second before the blade reached her, and it richocheted off with a sound like steel striking steel.

The ninja then leapt backwards and into the air, flinging five darts behind him towards Amanda. She raised her shield again but one of the weapons got through and stuck her in the side. She shouted in pain.

"No!" yelled Ron loudly. He summoned his will and the Lotus Blade dropped off his wrist to form into a large green blade in his hand. It glowed brightly as he stepped forward towards the ninja.

The ninja, in turn, stared at the blade stiffly for a moment, and then, to Ron's surprise, turned and ran off the edge of the glowing path, jumping far into the air, and then diving into a dream sphere that was flying past.

Ron watched for several moments more, keeping the blade in his hands in case the ninja were to pop out of another dream, but after a minute, there was nothing. He turned to look back at Amanda and saw her nursing her side while leaning against the tall ridge in the path she had created.

Ron ran over. "Are you alright?" he asked as he dismissed the Lotus Blade and it returned to its watch shape.

Amanda nodded and stared at Ron's wrist. "Yeah," she managed. "This isn't my whole self, it's just a projection. It just stings, but it'll fade." She looked up at Ron. "That's quite at toy you have there."

Ron reached over to help Amanda back to her feet. "Uh, yeah, it's something I got on... uh, a training trip."

"It's an artifact," said Amanda, looking back at the watch. "A powerful one."

"It's usually a sword," said Ron. "But it's hard to carry around like that so I normally ask it to be a watch."

"You ask it?" asked Amanda. She whispered something that caused her hand to glow and she applied it to her to her side. The pained look on her face faded. "It's sentient?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Ron. He let go of Amanda's arm as she stood on her own. "It's never, you know, talked back to me or anything. But it does tend to follow me around."

"It's bonded with you?" asked Amanda. "I mean, you're its owner?"

Ron nodded. "A gift from the old, great Toshimaru. I think it just hangs around whoever is the current master of mystical Tai Shing Pek Kwar."

"Monkey kung fu?" asked Amanda.

"Yeah," Ron said, surprised. "You know it?"

"I used to live in Japan," said Amanda. "Well, the Japan of my universe. It's a Chinese art but pretty popular, especially in movies." She paused. "I don't know the technique myself."

"But there are lots of people that know it?" asked Ron.

"Oh, yes," said Amanda.

Ron frowned. "It's pretty rare in our world, or at least the version that I know is. There is only one other guy who knows it and he's... well, he's pretty crazy. He turned himself into a monkey to be a better master of the form."

"With magic?" asked Amanda.

"With surgery," said Ron.

"Oh," said Amanda. She winced slightly.

"Ack! Forget about this, who was that?" Ron said in sudden realization. He pointed off into the dreamscape.

Amanda shook her head. "I'm not sure, he got the drop on me while I was preparing the tools you'll need to cast the location spell."

"Did he say anything?" asked Ron.

Amanda shook her head. "I think he may have been watching us for some time. He might be after the Grimoire."

"The spellbook you wanted me to find?" asked Ron.

Amanda nodded. "It's awfully sudden for the attack to come right when we're about to look for it, and when I had the necessary components all laid out."

"Did he get any of them?" asked Ron.

"Unfortunately, he took part of one, but we can still work without it," said Amanda. "But more than ever I think you need to hurry and find it. If that book falls into the wrong hands it could be catastrophic."

"Woah, what do you mean?" asked Ron, raising his hands.

"It's a spellbook," said Amanda. "An old one, and one that contains magic not just in its words but in its pages. If someone with evil intentions got a hold of it, they might have the power to reshape the world."

"Reshape the world?" Ron's jaw dropped. "I-I thought it was just a book!"

"Books can have great power," said Amanda. "Just like your watch."

Ron looked at his wrist and blanched. His mind was racing but not reaching any useful conclusions. "S-should you eve—"

"It's okay," Amanda interrupted. "We have the spells components and you have the ability now to draw those components from here into your world. I'll show you what you need to do you just have to do it, and then go where the spell tells you."

"Go?" asked Ron. "I have to get the book?"

"Yes," nodded Amanda. "And then bring it back here so I can get it."

"But I don't know how to bring something into the dreamscape."

"I will show you," Amanda said again. "This is what you've been training for. Casting a location spell is trivial, but drawing items from the dreamscape into the physical world is the problem. It takes concentration and skill, but you have those now. And we don't have time to wait anymore." She held open her hand and a crumpled up page of paper with a chunk torn out appeared in it with a blue glow. "Here."

Ron stared at her hand. "What is it?"

"It's a piece of the Book," said Amanda. "The only way you'll get a reliable reading with the location spell is by having part of the item you're looking for. I tore this from the grimore just in case this happened some day."

"If you knew this would—" started Ron but again he was quickly interrupted.

"You'll also need a conduit," said Amanda. She held out her hand, which contained a shard of ivory. "This is part of a Guardian Staff, a talon that enables magic to be focused. It will help guide you to the book after you've found it."

"What's a Guardian?" asked Ron as he reached out for the two items.

"We don't have time, I'll explain later," said Amanda. She held forward the items.

Ron cautiously reached out and wrapped his fingers around the ivory stick and the paper. His fingers felt ice cold as they touched the objects, like they were drawing the heat out of his body. The feeling subsided as his hands more firmly gripped the items but left a strangely hollow feeling in his core.

"I don't know..." started Ron, but wasn't sure where to begin.

"Please, your world is in danger," said Amanda. "If that ninja gets to the book ahead of me, the consequences could be terrible."

Ron swallowed. "I'll have to tell my friends about this. They need to know that the world is in danger."

Amanda eyed Ron carefully. "Alright," she said after a moment. "But be careful. There are people that you can't trust. People possibly in league with that ninja. You need to watch out for two people in particular."

"Who?" asked Ron. "How do you even know people in my world?"

"I don't," said Amanda. "But they're travelers, like me and you. They may have made it through into your world, and you need to be cautious." She looked around briefly. "There is a powerful witch named Aurora Sayer, who is easily the most dangerous person you'll ever meet. Avoid her at all costs."

"Never heard of her," said Ron.

"Good," nodded Amanda. "The second is her partner, a long lived fallen Guardian named Seth Vedas. He doesn't have Aurora's power but is an expert warrior."

Ron frowned. "Seth Vedas?" he said.

Amanda's eyes widened and then she nodded. "Yes. Why? Have you met him?"

Ron turned to the side. He wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not. "I know a Dr. Rick Vedas," he said. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"I don't know, have you ever seen him fight or do magic?" asked Amanda.

"Not really," admitted Ron. "He kind of got his butt kicked in a fight once and was taken hostage by Gemini, so I doubt he's a great warrior."

Amanda nodded. "I wouldn't take any chances. Try to avoid him if you can. And watch out for anything suspicious."

Ron carefully nodded, and then looked down at the two items in his hands.

"Are you ready for the explanation?" asked Amanda. "You can't mess this up."

Ron felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest and found it hard to shake the creeping cold feeling in his arms. He wasn't sure he was ready for anything, but what could he do? The world was in danger and Kim never really hesitated in these situations to help people.

"What do I need to do?"

-( KP )-

Yori was beside Ron when he woke up, watching him carefully but with a frown on her face. He couldn't tell if she was upset or worried and realized neither were good things.

"Stoppable-san... were you practicing sansaku no kyuumu?" Yori asked.

Ron looked at her and nodded.

"You were very upset while you slept," she continued. "You were sweating and shaking. Is everything all right?" She knelt down beside Ron's chair and put her hand no his arm.

Ron looked at Yori. Her expression was filled with concern for him and the guilt of lying to her for weeks hit him like a load of bricks. She was sitting here, worried about him, and he'd been deceiving her because some strange dream mage told him to.

The same dream mage that just told him the world was in danger and she knew about – she knew! – the whole time and never said anything until now. He was listening to the advice of someone who lied to him, and now he was about to lie to Yori, someone who had been by him for a long time now, who had never doubted him.

"No," Ron said softly. "I think we're in trouble." He looked at his hands. In one was the crumpled paper and the other had the tiny shard of ivory. He wondered how they looked to Yori. Did they just appear when he woke up? Did they slowly materialize? What did creating something from nothing look like?

"What is wrong?" asked Yori.

Ron dropped the paper and shard into his lap put his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do," he said. "I thought I was becoming a better dreamwalker, I didn't know I was getting involved in something so big."

Yori leaned in closer. "Ron-kun," she said. "What happened?"

Ron rose his eyes and looked at her, staring deeply into her yes.

"There was someone else in the dreamscape," he started.

"Just now?" asked Yori.

Ron shook his head. "For a while now. She calls herself a Dream Mage, and she offered to teach me in exchange for helping her find something."

Yori's eyes widened.

"I didn't know what she was looking for until tonight," continued Ron. He shook his head. "It's a magical spell book. She says that it has the power to destroy the world." He swallowed. "And someone else is looking for it too, and may be close to finding it."

Yori looked slightly startled, but she didn't retreat. "Do you believe her?"

Ron frowned and felt his throat tighten. "I don't know." He looked away. "I don't think we can take the risk."

Yori shook her head slowly. "Where is the spell book?"

"I still have to find out," said Ron. He picked up the crumpled paper and the shard and held them in his hands. "I have all the ingredients to find out, but... what do we do once we know?"

"We tell Possible-san," said Yori without hesitation.

"Do you think she'll—"

"It does not matter," she interrupted. "We can tell her we just found out today. We do not need to tell her of the dream mage. But if you believe there is a chance this book is dangerous, we must do something."

Ron stared at the paper in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said. He wasn't sure why, he was just sure there was something he had to be apologizing for.

"Why did you not tell me earlier?" asked Yori.

"She told me not to tell anyone," said Ron. "She... I thought she was trying to help. Maybe she was. Maybe she still is. I just don't know, anymore."

Yori nodded. "Let us locate the book first, then we may decide who to give it to."

"Okay," agreed Ron, because it let him defer the decision to later. He gripped the paper in his hand. "Stand back. I don't know what this will do."

-( KP )-

SIX WEEKS AGO

Will stared down at the complex web of lines on the map before him and frowned deeply. He was staring at the network of SCHEME bases and operations and it was almost impossible to him that only six months ago this organization didn't exist. They practically had a larger footprint than GJ already, and organized in an efficient manner that allowed privileged information to flow quickly to the top and instructions back down with minimal delay. World governments could learn a thing or two from these patterns.

Behind him the perennially smirking form of Andy Kelley walked slowly past. She had finally let him back into her presence after a long two weeks of proving himself loyal to her cause. He had not had a hard time of it, just a patient one. She didn't ask him to kill innocents, or divulge GJ secrets, or even plan a heist. Just observe and report, over and over again.

First he was sent along with Reilly's South African team to correct a discipline problem with SCHEME-loyal clans. Then he was assigned to the Columbia excursion with Thomas and Thomas (unrelated) to find some scientist. Finally he was sent to London to monitor a meeting between Dykstra and the Prime Minister. Now he was back, in a posh hotel in Dubai, being circled by Andy as if she were a shark.

"These are your travel plans?" asked Will when she came around the other side of the table.

"Some of them," Andy admitted. She leaned over the table, across the map, and looked up at Will's stern face. "What bothers you about it?"

"You're everywhere," said Will, still sticking to the truth as much as possible.

Andy laughed and rolled onto her back, obscuring most of Asia and Oceana. She kept her eyes on Will. "I suppose you could say that. Rarely have I time to sit still and relax anymore." She rested her hands across her abdomen. "Too much to do, as it goes."

Will murmured an agreement and turned his eyes toward America and the three points marked therein. One was in Deleware, another in New York, and one in Middleton. He could guess at the reasons for the first two, the last one, however, made him nervous. His best guess put those dots six weeks out. He silently vowed to figure out what was going to happen there.

"Would you like to come along?"

Will frowned and moved his eyes east again until they met with Andy's. "Where?"

She smiled widely. "Everywhere." She sat back up and turned to put her delicate hands on the map. "There are lots of things to see out in the world, I'm sure you've only brushed the surface with your GJ assignments."

"Why?" asked Will.

"I doubt you were given a lot of sightseeing time while on the company's dime." Andy shrugged.

"No, I mean, why do you want me to come?"

"Aren't you bored?" she asked with a cutely demure look. "Playing snitch for my top level commanders can't feel very rewarding. I thought you came here to really be part of something new."

"I didn't say I didn't want to come," said Will. "I asked why you want me to come."

She flashed her white teeth at him. "Employee satisfaction isn't a good enough reason?"

"No."

"Oh, fine," Andy rolled her eyes. "You are far too serious. Do you frown when you sleep as well?" She reached out and gently ran a finger across Will's furrowed brow. "You interest me, Will. Whether what you've told me is truth or fiction, you certainly play the part with conviction. I like interesting people."

"You certainly have enough of them under your yoke," stated Will.

"Who? Stryker? Fukushima? Boring." She pushed herself up and strolled back around to Will's side of the table. "There are two types of people who work for me, those that I've conquered and know better than to resist, and those who flock to my power hoping to get a taste. But you, Will, you! You are neither of those things. You don't want my power anymore than you fear me. You want to serve a greater cause."

Andy slid her hands over Will's shoulders and hung off to his right. "New things are so very special, and I don't want you to get away from me."

Will turned his head and looked at the crazy woman hanging off of him. "A toy is it, then?"

"Hmmm," she mused. "Perhaps. But that's not an insult. I wish to play with you, that much is certain, but I think there is something to learn as well." She pulled herself closer until her eyes were looking directly into his and their noses almost touching. "What's really behind the fierce stare of Will Du, hm?"

"Nothing," said Will, softly.

"Hah! That's a lie. But I didn't expect anything different." She slunk off of him and sat on the edge of the table, crossing her legs and crinkling the map beneath her. "I feel I still have to prove myself to you, but that's not going to happen with you off playing with my generals. So you're going to stay close from now on. A right hand man, so to speak. After your next assignment."

Will blinked. "My next assignment?"

"Yes," and this time Andy sounded bored. "Go chaperone Fukushima on his Japan bid."

"Chaperone?" asked Will. That was certainly different than how she described his earlier observe and report missions.

"That's right," nodded Andy. "He's got a contact with a group called the Shade there that we want working for us. They've offered a fairly agreeable bargain and we're going to take them up on it. I want you to make sure Fukushima doesn't get killed during the skirmish. You should be used to that after your time in prison."

Will scowled. He did not like spending time with Fukushima, especially after the escape. "Very well," he said, knowing he had to maintain appearances.

"Aw, don't pout, my dear," said Andy. "Go do what I ask and maybe I'll do something nice for you when we meet up again in Turin."

Feeling there was nothing more to gain, Will silently turned and headed for the doors.

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Kim rubbed her eyes while Ken walked out of the kitchen with coffee. "Where?" she asked. She took the cup handed to her and then turned to face Yori and Ron. "Ron, it's like, three o'clock in the morning."

"Germany," said Ron. "Specifically the... Zwinger in Dresden."

"Dresden?" said Ken. "East Germany, huh?"

"Not since the cold war ended," said Kim.

"Well, yeah," said Ken with a shrug. "Just wondering how an ancient artifact ended up in a bombed out castle."

"I don't know," said Ron. "I just know it's there now and we have to get it."

"And you know this how, again?" asked Kim, eyeing Ron and Yori suspiciously. They were standing very close together, almost defensively, and had remained that way since entering the house.

"Clues left behind in the dreamscape," said Ron, hesitantly.

"What kind of clues?" asked Ken.

"There are things left behind by other dreamwalkers," said Yori. "Ron has been searching them for who those people were. He learned tonight that a spell book was lost and how to find it."

"We came right away," said Ron quickly afterwards, almost speaking over Yori. "I think the book might be dangerous, and I'm worried there are others looking for it."

"How dangerous?" asked Kim.

Ron looked at Yori with a worried expression. "Very dangerous," said Yori, simply. "Master Sensei had warned me of the great power that lies in the dream, it is possible he was referring to books like this one."

"But it's not in the dream," said Ken. "It's in the real world."

"Which means anyone can get it," said Ron. "Not just a dreamwalker like me."

"Do we have to go right now?" asked Kim. "I mean, how long has it been there? Did the Nazis have it?"

Ron shook his head. "I can't tell. I used a location spell to find it, it only told me where it was, not how long it was there. Or how long it will be there."

Ken choked on his coffee. "A spell? Wait, you can do magic?"

"Yeah, the Mystical Monkey stuff, right?" said Kim, nodding.

Ron winced. "Actually, this is new magic I learned while... studying how to be a dreamwalker."

Ken's eyes went wide. "Can you do anything else?"

"Not... much more at the moment," said Ron.

"Possible-san, Ron believes this to be an urgent matter," said Yori. "Should we at least try to find it?"

Kim looked tiredly at Yori and then at Ron. "I really don't know how we're going to get to Germany if we're doing this. Without Wade, I haven't been able to get rides as easily. Maybe Dr. Rick could help? He's been nice about working with us in the past. I'd hate to make him fly out to Germany for no reason, though."

"Uh," started Ron. "Doesn't... Dr. Rick have his hands full already with Bonnie?"

Kim nodded. "That's a good point. I'm not sure off-hand who else we can call on. I'll have to do some asking around." She looked at her watch. "In the daytime."

"Every minute counts, Possible-san," said Yori.

"If you know something better, I'm all ears," said Kim. "I remember Yamanouchi being pretty resourceful."

Yori looked suddenly sad. "Things have changed," she said simply.

"Uh-huh," said Kim. "Well, we'll all look, but we may have a little waiting to do."

"All right," said Ron.

Kim nodded, then turned to head back up to her room. When she was up the flight of stairs, Ken turned wildly to Ron and Yori.

"She doesn't know the school was attacked?" he said.

"I haven't gotten around to telling her," Ron said with a pained expression.

"Oh, dude, it's been over a month!" said Ken.

"I know!" said Ron. "I've just been... there just hasn't been... the time has..." he paused and then groaned loudly as he sat down into a nearby chair. "I'm screwing everything up!"

After a minute passed of Ken and Yori looking awkwardly at each other, she gently put her hands on Ron's shoulders and urged him to stand. "Let us see if we can find help to get us to Germany."

Ron wordlessly nodded and let himself be led out of the house.

Then Ken turned his gaze up the stair and slowly ascended him. He found Kim sitting at her computer searching online for information on Dresden, Germany.

"Hey," said Ken. "You were a little rough with Ron there."

"It's three AM," said Kim. "I'm still waking up."

"When I was your age, I didn't let sleep get in the way of doing what's right," said Ken.

Kim spun in her seat. "Was that what just happened? Was that the 'right thing' that woke us up and told us to fly to Germany?" She stood up and stared up at Ken. "Because it sounded an awful lot like a fever dream that Ron was convinced was real."

"Yori believed it," said Ken.

"Yori will do anything to get closer to Ron," said Kim angrily.

Ken raised his eyebrows. "Is that really what you think?"

Kim glared at Ken for a half minute before relenting and looking away. "No."

"Kim, are you jealous of Yori?" asked Ken.

"No."

"Because you broke up with him," reminded Ken.

"I know."

"Like, only a month ago—"

"I know!" snapped Kim. "I know! I was there! I did it! I don't need to be reminded."

Ken bit his lip, but said nothing. He watched as Kim paced around the room with a scowl.

"Do you know Monique freaked out today?" said Kim.

"I would only know if you told me," said Ken with a head bob. "I'm ... I haven't been out much since we fought Shego to..." he decided not to continue on.

Kim stopped her circle and looked at her otherworldly clone. "How did we all get so screwed up?"

Ken chuckled lightly. "We were always screwed up. I think it's just more noticeable now. I mean, how normal is it to run around the world trying to stop landslides or megalomaniacs?" He sat down on Kim's bed. "You know, there was this world I visited while chasing Shego where you were ... like, Superman."

"A guy again?" Kim said weakly.

Ken laughed. "No... okay, more like Wonder Woman, then."

"Better," said Kim with a smile.

"So, you would think someone like us, with all the power of a superhero, we could clean up the world, right?"

"No?" Kim said.

Ken shook his head. "There is a bizarre balance in the many worlds I've seen, where good and evil are held constantly in check by each other. Good gets stronger, evil gets more resourceful. Evil wanes and good becomes complacent."

"It's not always that way," said Kim. "There have been dark times in our history."

"There have," said Ken. "But maybe we just didn't understand how the balance worked in those eras. Eventually things returned to equilibrium."

"If you call this equilibrium," pointed out Kim.

"All right, then," said Ken. "So what's got you off balance?"

Kim sat down in the chair again. "I'm putting them in danger," she said.

"Who?"

"All of them," said Kim. "My friends, my family, the people at school, randoms who get caught in the crossfire." She shook her head. "I put myself up as a target and now those around me are getting hit."

"This is about Bonnie?" said Ken.

"This is more than Bonnie," said Kim. "This is everything. I have the ability to do this, but do they? Should Felix ever have been in a position to be kidnapped? Should Bonnie? I dragged them into danger and never even asked. I should have gone on alone, like you did chasing after Shego."

Ken's mouth dropped open slightly and his eyes widened. "I'm... not..." he stopped.

"Not a simple answer, huh?" said Kim.

Ken took a moment to gather his thoughts and then smiled. "No, it is simple, Kim. I fell in love." He shrugged. "I'm here not to be alone, but to become part of something more than just me. I'm chasing someone else so they don't end up alone." He looked down at his hands. "Maybe... maybe I should remember that more often. Just because she's... I know she's lonely too. I shouldn't be so quick to give up because she's lashing out."

"What next, though?" asked Kim. "We can't let Shego go unpunished anymore. What she did to Bonnie... even if its reversible it doesn't undo what she experienced. She has to be tried, and she'll probably go to jail." She sighed. "Where does that leave you, then?"

"Right there next to her," said Ken. "I came all this way to help her, I can't balk in the eleventh hour because it might not be fun all the time. And you can't either."

"I'm not trying to make Shego happy," said Kim.

"But you have reasons for what you do, don't you?" said Ken. "Yeah, you put people in danger, but those people don't hate you. They're working with you, they want to be part of this thing you started."

"I don't think Monique wants that," said Kim. "You didn't see her today."

"She's probably afraid," said Ken. "Fear isn't hate. It can be, but I doubt she really hates you. She probably senses your doubt."

"My doubt?" said Kim.

"Yeah," said Ken. "You told me you quit for nearly half a year. Now you're back in it. Why?"

"Because..." started Kim and she grimaced. "I had to. People needed help."

"People needed help while you were recovering too," said Ken. "What made this different?"

"I thought... I thought she would change," said Kim.

Ken stared. "She?"

Kim looked at him. "Shego," she said. "After everything she went through, I thought she would be ready to accept my help. But she didn't want it. She... reviled it. She wants to be my enemy." She sighed. "I just don't know if I can be that forever."

Ken laughed and leaned back on the bed. "You're saying we're both in this because of Shego?" He put his hands on his face. "The same Shego, no less."

"No, that... that was just the start," said Kim. "I didn't try and rescue Felix's mom because of Shego. I did it because... because I like to help people. I want to help people. I just don't like them getting hurt because I'm trying to help them."

"You can't be everywhere, Kim," said Ken from the bed.

"I at least want to be there for my friends," said Kim. "And... maybe... some of my enemies too."

Ken raised his head to look skeptically at Kim.

"Bonnie, I'm talking about here," said Kim. "You're welcome to Shego."

"As long as we're clear," said Ken, and he rested his head back again.

Kim sighed again. "I still don't know what to tell Monique. She doesn't want to be rescued, she wants to be safe."

"You can't give her what she wants," said Ken. He dropped his hands to the side. "Even if you stopped today, it wouldn't give her safety. Tell her you'll be there when she needs you, and that's all you can ever do."

Kim looked at the cold cup of coffee on her desk. "That might not be enough."

"Then things will change between you two."

"I don't want them to."

"You may not have a choice. All you have are spoons and she wants a fork."

"Did that happen to you?"

Ken hesitated before answering. "It happens to everyone in time. You can't let it get you down."

Kim nodded silently.

"So, let's find a flight to Germany, huh?" Ken said, getting onto his elbows and looking across the bed at Kim. "We can both get out of our funk and be heroes again."

Kim laughed. "All right."

-( KP )-

The giant steel door leading into the underground complex hadn't changed much since the last time she had been there, but instead of the long shouting conversation with the faceless operator the door quietly slid aside when she pressed her hand to the keypad that served as a doorbell.

And this time, it wasn't Jennifer Cartwright that answered but Doctor Director herself.

"Kim," said the head of Global Justice. "It's rather early for you."

"But not, apparently, for you," replied Kim. "Do you ever sleep?"

"I try not to," Dr. Director said casually. "The nightmares you acquire in my line of work make it inadvisable. What do you need?"

"Travel to Dresden," said Kim.

"Ontario?" she said.

"Germany," said Kim.

Dr. Director nodded. "What's in Dresden?"

"Castles, museums, memorials," listed off Kim.

"Cute."

Kim studied Dr. Director's steeled expression. She looked even more tired than she did at the funeral. In fact, in Kim's eyes, she never really recovered from the bombing fully. Something had happened on that day, and maybe Will Du was just the final punctuation on her seemingly endless endurance.

"There's a villain thing going down there," said Kim. "I still haven't found Wade since the incident with the Shadow, and I need help getting over there. I thought that you might want to help. It might be a big deal."

"Believe me, you don't know what a 'big deal' is," said Dr. Director.

Kim considered that. "End of the world type stuff?"

"Happening every day," said Dr. Director. "Probably happening now."

"It is happening now, that's why I have to get to Dresden," said Kim.

Dr. Director sighed and idly began walking to the side. "I thought that Jennifer had made our stance on your activities clear the last time you were here."

"She did," said Kim. "You told me to choose. I've chosen."

Dr. Director turned to face her. "Chosen what?"

"To help," said Kim. "I don't really like the cost, and I want it to be lower, but I won't sit by."

"We can help with the cost," said Dr. Director. "But our help comes with a cost too."

"I've seen," said Kim as she stared at the eyepatch.

"I'm not going to cut off your finger in a ritual or anything," said Dr. Director. "But there are rules, and secrets, and you have to follow one and never talk about the other. That means doing what you don't want at times, and keeping things from your friends and family."

"I'm not signing up yet," said Kim, warningly.

"No, you have to finish school," said Dr. Director.

"And college," said Kim.

"We can help there too," said Dr. Director. "But, fine, when you're ready."

Kim stared. "So the offer is back again?"

Dr. Director nodded.

"And you'll help Team Possible get to Germany?" asked Kim.

Dr. Director smiled. "It would be my pleasure to fly you to Germany."

Kim stared as Dr. Director walked back through the giant doorway. "Wait, you? You personally?"

"I am not above getting my hands dirty, Ms. Possible," smirked Dr. Director as she walked out of sight.

-( KP )-

FIVE WEEKS AGO

Will looked over his shoulder as casually as he could to see if he could spot any more SCHEME operatives. None could be spotted, but it didn't mean there weren't any there on this high speed train from Paris to Torino. He reluctantly looked back to the seat beside him on the train, that had previously been vacant, but now held a very irritated looking Jennifer Cartwright.

She was dressed quite stylishly, Will thought, at least compared to how he last saw her back in GJ Prison. She had a black and red dress on that gathered over one hip and a rather large hat on her head that covered most of her face from prying eyes. When she pulled her sunglasses down, the glare Will received could have frozen volcanoes.

"Sir," said Will with a nod.

"Oh, I think we're past that at this point, Du," said Cartwright angrily. "I'm told you were involved in that soirée at Yamanouchi. A heads up would have been nice. Betty's getting the third degree from the OLC representatives from Tokyo."

"There wasn't an opportunity," said Will. He pointed quickly between himself and Cartwright. "Even this right now is a risk."

"I'm willing to take it to get some answers. What the hell happened? I haven't heard anything useful out of you in months."

Will looked at her like she were a child. "Infiltration takes time, you know that."

"Yes it does, and typically it involves a lot of waiting and reporting back that you haven't made progress." Cartwright folded her arms and leaned into the side of her chair. "I don't think you've said anything since getting picked up outside of the GJ prison."

"That's because I don't know what game Andy is playing," said Will. "She knows who I am, or at least part of the story, but for some reason she keeps me around like a lapdog. She shows me half her plans – of that I'm sure, she's hiding a lot from me – but I'm not sure why. Maybe she's expecting those plans to get to GJ? Maybe she's just trying to impress me. I don't know, so I haven't said anything."

Cartwright stared at Will with wide eyes. "You need to back up a bit there, agent."

"I'm not an agent anymore," grumbled Will. "Did you forget?"

"Don't start that," said Cartwright. "You are not your cover. You took this assignment on to show you're the best agent we have."

"Did I?" asked Will, honestly. "It's kind of hard to see it that way given you approached me while I was in the hospital having already assigned me my cover identity. Am I supposed to feel honored that my reward for taking a bomb to the face is to lose my life and spend two months in prison?"

"Your vigilance will save lives," said Cartwright. "This is what you always wanted, a chance to prove yourself. I'm very familiar with your file, Du, you were selected against hundreds of other agents to do this because of your dedication to GJ."

"I'm not my file anymore than I'm John Logan," said Will.

Cartwright grimaced and studied Will's face. "So what are you saying, Will? You don't want to do this anymore?"

Will looked away, across the aisle and looked out the window at the Italian countryside, speeding past.

"You going rogue on me, Agent?"

Will considered that question. He had no intention of supporting a dictator in her conquest of the planet, that much was certain. He would gladly give up his life and everything he's done to prevent that.

He was just having trouble figuring out whether the dictator he was stopping had fiery red hair or an eye patch.

"No," said Will as he looked back towards Cartwright. "I'm just trying to be cautious. Andy is clearly testing me for something. Whether that's loyalty or resolve or restraint, I'm not sure, and I'm hesitant to feed you plans if in the long run it just locks me out of getting the big picture."

"Andy Lipsky, you're referring to?" asked Cartwright.

"Yeah, though she's using her maiden name now, Andy Kelley." Will shuffled in his seat slightly. "And she's young. We suspected she might have stolen Shego's youth, and I can tell you she absolutely did. She looks to be in her twenties, at the prime of physical fitness and..." he stopped himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to admit the next word he was about to say. It was a little embarrassing that he so quickly thought of it.

"And what?" pressed Cartwright.

Should he say it? It was part of the problem he was having right now, but did Cartwright need to know that?

"Agent?" Cartwright prompted.

"Attractiveness," said Will, finally. "She's very proud of her appearance, and she flaunts it frequently. Especially..." he sighed. "Around me."

"Around you?"

"Yes," nodded Will. "She's clearly flirting with me. Constantly. I'm not sure why."

"She's over sixty, Will," reminded Cartwright.

"She doesn't look it," said Will. "She's not just younger, she's back to how she looked as a villain. Tall, sculpted, intelligent. Whatever the Khan-Clasp Inhibiter did to her has been completely undone and then some."

Cartwright was silent for a moment. "And then some?" she repeated. "Will, are you concerned about being compromised?"

Will growled and looked away. "That's a simplistic view of what's going on. It's possible she's engaging me in some sort of psychological warfare. Giving me privileged access to see what I'd do, then turning up the stakes periodically to further tempt me."

Cartwright sat forward and put a hand on Will's arm. It felt warm but firm. Perhaps the only comforting thing he'd ever seen her do. "Take her out, Will."

"I can't do that," Will shook his head. "There's no telling what that would do to her organization. It's possible it would continue to operate without her. I haven't seen enough yet to figure out what it will take to usurp the chain of command so I can disband SCHEME. At this stage it could be very dangerous."

"It's worth the risk," said Cartwright. "The chaos that would result could be leveraged with strategic attacks on each of the SCHEME bases."

"There aren't enough people we could leverage for such a thing," said Will. "There are too many bases, too many well equipped generals. You couldn't get them all, and what would be left could regroup and counterattack." He shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous."

"We can't leave her alone," said Cartwright. "And we don't want to lose you."

Will looked down. "It's not a matter of losing me, it's about doing the right thing." He glanced at his watch. "I will use one of the drops next week to provide you as much information as I have. Please be careful how you use it or I might lose my head." He looked back up at her.

Cartwright nodded slowly. "I'm worried about you."

"I'm still a professional," he said. "I agreed to this, I'll carry it through. Just don't expect me to be giddy."

Accepting the finality of Will's last statement, Cartwright got up again and walked back the way she came towards the front of the train. Will sighed deeply, more than a little distressed over what was going on. He would never be comfortable with all the layers of deception he was engaging in, he only hoped things would get easier soon.

A pair of hands snaked their way onto Will's shoulders and gently squeezed the flesh beside his neck.

"You are so tense, Will."

Will looked up quickly to see Andy looking down at him from above his seat. She was smiling widely at him then licked her ruby lips in a predatory fashion.

"Sit down," said Will harshly. "Someone will see you."

The hands left his shoulders then Andy swung her hips around the row of chairs and sat in the seat that Cartwright had just minutes ago occupied. She lifted her long legs and placed them across Will's lap, pressing her back against the window. Her pleased smile was aimed squarely at him.

"Did you tell her what we agreed upon?" asked Andy.

Will closed his eyes. "Yes."

"Good boy," said Andy. She played with something in her fingers that looked like a small black coin. "I knew you had, of course, couldn't leave these things to chance, but I'm glad you were honest with me." She held up the black disc between two of her fingers and showed Will. It was a bug.

Will's eyes widened and he immediately reached up to feel his collar... where Andy's hands had just been moments ago. She was listening to the whole thing, he realized.

"I would like to hear more about how attractive I am, though," smirked Andy.

Will growled and looked away. He felt Andy's legs shift on his lap and then her high heeled foot was pressing against his chin and directing his face back towards her. He tried not to openly seethe at the action.

She seemed to get off on his restraint. "You are easily the most fun toy I have ever found." She blinked slowly at him. "Much better than that moron, David." She took her hand and ran a long finger town the edge of her face and to the chin. "Almost makes me want to repeat past mistakes."

"I'm no Captain Fantastic," said Will with a frown.

"No you're better," said Andy. She lowered her foot and crossed it over the other leg on his lap. "What acclaim can you give a hero who never had it within him to know anything better? David was an idiot. He couldn't comprehend anything other than his pure ideal of honesty and justice. He did what he did to me because he couldn't understand why anyone would want to be anything other than smiling morons."

"But you, my dear," continued Andy, annoyingly. "You know what you're doing and all the ways it could go very wrong and so, very, very, right. Your devotion to good is so much better knowing how much evil you could cause trying to achieve it. Just watching you internally justify your treason is erotic."

"You're deranged," said Will, unable to hold himself back any longer. "And I'm not on your side."

Andy laughed, loudly and delightfully. "Oh, yes, yes I know! Isn't it grand? You're not with me, not yet anyway, and yet I was able to get you to lie to your only friend back at GJ. What does that say about you?"

That I'm going to hell, thought Will.

Andy sat up and moved forward to sit directly on his lap and wrapped her arms and legs around him provocatively. She put her lips to his ear and whispered. "If I ordered you to come to my bed, would you do it? For justice?"

Will shivered at the thought. He hoped it was out of disgust and not...

Andy leaned back to look at his face. "You don't have to answer. I'd rather not know." She swung her legs around once more and finally sat normally on the seat beside him.

"Now," said Andy. "Let's talk about that GJ prison again."

Will frowned. "Why?"

"Because that's our next stop," she said. "I need to make a withdrawal."

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Monique lingered outside of the classroom trying to look as casual as she could and, in her opinion, failing utterly. It was hard to look anything other than suspicious when you were putting all your energy into looking normal.

An excruciatingly long time later, the final bell rang, and students began flooding the halls once more, masking her presence quite effectively, and giving her a chance to slip into the classroom without drawing too much attention to herself.

He was sitting there, quietly writing in a notebook, as the afternoon light poured over him with a rustic orange that seemed so appropriate. He had a slight frown as he wrote, as if he were slightly struggling to move the pen in his hand. It was the only wrinkle on his clear and sculpted face.

Monique swallowed and got ready to step forward from the doorway over to the desk—

"What are you doing here?"

Monique leaped in surprise and nearly tumbled as she got away from the voice suddenly in her ear. She turned towards the doorway to see Bonnie Rockwaller, full on gray and looking near ninety, standing there, with her hand on her hip and her lip curled up in a sneer. It was obvious her attitude hadn't adjusted with her body's decay.

"I-I'm—" stammered Monique.

"Now, now, be polite, Bonnie," said Rick soothingly. He stood and almost glided across the room to come to Monique's side. With a strong hand he helped the student back to her feet and looked at her expectantly.

"What can I do for you, Monique?" asked Rick with a smile.

"I-I was..." she started and then couldn't get her brain engaged in time. "I wanted..."

"Geeze, get it together, girl," said Bonnie, looking bored. "I'm not getting any younger."

Rick laughed quietly and then nodded at Monique. "Take it easy. What's wrong?"

Monique looked between Rick and Bonnie, and found herself completely unable to speak about what she wanted. She began to sweat at her own ineptitude and resigned herself to failure.

"I was wondering if you knew what happened to Kim this morning," said Monique, slowly regaining her composure. "She and Ron are both missing today and I know you are involved in her adventures sometimes."

"Not today, unfortunately," said Rick with a smile. "I do know that they've gone to Germany for something, but I didn't get the details."

"They're safe, though, right?" she asked.

"Far as I know," said Rick. "They're probably still flying given the distance."

Monique nodded, at least partially relieved to know Kim hadn't gotten caught in some villain's trap. It didn't little to relieve her other anxiety.

"Is that it?" said Bonnie. "All that hemming and hawing over little-miss-perfect?" She scoffed. "What? Were you jealous that maybe she and the buffoon eloped, leaving you behind?"

"Bonnie," warned Rick.

"No—" started Monique but she didn't get more than a syllable out.

"Got a thing for the mad dog mascot, all rabid and clumsy?" continued Bonnie. Then her eyes widened. "Or maybe not! You've got it bad for the hero, don't you? Hoping she'll swing down and rescue you from the doldrums of your boring, mediocre life!"

"Bonnie!" Rick said sharply, but he wasn't the only one.

"Damn it, Iras, knock it off!" Monique said angrily.

Bonnie looked a little shocked. "Who did you say?" she said. "You do know who I am, right?"

Monique felt mortified and stared with her mouth open.

"What did you say?" Rick asked, his eyes wide.

Monique took a step back. She couldn't believe she had just said that. "I-I'm sorry," she said, and then retreated further. "I need to go." She turned quickly and raced out the door, ashamed. She had to get her head back together. Mixing her dreams with reality was a dangerous sign and she hoped she hadn't just revealed too much of her recent feelings of insanity.

-( KP )-

It was night by the time the Global Justice jet landed in the courtyard of Zwinger palace in front of Dresden castle. The tourists had long left for the day and some advanced calls from Dr. Director had kept the local security from panicking. Though they did rush out to make sure everyone was who they claimed to be.

With the commotion in the courtyard it was almost an hour after they landed before Kim, Ken, Ron, Yori, and Dr. Director entered the castle.

"Can I look forward to so much slowdown as an agent of GJ?" asked Kim as they entered the quiet foyer.

"Without a clear and present danger to respond to it's not easy to get hundreds of Saxons to lower their guard," replied Dr. Director. "Speaking of which, where are we going, and what are we here to find?"

"I thought you were going to follow our lead," said Ken.

"I'm not even sure who you are," said Dr. Director. "And following your lead is why we're here. Now I need to know what we're trying to do so I can help."

Kim turned to Ron, who was standing close to Yori... again. "Ron?"

Ron nodded and pulled the shard of ivory out of his pocket and held it in front of his lips. He blew gently across the top causing it to glow blue-green and then a trail of glittering dust flew off down one of the long corridors.

"Magic?" Dr. Director suddenly said, alarmed.

"That way," said Yori, pointing in the direction of the glowing dust. The group started moving quickly down the halls following the trail. Dr. Director ran up to Ron and grabbed his shoulder.

"You know magic?" she said with a scowl.

"Sure," shrugged Ron.

"Who taught you?"

"Shh!" hushed Kim as she watched the dust turn a corner and then went up a wide staircase. She pointed up and continued to lead the group at a slightly slower pace. "We don't know if anyone else is here, and we don't want to alert them if there are."

"I think the show outside sort of ruined that," said Ken.

"Where did you learn magic?" said Dr. Director to Ron.

"I just learned it," said Ron, evasively.

"Where?" Dr. Director said sharply. She looked up at the glowing dust in front of them. "What is it we're looking for?" This time she looked at Kim.

Kim paused in her ascent and looked back at Dr. Director. "A book," she said.

"A magic book?" Dr. Director hissed through her teeth. She looked quickly between Ron and Kim and then growled. "We need to stop. We need to get Rick here."

"Dr. Rick?" said Kim, surprised. "Our teacher?"

"He knows this stuff better than anyone," said Dr. Director.

"What stuff?" asked Kim. "Old books."

"Magic?" asked Ron, eyes widening. "He knows magic?"

Dr. Director looked at Ron with a suspicious stare. "Where. Did. You. Learn?"

There was a sudden crash from further up the stairs and everyone stopped and turned towards the sound.

"Hurry!" said Yori as she leapt impossibly high and started running in the direction of the dust. The rest of the team quickly followed afterwards.

They reached the top of the staircase and then ran through several more halls before entering a large sitting room that was being used as a showcase for old weapons. On the opposite end of the hall from where they entered were three people dressed as ninjas. One was pointing at the other two who were clustered around a fallen display case that had shattered and sent glass everywhere. In the debris was a velvet covered stand, a gold dagger, and an old book with an ouroboros on the cover. The cloud of glittery dust was floating idly overhead them all.

"You fools!" yelled the one pointing before his head turned towards Kim and the others. The ninja straightened his back and took a step backwards.

"Stoppable!" yelled the ninja angrily. Then he pointed back at the book. "Grab it and go! I'll take care of them."

Then suddenly nine more ninjas dropped from the ceiling.

-( KP )-

"Get the book," said Kim as she ran towards the clutch of ninjas. She was immediately swarmed by the nine newcomers before Ron, Ken, Dr. Director, and Yori caught up and took some of the heat off of her. Still, she found herself facing three of them on her own, and it was taking all her effort to stay on top of them. She couldn't advance closer to where the cloud of glowing dust was.

Dr. Director and Ken ended up back to back fighting an additional four ninjas.

"I hope I can trust you," said Dr. Director as she eyed up their attackers.

"Hey, I'm a Possible, when have we done you wrong?" asked Ken.

The two quickly rolled and began engaging the ninjas on opposite sides of where they were standing, helping them get the sudden advantage in two to one odds.

-( KP )-

Ron and Yori found themselves with yet three more ninja, plus the vocal leader, who had not actually said anything more since instructing them to get the book.

"I think this was the one from the dreamscape," said Ron to Yori.

"Then we must make sure he does not get away," said Yori.

The leader quickly jumped between Yori and Ron and turned his attention to Stoppable, adopting a fighting stance that looked very familiar. Before Ron could say anything, the ninja was attacking, and he was backpedalling to keep from getting his neck crushed.

Ron quickly tried to come up with someone's abilities to channel to fight off the ninja, but his mind was blanking, being kept too busy dodging to think of someone. The easiest would be Yuudai-sensei or Yori, but both of the techniques he remembered required weapons he didn't have.

Ron caught a kick in the gut and flew backwards into another display case, knocking the winds out of him and causing the pedestal to fall and shatter.

Yori saw Ron get hit but with all three ninjas on her, she was having as hard of a time as Kim trying to press any advantage.

"These are Shade ninjas," said Yori between strikes.

Ron rolled backwards to avoid a downward strike from the lead ninja. "Oh man, again?" He flipped back onto his feet and held his hands defensively in time for one of Kim's ninjas to suddenly come flying at him. Ron rolled as best he could with the attack in time to be hit in the back by the lead ninja's forward assault.

"Ron-kun!" yelled Yori as she swept the leg of a ninja kicking at her, and then flipped backwards onto the shoulders of another ninja. She slammed her foot into the ninja's head and then leapt down to come to Ron's defense.

The two stood close by and held their guard as the ninjas circled them.

"I don't know who to channel," Ron said without taking his eyes off the one Shade ninja and the lead ninja in front of him. "Everyone I can think of needs a weapon and I don't have one."

"Ron-kun," Yori said patiently. "We are standing in an armory." She then struck out, and kicked one of the ninjas into a nearby display pedestal causing a half dozen swords and knives to fly out.

"Oh, right," said Ron, just as the lead ninja launched a fierce attack at him. Through a flurry of blocks and attacks Ron found himself knocked onto his back again, but fortunately that put his hand right next to an old, gilded shortsword. It wasn't exactly right, but he figured he could make it work. He grabbed it and reached out to touch the dream.

-( KP )-

Kim flipped over a nearby ninja and kicked him towards one of the others sending them down in a heap. She used the break to duck under an attack from the third ninja and ran over to where the glittering dust was hanging. She found the shattered glass and toppled podium, but the book was gone.

She looked up and quickly scanned the room to try and catch a glimpse of where the ninjas had gone.

"Through the door!" yelled Dr. Director while she was punching one of the ninjas attacking her. "To the east!"

Kim didn't hesitate. She ran as fast as possible through the door and into a series of rooms filled with displays. On the far end she saw the two ninjas leaping from case to pedestal heading for one of the large windows.

"Stop!" Kim yelled as she ran between the displays to try and catch up.

One of the ninjas did indeed stop, but only to turn and run back at Kim while the other kept hopping.

They met near the center of the room with Kim launching a flying kick and the ninja blocking her with his arms and turning it to the side.

Kim landed firmly and then turned to try and get around towards the window. The ninja chased after her and after a few steps punched her in the back, causing her to topple forward and catch herself on a display. Kim quickly wrapped her arms around the glass case and pulled.

The dome pulled lose and Kim lifted it just in time to smack aside an incoming punch from the ninja. She then hefted the glass just a bit higher and tossed it towards the ninja.

The ninja tried to catch it instinctively and fumbled briefly with the oversized clear rectangle before Kim kicked him in the gut and he fell to the ground with the display crashing on top of him.

Kim turned back to the window but didn't see in the ninja anywhere.

-( KP )-

Ken swung wide on one ninja and expected a strike from the side so he turned quickly, but the hit never came. By the time he looked up, the two ninjas he was fighting were retreating through the doorway that Kim had run through.

He looked back to Dr. Director and saw her handcuffing an unconscious ninja to a heavy piece of furniture with another already tied up in an armchair.

"Where did you get rope?" Ken said, a little stunned.

"I like to be prepared," said Dr. Director.

"I highly doubt you were a girl scout," said Ken.

Dr. Director just grinned.

"They're getting away!" yelled Yori as she ran past and after the ninjas Ken had been fighting.

Ken looked over at Ron to see him holding off the remaining five ninjas on his own while holding a gold sword with the top third broken off and the lower half bent askew. He was spinning the blade around almost in a dance as he knocked aside the attacks of the Shade ninjas and tried to press forward against the lead ninja.

"Go after the book," Dr. Director said tersely. "I'll help Stoppable."

Ken hesitated but nodded and then followed Yori.

-( KP )-

Ron felt Yuudai-sensei's skill through his hands as he further increased his speed to keep the Shade at bay. The lead ninja was the one who had been following him, had attacked Amanda in the dreamscape, he had to know something important, if Ron could only capture him.

Unfortunately, he found himself severely limited by the sword he had picked up. It was clearly decorative and had far too much gold in it to be very useful in a fight. It had snapped immediately and Ron had done his best with what remained, but without a decent weapon, he was not going to be able to win a six on one battle.

Then a shot rang out and one of the Shade ninjas fell.

Almost the whole group turned in the direction of the sound and in that second, another shot echoed through the room and a second ninja collapsed with a loud grunt.

Dr. Director held her gun steady as she approached the battle. "Who wants to be next?" she demanded.

The three standing ninja looked between each other, and the lead ninja, and they all, simultaneously scattered into the shadows to escape. Dr. Director let off several more shots but none were caught.

Ron glared at Dr. Director. "We needed him!" he shouted. "The one who talked!"

"I thought the book was the goal," said Dr. Director, coldly.

"But we don't know who they are, or what their plan is," said Ron.

"Then we have these four," said Dr. Director. She pointed to the two ninjas holding their knees on the floor and the two tied up in the back of the room. "Don't worry, these are riot bullets. Non-lethal."

Ron stared down at the two ninjas and gradually let the channel of Yuudai-sensei go. "I had them."

"You were wasting time," said Dr. Director. She returned her gun to her holster.

Ron's eyes lit up. "Kim!" He turned and ran off.

-( KP )-

By the time Dr. Director and Ron caught up with the rest of the team they were standing outside in the courtyard again staring up at the sky.

"What happened?" asked Dr. Director. She looked around. "Where's Kim?"

Yori and Ken pointed up at the sky. Dr. Director turned to look in that direction and could see a helicopter flying away over the city.

She narrowed her eyes a bit and could barely see something dangling from a cord off the bottom.

-( KP )-

Kim gripped her hairdryer tightly against the sheer winds that were blowing her back and looked down at the city hundreds of feet below.

"Okay, not the best plan," she chastised herself.

They were flying so quickly over the city that the motor in the grapple gun couldn't pull her up, so she was stuck at the end. At least until they slowed down enough that she could try again.

She reached up to grab the braided cord directly to see if she could pull herself up. The winds jerked her around enough that she almost lost her grip completely and clutched to the hairdryer for safety. She was stuck. And her arms already ached.

Suddenly the helicopter dipped and started heading downwards towards a park. Kim looked up the cord and saw that the cabin door to the helicopter was open and a man with dark hair and grey suit was standing there, one foot on the landing skid, looking down at her. She didn't recognize him but he stared down at her for several moments.

Then he ducked partially back into the cabin and pointed downwards in a dramatic fashion. When he pulled his head back out of the cabin he was holding a pair of cable cutters.

Kim swallowed, and tried again to pull herself up to no avail.

The man brought the cutters down to the grapple line and then waited as he looked down from the helicopter at the terrain below.

Then suddenly he gripped the cable cutters with both hands and sliced through the grapple line.

Kim felt herself in freefall and quickly flung the hairdryer aside and tried to spread out her body to help increase drag. She was too close to the ground to use her parachute, she could only hope—

With a smack she crashed into a lake awkwardly and plunged down under the surface. She fought her screaming muscles to swim upwards and broke the surface with a huge gasp of air. She pushed her mop of wet hair out of her face and looked up to see the helicopter flying higher into the sky and away from the city.

-( KP )-

FOUR WEEKS AGO

With a heave, Will pulled his target out of the cell and onto his feet before the electronic doors had a chance to reset and close again. Behind him, Will could hear the chaos of guards and prisoners in combat, the collateral damage of releasing his target that would provide the cover necessary for escape. Checking his watch for the timing, he noted that he had about eighteen minutes to get outside the perimeter before he missed his ride.

Too long, he cursed to himself silently. He had wasted too much time trying to avoid killing guards and was now in danger of missing his window.

"Excuse me, young man," said the prisoner in Will's grip with contempt.

"Stay close to me," Will instructed, staring down into the black beady eyes of Dr. Drakken. "Otherwise you'll end up back in there."

"I don't take orders from peons," said Drakken. "I give them."

"Then this will be a learning experience for you," said Will. He then yanked on Drakken's collar and pulled him down the corridor. The doors slid loudly close with the screech of metal against metal but most of the prisoners had already fled and joined the battle in the quad.

Will slid against the wall as he reached the intersection that led to that open brawl. They were not going to go that way, where it was certain the guards were going to open fire. Will had discovered another exit through the monitoring room, which was their ultimate destination, but it required going past the west guard station, which could be manned.

"I remember you," Drakken said suddenly. "You're the nobody who broke out of the cell across from mine."

"John Logan," said Will, knowing it was possible he was being recorded.

"Yes, well, I am Doct—"

"I'm breaking you out of jail," Will cut him off. "I know who you are!"

"Uh- right."

Will peered around the corner in both directions. The riot was getting pretty active now, there were good odds that all the guards that were available had already left. If there were one or two left, Will was confident he could take them out non-lethally.

"So what's your plan?" asked Drakken.

"Stay quiet and stick close," Will said shortly. He couldn't believe he what he was doing. Breaking Drakken out of jail? He really must have lost his mind.

Drakken ducked and stayed close as Will turned the corner and headed past the guard station. There was a single man inside, watching the chaos unfold through a plexiglass window. He didn't seem to notice as Will and Drakken headed towards the monitoring room.

"I meant what do you want me for?" asked Drakken. "What's the scheme?"

Will looked back at Drakken, a little unnerved by his use of 'scheme.' Did he know about his mother's organization? Was he testing the waters to see how much Will knew? Or was it just coincidence? He hadn't been given instructions on how much to share with Drakken, but he figured at least the broad details were going to become immediately apparent to him once they reached the extract point.

"I don't know," said Will. "You're going to have to take that up with your mother."

"My ... mother?" said Drakken. His expression was clearly one of confusion, the way his jaw hung slightly askew, his one eye was wider than the other, and his lips curled back in a panic.

"Yes, she's running this operation," said Will, and left it at that. Drakken was too perplexed to continue the conversation as Will pulled him through a doorway and scurried past a hall camera when it was pointed just enough in the other direction for them to appear only as a shadow against a tiled floor.

They reached the door to the monitoring room, a relatively well secured door given that it had feeds showing several key areas of the prison including the ramp to the surface. Any other prisoner would have to look elsewhere to get past this steel door and matching physical lock and keypad. But any other prisoner wouldn't have previously been a GJ agent who knew the maintenance password and had stolen several access keys on his way in an hour earlier.

Drakken, unfortunately, was still too boggled to be impressed by Will's handiwork as he quickly opened the door.

A trio of guards were sitting at the bank of monitors and controls when Will pushed Drakken roughly into the small room. The three guards immediately saw him and froze.

"H-Hey!" yelled the first one to get his brain in gear again and that was the one Will leaped out from behind the door to tackle first. The other two quickly scurried back as Will delivered two strategic punches to his target, first knocking the wind out of the poor man and the second knocking him silly to the ground.

"J-Jesus!" screamed one of the two remaining guards, but Will didn't spare him time for a second word. A moment later, the third guard had his face pushed against the wall and his baton pressed into the back of his neck.

"Who are you?" asked Drakken after it was over.

"Someone well trained," said Will. He leaned close to the guard and spoke lowly and steadily into his ear. "Release the gangway door and blank the camera pointing at it and you'll survive this encounter."

"B-but that'll set off the alarm," stammered the guard, as much as he could be called one. The reason why Will had not hesitated to enter the monitoring room was because he knew that the 'guards' in here were technicians first, and guards second. They would have passed their physicals, but just barely, and wouldn't be inclined to put much effort into keeping fit. He was essentially beating on geeks with guard uniforms and he knew it, but this was the best path to take out of the prison to have a minimum amount of contact with any guards.

"I know," said Will. "It doesn't matter." He pulled the guard from the wall and sat him down on the center chair in front of the console. "Now, blank the camera."

Will released one of the guard's hands but kept the baton pressed firmly into the back of the man's head. The guard reached out and shakily pressed a button causing one of the screens above to turn black.

"Good. Now open the gangway."

The guard pressed two red buttons and a shrill alarm went off. Will nodded and the reached around and grabbed the edges of the guard's shirt. With a yank, he broke most of the buttons off and wrapped the ends of the shirt around the guard's arms and tied him roughly to the chair.

"Come on," Will spat at Drakken and left through the opposite door in the small room. They entered another hallway, this one colored in blue and white as opposed to the prison grey and green that the prison was decorated in. They had reached the point where GJ headquarters touched the prison complex, which meant security would be reduced from this point on.

Will grabbed Drakken's collar again. "We need to run," he said and then glanced at his watch. Only four minutes remained.

"Where are we—" started Drakken, but Will's yank interrupted him. They ran as fast as Drakken's short legs would take them. They had to cover nearly a quarter of a mile in four minutes, which would be a workout for any man, and probably behind the pale for Drakken. Will's yanking insistence, however, pulled the blue man along until the emerged onto the gangplank and ran for the surface.

They got two steps into the fresh air of the surface before the flood lamps kicked on and nearly blinded Will and Drakken. They staggered to a stop and looked up to see five lights, bright as sunlight, pointing down at them from the tall walls surrounding them on three sides. The silhouettes of dozens of armed GJ agents stood before the lights and jumped down to the gangway to surround the convicts.

"LAY ON THE GROUND," boomed a voice from above.

Will looked up and squinted to see if he could recognize anyone's faces in the light. Everything looked washed out and his eyes were still trying to adjust to the new brightness. He could barely make out Drakken next to him.

"'Fraid not," called back Will. Though he did throw down the baton he was carrying.

"Doctor Drakken bows to NO MAN!" yelled Drakken.

"Zip it, Drew," said Will with a grunt. The vague shadow beside him moved as if it were now glaring at Will.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, LAY ON THE GROUND OR WE WILL USE DEADLY FORCE," came the voice again.

Will sighed. He was hoping nobody had to get hurt beyond a few stunned officers. He had hoped he could escape into the night with time to spare. But he was too slow. Too slow.

"I'm sorry," said Will with earnest. He was, too. Now people would get hurt, because he couldn't manage to get into a prison quicker than he got out.

"Logan."

Will turned at the woman's voice coming from behind him on the gangway. He peered into the darkness and tried to make out the shape of the figure. He still couldn't see more than a shadowy blob. It wasn't necessary, though, he knew that voice anywhere.

"I didn't want to believe it," said the voice of Betty Director. "I had to see it for myself."

Will grimaced. It hurt him to hear Dr. Director speak that way to him. He once idolized her. Once.

"You're not supposed to know who I am," said Will. "Tell them to stand down. I don't want anyone more to get hurt."

The shadowy figure moved closer until he could almost make out his former commanding officer's eye-patch. "You honestly think I let anything go on without my knowledge? I thought Beverly could trust you. I thought you believed in what we were doing."

Will smiled. "I did. You're the one who changed." He looked at his watch. "It's time."

The sound was barely auditable over the hum of the lights, but Will knew what to listen for. With a crash, the flood lamps all cracked and broke at once, blanketing the area in darkness save for starlight and the distant beams from the surface GJ installation a few hundred yards away.

The area erupted with the sounds of chaos as GJ agents scrambled to fix the lights while their eyes betrayed them. The bright lights may have blinded Will and Drakken, but now that they had gone dark, they had blinded everyone else that was relying upon them.

With the swishing sounds of rapid legs and footsteps, Will heard the sounds of agents falling to the ground, unconscious in all likelihood, courtesy of the Shade ninjas that were the scheduled extract team.

"Will..."

He heard the voice of Dr. Director nearby, undoubtedly trying to reach out for him and hold him against whatever shadowy threat was neutralizing her agents. Will took a step away from the sound of her voice.

"Unless you're armed, you'll be fine," said Will. "I told you I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"You can never return from this choice!" yelled Dr. Director, angrily.

Will felt his heart skip a beat. The cool, calm and collected Dr. Director never got angry, never felt rage. This was something he'd never seen before. He felt guilty, but she was right. There was no turning back.

"The world is changing, Dr. Director," said Will. "There's no place for you in it anymore." He felt hands gently grab his arm and tug. He turned and followed the ninja who was guiding him through the dark.

"WILL!" screamed Dr. Director as they ran away.

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Dr. Director put the jet into autopilot and walked back into the cabin to witness a fairly somber scene. Ron and Yori were huddled in a corner, talking quietly, while Kim was wrapped in a large blanket and staring stoically ahead. Ken was looking out the window with a slight frown across his lips and rhythmically tapping his foot against the fuselage.

"I think," started Dr. Director as she tried to get everyone's attention. "That we need to talk."

"Do we have to do this now?" asked Ken, looking over his shoulder.

"We have several hours of flying to go through with just each other as company," said Dr. Director. "Once we hit the ground again we will all have work to do."

Team Possible looked amongst themselves then turned to Kim, whose head was just barely poking up above the wrapped blanket. She nodded quietly.

"First off," Dr. Director pointed at Ken. "Who is he really?"

"He's me," said Kim. "From a parallel dimension where everyone's sex is swapped."

Dr. Director stared. "He's you?" she said skeptically.

"You'll have to roll with this, I'm too tired to explain," said Kim.

"It's true," offered Ken. "I came here chasing Shego's soul after it was ejected by the Mantle of Tenoch."

"Her soul?" Dr. Director's skepticism hadn't relented. "So, she has one?"

Ken looked injured. "She's not that bad."

"Right," said Dr. Director. She looked toward Ron and Yori. "You two. What aren't you telling me? You knew who those ninjas were? Are they the same that sacked the Yamanouchi school?"

Ron nodded.

"They are the Shade," said Yori. "They were exiled many years ago from Yamanouchi by Master Sensei. They... returned last month and attacked the school. Ron-kun and I escaped with a few others."

"What?" said Kim, raising her head above the blanket. "Yamanouchi was attacked?"

Ron looked away.

"It was," said Yori. "We sought asylum at Middleton until the teachers could mount an offensive to retake it."

Kim's jaw dropped. "You should have told me, we could have helped."

"Our teachers told us not to return," said Yori. Her eyes started watering. "We weren't going to be... involved with taking back our home."

"Why?" asked Kim. "I thought you were Master Sensei's favorite student."

Yori got choked up for a moment and she buried her head in Ron's shoulder.

"Master Sensei is missing," said Ron. "He left the day before the attack. We ... we think he also attacked, but we think he managed to get away and is hiding."

"What happened?" asked Kim.

Ron looked towards Dr. Director briefly then back at Kim. "Someone... a dreamwalker, was disrupting Master Sensei's ability to meditate and enter the dream. He left the school to find out who it might be." He shook his head. "It was probably someone working with the Shade who wanted to draw him away before the attack. It might have been that ninja we just saw take the book. I think I saw him in the dreamscape."

"You saw him?" said Kim.

"What is the dreamscape?" asked Dr. Director.

"It's... another place, where dreams live," said Ron. "Everyone's dreams exist there and... Master Sensei was training me to go there and visit and manipulate dreams."

Ron looked down at his hands. "Through the dreamscape you can cross out of our world and into others, like the world that Ken comes from. I went looking for Shego out across the void and when I found her, I brought her back. I also... learned other things out there."

"Like what?" asked Kim.

"Like about the book," said Ron. "And that it is possibly powerful enough to destroy the world in the wrong hands."

Dr. Director cursed loudly and then paced in the small cabin. "Damn magic! Nothing good ever comes from it."

"There's... there's something else."

Everyone turned to look at Ron.

"I was warned," said Ron. "That someone evil might be pursuing the spell book and to watch out for them in case I ran into them in our world. I was told two people in particular. A witch named Aurora Sayer—"

"Hah!" laughed Dr. Director.

"And a warlock named Seth Vedas."

Dr. Director stopped and looked at Ron with a strange, pitiful look. "You were lied to."

"I was wondering if maybe Seth Vedas was Dr. Rick—" started Ron.

"It's not true," snapped Dr. Director.

"You said he knew magic," said Ron.

"He does," said Dr. Director tersely. "And he's not evil. He may, at times, be a horse's ass, but he's not evil. I don't know where you heard this warning but it's bogus."

"How do you know?" asked Kim.

Dr. Director made a bored expression at Kim and then suddenly looked a little surprised. After a moment she looked to the side and then out the window.

"Dr. Director?" asked Kim. "Did you look him up after the Mantle thing? Because it's pretty coincidental that he was involved in that magical artifact and now we're being warned—"

"I didn't need to look him up," interrupted Dr. Director. She turned to face the group again and leaned her back against the fuselage.

"Then how do you know?" asked Ken as he frowned.

Dr. Director frowned herself and after a moment spoke. "Because I used to work with him." She looked a little guilty. "He used to work for GJ."

"Really?" asked Ken. "Wow, what are the chances that an ex-GJ ended up right in the middle..." he trailed off. Then he frowned and looked at Dr. Director angrily.

"He's a plant," said Kim, with an equally angry expression. "But why plant anyone in Middleton? It's barely noteworthy except for one thing."

"You're there," said Ken, concluding the thought. "He was sent to watch you."

"To protect you," insisted Dr. Director. "You draw more attention than you know."

"You didn't think to tell me?" asked Kim loudly. "Even after I got shot?"

"You went to him... voluntarily!" said Dr. Director. "It was a positive relationship, it wasn't orchestrated by me. It was good for you, and after the Mantle, you needed people you could trust."

"But I couldn't, could I? He was working for you!" shouted Kim.

"He did me a favor but he believes in you," said Dr. Director. "I couldn't pull him out of there even if I wanted to now."

"How can I believe that?" asked Kim. "What else aren't you telling me? Have you ever been honest with me?" She stopped. "Wait. Rick had most of the Mantle. Did you know what it would do?"

Dr. Director hesitated.

"You did!" concluded Kim. "My god you're a piece of work."

Dr. Director shook her head. "We didn't... we didn't think she'd actually put it on! All we knew was what happened the last time it was used but that was a unique case, it could have done anything."

"You let Gemini get it!"

"We were just as surprised by that entire event as you were!" said Dr. Director. "Or don't you recall my bloody body lying on a stretcher after we had been bombed!"

"So what did it do?" asked Ken, calmly.

Dr. Director looked at him. "What?"

"The Mantle, what did it do last time?"

Dr. Director sighed. "It's a long story."

"It's a long ways to the US coast," replied Ken.

Dr. Director took a moment to compose herself. "In short," she said. "Drakken's father was a superhero in the sixties named Captain Fantastic. He used the Mantle to go in search of information which he later used to create a device called a Khan-Clasp Inhibitor. Much later, Jack Hench stole plans for it and turned it into something he called the Attitudinator."

"Drakken's father was a superhero?" said Ken.

"The attitudinator that was able to turn bad people good and good people bad?" asked Ron.

Dr. Director nodded. "The same one you were affected by."

"What did he do?" asked Kim.

"Captain Fantastic used it on Drakken's mother, a supervillain of that era named Atomic Andy."

Everyone stared.

"This 'hero' used a device to turn a villain good," said Ken. "Then married her?"

"This explains a lot about Drakken," said Ron.

"And that's it?" asked Kim. "No aging?"

"No," said Dr. Director. "We still don't know how that happened."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes as they digested the information.

"Anything else you hiding from me?" asked Kim. She watched Dr. Director look uneasily around the cabin. "Apparently so."

"We believe, though we don't know," started Dr. Director. "That Atomic Andy was the person behind the whole Mantle affair. And that somehow she stole Shego's youth, and is now at large and operating a criminal empire that calls itself SCHEME."

She looked down. "That's why we've been busy, why we haven't had time for you much lately, Kim. We've been doing everything we could to figure out what her motives are and stop them."

Dr. Director sat down and leaned forward on her knees. "That's why we need to start working together again. I... admit to being a little too protective of my secrets, but if that book is as dangerous as you say, we're going to need everyone on deck and ready to fight when it comes time. Or we may lose everything."

Kim was silent for over a minute. "Do you have any idea what she wants?"

"No," said Dr. Director. "She's... smart. She thinks many moves ahead, and we've lost... a lot of vital resources trying to outpace her. We might need a little Possible magic right now."

Kim shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I need time to think this over. And to talk to the rest of Team Possible, and my parents and..." she trailed off. "I don't know."

Dr. Director nodded, then stood and started walking back to the cockpit. She stopped at the door and looked back. "For what it's worth... I did everything thinking it was for the best. For both you and the world."

Then she closed the door behind her.

-( KP )-

ONE WEEK AGO

Betty stared at the crystal glass in her hand, watching the light reflect off the ice cubes and through the brown liquid inside. She wasn't sure how many this was. Three? Four? It didn't make much of a difference. Tonight - just tonight - she'd let herself go, and pay for it tomorrow with a hangover she wouldn't medicate. This was her penance, for having the arrogance of the gods.

"Betty."

She looked up to see Jennifer Cartwright, back to wearing her tidy suits, her hair tied up in a pony tail, and standing beside her at the bar looking expectantly at her.

"Hey, Jen," said Betty softly.

"The great Dr. Director drinking herself away," said Jennifer as she sat down. "Why did you wait until after I resigned to do this?"

Betty laughed ruefully. "If you hadn't resigned, I wouldn't have to do this." She raised the drink to her lips and drank it down.

Jennifer nodded silently and then waved down the bartender. "Sauvignon Blanc, please," she said when he arrived.

"And another scotch," said Betty, nodding only barely at the server.

Without a word, the bartender produced the two drinks and was off on his way. The bar they were in was attached to The Westerly Falcon in downtown Middleton, a high end hotel on the waterfront. It was well decorated, quiet, catered to a discrete crowd, and was the site of many sting operations when Betty was younger. The place was filled of both good and bad memories for her.

"So," said Jennifer as she stood. She motioned with her glass towards one of the booths in the bar area next to a large aquarium. Betty reluctantly stood and followed her to the booth as she talked. "What was the tipping point? Drakken? Will? The OLC having a conniption fit?"

"Richard," sighed Betty as she sat down.

"Rick?" asked Jennifer, sounding surprised. "What did he do?"

"He's training this girl," said Betty. "She got into it bad with one of Possible's enemies and ended up... well, worse off. Rick has become rather possessive of her recently."

"Ooh," cooed Jennifer, scandalously. "Jealous."

Betty felt her body sag. "Yeah."

"Wait, what?" perked up Jennifer.

Betty swirled the scotch in her glass around gently. How to even approach this subject with Jennifer, who could never understand? "I've seen him like this before," she said. "Right after he met Aurora. Must have been... I guess ten years ago?"

"Long time for us," said Jennifer. "Probably less for him."

Betty nodded. "Blink of an eye I'm sure."

"So what's the problem?" asked Jennifer. "Are you really jealous or just beating yourself up for something?"

"It's not like I'm still holding a torch for him," said Betty. She shook her head. "He's an... amazing man, but also severely flawed. We had a brief dalliance ages ago and it ended because we lived in different worlds."

"Sounds amicable."

"It wasn't," grunted Betty. "But we got over it. He's my oldest friend. I've said as much before." She sighed. "I just can't... help but think about when he looked at me like that."

"We all get older," said Jennifer, sipping her wine. "Except for Rick. Of course, he eventually gets bored." She sighed. "I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that one, you know. Is he immortal?"

"No," said Betty. "No just lucky and long lived. He told me once, in a weak moment, that he had touched time, whatever that means, and it had made him resilient to its effects. But I've seen him nearly die a couple times. He can be hurt just like us." She drank her scotch a little slower this time. "But it's not the age difference that drives him away. I mean, we're all young compared to him."

"Then, what? Dull conversation about the good old days?" Jennifer smiled.

Betty examined her glass again. "I think we fade, in his eyes."

"Fade," said Jennifer, unconvinced. "Meaning what?"

"We give up our passions," breathed Betty. "We compromise. I think he likes us best when we're being revolutionaries."

"Us?" asked Jennifer. "I assume you speak in the plural regarding the other girls Rick has used up and tossed aside? Because I have no interest in this sorority."

"Jen," said Betty, a little shocked at Jennifer's harsh tone.

"No, Bets," said Jennifer. "I can't be part of this pity party. You think we lose our convictions as we get older? I think we realize that dramatic flailing around accomplishes nothing and that real game changers use the system to their advantage." She frowned deeply. "You know what I think about Rick? I think he's the child. He just wants to play with his friends who don't have eternity to wait to grow up. He's no sage. He has a perspective and I don't have patience for it."

She shook her head slowly. "I'm sure he was a great friend to you, I'm sure that he was once there for you in a way nobody else could be. That can still be special, but it's not now. Today we have bigger problems."

Betty swallowed and buried her face in her hands. She could see the reason in her words, no matter how much they hurt. She trusted Jennifer. She wanted to trust that she was right. But...

"Will," said Betty.

"Yes," nodded Jennifer, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "But I still have faith in him."

"You think breaking prisoners out of our prison is just part of his cover?" asked Betty.

"I'm not sure if he's even under cover anymore," admitted Jennifer. "But I don't think we were wrong about Will. I don't think he's an amoral man. I think he believes in the same things you do. He's not evil. If he's truly doing this, if he's given himself over to SCHEME, I have to believe it's because he sees something in there that's familiar. He may not be working for us anymore, but he'll always be working towards greater justice."

Betty couldn't be so sure. "You really believe in that?"

Jennifer smiled. "I don't have the luxury of doubt. I gave up my career for him. I have to believe I'm right."

"Ugh," groaned Betty. She didn't want to think about that. "What will you do now?"

"I have other friends than you, Bets," said Jennifer. She sipped more of her wine. "I'll be employed. I won't be lost to the drifts."

"Well, I wish you luck," said Betty, and held up her glass. "To a brighter world."

Jennifer held Betty's gaze for a moment before raising her glass as well. "To Global Justice."

The two glasses clinked gently.

-( KP )-

PRESENT DAY.

Will climbed out of the helicopter once they landed in Brussels and then turned on the ninjas following him as soon as they were inside the hanger.

With a raised eyebrow, Will regarded the single ninja in the group that wasn't a member of Shade. "That sure as hell could have gone better!"

The odd ninja out scoffed. "Don't be cocky, boy. I had it under control, well before your little rescue stunt."

"Oh, were you going to run from Team Possible all the way here?" asked Will. "Andy doesn't like risks, she prefer certainties. And that was a hell of a risk you took."

"A calculated risk," reiterated the ninja. "They had to lead us to book anyway." He held up the grimoire. "In the end, we got what we were after, so I don't know what you're so upset about."

"You lost five Shade operatives!" Will held out his hand. "Now give it to me."

The ninja handed over the tome and shook his head. "It's better off in my care. It's useless to anyone who can't breach the dreamscape."

"You're very wrong, and you're not the only one who knows how to do that," said Will as he slipped the book into a bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Now, I believe you have other responsibilities to attend to."

"I'll find Master Sensei," said the ninja. "I missed him at Yamanouchi but I'm close on his trail. He's been hiding out in the Dreamtime Kingdom, somewhere in the Unseelie Empire."

"Why don't you look for his physical body, it's bound to be less mobile," said Will dismissively.

"I can't search every cave in Mongolia," spat the ninja. "And he's certainly not sitting in a Starbucks somewhere."

Will turned away from the ninja. "Just deal with it, in a less reckless manner."

"What about my payment?" called out the ninja.

Will paused, and then turned around, pulling a small scroll from his pocket. "Have you researched this? Because I don't think you're going to get what you think from it."

"Hand it over!" demanded the ninja.

"Very well," said Will. "But the Han is not exactly an ultimate weapon."

"I don't care," said the ninja. He pulled down his mask to look closely at the scroll, revealing his long face and sunken eyes. "The Han is just a tool, finding Yono the Destroyer is my goal."

Will pointed at him. "Just find Sensei first, Fiske." He walked off into the hangar, flanked by several of the Shade.

Monkey Fist grinned as he read the scroll. "Oh, I most certainly will."

-( KP )-

OVER TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO

Iras rushed into the monument hall, looking over her shoulder every few steps, until she laid eyes on her Lady, fretting before the statue of Isis whilst Charmion held her robes with an expression of utter terror.

"My Lady!" Iras shouted as she came before the Pharaoh. "It is over. Antony is dead and Octavian's army marches forth!"

"And Caesarion?" asked her Lady Cleopatra.

"I do not know what came of him, my Lady," replied Iras, casting her eyes down in shame.

"He will be safe," came a familiar voice that Iras hated. The tall man with long dark hair stepped up from the stairs behind Iras and nodded. "Octavian means no harm to him or your other children, only Antony, and now you."

Iras stepped between the approaching mystic and her Lady, and nearly growled. "Vedas! You are not welcome here, demon!"

The man looked at her like she was an ant, but she held her ground. The strange man had brought nothing but shame to her Lady and Iras would not stand for it now, in their moment of crisis.

"If you care for the safety of your Lady, then you will step aside," said the mystic.

"I shall move the Nile before I trust you again!" Iras rebuffed.

"It is all right," said her Lady. "He may approach."

Iras felt the fire in her cheeks burn bright, but she could not defy her Lady. With fury in her eyes she stepped to the right and let the cursed man pass. He stepped up to the monument and took her Lady's hands in his and kissed them. It was a practiced routine, one he used to shamefully steal her heart and Iras hated him for it.

"My love," whispered the man. "This chapter is closed. We must flee."

Iras watched her Lady look sadly upon the man and then smile so earnestly it was shameful to watch. "I cannot abandon Alexandria."

"You are abandoning nothing," said the man. "There is nothing here anymore but death. Either at the hands of Octavian or your own if you choose to do what I imagine you are planning."

Cleopatra reached out and caressed the man's face and then kissed him on the forehead. Her look was filled with such affection Iras blushed. "You, Vedas, are my soulmate, and I shall never know greater peace than the days you were at my side. But Antony was my husband, and I loved him greatly. I must complete that which tradition demands and take my life."

"You are a fool!" snapped the man angrily. "Antony can demand nothing of you now."

"How dare you!" yelled Iras immediately. "You cannot speak to her highness that way! She values tradition while you treasonously spurn it!"

"Ah, my dear Iras," said her Lady, and she knew what was to come. "But he is right. I am a fool. But one who is so willingly. I shall die today, dear Vedas, and there is nothing you can do to stop it." She rose and joined hands with the evil man. "But I am joyful that you did not perish alongside Antony. For to lose my love is heartbreaking, but to lose you both would be too much for anyone to bear."

The man seemed to start crying. "This is too much to bear."

"But you shall," said Iras's Lady as she wiped away the tears. "You will persist as you have since the start of time."

The man laughed through the tears. "I am not that old."

"But you are," said Cleopatra. "We all are. Our souls live eternal and we shall meet again. When you are old and I am new again."

"Where is this from?" asked the man. "Are you speaking of the Yehudah traditions?"

"I speak of truth," she replied. "And you shall know it to be as well."

The evil man looked away and spoke to his sandals. "Do not leave me."

"You will not be alone. And you will have me again, and perhaps, in that era, we shall be both soul mates and loves."

The man looked back and stared fiercely into the Lady's eyes. "I shall search for you every day."

She nodded her head. "And I will search for you. But go now, so that when Octavian arrives, he only finds me."

The man was still, aggravatingly, until the Lady pushed him gently aside and then he turned and fled the hall. When he was gone, and there was no sounds save for birds chirping in the rafters, then did she fall to her knees and began to weep.

Charmion was there first at her side and then Iras arrived to help. Her Lady was crying so hard her whole body shook violently, and she only stopped long enough to bid Charmion to fetch an asp such that she might be able to complete her duty.

"I am doing what I must," she explained to Iras once Charmion was gone.

"I would not question that, my Lady," replied Iras, and she would not.

Her Lady smiled through her tears. "I know you would not, but you should. You are too strong to have deserved this fate. I release you from my charge."

Iras' mouth dropped in horror. "My Lady I-I would not leave you now. Even as a freedman I am forever yours to command!"

Her Lady gently stroked Iras' cheek, and then, quite suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips, holding her chin firmly to make sure she would not recoil.

Recoiling hadn't even occurred to her.

"I shall miss you deeply, too," said her Lady when the kiss had ended. "I hope in our next lives we can know each other better than we do now."

"I-I do as well," said Iras, her throat still dry from the kiss.

Her Lady smiled warmly and her tears continued. Iras began to cry as well. She would continue until her Lady had passed from this world, and then she laid down at her Lady's feet and joined her.

-( KP )-

Bonnie woke up with a start and looked around her darkened bedroom at two in the morning.

"What the hell was that?" she said.

END EPISODE 5.