Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or Danny Phantom. All mentioned characters are property of Disney and Nickelodeon.
Phantasma
Chapter 11: JG MIA
It has been a week since Dementor had attempted to freeze the world with the cryovator. Areas affected had received no permanent ecological damage other than a lot of snow. Another area affected was the Phantasma(dot)com website. After news had spread out that the new superhero had single handedly stopped a mad genius from freezing the world, interest had suddenly sparked and Kim Possible had found herself a true competitor. While she was still getting missions, so was Phantasma, and she was looking to get through as many missions as she could to show her up.
In the meantime, she and Ron were out to lunch at their favorite eatery (mostly Ron's), the Bueno Nacho. While she was chatting it up with Wade over updates, Ron went up to the counter to order.
"Ned, my man!" Ron greeted the Bueno Nacho's manager (and seemingly sole employee). "Lemme have a-" Before Ron could complete his order, Ned placed a tray with two large tortilla bowls filled with meat, melted cheese, and tortilla chips. Ron looked at the serving oddly and asked, "Ned, what's this?"
"Two nacos," Ned plainly put. "Grande sized."
"Oh, I can see that," Ron said, "I just wanna know why you had them prepared."
"You've ordered this for the past I-don't-know-how-long."
"But Bueno Nacho has a strict-"
"Don't think I don't know the policy!" Ned burst. "Now just take the stupid nacos!"
Ron was taken aback by Ned's sudden outburst and simply responded, "Okay, then."
As Ron took the tray, Rufus popped out of his pocket and commented, "Push-y."
Meanwhile, Kim was speaking to Wade via her Kimmunicator. "So what's the latest on Phantasma?"
"Do you really want to know all of this, Kim?" Wade asked. "Your competitive side has always brought out the worst in you."
"You can be honest with me later, Wade," Kim brushed off. "Just give me the 4-1-1."
As Wade simply shrugged and searched his computer. After he found what he was asked to receive, he informed, "Phantasma was last seen yesterday in Oregon helping the FD put out a wildfire in the mountains. She was originally asked to save a downed helicopter that had crashed in an area that no one could get to. After she saved the pilot, she was asked to help put out the fire and, well, I guess this picture tells the rest of the story."
Wade then brought up a picture to display on the Kimmunicator of an aerial shot of Phantasma flying through the air carrying a large helibucket full of water over the fire. What was most curious was the look on her face. "Does she look..." Kim asked, looking for the right word before settling on, "irritated to you?"
"If I had to wager a guess," Wade said, "she probably thought she was just coming to save the pilot. The helping put out the fire bit must've been too spontaneous for her."
"Well, she shouldn't seem so irked about doing the fire department a great service," Kim griped.
"Eh, maybe the bucket was too heavy for her in that shot," Ron came up, apparently eavesdropping. He took a seat and continued, "Rookies. What're ya gonna do?"
"How much did you hear?" Kim said, shutting off her Kimmunicator.
"Just the picture," Ron answered. "You know, you really shouldn't try to pit yourself up against her. It-"
"Brings out the worst of me, I know," Kim finished. "It's just that after Dementor back in Belgium, I can't get my mind off of her. I mean, why would people even hire her? She's rude, self-centered, she exists for the whole purpose of bringing me down. I swear, it's like what Bonnie would be like if she had superpowers!"
"I don't like her either, Kim," Ron said. "The fact of the matter is that the world's got two people trying to protect it. I think that's how we should see this, not some sort of turf war."
Kim sighed and said, "I guess you're right. She just better hope that we don't run into each other again."
As Kim reached out for a chip in one of the nacos, thinking that a nice snack will calm her down, Ron slapped her hand away and loudly warned, "Don't touch that naco!"
"Ron!" Kim responded, understandably upset. "What was that for?!"
"Ned prepared these nacos for me."
"So?"
"He had them long prepared. He brought up the tray before I even ordered."
"But I thought Bueno Nacho had a strict 'not made until it's ordered' policy."
"That's what I was trying to say! Something's fishy with these nacos. Maybe Ned's working for an evil agency and plans to use what I love against me."
"Ahem?" Kim said, giving Ron a disapproving glare.
"Well, I mean, uh," Ron stammered. "You'd be too obvious to use, and the naco is a close-" Kim's glare sharpened at Ron. "Extremely distant second, like 'Pacific Ocean plus Russia' distant." Ron went back to a serious tone and queried, "They probably contain some sort of edible tracking to keep an eye on our every movement. Or the cheese is probably lined with a synthetic poison. Or worse!"
"What could be worse?" Kim said, anxious to know.
Ron darkly stated, "He's serving them cold." The mere mention of cold nacos made Rufus gasp in horror.
"Cold nacos?" Kim questioned. "That's his evil plan, considering he even has one?"
Suddenly, the two were taken by surprise when a metal tentacle shot out of the each naco. "AHH!" Ron panicked, his face filled with fear underneath the meat that splattered onto it. "Evil mecha-nacos!" The tentacles wriggled around for a bit until they locked onto each other, as if two snakes were having a staring contest. A series of lights began to emit from the heads of the tentacles and formed a holographic image. It showed a brown-haired woman, fitted in a blue jumpsuit and wearing an eye patch over her right eye.
"Dr. Director!" Kim said, immediately recognizing the head of the top secret worldwide espionage organization Global Justice.
"Kim Possible," the holographic image said, "Global Justice requires your services again. I can't go into detail in this video, but I can assure you it is of dire importance. Go behind the dumpster of the Bueno Nacho for more details. Bring the holographic image generators with you so they can be properly disposed of." The image flickered and then completely faded to nothing as the tentacles producing them fell functionless onto the tray.
"Global Justice business," Kim repeated. "It must be something big."
"Better take the holo-ma-bobbers with us like she said," Ron brought up. He then called across the room, "Hey, Ned! Can we get this to go?!"
Below the streets of Middleton, unknown to all but a few of the world, was the headquarters of Global Justice, a secret agency that ensues global protection. Standing before a giant monitor of the planet was Dr. Betty Director, Global Justice's lead director. Behind her, Kim and Ron popped up from a tube transportation device, Ron holding a Bueno Nacho bag with the holographic image projecting nacos inside.
"Possible, Stoppable," Director said without turning around. "I'm glad you've chosen to accept this mission."
"No big," Kim brushed off. "So, what's the sitch?"
"Hey, whoa, hold on a sec!" Ron interrupted. "I wanna know how you got Ned involved in this whole thing? How'd you get him to co-operate with you guys? Better yet, how could- no. How dare you force him to to serve us pre-prepared nacos?!" Ron presented the evidence to Dr. Director. "Whether they had holographic image projectors or not, that is still wrong!"
"That's for Global Justice to know and for you not to, Stoppable," Director simply answered, taking Ron's bag. "Besides, within the hour, your Ned will forget he had any involvement with us."
"What, with some kind of memory wiping device?" Ron assumed. "Or was he under some sort of mind control? Or he-"
"Ron, she said it's not for us to know," Kim interrupted. "Let's just leave it at that. So, Dr. Director, sitch please?"
Director turned the pair's attention to the giant monitor in front of them, which displayed the face of a boy about Kim's age dressed in a Global Justice jumpsuit. "You remember our top agent, Will Du?"
"Don't I ever," Kim answered, bitterly recalling the previous pair-up they had. Team Possible had been asked to help investigate a case against Duff Killigan with Will Du, which became a fierce competition for one-upsmanship. While Kim proved herself to be a much stronger agent than Will by the time Killigan was apprehended, Will referred to her actions as assistance to him.
"There had been reports of strange activity around the Cuban coast," Director informed as the monitor switch to a map of Cuba. "We believed it to be the work of the Worldwide Evil Empire and sent Agent Du in to investigate, inform us on anything he found suspicious. That was four days ago. We haven't heard from him since."
"And you want us to find out what happened to him?" Kim concluded.
"For all we know, Agent Du could be in the hands of the Gemini," Director continued, mentioning the head of the Worldwide Evil Empire, as well as her twin brother. "As our top agent, he is one of our most valued possessions. Who knows what Gemini will do with him."
"You know," Ron hypothesized, "considering the whole sibling rivalry thing you have, he probably only wants him just because you have him."
"Whatever the case may be," Director continued, "he must be returned back to Global Justice." The map of Cuba on the monitor then produced a blinking red light on the western coast. "As with all our agents, we implanted Agent Du with a tracking chip. We believe the WEE has a dampening field surrounding its base, so we cannot pinpoint his location, but this is where the chip was last active, heading northwest. Your objective is to get in, get Agent Du, then get out."
"What about the WEE?" Kim asked.
"If Agent Du is in their hands, he should have plenty of information on their next plan. For now, your primary objective is to find him and bring him back safely."
"Just tell us where to go, and we'll be there," Kim eagerly answered.
"Excellent," Director said, pleased. "Follow me to your stealth transport."
Upon reaching the hangers, Director further informed, "Because of the severity of this mission, you will be assigned a partner."
"Lemme guess," Ron assumed, "your number two guy?"
"Considering Will Du," Kim added, "he can't be too good."
"I'd be surprised if GJ even had a number two," Ron continued. "Think about it: how many times has JG need our help in their sticky situations?"
"Once," Kim recollectedly reminded.
"Really?" Ron said. "You'd think they'd have asked of us a lot more often."
The three approached a stealth transport as it's hatch door was opening. As they stepped inside, Kim and Ron met their partner, though were both displeased. They saw Phantasma seated in one of the transport's seats.
"Phantasma?!" Kim said, shocked to see her new rival on the scene. "We have to team up with her?"
"I have to team up with them?" Phantasma added.
"The safety of Agent Du is of the greatest importance," Director said. "We figured that whatever the World Evil Empire has to keep him in their clutches is would be too much for one agent. This is why we've contacted Phantasma to assist you, Kim."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on," Phantasma said, needing correction. "I'm assisting them? I'm not sure if you've noticed, Dr. Director..." Phantasma ignited her hands and continued, "But I have superpowers."
"Wait a minute," Ron said, the wheels in his head turning. "If you're here waiting for us, that means..." Ron gasped in realization. "They contacted you first?!" He turned to Director and asked, "Why did you contact her first?!"
"Phantasma was contacted first because she doesn't have a movement pattern," Director explained. "Since her appearances come and go, we had to make contact with her as soon as we can."
"I have no movement pattern," Phantasma said, almost gloating. She turned to Kim and said, "You hear that Possible? They think you're too predictable."
"Hey, let's be honest," Ron defended, "hitting up the Bueno Nacho is my idea most of the time!"
Before Ron and Phantasma could display any harsher words, Kim intervened, shouting, "Please!" After the calm, Kim continued, "Guys, Global Justice called us in to do them a good service." Her eyes then turned to Phantasma and added, "Though it looks like they'll hire anyone to do it." Phantasma glared back, but Kim continued, "We're in this together whether we like it or not. I suggest we put our differences aside for one mission, maybe learn about each other while we're at it, and maybe we can all come out of this stronger than when we came in. Are we all doing this or not?"
Ron gave one more glare at Phantasma, sighed, and said, "Fine."
"Whatever, Kim Preach-able," Phantasma said, rolling her eyes.
"Now that it seems you're all at peace," Director said, "we can get this operation fully underway." She turned around to exit the ship and added, "Your mission begins immediately!"
"Wait, immediately?" Ron repeated. "As in now?!" Ron rushed to the hatch door as it was closing and called to Director, "But I'm still hungry! You sabotaged our lunch, remember?! Can't you at least get us some nacos to go?! Does this jet at least have peanuts?!" The hatch door fully closed before Ron could get an answer.
