Author's Note

I haven't been putting these in front of every chapter, by now you should have realized that I am not a Disney writer, don't own these characters and this is fan fiction done for my pleasure and I hope maybe a couple of you enjoy it also.

The appearance of Wanda Wang and Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in the epic "Once Again" story arc. Using them cost me a half day of writing as I had to browse through my favorite parts 'once again'. I expect them to really appear in the next chapter. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

If you read (or hear) a piece of work from a favorite author/performer that you like and they did a good job, leave them a review. Authors/Singers/Musicians love evidence that someone is actually reading or listening to their work. I have found inputs from reviewers invaluable in shaping this story.

Cookout

Ann took a sip from her tall glass of James' orange juice/cherry/berry blend. Somehow this afternoon's events made adding a couple of ounces of tequila to this glass seem appropriate. Kim and Ron were sitting at a picnic table, talking with Chaos. From what she could tell from a distance Chaos was a great listener. Kim had made good on her threat and was munching on one of those horrendous chocolate dipped, deep fat fried, cheesecake kabobs. Ever since they had made it back from the meadow, several of her rough men had been "close, but not too close" to the kids, giving them what emotional support they could. If she had to do it all over again, she would have tried hard to make Chaos an ally instead of meekly allowing herself to be sent back to Germany.

Several of the Federal Marshals and Secret Service agents had quietly slipped away taking Yori and Evin with them to run down a lead on a suspected plot to assassinate Ron and Rufus. She had heard Nana complaining, something about "Stupid Fred" and "Gang, let's split up." Ann wasn't sure what that was about, but later she noticed that there were now two rough men on the roof of the bunkhouse with rifles.

Farther out in the yard, Tim was kneeling at a portable telemetry console next to their prototype robot Pegasus, 'Tornado'. Tim was under one of the wings, adjusting something. To Ann's eye, Tornado's wings were oversized, but she would assume those kids knew what the proper size was. Joss was in the saddle balancing a keyboard in her lap and typing with Rufus on her shoulder chatting away.

"Slim and I double checked their designs and their construction last night after they went to bed." James had moved beside her and was quietly talking to Ann alone. "All flight systems are at least redundant, some of the critical ones have triple redundancy and with total power loss, the wings will fully extend and let it safely glide to the ground. The boys are taking no chances with their cousin."

James took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "They even gave up the ability to go sub-orbital in exchange for safety features."

"Sir, who are you and what have you done with my real sons?" Ann jested. "Will they be ready for a test flight today?"

"No," James answered, "Not before noon tomorrow, they still need to purge the fuel lines and do a twelve-hour pressure test on the hydraulics."

"Well, in that case, cheers!" Ann toasted her husband, took her novel, sat down in the shade by the pool and started to read.

Ron was surprised by Chaos, he was expecting that a Sergeant Major to be someone that yelled all the time like Barkin. Chaos had talked quietly to them about the last few days. Was it really only a week ago that he and Kim faced off against Warhawk? Ron felt a little better and Chaos had them convinced to seek out counseling. Ron and Kim had agreed to start when they got back to Middleton.

"Kimmie, I need to borrow Ronald, it's time to grill burgers and tuna steaks." James walked up and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder."

"Uh, sure dad, are you using your custom grill?" Kim got up off of Ron's lap. 'Damn,' she thought, 'Tim and Jim were supposed to make sure that grill had a fatal accident!'

"You bet Kimmie-cub, got it all tuned up and tested. Come on Ron, the liquid oxygen tanks are connected and ready to go!"

A crowd was gathering around the grill area. At least behind the "Danger! Rocket Blast Area!" tape barrier that was placed about twenty feet around the grill.

The grill was a masterpiece of steampunk solid booster technology. A power conveyor belt fed charcoal briquettes from a supply bin into the fire bed. The grate over the charcoal was a high-temperature iridium alloy with a food safe ceramic coating. The liquid oxygen system helped it burn charcoal at the rate of twenty-five pounds per minute. James had originally planned on rocket fuel but changed his design because Ann, in a subtle bid for a normal grill, had said that food cooked on charcoal tasted better.

Ron stood at the grill in a fire resistant suit borrowed from the Space Center's firefighters. To one side was a table with stacks of frozen burger patties and tuna steaks and to the other side was a table with empty platters.

Ron reached for the blue and some of the people around him might have noticed a slight blue glow from his faceplate. He gave James a thumbs up. James turned on the liquid oxygen (LOX) injectors and tossed a lit cigarette onto the preloaded charcoal. James had bought a pack of cigarettes last summer for just this purpose. The oxygen caused the lit cigarette to burst into flames igniting the charcoal and then it appeared that the fires from hell itself erupted in front of Ron. Ron started rapidly flipping burgers and tuna steaks on the grill, immediately turning them over and removing them to a plate.[1] Spectators were driven back by the heat and it was hard to see Ron from the glare of the inferno of James' grill. Two minutes later, James shut off the LOX injectors and charcoal delivery system. Ron waddled away from the grill and Kim sprayed him down with a water from a garden hose. Steam came off of Ron's hot protective gear. Helping Ron off with the suit, she asked, "Are you OK? How did it go?"

"I'm good, I was trying for a quarter second per side, I think the burgers might have made it, the tuna steaks seemed to do better."

James actually got good reviews from people trying the "LOX-burgers" which he graciously credited to Ron's cooking skills.

After dinner, Ron and Kim were flatly told 'no' when they offered to take a shift doing patrols. Ron, all the Possibles and many of the others migrated down to the basement for a "bad science fiction movie night". As seating was limited, Ron stretched out on the floor with a spare pillow under his head and Kim stretched out on the floor using him for a pillow. Ann was curled up in James' lap reading her novel, it had literally been months since she had been able to read for pleasure and she was taking advantage of the down time. Besides, she was in the mood for a romance story and "The Wrath" with a young Charlie Sheen wasn't a romance by her standards. Even though Charlie Sheen and Sherilyn Fen rode off into the sunset at the end of the movie.

Looking up she saw that Joss had joined Kim in using a now sleeping Ron as a pillow. Later, Kim caught her attention by standing up to get something and Joss snickered something about "Keeping her spot warm for her." A few minutes later, Ann heard Kim tease Joss to "unhand my BFBF, you wench". Joss had snuggled down to rest her head on Ron's shoulder and she had pulled his arm around her. Kim's tone was teasing, but Ann noticed a hard glare from Slim directed at the kids. "Kimmy," she said quietly, "Maybe you should move Ron to somewhere more comfortable to sleep."

"OK, mom. 'night everybody."

1. Google "Youtube liquid oxygen BBQ" and you will see why Kim wanted that grill put out of commission.

Reporting In

Yori had her eyes closed and was sitting cross-legged on a mat on the porch of the bunkhouse with Rufus sitting erect in her lap. His legs weren't long enough for the Lotus Position, but it was close enough. Kim steered a sleepy Ron past them on the way to the Behemoth and bed. "Rufus, you sleeping in the Behemoth tonight?" she called in a low voice trying not to disturb Yori in case the Ninja was meditating.

"Sleep with Yori" replied Rufus

"OK, night Rufus, night Yori," Kim said quietly.

"O-yasumi nasai," replied Yori.

Kim guided her BFBF up the steps and into the Behemoth, closing the door behind them.

Rufus glowed with a soft blue that spread over Yori.

Yori looked up from the bench she was sitting on to the Japanese beech and mountain maple trees growing in this part of the meditation garden. Master Sensei was seated on the other end of the bench. He, like the trees, had a translucent quality. "Yori, it is good to see you at last. The reports I have received along with the proposed alliance papers with the EGBT all speak well of your skills. You look well, my daughter [1], your aura is strong. Are you with the Chosen One now?"

"Sensei, the concept of a single Chosen One as described in the ancient scrolls may be flawed. Ron Stoppable and Rufus seem to be the permanent hosts of the Mystical Monkey Power. However, Kim Possible can call the Lotus Blade to her hand. I have witnessed both Ron and Rufus imbue another with MMP power similar to the legends of the jade statues. Rufus is giving me a mystical boost as I speak."

"Odd that I cannot see our small friend. Surely he is not shy?"

"No, Sensei. Rufus is not present as he fears that we may wish to discuss things that we will not want him to hear."

"A most perceptive and honorable warrior. I have heard reports of the death of the senior Chinese Military commander that ordered the attack on Ron and Rufus. Hirotaka is now visiting the Shaolin temple where the attackers originated to ensure that we need not remove any more of their masters. It appears that these Shaolin, like our own school, had thorns to be pruned."

Yori shuddered, "Like masters Makoto and Nariko?"

"They have passed on to where I hope their ancestors will explain the error of their ways for eternity."

"We tracked down another threat today, Sensei. British agents were trying to hire gang members to attempt kidnapping on the Possible family for the purpose of getting Ron and Rufus out in the open. I passed the information about these agents to Team Cobra for resolution. I fear that we may be too late and the hired thugs may be preparing to attack."

Master Sensei nodded, "I trust that you and the others can keep the Possible clan safe. I have just received credit card billing for two tickets to London, the flight should be landing in about five hours. First class tickets in fact. I expect an interesting expense report from Team Cobra shortly."

Yori hid a giggle behind her hand, "I suspect that Wanda Wang and Suzie Chin will have a most reasonable justification for their tickets. You should expect additional expenses for "European style" clothes to follow shortly."

"Indeed my daughter, but considering that you set them on a British threat, what connection might they have found in eliminating this threat that causes their haste to England?"

Yori pondered the possibilities. Lord Fiske was British, but he is a statue underneath the main courtyard at Yamanouchi, his servant Bates had returned to take care of his estate the last she had heard, then there was…

"Fukushima!"

"Indeed, my heart is heavy that he still follows a path of madness and greed. I fear that Wanda's vengeance will be swift and terrible when she finds him."

"Sensei, Lord Fiske and Fukushima may not have been totally wrong. Did they not claim that the Lotus Blade and MMP were intelligent entities that could be made into powerful allies and not just mindless tools for their possessor?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Rufus was telling me that Kim talks to a spirit of the MMP and that it manifests itself as a small kitten when it speaks to her. This spirit of the MMP claims to be tired of being just a tool for violence and wants to share in its host's happiness, love, and humor. In addition, the video of the Shaolin's attack clearly shows the Lotus Blade acting independently. Perhaps you should instruct Wanda and Suzie to not kill him immediately until we can find out what information he knows?"

"Fukushima used deceit to betray Wanda, his betrothed, using Suzie, her best friend. Then he betrayed the school by stealing the Lotus Blade. He is trying to kill the Chosen One and possess the MMP and the Lotus Blade. I believe that to give such an order to Wanda and Suzie when I know in my heart that it will not be obeyed will cause much more grief and anguish than the loss of any information that Fukushima possesses. Sometimes you cannot order a typhoon to go somewhere else and you just must weather it the best you can."

Master Sensei brightened, "Was Ohlson-sensei able to teach Ron to fully draw on the power of the MMP?"

"She has given basic instruction to Ron Stoppable, Rufus and Kim Possible on how to draw on the power while in a calm state. They seem to be able to draw on the power without drawing on the anger. If Rufus' story of Kim talking to the spirit of the MMP is accurate, then I worry that the techniques used to force control of the MMP may be counter productive. Perhaps the ancient Yamanouchi Ninja of old were guilty of treating the MMP as a pit-dog, only something to fight with."

Master Sensei nodded, "Perhaps it was best that we did not teach Ron Stoppable the old scrolls. But it would be worth mentioning the old tales that the MMP enhanced fertility in people imbued with it."

Yori blanched. "I had not heard of that Sensei!"

"It was a small note in a very old scroll."

"I should be going Sensei, it is late here and I don't want to overtire Rufus."

"Very well my daughter, it was most pleasant to hear from you."

Yori dropped her meditative state faster than week-old sushi and ran to the side of the Behemoth. Placing her finger tips lightly on the window, she felt for vibrations from movement within. As far as she could tell, Ron and Kim were fast asleep. If so, she did not want to wake them for something that might be unnecessary for them to know before morning. At the worse, there were "after the fact" contraceptives. Then she thought to ask Rufus. She ran back to the porch where she had unceremoniously dumped Rufus in her haste. "Rufus," she whispered "Have Ron and Kim been doing things that look like they are trying to get Kim pregnant?"

Rufus blinked in surprise, "Don't think so. Not an expert in human mating. Why?"

"Sensei told me that the MMP might be able to enhance fertility. Humans sometimes mate for pleasure without wanting to get pregnant."

"Ron suspects extra fertile. Ron and Kim extra careful. Sleepy. Tell them in morning. Will be OK."

Hoping that Rufus was correct, Yori scooped him up and went inside to find their bed.

1. Yori is not really Sensei's daughter, Sensei is childless, but in his heart, all his students are his children.

Bloody MMP

Kim woke to cramps and a feeling of general abdominal discomfort that seemed distantly familiar. She felt wet and sticky "down below" and drowsily put her hand down there to check. Her eyes snapped open, blood! Blood all over the sheets, all over her and even all over Ron! Damn, damn, dammit! She hadn't had a period in over three years and had gotten in the habit of sleeping commando. Apparently, the mother of all periods started last night. Normally, this would be a major embarrassment, but survivable. Now she was sleeping with Ron, who she assumed would freak out waking up with them covered in blood. An MMP powered, PTSD-driven freak out would be a disaster that could have a body count. They were sleeping with legs intertwined and the odds of her extracting herself without waking up Ron was small given that they were glued together by sticky blood in places. She needed help and reached not for the blue of the MMP, but reached for the little black fuzzy personification of it. She was rewarded by feeling her consciousness split into a "Loving Kim" tangled up with the bloody love of her life and "Kitten Kim" sitting cross-legged on the bed with a little black kitten standing on her knee looking up at her.

"You two are doing it wrong," the kitten wordlessly said, "In order to have children Ron needs to insert his…"

"We are not trying to have children!" Kitten Kim interrupted, "we can talk about that later, right now, we have to figure out how to keep Ron from going berserk when he wakes and sees all this blood!"

"Are you supposed to bleed this much? I was expecting some when I fixed you, but this…"

"You fixed me! I wasn't broken you stupid cat!"

"But the cycles that refreshed your reproductive system had stopped. I adjusted your hormones to get them started again." The little blue kitten looked crushed.

"I stopped those cycles on purpose!" Kitten Kim fought to calm down and focus on her mission: to figure out how to make it so no one would get hurt this morning. "Look, I appreciate that you look out for me and Ron, I really do. But please talk to me before you fix anything, OK? When Ron wakes up with us covered in blood it might trigger a nightmare-while-awake thing and people could get hurt if Ron thinks they are hurting me. Can we do anything to get rid of this blood?"

The kitten blinked a couple of times. "I don't know how to use the MMP to get rid of the blood. Maybe Ron's personification of the MMP could gently wake him up and help him remain calm?"

"I don't think that Ron has a personification of the MMP!" Kitten Kim was getting desperate because Loving Kim felt Ron start to move in her arms. She also saw the blue glow arrive as Ron called on the power.

"Of course he does, he just doesn't accept it because he thinks the MMP is something he stole from you."

"Can you call it for him, please? I think we are running out of time!"

The smell of blood was setting Ron's nerves on fire. Kim was hurt! He was trapped and had to break free to save her! Ron struggled to rise to consciousness while calling the blue to help him save Kim and destroy those who were killing her.

Ron opened his eyes to find himself kneeling on the scrubby grass beside a bloody and still bleeding Kim. Towering above him was a laughing Warhawk waving a dagger dripping blood, a hole torn in his chest. "You pathetic human! I don't need that heart to fight!"

Ron tried to call the blue, call all the MMP, the power the anger, the rage! He felt the power surge through his body, but the screaming monkey voices were silent. Instead, all he heard was a soft cooing sound like the monkeys were trying to soothe one of their troop. Ron felt a huge, warm, gentle hand on his shoulder. The other hand gently stroked his cheek. Looking up, he saw the concerned face of a Mangani. "My child," it spoke gently to him, "Your mate is upset, you must comfort her."

"But she's bleeding, dying! Warhawk has hurt her! I must defend her! I must get her help! I must have revenge!"

The Mangani looked sad. "My child, this is not real. It waved a huge hand and Warhawk dissipated like smoke. This is only the echo of evil that you and your mate have already defeated. Look down and see the truth."

Ron found himself standing by the bed in the Behemoth. He looked down and saw himself in the grip of a growing nightmare being held tightly in the arms of a worried and bleeding Kim.

"Beloved child, the blood is embarrassing to her, but she is not hurt. But she is afraid that it will trigger the waking nightmares in you. She is afraid that you will suffer because of her."

"But the blood! She's still bleeding!"

"Child, you have been her friend practically all her life, surely you have noticed that once she became a young woman, she would bleed periodically?"

"Well, yes, but never like this and not at all for a long time now. She takes medicine so it was supposed to stop."

"I fear that is our fault. We noticed that her reproductive organs were not refreshing themselves and we fixed it and restarted her body's refresh cycle."

"Why would you do that?"

"We saw you trying to have a child and wanted to help. By the way, you are doing it wrong, you need to put your…"

"We are not trying to get Kim pregnant!", Ron interrupted. "We were just, well, you see, this kind of physical contact is pleasurable and can be a way to become closer as a couple. It is an expression of love and affection like kissing only more intimate. Is this making any sense?"

"No, but we will think about what you say and observe."

"Oh man, I am in so much trouble. I dragged Kim into this and now she will feel that she has lost control of her body. Kala, what am I going to do?"

"Take a deep breath and release the blue. You don't need it right now."

Ron relaxed and felt the blue flow off of him. He tried a deep, relaxing breath, but only managed a gasp.

"Now wake up and say something funny." he was told.

"Funny? What? How will that help?"

"Child, just try. Even if you fail to make her laugh, she will see that you are all right and that will make her happy. Right now she is worried that you will go into an unthinking rage believing she has been attacked and injured. She is afraid that people will die because of this rage."

The words were like ice water poured on Ron's hot panic. "Kim is afraid of me?" a part of Ron's soul started to shrivel and die.

Huge hands gently gave him a shake, "No child, she does not fear you, only that your demons will cause you to hurt others thinking that you are defending her. Now wake up and say something funny!"

'Time to wake up and face the music, I guess' thought Ron, Then a random thought occurred to him, "Wait a minute, shouldn't you have a tail? Aren't you my mind's interpretation of the Mystical Monkey Power, not the Mystical Great Ape Power?"

The Mangani grinned displaying great fangs and gently smacked the back of Ron's head with a huge hand. "I am what you made me, you silly child! Now be funny! Do it now!"

Ron relaxed and snapped back into his waking self. "Be funny" was his mantra as he rose to consciousness, releasing the blue as he rose.

Loving Kim felt Ron jerk awake with a gasp. He rolled over the best he could, given their tangle of limbs, "Why Miss Kimberly Ann, I think you are stuck on me."

Loving Kim laughed in relief, "That was awful."

The kitten spoke to Kitten Kim as the two Kims snapped back together. "We will talk later, I have much to learn about you and Ron and the things you do."

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess," Ron pulled Kim close after he got mostly unstuck and untangled.

"Not your fault, boyfriend," Kim gave him a fairly quick kiss, "Could you get me a warm damp towel, please? And a tampon from your pocket med kit?" Kim blessed the stupid military action novel that Ron had read where the hero used a tampon to stop the bleeding from a bullet wound. Ever since then, Ron had stocked three in the little med kit he always carried in a cargo pocket. Of course, she had thought a little differently that time when his med kit popped open and spilled its contents in cheer practice that time…

Chillin' and Drillin'

Ron was down in the laundry washing sheets and blankets and quite frankly feeling pretty smug. He had ratted out Kim's condition to her mom. Then Ron casually mentioned to Chaos that Ann needed to take her little Kimmy to see a doctor about some 'woman's issue thing' that was probably 'no big'. So, about an hour ago, Mrs Dr P, Kim, Janis, Chrissy, Nova, and Yori had been driven to town in the Suburban by Chaos. He figured that Kim was in safe enough hands.

Ron finished the pre-wash rinsing and repeated the pre-treatment for getting out the blood stains. Unfortunately, Ron was experienced in getting blood stains out of clothing. That came with being Kim's sidekick. Fortunately, they had slept on the giant terrycloth beach blanket which had reduced collateral damage. Tim, Jim, and Joss were down folding towels for the pool and sauna. Slim's ranch didn't really have a staff except when he was hosting grad students for a seminar, so visitors pitched in to help. Setting the washer to "mega-super-wash", Ron went to help the others. "So, you all going to try to fly Tornado after lunch?"

"Sure, the pressure tests look good, we just need to finish…" said Tim folding the last towel.
"testing some emergency landing code and it's rockets are go!" enthused Jim, picking up a stack of towels.

"These boys have to finish testing their code, My collision avoidance code is ready and passing tests now." Joss bragged, picking up a stack of towels.

Ron grabbed the rest of the towels and they all trooped out by the pool and placed their towels in a cabinet.

"Ron, while Jim and Tim are finishing up, is there an Aikido kata that you could teach me?" Joss asked.

"Uh, sure. Why Aikido and why me?" Ron asked.

"Well, I'm thinking that for me right now, your style of 'let your attackers beat the crap out of themselves' would work best for me. I don't see myself going toe to toe with bad guys like you and Kim can do. I figure I should start out with something that lets me hurt a bad guy and then lets me run away."

"OK, but why me? There are plenty of Mrs Dr P's rough men that are better fighters than I am."

"Nana told me that Kim says that you are the go-to person for learning 'Distraction Aikido' and besides, all these guys are way bigger than me. You learned this while you were still growing, I'm hoping you remember what it is like to be smaller than your opponent."

"Wow, Kim said that? Alright, if the Ron man is the go-to guy, then Sifu Ron is at your service, grasshopper." Ron smiled with delight at hearing what Kim had said.

"Do I need to run and change into a Judo Gi?"

Ron checked out Joss' apparel. She had a Kim-style crop top, jeans that looked loose enough to move in and sneakers. "No, I think you are dressed OK, drop to one knee and let's make sure those jeans won't be too tight." Joss did and Ron, after remembering to ask her permission to touch her, checked to make sure the fabric wasn't so tight it would rip or restrict her movement.

Ron started with a simple kata designed to practice movement that was always in balance. Ron was pleased. He knew that he had little teaching experience, but Joss was a natural. Once she had the movements down, he called a halt.

"Now because you look like a 'weak woman of Earth'," Ron said, "a fool will often grab you by the wrist to drag you off somewhere. So you kick his butt with a basic turning technique…" [1]

Evin and one of the Federal Marshals, Alethea Korzhan, had wandered over to watch, so Ron asked Alethea if he could use her to demonstrate. Ron showed Joss how to step in a circle toward and to the outside of the opponent while pulling your arm along with the opponents arm into the circle. "Once you get them off balance and have their arm bent in a direction that it wasn't meant to bend, you can run them into a door, trip them over a table or just dump them and move on to the next guy."

"But can't he get away just by letting go of you?" Joss couldn't imagine it was that easy.

"He grabbed you, you would be surprised how people hate to let go. And that brings up the topic of wrist locks…"

Pretty soon Joss and Ron were working on this first basic technique along with Evin and Alethea who apparently had quite a lot of martial arts training. None the less, Ron was always Joss' attacker in the drills, explaining, "Joss, you can really hurt someone who doesn't know how to keep you from putting too much stress on their joints. I know how to tumble or fall in a way to relieve the pressure. You can't fool around with this stuff, OK? This means no showing off to your friends."

Nana finally finished with her in-box emails and reports. Thinking maybe some heat would be good for her old bones, she showered and slipping on a bathrobe, wandered out toward the sauna. There seemed to be some sort of martial arts demonstration going on. She saw one of the Federal Marshals, Evin, Ron and was that Joss? Seeing Slim by the pool, she stopped on her way to the sauna. "Son, is Joss taking up martial arts? Is that Aikido?"

Slim grumbled, "Joss ain't old enough to be fighting. And I think that boy is using it as an excuse to put his hands on my baby girl."

Nana watched as Joss did a perfect turning move, capturing Ron in a wrist lock and then Ron was forced to flip and slam into the ground to avoid having his arm twisted off. Nana grimaced at the force of Ron's fall. "Son, get a grip. No boy takes punishment like that just to be able to touch a girl. Certainly not while she is wearing clothes and in public."

Nana watched the marshal hand her gun belt to a spectator then walk over to Ron, bow and take up a defense position. Ron bowed to Joss who returned the bow and trotted off to the house. Probably to shower and change, the girl was dripping sweat. Ron bowed to his new opponent and the match was on.

Nana figured that heat on old bones had priority over watching a martial arts match, so she walked over to the sauna, grabbed a freshly laundered towel and stepped into steamy heaven.

1. This is the basic technique that Ron was showing Joss: On YouTube: watch?v=XGaE9hTHrh0

Flight of the Pegasus

Ron held a cold pack to the side of his face. He wasn't sure whether it was Joss or Alethea that clocked him, but it would be more fun to say it was Joss that gave him the shiner so he could tease her about it. His memory of the match with Alethea was a little fuzzy there at the end, He remembered Alethea starting a move that was really cool, but was going to hurt. The next thing he remembered was Mrs Dr P shining a light in his eyes and asking him what year it was. He remembered Alethea apologizing to Kim for breaking her boyfriend, "I screwed up and made a move that was going to hurt either him or me and Ron took the hit". Kim's response was forgiving, "Not a problem Alethea, he ratted me out to mom this morning. Nothing was wrong like I told him, but I spent the whole morning getting poked, prodded, and stuck with needles."

Lunch was cold cuts, potato salad, chips and such. Soon everyone was ready for the after lunch entertainment.

Ann stood by the side along with James and Slim. Farther out in the yard, Tim and Jim were kneeling at a portable telemetry console next to a helmeted Joss sitting in the saddle of 'Tornado', their prototype robot Pegasus. And was that a little pink face looking over Joss' shoulder?

Slim said, "Joss has been researching the roots of the old confederate rebel yell. She claims that it is really a Comanche or Scottish battle cry and you are supposed to be able to yell it while you are running towards the enemy without running out of breath for the actual fighting." Chuckling, he continued, "She taught it to her entire soccer team. Them kids charging down the field was really something to hear. So, if you hear what sounds like a demon shrieking, that's Joss."

Ann saw Joss exchange a 'thumbs up' with Jim and Tim, maybe it was time to start? Sure enough, with a soft whine of a small turbine engine, the robot mantled its wings and then performed a flapping motion. Tornado started off at a trot extending its enormous wings and then jumped into the air, gliding maybe fifty yards before landing and turning around. The shrill ringing scream of Joss' rebel yell and her son's cheers of triumph turned all eyes towards them. Not that most people weren't already looking at Tornado the robot Pegasus.

Ann saw Slim move out of the corner of her eye. He was cheering and waving his hat, but his eyes had the same look that James had when Kim left on a mission. The look of worry, pride and the struggle to not tell her to stay home and stay safe. Both of the Possible girls had good men for fathers.

Tornado started toward them at a gallop building up speed. After about 100 yards, it gave its wings a tremendous down beat and launched into the sky. They all heard Joss' piercing rebel yell as it flew over them steadily gaining altitude with every beat of its massive wings. As it approached the pool, a pink shape separated from it and hit the water with a very small splash. One of the Secret Service agents stepped over and pulled Rufus from the water and set him on the ground. Spotting James, Slim, and Ann, the little mole rat raced over to join them.

After gaining enough altitude, Tornado started imitating a hawk riding thermals, cutting lazy circles around the ranch.

James bent down and scooped up Rufus. "Didn't you want to fly with Joss?"

"Joss wanted first flight solo. Made sure takeoff good," squeaked Rufus, "gave Joss boost."

"What kind of boost, little partner?" Slim narrowed his eyes.

Rufus' eyes flared blue.

"Don't know that I like the idea of that mystical hoodoo stuff on my baby girl," Slim objected, "seems like that boy's already got too many of our young'uns mixed up with that nonsense."

Ann started to growl a response but was distracted by Rufus squirming out of James' grasp and racing toward Ron in a blue blur. Ron was pointing urgently to his Kimmunicator and saying something to Chaos who pulled out a radio. Nearby Nova was shedding clothes in haste. Kim had stood up and was talking urgently into her Kimmunicator. Tim and Jim were racing across the yard as Kim reached up grabbing a sword. The sword turned into a round shield and Kim threw it like a Frisbee towards Tornado.

Tornado was moving back towards them and was now maybe a mile away circling again like a hawk checking out a possible mouse.

"Joss spotted a semi-truck unloading a…", Tim panted.
"bunch of dirt bikes on the highway…", Jim gasped, equally out of breath.
"They are all headed this direction…", Tim said.
"The riders have guns, we told her to…" Jim said.
"come back, but she insisted on being…", Tim said
"our eyes in the sky!", Jim nearly wailed.

"Valkyrie, this is Ground Pounder, what is your status and what do you see, over?", crackled a small unit in Jim's hand.

"Ground Pounder, I count twelve rats about to cross the drainage ditch south of the main gate. I don't think that they see me. They must be blind. Oh, wait, looks like five of their bikes got their front wheels stuck in the soft sand in the ditch and flipped over. A couple of them boys are going to feel that in the morning."

"What fool gave Joss the handle 'Valkyrie'?" Slim swore under his breath.

"Whoa! Those idjits blew up the fencing! Seven rats inbound." Joss' voice crackled on Jim's receiver.

Faint sounds of gunfire could be heard followed by louder cracks of high-caliber rifles from the roof of the bunkhouse. These particular rough men might be a little out of practice, but blowing a hole through a motorcycle's engine block at this range was quite doable."

"Don't shoot the white wolf Ground Pounder! She's a good guy! She's got three down, but I think she's hurt! Don't shoot the wolf!" Joss cried out.

To their horror, Tornado's wings folded and it started a rapid descent.

"The wolf is down! I'll get her!" Joss screamed.

"Valkyrie! Stay up! Valkyrie! Stay up! We need you watching! We have MEDEVAC on the way to the wolf! Stay high!"

Tornado extended its wings and they could see Joss pressed down in the saddle as the extra lift traded speed for a rapid gain in altitude.

"An explosion marked the end of the attack.

"Holy crap Ground Pounder, did they have a bomb on that bike? Uh, over."

"Valkyrie, can you get higher and keep a lookout for more rats? over"

"I have fifteen minutes of fuel. I'll keep a watch over you guys. Whoa, there are highway patrol showing up all over the place."

Ann's Meeting

A meeting to discuss the investigation into the attack was being held in the basement. The meeting consisted of Slim, James, Nana, Chaos, a captain from the Highway Patrol, and the leads of the visiting Federal Marshal and Secret Service teams. Ann was pointedly not invited and she was afraid she knew why.

Ann was sitting in the kitchen waiting to talk to Kim and Ron when her other kids pounced on her.

"Mom! Joss was never in danger! If Tornado had detected someone…" argued Tim.
"shooting at Joss, it would have switched to 100% turbojet lift…" argued Jim.
"and used its wings to protect her, It has…" pointed out Tim.
"titanium feathers that overlap to make armor." pointed out Jim

"Ann, I had that cool shield that Kim threw up to me! The same one that she used to protect Ron!" added Joss.

"Joss, you are the most precious thing that your dad has in this life." Ann explained softly, "It was very hard for him to let you fly on Tornado even with him and James double checking your design. He worries about you becoming like Kim and getting hurt by bad people. Do not mention the lotus blade to him again. It rubs the fact that you might one day face serious danger in his face and he is not ready for that. I don't know what he said to Ron, but I believe that he will think about it and apologize."

"Did Uncle James ever have a problem with Ron?" Joss asked.

"Honey, James used to threaten Ron at least three times a week with a one way trip to a black hole if he ever hurt Kim." Ann explained while Jim and Tim snickered, "But he has changed his mind and now Ron has his blessing to have a serious relationship with Kim."

Sounds of angry steps across the back deck caught their attention.

"Mrs Dr P, I am so sorry to have endangered you and your family. It's time for me to leave," Ron said, walking in from the back door followed by an angry Kim.

"Sorry," squeaked Ron's cargo pocket, "should have stayed with Joss."

Ann sighed, yes, this was why she wasn't down in the basement. She thought that Kim and Ron should have been in that meeting instead of Slim stirring them up and leaving them alone to stew by themselves, but no, she was only a brain surgeon. What did she know?

The table erupted in protests. Ann reached into her pocket, pulled out a laser scalpel ejecting the battery and held it up. In her best Mom Command voice, she said, "Enough. I am invoking talking stick rules. Now Ron, why do you think that leaving will make us safer?" She handed the scalpel to Ron. Everyone froze and looked at Ron with wide eyes. "Oh for Heaven's sakes, kids. It doesn't have a battery in it, he can press any of the buttons and nothing will happen."

Ron blushed a little but started, "Well, there is this assassination thing out on Rufus and me. Today somebody hired a local gang to hold people hostage with a bomb until I and Rufus surrendered. A couple of days ago, a gang with rifles and nerve agents attacked us. Sooner or later, somebody is going to get killed because of me."

Kim looked fit to bust, but remained quiet and held out her hand. Ron put the scalpel in her hand, carefully and handle first.

"Mom, Uncle Slim blames Ron for this MMP and Lotus Blade 'hoodoo stuff' and for putting Joss in danger. I threw the Lotus Blade to Joss, not Ron. Rufus powered up Joss, not Ron. We did it because we wanted her to have the best protection we could give her. It's not Ron's fault these people are out to kill him! He didn't do anything wrong!"

Joss spluttered but remained silent at a look from Ann.

"Sorry" came a squeak from under the table.

"Rufus, get up here, no talking unless you hold the stick," Ann commanded.

The little mole rat climbed up Ron and dropped onto the table. He managed to look guilty and sad which for a mole rat was an achievement.

Kim held out the scalpel and Rufus put a paw on it. "Only wanted Joss safe. Love Joss. Love all my family." He took his paw off and slumped down.

Kim continued, "I believe that we are safer together than apart. But if Ron has to leave because the MMP and Lotus Blade are too dangerous or attract too much danger, then I have to leave because I have both. I know that I will be safer with Ron than by myself."

Shooting Ron a glare, she held the scalpel up and a man in a county sheriff's uniform reached over her shoulder and took it from her hand.

"This gives me the floor, right?" he said, "Good because I would appreciate it if Ms Kimberly, Ronald, and their traveling companions would stick close where we can get a hold of them for the next week. It appears that the financiers of today's little adventure have turned up dead in their hotel rooms. They had plane tickets to leave tonight. We may have some questions for you." He held the scalpel out. Ann took it.

"Sheriff, there is a meeting going on in the basement that just started. I think you will find the discussion and the people in the meeting both relevant and interesting. The basement is the second door over there." The sheriff tipped his hat and walked to the stairs.

"Tim, Jim, Joss, I need to have a private talk with Ron. Why don't you all go review the data from the Pegasus? You know that Slim is not going to let you fly it again until you can show him the performance data."

"Mom, should I leave?" Kim asked as the younger kids stalked out of the kitchen.

"That's up to Ron. This is BHS information and college stuff."

"I would like Kim to stay. It sounds like it might affect both of us."

Ann looked apologetic, "Now I know that this isn't the best time to bring up more things, and I'm really sorry, but I swear that if I don't do this now the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will show up tomorrow and once again, we won't have time for me to give you this."

Ann handed Ron an envelope, "This came the day before I left Middleton. It is an acceptance letter from Eastern State University plus an offer of scholarships." Ron opened the envelope and with Kim looking over his shoulder, flipped through the pages.

"Your answer to them is due in a couple of weeks. I suggest the two of you talk about it. Talk to Nova, she is a professor there. That's the easy topic. Here is the hard one. I found the geneticist that worked on your case. You should probably set up a meeting."

Ann handed him a printout of the email from Dr Amy Hall.

Ron sat and stared at the paper. And stared.

Kim became concerned and looked over his shoulder to read the email.

Ann thought, 'Are these two silently freaking out?' Then she said, "Ron? Could you go check on Nova for me please?" After a pause, she tried more forcefully, "Ron!"

Ron jumped, "Yes, Mrs Dr P?"

"Go check on Nova for me, please. She claims that her shape-changer healing factor means that she is OK and gets annoyed when I check too often. Please go make sure she is OK. Please."

"Sure, Mrs Dr P," Ron got up and wandered out through the back door, heavily in thought.

Kim checked to see if they were alone and seeing nobody, growled, "Mom, I overheard Uncle Slim tell Ron that since he was already 'banging' one Possible girl, he didn't need a second one and to stay the hell away from Joss!"

Ann closed her eyes and groaned. She remembered thinking that 'Both of the Possible girls had good men for fathers'. They did, but they also had fathers who were idiots when it came to their girls and boys.

"Kim, Slim will regret saying that once he thinks about it. Now please go with Ron and make sure that if he leaves, he doesn't go alone."

"Sure Mom," Kim wrapped her arms around her mother in a crushing hug, "I love you mom."

"I love you too honey, take care of yourself and Ron, please". Ann said as Kim released her to trot out the door after Ron.

Ann put her head down on the table. After a moment, she heard a quiet, "Ann?" Ann looked up and saw Joss. "Hi honey, what do you need?"

"Can we talk?

"Honey, talking will cost you a hug."

Joss threw herself into Ann's arms.

Annealing

Ann hugged Joss tightly. How long had it been since Kim had hugged her this sweetly? Kim's hugs were full of love, but this hug from Joss' had that 'I trust that you can fix this, so please fix this for me' feeling that Kim was generally too self-sufficient to have in her hugs these days. "Talk to me Joss," Ann loosened her hold on the young woman.

"Ann, am I really just a spare?"

"Oh Honey, you heard that. I'm so sorry that I didn't have Kim bring you down with Ron. You aren't 'just' a spare, sweetheart. Marion and Slim wanted you for so long and wanted you so badly but just couldn't do it without help. I helped them because I knew you would be loved and cherished for yourself. You are only a spare if you want to be. The Blue Heart Society doesn't have you in their database. I donated my egg for you 'off the books' you might say. If it turns out that the world needs a young woman who can be the Chosen One and Wielder of the Lotus Blade, then you can step forward and say 'I can do it!'. But no one will ever come looking for you."

"But what about Ron and Kim? Wouldn't they be there?"

"They aren't invincible Joss, maybe they tried and fell fighting evil." A sob caught in Ann's throat.

"But Ann, what could I do, that Kim and Ron couldn't do?"

"Joss, the Coast Guard has a motto, something like 'You have to go out and try, you don't have to come back'. I am afraid that Kimmy and Ronald think that way and that one day they won't come back. But you can bet that if you find yourself finishing their task, that they will have blazed a heck of a trail for you. Jim and Tim will always be there for you if you need them. I'm sure others will join you. You never have to go out alone. But remember Joss, you get to decide what you want to try to be in life, whether that is a rancher, engineer, politician, plumber, heavy equipment operator or whatever. Maybe the first thing doesn't work out, that's OK, try something else. Do you know what the real Possible family motto is?"

"Anything is possible for a Possible?"

"No"

"Always say please and thank you?"

"No"

Joss looked puzzled. Ann bent over and whispered in her ear: "Nobody fucks with a Possible girl."

Joss's eyes went wide at the unexpected obscenity and she broke out laughing.

With a smirk, Joss asked, "Ann, is Ron really banging Kim?"

Ann groaned, "Joss, you really need to stop with the ninja style walking and go back to emulating a herd of cattle. I suspect that those two are limiting their affection to free range lips and hands, but it could be more. I don't know and am not going to ask." Giving Joss an affectionate squeeze, she continued. "However, you could ask them and if they tell you, let me know, OK?"

Joss giggled and then became serious again. "Are you sure I can be a Chosen One and Wielder of the Lotus Blade?"

Ann thought to herself, 'Slim Possible, you can bite my ass. Ron is a good man, Kim and Joss are good women.' To Joss, she said, "Honey, let's find out. Call it Joss. Ron claims that only a true Chosen One can call it to their hand. He can't call it directly to his hand. But Kim can."

"Are you sure it's OK?"

"Ron and Kim are on their way to talk to Nova. They aren't using it right now. Go ahead, give it a try."

Joss held out her hand like she had seen Kim do and squinted in concentration. After a few seconds, a glowing wakizashi tore through the screen door and the hilt slapped into Joss' hand. Joss' eyes were wide and there was a smile of triumph on her face that lit up the kitchen.

Ann had a small moment of regret, Slim was not going to be happy when he found out and she knew that he would eventually find out. Repeating the real Possible family motto to herself, she looked Joss in the eyes, "Joss, don't flaunt this in front of your Dad. He will not take it well."

"I have to keep it a secret?"

"Not forever, but at least until all this drama with Ron and Kim being in danger has passed. You should know that Lord Montgomery Fiske claimed that only someone charged with MMP could call the Lotus Blade, maybe in a week or so when the charge that Rufus gave you wears off, maybe you won't be able to call it. I don't know."

Backup

Kim and Ron found Nova's wolf form laying on a chaise lounge chair out by the pool. Several of the others were sitting around her watching Evin feed it hot dogs left over from the evening's cookout. The wolf's fur looked chewed and bloody in spots. The wolf dissolved into sparkles and Nova the woman appeared. Also looking a little chewed on in spots. Wrapping a blanket around her against the evening chill, she looked up. "Ron, Kim, you looked troubled. Come over and sit with us. A trouble shared is sometimes a trouble solved."

Ron and Kim pulled over chairs and sat down. "How are you doing Nova? I think you look better," said Ron.

"If I have enough protein and energy, changing forms helps a lot with healing. I think another cycle or two will get me in pretty good shape." Evin handed her a glass of beer and she took a sip.

"Blue power help?" squeaked Ron's pocket.

"No thank you, Rufus, I am doing fine as is. So Ron, what's up?"

"I found that my DNA was changed before I was born. One change was to remove the chance of genetically inherited disease, I don't know what other changes were made."

"Sorry Ron, I'm not seeing the problem yet." Nova munched on a cheese stick.

"Dr Amy Hall, who was also known as 'DNAmy' did my changes." Ron heard several people muttering at the name.

"Was she suspected of super villainy at the time?", Nova asked.

"I don't think she was."

"Is she a super villain now?", Nova persisted.

"I don't think so."

"So call her and make an appointment to go talk to her. I can't imagine her putting something with a long enough timed trigger to affect you now. Would you like some of us for backup?" Nova offered with general approval from the others.

Kim and Ron just looked at each other.

"Oh my gosh," said Chrissy, "you two really do your missions without backup, don't you? Well, we will fix that right now. What contact information do you have?"

Ron showed her the printout of the email.

Chrissy pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. To Ron's horror she started talking, "Hello, my name is Christina Rooms, I am calling on behalf of a Dr Ann Possible. Is this Dr Amy Hall? Great. Dr Hall… OK, then please call me Chrissy. Amy, we want a couple of people to drop by in person to talk to you regarding the subject of that email… Perfect, what's your address? Chrissy picked up Nova's phone, entered the address, and showed it to Nova who mouthed 'arrive late tomorrow'. Chrissy continued, "would the day after tomorrow, perhaps late morning, say around 10 AM work for you? Perfect, their names are Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable… What? You remember them? … Oh, I am sure she still is one, you know, once a cuddler, always a cuddler…" Chrissy rolled her eyes. "OK, they will see you then. I beg your pardon? … " Chrissy asked Ron and Kim, "chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter?"

Nova interrupted "Peanut butter"

Chrissy suppressed a laugh saying "Peanut butter cookies, please and thank you. Have a good evening." Chrissy closed the call. "That wasn't what I was expecting a super villain to sound like," she said, "I mean she asked me what kind of cookies you guys wanted?"

Nova pointed out "Wolves are like dogs, no chocolate."

Chrissy stood and looked at the group, "OK, since Ron was declared 'Persona Non Grata' by Slim, I figure we leave tonight, we can get to a Secret Service safe house in a couple of hours, get some sleep, then be at Dr Hall's house tomorrow evening for reconnaissance. I know Kim is in, I'm in, who else?"

"I'm in", replied Nova.

"Wouldn't miss it, I'll get us a car." said Alethea.

"OK, that should do it, we leave the rest here to guard the Possibles. Let's meet in twenty minutes at the RV.", Chrissy nodded at "the team".

Kim and Ron walked to the Behemoth kind of wondering what the heck just happened. Chrissy ran up behind them, "Ron, Kim wait up a second, please. I know I kind of ran all over you guys with the planning, but I was so mad when I overheard what Slim said to Ron, and when I work Very Important Person protection, I never get to make any decisions, and I kind of got carried away. Forgive me please?"

Ron laughed a little, "Sure. it is probably the same plan we would have come up with, except we'd be doing it alone and not as quick. Right, Kim?"

Kim agreed, "It's OK. I'd like to have a little more input on future planning, but I think your plan is good."

Chrissy beamed, "Thanks a lot you guys, you are the best!". Giving Kim a quick peck on her cheek, the Secret Service agent bounded off to get her stuff ready.

As the two turned back to get their stuff ready, Ron said, "So KP, ever think of working for the Secret Service? I never got a peck on the cheek from Will Du…"