Author's Notes
My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)
All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.
As normal, the chapter was getting long, so I split it.
Is Ron Nuts?
"OK, Wanda, I know this seems a little crazy," Ron said to the Ninja who was looking at him like he has lost his mind. They had been moved to larger quarters, a two-bedroom suite. They had stopped by the dining hall and brought back enough food for five hungry people. OK, it was four hungry people and one naked mole rat, but the amount of food was about the same. Currently, only three of them were in the room, Carlynn and Sigbjorn/ET #1 were at the healer's place getting her hand checked out and stopping at a shop for a spare change of clothes on the way back. Carlynn said she would look for a spare set for Wanda.
"I know they're not really copies of me, my blood DNA is only the DNA that controls how I look and some physical stuff, I have a second DNA that defines the rest of me. Even so, he feels like my brother. Wanda, for all my life, even with Kim and her family, I've felt alone a lot."
Rufus stopped eating and objected, "Hey!"
"I'm sorry, you are still the best friend I could ever ask for, Rufus. Right up there with KP. Then Hana showed up and she was the best little intruder into my heart. I found that Rhi was my half-sister and she is becoming special to me. I'm going to have a baby soon and that comes with a bunch of brothers and sisters that come with its mom and dad. Maybe, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, I'm a little fuzzy on relationship labels…"
"A baby?! Who's the mother? Aren't you the dad?"
"It's a long story. But the point is that I now have a chance to pick up another family member, one that I already feel a little connection to."
"Only one? Not three?" the ninja approved of two fewer threats.
"Yeah, that's the weird thing. Sigbjorn seems like a brother, but Sigurd and Sigmund seem different somehow. Maybe not even fully human.
"ET #2, ET #3, nasty!" pointed out Rufus, "Smell different, taste different."
Anyway, Sigurd and Sigmund will be stuck here with Sigyn. Can't wait to introduce Sigbjorn to Mom and Dad," the blond finished with a wicked grin.
"ET #1 is coming back with you?"
"Wanda! His name is Sigbjorn. He has to go back with Carlynn. You should have seen the guy while we were talking, he kept asking me if she would be safe outside walking with you. The guy is so totally in love with her."
"I was talking to Carlynn and I believe that the love he feels for her is not natural, that it is not by his choice."
"Does anybody really choose who they love? Besides, being in love is being in love no matter how you got there."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door, the door opened and Bjort came in followed by a dozen other women. Several carried wine bottles.
"Wanda, we have heard what you have been teaching and my colleagues wish to talk to you. Can you come with us?"
"When will she be back?" asked the blond.
"Never mind my teammate, he worries about the silliest things," the Ninja replied, getting up and making sure that she had both metal flasks tucked in her uniform, "He is also not the boss of me."
"Don't wait up, Champion Stoppable," teased Bjort, as the women left taking Wanda with them.
The blond sat down and started to eat. Looking at his little buddy, he commented, "Living in a castle like this wouldn't be bad. They have a dining hall which is open 24 hours a day, toss in Wifi, and it would be pretty sweet, right Rufus?"
"Need Nacos and cheese!" was the reply.
They were about half finished when his new brother and sorority sister came back. Dinner conversation was pleasant enough, he told the others about getting flushed down the Bifrost and his almost marriage. Carlynn groaned when he got to the part about Wanda playing the kissing prank then getting pulled up by the Bifrost. But eventually:
"I think we missed the end of our first semester, I'm not looking forward to trying to catch up. Think we will have to do the whole semester over?" asked the original blond.
"I was thinking of changing schools. I need to, well, try to get back to something more normal. No offense, but I find that I can't do your 'never be normal' thing."
"Can I go with you?" blurted out the panicked copy, "I really need to go with you." He was starting to sweat.
"Guys," said the original, "Let's not make any hasty decisions. We got to get Sigbjorn checked out to see if he needs vaccinations or special food or anything like that. Heck, Sigbjorn, you probably need to go to school somewhere. We can work the education details when we get back. I think we should assume that you both will live close to each other to start."
Carlynn yawned. "We can finish this discussion later. I think I'm going to take a shower and get some sleep." Noticing that she was about to be followed, she added, "Alone."
"Really got it bad for her, huh," said the original watching his teammate grab her bag with new clothes and disappear into a bedroom, closing the door behind her.
"Ron, I was literally made for her. My first real memories are of her essence being hammered into my very being. Then when she uncovered my eyes and I saw her face for the first time, it was like a physical blow, her essence in my soul connecting to the real woman it came from."
"Whoa, that sounds intense."
"It was. Right now, I find myself longing to see her, touch her, hear her voice. I fear that she will leave me and that I will not survive without her."
"Well, a girl breaking a guy's heart isn't always fatal."
"But how many guys do you know that have the essence of their intended embedded into their physical body? For me, I fear that a long separation from her would be fatal."
"Good point. I wonder if her essence can be removed from you? Maybe the magic fire and hammering can remove it?"
"Why would I want to do that? I love her, I like loving her, I want to love her. Isn't there someone you love?"
"Yes, I see what you mean. There was a time when I thought that KP'd never love me, maybe I would have had my love for her hammered out of my soul if the option would have been there. Would have saved me some pain, but in the end, she started to love me, so things worked out for the best."
"I will persevere."
Ron grinned, "Go for it, dude. Maybe you could stay at my parents' house until you get caught up to society. Going to need at least a GED, or maybe even attend my old high school. KP's brothers go there, they'd help you out."
"Wanda told Carlynn that Team Cobra would help."
"That could work. I bet their school would take Carlynn also, that way you guys get to go to school together."
They had just heard Carlynn shut off the water in the shower when the original blond had a stroke of genius. In order to give his copy a head start on cultural literacy, he pulled out his Kimmunicator and the two sat on the couch watching the epic WWII movie, A Brick Too Far. About halfway through the movie, the copy started getting fidgety. After a few more minutes he got up saying,
"Well, it's getting late, I'd better get some sleep." He headed toward the closed bedroom door.
"Wait a minute," Ron said, deciding that he probably owed Mr. Dr. P an apology, "where do you think you are going?" Rufus sat up and growled.
"I am going to sleep beside Carlynn. I slept with her in my arms last night and she seemed to enjoy it."
"That was last night. This is tonight. I can't explain women, I don't understand them. But I am sure that her saying 'yes' to something last night doesn't mean that it is OK with her tonight. You must be explicitly invited to sleep beside her again."
Ron got up and padded over to the distraught young man, "Trust me. It will take time for her to match your feelings," Slowly opening the door, the two peeked in, saw a sleeping Carlynn, then softly closed the door.
"How close do you have to be to her to not get the shakes?"
"Get the shakes?"
"You know, feel twitchy, like you want to crawl out of your skin. You didn't touch her at all during dinner and you were fine."
Closing his eyes and thinking hard, the copy replied, "If I was sleeping within a couple of feet of her, that should let my spirit be calmed by her physical presence."
"No touching?"
"No, I should be fine just being close enough to smell her."
Ron stepped over to a shelf and pulled down a pair of comforters and a pillow. Handing them to his copy, he remarked, "In my role of her teammate and Sorority brother, I am supposed to threaten you with bodily harm if you hurt her, touch her without invitation, or make her cry. As your new brother, I need to support you and try to teach you stuff. As I said, I don't understand women. Just give her time to know you and fall in love with you."
"How long did Lady Kim need to know you to fall in love with you?"
"About twelve years. But we were a special case and I am probably to blame for it taking all that time. Talk to Wanda when you get a chance. She teaches a class in what women want from their guy."
Watching his copy slip into the bedroom and settle down to sleep on the floor next to the bed with his 'intended', Ron gently closed the door, saying "Come on Rufus, let's go find our bed."
Going into the other bedroom, he stripped down to boxers and a soft cottony shirt, got in the bed, and managed to watch part of 'The Evil Brick 2' before falling asleep.
It was in the wee hours of the morning when the apartment door quietly opened and the Ninja slipped in. The party she had been carried off to attend was a celebration exclusively attended by Valkyries that involved dancing. From her cultural studies, it appeared to be the American or UK version of the Middle Eastern 'hafla'. (A/N: Go to YouTube and search for 'hafla dancing' or 'Art of the Belly' for examples.) Basically, a women-only dance party, some of the Valkyries performed team dances that were obviously choreographed and well-practiced, others were individual and more extemporaneous. She had initially planned to just watch, but several of the better dancers dragged her to the center of the circle and with her input, created on the spot a "Japanese Tribal" style of dance. Then they insisted she learn the dance and then perform it with them. As for the wine, the bottles were consumed, she never got the chance to use the contents of her flasks. She had never had such a tough workout at Yamanouchi nor had she ever had so much fun learning new forms.
She had several offers of a place to sleep but figured that between the wine, the dancing and the very late hour, she was going to want to sleep in late. Best to do that where her team can find her. Seeing no pillows or comforters to sleep on the couch, she peeked in the first bedroom. There she found the extra pillows and bed linens; on the floor with ET #1 and Carlynn wrapped up in them. She watched the couple sleep for a few moments trying to figure out why they were sleeping on the floor hogging all the extra blankets. Then she went to the next bedroom where she found a Mystical Monkey Master sleeping dead to the world with a naked mole rat curled up on his pillow looking at her with shining black eyes.
Rummaging through the bags from the shops in the main room she pulled out a long shirt, suitable for sleepwear and slipping back in Ron's bedroom took a shower to wash off sweat and alcohol. Cold after the shower, she slipped under the comforter and next to the warm blond after checking for the tattoo that assured her that she had the original. Surprised that her cold touch didn't have him leaping out of bed, she settled against his warmth and relaxed into slumber. Rufus realizing that these two wouldn't be 'wrestling', crawled underneath the comforter and snuggled between them adding his bit of warmth. With the partying she had done this night plus the prank she could turn this into, Wanda Wang, Team Cobra Ninja was feeling like her old self again.
Typical Mission?
'Typical,' thought Kim Possible, chained to a wall wearing only a tee shirt, 'Well, the strip search was at least unusual, the no pants thing is new, but the vague itchiness from a nearby supervillain's zero point energy generation unit was like a taste of homecoming.'
The only thing that would have made it truly old home week was if Ron was chained next to her instead of Rhianna and Rufus was on the loose getting ready to set them free so she could kick butt and he could find the self-destruct.
They had been taken into custody at gunpoint then searched under the watchful eyes of a dark-haired woman with green eyes who was at this moment talking to a Henchman.
"Professor Demenz, they were carrying no weapons, just a comms device, a small cutting laser, a knock out gas dispenser disguised as a makeup case and a grapple hook gun that looks like a blow dryer." The henchman displayed their confiscated items as he put them in a bag.
"Destroy everything," she told the henchman, "burn their clothes, they might contain tracking chips."
Turning to the redhead and ignoring the sidekick, Professor Lucia Dementor said;
"Ms. Possible, what am I to do with you and your companion? You were carrying parachutes that were unused. That tells me that you were on your way to catch a plane to take you to your mission when you ran into the Children of the Constitution. Just not your lucky night, I guess. Hilton believes that you are smuggling immigrants, but then when you have money like he does, you don't need brains."
The woman walked over and ran a finger down the redhead's right forearm, across the artificial skin, and onto her real skin.
"The hand is artificial? I see no evidence of hidden lasers, gun barrels in the fingers or any electronics at all. It appears not to come off… easily, that is." The cold green eyes looked into her captive's now worried eyes, "How did you get it?"
"It was put on to replace one that I lost. It isn't super strong and I can't even hit as hard with it as my real hand. My body's tissue is supposed to slowly take over the artificial hand. Some number of years from now, it will be all me again."
"How did you lose your hand?"
"It was cut off by a villain who had a score to settle with me." This time her captive's eyes flashed with remembered rage.
"And what did you do to him? Arrest him and put him in jail?"
"I ripped off his genitals after he shoved them in my face and his girlfriend fed them to some ravens."
The stone walls echoed with peals of laughter. The stress detection readouts above her captive's head indicated that it was the truth.
"I like you, Kim Possible, would you like a job? I am running for Prime Minister of Latvernia in the upcoming elections, I am just meeting with law-abiding groups of American citizens before I finish wrapping up my teaching job and travel back home."
"Law-abiding?"
"Certainly, was there any report that there might be stolen technology here? No? These gentlemen assure me that the second amendment of something guarantees them the legal right to carry weapons. Perhaps it was a bit rude of them to stop you, but they will claim that you were smuggling an illegal alien across state lines and that they are holding you for the authorities to pick up. It was fortunate that I was here to prevent you girls from any possible abuse from your captors."
"Why do you all think that Rhi is an illegal immigrant from Mexico? Didn't they see her driver's license?"
"I suppose it is her dark hair and color of her skin. Well, Rhi" the woman said, turning to look her over, "are you from Mexico or are you American?"
"Yo no hablo Angles", snarked the annoyed sidekick.
Laughing delightedly, the older woman continued, "No, I'm going to guess from that atrocious accent that you are an American with an American Indian ancestry mixed in somewhere down the line."
"Anyway, my cousin Hans has spoken very ill of Team Possible and their treatment of him over the years. If this is the new Team Possible, I must say that it needs a little work."
"Dr. Dementor is your cousin? He's here, isn't he?" asked the redhead.
"Yes, he is my cousin and no, he's not here. Why would you think that?"
"There is a zero point energy collector close by. I've only seen it used by him and Dr. Drakken."
"How do you know?"
"Something about it makes my skin itchy. I can feel it."
"I will have him check the design of its shielding. He was here a few weeks ago for a technical exchange with these patriotic Americans but has gone back to help supervise our upcoming election. These noble protectors of this country's freedoms offered my campaign a generous donation to thank him for his help."
Stepping back toward the door, she said, "Well, it has been interesting talking to you. They will be able to transfer the money first thing in the morning and then I will be on my way. I will offer to turn you both over to the authorities on my way to the airport, so perhaps I will see you in the morning. Have a pleasant night."
The woman walked out pulling the large steel door shut and there was a loud clang as the door was locked.
"I thought she'd never leave, OK to free us now?" Rhianna asked.
"Please and thank you," the team leader had been missing Rufus and wondered what her sidekick was going to pull out of her hat.
Chanting "skcol nepo selkcahs nepo" quietly, Rhianna's shackles fell open and then she walked over to Kim, freeing her.
"That's amazing! What all can you do, Rhi? Anything you can say backward?"
"No, it's not quite that easy. Right now, I am great with locks and pretty good with bubbles of silence, isolation, and hiding. It was what we needed the most in getting Wade out. Monk Warnatius has offered to teach me more spells. I think he wants me to leave with him."
"Leave? Like in leave the Earth?"
"Yeah, I've told him that I'm not ready for that. I get this funny vibe from him like he wants more than a student-teacher relationship. Maybe it wouldn't seem so creepy if the guy wasn't old, green and two feet taller than me. So, what do we do now? Break out of here and take down the bad guys?"
"I think we wait for a bit. We can't just bust out of here and take down the bad guys, legally we might be the bad guys if we beat up these people. Let's get a little rest and then see if we can sneak around and find out if they really have the PDVI and what Dr. Dementor showed them about using it. You can open the lock to the door, right?"
"Uh, that's going to be a problem," Rhianna had walked over to the door and was leaning forward with her forehead resting on its metal surface.
"Why"
"The door isn't locked, it is held shut with a beam that runs across the door and fits into a pair of holders on each side. My 'open locks' spell isn't powerful enough to move it."
"Good thing we have a Hammer then, right?"
"Hard to be sneaky after you have blasted down a steel door, Kim. Tell the truth now, you just want to smash stuff with your Hammer, right?"
"Maybe… The problem is that Ron and I never had to worry about henchmen with automatic high-velocity rifles."
Typical Villain?
Bill Ian watched the dark-haired woman with green eyes step out of the secure lockup and close the door. Picking up the heavy beam, he placed it in the brackets mounted to the door and the walls, effectively locking the door shut.
"A bit excessive, don't you think Mr. Ian? They don't even have lockpicks, I seriously don't think they will be able to come up with a battering ram."
"The redhead is Kim Possible. Scuttlebutt is that her sidekick has a pet rat that shows up and knows how to pick locks," replied the Children of the Constitution's second-in-command.
"I thought her sidekick was a skinny blond guy?"
"That little border crossing lesbo probably replaced him. Illegal immigrants have pushing white guys like us out of their jobs for years now. She probably works for half his wages. That was bad enough, but soon it will be those big green aliens. But they won't just be taking our jobs, they'll be making us slaves. The Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms to defend this nation against tyranny and the thirteenth prohibits aliens from making us slaves. Thanks to your uncle and our own Dr. Mel Feasance, we are ready to defend our country and its Constitution."
"What exactly did the good Doctors make for you?" Lucia was wondering if Hans forgot to tell her something.
"The Sword of Freedom. It is for when bullets aren't enough to defend yourself."
"I thought that Dr. Dementor was here sharing his Transportulator technology along with the zero-point power generator?"
"Your cousin was thinking we were fools. Just because Mel didn't get his degree in physics from some fancy Ivy League College doesn't mean he isn't more than a match for some German physicist. After Dr. Dementor left, Mel figured out how to combine the Transportulator technology with a direct power feed from the PDVI to create a seed-sized unstable blackhole that can be transformed into a wormhole."
"But how does that make a weapon? It sounds like a discovery that could make Dr. Feasance rich and famous. It could revolutionize travel!"
"Traveling through the wormhole is real hard on what you are transporting," Bill laughed, "Maybe you'll get to see it in action this morning. Lars has a girlfriend that works in the courthouse and she called to say the State Bureau of Investigation just got a warrant to come look for our PDVI unit. Claimed that it is an unlicensed explosive device. We are calling in the rest of our members to prevent the Feds from taking it. I believe that it provides the edge we need to defend our country from those oversized green freaks."
"I'd love to stay and see it all, but I really need to take off to get to the airport in time…"
"Lucia, you don't mind if I call you Lucia, do you Professor Dementor? Lucia, it's not safe for you to leave right now, those fool County Mounties might think you were fleeing with the PDVI and hold you for questioning. You'd miss your flight for sure then."
"Why would they stop me?"
"Mel got a little carried away and dusted your car with a little radium. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to set off the detectors mounted on police cars. Besides, you need to type in your account numbers and password for the exchange of funds to go through and we can't do that until our funds are certified later this morning," Bill said with a smile.
Lucia was about to point out that you only needed passwords for withdrawing funds, not to deposit funds when Bill's smile told her that he already knew that…
"Perhaps you should retire to your room and get some rest, professor. We'll make sure you are up in time to get to the airport. Lars, would you please see that Lucia gets to her room and see that nothing disturbs her, please?"
A large man wearing camouflage Henchman coveralls with the name tag "Senist" came over to the professor. In addition to the ubiquitous sidearm in a holster, he carried a shock stick. Gesturing to the elevator, he said,
"Let's take the elevator, professor. Would you like to stop by the kitchen and get a late-night snack? I believe there are fresh baked cookies…"
"Yes, some milk and cookies would be nice, thank you very much," Lucia said, turning to the elevator. She thought it would be ironic if Team Possible ended up rescuing her by happenstance. She was already regretting directing such a meticulous search of the two young women.
Di Di Mau
At first light, Carlynn awoke warm and comfortable cradled in strong arms. Twisting around, she looked into the sleeping face of Ron's blood-twin. 'He really is a nice guy, not contaminated by the patriarchy,' she thought, 'I'll give him a chance.' She was about to worry about the implications resulting from him being compelled to fall in love with her, but a complaining bladder cut her waking reflections short. Easing out of his grip without waking him, she silently slipped into the bathroom. Once she was relieved and refreshed, she quietly dressed for the day. She was about to go down to the dining hall and bring back some breakfast when one of the men who had escorted Freya yesterday burst into the room, calling out, "Champion Stoppable! Come immediately! Lady Kim is in peril!"
Seconds later Ron blew out of the other bedroom clad in a soft cotton shirt and boxers while carrying running shoes. "Can you get me to her?" he asked, snatching up his Kimmunicator and lacing up his shoes.
"My Lady Freya says to put the sun at your back to find her," said the armsman. A blue portal opened in front of Ron and he stepped through the portal followed by a speeding mole rat. The portal collapsed with a crackle as soon as Rufus was clear.
"Wait, I need to go help him!" Carlynn screamed in frustration, staggering to a halt after running through the space where the portal had been.
"I'm sorry, but without Odin's assistance, getting one person to Midgard is very hard, getting more is impossible," said the armsman.
"What is happening?" a bleary-eyed, disheveled Ninja stumbled out of the other bedroom, wearing a soft sleep shirt but carrying her wakizashi at the ready.
"My Lady Freya has sent Champion Stoppable to help Lady Kim. Unfortunately, she could only send one person to her aid at this time." Seeing the glare from the other girl, he corrected his statement, "one person and a naked mole rat."
"How long until you can send me?" demanded the Ninja.
"Tomorrow night, Odin will be back and with his assistance, all of you can be sent back. If you will excuse me, I have other duties to attend to," the armsman bowed and turned to the door not mentioning that his other duties included making sure that the other 'Sig brothers' kept Sigyn entertained and not planning trouble.
Carlynn followed the muttering Ninja back into the bedroom where she took three orange pills from a small case and swallowed them, chasing them with a glass of water. When the disheveled woman face planted on the bed, Carlynn noticed that the bed appeared to have recently had two occupants.
"Wait a minute. Yesterday you asked me if I was suicidal because I kissed a guy that just looked like Ron but you actually slept with him?!"
"Please speak less loudly Carlynn-san. I was cold, Ron-san was warm and it seemed like a good prank. I believe he did not even realize I was here. Please, let me sleep. I will explain everything in a couple of hours," said the Ninja who was hoping the ibuprofen would kick in soon. Last night's creation and practice of 'Japanese Tribal' belly dancing exercised muscles that she had not realized that she even had until this morning.
Shaking her head, Carlynn walked back into the main room where her 'intended' was standing in the doorway of their bedroom.
"You tried to leave me behind." the blood-brother accused.
Walking up to him, she gave him a long good morning kiss. At first, he was stiff with anger but shortly returned the kiss with feeling. She said, "I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking. Get cleaned up and dressed, we'll talk over breakfast."
Buzz, Buzz, Bzzzt, Buzz.
The Kimmunicator in Ron's hand vibrated using its silent alert the instant Ron stepped through the portal and onto a moon-lit field covered in knee-high grass. Looking around and seeing nobody in sight, he sat down cross-legged to be more out of sight and answered in a quiet voice, "Go, Wade."
An earpiece popped out of the Kimmunicator. Placing it in his ear, he heard;
"Ron! Kim and Rhi's been snatched! They were doing some recon and got stopped at a roadblock. I saw it all, but they were doing something to block signals, Kim said they were going under stealth. I saw it coming but couldn't warn them!"
"Who's got them? You got me a location? Wait, How did you know I'd be here?"
"You know that Thora person?"
"I was there when she was changed, Wade"
"Well, her mom is like the queen of Asgard or something and tells her stuff in dreams at night. Thora called me via Joss and told me they were going send just you back and where you would show up. I threw some stuff together for you, it's on a drone and will be there in," Wade tapped on a keyboard, "another thirty seconds. Your opposition is a group called the Children of the Constitution. They claim that they have to be prepared to defend themselves against an out of control government. From their INTERNET postings, they are talking about upping their game with the help of a foreign consultant. They say that the Lowardians are secretly taking over the military so they had to make a new 'secret weapon' to defend themselves."
Ron along with Rufus on his shoulder shivered in the cold. It could be worse, he had a dream once about walking for days in the snow using only GPS to get home after being left behind on a mission. "Defend themselves? Against who? ATF?"
"Against the Lowardian military when they come to round up people for feedlots or something."
He heard the buzz of an eight-engine drone carrying a mission pack and an insulated cooler before he saw the dark shape approaching. "Wade, your care package has arrived."
"Great, I'll let you gear up. I have no floor plans on their base and I've sent the satellite photos I have to your Kimmunicator. I'll beep you if I find anything out. Be aware that some Federal Marshals are there and state police are surrounding the place. Sorry, Ron, I don't have more to help you. These guys aren't the typical villains that you and Kim have gone up against, they might not be villains at all, legally."
"Wade, if they've threatened KP or Rhi, they're villains," the blond said while unbuckling the straps that held the pack to the drone, "got to get ready. Wade, you rock in stereo, buddy." To himself, he muttered, 'If they've hurt KP or Rhi, they're dead. After that, I don't care what happens to me.'
The Mystical Monkey Master felt, rather than actually saw, swirling orange eyes glaring at him. A voice hissed, "Ronald, your life is not yours to throw away. What if Kimberly lives, but Rhi dies, would you deny your mate your life?" The voice hissed on, overriding his attempt to protest, "If Kimberly alone dies, do you deny Rhi your brotherhood, and what of Hana and your unborn child? You would deny them your guidance, your training, your 'never be normal' philosophy to life?"
"You'd have me live out the rest of my life with the pain of knowing that I failed KP?"
"A true Monkey Master cares for and treasures young ones above all other things, Ronald. You haven't lost anyone today. Calm your mind and focus on keeping it that way." The eyes faded away.
Opening the pack, he found a heavy Ninja uniform, certainly better for cold weather than boxers and provided some protection against knives and lighter pistols. This one had a pair of large pockets suitable for Rufus. Gratefully putting on the warmer clothes, he had started stowing away the weapons packed with the uniform when he heard a bumping noise from the cooler and the top popped open.
Two sets of beady eyes peeked over the edge of the cooler. The eyes were followed by bodies similar to Rufus, except for a strange dual shoulder arrangement that gave them four legs plus two wings.
"Pippa? Brina?" asked the now fully dressed and armed Ninja, "Is it really you? You've gotten big!" Now that might have been an exaggeration, a naked mole bat was a small animal given its naked mole rat heritage, but these little creatures had been juveniles the last time he had seen them. It appeared to have been the right thing to say as they preened a bit in pleasure.
"Scout for danger?" squeaked one.
"Find Kim?" squeaked the other.
A naked mole bat has two main defenses against predators. First, it's poisonous (not venomous), which won't necessarily protect the individual but helps protect the nest. Second, it flies really well. For humans, it has an extra defense in that it is adorable and people generally want to pet and cuddle it. Dr. Amy Hall spent a lot of effort in designing these animals from a DNA sample taken from Rufus. While "DNAmy" was by any measure, a genius bordering on mad science, the woman definitely knew and appreciated cuddly.
As the glow of a new day appeared on the eastern horizon, A Mystical Monkey Master consulted with his tiny allies on how to do this.
Kim and her shiny new sidekick were discussing options when they were interrupted by a scrabbling noise from what appeared to be a large sump pump in the corner. Walking over to check it out, they found that some animal was chewing through a flexible corrugated hose connecting a large PVC pipe running up the wall to the pump. They saw a beady little eye peek through a hole and then heard a tiny voice squeak, "Hi Kim! Help?"
Gripping the connector and yanking hard, the two managed to pull it off the pump. The redhead gave it a shake and a small animal slid out, connected to a stout string.
Biting the string off, then unwrapping its wings from around its body, it shook them out and stretched them out in relief.
"Kim! Hi! Ron is coming," it squeaked as Kim scooped it up and cuddled it.
"Wait," the sidekick asked, "Rufus has wings?"
"Rhi, may I present Pippa. She is the granddaughter of Rufus, sort of. Pippa, this is Rhianna, Rhi for short. She is Ron's sister, sort of."
"Hi Rhi!" the naked mole bat squeaked, then struggled loose from Kim, dropped down to the ground and walked over to the pipe, "Will tell Ron; Kim, Rhi are OK!"
"Wait! Pippa!," called the redhead, "Tell Ron not to go all William Wallace on these people."
The small animal nodded, squeaked 'No go William Wallace on people.' then wrapped its wings tightly around its body, and disappeared up the PVC pipe.
Federal Marshals
Federal Marshal Alethea Korzhan watched the fields to the east of the compound. She had thought she has seen a flash of some kind in a field to the east of the building. She and her Federal Marshal partner of were here, sort of on standby until their official orders came through. The Governor was in a pissing match with pretty much anyone Federal over perceived challenges to his state's rights.
State Troopers and people from the State Bureau of Investigation were all ready to deliver a search warrant looking for illegal, possibly stolen, technology. The Trooper she spoke to this morning said the technology was about the size of a coffee thermos, very slightly radioactive and generated RF interference, easily detectable with an AM pocket radio. Other than that, he had no clue what he was looking for.
The building looked like a bunker, the occupants were suspected of being in possession of a stolen, dangerous, possibly illegal high-tech item. This was a job for Team Possible. So, what the heck happened to them? There was all the craziness last summer and then they had disappeared.
"Alethea! Hi!" squeaked a tiny voice as a dark shape zipped around her. Quickly recovering from the surprise, the Marshal took her hand off her sidearm and held out her arm. A small winged animal landed on it.
"Pippa?" she guessed.
"Brina!" was the indignant reply. Apparently, she guessed wrong. She gave the winged animal a long stroke down its back in apology.
"Are Kim and Ron here?" asked the Marshal hoping that was the case. If Kim was here then maybe this would be a trip where nobody was killed and the only thing she had to pull out of its holster were handcuffs.
"Kim inside. Ron come save her."
"Please tell Ron to come talk to me, my partner and I will back him up."
"Kay!" The small animal zipped off.
"'Thea," Anthony Loweng, a tall man in jeans, boots and a dark jacket that had US MARSHALL on the back walked up, "Was that one of those little animals we helped Joss Possible rescue after that explosion last summer? And you were talking to it?"
"Yeah, some are pretty smart and even talk a little. If I understand the little guy correctly, Ron Stoppable is out here somewhere and Kim Possible is a forced guest of the Children of the Constitution. I told it to tell Ron to come talk to us, that we'd be his backup." The Senior Marshall stared out at the field. 'Was the flash she saw related to Ron's arrival?'
"Backup my butt." he replied, scowling, "Those kids should be in school, out seeing the world or something. Learning to be adults. It's people like you and me that should be taking on supervillains and vigilante militias."
With a soft fluttering sound, the little naked mole bat landed on Alethea's shoulder. It nervously shifted from foot to foot as if it knew its message was not going to make these people happy.
"Ron says," it squeaked clearly, "good guys dress in black." Its message delivered, it took back off into the growing dawn.
The two Marshals looked at each other, remembering that the last time they had seen Kim and Ronald, they were in the company of at least one Ninja. Ninjas dress in black. Rumor was that Ronald had torn the heart out of a Lowardian hunter to protect Kimberly. They had dealt with her sidekick in the past but when they saw him at Dr. Slim Possible's ranch this summer, the slightly bumbling, good-natured, goof had been replaced by someone much darker and subject to episodes of PTSD. Heck, they both had episodes.
Anthony had been late to the one in the meadow, but he heard that Kimberly pulled a sword on Ronald and he almost killed her, both thinking the other was the Lowardian hunter. His sister had a daughter who had a friend at the NOPE house where Ronald lived on campus and they said there was a "Ronald watch" at night to keep him from destroying the place while having a nightmare by gently waking him up at the first sign of disturbing dreams. 'No,' he thought to himself, 'this Ronald is going to hurt people.'
"'Thea," he said, "We'd best go down and talk to the State Police. Tell them that part of Team Possible is suspected of being held against their will and that these idiots had better turn them loose right now. Because I think that Ronald will mess these guys up."