"You're sure this is the smart thing to do?"

Qrow watched as the boy, Oscar, tilted his head and got a distracted look on his face.

"I'm supposed to say that it isn't smart," he finally said. "But it is necessary."

"Same old Oz," Qrow snickered. He looked out of the airship's open side. The moon was a crescent tonight, meaning that he couldn't guess how high they actually were. He was used to this; the air routes he typically utilized flew with few passengers and even fewer observers.

"He wants to know..." the boy began.

"Look, kid...Oscar," Qrow interrupted. "Just say what he tells you to say. I know you're just the messenger."

"Fine, where do you plan on going first?"

"I've got a little destination in mind," Qrow admitted. "But if you could clue me in a little more on what you want to accomplish, that may change."

Again, the kid got a far away look.

"He...um...with what we've learned so far, I'm concerned that Headmaster Lionheart has been compromised somehow. I think that he's trying to convince the council to defend against an attack from Atlas, upon Windhaven, while the true danger is approaching Kuchinashi from the south."

Qrow chewed that over in his mind, finally nodding.

"I guess it makes sense," he told the boy. "The last live feed off of the CCT system was the Atlesian Mechs attacking Vale. It wouldn't take much to convince Mistral that they're next. Now we come up with big question, why would he do this?"

"Irving is somewhat susceptible to suggestion," Oscar told him, after a few moments. "He's brave and honorable, but someone skilled or clever can alter his judgment. I'm certain he thinks that he's doing the right thing, but if I can see him, undisturbed for a few minutes, I'll be able to break any hold anyone else may have on him."

"In other words," Qrow drawled. "I gotta get you to him, then keep an entire school full of hunters off of your neck, while you unscramble his brains."

"Put somewhat bluntly, yes. Now, where do we go first?"

"Oh, once we land, there's a little place down on Fahise street were I can get my bearings a little bit; maybe get some more information for us."

"Fahise street?" Oscar asked, after his moment of internal listening. "If memory serves, that's not a wholesome neighborhood. What kind of an establishment?"

"Well, they offer certain services...which the finer sort of folks don't approve of being traded...in return for enough lien."

"Prostitution?" The boy yelled at him. "We're dealing with the fate of a kingdom and you're going to drag me to one of...those places?"

"Gee, Oz," Qrow smirked. "I thought you'd be a little more open-minded about certain things."

"This isn't Ozpin! This is me! What are you thinking about?"

"Kid, Mistral has a million secrets, but you have to know where to look. These secrets aren't hidden in the council chambers, opera halls or tea-houses. Not many officials look too close at this little establishment's clientele, so it's a good place to pick up information, goods and services, discretely. Now, as much as the ghost behind your eyes thinks he has a handle on things, what he wants me to do could take a little more muscle than I have right now. If I go to this particular business, I'll be able to arrange for a couple of tough but immoral fellows to back us up when we go to the headmaster's office."

Oscar was silent for a few moments. "Okay, he says that he trusts you, so I guess I don't have much choice in the matter. He says to just keep your mind on the mission and to not get distracted by the other goods...and services...being offered."

"Why Oz," Qrow smirked, pulling a flask from a pocket and taking a healthy pull. "How can you question my morality?"

Oscar's expression remained fixed on the huntsman, telling Qrow that Ozpin didn't consider that statement worthy of a response.

"Besides," he added. "Sirret's girls won't steal Oscar's virtue...probably."

The scared look on the boy's face kept Qrow in a good mood for the rest of the dark flight.


Ren was beyond exhausted when he finally stumbled his way into the hospital room that Nora shared with Yang. In his young life, he had navigated swamps and mountains, he had fought grimm and bandits for hours on end, he had endured training sessions that had left him trembling with fatigue. However, he had never been subjected to a grueling interrogation session, conducted by officials who were convinced their entire kingdom was at risk.

The room's layout meant that he had to first pass by Yang. The blonde was asleep, her snores threatening to rattle the ceiling tiles in their supports. Nora's bed was farther from the door, near the window. His oldest and closest friend wasn't asleep. While she was trying to rest, it was clear that she wouldn't be able to sleep until she knew that he was well.

Much like he wouldn't be able to sleep until he had assured the same about her.

Her eyes, which had been half closed, opened as he approached. For a few moments, the two simply looked at each other. The lines on her face told him that the police and other agents had questioned her harshly, as well. He sighed; they had all known that once they acted, everyone they were associated with would be suspects. His hand clenched involuntarily; the thought of his best friend, lying helpless with a broken leg while being subjected to the grilling that he had faced...

"Settle down," she told him, her old, wry smile appearing and dropping his blood pressure a good ten points. "Nobody likes to be mean to a cripple, so they weren't as nasty as they could have been. After a few hours, they became downright polite. I take it you succeeded."

"Yes," he whispered back, not wanting to wake Yang. "It would also appear that some small portion of the tensions between Mistral and Atlas may have been eased."

"So, chalk up another win," she smiled, although the expression seemed just a little forced. He realized that his was, as well.

"It...could have easily gone badly," he admitted. "We planned as best as we could and moved quickly, before the other side could make plans yet, luck played a very large role. Had chance gone the other way..."

"It's over now," Nora pointed out. "We won, why are you still hung up on it?"

"Nora..." Ren's mouth worked for a few moments, as he tried to put feelings into words. "Last night, when you were talking to Yang, you weren't talking about Ruby and Jaune, were you?"

"No," Nora couldn't meet his eyes, looking instead at her hands worrying at her sheets. "I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be," he told her, prompting her clear, blue eyes to rise to meet his. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I have been blind to something for so long. I thought that we would attend Beacon and become huntsmen, then perhaps deal with certain issues from our past. After that, I was hoping that the two of us..."

"Yes?" Nora's voice was trembling.

"Could perhaps consider...something more than our friendship," he blurted out. "If you were still interested in this. However, it is clear that I was wrong."

"What?" Nora looked dismayed. "You don't want..."

"No! I mean, yes!" He took a deep breath. "What I mean to say is that I thought that my life would be linear; first attaining an education, then facing the past, then looking towards the future...and that you would be happy to simply follow the course I had set the entire time. I did not consider that you might not be satisfied with such a life."

"Ren, I'm always going to stick with you, you know that!"

"But what if you're unable?" He asked. "You were tortured and injured by Torchwick."

"And I'll make a complete recovery," she pointed out.

"That's not the point!" He stressed. "We live a dangerous life, there's no guarantee that either of us will graduate, there's no guarantee that we will manage to...correct Shion. There's no guarantee that either of us will be here tomorrow. If that happens, what was the point of trying to live life in an orderly, step-by-step manner, if the goal is taken away?"

"So what was your goal?" Nora asked, looking like she desperately wanted to hear his answer, and still feared it.

"To live a long and happy life with you, in every capacity for each other that we can."

She realized that his hand was now in hers, their fingers interlaced, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Nora, I know that you have certain feelings for me," he continued. "And I didn't want to admit to those feelings towards you until we reached the proper point in our lives...but what if that proper point doesn't happen? It means we've spent years just..."

"Ren..." Nora interrupted.

"Yes, Nora?"

"This is the time to shut up!"

She tugged gently at his hand, pulling him down towards her. For all the times that they had embraced each other, supporting each other through hard times or triumphs, this felt awkward...but it would be worth it. He was dirty; he had only been able to wipe his face down after poking through the theater, and sweaty from both the theater and the intense grilling he had undergone, but he was right. If they didn't let each other know, beyond any doubt, how they felt about each other now, there may not be a tomorrow to take care of it. She reached up and put her other hand behind his head, drawing his face down to hers. Her eyes closed as something she had wanted for years was about to happen. Then he tensed up.

Her eyes flew open wide, staring into his own. A lifetime of facing hardships together let her read his mind; something had changed, something was wrong! Suddenly, she realized what had changed; Yang was no longer snoring.

With a certain horror, Nora and Ren slowly turned to look at the room's other bed. A pair of large, lilac orbs were shining at them.

"Hey, don't stop on my account," the cheery blonde told them, with a wide smile. "You can work on the dialog a little, but the two of you aren't exactly like the characters in rom-coms or naughty books, so it was about the best you could do, considering. Continue."

Lie Ren was a calm, flexible young man with incredible balance. Without changing expression, without standing up, without even looking at his target, he swung one foot up, caught the privacy curtain and swept it between the two beds. Ignoring the theatrically disappointed groan from the other side, he returned his attention to the young woman with him.

For her part, Yang wasn't upset. She really liked that her friends were getting together that way; it was well worth the loss of sleep to hear them confess. Not only that, the lights in the room were off, leaving the outside light, from the window on Nora's side of the room, as the only illumination. It silhouetted the couple perfectly against the curtain's fabric.

Her smile getting wider by the second, Yang propped her head up on one arm and settled in to watch the show.


"So why is everyone for being so angry with me?" The short man demanded, albeit with a fearful look at the pale green woman looming over him. "We managed to access another reality; place a sphere into another plane of existence and retrieve it safely! That's progress, no?"

"We didn't get the right universe," Drakken glared at him. "We were trying to find...what's the name of the place...Remnant! But we got a reality that was incompatible with human life!"

"And you're for blaming me?" Dementor demanded. "This was the first attempt to replicate the abilities of the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer through mechanical means! You were expecting perfection with the first attempt?"

Drakken held his glare at the smaller man for a several seconds. "I have to expect setbacks," he finally growled at him. "But I have to wonder if this setback was honest or something you devised."

"But Drew," Dementor protested. "What gain am I seeing if I steer you wrong? The impatience that you've already shown over this progress has been very painful to me." He gave Shego a pointed look.

"That's the problem, professor," Drakken paced back and forth in front of his rival...and current prisoner. "I freely admit that you have studied metaphysics a great deal more than I have. You could easily fudge the calculations to get exactly what you wanted...even if it was to just make us waste time. Of course, these calculations are very complex, so errors should be expected."

"Drakken..." Dementor tried to speak, only for the blue man to interrupt him again.

"Of course, you were working on your own scheme before Kim Possible and...er...the young man who's name escapes me, stopped you. Just what were you getting from Remnant?"

"You already know," Dementor protested. "I was getting the grimm."

"Not hardly," Drakken sneered. "A handful of modified bears and some stereotyped werewolves? In return for assault rifles and nuclear warheads? Neither of us are dealers, but we're not that foolish. You must have done better than that! What were you trying to get?"

"I was trying to get a dragon!" The prisoner insisted.

"Just a big target!" Drakken insisted. "Sure, it may be big and powerful; but one pass from a modern fighter jet and it's splattered across the landscape and dissipating! You must have gotten something else, what was it?"

"I'm telling you, nothing!"

"Should I apply a little more pain?" Shego suggested. "A little bit of 'Dementor goes ouch' might make him a little more forthcoming."

"How will we know if he's telling the truth?" Drakken demanded. "He'll say anything to make the hurting stop and he's clever enough to get us to believe whatever he tells us! I don't want to go through the time and effort of another trial if we don't know for sure that we're at least aiming for the right point...er...the correct probability and time! If only..." Drakken's dark eyes suddenly flew wide.

"Drew?" Shego asked.

"Why don't Dr. Possible, Miss Flanner and Kim Possible head up to the lounge?" A smile had taken up residence on Drakken's face and was widening by the second. "Shego, take the hobbit up there as well. Everyone get comfortable and get ready to record, because I think we're going to be talking for a long, long time!" He spun on his heel and headed for the passage to his personal quarters.

"Drakken, what are you doing?" Shego demanded.

"Just going to go through some old mementos," he chuckled, and for once he sounded suitably evil. "I'll meet you all in the lounge!"

Once out of sight of everyone else, he broke into a most undignified sprint to the large storage chambers next to his quarters. Tearing through the containers in a hasty manner that simply wouldn't do for a genius of his caliber to be seen doing, he found his quarry after several minutes' search.

"So the little pest thinks he's going to have the last laugh, does he?" Drakken again chuckled, evilly, as he confirmed that the gadget had a full charge. Hiding it in one of his lab coat's large pockets, he made his way to the elevator.

Upon getting off of the elevator, he noted the people who were gathered around the lounge and where they were. Dementor was sitting on an overstuffed couch, near the largest set of windows. Perfect! Deciding that a certain amount of drama would enhance his ruthless credibility, he walked purposefully towards the windows, allowing the rest of the occupants to see him and Dementor, with the panoramic view from the mountaintop providing a backdrop.

"Okay, Drakken, what are you up to?" Shego asked. Drakken noted with an inner smile that almost everyone, including Dementor, had some sort of refreshment in hand. Taking the scene from casual to dramatic would be great!

"What I should have done the moment you brought this undersized, conniving liar into my lair!" Drakken snarled. Using a quick, yet unhurried motion, he pulled the ray gun he had recovered out of his pocket and aimed it at his former rival. "Try feeding us your lies now, professor!"

Dementor's eyes flew wide and he jumped to his feet. To the side, Kim Possible screamed at Drakken to stop. Dr. Possible yelled something about still needing the small man. Drakken only smiled and pulled the trigger. Searing yellow light burst from the gun to engulf Dementor. The physicist stood for only a moment, mouth open in shock, before slumping back onto the couch.

"Drew, you idiot!" James grabbed his old schoolmate's arm, pulling the gun from his hand. "We needed him to recover Ronald!"

"Oh! What was that you shot me with?" Dementor grumbled, trying to struggle to his feet.

"That ray was always a little disorienting," Drew admitted. "Nothing's perfect. Now, Dementor, do you intend to cooperate with us from now on?"

"No!" The prisoner insisted. "I'm going to continue to mislead you for my own purposes until..."

Dementor slapped his hands over his own mouth, his eyes even wider than when Drakken pointed the gun at him.

"The truth ray!" Kim suddenly exclaimed. "Of course!"

"I can't believe that it took me until now to recall it," Drakken shook his head and recovered the gun from his old college classmate, dropping it back into his pocket.

"So what was with the whole execution scene!" Shego demanded.

"All work and no play makes Drakken a dull genius. Now, why don't we all settle in? This is going to be a long, long talk. Dementor, was that an honest, but failed attempt to reach Remnant or did you intentionally direct us away from our goal?"

Professor Dementor planted his hands over his mouth and refused to speak. Drakken sighed, "Shego..."

The aforementioned woman simply ignited a finger and placed it, gently, on Dementor's shoulder.

"I-it was an intentional error!" Dementor promptly said. "I didn't want to access Remnant!"

"Why not?" Kim demanded, now stalking her long-time foe. "I just want to get Ron back, how is that harming you?"

"Because once you retrieve your liebhaber, you'll quit searching," Dementor's expression clearly showed that he didn't want to talk.

"And why do you want us to keep searching?" Drakken interrupted. The blue man took his own advice and sat in a comfortable chair, making a great show of getting comfortable.

"It is the research I was doing with the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer," Dementor blurted out. The small man rolled his eyes, realizing that he was unable to not talk. Shrugging his shoulders, he sighed deeply and realized he was about to spill his secrets.

"So if you were studying Remnant, why didn't you want us to return?" Kim was very confused, but took a seat herself.

"I wasn't studying Remnant's universe!" He shook his head. "I was studying the...theoretic probability that this reality occupies."

"Okay, I'm sure I won't understand it, but do the best you can to explain it," Kim prompted.

"Every reality has a beginning and an end," he told her, after a moment of thought. "Those physicists who have studied the multiverse tend to believe that there are an infinite number of universes and that each is capable of spawning an infinite number of daughter universes."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kim noted that Justine perked up.

"I will admit that I once held this belief," he continued. "But it is not correct! The multiverse has a single multi-point that spawns realities. All realities come into existence, age and die!"

"A universe can die?" Drakken scoffed. "How can radiation, plasma, gas and rock die?"

"Look at the rock that is under your feet right now," Dementor retorted. "It is composed of calcium, silicone, oxygen, hydrogen, iron, aluminum and other elements, no? Were these elements always combined to form this stone? Will they always be? Were the subatomic particles that form the elements always combined into these elements, and will they always be?"

"No," Justine interrupted. "Our short lifespans don't allow us to appreciate how granite decomposes, but we understand that it happens. We understand that the heavier elements are produced from lighter ones, inside super-massive stars. Why shouldn't we be able to grasp the fact that even the subatomic particles may come from somewhere, or something, and only remain in their present state for a finite time?"

"Exactly, my dear," Dementor actually smiled at this. "The clever Fraulein has grasped the beginnings of a concept that I have been researching. You see, my previous research indicated such a flow of reality from a starting datum point to a finale. All realities are created. At the beginning, they teem with what I shall call creation; stars form, matter is created from chaos and energy. However, this creation gives way to decay as the reality ages; stars collapse or go nova, galaxies drift apart, eventually, the very subatomic particles will unravel, leaving only something that I call protomater."

"And what happens to this debris?" Drakken sneered, not willing to concede that his rival was studying something much deeper than he had ever contemplated.

"I can only theorize that there is some form of recycling taking place," Dementor told him. The blue man wondered if the truth ray was still necessary; he knew from experience that once a mad scientist started to rant, it was hard to stop.

"In some way, this protomater is taken back to the origin data point," Dementor continued. "Perhaps even placed in a stockpile before being used to create another reality, so that the journey begins anew."

"So that's what all of this is about?" Kim demanded, getting angrier with every word. "I...er...we lost Ron because you wanted to prove your theories about how realities generate and age?"

"Of course not!" Dementor managed to look offended, despite being a prisoner. "I wanted to access this act of recycling and recreation! I wanted to put my hand on it and tap a portion of the awesome power! Imagine what one could do with such power at his command!"

"Yeah," Shego drawled. "What were you intending to do with that kind of power?"

For several, long minutes, Dementor simply stared at her, open-mouthed.

"I hadn't thought about that," he admitted, the truth ray still holding sway over his vocalizations. "But I'm sure I would have come up with something. Power such as that would re-write the concept of infinite!"

"Gee, the two of you are more alike than I thought," the green woman quipped, with a pointed look at Drakken.

"Now's not the time," the blue man grumbled, rather absentmindedly. "Dementor, why were you continuing to interact with Remnant if this reality wasn't your final goal?"

"I was first confirming my theories of the multiple realities!" Dementor snarled back. "When I first started, I didn't realize how much interaction there could be between them, how much they could parallel each other! I also took advantage of the interaction to assure that I would be able to continue my studies and experiments!"

"What do you mean, paralleling?" Kim demanded. "Is Remnant like Earth?"

"It is very similar," he answered. "You see, it follows our reality. The medium through which realities flow has...for the want of a better term, imperfections. These imperfections affect realities in different ways, even allowing a reflection, or shadow from one to affect another. The atmosphere, temperature, climate and chemical composition of the soil are so similar that one from Earth would feel quite at home on Remnant. However, there are other similarities; they speak English on all of Remnant. Their technology is similar to ours...they are far more advanced than us in robotics and certain forms of medicine. Our physics and chemistry is more advanced than theirs. But that's not all, some people on Earth have reflections on Remnant...someone who has a very strong resemblance to him or her."

"Take yourself, Fraulein Possible; Remnant could very well play host to a redheaded young woman with incredible fighting skills," he told her, when he saw everyone's blank stares. "She very well could have become associated with a young, blonde man who seems a complete dummkopf, but who really has surprising strengths and abilities. She could very well find herself in conflict with an alluring yet psychopathic woman who throws fire, or other energy from her hands. However, the ways in which one reality can leave a shadow upon another are myriad! Take that fanatiker Fiske, for example. There is every possibility that there is someone on Remnant that has monkey features, but is kindly. There is also every possibility that there is someone on Remnant that is every bit the verruckt that he is...but perhaps has aspects of another animal. Two shadows, each with some aspect of him!"

For a short time, everyone contemplated this.

"I must immediately invest in a greeting card company," Drakken broke the silence. Everyone, Dementor included, simply stared at him.

"Think of it!" Drakken answered their stares. "We've already managed to send a probe across the realities. We will eventually refine this so that it goes faster and more safely, then we will let the world's governments know what we have accomplished. When that happens, when the public learns that they have reflections of themselves living in another reality, don't you think people are going to want to communicate with their doppelganger? What's the first step? Sending them a greeting card! I'll be rich!"

"You fool!" Dementor spat. "We stand to re-write our species' understanding of physics and religion...and all you can think of is how to make a few dollars?"

"Of course I understand the implications," Drakken protested. "But investigating them is much easier with a fat bank account. Anyway, were you just firing blind with where we sent the probe, or did you have a specific destination?"

"I misled you to a specific reality," he answered. Again, Dementor put a hand over his mouth.

"So, we seem to have hit a nerve again," Drakken chuckled. To his delight, he had the evil chortle working pretty well today. "So tell me, what was the significance of this reality you tricked us into sending the probe to?"

"If you are such a genius, why are you ending sentences with a preposition?"

"Don't sidetrack the question!" Drakken snarled. "What is the significance of this reality?"

Shego discretely edged a little closer to the small physicist.

"It is the home reality of Yono the Destroyer," he grumbled, clearly not happy about talking.

Kim caught her breath.

"Why choose that particular reality?"

"Several reasons," the prisoner told him. "Because it is a reality that precedes our own on the path towards oblivion, or so I speculate, so it gives me a greater understanding on how realities decay. The Yono himself is a powerful being, but he draws life from our reality into his own. His own reality has lost the ability to create, so he trades destruction for the life he needs to continue his existence."

"So what was that piece of stone you insisted go along?" Kim demanded. "Was it really Remnant technology?"

"No," Dementor flinched, clearly expecting some unpleasant consequences. "One of the items my contact in Remnant provided me with was limited knowledge in manipulating souls."

"What sort of limited knowledge?"

"The ability to capture and contain a soul that is unattached; under certain circumstances."

"What sort of circumstances?" Drakken demanded.

"Fine!" Dementor threw up his hands in exasperation. "You'll keep badgering me until I tell you! That stone was the heart from Montgomery Fiske's stone form! We were able to send it to the Yono's dimension, where it captured Fiske's soul! It is glowing because his soul is now inside of it!"

Again, silence reigned in the lounge.

"What were you going to do with it?" Kim finally managed to demand.

"I needed it to pay off an associate for the work she was doing!"

"Amy!" Kim snapped at him. "Amy is the only one who would be interested in Fiske's soul! What was she doing for you and what was she going to do with that stone?"

"What she was doing? She was creating more forms of grimm for me."

"What?" Kim demanded. "But you were importing grimm from Remnant! We saw you doing this!"

"Those grimm were simply to give her more ideas, to show her what my contact used as common muscle and terror. Amy had already developed very powerful grimm, but they were unstable, short lived and difficult to control."

"Wait, Amy was already forming grimm?" Kim's face reflected the horror she felt. "How?"

"The rules of physics are different in Remnant's reality than in ours," Dementor told her. "We have certain elements, such as uranium and plutonium...even lead, that they don't have. On the other hand, they have certain...minerals...that we do not, such as dust. Their use of dust can almost seem like magic to us...while our grasp of chemistry and physics using those elements we have leave them stunned."

"Not answering the question!"

"I'm getting there!" Dementor showed all the indignity of a professor, and scientist, interrupted in mid-lecture. "There are several forms of this dust, and one of the more rare is a dark form that I call hate dust. Using crystals of this hate dust, someone skilled in dust use and knowledgeable in anatomy can channel negative emotion into living matter and create grimm."

"I'd call you a liar if you weren't under the influence of my ray," Drakken told him. "But how did Amy get these skills?"

"I told you before that several people on Remnant are reflections of people on Earth," Dementor now looked like a professor staring down a student who hadn't remembered a lecture. "I believe that my contact, named Salem, is a reflection of Amy. Both are driven, knowledgeable in anatomy and very amoral. To put it simply...for your benefit, Drakken, Amy is a natural at it."

"But to what purpose?" Kim interrupted. "Why bring in Amy to create powerful grimm?"

"Because I knew that the authorities would have a very negative reaction to my efforts to tap the ultimate power," Dementor told her. "They are so narrow-minded! I'll admit that there was a minor possibility of some negative side-effects of accessing the act of creating creation itself..."

"Wait!" Drakken interrupted. "What is the side effect and what was the probability?"

"The side effect would have been the demolition of the solar system, down to the subatomic scale," Dementor told him. "And the probability was roughly twenty-two percent."

"You have to speak the lingo if you want to get results," Drakken informed Kim. "Carry on, Dementor."

"So I needed a force capable of preventing such fools from preventing my work." The aforementioned man concluded. "I made a deal with Amy; she would create this force while I would bring her beloved Fiske's soul back from its fate."

"Hold on here," surprisingly, it was Justine who interrupted this time. "You were willing to risk the entire Earth, the entire Solar system, for a chance to experience a moment of ultimate creation?"

"Of course! What is a lifetime of mundane existence compared to the moment of merging with the act of creation itself? The entire world would have experienced this!"

"And if anyone chose not to?" She prompted.

"They are fools! They are unworthy to decide their own fate!"

"The discussion about free will and self determination can wait for another day," Shego stepped into the conversation. "Let me get this straight, the preparations for this little endeavor of yours were going to be extensive, and they would have probably caught someone's notice. I'm not talking about Global Justice sending in a dozen agents on hovercraft, armed with glorified tasers. I'm talking strike aircraft, special forces teams...maybe even entire regiments of heavily armed and supported elite troops. How were your henchmen going to hold that off?"

"That is the advantage of using the grimm." Now, Dementor appeared smug. "They do not need to eat or even to breath, they survive and grow off of negative emotions. I was already setting up a lair on Kongsoya Island, and moving grimm into secret tunnels."

"Okay, I don't know anything about this island, but I'm willing to bet it isn't exactly heavily populated. How do you keep these grimm things fed if there are no negative emotions to work with?"

"The same way Amy created them," he smirked. "Salem gave us some of these hate crystals, which could absorb and store negative emotions. Amy had several of her little creatures carry these to riots, demonstrations, even rivalry sporting events, wherever anger would be expressed en mass. Grimm grow large and strong on a diet of hate and sorrow, and Earth has a much larger and more diverse and conflicted population than Remnant. Amy has already created numerous creatures of great strength."

"Wait just a minute," Drakken interrupted. He was squinting his eyes and rubbing his temples slowly , obviously trying to digest information and come up with a conclusion he might not like. "You're saying that Amy can create large, frightening creatures that don't need to be fed, don't need to breathe and don't produce waste?"

"Yes."

"And these creatures are completely obedient to her?"

"Ja!"

"And she has all of the hate that the world's politics, rivalries, bad movies and boy-bands can generate to fuel them?"

"Yes."

"So she can move them, discretely, into just about any place she wants to and they can be kept there with a minimal interaction with the outside world?"

"Exactly."

Drakken's dark eyes narrowed. "About that soul heart, or whatever it is; can someone with the proper technology detect that we now have it?"

"Yes," Dementor clearly didn't like the route this line of questioning had taken.

"And does this mountain, which will shield electromagnetic transmissions, block such signals that a soul produces?" Drakken was looking part pleased with himself, part fearful.

"...no..."

"We have to move!" Drakken told those around him. "Amy could be closing in on us, right now."

"But why now?" James Possible asked.

"We're at our most vulnerable," Kim told him. "With the mechanism powered down for maintenance, Drakken released Team Go back to their city. Right now, Shego and I are the only...enforcers...other than some henchmen."

"But there's no way that Amy could know that we're on to her!" James protested.

"No, but she probably knows that the heart is here and she can probably guess that we're going to be down for maintenance, and thus under-guarded." Drakken told him, poking at a communications device. "We put this endeavor together in a hurry, shortly after acquiring Dementor here. Someone who has contacts with the criminal underworld, who knew what happened to...the young man whose name I cannot recall...and is clever could easily guess what we're up to and where. Amy is just such a person. Add to that, Team Go isn't being secretive about being back on the prowl in their city, and a calculating person could guess that the best time to strike is now. There, I have all the henchmen on alert and arming themselves."

"I'll go get the heart," Shego offered. "I think the princess here is more than capable of handling the hobbit if he decides to make a break for it."

"Right," Drakken nodded as she thumped the button to the elevator. "But that begs the question; what do we do with the thing?"

"Leave that to me," James pulled his phone from his pocket. "At the space center, we handle certain dangerous or valuable components that are vital to national security. I have the clearance, so I'll be able to arrange storage at the depository in Fort Knox. I don't know how powerful these grimm are, but the defenses there are formidable; and there's an armored brigade close by."

"I'm contacting Dr. Director," Kim added, working with the Kimmunicator. "I'll see if I can get Team Go to come up here and transport it. Once it's away from here, I don't think that Amy will bother us."

The elevator hissed open again, disgorging a half-dozen henchmen with shock-staffs. Drakken quietly directed them to various points around the lounge.

"This is frustrating," the blue-man commented. "I'm preparing for an attack that I hope doesn't happen, and I have no idea if it is actually going to take place."

"Got it!" Kim said, with a certain amount of satisfaction. "Team Go is getting loaded up right now, they'll be here in an hour or so."

"I don't know if that will be fast enough," Justine told her.

"Oh?"

Kim looked to her former classmate, to see the other girl staring out the window in a sort of horrified fascination. Following her gaze, the redhead looked out the window to see a vast, black bird flying towards the lounge.

"Everybody to the control room!" she snapped. "It will be safer down there!"

Fortunately, Drakken never skimped when it came to his infrastructure. It was a tight fit, but the eleven managed to squeeze inside even as the giant, black bird slammed into the large windows. Cracks formed spiderweb patterns and the massive thing was backing off for another run when the doors closed. There was no speaking on the elevator; the occupants listening to shattering glass fading away above them.

Drakken led the way out of the elevator, stepping briskly once they reached the control room. He quickly activated all of the screens, then placed a chair in the elevator opening, so that it couldn't be called up to the lounge.

"Okay, what's the sitch?" Kim asked him. "Where can attackers come in?"

"There's the elevator shaft and the stairway," the blue man informed her. "Of course, that's a secure door in the stairway, but I'm sure Amy is going to have some way of dealing with that."

"Okay, that's for this room," Kim noted. "How about the main facility?"

"There's the vehicle shaft," Drakken admitted, now poking at a terminal. "They can probably get in there fairly easily. However, the only openings into this room are the elevator shaft and the stairwell.

"So we can be trapped in here, fairly easily," Kim grumbled. "We either make a break for it or we hole up and hope that we can hold out until help arrives."

"Team Go is roughly an hour away," her father pointed out.

Chittering from one of the workstations drew everyone's attention to Rufus.

"Global Justice is closer," Drakken announced, looking at the screen the naked mole rat was seated at. "The little fellow sent another request to Dr. Director. She's putting together a strike team right now and arming them appropriately! They'll be here in half an hour. Good work, little guy!"

Rufus blushed at the praise, with his paw moving tilting in an 'it was nothing' gesture.

"Okay, we hole up!" Kim decided. She and the rest of the occupants suddenly startled as Shego burst in from the stairway.

"Got the rock," the woman declared, holding up the glowing heart. "What's the plan?"

"This is our fort," Drakken informed her. "Could you do the honors and see to it that the door can't be opened?"

Shego simply smiled, shoved the stone heart into a thigh pocket, ignited one hand and started to force-weld the heavy door to the frame.

"We've got company," Justine announced. One of the large screens showed dark creatures, that looked like Hollywood werewolves, swarming into the lounge through the broken windows. The occupants of the control room got a few minutes of watching a couple of them force the elevator door open while others were battering through all of the doors in the room, then the picture vanished.

"It would appear that either someone is directing them, or else they're very intelligent," Justine pointed out. "They're opening all the doors, looking for stairs while getting into the elevator shaft; and they took out the camera."

"You two," Drakken pointed at two of his henchmen. "Make sure he doesn't escape." The blue-man indicated Dementor. He then walked to a cabinet and pulled out three more shock-staffs, offering them to Kim, James Possible and Justine. He also had a replica of Kim's old grapple gun for the redhead.

"I don't know how to fight," Justine pointed out, James nodded his agreement.

"I don't think that these things are going to accept a surrender," Drew countered, his voice serious. "If it comes to it...well..."

"I understand," James accepted the staff, as did the two young women. Kim also holstered the grapple at her side. Moments later, scratching sounded from the roof of the elevator cab.

"We have more company," Justine informed them, pointing at a screen. Most of the occupants stared, open-mouthed, at a screen that showed a jet-black badger, the size of an elephant and with bone plates over its head. The creature smashed down the door leading from the vehicle shaft to the main chamber. Behind it, a line of creatures that looked like chimpanzees and orangutans, also jet black with bone plates, burst into the chamber and spread throughout the facility.

"They may be looking for the cameras, or even for a way in here," Drakken informed his companions. "If it's the latter, the jokes on them. There are no windows to weaken this room's integrity, I use cameras to observe everything."

"You might want to cut down on the gloating," Shego informed him. "The company is here."

Pounding sounded from the door she was guarding, rattling it in its frame. The green-hued woman had done an excellent job of jamming it shut. Dents appeared in the metal as whatever was on the other side sought to batter it's way through the door, rather than force it open. After several minutes, a rent opened in the door and a clawed paw forced its way through. Shego slashed with an energized hand, chopping off the appendage. A yelp, sounding much like a whipped dog, could be heard from the other side of the door as the appendage was withdrawn. One of the henchmen thrust his charged staff through the opening, prompting more yelps. Kim stared with a certain horror at the paw, which dissipated into black smoke.

"These things aren't alive!" Kim gasped. "We don't have to hold back when we fight them!"

"I wasn't about to, princess," Shego snapped at her longtime nemesis. Another paw tore at the edges of the hole in the door. Shego crushed it against the jagged metal.

"Why are they doing that?" Justine demanded, pointing at the wall of screens. Kim looked, and her heart fell when she realized that the giant badger and a couple of the simian grimm were tearing at the nested spheres.

"That wasn't part of our deal!" Dementor roared. "I needed the equipment intact!"

Any answers had to wait. The door absorbed still more impacts, denting as powerful blows hit it with increasing frequency. Now the elevator cab started to shake violently, both the floor and ceiling denting as creatures attempted to force their way in from both above and below. Suddenly, a section of the floor fell away and a dark chimpanzee forced its way up through the gap. With a single, smooth motion, Drakken drew his ray gun and fired, hitting the creature between its eyes. It looked confused for a moment, then continued to force its way up through the floor and into the cab.

"Why did I shoot it with a truth ray?" Drakken grumbled to himself.

"Because you are an idiot," Dementor answered. At Drakken's harsh glare, the smaller man held up his arms. "I cannot lie while the ray affects me, can I?"

Kim couldn't spare the time to listen to any additional banter; she jumped forward, executed a front flip and brought her shock-staff down with all of the momentum she had generated. Caught halfway through the hole in the cab's floor, the creature couldn't avoid the strike. She clearly heard bones breaking and the dark chimp was knocked back the way it had come.

"Keep out of the elevator!" Drakken warned. "There's no telling when either the floor or the roof will give way!"

The warning proved timely. Half of the floor was ripped off from below while a section of the roof was also torn free. One of the werewolves dropped from the hole in the ceiling...and promptly fell through the hole in the floor. Kim rolled her eyes despite the dire situation; it did not appear that the assailants were overly burdened with intelligence. An orangutan grimm sprang from the hole in the floor to meet her strike. Both bludgeoned and shocked, it sprawled back and fell through the hole in the floor. A werewolf swung in from above, but one of the henchmen caught it with a thrust. Quivering from the shock, it too fell through the floor.

A loud series of chitters drew Kim's attention back to a workstation, where Rufus was gesturing frantically at one of the screens. This one showed the main chamber, with the nesting spheres and the delicate mechanisms broken and scattered. Kim didn't have time to mourn the loss of time and effort; the giant badger was reared up against one of the chamber walls.

"Drakken!" The redhead shouted at the host. "What's on the other side of the wall that thing is leaning against?"

"Er...us," he answered.

Horrified, Kim could only stare, dumbfounded, as it leaned back away from the all and then surged forward, falling onto the rough stone. The wall that held the viewing screens collapsed inward, sending stones, dust and electronics tumbling throughout the control room. Through the maelstrom, she could see the giant beast drop below the opening and a few minutes later, simian grimm started to climb through the breach.

"Princess and I have the big breach!" Shego's roar sounded through the confusion. "Two henchmen cover the stairs and and two more cover the elevator. Everyone else is in reserve!"

As much as Kim didn't care for Shego, she had to admit that her former nemesis had a sharp mind under pressure. The two women were the most lethal fighters and would be needed at the largest opening. The stairwell and elevator were narrow openings and could be covered by the henchmen. There was no time to think any deeper, no time to wonder how long it would take Global Justice to arrive. There was only time to strike a chimp in the head, followed by a spin kick that sent an orangutan flying back into the main chamber. Next to her, Shego was a green dervish, shredding with claws and burning opponents with plasma. Kim soon lost herself in the rhythm of fighting, trying to keep the creatures out of the control room while not interfering with Shego. A couple of the creatures got past the two women, but were quickly incapacitated by the reserve henchmen. Then disaster struck.

Maybe the simian grimm were more intelligent that the werewolf grimm; maybe the giant badger was somehow directing their efforts or maybe Amy was coordinating the attack. Suddenly, the badger reared up in front of the opening again, but this time it was covered with simian grimm. The dark apes swarmed through the opening, overrunning the two women. It was chaos; Kim saw one of the chimps grab Justine by the hair, only to have Rufus sink his teeth into the offending paw. Drakken was grappling with one of the creatures until a henchman came to his aid, inadvertently shocking both the grimm and the scientist. Her father was holding an orangutan at bay with a shock staff while the rest of the henchmen seemed to be holding their own. Then a werewolf jumped on her father from behind.

Kim sprang away from her own opponent as the creature drove her father to the ground. Tumbling under a swipe from another grimm, she managed to jam the end of her staff into the creature's mouth before it could sink its teeth into her father's throat. Continuing her attack, she forced the thing completely off of her father before activating the shock, delivering the charge deep in the creature's gullet. It dropped, but now another development drew her attention. Four grimm suddenly jumped on top of Shego, forcing her to the ground. Leaving her father behind, Kim lunged to assist Shego as still more of the creatures climbed in from the main chamber.

A henchman reached the scrum first, swinging his staff like a baseball bat. He didn't have a great deal of skill, but he made up for it with strength, sending the dark chimp off and into the main chamber. Kim reached the tangle and delivered a pair of thrusts that drove both an orangutan and a chimp away from the snarling, growling woman. While Shego dealt with the last orangutan, another chimp scuttled in close and tore the thigh pocket off of her clothing. Before anyone could catch the creature, it jumped through the opening and into the main chamber, carrying the stone heart with it.

Two more grimm, a simian and a werewolf, attacked the teenager, preventing her from pursuing the one with Fiske's soul. By the time she had dealt with her two latest attackers, another werewolf burst from the stairs and plowed bodily into her father. The rocket scientist was sent sliding across the control room floor and through the opening. Kim didn't think, didn't register the fact that Rufus jumped onto her and clung to her back, she simply launched herself at her father, drawing and firing her grapple gun. She drove a shoulder into the rocket scientist and by some miracle, the grappling hook caught something on the far side of the chamber. She activated the recoil, redirecting them from a downward plunge to an arching swoop. Hitting the ground, they both rolled and tumbled across the floor.

Kim was on her feet in an instant, ready for the converging grimm. Her father was stunned and unable to get to his feet, not used to such violence. Still, Kim quickly dispatched the first of the werewolves that approached. Reminding herself that she only needed to hold out for a few more minutes before help arrived, she forced down her exhaustion, re-directed an oncoming chimp and planted a foot squarely in the belly of an attacking orangutan. She recovered from her kick just a bit too slow and another chimp tackled her. One of the werewolves jumped on her and she managed to get her staff up to block, but she was now pinned to the ground, unable to get to her feet. She barely kept the werewolf's jaws away from her face, but she could hear more creatures closing in. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the badger closing on her father. Rufus placed himself between the rocket scientist and the huge creature, but there was no way he could stop it.

She tried to kick free but another simian grimm, she couldn't tell the exact type, caught her legs. The werewolf bore down on her, hits jaws getting closer to her face while the badger grimm was now about to take her father in its jaws, ignoring Rufus' frantic bites at its leg. It was going to end, she realized. She was about to lose her father, then her own life and there was nothing she could do, nobody to help.

And then he was there!

With a loud pop, Ron was suddenly standing between her and her father. He was barefoot and shirtless, confused and disoriented, but he was there. The blonde man took a quick look around and realized that her father was in the greatest danger. Rushing forward he pulled the rocket scientist away from the massive grimm. When the creature continued to advance, he jumped forward, now glowing blue, and delivered a massive, double-handed blow to its head, dropping it to the ground. Heartened by the new development, Kim felt a surge of energy course through her, keeping the werewolf's jaws away from her for a few more seconds.

Those seconds proved to be enough, as suddenly a familiar, glowing blade sheared through the creature's skull. The redhead managed to free a leg and kick the grimm holding her legs in the jaw while another swing of the Lotus Blade eliminated the chimp that was grappling her. She executed a back-spring and was on her feet, next to Ron.

"After all of this, grimm monkeys," the boy shook his head. "It's always monkeys! What's the sitch?"

"Bad guys are swarming a secret lab," Kim told him, her heart rising to hear the question.

"That's pretty standard," he answered, stabbing a werewolf.

"We have backup," she told him. "Global Justice should arrive any minute."

"That's different," he commented, helping her father to his feet. Ron nudged the rocket scientist to the chamber's wall, where he and Kim could keep between the still dazed man and the dark creatures who were closing again.

"Drakken and Shego are on our side this time," Kim continued, landing an up-strike to an orangutan's chin.

"That's very different," he quipped, now wincing as if he were in pain.

Kim didn't have time to concern herself over his well-being; the grimm were closing in again. The badger led the charge.

"The big guy has to go," Ron rasped.

"You do the honors," Kim instructed. "I'll cover you." She matched her words with actions, springing forward to sweep a chimpanzee's legs from under it, then kick a werewolf under the chin. Ron spared the Lotus Blade a glance, then was suddenly holding a large war-hammer. His technique was something Kim was not familiar with, although she had to admit that it was effective; jumping forward, executing a double flip and striking the beast's head. The shriek of pure, joyful exuberance was something that seemed strangely out of character for him.

Even the grimm were taken aback by the powerful blow that dropped the strongest of their number. Still, after a moment's hesitation, they rallied and came on again. Suddenly, Ron was holding a large scythe, like something the grim reaper would use. Smiling at the ironic appropriateness of the thought, Kim took up a position at his side, and the two went to work on the oncoming mass. Although the two had not seen each other for months, they were still in sync with each other, keeping close enough to support each other but far enough away that they didn't entangle themselves. The grimm dropped like pins in front of a bowling ball, sliced, shocked or bludgeoned. The horde was thinning when a large crash sounded from behind them.

Kim gasped with relief when she saw the source; a Global Justice strike team had just forced its way into the main chamber, and it was armed with some heavy weaponry. The last of the grimm in the main chamber were quickly nothing more than fading smoke while up on one wall, Shego tossed the last of the grimm out of the hole in the control room. Strangely, she did not look happy but Kim had a more immediate concern.

He was back! The enemies were gone, her father was fine, and he was back! Kim threw herself into Ron's arms, wrapping her own arms around his shoulders and holding him close. Finally, by some miracle, he was here where he belonged! She wanted to kiss him, but that would mean loosening her hold a little, and there was no way she was going to do that. His arms tightened around her waist and she wrapped her legs around him, clinging to him as if he could vanish in a second. There were stories that would have to be told, information about this other reality that would have to be shared, others would need to reconnect with him but for right now, surrounded by the shattered remnants of one of Drakken's contraptions, she finally felt at home again.

His shudder, and hiss of pain, prompted Kim to release him. She hadn't seen him take any hits during the fight, but she suddenly realized that she didn't know what kind of condition he was in when he appeared.

"Ron, what is it?" She asked him.

"I...don't know,' he stammered. "It's...everywhere!"

With a scream, he covered his eyes. Horrified, Kim noted that he looked like he was covered with an angry, red rash. Her horror only increased as the rash visibly got worse, looking like an invisible file was grinding at his flesh. She stepped forward to hug him again, but realized that touching him would hurt him. How could she comfort him, shelter him against this?

"What can I do?" She demanded.

"I...don't..." He managed to gasp, then he stood straight and rigid.

An expression that combined confusion, relief and...something else came over his face. Suddenly, a luminous, brown sheen encased him and he vanished. There was a loud pop, as air rushed into the space he had stood a moment ago. Kim screamed, a wail of loss and anguish as the only sign that her soul mate had been there was the Lotus Blade, still in the form of a scythe.


What had just happened? After her initial scream, Weiss regained her self control. Forcing herself to think, to recall exactly what happened before he vanished, she recognized the expression on his face; the rapturous feeling of activating your semblance for the first time. The only question was, what exactly did the semblance do? Where had he gone?

Her musings were cut short by a burst of brown light and a short gust of air. The light didn't fade, but grew into a larger mass, an oblong shape higher than she was tall and wider than her shoulders. With a loud pop, it vanished to reveal Ron, standing in the space that it had occupied.

Her sense of relief was quickly overridden by a closer look at him. He was covered with contusions; like rough sandpaper had abraded every inch of his body. He looked around, frightened, his eyes red and seeping blood.

"Kim?" He gasped. "I can't see!"

"No, it's me, Weiss!" She assured him, reaching out to touch his hand, even though she was touching raw and damaged flesh.

"Weiss, I was there," he grabbed her hand, a look of wonder on his face. "I was on Earth, with Kim! There were grimm there and we were fighting them! Then, everything started to hurt and now I'm back here, but I can't see!"

"Sit down," she ordered, gently guiding him to the bed. Now she had something she could deal with. She hadn't known what to do about him vanishing, but now that he was here and injured, the course of action was obvious. She grabbed her scroll and summoned an ambulance, then rushed to the bathroom, moistened a towel with cold water, and returned to her companion.

He was sobbing with pain; and perhaps emotions, and he hissed when she spread the chilled cloth on him. He managed to regain some composure when the cold soothed his raw skin.

"Help is on the way," she assured him. "We'll get you to a hospital and figure out what happened to you."

He could only nod, still trembling in agony. She returned to the bathroom and prepared another towel. Coming back with the cloth, she stopped cold. At first she assumed that a section of his flesh had sloughed off, but then the pink mass moved, spreading the towel more evenly across his abused back. It was some kind of rodent, but it had no fur and its front teeth were exposed, even when it's mouth was shut. She was somewhat bemused that Ron had no reaction to its presence but became really confused when it looked at her, gave a short wave and a cheery "hi-yo!"


A/N: As always, I welcome comments from anyone.

Big thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for his Beta Reading.