Somewhere, in a dark, dirty, dank, disgusting...

"All right already! I get the point! Shego!" Dr. Drakken yelled for his assistant, not realizing that she had gone shopping. "Oooh, where is that girl?" He punched at a keyboard, frustrated. "Grrr. I should have known this wouldn't work!" He glared at the computer screen on which he had been reading statistics on Kim Possible. The data was extremely verbose, singing Kim's praises and basically informing Drakken that he had absolutely no chance of ever defeating her. Of course, Drakken didn't believe it, but he was tired of reading about Kim Possible's vaunted talents. He was hitting his head repeatedly against the computer monitor, when a door slid open in the back of the room, revealing a young woman with black hair, extremely pale skin, and a strange outfit of green and black.

"Let me guess, you hacked into my file on Kim Possible?" Shego asked with a bored air.

"Yes! And it hasn't told me ANYTHING helpful!" Drakken wailed. Shego smirked at him and dropped her two large shopping bags on a nearby chair. She sauntered over to the computer and reached behind Drakken, switching it off.

"Yeah, duh. That's because it's MY file on Kim Possible and you have no clue what to do with the information contained within it." Drakken glared at her, wishing, not for the first time, that he didn't need her help so much. He opened his mouth to retort, but he couldn't think of anything, so he ended up simply clenching his fists and letting out a wordless howl. Suddenly another computer started issuing insistent beeping noises.

"Ooh! She's on the move! Let's see if we can find a way to destroy her!" Shego rolled her eyes at Drakken's lameness and flopped down into a chair.

"I don't see why you don't just take over the world when she's off on another mission, instead of trying to destroy her."

"Be-CAUSE, Sheego, she has to be there to witness my triumph! After all the humiliation she's put us thorough..."

"Put YOU through." Sheego spat out, interrupting.

"Oh no you don't! She's defeated you too!"

"Yeah, but at least I gave it a good effort, and managed to come out on top a few times. You, on the other hand...well, let's just say that if Kim Possible happened upon you when I wasn't around, you wouldn't even get to the part where you cry out 'KIM POSSIBLE! How! Why?! Boo hoo hoo!' before you were defeated." Sheego smirked as she mocked her employer. Everyone knew she was the one with all the talent, and if Drakken didn't want to admit it, she could always take a vacation again, leaving him helpless.

"Ohhhh!" Drakken clenched his hands and stalked over to the computer. He typed in a few commands, looked up at the monitor, and typed some more. Suddenly an image appeared of a large ocean cruiser moving at top speed. On the deck were Kim Possible, her annoying buffoon of a sidekick... what WAS his name again? Drakken never could remember... and...

"What?! Sheego! Come look at this!" Sheego rolled her eyes and slowly uncurled from where she had been working on her nails. She opened her mouth, prepared to say something else disparaging against her employer, when she saw what was on the screen.

"Did I miss something? Since when have Kim Possible and Monkey Fist been such good buddies?" Not that they were really acting friendly. Kim and Ron sat in deck chairs, deep in conversation with the Kimmunicator between them, Ron throwing suspicious looks towards Monkey Fist every few minutes. Monkey Fist, for his part, sat meditating, while also eating a banana held in one of his feet.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out! This could be the opportunity we've been waiting for!"

"Um, how so?"

"Don't question me, Shego! My brilliance is far to...um..brilliant for you to understand!" He flounced out of the room, leaving Shego behind, rolling her eyes. Then she turned her attention back to the computer screen.

"So, Kimmie, what are you up to this time?

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, the cruiser hastened along its path towards Africa. A tall, dark man strode out on deck, and Kim looked up and smiled at him.

"Thanks for giving us a ride, Mister Tadison." He smiled back at her, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, after you saved our estate from those rampaging wild frogs."

"Well, it was no..."

"With the laser shooting eyes and fire breathing abilities,"

"No, really, it was..."

"And the acid secreting pores."

"No big." Kim finished, a slight flush covering her face. Though she was used to the thanks and appreciation of the people she helped, it still sometimes unnerved her when they were intent on detailing every single thing she had ever helped with, and singing her praises because of them. After the man returned to the ship's cabin, Kim turned back to Ron, who was with the Kimmunicator.

"Ron... what are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I was accessing this web site that I know...I mean, have heard...I mean, uh, that I found somehow, not that I ever saw it before in my life." Kim rolled her eyes. "It's about weird things like UFO's and swamp monsters and government conspiracies and stuff."

"Ron, you don't seriously believe all that nonsense, do you?" It was Ron's turn to roll his eyes, something that he wished he had more opportunities to do.

"Uh, Kim? Let's review, shall we? We're on a boat, chasing down a mythical, magical bird, with a man who turned himself into a..." he shuddered, "monkey. We have, in the past, fought people with weather machines, killer robots, and any number of weird science-fiction-like gizmos. As for swamp monsters, need I remind you about Gill?! With two L's??" Kim sighed.

"He has a point, KP." Wade piped up from the Kimmunicator. "Ron, let me get a look at this website and see if maybe you're on to something." Ron grinned up at Kim. She smiled back, deciding to let him believe he was helping out with their dilemma. Poor guy always felt so incompetent, that she was willing to let him dream, if only for a little while. Mr. Tadison appeared once more from his stateroom.

"The captain says this is as close as we can get." Kim stood up, pulling Ron with her.

"Thanks again, Mr. Tadison." Turning to her backpack, she pulled out what looked like a small metal makeup compact. "Hey Wade, you sure this is going to work?"

"Sure, just press the green button to activate, use the Kimmunicator to steer, and hit the red button when you're ready to land." Kim shrugged.

"Ok." She pushed the green button and the compact immediately began transforming, expanding and growing until it was about the size of a speedboat. The center had opened, forming walls and a metal bench ran around the perimeter, allowing passengers to sit. Kim, Ron and Rufus, Monkey Fist, and his two remaining monkeys climbed into the vehicle. Kim fiddled with the Kimmunicator for a second, and with an almost silent hiss, the craft rose into the air and rocketed towards the African Savanna.

"Someone wanna tell me again why we're out here?" Ron Stoppable asked, looking around the barren Savanna while he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief.

"We have to go to the temple where Monkey Fist released the phoenix..."

"KP, it was a rhetorical question. It is SERIOUSLY hot out here! Am I right, my friend?" He looked down to where Rufus usually sat in his pocket, expecting him to agree with him as usual. To his surprise, the little rodent shook his head vigorously.

"Um-um, um-um! Nice!!" Ron rolled his eyes. Of course, naked mole rats were native to this area. He sighed.

"I just wish we could find some sha-AAADE!" His comment rose to a startled, and somewhat fearful, though he'd never admit it, cry as the ground gave way beneath him.

"Ron?" Kim turned to find her friend gone, and a gaping hole marring the ground where he had just stood. "RON!!" She rushed to the gap, terrified of what she may find.

"Owwww." She let out a sigh of relief as she heard his voice drift up from the blackness below.

"Ron, are you all right?"

"I think so..."

"Hold on, I'm going to come down and get you." She looked around, but spotted no trees or rocks close enough to tie a rope around. Instead, she carefully tested the ground around where the crust had caved in, trying to find a spot strong enough to hold her if she inserted the end of her grappling hook and rappelled down to Ron.

"Ok...any time now, KP!"

"Just hold on, Ron." She brushed away some of the topsoil, then sat back in confusion. "Wade, can you give me a reading on the ground here? Tell me if I'm imagining things." She didn't have to look at the Kimmunicator to know Wade was busily typing away.

"Nope, you're not imagining things, KP. My reading say that under the ground you are standing on is a massive metal structure..." typing could be heard for a minute, then, "and a LOT of electronics. Strange ones, too. I can't get completely conclusive readings on any of them!" Kim grimaced and stuffed the Kimmunicator back into her pocket.

"Thanks, Wade." She took out her grappling hook and fired it into the soil at her feet. There was a loud 'CLANG' and when she tugged back on it, testing her weight, it held fast. 'I'm on my way, Ron." She took a few steps back over the edge of the chasm, then hesitated. "You first, Monkey Fist. I'm not about to leave you up here while I rappel my way into the hole, just for you to cut the rope. I'm not stupid. For all I know, this could all have been a clever ruse to get rid of me." He had been smirking at her before she spoke, but, at her words, he scowled.

"It's no ruse. As much as I loathe you, you are my best chance of surviving this creature's wrath." He took the rope in his hands, and feet, and nimbly swung down into the pit. Kim pressed a button on her belt, which activated two flashlights attached to her costume, one on her wrist, the other expanding from her backpack to circle her head. Taking a deep breath, she hopped backwards into the darkness.

"Uuhmph!"

"Ow! Hey!"

"Well you shouldn't have been in my way!" Kim landed nimbly on her feet, and gave a look that promised retribution at Ron and Monkey Fist who were trying to untangle themselves, the rope, and one of Monkey Fist's monkeys, all the while squabbling like ten-year-olds. An image of Wade and then the tweebs rose in her mind.

"No, I take it back," she answered herself out loud, "ten-year-olds are MUCH more mature. Even the tweebs." she muttered under her breath. Rufus scurried out of Ron's pocket and swiftly chewed through the ropes and setting everyone free.

"Thanks, buddy" Ron said, scrambling to his feet. Monkey Fist had a little more trouble, as one of his feet was still tangled up in the rope. He tugged at it ineffectively, then glared at Rufus.

"What are you waiting for, help me out!" Rufus blew a raspberry at him and climbed up Ron's pants and into his pocket.

"Hmm, I guess it's true what they say," Kim said thoughtfully, a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, "what goes around really DOES come around. Think about it next time you try to pry a computer chip out of a poor, defenseless, rodent." Ron looked back and forth between them, confused, but, since he didn't like Monkey Fist, and Rufus usually followed his example, he didn't see the need to ask questions. Those would just serve to turn attention back to him and then HE'D probably end up being the one to have to free Monkey Fist. Kim Rolled her eyes and sighed, reaching out with a small pocket knife and freeing Monkey Fist.

"Ok, can we get back to the subject at hand, here, people?"

"I am not people, I am a..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, a monkey. Wash, rinse, repeat." Ron said sarcastically. Rufus nodded vigorously. Kim had begun shining her flashlights around the hole, and tossed a bag to Ron.

"Here, Wade sent these for you." Ron opened the bag and withdrew a wrist flashlight like Kim's and a tiny miner's cap with a light on it for Rufus. As he geared them both up, Kim examined the walls.

"Hmmm, I think we may have a problem." The pit walls were some sort of metal, seamless, and, while Kim knew they could climb back up on her rope, there was the chance that the grappling hook wouldn't remain embedded if all of them put their weights on it. She pulled out the pocketknife again and experimentally scratched at the metal. After a minute she stopped and peered down at the area she had worked on. There wasn't a single mark on it. She pushed a button on the knife and the blade withdrew into the handle as a laser beam shot out. Again she cut at the wall; again the wall resisted any marks. She frowned at it, deciding that the rope would have to do, after all, when the Kimmunicator rang out.

"Wade, what's the sitch?" The younger boy grinned back at her.

"Kim, you'll never guess what my scans of your area have come up with! You know that large metal mass under the ground? I digitally deconstructed it and analyzed the size, electronics, and shape of it. And guess what? I think it's a spaceship!

To be continued...