WWLAOS: He's still alive, just dead in this world. And Yori is neat, but I'm saving anything I'd write for her for the Excalibur Saga. Ron is a sort of take charge guy. As for the burden of life, and that, it mean's he can simply meditate after killing, instead of having to bother them. The honor isn't in all kills. What he was saying that it was an honorable kill, and he didn't have to ask if it was. And besides, if he doesn't play nice, they have the power to instantly kill him in a single strike, so he'll behave.


The return trip to Middleton was nowhere near as hurried as the one to Japan had been, but there wasn't the sense of calm peace that there should have been. The fact that they were in a C-130 that had to be in Iowa as fast as possible, didn't help any at all. That meant that they were going to have to jump from the tail of the plane and glide into town.

"I don't understand why Wade couldn't get us a better ride." Adam called over the noise of the engines.

"He tried, but the jet they offered had a failure in one of it's landing gear. It couldn't close it, and crossing the ocean wouldn't have been prudent." Ron replied, also yelling to be heard. The load master waved at them.

"Guess that's our cue." Adam called, as he and Ron headed over towards the back of the plane. Ducking around the two humvee's they met the load master at the rear ramp.

"You two ready to go?" He spoke in a voice easily loud enough to be heard.

"Ready to fly." Ron replied.

"Alright, we're just over ten thousand feet, you'll hit the barrier about five seconds after you go, can you do that?" He asked, and saw two nods. Ron pulled his jump pack up and strapped in. The load master grabbed his oxygen mask, and put his hand over the door release. You've got ten seconds to get out of the plane after I hit the button. Loadmaster to pilot. Jumping in five, four, three, two, one." The button caused the back door of the plane to open, and the two with breaths held, turned, and ran down the ramp, lunging through into open space. There was that almost indescribably unique feeling that one could attach to jumping from a perfectly good airplane. Terror, enjoyment, and feeling of immense stupidity could be used to describe it, but wasn't by most.

Breaking the ten thousand foot mark didn't seem to take five seconds, but watching the altimeters they were wearing, it seemed to take forever. Admittedly, Adam could have ignited the scram jets on his armor from that alititude, since they worked all the way up to twenty thousand feet, but that wouldn't have been fair to Ron. Ron dropped below the mark first, being slimmer and faster down, even if lighter. A thousand feet further down, Ron punched his pack open, and the wings slammed out, slowing his descent instantly. Adam's armor stretched out to the sides, forming a similar glider, though he still retained the option of the scram jets. Head set radios provided communication.

"I hate jumping out of airplanes like that." Adam chuckled.

"Don't tell Kim, but I don't either. It's nothing compared to the other stuff we do though, is it?" Ron replied.

"No, I guess not." Descending across the land scape, was a beautiful sight, and both took the opportunity to get pictures of the scenery. As they approached the house, it was Ron that saw the air craft first.

"Adam, what is that thing?" He pointed ahead, and heard Adam sigh in disgust. Floating over the top of the house was a massive wooden airship, roughly a hundred and thirty feet long, and fourty feet wide. It was only twenty feet tall, but the thirty foot mast was enough to draw more attention than was really a good thing. At least three news choppers floated over head, and a dozen police cars were on the street.

"The Ariia. It's bloody Cassandra." Adam began to swear fluently in several languages, and Ron felt, as well as heard the scramjets ignite. Shaking his head, he caught the up draft they left, and dove sharply towards the air ship, and the house.


"Cassandra!" Adam bellowed at the ship, as he landed on the deck. He could see Ron following as from the corner of his eye, and knew he would be along in a moment.

"I see you haven't changed at all brother dear. I thought a little lovin' might have done the trick, but I see you're as arrogant as ever." The strawberry blonde that stepped out of the rear cabin was taller than Adam, with a half-smile on her face. Ron landed as she continued to speak. "Can't I come visit my brother, without being attacked?" She asked, breathing a hearty sigh, that caused Ron to shudder. The loose T-shirt she was wearing fluttered slightly as she breathed, and he could see more than he'd expected to. The light blue jeans she was wearing were nearly skin tight, something only enhanced by the fact that she was wearing high heels.

"No, I guess not. Did you have to bring this?" Adam asked, waving at the ship.

"I can't do that dimension thingy you do. Remember? We aren't all magical gods." She wiggled her fingers in a vaguely mystical fashion. "Guess I should leave then." She sighed sadly, and started to turn.

"No, don't do that." Adam called after her, stopping her. "Go ahead and stay, but this thing is a tad conspicuous." She twisted back, and lunged, throwing her arms around him, and laughing with an unbridled joy, that made him smile. Ron chuckled quietly from where he had landed. "Not a word." Adam grinned at him, mockingly pointing a finger. "I've got a reputation for being a big jerk, that I've got to uphold."

"Oh, not me." Ron grinned, waving defensively. "Care to introduce me?"

"Sorry, Cassie." Adam tapped the young woman on the shoulder, and she turned to face Ron. "Ron, this is my sister, Cassandra Marcae. Cassie, this is Ron Stoppable, my best friend in this dimension."

"A pleasure." Ron smiled, and bowed formally.

"Is he always like this?" Cassandra asked Adam. The other shrugged. "Figures." Ron stood. "A pleasure to meet you." She offered her hand, and he shook it, chuckling slightly.

"She's a lot nicer than you are you know." Ron commented to Adam. Cassandra laughed.

"My brother has been around and around, so he's a touch jaded about things. Me? I've got an open outlook on life. Tommy! Let's go!" She turned and yelled back at the open door to the rear cabin. There was a thud, and a man with dark hair, and a glare on his face stepped out. "Adam? This is Tommy, my FianceƩ."

"A pleasure to meet you." Adam commented as the man approached, holding out his hand. The dark haired man nodded slightly, and shook his hand.

"Cassie has told me all about you." Tommy grunted. Adam sighed.

"I was afraid of that." Cassandra slapped Adam play fully on the shoulder. "So, did you just want to tell me you were getting married? Or was there one of your infamous ulterior motives behind it?"

"My infamous ulterior motives?" Cassandra asked with a disbelieving gasp. "This from the man who can't tell a straight truth to save his life. I'll bet you haven't told them about IT yet, have you?"

"What it?" Adam asked calmly on the outside, not at all calm on the inside. Cassandra gave him a flat, disbelieving look.

"You know damn well what it." She snapped under her breath. Tommy and Ron seemed to have hit it off and were talking. The news choppers over head distracted Adam and Cassandra both.

"Ron, would you get rid of the police and the choppers?" Adam asked. Ron nodded.

"Come on, we'll take the long boat." Tommy grinned. The boat only ten feet long, bearing three crystals rose from the bow of the ship, and settled to rest on the lawn below the ship. Ron stepped out, and moved up to the officer in charge. It was easy to see who it was, because he was carrying a bull horn.

"What is that thing?" The officer asked.

"An airship." Ron replied calmly. "Do we need a permit for it?"

"No, but I need to know what it's doing here." The officer replied.

"We're making a movie." Ron replied smoothly. "It's part of the set. Should we move it?"

"If you would, it's not a common sight, and there were complaints." Answered the officer.

"Will do." Ron smiled. "Can you get the news choppers out of here?"

"Will do. Thank you Mr. Stoppable." The officer turned and waved the others away.

"You know the police?" Tommy asked with an eyebrow arched.

"They know me anyway." Ron answered. "Can you fly that thing? Or do we have to wait for Cassandra?"

"Nah, I can fly it. I'm a pilot. That's how we met. I'm qualified on anything up to the Arekan class. Come on." The ride back up to the ship was short, but Ron couldn't help but grin. Adam and Cassandra were still arguing.

"You do." Cassandra snapped.

"I don't." Adam retorted.

"You can't keep them in the dark forever." She hissed under her breath, as Ron and Tommy approached.

"I'm getting to it." He snapped just as quietly. "Leave it alone. I don't even know if the war is coming that soon."

"You know it's approaching, and you cannot deny it." Cassandra hissed. "Becareful. You withhold information at your own risk."

"It's my own that I'm risking. And I have no intentions of involving them in Triaxx private little war." Adam snarled. "They won't have the power needed in time. None of them. Even with the Lotus Blade backing Ron. I'm calling for them to be broken from the recruitment."

"Fine." Cassandra turned away, as the ship began to slide smoothly forwards. The argument over, the two walked over to the pilot house, where Tommy was explaining the controls to Ron.

"Instead of a rudder, which really wouldn't do much in air like this, we use the turbines to steer. Unlike the larger ships, we don't carry our own mast, so we have larger crystals to propel the ship on cloudy days. The turbines are controlled with these two levers, and the direction of exhaust is controlled with the steering wheel. The levers control the electric current running through the lift crystals, and the power and direction the turbines move air." Tommy smiled.

"Coolio. Can I try?" Ron asked.

"Sure, as soon as we're over some where more open." The airship glid out to sea, and then swept around to land on the water.

"Adam, do you still maintain the slip around here?" Cassandra asked after a moments conversation with Tommy.

"Sure, number thirty seven, just past the bay bridge." Adam grinned. "The Talera is usually docked there, but it's being used by the Tokyo office."

"Great, then we can park there." Tommy nodded.


An hour later, they had reached the house again. As they stepped out of the cab, Ron and Cassandra were laughing at a joke Tommy had made. Adam wasn't laughing, because he had to pay for the cab.

"I should have just shot myself in the foot. It wouldn't have been as painful." He muttered, as he stalked past.

"Money-grubber." Cassandra snorted. "Ah well, he'll cheer up, he always does." She grinned at Ron and Tommy. "So, Ron, what is there to do around this city?"

"Well, Adam and I have been hitting the parties around, but it's mostly college kids, getting really drunk." Ron shrugged. "I don't drink much, but I like to dance."

"Don't you and Adam have girlfriends?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah, but Kim doesn't mind if I dance with other girls, and Shego doesn't seem to get jealous no matter what, or who, he does." Ron shrugged. "Appearently he does the same for her."

"I forgot. This one is the one that can't ever control himself." Cassandra sighed in disgust.

"I know Cassandra, it's just something I've learned to deal with." Ron sighed dramatically.

"Call me Cassie, all my friends do." She grinned wide. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one that thinks he's a bloody fool."

"I agree with you, but he does know what he's doing. Most of the time." Ron pointed out.

"He should, as much as he talks about it." Tommy grunted.

"Oh he's just nervous." Cassie chuckled. "He always wants to impress, and it gets the better of him. Continually." The last was spoken in a lower tone, and with a jerk of her eyebrows.