Kim Possible and all related characters and indicia are owned by the Disney Corporation. Supergirl and all related characters and indicia are owned by DC Comics/Warner Bros. This work of fan fiction is written for pleasure, not profit.
Triaxx2: I'm not sure where Hawkgirl fits in all this. Frankly, for purposes of my little version of reality, I'm tempted to just ignore the events of 'Starcrossed' and say that the Thangarian invasion hasn't happened here yet, if it ever will.
WWLAOS: I guess I did a good job on the pacing :). Rest assured, your questions will be answered.
eckles: Regarding your question about chapter four, well, anything is possible :).
Gargoylesama: Thanks.
Kim picked up her half empty glass of iced tea, leaned back in her chair and watched with undisguised relief as Ron attacked a tray of tacos. At Kara's suggestion they had interrupted their tour so Ron could shake off the last effects of whatever it was that had happened to him. He'd been a trifle unsteady on his feet, and had placed his hands on the girls' shoulders to support himself as they walked to the Watchtower's cafeteria. There Kim had helped him settle into a chair while Kara fetched Ron some 'emergency snackage', in the form of a dozen tacos, and drinks for herself and Kim. Ron had perked up as soon as Kara set the tray of tacos in front of him, and by the time he was halfway through them he seemed to have completely recovered.
"Feeling better Ron?" Kim asked.
Ron considered the matter. He stood, took a few steps, then turned a cartwheel. "Seems so," he affirmed, favoring her with a smile as he retook his seat. Kim laughed and returned the smile.
"Glad to hear that," Kara added as she returned to the table with a fresh glass of iced tea. She stared thoughtfully at Ron. "I'm still not sure how you managed to sense a mystic event better than Doctor Fate could," she said finally.
Ron gave her a helpless look. "I don't know either," he said.
"Unless it has something to do with the mystical monkey power," Kim observed.
"What do you mean, K.P.?" Ron asked.
"Well," she explained, "Since you have mystical power running all through you, maybe that makes you sensitive to whatever it was that happened?"
"That makes a certain amount of sense," Kara agreed, nodding slowly.
"Yeah," Ron said, "Except that I've had the power for going on four years now, and I've never felt anything even remotely like what just happened."
"Then maybe the 'incident' involved the monkey power specifically," Kim floundered.
"But how?" Kara asked. "Since Monkey Fist died Ron's the only person who has it." She paused. "Isn't he?"
Kim and Ron shared a look. Ron turned to Kara and shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "My share of the power didn't seem to get any bigger afterward. Maybe what Monkey Fist had went back to wherever it came from."
"But you destroyed those statues," Kim reminded him.
"Maybe there are more statues," Kara pointed out.
Ron slumped in his chair. "Just what I need," he groused. "Someone else who wants to be a Monkey Master."
Kim decided to change the subject. "Supergirl, I believe you mentioned wanting to work out with us? You also said you'd tell us how that was possible after we got to the Watchtower. Well, here we are."
Kara took the hint. "Sure, Kim," she grinned. "It's easy, really. All of the training rooms have lights that can simulate the characteristic spectra of my home star, Rao."
"Artificial red sunlight," Kim nodded, "Which cancels out your superpowers."
Kara returned the nod. "Exactly. Not that I wouldn't still have an advantage, coming from a higher gravity world. To cancel that we'd have to crank the gravity in the gym up to Argoan levels, and I doubt either of you would be very combat effective weighing sixty percent more than normal."
Ron's eyes narrowed as he contemplated that. "Still," he began, "Raw strength is only one factor unarmed combat. Speed, reach, mass and height play into it too. For example, when Kim and I spar, she knows better than to get too close to me. Instead she tries to wear me down by making me chase her, since she has better endurance than I do."
Kara giggled. "You sound like a teacher, Ron!" Ron blushed slightly.
"I do help out a little with the instructing in my martial arts class, at least with brand new students," he confessed. Ron's brow furrowed briefly. "That reminds me. I have a question I've been wanting to ask you for a while, but I never knew how to bring it up. Now that we're talking about your strength, I was wondering: Just how strong are you?"
"How strong am I?" Kara repeated, folding her arms across her chest and quirking an eyebrow at Ron.
Ron grinned, suddenly excited. "Yeah! I mean," he clarified, "I know you're 'super strong' and all, but how strong is that?"
Kara glanced at Kim, who rolled her eyes, shrugged and gave Kara an embarrassed smile.
Seeing that Kara was reluctant to answer, Ron spoke up. "I can bench two fifty," he bragged, "and my max is three fifteen."
"Ah, well," Kara hesitated, "in an artificial Argoan environment, when I work out I can bench press the bar and two plates. That'd weigh one thirty-five at normal Earth gravity."
"That's cool," Ron acknowledged, adding, "You're pretty strong for a girl."
Kara glared at him.
"But," he went on, "what about your super strength?"
Kara sighed. She didn't like to talk about her powers. It felt too much like bragging when she did. Still, Ron and Kim were her friends, and if they were going to work together it was only prudent that they know what the limits of her abilities were.
"Follow me," she commanded, and lead the duo into the Operations Center. Booster Gold was on monitor duty, and waved at her as she walked in. Kara waved back and strolled over to one of the Center's computer terminals. A few typed commands later the computer's screen displayed a file titled 'Kara In-ze: strength test." The date on the file was just over three years old. The video showed Kara dressed in civilian clothes, approaching an orange painted block nearly as large as she was. She picked it up, held it over her head with one arm, then tossed it, sending the block sailing through the air to land several hundred feet away.
"That was what we started with," Kara explained. "That block was five feet on a side, and they went up in five foot increments. You know, five, ten, fifteen feet, and so on."
Ron nodded. "How big was the biggest one?" he asked.
Kara started to answer, then tensed up. "Batman's behind us," she said quietly.
Silence.
"I can hear the blood flowing through your veins," Kara said testily, not turning her head. "You may as well speak up."
Kim and Ron did turn. The black clad figure of Gotham City's Dark Knight loomed behind them.
"Playing tour guide, Supergirl?" he asked, his voice cold.
"Yes," Kara sneered. "These are Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. They're Global Justice's liaisons to the League, and I'm introducing them around." Kara turned to Kim and Ron and smiled sweetly. "Kim, Ron, this is Batman," she said in a sugary voice. Ron started to stammer a reply when Batman, whose expression never changed, spoke again in that same cold voice.
"The largest, in this particular test, was forty feet on a side and the cubes, Mr. Stoppable, were high tensile carbon steel." Batman turned his head slightly to look directly at Ron. "Solid high tensile carbon steel," he added. Batman crossed to the computer console and manipulated the controls. The screen blinked to a view of Kara, in her Supergirl uniform, holding a huge cube over her head. The thing was colossal, far bigger than a house, and Kara was obviously having trouble with it.
"Now," Batman expounded, his tone never changing, "thanks to natural physical development and a rigorous exercise regimen, Supergirl can handle a cube fifty feet on a side."
Ron gulped. "Ah, how much does a fifty foot steel cube weigh," he stammered before appending, "Sir?"
"Twenty-seven thousand tons," Batman said, slowly and deliberately.
"Twenty-seven thousand tons," Ron repeated incredulously, his eyes bulging. He glanced at Kara, who blushed and gave him an almost apologetic look.
"You can hold a battleship over your head!" Ron exclaimed.
"A small one," Kara confirmed, blushing brighter.
"That is so cool!"
Elsewhere, two days later:
Monty Fiske walked through the training course that had been set up in the ballroom of his benefactor's mansion. He walked because he was still getting used to his new body, as well as shaking off the effects of having been, well, dead for over a year. He smiled thinly. To be honest he'd actually managed a brisk pace this time, one that bordered on jogging. If he continued to progress at his current rate he'd be back to normal in no time. Normal. Fiske paused to study his reflection in one of the mirrors that graced the walls of the ballroom. Outwardly his new body was much like his old one had been. The differences were so slight that Fiske doubted any but the most skilled observers would note the alterations DNAmy had made. Fiske smiled again, much more warmly. The short, chubby geneticist had gone to extraordinary lengths to restore him to life. Since returning to the land of the living and learning that little fact, Fiske had begun to see her in quite a new light. He had known she had a crush on him, ever since he'd first contacted her about modifying his original body to make it better suited to both the mystical monkey power and the most subtle aspects of tai-shing-pek-kwar, but he hadn't returned her feelings. Even now he wasn't sure he felt anything more than gratitude for her efforts to restore him to life, but he was, he admitted, now at least willing to entertain the notion that more might be possible.
Fiske turned from side to side, occasionally flexing his muscles. His new body was a masterpiece. DNAmy had kept the best of his original human DNA, while weaving into it snippets of genetic material from a host of different species. Most came from primates of one sort or another, but she had added other animals as well. The results included much higher potential strength as well as increased agility, heightened senses, accelerated healing and a much higher threshold of pain. Not that it was perfect just yet. He had a lot of work to do. For all its potential, the vat grown body he now wore was sadly lacking in muscle tone. He also had to get used to his new senses and work the added advantage they would give him into his fighting style. Weeks, if not months of hard work lay ahead, before he would be battle ready.
"Honey Bunny?" DNAmy's voice drew Fiske's attention away from the mirror. She was standing in the ballroom's main entrance, a huge smile on her moon face. Fiske bowed to her.
"Yes, dear lady?"
"I brought you a present, Sugar Booger," she exclaimed gleefully, and stepped aside. A short man with a handlebar moustache stood behind her, carry a tray with a teapot, cups, and a pile of what looked like cucumber sandwiches.
"Afternoon tea, Milord?"
"Bates!" Fiske exclaimed. He scampered over to the diminutive older man. "I thought you were still in prison!" Fiske said, laying his hands on Bates' shoulders.
"I was, Milord, until two days ago," Bates confirmed. Fiske just stared at him. Fiske's own escape from custody, that first time he'd tangled with Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, had come when Bates, ever the faithful manservant, had caused a ruckus that drew their guards' attention away from Fiske, allowing him to make a break for freedom. Bates had ended up in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, where he had remained ever since, despite two attempts by Fiske to break him out. Fiske felt a twinge of guilt at that. Bates had aged considerably during his time behind bars.
"This was your doing, wasn't it?" Fiske inquired of DNAmy, who smiled and nodded. Fiske returned the smile and bowed again. "Once more I find myself in your debt, dear lady." To Bates he said, "It's good to see you again, old friend. I'll be glad to have your help for what lies ahead."
Fiske and DNAmy seated themselves while Bates poured the tea. They were conversing between bites and sips when Fiske became aware of an added presence. He looked up to see the slender figure of Felix Faust glide into the room. Faust was, as usual, clad head to toe in black silk, and moved almost soundlessly on slippered feet. He halted in front of the duo and looked down at them with a slight smile. Faust sketched a bow and said, "Good afternoon, Lord Fiske. I see you're adjusting quickly to your new frame."
"I have a good way to go yet," Fiske demurred, "But I am coming along. Please, join us," he added, gesturing to an empty chair. Faust sat down. Bates poured a third cup of tea and offered it to Faust, who accepted it wordlessly. The wizard sipped at it, then regarded Fiske and DNAmy frankly.
"I thought this would be a good time to discuss the matter of my compensation for services rendered to date," Faust said, getting directly to the point. Fiske tried not to wince. Grateful as his was to DNAmy for having him brought back from the dead, Fiske was a trifle annoyed that she hadn't settled all the details before the job was done. Instead she'd opted for an 'in exchange for future services to be determined later' clause. Now she was going to find out just how much it would cost to pay the piper, as it were.
Faust seemed to read Fiske like a book. He smiled again. "Don't worry. What I have in mind isn't too burdensome." Faust studied Fiske. "You want to kill Ron Stoppable, both to avenge yourself on him for killing you, and to acquire his share of the mystical monkey power." Fiske said nothing, but did nod slightly. Faust turned to DNAmy. "You also desire revenge, against Kim Possible for thwarting your own schemes and for the trouble she's caused Lord Fiske, and against Ron Stoppable for Lord Fiske's sake. I, on the other hand, crave vengeance on the Justice League. I believe that by working together we can all get what we want, and more besides."
"I'm not sure I understand how that will be possible," Fiske said slowly. "I'm willing to do my part, but I've never encountered the Justice League."
"You have met Supergirl though," Faust countered, "and she is an associate member of the League, as well as an ally of Team Possible. All we have to do is contrive a set of circumstances that will bring Team Possible and Supergirl, and perhaps a few other Leaguers, into a trap. Once we do that, I can not only draw Ron Stoppable's share of the monkey power out of him and give it to you, but his life force as well." Faust leaned in, his smile turning cruel. "And not only his, but that of the others as well. Along with their various abilities. Imagine what you could do with that kind of power," he hissed suggestively. Seeing the looks of understanding on his guests' faces Faust leaned back. "Now, since the both of you have been rather busy these last few days, I've taken the liberty of drawing up a preliminary plan. I'm sure that between the three of us we can refine it into something nearly foolproof." Faust produced and unrolled a large scroll, spreading it out on the small table so Fiske and DNAmy could read it.
"Take a few days to study it," Faust suggested. "We can meet again here to discuss any questions or suggestions you have." He rose and nodded courteously to the two. Fiske returned the gesture, then Faust turned on a silent heel and glided away.